The 151st Annual Hunger Games

District 9 Reaping

Inuk Winters' POV:

We hate you Inuk.

We never loved you.

We'll be happy when you're gone.

~*~*~*~*~

"Inuk! Inuk, what are you doing?" Someone gently shakes my shoulders and rattles the headboard. "My father is going to kill you for being down here so long. Come on."

I'm dragged from my thin mattress and and carried bridal-style across the small room.

"Killian, you know your father would kill you if he ever saw you with me. A servant."

A worthless servant.

"Inuk, you know I'd take a beating from my father any day if it meant I'd see you, even if only for five minutes."
I roll my eyes and push away from him. He looks mildly offended and stand with his arms crossed in the threshold of the stairs.

"What it is?" He asks bluntly.

"What's what?" I reply simply, playing dumb.

"I know something's wrong, Inuk, you can tell me, you know that."

"I know." I pause for a second, waiting to see if he reacts. "My parents...I was just thinking about my parents, that's all." He gives me a sympathetic look but doesn't say anything. That's the worst part. He stands there watching me, not uttering a word. The look of pity and false sympathy is one I'm all too familiar with.

His father shouts down from the top of the stairs and asks why the lazy servant hasn't shown up and if she could pick up her feet and actually help someone in the world. I look back at Killian with tearful eyes and stumble up the cold stone steps. I slip out the backdoor before his father even sees me leaving. I run barefoot through the fences and wooden walls and run as far away as I can from the mayor's house. He doesn't need my help. He doesn't deserve my help.

Killian Seabelle's POV:

I stare at the empty threshold where Inuk left moments before and throw myself up the stairs, two at a time. My father waits in the sitting room impatiently waiting for someone to serve him. I don't even say anything. I just walk right up to the stuck-up, snobby man and knock the coffee mug from his hands. The white ceramic shatters on the polished hardwood floor at his feet and his black shoes are covered in bright shards.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???" I scream in his blank face. "HOW CAN YOU TREAT HER LIKE THIS???" I rant on, acting like a child.

Seeing that my words mean nothing to him I run, cracking the glass shards into even smaller pieces, and leave through the door Inuk just left from. The main courtyard is empty and the houses beyond seem ominous yet bleak and small. They stretch out against the golden fields of grain and stand in long rows of brick and wood. Inuk could be anywhere.

It's a fairly rainy day and the sky is a violent grey. Large clouds gather over the District and people walking through the streets wear small plastic bags or tarps over their heads. A large crowd has gathered near the centre of town and a stage is set up at the front. The Reaping.

I completely forgot.

I shuffle into the crowd of people without even signing in at the front of the line. An escort stands on the stage and talks about the upcoming games. I glance around for Inuk, wondering if she would have run here.

People crowd together to keep covered from the rain and Peacekeepers circle the area. My father is supposed to be here.

I slip into my section and wait for this to be over.

"Avena Gold!" Someone calls loudly from the stage. The escort holds a slip of paper in front of her and giggles to the crowd, despite the rain.

A girl stand nervously near the front of the crowd and shivers in the cold. She only wears a thin pullover and ragged pants which have both been soaked from the rain. Her wet hair hangs down her back and she doesn't look like she's slept in days. I wonder where her parents are? I think she's crying but it's hard to tell what with everyone already being drenched. Her face looks like she's lost all hope until a familiar voice calls out to the escort.

"I volunteer for Avena!" The faceless voice calls. A girl walks up to the front of the stage with a sullen expression. She stands stubbornly, soaking wet, on the stage scanning the crowd for someone. Me.

The girl wears the same dull grey dress that she wears everyday and her hair is done up in a loose bun. Inuk. My heart breaks the very second I see her standing there triumphantly. Did she truly do this to save that girl or did she volunteer to get away from me and my father?

Inuk looks set and determined and I don't even bother to call out to her to try and change her mind. Not that it would even be an option now.

"Well...a volunteer. And what might your name be darling?" The escort says, placing a severely tattooed hand on her shoulder.

"Inuk Winters, 14." She says, her face void of emotion.

The escort pulls another name from the reaping bowl and I know what I must do. I make my decision before I have time to talk myself out of it.

"Ja-" She starts.

"I volunteer!" I scream.

As I walk up to the front of the stage I can hear people whispering and laughing about my sudden participation in the Games. I mean, how could the mayor's son want to volunteer for this?

Inuk doesn't say anything to me when I get to stage, in fact, she doesn't even look at me.

"Killian Seabelle,15." I say to the ecstatic escort. It's probably the first time District 9 has had both tributes be volunteers. We are made to shake hands and Inuk looks at me like she's never even seen me before. I shake her cold hand and turn to walk towards the grey stone Justice Building

A/N- Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Also, sorry that this chapter is kind of boring and long. It may be a little confusing but Inuk was sold to the mayor's family when she was younger because her parents needed the money. Killian is the mayor's son and is Inuk's only friend. Problem is, Killian is the mayor's son so....