The Hunger Games

1

Alec gasped, suddenly waking up. He glanced at the other side of the bed and noticed Isabelle was nowhere to be seen. The small bed felt bigger but colder every time his sister climbed in bed with their mother. Alec always found himself sleeping better, knowing and feeling that his younger sister was there, safe.

Sitting up in silence, the blue-eyed man let his gaze dart around the room. There was enough light coming from the open windows to see Isabelle curled up on their mother's side. They both look so tranquil while asleep. Isabelle's skin glows with the light, her raven hair contrasting against it. Alec and she had inherited their mother's looks, who had once been truly beautiful, according to everyone who had known her at a younger age.

Resting by Isabelle's feet, the grumpiest cat in the world was watching Alec. With his lower teeth more forward than his upper ones and half his ear missing, as well as his dirty fur, Church was what Alec considered to be a kid's nightmare of a cat. The only reason why Alec hadn't drowned it yet was because of Isabelle's obsession with the cat.

She had fallen in love with him, after finding it at the front of the church of their district. District 12 was the only one with a church, not even the Clave had one, so Isabelle had thought it was a sign of something to find such a "beautiful" creature awaiting for her, there.

The Lightwoods didn't go to church. In all fairness, nobody went there anymore. Hope had been abandoned a long time ago in their district.

Alec remembered how he had cringed at the sudden appearance of Church in Isabelle's arms the day she had brought him home, because of the single thought of having to feed yet another being in their house. He had only agreed to keeping him as a cause of Isabelle's begging and, even, cries.

As the years had gone by, Alec had stopped wishing death upon the poor cat. Church had eventually quit hissing at Alec. No death threats. No hissing. This is the closest they would ever come to love.

Jumping off the bed, he put on his hunting boots. As he got dressed, more and more light poured into the room. It was the crack of dawn, so the air felt pure and fresh. It was Alec's favorite time of the day. Heading to the door, the raven-haired man almost missed something.

In the middle of the table, under a wooden bowl so that no rodents would get to it, was a piece of goat cheese wrapped in basil leaves. It was Isabelle's gift for him as it was reaping day. Carefully letting it slide down his bag hanging from his shoulder, he left the house, closing the door behind himself.

The side of the district where they lived was the Institute. Apparently, that was where there had used to be an old institute, right before the rebellion of the districts had destroyed most of the physical heritage of their country. The Institute was usually packed with coal miners working a morning shift, at this time on a normal day. Today, however, everyone was sleeping in. Doors and windows closed in all the houses, until 2 pm, when the reaping began.

The Lightwood family lived almost at the edge of the Institute, so Alec only had to walk for a few minutes before he reached a grassy field named the Meadow. The only thing between the Meadow and the woods was a high electrified fence. It wasn't actually electrified twenty four hours round, which was a good thing for Alec because it allowed him to leave his district and wander off into the woods. It only turned on at night, to protect District 12 from any wild predators; its double purpose was to ensure nobody left the district at night.

Despite knowing that it was not electrified, Alec still paid attention in silence, in case he did hear a buzzing sound coming from the fence. It was completely silent. He walked by the fence until he found the bush hiding the rather big hole in the fence. He knelt on the floor and dragged himself through the hole, slightly small for him, standing up once he was on the other side.