The Masked Tribute (A Hunger Games FanFiction)

Chapter 1

The dream started off as normal, I was sitting on the mossy ground, the sound of the wind whipping through my ears as I grip the weapon that was unknown as my heart beat increased ten fold as screams that sounded like an animal flooded in the open air around me. Then I saw him, the man I've seen before so many times but I couldn't put my finger on who he was with all the blood that was splattered all over him. The man growled something but I couldn't hear what he said as some of the strange monsters that were in the woods started to charge at us but with a blink of an eye the boy was dead and the weapon I was once holding in my hand was now at my side. The poor man gasped and collapsed onto the ground as a bell rang...SPLASH!

"Alice, you brat! Wake up!" my mother hissed while throwing a bucket of cold water on me. I groaned and rubbed my eyes while scrambling out of bed.

"Mom, she obviously doesn't care what today is!" my twin yowled walking into the very tiny room that the entire family shared. We lived in a very modest one bedroom cottage like many of our fellow villagers. The cottage contained a small kitchen, an even tinier bathroom and a somewhat spacious bedroom my parents, sister and I all shared. Well now it was just the three of us. My dad passed away a year ago from an accident in the fields last year just before the reaping day. The rest of my family and I were given a free day to mourn and luckily none of our names were chosen. We were grateful. But mom changed as time went by. She started to favor my twin Marie who often had the attention from all the boys and men in town with her pretty smile, her blue eyes and long brown hair that was always styled somehow. Marie was a bit skinny but in a good way and always made her clothes look stylish no matter how tattered her clothes were or had been remade. The other girls from school always cooed over Marie's clothes and asked her for advice on how to make the outfits look similar and I'd sit on the sidelines and roll my eyes and try to go on with my day.

Today was different, before I would know it, someone's life would change for better or worse. Some would lose their lives, others would suffer horrendous injuries, one pair of people would come back as champions to be placed on a pedestal stool for the world to watch. Now you must be wondering, pair? I thought it was one person. Well, ever since Katniss Eveerdeen and Peeta Mellark both won the 74th Hunger Games together, a new trend was pleaded for by the Capitol to have two winners instead of one to see how interesting things would get. So some time after the rebellion, the new government divided the new rule into place. But even after, District 11 had only one winner with the new rule. The other winner that year was from a different district.

I managed to sneak out of the house before my mom or sister gave me any more trouble. Today was just not the fucking day. Even though my twin was prettier and favored more, my dad would always stay by my side when he was alive. He used to call me "the brain" to Marie's beauty. I always had good grades in school, I never snuck out, I didn't get caught in the closet with the son of the mayor my first year of high school. That's right, Marie got caught with Elliot McAnston her freshman year. He was a senior and about to start working for his dad in the mayor office later that year when school ended.

I walked down into the market to see if I could trade in my latest finds for some money or food for the next couple of weeks. Anything to keep me from going insane here. I lived in district 11, one district away from where the hell started around 20 years ago. I wasn't even thought of yet. But there were still some memories scattered about the district. Some fragments from bombings were always being found and sometimes sold. I knew where to find the best spots even though it was dangerous. Not only was someone killed for getting caught sneaking in, but there were still so many bombs and grenades rumored to still be activated.

I scurried out of the house and towards the shed that laid in the very back corner that went unused since my father died. Normally dad kept his tools back there when something in the house needed to be repaired, but since he passed, I traded some of the old ones for food so we could eat. Mom and Marie never noticed and if they did they never questioned me about it. Not like they would care. Selfish bitches.