Brooke Langston, a determined and resourceful young woman, volunteers as tribute to spare a sickly little girl who holds a special place in her heart. Little does she anticipate that her closest friend, Ray Adhira, would also be chosen, forcing them...
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Too soon was Brooke waking to the knock of Maddox at the door. Lifting her head from the mount of pillows, Ray whose head was at the other end of the bed lifted his and their eyes met, a terrible sense of realization settling over them.
This was it. This was the day.
They didn't speak, they couldn't speak, as they got ready and headed out to the dining room, serving themselves breakfast which Brooke horribly thought of, could be their last meal.
Would she even have what it took to survive the Cornucopia bloodbath? She was terrified that all this success she was doing at getting sponsors would make her the first person the careers would stab through the heart.
She wondered if they would enjoy it, if they would take their time.
Her hand shook as she forced food into her mouth, but she wasn't hungry.
Brooke knew that Finnick and Mags and Maddox would not be going with them to wherever Brooke and Ray would be transferred too.
The arena, which could be anywhere on the outskirts of Panem, was not a place for mentors or escorts. The last person Brooke would see before entering that dreaded place would be her stylist, Azari, suiting her up in whatever clothes the Gamemakers had issued for the tributes, typically made based on the climate of the arena, which was also unknown to Brooke.
She had know idea what to expect, how far the arena was, what was inside it, what weapons were readily available, what dangers.
Every year she knew the Capitol made a specialized MUTT as one of the horrors the tributes had to battle against. Some type of violent messed up animal that had only one purpose, to kill.
She wished Finnick could be the last face she saw before leaving, maybe for good.
"You two must be going soon," Maddox said gently, as the five of them quietly ate their breakfast, the air wrought with tension and sadness.
Ray put down his fork, Brooke followed suit, her eyes still on her plate.
"And you should best say your goodbyes," Maddox whispered. Even he had enough decency to sense that the atmosphere was not one for his quips and dramatic voice.
He coughed a cough that was meant to make people give you your attention. Brooke and Ray looked up at him.
He pursed his lips and set his own utensils down.
"It has been a pleasure being both of your escorts this year, you have both made quite the show, I have no doubts that the moment I make it to the Gamemaker's headquarters, there will be sponsors lining up around the block for you."
He smiled encouragingly.
Brooke nodded silently, Ray actually managed to cough out a very high pitched and forced, "Thank you."
Maddox nodded firmly as if he had done a deed that deserved a nice round of applause, "The tributes next year will have a hard time following in your footsteps," he said definitively.
