Roses in the Rain: The 175th Hunger Games

District 2 girls reaping

Devian Rai

Ugly. WHAM! You're nothing. WHAM! You'll never be as good as your sister. WHAM! Freak. Monster. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

My knife pierces of heart, brain, and neck of the six dummies in the circle surronding me. Sweat trickles down my brow and my breathe is ragged.

Words bounce off the sides of my head and I want to scream. My knees buckle and I feel my body tip forward. My knees hit the hard floor of the academy's training room and I slap the floor with my hands, the sound echoing through the empty room.

"Get up! GET UP RIGHT NOW! If you don't get up you'll look weak. We have no room for weakness, especially from you miss Rai. What would Emra do?" My coach screamed in my ear.

"Please... please stop shouting I promise I'll try harder. Give me another chance." I shakely answer. My ears ring and i grip my hair. Opening my eyes I see his hand jesturing to help me up. Taking his hand he hoistes me to my feet and grips my shoulders.

"Devi I have seen you in top action. You can throw, you have perfect defence, and you are so determind. But you can't let the words people say about you change how you fight. If you go in this year I know you can win but your fear will be your downfall." Rike Call has been my trainer since I was little, even though he's only roughly 3 years older than me. He is like a brother to me, but lately I think we both wanted to be more then just coach and student.

Throwing his hands up in the air Rike shoutes not looking at me, "run it again! And keep your head clear, don't let anything destract you. Ready...go!!"

Three hours later I lay on the floor trying to cath my breathe as Rike stands above me laughing. "Devi we could throw you in the arena right now and you'd win in the first 10 minutes. I have never seen anyone as skilled as you. Well maybe not as skilled as Emra but that's understandable."

That last line he muttered under his breathe but I still heard it. And it hurt. Rike critiques me all the time, but to compare me to my sister is just... a swell of anger filled my heart and I pushed myself to my feet. "If you don't think I'm good enough then I'll just leave. I've had enough training for one day anyways. I'll see you in the morning for the reaping."

With that I chucked my knives into the wall, a perfectly straight line, and walked out of the acedemy's gym. I could hear Rike calling after me but I didn't care, all I wanted to do was get home.

The training center sits in the center of District 2, with the view of the Nut directly behind me and behind my old home, the mayor's house. The victors village sits in the back of the district, hidden by trees, just the way I like it.

As I walked closer to our large house I can see my mother rocking back and forth on the porch. A small blanket that our father made for their wedding clutched in her fingers. Oh... no... "Mom!" I shout running up to the porch. "Mom...mom...mom its ok. Just look at me." She shakes her head slowly, still rocking back and forth.

I hear footsteps coming through the open door frame and I look up to see my 20 year old sister and victor Emra. "She's been like this all day. You do realize what day it is. He died three years ago today." Standing up I wrap my arms around her waist.

"I miss him so much." No tears come to either of our eyes as we walk inside, leaving our mother on the porch.

"Oh yea I found a dress for you to wear tomorrow. You'll be the crown jewel of the whole district." Her eyes beam as we walk into the dinning room for dinner. The food is amazing but i guess im not talking as much as I usually do because emra clears her throat, "Devi whays wrong?"