The Capitol Games

Chapter 8

12 years ago. The Capitol, Panem. Small house owned by the Snow family.

"Come on, Crimson, catch me!"

Two girls ran around the grassy area outside the shack, playing a classic but fun game of tag.

"Well, I will if you slow down!"

They keep running until they both fell down on the grass, utterly exhausted.

"Let's go inside. I need some water," the other girl suggested, and they both went inside.

"Where were you two?" scolded their mother. "I was worried!"

"Sorry, Mommy. We were just playing tag."

"It's okay. Just... don't do that to me again."

"Okay."

The girls sat down on the floor and drink their water. Suddenly, the door banged open.

"Daddy's home!"

The girls ran to the front door to greet their father, who had just faced a long and grueling day in the factory where he worked.

"Oh, Crimson, Scarlett!" Oh my Scarlett!" He hugged both of them and began to unpack his things so he could relax.

The family had just gotten themselves a small meal of somewhat stale bread and an apple that their father had gotten at the factory when the door banged open again.

"Now who could that be?" everyone wondered, especially the three-year-old girls.

"Lemme see!" Scarlett squealed,and ran to the door. But the smile on her face disappeared when she met a tall, menacing-looking man.

"We've come to take your daughter," the man said as he lumbered in. He had been so big that he hid the other two people with him, a scrawny guy and a woman not as big but looking twice as powerful.

"What? No! You can't have her! We made an agreement-"

Her father was cut off as commotion broke out through the house.

The woman pulled out a gun and started randomly shooting. The man took out a sharp knife and twirled it in his big fingers. The scrawny guy hastily ran around the house, disabling the security cameras that the Districts had ordered everyone put in their homes.

Crimson screamed. Scarlett started sobbing. Her mother yelled at them.

"Run! Go upstairs! We'll be up in a minute, it'll all be okay! Go!"

Scarlett nodded, and they both started climbing the stairs. Crimson tripped, and the bulky man grabbed her leg. Scarlett screamed.

"You're coming with me, little girl!" he roared, and then yelled in pain as Crimson bit down on his fingers. She tried to get away, but he grabbed her again with his other hand.

Scarlett watched in horror as Crimson struggled, the man getting steadily more and more annoyed. He took the knife and slashed her, creating a long and painful line from her nose to her lip.

Scarlett started sobbing more than ever. She was so young, she didn't know what to do, but she knew that this was bad. Very bad. These were District people, tearing her family apart.

The woman left with the two men, out the door, leaving an incomplete family and a torn apart home.

Scarlett never saw her twin sister Crimson again.

Present day. The 40th Capitol Games, a cave. Scarlett meeting a familiar someone...

Realization also dawns on the other girl's face. "Scarlett?" she whispers

"Crimson?" I whisper back.

Slowly, we move towards each other, and we wrap each other in a wordless hug, finally reunited.

These Games are getting worse and worse.