Catching Fire: Burning '7'

Chapter 1

I throw the burning mockingjay in the thrash the peacekeeper gave me. I set it on fire, so nobody would find it. I wonder if the other districts have received this kind of invitation too. I need to protect the Mockingjay, she's the symbol of the rebellion. The districts and the Capitol are in the verge of war. I am going back in the arena, to the horror that I'd tried to forget. I must deal with it. I have to. I know that the other victors are in shock, just like me. The Capitol will lose their 23 precious victors, I wonder if I'm precious to them. President Snow planned this, he wants the Mockingjay dead, because Katniss Everdeen is the face of the rebellion.

After her game, the Capitol was focused on her, and it still does. They always broadcast the life of Katniss and Peeta after the game, their romance, their plans, and their inevitable wedding. Tomorrow will be the reaping day, too fast. President Snow wants us all dead, the victors. Katniss Everdeen's game was rebellious. When her game's done, I see something in my district that wasn't there for 75 years, hope.

After the announcement of the Quarter Quell, I head outside so that I can smell a fresh air from my district. People are looking at me, because they know that I will be in the arena again in one week. I ignore them because it's true, their eyes, I know they are sad because of me. They want to help me but they can't. I head to my old house, it's still the same. Nothing has changed. The memories, they are going back in my head, but I let it. I'm gonna die anyway. I walk away from the house, and I glance back and give it a hoping smile. I continue to walk away. Our old house is small, it's made of wood. It has 2 rooms, one for my parents, and one for me, and my siblings. For us, it's big enough to handle us all. But now they are gone, it gets bigger, I think. I put a barrier in some part of my mind to avoid myself from thinking my family because I know it will ruin me, again.

I head to the market section and have something to eat. I ordered a soup and wait for it. The lady comes and puts the bowl on my table, then she says something to me, "Good luck... tomorrow.", I just ignore her because I don't want them to see me like a puppy. I want to be strong as the strongest tree. "Thanks, I need that anyway." I say, after I eat, I head to Victors' Village, to my other - new - home, then the man comes to me, "I feel sorry for you, dear."

"Then don't. I don't like it." I starting to walk away from him, but he says something that made me stop, "So you'll participate?" I get what he meant and I just nod. I glance back at him and give him a faint smile and he nods and starts to walk away. I head to my home. It's getting darker, I have nothing to do. I sit on the couch and thinking how will I protect the Mockingjay on my own. I wonder if Katniss knows it, about the rebellion. There had an uprising in District 8, it had happen when Peeta Mellark, co-winner of Katniss last year’s games, asked to marry him. District 8 had planned this, to divert the attention of the other districts and the Capitol. That’s what I know. I don’t know the other details. But it didn’t last, thousands of peacekeeper came. Hovercrafts bombed the rebels. There has been a talk in District 7, they want to rebel, they want to fight. We will fight for our freedom soon, I think. Tomorrow is the reaping day, and I’m ready for it. Something pops up in my head, I remember my first game, I was pretending to be weak and that did go well. Ryan, my district partner, hit the forcefield. The axe. The tributes that I have killed. I wiggle my head as if it will remove the thoughts. But it didn’t. I think of something else, another strategy, Katniss Everdeen, uprisings. Uprisings. It was once happened, we call it the Dark Days, thirteen districts rebelled against the Capitol but we didn’t win, District 13’s vanished, that’s when the Hunger Games were born. After the Capitol won. They are forcing 24 children to participate in the games, but since this is 75th Hunger Games, and a 3rd Quarter Quell also, the male and female will be reaped from their existing pool of victors. I am a victor, the only living female victor of District 7, just like Katniss Everdeen, the only living female victor of District 12, she’ll represent her district. I wonder who’s gonna be with her, is it Haymitch, or Peeta? I sigh. I head to my bed room and throw myself on the mattress. I hug one of my pillows and shut my eyes. I hear President Snow in my head, reading the 75th Hunger Games twist. “On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors.” We are the victors, we are the strongest, we can’t overcome the power of the Capitol…

Unless, the Districts will unite and fight. If that happens, then we are more than a victor. We will be more powerful than the Capitol. And the only person can make that happen is Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, the symbol of the rebellion, the Mockingjay.