The Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games

Chapter 1

I now stand at the entrance to my old bedroom in the President's Mansion. Obviously we were given a home elsewhere after a new President was chosen but Coin was so insistent on getting rid of my family and I that it wasn't possible to collect any of my belongings. Luckily, President Paylor has granted me access to my room, only to get a few things I was forced to leave behind.

She had two guards watching my every move, of course. I don't blame her for being careful, what with the two previous leaders dying almost simultaneously and my direct relation to Snow. Were the situations reversed, I would probably be weary of the strange girl with the familiar snake-like eyes as well.

Snake-like. Many people used that to describe my grandfather's eyes, even before he was president. It wasn't until the war started affecting the capitol that people began to describe my eyes the same way.

"Lyrina, is something wrong?" my Mother asks, alerting me to the fact that I've been standing directly under the doorway for far too long. I nod slightly and make my way to the bedside locker. I pull out the first drawer and feel around for the trinket I came back for. I smile half-heartedly when my fingers lock around my old thimble. It's silver with a grapevine circling the curve at the top.

I've had this thimble for over six years. After finding it in a mucky flowerbed in the circle, I took it everywhere. It calmed me whenever I was scared or angry. I don't know why, but it made me feel better. Running my finger along the cold, smooth surface and wondering how it ended up in circle was the distraction I had from any pain or suffering.

"That's all I wanted," I mutter quietly to the guards. I practically sprint out of the room and back outside, my Mother following closely behind. Once we're in the circle in front of the mansion, she opens her mouth to say something. Either she loses her nerve or thinks a guard is within earshot because she snaps it shut again.

I remind myself of how distant I've been acting since I was announced a tribute, in an effort to apologize for this; I link my left arm with her right. They announced the tributes on television, never gathered all the capitol children and picked names. I suppose the tributes were hand-picked, chosen only to inflict pain on those who held the most power in the Capitol during the rebellion. You'd think my grandfather dying would have inflicted enough pain on my family, I guess the districts didn't feel the same way.

Though, I do understand why the games are being held again. The districts' need for revenge is most certainly justifiable. They've been enslaved by the Capitol for years, they want us to endure the same torture their children did. I didn't understand that during the early uprisings, but the rebel's messages taught me otherwise.

"You shouldn't be punished for Coriolanus's crimes," Mother says, trying to hold back her anger for my sake. I can only assume this is what she wanted to say earlier. She clearly doesn't doubt that the rebel's did the right thing in killing him. Even she -Snow's own daughter- thought of him as a monstrosity, so why can't I? Why am I clinging to the good memories grandfather has given me when he has done so much damage to other families? My grandfather's death was so much easier for Mother, she barely shed a tear. She hasn't even referred to him as 'Father' since she watched Finnick Odair spill his secrets. Mother had doubted him long before then, but hearing the accusations was a turning point for her.

I try to shrug, doing my best not to show how scared I really am of taking part in the games. She'll be all alone, watching her only daughter fight for her life in the arena.

My father left a couple years after my birth. It doesn't bother me much and I don't hold a grudge against him. The way I see it, if he was unhappy enough to even consider leaving, then nothing Mother or I could have done would have ultimitely changed his decision. It might have made it harder for him to leave, but the ending would be the same.