Cecelia Lores. It takes me a few seconds to realise that it’s my name she said so easily. Yet in that short time everyone around me has stepped back and looks at me with a sympathic frown that hides their relieve. Whether it is sincere or not, I can’t see. ‘Come on up, dear.’, I look up and see how Kayla reaches her hand towards me, even though I’m several metres away from her. But I don’t move. My legs feel numb, as if I am nailed to the ground. Four peacekeepers walk towards me, all in the same pace. One roughly grabs my arm and pushes me in the perfect square they have formed, to lead me to the stage. Still I don’t manage to react, to say anything or even look the others in the eyes, until Derek’s loud voice awakes me. ‘No! Don’t you dare taking her away from us!’. He jumps in the aisle and runs to me, as fast as he can, while he keeps screaming things I can barely understand. He seems angry, perhaps even desperate, in a way that frightens me. Suddenly he pulls one of the peacekeepers away and firmly embraces me. Just for a second I am safe, enclosed by his strong arms, until I hear the blunt sound of and see how Derek lifelessly falls in front of my feet. I manage to see a glance of the blood dripping from the back of his head, when the other peacekeepers turn me around again and now, faster than before, lead me to the stage.
‘Come on, dear. We haven’t got all day.’ Kayla looks at me as friendly as always. To her nothing has happened, to her this will always be the favourite day of the year. ‘But Derek. Is he..?’, I stutter, looking around in hope of seeing him, but they’ve already carried him away. A small squeeze in my hand, calms me down a bit. It’s Eli and his way of telling me it’s going to be ok. ‘Let’s not worry about that.’ she answers nonchalant and immediately looks a bit relieved. She must think it were her words that calmed me down. With shaking legs I manage to walk up the stares and let Kayla drag me next to her close by the microphone. ‘And now, let’s see who’s going to be our other tribute.’ She walks to the other bowl, smiling grabs the name of an innocent boy who probably is going to die and comes back to the place next to me. ‘The male tribute of the 57th Hungergames is,’ again she raises her voice, ‘Zachary Mils!’
Of course, great. My fellow-tribute wasn’t only almost two feet taller than me, but also known as one of the strongest people in district 8. Now I think about it, I’ve never heard him talk, even though we go to the same school and have passed each other more than a few times at the market. Other than his name, I know nothing about him. For all I know, he could be a born killer. Without showing any emotion he walks to his place on the other side op Kayla. ‘Our tributes for the 57th Hungergames!’, Kayla yells happily, while grabbing a hand of each of us and raising them to the sky. ‘Happy Hungergames and may the odds be ever in your favour.’ After those words Kayla leads us into the city hall, rambling on about what an honour it is, how amazed we will be by the Capitol and how we definitely have a chance of winning. I know she wasn’t talking about me. Zachary has a chance of winning, from the moment he walked upon that stage, I never did.
We each get a small room where we can talk for five minutes with the people we most love. First my parents enter, without Derek. I immediately embrace them and start crying. ‘Is Derek okay?’, I whisper. They nod. ‘He’ll live, but he’ll have a headache for quite some time.’, my father answers, ‘But that doesn’t matter right now. Listen carefully Celia. You’re a strong girl. You can win this, okay?’ I notice how his eyes become red of sobbing and his voice gets less and less understandable. ‘I’ll be fine dad.’, I say softly, not letting go of either of them. The remaining minutes we spend in silence, until a peacekeeper opens the door and demands them to leave. But before they do, my mother manages to give me a small grey ribbon. No one else comes, as I expected. Of course I have friends, but not one that I ought willing to say goodbye of someone who is going to die. Derek for all I know is still unconscious and doesn’t even remember who I am. And Eli will become an Avox if they ever find out that we have an affaire, not a change he will be able to come.
Kayla enters my room and tells it’s time to leave. Zachary follows her, still showing no single emotion. He shortly looks in my eyes, but quickly looks away. Great, he already decided he is going to kill me. I walk next to him, while Kayla again starts talking endlessly about how great the Capitol is. Even when we have entered the train, she doesn’t shut up for a second. ‘It’s the most modern and only way to the Capitol and it’s fast too. More than 350 kilometres per hour! We’ll be in the Capitol in no time.’ We walk trough a maze of hallway’s until we stop in front of two doors, just next to each other. ‘Cecelia, this is your room. Zachary, yours is next to hers.’, Kayla says proudly. ‘I think you are really going to like them. We’re going to eat in five minutes. Don’t be late.’
Instead of entering my room, I follow Kayla back to the dining room, hoping to find Rela and Ivan. I’ll need any help I can get. Obviously Zachary doesn’t think the same way, as he immediately goes inside and loudly closes the door behind him. ‘Manners…’, Kayla sighs, ‘But you seem like a classy young lady Cecelia.’ I force a smile. When we reach the dining room, she leaves me behind saying she has a lot to do. Fortunately Rela is sitting at the dining table, with a drink in her hands. I silently go sit in front of her, but don’t manage to say anything, except ‘Hi.’ Rela isn’t someone of which you would ever think she could win the Hungergames. She still is a small woman with a pale skin and looks as if she could drop dead any second. ‘Nerves aren’t going to help you now, sweetheart.’, she says, putting a mug in front of me. Alcohol? Now, while we should think about strategies, she thinks the proper thing to do is drink? She must have seen my frustration because she immediately continues. ‘It helps against the fear.’ Again I look at the glass filled with a redish substance and pick it up smoothly. Yet before I can take a sip, the strong smell overwhelms me. A sour taste fills my moth and immediately I stand up to run to the bathroom. Without any difficulty to find it, I close the door behind me and kneel in front of the toilet, throwing up the small meal I had had today. ‘Damnit.’, angry I stand up, but dizziness forces me to sit down again. ‘You okay?’. Rela’s standing in the doorway with her mug in her hands. I nod, even though I absolutely don’t feel goed. ‘Listen up girl, I need you to be honest with me, if you want me to be your mentor.’. I look up and frown. What the hell is she talking about? ‘I’m asking you if you’re pregnant, sweetheart.’
