| A Twisted Fate ❀ Cato Hadley |

The Beginning Of My End

 Chapter 1

The Beginning Of My End

That's the problem with being the strong one. No one offers you a hand.

Multiple factories, extravagant houses, and hardly any visible signs of poverty. This was District 1, my home since birth. I was fortunate growing up in such a wealthy place, and given many more opportunities that would help me as I got older in life. The people that lived in District 1 were very... Colorful characters, to say the least. At school, most of the students were full of themselves, and always acted too high and mighty for my liking. That's why I never once tried befriending any of them. We had nothing in common, except for living in the same district and earning the same perks as everyone else who lived in the Career districts got. Just because I had it made, didn't exactly mean my entire life was perfect. I used to have an older brother, Blaze. He was eighteen when he volunteered for the 71st Hunger Games. He was a hard worker, and sometimes wise, in spite of the smug morons he would hang out with. He trained to his full extent, constantly wanting to better himself in every way. But maybe that was his mistake right there. He was a perfectionist. He always had to be better than everyone else.
My parents, and my two younger siblings were expecting him to win. Myself included, but to be honest I was doing my best not to get my hopes up. I did have faith in my brother, and I would hope to God every single day after he volunteered that he would stay alive. And he did. But only for a while. He placed second in the games. It was only him and another girl from District 7. Johanna Mason murdered my brother, and I wasn't the only one who witnessed his televised death. My family was devastated. I was heartbroken. Blaze was someone I could confide in if I needed help with something, whether it be with training or just some measly issue with school. Someone that I could count on to always be there for me. And now he's just gone.

I was only twelve years old when I saw him die. My younger siblings, Sparkle and Leo were nine. The full concept of death hadn't really developed into their young minds yet. Now they're twelve years old, and Leo's been taking it the hardest ever since. Blaze was his only brother, after all. Not too soon after that, my father got ill. He was admitted into the hospital, but there was nothing the doctors could do to cure him. My father was nothing like my mother. He was humble and full of knowledge. He was a rare type of man in our district. He believed in treating everyone with kindness, and always scolded my siblings and I to refrain from acting too big-headed or vain. He wanted us to be different. He wanted us to be good people. I was thirteen when he passed away. I refused to go to school and hid in my bedroom for a month. But I could only hide for so long. My mother quickly forced me to attend school and my usual training sessions again. I was distracted during training, resulting in me being considered the weakest girl in our grade level. There was always some gossip going on about me, and once a rumor that I was a mute even got around. As for the "Weakling" thing, that was a complete lie. I could defend myself if the time came.
I'm light on my feet and stealthy. My past instructor always told me to avoid conflict if I were to be put into a dangerous situation. He said to always listen to my natural instincts. Do whatever you can to stay alive. My new instructor has me work on the things I'm not so good at... For instance, making me practice with long-distance weapons. I had gotten so used to my daily routine of getting straight to the hand-to-hand combat lesson and just winging it from there. Close range weapons felt as if they were practically made for me, since they were the easiest thing for me to actually succeed at. I relied on my senses to dodge any hits or swings that were made at me, and most of the time it worked. It didn't make up for the fact that I wasn't able to shoot an arrow at someone while hiding above ground, but at least I was good at something.

"Spark, hey, don't you have to take a bath?" I ask my little sister, striding into her bedroom's doorway. She continues swiping the fuchsia-colored polish across her fingernails, before finally closing up the small bottle.

"I already did. Mom wanted me to tell you to do your nails for the Reaping tomorrow... She mentioned something about wanting you to try and put some effort into how you look." Spark murmurs the last part, beginning to get distracted with drying off her nails.

"Of course she did." I reply, mainly to myself. I walk out of her bedroom, shutting the door behind me. It was just now that I realized how alike Blaze and my mother were. She always wanted us to be the best, look the best, and act the best. She was the exact thing my father told us not to be. When I asked my father why he married someone like her, his reply was "You'll understand when you're older.. When you find that one person that you just love so much that you'd do anything for them... But, she didn't used to be this way. The pressure of wanting to fit in got to her. You can't blame her for wanting to feel apart of something." A small bit of hope was still inside of me, expecting that someday my mother would be the way she once was... Loving, and kind. I missed her.
I suck in a breath and walk over to the empty bathroom. I pull my hair out of it's tight bun, and let it fall down to my shoulders. I do just as my mother requested, making sure I didn't look as tired as I normally did. By the time I'm finished, I'm already laying down in my dimly-lit bedroom, wide awake and staring up at the ceiling. I hear my mother arrive back home from her job an hour early, but I don't bother greeting her. She works as a jeweler at a shop called Beauté, which conveniently meant 'beautiful' in French.

I avert my gaze outside of my window, absent-mindedly gazing at the lights still shining about in the town. I close my eyes, and that's when I start drifting off into an oddly peaceful sleep. It could be the last nice one I have.