Revenge (A Hunger Games Story)

Chapter 1

Addie's Reaping

"Addie Gravel," Scarletta Seasons called out.

My heart felt heavy. I couldn't lift the weight that brung me down.

Please don't take her, I asked the universe. Don't take my sister.

Now it sucks I live in district two. It sucks that the Capitol and the 11 other districts expect so much from us. I don't want to open my eyes again. I don't want to see this horrible world. I don't want my life to be this way.

But that is something beyond my control. And if it were up to me, none of this would've happened in the first place. No reaping, no wars, no discomfort.

But I do not run the world. I fear what would happen if we keep the same president. But what terrifies me more is the option of another ruler. Someone who could bring worse things. Worse than mud on your new white shoes, worse than forgetting, worse than losing. But nothing could be worse than what is happening right now.

Addie shakes on the center stage, like she just jumped out of cold water. It's too late now. My thoughts led my too far away from the real world. I can't do anything to stop her from going into the games now. This is what I fear, every living moment. Knowing someone you love is out there, and you can never reach them.

I can't keep watching. My head shifts around as the tears threaten to pour.

No, I tell myself. You are stronger than this.

I don't care enough anymore to listen to the boy's name. What's really on my mind is what I'm going to say to Addie in our last embrace. She won't make it.

She refused training, saying it's too brutal. She skipped classes at thirteen and acted like nothing was wrong. She chose not to be part of it. I admire her for making all the choices I never got to.

I watch as the doors open in the Building. Peacekeeps rush to my families side, making sure we stay in the boundaries. I wouldn't risk a thing in this building. Not after the events inside.

The official name is the Justice Building, but since it never brought justice to my family, we just call it the building.

Here is where they refused my parents marriage three times, because apparently my mother "didn't know responsibility yet."

It is also where my unborn brothers were taken. Only four kids or less, our district say. My mother didn't want one twin living without the other, so she told them to take both. I'll never support that decision.

But as I walk through here another time, I realize this place is incapable of happy moments. Broken hearts whimper through the walls. This building is pure evil. Just like the people who built it in the first place.

Addie is waiting on the couch when we arrive. She stares down at her hands, where her pearl necklace intertwines between her finger.

"Oh Addie," I say to my sister, embracing her in a hug. I want to hold her and never let go.

My mother waits in the corner with my brother and sister. They are young, they don't understand the games yet.

My father doesn't come to the reapings. He wouldn't last five minutes.

Unlike others, live means something to my family. I don't understand how some people can just go around, stealing innocent lives.

"I know you can do this Addie. You can win. It doesn't have to be violent, though. Outsmart them. Show them they are up against soldiers just as strong."

Addie is different. She sees and understands.

I know I don't have much time now.

I remove a piece of paper from my pocket and place it in her hands.

"Open it when you're ready," I tell her.

Her uneasy frown makes her eyes droop.

"I love you Addie. Forever and always." Our pinkies connect. We started doing this years ago, when we were little. I want to relive all of my past. "You are the best sister I could've ever asked for."

"I love you, Ana," says Addie, letting the tears go.

Peacekeepers burst through the doors and march in.

"I love you more. I'll see you soon."

And those were our last words.