Moonlark

I Am The One Thing In Life I Can Control

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" Della blatantly stared at the clearly insane girl in the crowd.

"Nobody can say no to that, sweetheart!" Della beckoned a perfectly manicured hand. "Sisters, are you," The woman purred. Sophie just glared and walked up the stairs, spine perfectly straight, a tear running down one cheek. "What's your name dear?"

"I am Sophie Elizabeth Foster, District Twelve Tribute, The Town Crazy, and sister to Amy Rose Foster." Amy struggled in the back, uniformed guards pushing her to the ground. When Amy heard her name she sagged, falling limp.

"I knew it," crowed Della, triumphant in her assumption.  "There is always a reason to worry. Happy Hunger Games!" The trio trudged down the steps to a high-tech magtrain. "Go on in darlings, your mentors are waiting." The hyper woman gently shoved them in, prancing to her own train car in fancy stilettos.

"Wait! Don't we get to say goodbye?" Dex rubbed his arm, thinking the same. Della sniffed. 

"If you must." Della made a swirling movement with her hand, and their families were pushed up to the magtrain doors. Dex knelt down, talking to the triplets grimly. Sophie hugged each member of the family, clutching Amy, her last lifeline.

"I love you Amy," she whispered. Amy made a strangled noise, choking up as Sophie slid two months' worth of ration cards into her sister's pockets. "Keep mom and Dad safe."

"Don't die." Sophie fell silent, determination setting in.

"I won't. I swear on Marty."

"We aren't allowed to swear." Tears both happy and sad filled their eyes as Della pulled Sophie and Dex back into the magtrain. The doors slid shut, the train was off. 

"I am Tiergan, your mentor." Sophie glanced up at the olive-skinned man, noticing a woman with a gown of circuitry and wires talking to Dex. "There are only two things you need to do. Get the crowd in their feels. Survive." The serious man took a swig of a magenta bubbling drink. Evidently not his first. "I can't help you more than that."

"You can't, or you won't." Tiergan glared at her, incensed.

"Both." He poured himself another round, but Sophie grabbed a nearby dagger, for food, and sliced the flute of the wineglass off, stabbing the table between Tiergan's fingers. He caught a flash of the pin in her palm, his drunken blue eyes widening. "I'll teach you. But I go by what I said earlier. Get the crowd's attention."

The magtrain lurched to a sudden stop. Sophie followed her Avox to a bustling room where people in bizarre styles waxed, cleaned, and dressed Sophie before sending her to bed with instructions to return in the morning. To prepare for the showing. A parade of prey. Or predators.