Chapter 4 - Knives and Balloons

122 11 14
                                    

Reyna Pisces P.O.V. (District 4)

I cast out my line, and wait. The blue water ripples, and there's a gust of wind. Sighing, I pull out my line.

"Well well well? What do we have here? A little rich girl stealing fish hmm? Well we should stop that!" A girl says.

Talia Zale. I slowly turn to face her.

"What do you want Talia?" I ask, steely calm.

She snickers, "I want you to stop stealing food from the poor."

"I'm not! I was going to-" I start.

"Does it matter?!" Talia flicks her hand, and two girls come out from behind her.

One of them takes my fishing pole and throws it on the ground, and the other one kicks my basket of fish to the ground. Talia picks up a couple of them, tucks them in her bag, and throws the rest of the fish back in the water.

"C'mon girls." Talia says.

The three of them stalk off, carrying my fish.

"Enough!" I yell.

I take out my knife, and am just about to lunge at Talia, my knife is almost at her back when someone grabs my arm and pulls me back. Kai.

"What!?" I whirl around and hiss at him.

"Stop. Reyna, this isn't like you. Your not a killer!" He says.

"Yes, yes I am! I'm a Career! And I need to end her." I snarl.

"Fine." He lets go of my arm, but I can feel him watching me.

I sprint forward, and know what I'm going to do. I pull out my knife, and slash Talia on the back, near her shoulder. I don't stay to find out what happens next. I take off, running to Kai.

"Run! Kai, run!" I scream.

He takes off, kicking up dust clouds as he goes. When I meet up with him, Talias voice has faded, and Kai is sitting on the beach, laughing.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey. Where'd ya get her?" Kai asks through his laughter.

"Right on the shoulder." I point to where I got her.

"Nice. Hey, you realize you could be charged for that right?" Kai says seriously.

"She won't tell anyone, I'm sure of it. She'll be to scared." I reply.

"You ready for the Reaping?" He asks.

"Yeah. I guess."

"You realize you could die if you get picked right?"

"But no one can volunteer anyways. So if I get picked, there's no coming back out."

"We better get going."

I get up, and Kai walks with me.

"I'll walk you to the docks, ok?" He says.

"Yeah, sure." I reply.

Kai takes me to the docks, where my jet ski is. Because my siblings, Alyson and Triton, are Victors, we live on the Victors Island. Which means the only way to get to my house is by boat or jet ski. So I take the jet ski. Mine is blue and black, all electric and Eco-friendly. I wave at Kai as I pull away, my brown hair flying behind me. Once I arrive at the island, I jump onto the dock, and run past the rows and rows of houses on the island. We live in the biggest one, because we have two Victors, not one.

"Mom, I'm here!" I yell.

When I get no response, I run up to my room. My Reaping dress I laid out on the bed: A blue mini dress, with a belt that looks like a raindrop. My sisters' blue lace up wedges are on the floor next to my bed. And my favorite bracelet, a frozen raindrop, hammered into a bracelet, on my dresser. After getting dressed, and doing my makeup, I walk downstairs.

"Hi Reyna!" My sister, Alyson says.

"Hi Alyson." I reply.

When she's not looking, I roll my eyes. Before she went into the Arena, she was the cool, dangerous sister. But now, after the Arena, she's become soft. No more fun throwing knives, no more hunting in District 4.

"Oh, I just hope youdon't get picked." Alyson says dreamily.

"Alyson, I want to get picked! Then I can kill 12 people, and live in the Capitol!" I yell at her.

Angirly, I stomp off, only to find Triton standing in the hallway.

"Triton!" I yell, and embrace him.

He's been on a trip in the Capitol, working with the Gamemakers. Triton wasn't supposed to be back in time for the Reaping.

"Well, doesn't someone look excited!" He exclaims.

I playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Tell me a story." I beg.

Triton always told me stories. Every since we were little, he'd tell them to me.

"Not today... There's someone waiting for you."

Triton steps aside, and reveals Kai. He's dressed in black dress pants, dress shoes, and a collared blue shirt that he rolled up the selves.

"Kai!" I run over, and hug him.

"Woah, Reyna." He laughs, then kisses me on the cheek.

I stiffen.

"Wha-" I start.

"Reyna, I like you. Be my girlfriend?" Kai asks quickly.

"Of course." I say, ecstatically.

He kisses me again.

"Aww.. How cute!" Triton laughs, then pulls out a camera.

"Triton!" I yell.

Then I grab a water balloon from a bowl on a table that we left from Rivers, my other brothers birthday. I hurl it at Triton, but he ducks. It hits Alyson square in the back, soaking her purple mini dress. She gasps.

"Run!" Triton and Kai scream.

All of us run onto the dock, throwing water balloons and splashing each other. Everything is fine until Triton and Alyson corner Kai and I, and River pushes us into the water. Eventually, all of us end in the water. Kai and I climb out, only to meet my parents.

"What happened!?" They screech.

***************************

I stand next to some random girl.

Our escort, Mahogany Vesta, pulls our the first girl.

"Talia Zale!"

Talias not very pretty, but she's viscous. Mahogany gets ready to pick the next tribute. It's not going to be. I know that. I'm just a normal District 4 girl, with wavy brown hair and a splash of freckles across my face. Nothing special. Suddenly, I don't want to get picked. Then I might have to pretend to be in love with Hero... And Kai.... What would I do? I doesn't matter. Cause I'm not going to be picked.

"And our next tribute is... Reyna Pisces!"

I gasp. Why me? I blindly walk up to the stage. I hear claps and talking, but above all, I hear Kai call my name. And then I hear River scream my name. But a gunshot rings out and the screams go silent. I turn around, and expect to see Kai lying on the ground, but the sight is far worse. My small, happy, and lovable 12 year old brother lies on the ground, a ring of crimson around his head. River is dead.

The 300th Hunger GamesWhere stories live. Discover now