Love Kills (A Clove Kentwell Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

The fear shouldn't be there. It wasn't welcome. Not in me, it's not. But it was all the same. And wearing the dress made it feel all the more real. It was silver and pretty, at least that could disguise some of the fear. I turned. Even the door wasn't ready. I yanked it open and my family greeted me. Lamina and Trinity looked nice in their matching dresses even though they were still ten years old and couldn't be reaped. On the other hand there was Simon. He was white as a sheet. This year his name was in five times. Mine is in thirty times, so I was probably white as well. Getting reaped meant dying. More for Simon than me. I had been training just in case I was reaped for seven years. The reaping was always painful for our family.
One reaping, which was my first reaping, I was as scared as any twelve year old would be, but my name wasn't pulled. The name was Annalisa Brown, my sixteen year old sister at the time. We spent the entire games glued to the television, scared that if we looked away for even a second she would die, egging her on with our eyes. But the power of our eyes was not strong enough, and now I don't have an older sister. That day I realised, realised that I couldn't to go to the games. I just wanted them to stop. Even if I couldn't stop them I had decided I would die trying. The Hunger Games have to be stopped.
I walked down the maze of streets that make up District Nine. I've gotten to know them well, especially this route. I saw the park and sped up my pace. As I approached the bench I studied it and saw the swirls of wood making out intricate patterns. I sit, drawing my finger over them. "You look weirdly scared," a voice interrupts my thoughts. The voice belonged to Dasha Novak. I look up and smirk. "Well, Novak, I don't know about you but today my name is in thirty times!"
"Come on, mine is in five times!"
"It's still a risk, Dasha." I shook my head. I couldn't stop the Capitol if I was dead, could I? But not even Dasha knew about my plans. It was almost like I felt her sit down, as if she was a part of me. It had always seemed like that when training, the way she was always covering my blind spot, and vice versa. She took my hand. "The reaping is close, we should go there." Almost immediately I felt my breathing catch in my throat. No, I couldn't go. I was sure it would be me. "No, we can't go." I said hoping she understood. She had to. "Come on Lana, there are two hundred thousand people in this district, what are the odds?" I looked at him pleading with my eyes, but I knew from experience my eyes didn't ever do anything. She stood up and offered me her hand. I looked at it. I knew every detail of it, every line and crease. I exhaled and took it.

I walked with Dasha and joined the sixteen year old line. The girl in front of me steps to the side and the lady tells me in a flat voice to 'give me your finger' I fell a sharp pain as she identifies me. I walk over to the big roped off section and in with the other girls my age. After what seems an eternity, Reina Goldstein herself walks onto stage smiling at the crowd and wishes us a 'Happy Hunger Games'. I look around and my eyes find Dasha. Shelooks like how I feel. But she won't be going to the games. I know who will. As Reina is just about to draw a girls name a fear sweeps over me. So primal I bet everyone around me could sense it. Dasha's voice is in my ear. "Who do you think it will be?" I don't have time to answer before some one else does it for me. Reina high Capitol voice echoes around the square, "Sapphire Bell." I whisper to Dasha. "Me." She looks confused. I walk out into the square, I know what I have to do. "I volunteer as tribute."
I walk through the huge crowd and out into the walkway between the boys and girls. At this point I was Annalisa. I could almost see her walking up, pretending so hard to be confident. Only I could tell it was an act. Just an act. I put on the same act. Striding up to the stage and looking over all the girls and a strange sense of comfort came over me. I saving the lives of most those girls. They would go home and be happy. That's what would happen when I stop the Capitol right? People's lives would be saved. Even after I grow old and die, years after I die, in fact. Peoples lives would be saved. I look at Simon. He was completely breaking down. But I couldn't break, not now. Not with the cameras.