Culling

Part I • Chapter III

She wore a short green dress that was low cut enough in the front to showcase her cleavage. The dress was paired with glittering shoes that looked to be too high and sharp for anything but weaponry.

She wore bright red lipstick that highlighted the fullness of her mouth, and her eyes were lined with dark eyeliner and made her large brown eyes pop. It appeared as though her skin also had been lathered in the same glitter that was in her hair.

She looked like a fairy.

A very uncomfortable fairy.

Now that I was watching her closely, I noticed that she wasn't gliding so much as she was attempting to take tiny steps and not fall.

However, she carried on as she positioned herself to the left of a ridiculously gigantic raffle drum. "It is so wonderful to be here today with the lovely people of district six. It has been an honor to be the representative to choose the tributes for our beautiful district!"

There was a slight pause before she tightened her lips and continued. "My name is Ba... Khloe. My name is Khloe." She glanced up, touching her ear briefly, as if daring anyone to argue.

When no one did, she continued on with her speech. She gave a general outline of the games, how they worked, the history behind them and so forth.

The speech went on for a few minutes and no one appeared to really be paying attention. Even she didn't seem to find it exciting. Finally, Khloe ended her monologue to announce that the Capital had created a special video that they wanted to show before the reaping process began.

A screen descended behind the stage, and a short countdown appeared before the film started.

It was mesmerizing to look that, that was for sure. The Capital was all about their theatrics.

A stern sounding, yet strangely soothing male voice was projected through the area as the narrator thanked everyone for their happy participation for a very special edition of the Culling.

The voice spoke of glory and honor, and of showcasing the strength of a nation by way of it's youth. There were a lot of very scenic clips - places that I never even knew existed - and the narrator went on to talk about how our brave soldiers in districts one and two defended all of these lands to keep us safe.

Safe from what exactly? It wasn't mentioned.

The narrator, using some strange circular reasoning, spoke of the Culling as if it were some grand tournament where only the best and bravest partook. From the looks of the people around me, no one bought it.

Then, the moment I had been waiting for finally happened.

Near the end of the video, the narrator stated that due to the nature of the games this year, that there would be a new event. This year, the Capital would be taking part and sending in their own twenty tributes.

Reactions from the audience were mixed, I noticed.

Once the initial shock wore off, it seemed as though people were split on if this could a good or bad thing for all the districts involved.

I knew that they were thinking, because I thought the same thing.

Our nation's armed forces were stationed in districts one and two. District three was the main technology and medical hub of the country. Then there was the rest of us lower class citizens. We all knew what to expect from each other.

On the other hand, nobody knew what the Capital was capable of besides the obvious: spending money, being threatening and looking ridiculous (if Khloe was any indication). Of course, they were the leaders of the rest of the nation, but what did that mean exactly.