Power Over Me ↦ Cato Hadley

i. the reaping

The food that I ate just before my final reaping was rolling in my stomach, making me just as nauseous as I normally was before all of this. At one o'clock, I had to be at the main square in District 11 to be checked in and accounted for, like I was nothing better than some herd animal. The tinny sound of the alarm rattled through my ears, bouncing around inside my skull as I tried to keep my breathing even. 

Despite having been completing the same ritual for near to six years, the alarm still shook me to my core. 

My parents never walked with me to this, always waiting in the crowd and hovering there instead. They didn't like to see my face whilst I waited for the name to be called, preferring to congratulate me on surviving when I reached them.

Camera crews and peacekeepers lined the side of the square, looking down on us as if we were meals for them to devour. There were ropes already out in the centre of the square, cordoning the twelve to eighteen year olds off based on age and gender. It felt like some sort of auction for meat.

Most of the parents stand at the back of the square, chewing on their nails or looking away, pushing against each other to try and search for their children in the crowd. A few teenage boys jostle past me, looking like they wanted to get this over and done with quickly, and I sighed and fell back slightly. 

A hand slid into my own, clutching onto the sleeve of my dress and I turned. Beside me stood Rue, a small girl who I had come to care for dearly. This was her first reaping, already dress in a fluttery dress of pale blue. Most of the times, Rue worked in the orchards, climbing the trees and picking the fruit from the top, but she often snuck into the milking parlour to steal some of the milk that I would keep for her. In return, she'd sneak me little fruits.

"Are you nervous?" I asked softly as we passed a peacekeeper.

"A little. What if I'm picked?"

"You'll be fine, baby bird." I cooed, the nickname that she'd been called by most of the teenagers in the town. "They're just going to take some blood from each of our fingers so they know who we are and then we're going to go and stand in line."

"Alright." She murmured, clinging onto my hand as we drew closer to the table.

"Next." Rue stumbled forward, giving her hand to the Capitol official. The woman grabbed it tightly, yanking her forward to take a prick of blood as Rue whimpered. She turned around, shooting me a look with wide eyes, but I smiled and nodded, trying to tell her that it was alright.

I was next, holding my finger out already for the blood to be taken. This was my sixth, and final year, in the pool of names so I was far too used to it.

"You're done." I brushed past the table, holding my hand out for Rue to grab once more. We drew closer to the pens, and I gave her a gentle push in the direction of the other twelve-year-old girls. 

"I'll see you afterwards."

"Promise?"

"I promise." I smiled, before nodding her onwards. Watching her go, I backed up until I found the group of eighteen year olds. We barely talked, sending each other nervous nods, before turning our attention back to the Justice Building. A temporary stage was set out in front of it with chairs laid out for the most important of them.

In one sat the Mayor, who looked grim at the situation going on. Two years ago, his son had been called and had never returned back. In the other seat, sat our Capitol escort. Aurelia. No last name, just Aurelia.

She had been District 11's escorts for almost as long as I could remember and she was, as per normal, dressed in a gaudy outfit that glittered and shone. She looked like a sun against the dark grey of the rest of District 11.

Her costumes had always amused me.

This year, theme seemed to be sunset, though I couldn't tell for sure. Aurelia's dress was a gradient, that went from orange to a dark blue as it reached her shoulders, glittering with gems and stones. A spiky headdress rested on top of her golden curls, as if she was the sun that we should all orbit around. It was pretentious, but the Capitol was a gaudy place.

She stepped forward, teetering on her heels, before she tapped the microphone and smiled.

"Welcome!" Aurelia trilled, her amber eyes scouring the audience, with a grin that was just too big to be real. My heart seemed to beat louder in my chest. "Happy Hunger Games and, may the odds be ever in your favour." 

And so, it began.

──⭒─⭑─⭒──

Hiya,

So, here we meet Mitzi and I really love her, and her and Rue's relationship. This is set to be an interesting book, and I'm super excited for you to meet all the characters.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx