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Dove woke up to the sound of her sister's voice. The sun was shining brightly outside. She probably should be at school by now, but she didn't care. Looking at her older sister with a straight face, she wondered why she had woken her up.
"The games start in no time. Thought you wanted to know." The words took time to register in her brain, but eventually, they did.
"Yeah. Thanks," her tone wasn't sweet, but she tried not to sound ungrateful or angry. She was angry, but not at her sister, so she shouldn't pay her anger on her. After getting up from her mother's bed, she went downstairs slowly, with a good grip on her older sister's hand.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Angel asked calmly. Dove knew her sister had been trying to not break down in front of her. She was playing the older sister role, which didn't suit her clearly swollen eyes.
"Angel, we have to talk. I'm not eight years old anymore. I'm not crying, asking you why you have to leave my side for the Reaping. I am young, not naive. So, please, stop looking at me like I'm wounded. I want to help you and mum. Please, let me help you." Dove said. She had been thinking it for years, but never got the courage to express it.
"I-" Angel trailed off. She still treated her little sister like a vulnerable child. Technically, she was still a child, and Angel would probably look at her as such for the rest of her life. Dove would forever be her baby sister.
"I-I am so sorry. . ." her sister mumbled. This is not what Dove wanted. She didn't want her sister apologising to her for such a dumb reason.
"Don't apologise. I don't want that. I want you to tell me what's wrong and let me help you as much as I can. I'll learn how to cook, I'll learn how to fish, I will do anything for you." She hugged her older sister, trying to reassure her.
"I will do anything for you too, my beautiful songbird." To Dove's delight, her sister told her every worry she had in mind until the games started. A full hour of expressing her feelings made Angel feel more relaxed. Like she had just dropped a heavy weight from her shoulders. She wasn't the only one.
At some point, their mother stepped into the kitchen and joined in. She explained little. Librae listened to her children more than anything. That's how her mother was, she didn't talk much. Dove had the theory that her games had something to do with it, but she never tried to ask her about it. She was too scared of the reply.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Sixty-sixth Hunger Games begin!" Claudius Templesmith's voice roared through the room. Sixty seconds until the Bloodbath. She thought.
Once she took a better look at the Cornucopia through the close-ups of the cameras, she saw something strange. There's a trident in the middle of the cornucopia. Weapons like that are extremely rare in the Games. Finnick only got his through sponsors. She thought.
"This year is a tropical Arena. It doesn't seem like there are any visible dangers. So there must be mutations in the most needed places. Maybe near water." Dove looked impressed at her mother, who had analysed the Arena in less than twenty seconds.
"The mutts will look either as a threat or harmless." Her older sister commented. "Probably both, so they can't put their guard down." On this occasion, Dove was the one to talk. They were so focused on discovering the Arena's secret that they hadn't thought about anything else. Their minds were fully focused on the television in front of them.
The gong's sound announced the start of The Hunger Games. Now, the tributes could move to either flee or fight. Her brother joined the ones who chose to fight, and went directly to the Cornucopia. Once he got his hands on the trident, he grabbed a nearby bag and made a run for it to the forest. Alone.
"He's not joining the Career group?" Angel asked. It's true that his decision surprised Dove, but it looked as if he had planned that from the start. She could swear that when the tributes were still on the pedestal, he was searching for an exit near the trident.
"Muscida must have advised him about the probable situations. There's no way the trident would be there out of pure luck. He has shown the Gamemakers what he can do with it. The Careers are foolish, but not dumb. They must have noticed, too. They would have tried to kill him sooner or later," her mother explained to both of them.
"Then it would be four against one. Doesn't matter how deadly or skilled you are, you're at a great disadvantage." Dove said. The cameras were still playing the bloodbath in the Cornucopia. One, two, three. . . Eight dead the first day and just in the bloodbath. Fifteen left to die. She thought.
"Where's the girl from our district?" She asked. She hadn't seen the girl since the gong sounded. It was probable she had fled, but what if she was one of the eight dead? Dove secretly felt sorry for the girl. Her own mentors had decided her fate, and she had no idea.
"I think she's with the Careers. I saw a glimpse of her hair. They must be using her to attract Melo to them. She'll be dead once they realise it's pointless." Angel answered. Her words were true. Nevertheless, it still hurt Dove.
The cameras started doing brief check-ups on the tributes who had gone by themselves. Both from District Three were alive and together somewhere in the arena. District Seven, Eight, and Ten also had both tributes alive. The only districts with one tribute alive were Five and Nine. Both from Six, Eleven, and Twelve were already dead.
Then she saw her brother. He was looking around, probably looking for a source of water. The most important thing for survival. He seemed unharmed and well-rested, which was a good sign. The spotlight wasn't on him for long, though. As soon as the career pack started looking for the other tributes, all eyes were on them.
Two cannons boomed. The careers had found no one yet, so that meant some other tributes were hunting down other people, too. But they hadn't shown who had died or how. Why would they do that? Was it such a quick and unexpected death that not even the Gamemakers saw it coming? Many questions went through her mind.
"Who do you think died?" Dove finally asked, hoping no one would utter Melo's name.
"The cannons were quickly followed by one another. Whoever they were, they were together. So I would say either Three, Seven, Eight, or Ten." Her mother reasoned.
"Isn't it weird that they didn't show how they died? If two groups of tributes found each other and fought, that would make the cameras go to them instantly. But they were on the Careers all the time." Angel reasoned.
"They were likely not killed by other tributes, but by mutts. Probably the show their deaths would have provided would be less engaging than making us figure it out ourselves. So they preferred people to take bets on who is still alive. At least that would make them more interested in other tributes apart from the careers." Her mother deducted.
Her mother's chatty attitude surprised her. OK, since when mum reasons like that? I've never seen her like this in any other Hunger Games. At most, last year, she seemed interested in Finnick, but that was it. She didn't utter a word about the games until Finnick won. And the only thing she said was, "How did they not realise he was the one they had to kill before? I swear these careers get dumber every year that passes."
"So no one knows who is alive until midnight," Dove stated. "Yeah, but they know they have two people less to kill. As they always say, ten dead, thirteen to go." Her sister replied.
Another cannon boomed. And again, no one knew who it was or how they had died. But, what scared the women was that this time, only one cannon sounded. That left two possibilities. Either one of the district groups had lost their ally. Or one of the tributes who were alone died.
Just show who has died already! There have been three unknown deaths, by an unknown cause. She thought, barely controlling her anger. I bet there are sponsors who don't know if the tributes they're spending money on are even alive at this point and have stopped giving them anything. Her anger was boiling more and more inside her every second that passed. The situation was so out of character for the games that she could not believe it.
"Eleven dead, twelve to go," she said bitterly.
Soon enough, midnight came in the Arena. The careers had set a camp, and the tribute from One was keeping watch when the anthem played. It showed all the fallen.
When the first face shown was the female tribute from Five, everyone in the room sighed relieved. The girl from Five, and both from Six. Both from Eight, they had been the first two canons. Both from nine, so the female tribute was the last canon. Both from Elven and Twelve.
"How on earth did both from Eight die so quickly? They didn't look weak, on the contrary, they looked tough. And the same for the girl from Nine. For her death to not be broadcast, it must have been the same as the other two," her sister wondered. It was indeed weird, but by the looks of the games, until the tributes didn't figure it out themselves, they wouldn't either.
"We'll have to wait until the careers figure it out. It doesn't seem like the cameras will leave them anytime soon." Her mother was right. The Gamemakers focused excessively on the Careers. Well, more than usual.
As if they had heard them, the careers started to move. Looking again for victims. They already knew who was left. After a couple of hours of walking, they found both from Ten. The girl escaped with a nasty cut on her arm, but the boy wasn't so lucky. Twelve dead, eleven to go. She thought. Keeping the count in her head somewhat helped her stay focused.
The cannon of the district Ten's male tribute roared around the arena. "Why are they not going after the girl?" Angel asked, looking at their mother.
"They're thinking she'll die on her own with that cut. There's no point in going after her. It will only make them tired and thirsty. They haven't found a source of water yet, so they can't risk it. They aren't as dumb as I initially thought." Her mother answered, still focused on the television.
"Do you think they're still searching for Melo?" Dove spoke up. Right now, their mother seemed to have all the answers. Her capability of analysing people's characters was astonishing. If her mum told her she could read minds, she would believe her.
"Almost definitely. He's a threat, they can't let him be. But they won't go looking for him until they have water. If Melo isn't dehydrated, they'll be at a great disadvantage. Doesn't matter how many they are. So, he's good for now. Let's just pray he has or will find water before them." Her mother replied, looking at her in the eyes.
"OK," she replied. Fixating her eyes on the television again. A couple of hours later, the careers found a river which was suspiciously on the open, no trees around near it. The teens looked pleased to have found water after such a long time. They entered the river and started drinking and cleaning themselves from the accumulated dirt on their clothes.
Until the sound of a scream startled them. The girl from One was being eaten by crocodile mutts. Dove had to close her eyes at the scene. Thirteen dead, ten to go. She thought, keeping her eyes closed until she heard the cannon's roar. Considering how quickly the cannon had sounded, those creatures had killed the two from Eight and the girl from Nine.
The careers ran away screaming, but the girl from her district was attacked before she could get out of the river. The cannon roared again. Fourteen dead, nine to go. The boy from One and the couple from Two looked at the scene, horrified. How were they supposed to get water now if there were such dangerous mutts around?
"They can't get water again without one of them dying. And they can't sacrifice anyone yet, with such a disadvantage in number. So what will their next move be?" her mother wondered while looking at every movement the careers made.
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