Into Thin Air: The Forty-Second Hunger Games

Chapter 2

I should also specify that Silken and Onyx's program was made by the Capitol. They deal with Capitol enemies.

Jason Lenn

The Fortieth Games...

My sister was the greatest fighter in the world. She'd been killing it in the Arena, just like I knew she would. I knew Angelo had poisoned the Careers' water, since the audience could see it all on camera, but I wasn't worried for her. She was smart enough to figure it out.

It was Theo that didn't catch on. I watched him spasm and die and that brought Valerie one step closer to victory. Not that she couldn't have killed him on her own. She jumped up and slew Angelo like the cur he was. I felt a quick surge of fear when Karyssa stabbed her in the back, but it wasn't over. It would take more than that to kill Valerie. Karyssa was about to find that out.

"No, please! I don't want to die! Please don't!"

What? What was she doing? It was a trick. It had to be a trick. But why was she scooting away with her hands in the air? She was scooting farther away from her weapon. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Why was Valerie acting like that?

Valerie whimpered like a dog. She wailed and whined as Karyssa came toward her. When she wet her pants, I knew it was real. I was wrong about her. She died clawing at her punctured throat and wallowing in blood.

One year later...

My sister was the biggest coward in the world. After what she did, I was kicked out of the Academy. My parents said we were both failures, even though I hadn't done anything. I heard what everyone else said about Valerie and it seared into me. I couldn't decide whether to miss her or hate her. Hating was easier. And they were right. She died like a coward and disgraced us all.

I wasn't the chosen volunteer, of course, but that didn't matter. I was going to volunteer anyway. What were they going to do, ostracise me? I had the training from before they kicked me out, and I remembered the things Valerie taught me before she went yellow. Since that, I'd been training myself with a knife. I'd also been learning how to climb, after Valerie's Arena.

I wasn't going to be like her. I was going to be brave, something she obviously didn't understand. I was going to fight and win and never ever let fear take over. I didn't need the Academy. I didn't need my parents. I didn't need a sister like her. I only needed myself. I was going to win this, all by myself.

Tuesday Erelle

The Games were the biggest mystery in Panem. Of all the millions of us who watched, only forty-two of us knew what they were like. They were the most secret, most unknowable, most agonizingly mysterious thing in the country. I had to know more.

I felt like a hypocrite training after what I did to Camilla. My sister was obsessed with the Games ever since she was little. I loved to study people, and of course I knew Camilla best of all. She was reckless, violent, cruel, and she had a deathwish. If she'd volunteered, she would have set a record for killing. But she wouldn't have won. No matter what she was, I loved her, and I didn't want to see her die. So I sabotaged her. It was easy enough for a casual student like me to determine which of her competitors had the most promise. I sabotaged only the fights Camilla had with Mulan Haines, Camilla's worthiest opponent. Time and time again the instructors saw Camilla lose to her because, unknown to them, I'd loosened her sword or bent an arrow fletching. So they picked Mulan. Not that it mattered last year, since it was a Resurrection Games.

I trained for probably the weirdest reason anyone in two ever had: I wanted to write an article. Not just any article, though. The coolest article in Panem history. I wanted to write an insider perspective on the Games. I wanted the people to know what it was really like. Most of the Victors were recluses, and the others were mostly Careers who told only about their own exploits. I wanted to give the people the nitty-gritty backscenes stories only a participant could know. I wanted to write about all my competitors as people, not just Tributes. That would be a better prize than all the riches and glory given to Victors.

The thing was, to write the article, I had to win. So I trained like a maniac and shoved aside the guilt when Camilla was overjoyed I got picked. It was a little surprising I got picked, since I had a bit of a weakness. I liked to be flashy. It would have been smart to learn archery and fight from afar, but morningstars and halberds just looked so cool. Or maybe it wasn't a weakness. The instructors didn't see how well I could fight in the Arena. They only saw how cool I looked practicing.

I practiced hard, but that wasn't the important part. I didn't care about killing people. I'd do it to keep myself and my article safe, but it was just a chore. The important part was meeting the other Tributes and finding out about them. I wanted to know their motivations and dreams- what made them tick. That would help me fight, of course, but it would also help make my article more genuine. I wasn't in it for the glory or killing. I was in it for a prize of my own making.