Over and Over: The 32nd Hunger Games SYOT

Chapter 7

I don't have the Seven female yet, so I'll get back to Seven. If she's not in by the time Twelve is done, I'll open the slot, but I want to give every chance for the original submitter. Sorry you won't get to see Asper for a bit, Jms2. I guess this gives me time to make his POV perfect.

Haber Dasher POV

Remus looked as stupid as ever. He was wearing an orange suit with green splotches and a red tie. It wasn't even fashionable in the Capitol, far less in Eight. I despised him even more than the idiots who bruised my arm when they held it steady as they pricked my finger.

People like him should be in the Games, not us, I thought. They're all such beasts. Except the ladies, like that vixen from Two. She's all right.

I leaned forward in excitement as Remus bent over the male bowl. The best part of any Reaping was seeing which boy we'd be rid of.

Maybe it'll be Zash. He's such a toad. I'd like to see his face when he hears his name. Any of them will do. Brainless trash.

Remus couldn't even do his one job right. Instead of Zash, he picked "Ryker Merlin", a boy I didn't even know. I smiled in satisfaction when Ryker started to scream for help and grab at the boys around him. They wouldn't do anything for him. They were good for nothing. I savored his wails as he stood on the stage, showing us all the coward his kind always are.

It wasn't nearly as fun when Remus moved to the girls' bowl. The girls didn't deserve this. They were nice and sweet. Better we should send two worthless boys than make a girl go through all that. Remus pressed on in his merciless crime and picked a name.

"Haber Dasher!" he called. I clenched my fist and curled my lip when he dared to say my name with his filthy lips. Before anyone could react, I ran onto the stage and tackled Remus. I punched his prissy mouth and tore at him until two of his cronies picked me up off of him. I kicked and clawed at both of them as Ryker wailed behind us. It was perfect chaos- a fitting scene for the murder of so many girls.

My family visit was short and sweet. I'd long ago disowned my father for being a horrible person, so it was just me and my mother. She seemed worried and told me to "be nice", whatever that meant. I didn't care about being nice. I just wanted to make sure whoever won the Games deserved it, and if that meant killing every boy I saw, that was fine with me.

Ryker Merlen POV

It felt weird not going around asking if anyone had any messages. Usually I'd be running across town bringing news and information to whoever passed me a few coins, and if a few words got mixed around, it was just a little harmless fun. Maybe sometimes a secret admirer's note went to the wrong girl. It wasn't like I was a criminal.

"See you at the bench after the Reaping," Tyle said as we reached the Reaping center. He looked like he wasn't even worried, and he spent more time encouraging Biana and Carla that paying any attention to me.

Of course you're not worried. You're the talented, perfect one. You're too good to get Reaped, I thought. It's always Tyle this and the twins that, never Ryker and his little enterprise. With the amount of attention I got, it was no wonder I liked to stir up a little drama in the District.

Maybe it was just a Capitol thing, but Remus always seemed absentminded. Sometimes he started with the boys and sometimes the girls, and once he forgot to greet us before he dove into the bowls. This year the boys were first. I'd always dealt with the Reapings by pretending I was somewhere else. I felt shudders well up in my chest as I closed my eyes and thought of delivering messages.

Only one thing could have disturbed me, and it was just what I heard. My name rung out like a funeral summons and I tried to scream it away. I looked at the boys around me and begged for their help. We had to stick together. We couldn't let them rip one of us away and kill him. I shrank back when the Peacekeeper came, but I was too afraid to run. I just wailed and dug my feet in as he dragged me to the stage. Of all the people in the crowd, not one of them lifted a finger, least of all my brother.

Remus reaped a girl and she joined me. She wasn't in my class, but I remember seeing her a few times. She always looked like she wanted to spit at me. She attacked Remus like a crazy woman and attendants swarmed the stage. I tried to pull away in the confusion, but it was no good.

I didn't get any comfort from seeing my family. Mom and Dad were here out of duty, not love. They weren't even crying. Their son was about to die and they weren't even crying. Biana and Carla I could understand. They were fourteen, but they were still young enough not to know what to think.

"I'm sorry," Dad said. He looked like he had more he wanted to say, and I was glad he cared enough to say anything.

"It's all right," I said dismissively. I wanted it to be over, and I tried to change the subject. "Did you guys bring a token?"

Dad looked up in dismay. "I didn't think of that," Mom said. She seemed more surprised than remorseful. All my emotions spilled over, and I jumped to my feet.

"No, of course you didn't think of that. You never think of these things!" I said. All the bitterness and resentment boiled up and I said the only thing that expressed my feelings.

"If it had been Tyle you would have remembered!"

"That's enough!" Tyle said. He put his arm around Mom as Dad went pale.

"No, it's not enough. Just shut up. You don't even love me enough to volunteer!" I said. Carla and Biana were hugging each other and crying. Even though I was still furious, I felt bad they had to be there. I turned my back on them all.

"Peacekeepers! Please take them away. I'm done," I called. Tyle whispered something to Mom and escorted her outside. The twins scooted out ahead of them. None of them paused to apologize or at least defend themselves. Only my dad lingered in the doorway for a moment. He said something so quietly I couldn't make it out.

I didn't turn around until they were gone. I didn't need them. Maybe they overlooked me, but things were going to change. I was on my own, and I wouldn't give anyone a chance to forget me in the Games.

Like pretty much everyone in the developed world, I'm a feminist, but that also means I have to admit both genders have their stinkers. Some women do hate men, and I have enough sense of humor to be able to write an old-fashioned man-hater now and then.