AELLA BARNES chewed nervously on her fingernail while keeping her watery eyes set firmly on the sandy gravel underneath her feet.

A wave of unease had swept across District Five and the entirety of its people, building until it reached its height in that moment. Troubled and distressed citizens merely glanced around skittishly, afraid they'd face consequence for looking for too long. The stiff sea of bodies that barley moved brought a tension one had rarely felt before.

The young teen stood in the forth row from the front and did everything to remain unnoticed, not like it mattered much. If her name was pulled there was no where to hide. She was too afraid to look up and at those around her, too afraid to take in her surroundings of her District's square—something she walked by every day on her way home from school. Only, today it was different. It had been decorated overnight with the flags of Panem and the Captiol, the stage that had been erected with the familiar pair of glass bowls sitting either side and a microphone set precisely in the middle of the stage.

Aella felt sick and in that moment she wanted nothing more than for someone to hold her hand. She wanted to hear her mothers soothing voice or her fathers song just to take the edge away. Knowing they were somewhere in the crowd with her was not enough. She needed to feel them by her side.

When the Panem tune began to echo loudly across the square her stomach flipped into knots. She removed her finger from her mouth and instead fisted the bottom of her pastel yellow dress, attempting to rid her palms of the moisture they'd collected while she ground her teeth together.

Clio Acton, the District Five escort, flaunted on to the stage looking other-worldly. Her eyes swept over the sea of potential tributes presented in front of her and yet, like every other year, all she could feel was pain that she would once again have to see two young lives fight to the death in an arena. The woman despised the Hunger Games and yet she was stuck in the everlasting loop of reaping, games, tour, reaping, games, tour unable to escape because it was her duty to the Capitol...her duty to her President.

She hesitated before the microphone in front of her, continuing her scan of the bodies in front of her and for a split second, her eyes met Aella's fearful gaze before swiping over to the girl standing next to her. She, however, barely noticed the girl.

After a moment more she reached out and tapped the microphone twice with her gloved hand, her long yet nimble fingers hidden somewhat underneath the white lace fabric. She wore heavy makeup to paint her face a very pale colour, almost white but stood out with her oversized electric blue updo. Her eyes, whatever colour they were, were hidden behind large, thick fake eyelashes with fake diamantés stuck on the ends.

She was clad in the most flashy and flamboyant outfit Aella had ever seen, a grey corset dress — so tight fitting she wondered if the woman could even breathe properly — that fishtailed out from the waist to her mid thigh in tulle. From far away, Aella couldn't see the intricate designs on the Escort's corset but they were there regardless. She wore a pair of large grey heels to match, the stiletto at least seven inches with butterflies on the top of them.

"Welcome, welcome to the sixty-ninth annual Hunger Games," She finally spoke. Her voice was surprisingly soft—almost angelic like and it brought some weird sense of comfort to Aella as she stood there gripping her dress in her fists, "May the odds be ever in your favour." She added almost wistfully.

"In manner of politeness, ladies first," She said and began the short walk over to the large glass bowl.

Aella glanced sideways discreetly, over at where the array of boys stood and found the worrisome expression of her brother already watching her. When the two siblings' eyes collided the eldest brother tried to fix his expression and instead offered his sister a supportive smile.

It did nothing to ease her nerves and she looked away from her brother as Cilo Acton hummed to herself after digging through the bowl in an agonisingly slow way. It was almost taunting in manner before she eventually grasped a folded piece of white paper in her fingers. Aella faced forward and she clasped her hands in front of her, crossing her fingers tightly and closing her eyes while thinking back to the conversation she'd shared with her brother that very morning.

'I'm scared Josh,' She admitted in the quietest of voices, as if someone was listening in on their conversation. She looked up at her bother with wide and watery eyes, begging for him to do something—anything, 'I don't want to be chosen, I don't want to compete.'

Josh Barnes shook his head as he looked down at his younger sister—his only sibling—the one girl he'd do anything for. Aella had had him wrapped around his finger from the moment she had been born. He pushed a hand through his dark hair and sat down on her bed, gripping her forearms in his large hands.

"El, we did this last year. Trust me, the odds of your name coming out of that bowl are slim.' He said to her sincerely.

The young teen shook her head, her bottom lip trembling as a tear ran down her face, "But it's still possible."

Josh sighed heavily and he stood up pulling his sister into his chest in an embrace. She clutched to his shirt tightly, fisting it in her small hands as he said, "I swear to you Aella, you won't be reaped. There are hundreds of other girls that that will be there today."

His sister only nodded her head while clutching tightly to her brothers shirt, a tear falling from her face and on to the blue fabric of his shirt...

"The female Tribute is.."

Aella inhaled deeply, the grey sky a cloud of solemn darkness as the District watched Clio unfold the slip of crisp white paper in her hands. Aella was pulled back into the present, disoriented and dizzy. Her fingers were trembling, knees shaking. Once the escort opened up the paper and her eyes danced across the name an eerie chill crept across the square. A silence so deadly took them all by storm as everyone inhaled and no one exhaled. Backs straightened, fingers crossed, eyes closed, prayers were muttered.

"Aella Barnes."

Time and space froze but for Aella her world shattered around her. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe... she was just a statue, stuck there while everyone stared at her with wide eyes like she was the finest cut of meat on display at the butchers.

A chilling feminine scream tore through the silent square belonging to Aella's mother. It brought goosebumps to everyone surrounding, including Clio as she saw the crowd of girls part around a small, young girl. The Escort's heart twisted in a horrific way—it had been years since she'd seen someone so young reaped from District Five.

Aella's mother collapsed into her fathers weak grip as she sobbed loudly, her cries the only sound to be heard for miles. The square was silent aside from her, no one dared whisper a word.

Her brother lost the ability to breathe, his stomach dropping in a way he thought his heart had just broken into two. It hurt..everywhere knowing that his sister had been chosen for this fate—that this would be his last day with her.

Aella, however, was in shock, stuck in an everlasting loop of her name being called over and over again until someone pushed her forward and forced her to walk toward the stage.

All she could think about was how she had been chosen for this. That she had been reaped in the Hunger Games, something her mother had kept her sheltered from for years. That she was only thirteen, less than two weeks away from fourteen and hadn't a single clue about how to survive. She was lucky, her parents had made sure she'd had a comfortable life and now she was faced with...this.

Someone took her hand, assisting her up the few stairs that led to the stage and guided her into the centre. Her heart was pounding too hard to notice it was Clio and she never saw the way the woman's eyes softened so drastically when they cast over her small frame. Clio felt a pull toward the young girl—almost a maternal instinct she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure she'd be able to watch her suffer the torturous fate of the Hunger Games. She was still a child... District Five hadn't seen someone so young reaped in well over twelve years.

"Your female Tribute, ladies and gentlemen," Clio said somewhat solemnly, her voice strained and tight. She looked at Aella fleetingly, "How old are you, sweetheart?"

Aella stared plainly ahead, her mind swirling a frenzied storm. An almost grey hue clouded at the edges of her eyes, pulling her down and under the water. It was almost like a chain had wrapped itself so tightly around her ankle, digging into the flesh, and a weight pulled her under. The further she sank, the darker the hue around her eyes became and with the darkness came a striking inability to breathe clearly.

She couldn't swim, she couldn't fight...she was drowning.

A tear rolled down her face as Clio held the microphone in front of her and she whispered, "Thirteen."

"Ah, so young," The woman said before she straightened her back and stepped away. Her eyes lingered on Aella longer than what she should have before she cleared her throat, "And now for the boys, hmm?"

Again, Clio's fingers danced around the reaping bowl looking for the next boy to fall victim to the Hunger Games. She grasped the slip she desired, picking it out and walking back to the microphone, opening it up and reading the name before she cleared her throat and said, "The male tribute for the sixty-ninth Hunger Games is... Evan Jones."

In that split second Aella was relieved. Josh had made it. His last reaping and his name didn't emerge from the bowl. He was safe and now he was free. Her head dipped forward, eyes closing for a short second as she exhaled deeply. Just for a minute she felt as if she was no longer drowning, that she was starting to swim to the surface.

Josh had made it. It was a shame she hadn't.

A single boy appeared in the midst of the crowd. The boys around him moved away, making way for him while staring. He was older than Aella, taller...stronger.

The boy didn't need direction from the Peacekeepers, he made his own way up to the stage, his movements were cautious and slow. His fear was abundantly clear in his eyes.

"Come, come, my dear." Clio beckoned the boy over to stand by her side and once he had reached her, she put her arm on his shoulder, "And how old are you?"

A deep voice echoed as he responded, "Sixteen."

Clio nodded in approval, sizing the tall boy up as he stood beside her squinting under the harsh glare of the sun that was beating down on them. His dusty blond hair hung in his eyes, blue shimmering eyes and a strong athletic build. Then she turned to Aella whose head didn't even reach Evan's chest and worry consumed her whole again.

"Ladies and gentlemen," She addressed the crowd, "Your tributes. Aella Barnes and Evan Jones... shake hands you two, go on." She urged them.

Evan turned to Aella, his eyes casting over her small frame as he watched the tears continue to spill over her cheeks. Something in him stirred from deep within and he put it down to the very fact that his younger sister would've been her age had she not of passed some years ago. He wanted to help her, he wanted to protect her.

"Hey," Evan whispered to her softly, watching as she barely flinched. He brought her back from deep within and he offered her a reassuring smile while holding his hand out, "It's okay. I don't bite."

Aella looked at his hand with furrowed brows and it took her some time to take it. They shook vaguely, Aella sitting within a different universe she was that far away.

Clio released a breath of contentment or maybe relief that it was over as she said, "Our tributes. May the odds be ever in your favour."

And just like that it was over. The ceremony had ended and the young girl was being guided into the Justice Building though she could hardly put one foot in front of the other. Her heart was still pounding harshly against her chest and her fingers were still shaking. She was lightheaded, her body numb as she walked into the Justice Building. The clock looming above her counting down her days began and stilled, looking up and around the inside of the building.

Eight days. That's all she had until she would die. Or so she thought, so everyone thought. Little did she know she was going to survive, she was going to be the one who emerged victorious but it would take everything from her.

And her life was about to change forever...

• • •

VICTOR of the Sixty-Ninth annual Hunger Games, Aella Barnes proved the entire nation wrong in three short minutes. The pure, innocent, girl with large doe eyes that Panem and Caesar Flickerman had named the 'Golden Girl' after her first interview where she appeared on stage dressed in a golden shimmering dress left the arena a strong and courageous warrior.

She fought with every fibre of her being to claw her way back from the gates of hell and she returned to her District not only a Victor but a survivor. What her family, what her friends, her District, Panem had seen on the television hadn't even touched on what she had gone through in the Capitol.

Her innocence had gone and her soft, pure, heart had been tarnished and torn into bloody ribbons. The girl she had been when she left had died in that arena, in that damn Capitol, and the person she came back as... far too mature for her young age.

She struggled to adjust, to adapt, and just when the darkness began to sweep in—just when she thought the recurrent nightmares would claim her forever her saviours swept in to keep her head afloat. Three of them, all people that could relate with her, who could sympathise with her. She owed her life to them for they did not change, did not falter, did not disappear when her life fell apart so drastically.

They helped her to shape and mould herself into the young woman she had become. They kept her afloat in a dangerous current. They became her lifeline and along the way she found an unlikely ally who joined that group of three. She found herself a best friend in a wicked woman from District Seven but what she never expected was to find her best friend from District Four turn into the love of her life... her soulmate. A soulmate she could never have because of who they were.

And so began the web of lies and secrecy that over the years formed into something that would one day change their world as they once knew it. What they didn't know, however, was the cost. They didn't know what it would take from each and every one of them. How strong they would have to build themselves to survive...

Because it took ten times longer to put yourself back together than it did to fall apart and Aella—her friends—would learn that the very, very, hard way...

• • •