Chapter One - The Reaping

VELVET MERROW LET the old man prick her finger and press the bloody mess into the scanner, letting it beep before she drew it away quickly.

Her finger now stung like a bee had just kissed her skin. Carefully, Velvet drew it up to her mouth and cleaned it off before guiding her young sister-who had just gone through the same process as her-to the area where they had to stand for the Reaping.

Even though it was now beginning to throb a bit, the sensation in her finger helped Velvet focus on something other than the current situation. And it reminded her of every time she pricked her finger on a needle while sewing. It almost felt soothing.

This specific Reaping meant something different to Velvet, as it would be her very last and her sister's second and brother's first. This chapter of her life was closing while it was just now opening for her siblings.

And since the Hunger Games as an entirety happened to be a taboo subject in her household, Velvet hadn't mentioned her thoughts to anyone else.

No one except for the hummingbirds that would flitter outside her window during the hot afternoons.

Thirty years ago, Velvet's mother had lost her only sibling-her kid brother-whom she had practically raised herself to the Games.

According to District 8 locals, Selene Merrow had never been the same afterwards. Seeing your 12-year-old brother decapitated would do that to a person.

Even though it meant that Velvet had to be careful about certain words that she said near her own mother, Velvet liked to think that it helped her live a life away from the Games.

"Look, Vettie," her sister Paisley tugged at her sleeve, "they're starting."

"Ok, shhhh." Velvet said absentmindedly, her mind had already become focused on the people onstage.

Two people stood up front-near the microphone-on top of the metal platform with the foreboding Justice Building looming behind them. Towards the side of stage were groups of Peacekeepers and previous victors.

The mayor, Davis Cooperman, sped through the annual stuff, a big speech about the good of the Hunger Games and the benefits the victors would get; everyone had heard it a million times.

He finished quickly as he never was one for public speaking, oddly enough. And as soon as he finished, he moved back into the shadows so he could go through the rest of the ceremony peacefully.

"Ahem." a light and cheery voice spoke into the microphone, taping the thing to test it, as if Cooperman hadn't been using it 10 seconds ago.

Avita Creed.

The tribute escort of District 8.

Every man fantasied about her and every woman wanted to be her.

She got to live the glamourous Capitol life while also getting to travel around Panem. It seemed glorious.

Every year for the past 7, Avita would arrive in 8 with a new wardrobe and new hair, ready to bring two more teenagers to their deaths.

And she never stopped smiling.

"Are you all excited for the 70th Hunger Games?" Avita spoke with her voice dripping with enthusiasm.

The crowd stayed silent.

"That's what I like to hear!" She stood and smiled for a moment, fixing one of the golden flowers in her matching hair, which had been put into two buns, right behind her ears.

Last year her hair had been blue, and before that it was pink.

And her outfit wasn't any better. This year it consisted of white, almost clear dress that appeared to be little plastic pearls stuck together. The most exciting part was the waistline and below, which begun to straight out as soon as the dress dipped below the hips.

Even though Velvet partially resented Avita, her appearance was always a hit.

"Now," the gold-haired lady drew the attention back to herself, "time for everyone's favorite part. The female tribute."

Avita sauntered over to the clear bowl with many paper slips waiting patiently inside.

She dramatically slid her hand inside, hesitating before carefully drawing a slip from deep inside the pile.

Time seemed to switch to slow motion. Every second felt like an hour.

Which means it felt like 2 days had passed before Avita had even opened the slip and read the name in her head.

A collective breathe was held by everyone in the crowd.

'Well here we go." Avita whispered into the microphone in front of her.

Velvet swore everyone within a five foot radius could hear her heart rapidly beating. They could smell the sweat dripping down her neck. The grip she had on her little sister's hand.

A question hung in the air, above everyone's heads: who would be dying this year?

"Velvet Merrow!"

Time went from slow to three times speed immediately.

Velvet didn't have time to think, or react in any way before Peacekeepers had found her in the crowd and started dragging her up to the stage.

Velvet's heart was caving in. She stood there, up on the stage, to the left of Avita, as her life was coming to an end.

All the lasts would begin now. The last time she sees District 8. The last time she sees her family's faces in anything other than a memory.

It all ended now.

Because it isn't a matter of if she dies. It's a matter of when.

No amazing mentor or endless sponsors will change that.

So it's best if she just accepted the fact now.

Her lip quivered. This was supposed to be the last one. Tears pushed their way to the front of her eyes and Velvet tried desperately to force them back.

Deep breaths.

"And for the male tribute. . ." Avita muttered in suspense.

From Velvet's side view, her hair seemed shinier, and her dress looked more see-through.

"Cord Dunne!"

A terrified mother scream somewhere in the crowd.

Velvet recognized the name from around town, some kid who spent his free time stealing food for his family.

The cameras around her hurried to get a spotlight on Cord, it only being a few seconds later that a young teen boy with tears running down his face is shown.

He's a scrawny boy, who probably wouldn't last much longer than Velvet.

What a depressing duo.

Peacekeepers start surrounding Cord, preparing to drag him up to the stage the same way they did for Velvet, dragging him away from his friends and family.

But before he can take two steps, another boy-a few years older than Cord-throws himself out into the walkway.

"I volunteer!" He screams, his voice rough, "I volunteer!"

"Ah! How exciting?" Avita claps, "A volunteer!"

The Peacekeepers drop Cord, who falls to the ground and stays there, and surround the volunteer, guiding him up on to stage, next to Velvet.

"Now, what is your name?" Avita rushes over to the new tributes with her microphone.

"Rayon Toreau." He mutters, almost under his breath.

Velvet looks to her side to get a better look at Rayon.

The first thing she notices is the vague residue of tears under his eyes. And while his face seems tough, she can also see the faint quivering of his bottom lip.

His hair is a caramel color and it looks freshly cut, his mother had probably trimmed it this morning in preparation for the Reaping. The niceness of his hair doesn't do quite a good enough job to make him appear clean because his clothes are full of patches plus they seem a tad too tight.

"There you have it folks!" Avita cheers, "Your tributes from District 8 for the 70th Hunger games; Velvet Merrow and Rayon Toreau!"

* * *

The mayor closed the ceremony with a few words and then the crow dispersed. And for the first time, Velvet wouldn't be leaving with it.

The tributes were taken into the building behind the stage to say their final goodbyes to their families before departing for the Capitol ].

Velvet stood in an empty room, patiently waiting for her family to walk in. The walls around her seemed to be getting smaller by the second.

She had a plan on what she would say when they walked through that door. There would be worries and tears but she would assure them that she would be coming home. That she would win for her siblings, and when she came back they would be rich and get to live in a big house.

Her parents wouldn't believe her but maybe it would instill some hope in her kid siblings, so they wouldn't miss her too much.

"Vettie!"

The four Merrows made their way over to Velvet, taking turns to give her a hug.

All of them looked like they had cried, which was slightly comforting.

"Promise me you'll try to win?" Salix, her twelve-year-old brother whispered.

"Of course buddy," Velvet choked on her words, "I'll be back in no time."

After a few minutes of empty promises and last glances, her mother took her siblings out of the room to give her father a moment for serious talk.

"You gotta try, honey." He started holding her hands, "You're stronger than you think, and a few days of training is all you need to get good with some weapons. Plus you're smart okay, most of the kids don't know anything besides combat, which is good to know but when it comes down to surviving in an arena, you gotta know more. And you do. Velvet you can win this if you don't give up too early."

He takes a moment to swallow some tears.

"Please." Tears are now trickling down his cheeks, "Don't give up."

"Dad..." No other words could leave her mouth, they got stuck in her throat.

They take one more minute to converse silently, with their eyes, before he is dragged out of the room and Velvet is put on a train.

The train that would take Velvet to the Capitol stood, in all of its glory, on the tracks. Steam roaring out of it's nostrils and its height that had to be close to three times her own. The color of the train was a dark gray, like the walls of the factory that Velvet spent so much of her life in.

Oh, to be back there now.

Peacekeepers held tight to both of her arms as they dragged her onto the machine.

It seemed that once she was on the train, Velvet was not their problem anymore because they left the second she walked through the door.

And she must have been the last of the group to board because the mechanical metal door snapped closed behind her, leaving her to wander deeper into the train.

Velvet let destiny chose where she ended up, not that there was another option, nobody else was in the halls of the train, there was no one to ask for directions.

Eventually, she came up to a door that led into another carriage. As she crept up to it, Velvet could hear muffled voice on the other side.

When she got close to the door, it snapped open, announcing her presence.

"Davina, what have I told you about smoking those things in here?" Avita Creed stood at the head of normal table, filled to the brim with delicacies that Velvet had never seen before.

Two other people were in the room, both seated at the table. One, Rayon Toreau, who had his head down as he ate from a full plate. Most families in the district had enough money to put food on the table, but normally, not enough for three whole meals. And without much prior knowledge, Velvet could guess that the Toreau's were a part of that demographic.

He sat on the side of the table closest to Velvet, drawing himself away from Avita, as if it would make her pointed comments stop.

The other, Davina Villas, victor of the 59th Hunger Games, who would now be Velvet and Rayon's mentor. Davina had won about a decade ago off of her familiarity with daggers and other knives, and because her partner had been a big brute who came in handy in close combat.

Her choppy, black hair and tired under eyes scared away most who would dare to approach her before she even had to open her mouth. Based on her smudged lipstick and a black line on the outside of her eye, Velvet could tell that Davina had some makeup on, or she had gotten into a rough bar fight.

Ever since her win, Davina has locked herself in her mansion, only coming out to mentor and buy more cigarettes. Rumor has it that during one of her years mentoring, Davina made a few nasty comments towards the Capitol and refused to apologize. By the time that years Games was over, Davina was the only living member of her family.

"Oh save it, Avita, we do this every year." Davina sat close to where the escort stood but across from Rayon, holding a lit cigarette in her hand over a plate of food Velvet was sure Avita made by Davina's complete disregard for it.

Avita let out a sigh, but dropped the subject, "Come here Velvet, darling. You need to eat up before we arrive at the Capitol."

Silently, Velvet sat on the same side of the table as Davina but towards Rayon's end, in order to distance herself from Avita.

Over the next few seconds, the golden escort put together a plate full of colorful vegetables (or fruits?) and stuff wrapped in bacon plus a few sweets. And even though Velvet felt like it went against her morals to gladly eat up all of this food while her siblings were at home selling their prized possessions for a little bit of sugar, she did not hesitate to dive in the second it was set down in front of her.

"Now that we are all here," Avita clinked a knife against one of the glasses in front of her as she sat down across from Davina, two seats away from Rayon, "I would like for our tributes to officially meet their mentor, Davina Villas."

Velvet gave a smile of greeting but also pity, mentoring kids just for them to die anyways must be tasking. But Davina probably did not have enough thought running through her head to feel guilt.

"Don't expect much," Her rough voice spoke in between drags, "Usually Terry did all of the actual mentoring part, but the fucktard died two months ago, leaving me with the joy of being in charge."

Terry Brown, victor of the 24th Hunger Games, and his death meant that Davina was the only living mentor for District 8. She could not sit in the shadows of the Capitol, getting drunk and flirting with rich business men anymore, she had to put in a little bit of effort.

At least, you would think so.

They were going to die immediately. And Davina did not give a shit.

"Well, thanks for the honesty." Velvet muttered under her breath, but everyone in the room was close enough to hear exactly what she said.

Davina just laughed but otherwise ignored the comment, she had dealt with twenty angry teens in the past decade, Velvet was nothing new.

"Play nice, Velvet," Avita shook her head in disappointment, "You all will be spending a lot of time together until. . ."

She trailed off but everyone knew what she was going to say. Until you go off to your deaths.

Throughout the entirety of the last few minutes, Rayon had not even looked up from his plate, which was now close to empty. Even though it wasn't expected of him, Velvet wished he would at least say something. Because right now, Velvet just felt like a punching bag for both Davina and Avita.

The next week of her life would be like a dull knife that was slowly carving off all of her skin, and the only other person Velvet would have throughout it all had not said a world to her, much less anyone else.

Despite District Eight being large in population compared to some of the other districts, Velvet prided herself in knowing lots of people around town, and she had never heard the name Rayon Toreau before today.

Velvet had even heard about that scrawny little kid he volunteered for, meaning they must be connected in some way, but never a whisper of the Toreau name.

It pissed her off, slightly. Not knowing anything about him and the lack of communication meant that their deaths would only happen quicker.

Maybe that is what he is going for, stopping any sort of friendship to form so that it is easier to betray Velvet in the Games. It would be smart, actually, if Velvet posed any kind of threat, but she did not. It would not take much to kill Velvet, probably just a strong gust of wind.

it was a miracle she was even still alive, after being sick on her birthday for four straight years a few years back, or that one time she got tetanus from a rusting needle and almost had to part with her pinky finger.

The universe had hated her from the womb, it seems.

"Rayon, dear, do you need some more food?" Avita spoke sweetly after the room had been silent for too long, "Your plate is nearly empty."

"It's fine, I'll get it myself." He breathed out in between his final bites before loading it back up with the stuff in front of him.

"Oh! So he speaks?" Davina banged a hand down on the table, causing Velvet to let out a little jump out of surprise, "What do we have to do to get another sentence?"

Davina spoke with her tone dripping in playfulness, but the look Rayon gave her assured he did not care for it.

"Oh, c'mon, we've had enough with the broody teenager thing. I can't help you win if I know nothing about you." Davina dropped the playfulness and switched to abrasive in a matter of milliseconds.

Also in the matter of milliseconds, Rayon had slammed his fork and knife on the table and back out of his chair. "Listen, lady, I'm gonna die no matter what you do, so save the whole savior act."

Grabbing one more sweet from a tray, Rayon stormed off towards the door opposite the one Velvet had entered from, presumably to their sleeping quarters.

But he only made it a few steps before Davina had gotten up to stop him. She grabbed his arm, holding him back from leaving before she had said what she needed to say.

"That's really cute! All you need is some steam coming out of your ears to really bring the act together." Davina gave him a sarcastic pouty lip, "I may not seem like much of mentor, but you're forgetting that I won my games, which means I'm your only hope. Sure, the odds aren't in your favor, but you've quit way too early in the game."

"Well-," Avita tried to but in but Davina cut her off, again, not finished.

"Stay out of it, Avita." Turning her attention back to Rayon, "Look kid, you've got two options: either go off and cry in your bed about how hard life is or you can go sit back down and sit pretty while we walk through the other tributes you and Velvet—because, yeah, she exists too—will be fighting against. It's best you pick the second option because this is the only time you will find me doing this, so otherwise, you're on your own, buddy."

The two held eye contact for a solid minute before Davina dropped Rayon's arm and Velvet could swear she saw the boy wince as she let go.

Rayon did not move, even after being let go, but Davina tucked her hair behind her ear and sat back down at her seat, picking up and lighting a new cigarette. And as if Rayon didn't exist, she picked up a remote for a television sitting on the wall behind the other tribute, clicking to a video of the District One Reaping.

On the stage, in front of the escort, stood the tributes holding raised hands before a raging crowd. The girl, with long, thin, brown hair and dark, piercing eyes, stood with a coy smirk on her face. To her left, a boy with a buzzed head and ears full of piercings.

"Topaz Carew and Glint Brandt. Both volunteers, no surprise there. Topaz had a sister in the games a year ago, she died pretty quick so Topaz has to bring fame to her family." Davina shrugged, "Watch out for her."

Because of her deep focus on learning about her new opponents (if one could even call them that), Velvet did not notice Rayon saunter over to his seat until the noise of his chair scraping against the floor sounded across the room.

"How nice of you to join us, Rayon." Davina laughed before continuing to to the next few districts.

Two had two more volunteers with the same proud look as One did. While Three had a little boy and a girl not much older than him, both looked under fed and dirty.

"District Four. Gwen and Trent, both were reaped and both are sixteen."

The two kids shown on the screen had to both be under 5'5" and they seemed to have seen a ghost, paralyzed on the screen.

"Poor kids probably won't make it past the Cornucopia." Velvet sighed, as if she would either.

"Two things wrong with that statement: they aren't kids, they are your enemies, act like it. And you forgot an important factor, their mentor." Davina clicked to a picture a blond guy around Velvet's age, maybe a bit older. "Finnick Odair, youngest ever winner of the games and best mentor around. While he's a great guy, he's also someone who is determined to bring back another victor to his district, and nothing will stop him. Especially not a couple kids from Eight."

For the first time, Velvet could sense a glimpse of giving a shit in Davina's tone after she talked about the mentor from District 4. She obviously cared for him, though it didn't seem romantic, more protective.

After her lecture, Velvet did not talk for the rest of the tribute walkthrough. She thoroughly listened to each of the details of her opponents, even the ones from District 12, a sibling duo, both younger than fifteen.

When they finished, Avita "recommended" that everyone stay in the room since they would be arriving in the Capitol shortly and it would not hurt for them to get used to each other's presence.

Eventually, Velvet glanced out the window and could see the sights of the Capitol coming into view.

Everything seemed to be dunked in gold or built ten stories tall. The station the train was approaching had at least hundreds of civilians waiting to catch a glimpse of the tributes. To these people, they were celebrities.

Ones that would be a source of their entertainment for a short period of time before moving on to next years prospects.

Soon, the train's brakes started to squeal and Peacekeepers entered the train car to escort the four of them off and to the city.

As they left the train and walked past the crowd of people, Velvet could hear people screaming their names. Like they had done something special for their attention.

"Velvet what's your favorite color?"

"Did you see Rayon's muscles? Oh my god he's so hot!"

"Rayon! If you sign my forehead, I'll get my daddy to send you stuff in the arena!"

After the last one, Velvet heard Davina let out a choked laugh and a quiet "what the fuck," from Rayon.

Velvet glanced in her partner's direction and noticed a small—but it was there—smile forming on Rayon's face.

It felt refreshing to see some emotion besides anger on his face. And if the rest of the Capitol was as obsessed with him as these horny girls were, things might actually be looking better for them.

AUTHORS NOTE: hi. oop. i wrote the last scene while listening to pheobe bridgers, can you tell? anyways this was pretty hype, right?? lol. this chapter was a little shorter than i wanted, but trust, the next ones will be longer.

how do we like the characters? bc i love like every single one.

davina is my vibe if you couldn't tell. also finnick mention??? ooooo. this chapter was sooo fun to write and it's just gonna get better so yay. also ive decided that book two (yes there will be a second book) will be named I Know The End bc it just scream post hunger games velvet. also the things i have planned for this hehe you dont even wanna know. anyways i hope you like it as much as i do!!!! 

ok bye! please don't be a ghost reader and share !! bc i need attention !!