003. her worst nightmare

The date for the announcement of the Quarter Quell looms near, the unrest in District Four once again at an all time high. These games are especially twisted, the previous two have been cruel in two entirely different ways — the first had people of the Districts vote for who goes in and the second had twice as many tributes as any other games.

There is absolutely no way to tell what President Snow and the Capitol officials have in store this time around, but Elena knows for sure it'll bring immense pain to the people of the Districts and entertainment for those in the Capitol. That's all they've ever been, canon fodder for entertainment.

"Didn't you read that the other day?"

Elena looks over at her brother, her hands clutching some silly romance novel that she'd borrowed from Annie. Jace is correct with his assumption, Elena throwing herself back into a fictional world instead of dealing with her reality. It's better that way, she can live a level happiness she could only ever dream of achieving.

"Yeah. Annie hasn't got any new ones yet so I thought I'd just reread this one before I gave it back to her," Elena replies, slipping the bookmark in and shutting it carefully.

"Salmon okay for dinner?" Jace questions, his voice booming as he moves to the kitchen. The blonde girl pushes herself up off the couch and follows behind him, watching as he puts the fish down on the counter. "Caught heaps of them today,"

"Sounds good. You want me to make the salad?"

"Hmm. I invited Annie and Finnick over, thought it'd be good for you before this whole Quell thing starts up,"

Being surrounded by the people she cares most about in the world, the night before a Games, is most certainly the best thing for her right now. It'll give the four of them one last night of normality before they're thrown into some sort of unprecedented event — they'd done the same before the 74th Games, which was when Elena mentored for the first time.

Elena pulls some of vegetables out, using one of the sharper knives with shaky hands. There's still a part of her who sees the utensil as a weapon and even the slightest smudge of red along it's metal surface can cause her mind to flicker back to events she'd rather forget about. Perhaps it sounds silly, but as a result of her everlasting nightmares, Jace is often the one to use knives on things that could cause this reaction. The blonde is just thankful that her brother is understanding to her predicament, she wouldn't know how to survive without him.

"How was work?" Elena starts up the conversation again, slicing through the lettuce and throwing it into a large bowl.

"Got a good haul of fish this time around, unfortunately half of it will be taken away from us because the Capitol has first pick like always," Jace responds, seasoning the salmon with some of the spices that he'd grown in the garden.

If killing the children of the Districts wasn't already bad enough, the Capitol also take the better resources from them as well. The fishermen here work for all hours of the day to only get their better produce taken away and consumed by elitists who don't even think about where it's come from. Elena remembers her father being away from home for days at a time, coming home after and collapsing on his bed in exhaustion. He practically worked himself to death in the end, his job being the thing that was supposed to provide for his family yet the vicious waves betrayed him.

Betrayed both of the Rogers parents and left two children without people to care for them properly.

To this day, Elena gives her brother a hug before he leaves for work because she's afraid she won't get to say goodbye. She'd give almost anything to go back in time and be awake when her father left, when her mother decided she'd join him on one of his voyages, to say goodbye.

"You didn't steal this did you?" Elena narrows her eyes playfully, Jace rolling his in return.

"You've got a real sense of humor on you, Rose. Should talk to Snow about getting you a comedy special," His voice is laced with sarcasm, but his face his bright with a smile.

The use of the nickname, which is her middle name, makes her smile brighter. Her father had been so insistent that her name be Rose and yet her mother had won the battle in the end. As a compromise, Rose was made her middle name. He'd spent years calling her Rose instead of her actual name and Jace had picked up on it as well. So now, she gets both her first and middle name.

The two siblings continue to cook and chat with one another, time passing by much more quickly than they thought possible. Soon, Finnick and Annie are sitting in the dining room and consuming the food that they'd made.

"Lena, I heard you went to the Capitol party," Finnick brings up as he finishes his meal. "Caused quite the chatter around the place too,"

"Why?" Elena responds with a slight tilt of her head, confusion plastered on her face.

"Word is that you and a certain Victor were rather close," he smiles cheekily.

Peeta.

"All we did was dance," Elena explains, her cheeks now a deep crimson.

"Oh but it's quite the scandal. Peeta dancing with a woman who's not his fiancé at a fancy Capitol party, right in front of the President and everything,"

"Katniss was literally dancing with another man who wasn't Peeta!"

Finnick chuckles slightly. "I'm just teasing, Lena. I think most of them were too busy sipping their expensive wine to actually pay attention to what was going on. Jace told me,"

Elena shoots her brother a look of betrayal as he laughs. She should've known, the two of them gossip like teenage girls. The blonde doesn't want to say they're clones, but in an alternate universe somewhere these two are probably twins or something.

"You two are ridiculous," Elena grumbles quietly underneath her breath.

Elena can feel herself trembling the following afternoon, eyes pointed directly at the monitor in front of her. Jace slips into the seat beside her, practically feeling the anxiety pulsating of her at an alarming rate.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 75th year of the Hunger Games," President Snow announces as he appears on the screen. Elena flinches at the sound of his voice, Jace gently grabbing her hand in his own to help her keep calm.

Jace has to stop himself from snarling out loud when the Capitol residents clap and cheer happily, not caring in the slightest that they'll be sending another group of children to their death's — at least twenty three more innocent lives lost at their expense.

"It was written in the charter of the games that every twenty-five years there will be a Quarter Quell. Now, on this the 75th anniversary of our defeat of the rebellion we celebrate the third Quarter Quell," Snow continues with almost a sickly sweet expression, the Capitol residents once again erupting into cheers.

Elena tightens her grip on her brother's hand as the man readies himself to make his massive announcement. She stares at the projection of him and sees something within his eyes, almost a smugness that does nothing but evoke more fear from deep down within her. This man is evil, despicable. She takes a deep breath as he begins to read.

"As a reminder, that even the strongest cannot overcome the power of the Capitol. On this, the third Quarter Quell game, the male and female tributes are to be reaped from the existing pool of Victors in each district," He exclaims and the blonde freezes.

Jace is frozen himself, knowing that there is a very likely chance his little sister will be forced to face this again. There are only three living female victors from District Four; Mags, Annie and Elena. Not one of them are in with much of a chance when you look at who else is available to be reaped from other districts, especially not against experienced killers.

Then his mind goes to Finnick who may have to be a part of these games with somebody who he cares about. It would tear him apart.

"Jace," Elena almost whimpers, practically hiding against him now as she holds him. "I don't want to go back. Please, you can't let them take me again!" She cries.

All the boy can do is try to calm the girl's cries — there's no point of reassurance because not even he can predict what will happen. The Capitol is the one thing he can't protect her from, and it eats at him everyday.