CHAPTER 16
FOR GOOD LUCK

LIFE had gone by in a blur. Bex spent most of her days at home, watching the sunrise and then set, biding her time. You'd think that with the limited freedom she had, she'd use it for something better, like spending more time with her brother or seeing Angelo. Things that made her happy. But happiness wasn't a virtue in Panem, and soon enough, it was Reaping Day.

Once, she had held hands with the Capitol's Golden Boy and allowed their lips to brush. Once, she felt butterflies for the boy at the meat market. Once, she had been a person. All of that was gone now. She hadn't contacted anyone in months; her lips could hardly pull into a smile.

Any small part of her happiness had vanished, yanked away by the clutches of the Capitol.

She wore her mother's top today, the one with the embroidered flowers and lettuce-edge trimming. Bex hated that on all days to show this off, it had to be now, the day where the universe would decide if she was going to live or die. She hugged her arms around herself when she slipped on the pretty blouse, as if she were embracing her mother, but it wasn't the same. And she wouldn't dare cry either. Not today. Especially, not day.

After sliding on a pair of clean pants and flat shoes, Keaton came to up to her door. She had been pulling her hair back when she noticed him in the mirror: freshly shaved, button-up shirt, dress pants, and shoes. Bex didn't have the heart to send him anything other than a frown.

He knocked on the doorframe softly with his fist. She pulled back one side of her hair with a barrette and turned away from her vanity, waiting for him to say something. Keaton stood there silently.

Finally, he muttered, "I don't know if I can go, Bex."

Her brows crossed. Did he think she wanted to be there any more than he did?

She wouldn't allow her anger to spike, not when they didn't have much time left.

Bex blew out a sigh and viewed up at him. "Keaton, you have to. It's mandatory."

"I hate going. Never have and never will." He shook his head. "And ever since you got called years ago ..."

She ran a brush through the tangled ends of her hair. "No one likes to go to the Reaping. I need you to go, Keaton." Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip for a moment. "After I'm called –"

"If you're called."

"Yes, if," she corrected, setting down the brush and approaching her window. Bex eyed the Victor's crown sitting on the edge, but refused to pick it up. Fear ricocheted through her system. She turned back to Keaton. "My last moment to see you will be after the Reaping. I don't know if I'm going to come out of this."

Keaton was stone-faced. "I can't watch you go through this again."

A small, light flashed in the corner of her eye, and Bex looked out the window. It was the sun reflecting off the Peacekeepers' uniforms as a group of them pushed through the gates of the Village. She exhaled, "That's also mandatory."

When she looked back at her brother, she was surprised to see him suddenly in front of her, one hand in the front pocket of his pants. She opened her mouth to say something, but he spoke before she could. "You're still allowed tokens, right?" He asked just above a whisper, as if the Peacekeepers below could hear. She should be heading down now –

"It doesn't matter," she muttered, trying to get past him. "I need to leave. The Peacekeepers are coming."

Keaton grabbed her hand, pulling her back to face him. "They can wait, sis. This is important." He finally slid that one hand out of his pocket, revealing a small ring in his palm. The emerald in the center of the gold band glistened in the sunlight.

"Mom's wedding ring," she breathed out, ogling the old piece of jewelry. Keaton liked to keep it in their parents' room, untouched and hidden, and she thought it would stay that way for a long time. In fact, she hadn't seen this ring since –

Keaton took her hand out, placing the ring in her palm and closing her fingers around it. "Mom gave this to you during your first Games and you won, even with the odds stacked against you. I want you to have it again for good luck."

It all came back to her then: the fresh tears she shed once her parents came through the door to the Justice Building. Her name had just been called before they shoved her in this room, waiting for her family and friends to give her their last goodbyes. Bex sobbed over and over again, staining her mother's shirt, before she held Bex's young face in her hands. It was the face of a scared teenager, one unprepared for the world she was going to be thrust into. But then, she slipped that wedding ring off her finger and onto Bex's, begging her to keep it on her at all times. She did just that. The ring never slipped off, even with the blood that coated her hands from all the kids she killed. Bex was proud to give it back after she finally came home. She slid it back on her mother's hand with a smile.

Keaton was taking over that role now, but Bex wasn't sure if she'd be able to give it back. Still, she slipped it back on that same finger and flexed her hand. It fit well, surprisingly.

Bex met her brother's eyes. "Thank you," she whispered before wrapping her arms around him. He smelled of cedar and fire, honeysuckle and pine, like home.

A loud knock resonated on their front door. Bex composed herself, sending her brother a sympathetic smile, before freeing him from her hold. She didn't want to, but she had to. There were no choices left for her to make. She realized that while descending the stairs, Keaton following a few steps behind. The knocking didn't cease and matched the same ache in her skull. She opened the door and shielded her eyes from the sun. That didn't particularly help the headache either.

The Peacekeepers' black masks stared her down until one gestured for her to walk ahead with their gun. Bex swallowed hard at the weapon. How did these people exemplify peace when they practiced the exact opposite of that?

She walked back to Keaton where he stood silently at the end of the stairs. He stared ahead at the Peacekeepers, but met his sister's eyes when she grabbed his hand. She squeezed their fingers together. "I'll see you soon," she promised, earning a nod from him.

And then, she was out the door, walking ahead of the group of Peacekeepers that stood on her stoop. They followed her down the steps, and Bex looked to the side to see Johanna and Nico being escorted in a similar fashion. The three Victors waited, sending each other worried glances, before the whole ring of Peacekeepers gathered together in the center of the Village, and began to accompany them to the town square.

As she passed through the gates, Bex's eyes scanned Blight's house. She wondered if that bullet hole would ever be filled or if it was going to haunt the Victors' Village for eternity.

The group of Victors walked through the District with Peacekeepers on every side. They stomped in a row, one behind the other, while the Peacekeepers copied their movements but with guns drawn at their sides. Everyone was staring at them as they arrived in the heart of Seven, where the town square was located. The Justice Building looked like a large, looming black cloud, covering the citizens of District Seven in a dark shade. The people parted into two groups as the Peacekeepers approached, but they couldn't take their eyes off the Victors. Their faces were grim, like they'd seen a ghost.

Phoenix was on the stage of the Justice Building, smiling, but anyone who knew him could see the pain hidden underneath. Beside him was their Head Peacekeeper, Alec Salomon. His brows were narrow and his eyes formed into slits as the Victors approached the stage. Bex peered around at the crowd, popping her head over the Peacekeepers' helmets. She searched for her brother in the hordes of people and hoped to find him upfront, but as they neared the Justice Building, he was nowhere to be found. Bex could spot those blue eyes anywhere.

The Victors took their places on stage: Nico on the far right and Johanna and Bex on the left. Two glass bowls sat on either side of Phoenix, who was dressed like a beaming, yellow light in all this darkness. He grinned towards the crowd, holding up his speech cards in a pair of gold sequin gloves. The District's mayor and cabinet, all bleary-eyed and saggy-faced, sat in old chairs behind Phoenix. They were flanked by Alec and his Peacekeepers for protection. As if the Victors were going to do something to retaliate.

They couldn't. They were already dead.

"Welcome," Phoenix announced, tapping the mic to make sure it was on. "Welcome, everyone, as we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary and Third Quarter Quell of the Hunger Games."

Bex scanned the crowd again. Keaton wasn't there, not even in the back. She knew he didn't want to come, but he had to. It wasn't the time to rebel. Not today. She needed to see him one last time and have him tell her everything was going to be okay, even when it wasn't. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she blinked them away.

She looked around at all the people watching her. They were staring at her with pity and sorrow. Friends, customers, farmers – their eyes pinned on her. They made her want to cry even more.

"Ladies first," Phoenix beamed, walking over to the glass bowl on his left. He studied Johanna and Bex with a frown reserved for them only. His lips lifted only a second later, ready to play his role. Their lives were all on the line now and they couldn't falter.

Two slips of paper laid against the bottom of the bowl. Phoenix sighed and reached into the glass, picking up one slip of paper without even looking. He walked back over to his mic.

Bex closed the gap between her and Johanna with her hand. She laced their fingers together, sending the younger girl a gentle nod.

"The female tribute from District Seven ..." Phoenix opened the folded paper and looked out into the crowd. His lips parted as he announced, "Johanna Mason."

Bex didn't realize her eyes had been closed until she opened them, and they landed right on the younger girl beside her. Her breathing stopped, but her mouth was opened wide in shock. She remembered her own Reaping all those years ago. She remembered the way Phoenix called her name, how his eyes went soft as she walked up to the stage, breathing heavily through flared nostrils. She remembered the way her insides had twisted, the heart-wrenching feeling that set deep within her chest. Bex shuddered and released a shallow breath.

She was feeling everything all over again, and no one – not even Phoenix – could've prepared her for what she was going to do next.

Johanna had slipped her hand from Bex's. She began to walk over to stand next to Phoenix, feet moving ever-so-slowly across the stage. Her dark stare browsed the crowd of shocked faces.

And then Bex's hand shot up.

"I volunteer as tribute," Bex Nassar spoke confidently. She pulled Johanna back to her former spot and walked over to Phoenix's left.

Johanna was so frozen that she didn't fight it. Her face was blank. "Why?" She begged Bex, but the older girl just shook her head. She blinked rapidly as Bex stood beside Phoenix, his hand on her back. This was the first time Johanna had been speechless in a while.

But her plea still echoed in Bex's head like a chant. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Why had she volunteered? It would've been just as painful to mentor Johanna through this Quarter Quell and watch her endure an arena all over again. There was no easy way out of this. But Bex didn't have an answer as to why. She just knew she needed to do this. That feeling in her chest only ceased when her hand went up.

"A dramatic turn of events," Phoenix chuckled into the mic. He looked over at Bex, analyzing her, but she didn't have the heart to meet his eyes. "District Seven has only had two volunteers in all the years of the Hunger Games, and now we have our third – a past Victor and during a Quarter Quell, no less. The female tribute from District Seven will be Bex Nassar."

Nobody clapped. No one even batted an eyelash.

Bex's eyes danced across the crowd, and finally, she spotted her brother's light blue stare. He stood in the far back, mouth gaping at where she stood. He was so far that Bex wasn't sure if he was crying or not.

"Now, the men," Phoenix cleared his throat and strode over to the glass bowl.

Only one slip of paper in this one. Nico had been studying it from the moment he stepped on stage, but he didn't look at Phoenix as he stood over the glass bowl. Nico stared ahead, waiting for the end with bated breath.

Phoenix swallowed hard and grabbed the paper. Sauntering back over to the mic, he unfolded the slip and called, "The male tribute from District Seven ... Nico Cadoc."

Bex wiped away the tear that had been drying on her cheek and met Nico's eyes. He nodded in her direction – a promise, but she didn't know what for. Phoenix placed a hand on his back as well and smiled towards the crowd. Bex had never seen her escort act so terribly in all the years she'd known him.

"The tributes from District Seven: Nico Cadoc and Bex Nassar." Phoenix sighed dreamily. "May the odds be ever in your favor."

The crowd was completely silent. No one moved or cheered. Bex could only hear a hawk cackling in the sky. The Peacekeepers approached the two Victors from behind to escort them to their next space. Bex could feel Alec's breathing on her neck.

And then, hysteria broke out.

Someone in the crowd – a man, tall, wearing a wide-brimmed hat in the middle of the sea of people – raised a fist and shouted out, "THE ODDS ARE NEVER IN OUR FAVOR!"

Peacekeepers cocked back their weapons and pushed into the crowd. The people forced themselves against the Peacekeepers, and Bex could spot her brother trying to sprint towards the front, right to her. She ran forward as Peacekeepers shot bullets into the air. A hand latched around her arm and tugged her back, further and further away from her brother.

Keaton cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "BEX!" But his voice was drowned out by the screams of the raging crowd.

"Time to go. No saying goodbye," Alec breathed in her ear, hauling them both inside the Justice Building. "Straight to the train."

Bex heard more bullets rain down as the doors closed in front of her.

━━━━━━

A/N: welcome to act ii!! this act will be all about the quarter quell, so I hope y'all are excited. I have SOOOOOO much in store.

I also want to make it known that even though this chapter ended on kind of a cliffhanger, keaton is fine 😌 very hard to believe from me, but I don't really plan on hurting him! I feel like I hurt these characters enough lol