The weak buzzing sound slightly intensifies as the hovercraft approaches the building. Its black structure seems really imposing from where I'm standing. When it's at about fifteen feet above the ground, it stops its descent and a ladder drops to our level. As I'm about to put my hand on one of the rungs, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Finnick, wait..."

I turn around to face Mags. Her gray hair and the premature wrinkles around her eyes make her seem older than she actually is. I can easily tell she's really anxious and has been for a long time. For the first time, I realize how hard it must be for the mentors to see their tributes die almost every year, how hard it must be to meet someone, and somehow get attached to finally have that someone to be taken away from you. This is far from being Mags' first mentoring job and certainly not her last, which means that she has seen many of hers die in the arena over the years, many of which, I'm sure, had horrible deaths.

"Any last advice?" I ask with a smile that is supposed to be comforting.

"Just be careful out there, kid." she says before hugging me.

As strange as it seems, it feels a lot like my mother's hugs. Without even realizing it, I return it. It doesn't last long, but it's just enough to make me feel a little bit better. As soon as I climb on the ladder, a strong force field restrains me from doing a single move. My heartbeat rate increases drastically as I'm slowly pulled into the hovercraft. Inside, peacekeepers are waiting for me.

"Don't move." says one of them, as if it was going to change anything.

I feel a sharp pain in my right arm when the needle enters my forearm. Once it's done and the peacekeeper steps back, the force field releases me and the ladder goes down again to let Ateia climb on the hovercraft. She looks excited and says hi to everyone as soon as she steps foot on board before sitting down by my side.

"I'm so excited to know what the arena will look like this year, especially after the new inventions we've had in the past year!"

"You are required to stay silent about the possible technology involved in the making of the arena." curtly orders a peacekeeper.

"Oh, sorry; I'm just so, so excited!"

She continues smiling as he walks away and enters another room, which I think is probably the cockpit since I was able to catch a small glimpse of the inside wall, covered in screens. I can feel that she wants to tell me more. I think it's the first time I see her showing some form of restraint, never thought she was able to do so.

The flight lasts about an hour, but it seems to be an eternity. I had a lot of time to think about my mentor's last words to me. She called me a kid and what used to be an insult became way more than that because that's exactly what I am and what I'll ever be. It's exactly what we all are: a bunch of children that were thrown into the adult world way too soon. Funny thing is, only one person will actually make it to adulthood.

My forehead is covered in sweat and I think my heart has forgotten how to beat normally. When the hovercraft finally lands, it's like I'm glued to my seat and I stay there until a peacekeeper grabs my arm and forces me into standing. He practically drags me inside, where I'm lead through a maze of corridors by three new peacekeepers, only to end up in an almost empty room. Inside, a carefully folded uniform was placed on a chair, along with a pair of boots. When the peacekeepers exit the room, closing the door behind me, Ateia almost runs to the clothes, too excited to wait. While she's examining the fabric, I continue to look around. Apart from the chair and the uniform, there's only two other things: a clock that says 09:45 and an elevator shaped like a tube. That means that over my head is the arena, the place where I might end up dying. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down as I slowly remove my clothes.

"Here, put this on!" orders Ateia with her usual excited voice.

I grab the clothes, dressing myself as slowly as possible. The fabric is tightly knitted, quite thick and as light as a piece of paper. Quickly, the comfortable warmth provided by the clothes turns into a harsh heat, making me sweat. As if it was not enough, my stylist throws a coat over my shoulder and makes me put the boots on.

"It's almost time, climb on the platform!" she says as she's pushing me towards the elevator.

When I enter it, I feel some cool air coming from above my head. What was at first refreshing reveals itself to be quite fear-inducing. It must be really cold up there. I didn't think that would happen for at least a few years as the Games that happen in a snow desert are usually deemed boring and last year's were exactly that. As someone who has never seen a real snowflake, I'm pretty sure I would not survive long. The glass panel slides down, separating me from the rest of the world. Then I see it: the clock switches to 10:00. The platform starts lifting me into the arena. Ateia is slowly disappearing under me and I realize that even if I'm clearly not going to miss her, the thought of being away frightens me. As much as I hated her, I have to admit that it was quite reassuring to know that she was there, probably because I knew too well that as long as someone from the Capitol was beside me, the Games hadn't started yet. But now, that feeling of false security fades as I emerge inside of the arena.

Welcome to hell, I say to myself at the sight of the landscapein front of me.

** Are you guys excited for the games to finally start? **