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It had been 2 days since the start of the 74th Hunger Games, and Emma couldn’t bear to watch the first day at all.
She knew that District 2 was one of the wealthier districts, and that they get proper training for these games, yet the thought of seeing her younger sister, fighting for her life in the arena, was just too much to think about.
The next day however, she finally caved and turned on her TV, bracing herself for the worst, expecting to see her sister badly wounded or ill. Instead, Kitty was nowhere to be seen.
Emma watched the entire day, waiting for the list of deaths, searching for her sister’s name.
She still has hope The older sister thought turning off the TV and for once having a bit of faith, that maybe her sister will be ok.
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This was possibly the worst 17th birthday gift Kitty could receive. Her mother dressed her up all fancy, bought her a cake and invited all her friends for a party after the Reaping. What they didn’t expect was for Effie Trinket, the district’s escort, to call her name for the Hunger Games. You could’ve seen the horror and grief on the sister’s face but it was nothing compared to the look her older sister was showing. It seemed like a mix of anger, sadness and mourning all at the same time as she was forced to let go of her little sister’s hand.
The initial days leading up to the games were peaceful enough, the trainers said she was well equipped and skillful enough not to die first, and overall Kitty seemed like a good tribute to the cameras. But when she saw her sister’s face again, the younger one couldn’t hide her fear anymore.
“Hey Kitty- oh my god, are you ok?” Emma asked as Kitty hugged her and started to break down. It broke Emma’s heart seeing her sister in shambles like this, “Kit-Kitty it’s okay, it’s gonna be okay.” Kitty chuckled lightly at that, as if anything was ok after this. “Look let’s talk about something else if you’d like, ok?” Emma asked to which Kitty nodded. They both spent some time talking about her birthday, before Emma pulled out a small box, “I know it isn’t much but I thought you’d like it” Kitty’s eyes widened at the glittering hair clips inside. “Emma! These are so cute!” The latter exclaimed, putting them on and beckoning for Emma’s phone, who reluctantly handed it over to Kitty. “C’mon smile- one, two, cheese! Look how pretty these clips look, thank you so much!” Emma smiled “It was nothing really, you should see the other gifts you got” “I’d love to-“ The former was cut off as unfortunately for them however, it appeared Emma’s time was up, since some security called her out.
Kitty’s parents, friends and family all visited but she felt the reality of the situation start to actually weigh on her. This wasn’t a show faked for reviews, this was an actual death match, she was determined to win.
A small part of her however, realized when- if she loses, if she dies, she’ll never see her sister again, she’ll never hug her, or take a picture with her, she’ll never say ‘I love you’ to her ever again.
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For the first few days, Kitty decided to value her stealth and speed over her strength. She knew she had a better chance of winning if she laid low, and even though a it killed a part of her not to show her family she was alive, a rational part of her told her it would be better for all of them if she actually made it out alive.
Then during the 5th day, the worst possible thing could’ve happened. Kitty went out for water in the early morning, a time she knew many people weren’t awake, when she caught her leg on a thread. The thread activated a net which effectively captured Kitty, leaving her unable to move or get her knife out.
“Which idiot got caught now- Kitty?” A voice whispered, a voice Kitty recognized very well.
“Noah?- Noah, did you set this tra-“ The younger girl got cut off by a hand to the mouth. Before the games, Kitty decided Emma needed someone special after her ex-boyfriend Jake broke up with her. So she found Noah, the cynical, sarcastic, perfect match for Emma. They worked out for a while before they both realized that they liked someone else, and broke up on good-ish terms.
Now the same Noah looked badly injured, starved and restless. He looks around for a moment before removing his hand from Kitty’s mouth. “You can’t be sure whose listening in this game-“ He stops, his eyes looking down then rolling back up before falling, spear through his heart. Kitty’s never been this afraid in the games, hell she hasn’t been this afraid in her life. She looks up to see a guy carefully extracting his spear from Noah’s unconscious body. “Finally caught that nerd- and looks like I’ve caught something else too” The former pulls out a pocket knife and goes closer to Kitty, whose snaps out of shock, trying to get out the net. “Try as hard as you can sweetheart, that net is one of my best works, courtesy of District 4.” The guy chuckles, as Kitty pulls out a small dagger. “Just let me go, don’t make things harder than they have to be.” Kitty threatens, trying to seem as fearless as possible. The District 4 guy also seems to be taking the same strategy as he pulled the spear up, slightly tilting it towards Kitty.
Emma realized what was going to happen the moment she saw the spear on TV, yet Kitty wouldn’t comprehend anything until the dagger was thrown, until the spear was launched, until her life flashed before, remembering the last look on her sister’s face, the last laugh Kitty ever had.
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That night, there were only 3 dead: Noah Suresh, Alvin Thomas and Kathleen Bell.
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The next few days were miserable for most people in District 2, sure both their tributes died on the same day, but so many of them knew the tributes personally, and to see someone who you thought would be so capable to win die in front of your eyes isn’t a feeling anyone could forget. Both the tributes had their funerals after the games, the entire district came, some just to mourn the loss of a friend, others to sigh over the lives lost. Emma stayed for both the funerals, wishing she’d talked to them more often.
“Emma, sweetie it’s getting late, let’s go.” “..It’s fine mom, I-I’ll drive home.” “Are you sure?” “Mhm”
Emma walked along the graves when she heard a guy, 19 probably, half weeping-half talking to someone. The asian looked over to see a blonde boy sitting by Noah’s grave with a book in his hand.
When she got closer, she realized the guy wasn’t talking, he was reading something aloud.
“I know not all that m-may be coming, b-but be it what it w-will, I’ll go to it laugh-laughing” The blonde boy sniffled, before looking up, not realizing the girl in front of him. “Oh, uh, hi? You’re Kitty’s sister right?” Emma nodded carefully before sitting down, the boy continued “I’m Owen, Noah here is- was my best friend…” “I know, he told me alot about you..” “Really? Wait, you’re that one girl he dated few months ago” “Heh, yeah..are you doing ok?” Owen shook his head and talked a bit about Noah, Emma sat and listened half-heartedly, and even though she knew both of them would never see their best friends again, it felt nice knowing there was someone who could understand what she was and will be going through.