The darkness slowly faded to light, and I could see Estella standing in front of me, accompanied by two Peacemakers.

"Oh goody goody! Two beautiful and lucky tributes get to go to the Hunger Games! You two can go now." I thought she was talking to us at first, but then saw her shoo away the Peacemakers. "Now, what are your names?

"Bates." As he said his name, he straightened up to his full height.

"Wonderful... you seem like a winner. And what about you, little.. um.." She trailed off. I don't think she knew where she was going with her sentence. Or any sentence for that matter.

"Violet." I stared into Estella's eyes, which looked like there were stars instead of the normal little black dot. I sighed, thinking that our escort was a complete nut job.

"Violet! Now that's a pretty name. You'll like Sapphy. She's just like you, small and everything!"

Sapphy was one of our only mentors. She had won the previous Hunger Games by hiding until she needed food or water, and then she would go back to her hiding spot. The Gamekeepers found that a bit boring though, because they had an earthquake right where she was hiding, so she was forced to move until she reached the Cornucopia, for fear that something would fall on her. It was there that she was met with the other three tributes left, and had to fight. Turns out she was quite good with throwing knives. That's how she won too. She ran and hid in the Cornucopia until she was left with one other tribute from District 2, after he had killed the other tributes in the small blood bath. She killed him by staying hidden until she saw him, which is when she threw five knives at him, all hitting either his head or his chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. She seemed a little shaken by it though, and doesn't talk to many people in our district.

Estella led us to different rooms where we were allowed to say goodbye to anyone who wants to for an hour. Then we were off to the Capitol. Or, as I like to think, off to our death.

The first group of people through the door was my mom and dad. They ran to me, and I was embraced in a hug for what seemed like eternity. I never wanted to pull away, but I had to.

"Violet, I know you can win these games. You're clever and fast. You will survive. You have to survive. I believe in you." My dad was wiping a couple tears away as he said that. When I saw them, I started to cry a little bit too, but quickly wiped them away. I didn't want my parents to see me so broken down emotionally.

The Peacekeepers came in and took my parents away. "I love you!" I yelled to them as the door closed. I saw my mother's eyes glistening with tears, but also whispering I love you at the same time. I didn't expect anyone else to come in, so I huddled in the corner to try and deal with my thoughts. I wasn't sitting there for long though, because another person walked through the door. It was Melissa, the girl who ultimately sent me to the Hunger Games.

"Hi. I'm really sorry you're going. I didn't mean for you to go." Her voice was quiet, almost ashamed to be facing me. I slowly turned to her and stared at her before speaking.

"Why me? Why me, of all the people you could send away? What have I ever done to you?" I watched as she put her head in her hands.

"Because I knew if I went I would die. I knew if you went you would live. You also deserve to be treated better. When you come back you won't be picked on anymore. You won't be bullied. But most of all, you'll have survived the games." I sat in silence as I stared at her. "Maybe when you come back, we can be friends." I only responded with silence once again. Maybe I was still mad at her for choosing me. Maybe I was a little shocked by the idea that she thought I could actually win the Games. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that she had left, and that it was time to go.

I took one last look of my District, my beautiful District filled with all sorts of trees, flowers, and just beauty in general as I boarded the train with Bates. Bates and I were allowed to do whatever we wanted for about thirty minutes before we had to watch all of the Reapings. I decided to take a nice, hot shower before I saw anyone again. I took off all my clothes and stepped into the shower. There were a lot of buttons, each doing different things. I had fun figuring out what each of them did, and when I stepped out I smelled a lot like a garden. I stepped over to the dryer and pushed the start button, and within a matter of seconds I was completely dry. That's when I heard a knock on my door. It was Estella, telling me it was time for me to watch the other Reapings.

District One had both tributes be volunteers. The first, Astrita, had long, dark brown hair that went down to her lower back. Her hair shaded her face, so that we couldn't see much of it. We could see her eyes though. She had cornflower blue eyes that seemed hungry for blood. Her height could be used as an advantage; when I first saw her I didn't see her, being as short and thin as she was. That could be fatal in the Games. She seemed intelligent too, which was not a good combination for a fifteen year old; intelligence and blood hungry. The other tribute was Terrence, a tall, muscular boy who looked about sixteen. He seemed eager to go into the Hunger Games, as most District One tributes are.

District Two had one tribute volunteer, the girl named Hazel. She had, well, hazel eyes and short brown hair. She seemed a little less eager than someone from District Two going into the Hunger Games than I expected. The girl she volunteered for looked just like her, so I'm assuming it was her sister. The boy's name was Edward, and was very well-built. By the glares he was giving everyone, you could tell that he wouldn't let anyone volunteer for him. That and he would most likely be the leader of the Career pack.

District Three's boy tribute didn't impress me at all. He was kind of average; light brown hair, medium height, medium thickness. He probably wouldn't last that long in the Games. Maybe a day or so. The girl however, she was a bit different. Cassandra was tall and had black curly hair that was in a braid with one strand loose, shaping her face. Her serpent green eyes were slightly covered by her black square rimmed glasses, standing out a lot from her pale skin. I made a mental note to myself to watch out for her.

District Four had two very intimidating looking tributes. Daniel, the boy tribute, was very tall and athletic looking. His sea-green eyes seemed to taunt me by saying I'll come find you. Then I'll kill you. I will win these games. The girl, Brittney, was short and very thin. Her eyes scanned the crowd, daring someone to volunteer. She didn't seem as strong as her partner, but seemed incredibly intelligent. I could already tell that she would be a very strong opponent to beat, with her working together with the Careers.

District Five's tributes both looked like an average person; terrified of being in the Games. Both from the fourteen year old group, Rosetta and Lucas both seemed as if they would be gone within the first couple of days. Just like me I thought.

District Six had a taller boy with black hair and a short girl with red hair. The taller boy's muscles seemed to bulge beneath his shirt. The girl, Lyla, seemed like a sweet girl. She was short with light blond hair that went down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a light blue dress that made her look as if she couldn't hurt a fly. Some instinct inside of me told me to become allies with her. I made another mental note to see what she was capable of during the Training. Even though they're not from a regular Career district, I feel like Cristoff, the boy, will make it into the Career group.

District Seven's tributes both made quite an event of going up to the stage. The first, Rosetta, volunteered for her baby sister. The Peacekeepers had to pry her away from Clarissa, her sister, and practically drag her up to the stage as she was in tears. The boy, Karl, started screaming when he heard his name called. The Peacekeepers had to drag him up to the stage as well. I don't think he ever stopped screaming. When it came time for them to shake hands, he was only huddled up in a ball. I liked Rosetta. I wouldn't mind becoming allies with her either. The boy however, I feel like will definitely die in the bloodbath.

District Eight had two boring tributes. They walked up to the stage, Annaleise and Josef, shook hands, and faced the crowd with tears in their eyes. Just like the rest of us, I suppose. Their physical features were very plain; both of them had light brown hair and blue eyes. They looked as if they could be siblings, and then I realized that they were. They both shared the last name Carsona. I felt instantly bad for them.

District Nine's tributes were both tall and thin, with almost white hair that went fairly well against their pale skin. The girl, Lamb, had very soft blue eyes. She seemed incredibly underfed, and looked as if she probably wouldn't be able to pick up anything heavier than five pounds. The boy, Augustus, looked a bit better in terms of how well-fed he was, but looked rather bored with the fact that he got picked. He also started laughing quietly to himself. I feared that he was starting to go crazy.

District Ten had a very interesting group of people in it. For starters, the two people Reaped were also siblings. They were twin siblings. The mother broke down in tears when she realized that both of her children were being sent away. Isaac and Sandy both were short and had cropped dark brown hair. Their eyes looked as big as the cows that were behind them. I also suspected that they would die quickly.

When the time came for District Eleven to have people be chosen, I turned away. I couldn't bear to see myself get chosen in front of everyone. I didn't want to relive the nightmare. Bates offered his arm for me to bury my head in as he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. He seemed a lot like a big brother to me, like he sympathized with me a lot.

It had been a really tiring day, and when District Twelve came on, and I think I had fallen asleep on Bates' arm. He gently woke me up when the Reapings were all over so that I could eat food. He told me that the District Twelve tributes were both kind of scrawny and wouldn't last that long.

The Capitol food was the best I have ever eaten. In our District, I would be lucky if I could get some chicken to eat. I lived mostly off of the almost bad pieces of fruit that we picked; we wouldn't want the Mayor and his family to get sick, now would we? The course started off with a baked potato soup, which I easily ate two bowls of. I would've eaten more, but Bates quietly told me that there was more food coming and that I should save my appetite. The next course that came out was this chicken in some sort of an orange sauce. It tasted amazing. I took little bites out of this course, trying to savor as much of the taste as I possibly could. After that came the dessert. The people dressed in white brought out a gorgeous chocolate cake; it was on a pedestal, had chocolate dripping off of it, and had little shavings decorating it. On top of the cake were also flowers made out of chocolate, which I immediately claimed. I ate two big pieces of the cake, and then realized that if I ate any more I would become sick. The Capitol food was so rich that I wasn't used to it quite yet.

I quietly excused myself as I went to my room. Changing into a silk nightgown, I realized I still hadn't met my mentor yet. I wondered where she was. I guess she didn't want to see the next pair of kids that she would send to their death with false hope quite yet. I turned off the light and slowly fell asleep, to only have a nightmare overcome my body, terrifying me to death.