XXX

for a second i forget how to breathe. my hands ball up into fists at my sides and no amount of time could've prepared me for this moment. "davina hallows," vivian bloom calls out again. the people around me clear a way for me as i slowly walk to the stage.

my heart is hammering inside my chest like a drum and my body feels as cold as ice but somehow i manage to walk up the stairs and to the centre of the stage. vivian gives me a sour look, angered that it took me so long to walk to the stage.

my eyes scan the crowd but i refuse to look at my father because i know what i'll see. the horrified look of a father watching his only daughter practically given a death sentence.

"now for our boy tribute," says vivian as she crosses the stage to the ball that contains the boys' names and grabs the first slip she encounters. she zips back to the podium, and before i can even blink, his name is called. "isaac withers!"

my watery eyes enlarge and the hairs on the nape of my neck bristle. i breathe in and out but air won't enter my lungs. starved for air, my heart races at tremendous speeds, and my lungs shallowly rise and fall in time. i stand there for what feels like an eternity but is actually only a minute.

i watch hopelessly as isaac makes his way to the stage. this can't be happening! i scream in my head but as much as i want to, i can't deny what is happening right in front of me.

we're both going to the arena, where we will be forced to kill each other. only one can come back alive. i share a look of panic with isaac. he opens his mouth to say something to me but no words come out. i stand there, feeling my body begging to collapse when someone yells out the words that'll change everything.

"i volunteer as tribute."

my eyes search wildly for the owner of the voice, expecting to find one of isaac's many brothers but to my utter amazement, it was kit nightlock. an eighteen year old boy from the seam, an orphan who grew up a couple houses away from mine.

why him? i think. then i try to convince myself it doesn't matter. i've never formerly met kit and don't know him enough to feel sick at the thought of having to be against him in the games.

my relief filled eyes watch as he half-jogs up the stage where isaac is standing. "i think you're standing in my spot," kit says with a half-smile.

isaac is just as shocked as i am but hurriedly walks off the stage before kit can change his mind.

kit doesn't change his mind though and he looks sure of his decision. he doesn't even so much as glance at me or acknowledge my existence at all but in that moment i feel as if i owe him everything i have. he saved isaac's life and i find myself wondering why. as far as i know, isaac and kit weren't friends, or even acquaintances.

i'm pulled out of my stupor when the mayor begins to read the long, dull treaty of treason as he does every year - it's required - but i'm not listening. instead i stare at kit nightlock, wondering how he can look so relaxed even though he's a tribute.

the mayor finishes the dreary treaty of treason and motions for kit and i to shake hands. it was then that i fully took in his appearance. he has coal-black eyes, which were very restless and very piercing. leaves and dirt and various other gunk from the forest adorn his unruly mess of dark chocolate hair. he looks tired and worn but fascinated at the same time.

this was the first time he looked at me since he volunteered to take isaac's place. his lips tilted up into a smile as his hand grasped mine.

kit nightlock was nothing less than captivating.