When I wake up, Octavia tells us that we're almost at the Capitol. I peer outside of the window. I've always wanted to see the Capitol. At school, they tell us tales about all the different monuments and buildings. I can see the giant Monument of Victory, a silver, winged goddess with two swords held up. It's meant to commemorate the end of the rebellion. I turn my attention to the houses in the Capitol. Big, giant, mansions with thousands of windows, golden arches, and little statuettes.

"What a waste.", Concher says, standing behind me.
"God, you scared me."
"Sorry."
"What do you mean by what a waste?"
"Look at all of these mansions and monuments. People are starving and homeless in the districts. It's sick."
"You shouldn't say those things. You could get punished."
"How can they punish me now? They've already taken everything from me."
I'm brought back to a memory of one of the tributes from last games, screaming that into the camera.

Suddenly, Octavia steps out of her compartment.
"Rise and shine, my darlings! Indeed, you are my darlings!"
"Hi, Octavia.", I say. Concher just lets out a snicker. Octavia shoots him a look that would decapitate him if looks could kill.
We sit at the table for breakfast, as waiters bring plates filled with croissants, breads, spreads, meat stews, soups, and juices.

I pour some apple juice into a cup and feel it swoop through my palate. The sweet, tart, crisp, juice makes me want more and more and more. "Control.", I say in my mind. But then a thought comes to my mind. If I'm gonna survive in the arena, I shouldn't be starving. So I shamelessly fill my plate with chocolate croissants, raspberry brioche, and white chocolate ice cream. Octavia doesn't seem to mind, since she's ranting about the games and what we need to do. "Lovelies, I would like to give you some tips for the arena. First, try and get some supplies and then run out of the arena. Second, make allies. And third, look pretty and SMILE!". Octavia's a bit silly sometimes, but when it gets to it, she can be very helpful and supportive. A bit over-the-top, but we get used to it.

We arrive at the Capitol train station and we step out to be greeted by dozens of Capitol citizens. Ever since the last games, with Lucy Gray's performance and the tribute interviews, people want to get to know the tributes. I swear, I think one of them just touched my hair. Mine is light brown and wavy, and looks off place in 4 where most people have blonde hair. I feel uncomfortable because of this, so I do something unexpected; grasp Concher's hand. He doesn't let go. We keep on walking until we arrive at a gray structure that towers over me, which Octavia tells us is the new tribute building.

"Is this not exciting?! A whole new building for the tributes! And a training center! President Ravinstill clearly decided to splurge.", Octavia says, while trying to contain her excitement.
"They're babying us for the games.", Concher replies.
Babying? That's the same word I thought of when we walked into the train.
"It's pretty nice. I wonder how the training center will look like.", I implore.

We step into this weird cylindrical machine thing, which can go up. I feel giddy about it, even thought it seems kind of childish. Octavia looks at me, and then I realize that my jaw is still wide open. However, she just laughs and says, "Of course! You poor gremlins in the districts don't have elevators. How funny!". I don't know if this is insulting or not.

There are 20 buttons for 20 floors. Floor 1-12 houses the tribute compartments, Floor 13 contains the training center, Floor 14 - 17 are labeled "Gamemaker Rooms" and Floor 18-20 are named "Capitol Rooms". Because we're District 4, we go to the fourth floor. The elevator reaches to the top with a ding and shows a room that looks strangely similar to the one in the train. Along with that, the first thing I noticed was these people standing on the side with red clothing and bandages wrapped around their head. They showed no sign of injury or blood though.

"Who are these people?", I ask.
Octavia smiles. "Oh, Avoxes! They're servants. They betrayed the Capitol, so their tongue was cut out and now they work for us."

Cut out their tongues? A raging fury burns inside me. What type of evil creatures would do this? Cut out people's tongues! Send their children to fight to the death! It's just sick and evil. But I'm sure that if I make a negative comment about it, I might as well be sent to the lab where they cut off their tongues, and I'll have to serve the next tributes. Then again, I would still be alive. And I might die in the Games. But the risk of losing my family because of a crime, makes me decide against it.

"I'm going to rest.", I say.
"Back in time for dinner!", Octavia replies.
"I think I'll skip."
"Me too.", Concher responds.
I eye him suspiciously, but he just shrugs.

I collapse onto my bed. And as I fall into a dreary sleep, I don't dream of beaches and home. Or cuddling my sisters and looking at the starry night sky. I dream of games of death. Toying with my fate. Painting pictures of my end. And I wake up screaming.