"She won the game with 13. Youngest ever. Mary Kenner. Or better known as 'bloody Mary'. She is one of the capital's favorites. They see her as a sweet young woman. She's very kind and helpful, but some people say that she's insane."
"What's so spec...
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Mary thought that somehow she hadn't realized that she was now in the games.
Not realizing that she could die.
Not realizing that she would probably have to kill people.
Not realizing that she probably gave up everything for her big sister.
Her family was everything to her. And for her family, she would do anything and everything to keep them alive.
"You're brave." The voice of Mikael McCall woke her back to the here and now. "Sorry if I scared you. " He had turned to her and gave her a small smile. Mary noticed that he didn't look as dangerous now as he had earlier. "I just wanted to tell you that what you did for Regina was brave. Not everyone would do that. I'm in her class. She likes to talk about you." Mary looked up in surprise.
"Really?" There was a twinkle in her eyes, making Mikael laugh.
"Really. She talks about how you like to help on your farm, for example. Or even about how you made the flower necklace for her." That's right, the flower necklace. Mary loved making flower necklaces. She was good at it. In her free time, she would often go out, and make some for Regina, and herself.
"I think you would do it too, right? So volunteer instead of your siblings, if you have any." Mikael just shook his head.
"I have a sister and a brother, but if I'm honest, I probably wouldn't do it. I'd probably be too surprised at that moment to even react. Most people probably wouldn't have done it and would have just been glad it wasn't themselves."
That's right. Mary thought about the event that happened a year ago. That's when Lara O'Brien was selected, and her older sister, Melina, just stood there with a small smile on her face. Lara had screamed for Melina, but Melina did nothing. Lara died in the first hours.
"My brother's name is also Mikael. I was afraid it was him," Mary admitted. "Don't be mad at me, but I was very happy when McCall was called then instead of Kenner." Mikael laughed again, causing Mary to look strangely at him. Why was he laughing?
"Anyone would have been happy. There's nothing to apologize for." Mikael gave her another small smile, and before they could say anything more, an older man burst in, clearly a little drunk.
"Welcome to your death." He staggered over to the table where there was alcohol and poured gin into his glass. He glanced at Mary before gesturing back to the table. "Do you know where the ice is?" Mary shook her head quickly, perhaps too quickly, causing the man to laugh.
"Now we're scaring our tributes too?" a boy who couldn't have been more than 17 entered the room.
"Finnick, darling, did they tell you where the ice is?"
That's when a light went on in Mary's pretty head. The boy standing before her was Finnick Odair. Winner of the 65 Hunger Games. Youngest winner ever, and at 14. Finnick should be 16 now, Mary thought to herself.
"Ares. Not a bit early for that." Finnick made a hand gesture and pointed to the gin in Ares' hand.
Ares' eyes moved to the drink in his hand and then to Finnick, shaking his head. "For this? Never." He finished it in one gulp and poured himself another. He looked to the tributes and then back to the bottles. "Are you guys even allowed to drink this yet?" Ares thought for a moment, and Mary could have bet that his head was about to explode. He took the whole bottle and put his glass on the table, and made his way to his room. "Before this goes bad." He pointed to the bottle. "If you have any questions, ask Finnick." Before anyone could say anything else after him, he was gone.
Finnick turned to the tributes and looked at them for the first time. "Well, that was Ares Connor. He will be one of two mentors for you, along with me. Originally, Mags was supposed to do it this year, but she couldn't make it, because of her health." His voice became sadder in the last part, and not only Finnick himself noticed that, but also Mary.
Mary assumed that Mags meant as much to Finnick as Mary's mother meant to Mary. She heard from many people in District 4 that Mags was Finnick's mother, after the terrible accident that happened six months ago.
Six months ago, the Odairs were found dead, except Finnick, who was at the Capitol at the time. Mary can still remember her father telling her at the dinner table about how a friend of his, found the family. Finnick's mother, Elizabeth, had been a good friend of her mother's. So somehow the death was bad for Mary's father, too. The Odairs were found in a cove on the beach in the early morning, when the sun was just coming up. The news quickly made the rounds in the village and soon arrived at the Capitol as well. The next time Finnick was in the district, he was rarely seen and when he was, it was with his best friend Annie or with Mags.
Mary could still remember accidentally overhearing a conversation between Finnick and Annie. Finnick said something like that it was all his fault and that he should have listened from the beginning. Mary was embarrassed that she had overheard someone and had never said a word about this conversation to anyone.
Finnick looked out the window and turned back to the two of them. "It's quite late. It would be better if you two went to sleep. We wouldn't want you to die of sleeping problems in the games, would we?" He grabbed a sugar cube that was on the table and threw it into his mouth. "Night." He turned with a grin and left. Mikael was the next to get up and say another good night to Mary before he too left.
"And now it was just me," she whispered. She had no desire to sleep. If she should die of sleeplessness in the arena, she wouldn't care if she was honest. If she were dead, she would be with her mother.
But would that be so good? Her mother was great, but she didn't know if she had forgiven her. Forgiven for the sin she had done and will do. Forgiven for the things she had done to her mother. Forgiven for the things she had done and will do to her family.
But if Mary got out alive, would her family even be proud of her? Now they were still talking happily about it, but if they saw the games and Mary killed someone, there would be no pride left. Mikael was happy if it could be said that way, but would he still be? Would he still want to hear stories about it, or would he not even look her in the eye anymore? Would her family even be able to look Mary in the eye anymore?
