Evelina stepped off of the train, her hands restrained tightly behind her. She flinched as a man to her right was punched in the head for not exiting the train fast enough. Sighing, she followed her fellow tributes in a line. Much to her dismay, the Capitol was not all that glamorous. With monochromatic skies, and even more boring, gray architecture, there wasn't that much to appreciate. It almost looked like District 12, but bigger. The main difference, though, was the people.
Everywhere she looked there were people dressed in elaborate suits, fancy dresses, or skirts in flashy colors. She laughed at a man who slipped in some mud, the brown splattering over his red suit. He collected himself, grimaced, and walked away. She noted how some mud had smeared across his face, and she watched in amusement as he spat it out, cursing the mud as he left. She turned back and faced the line. Her hands had become increasingly sore as they walked, and she wished she could be free from the chains that dug into her once soft skin.
Her feet began to drag, and she felt a poke in her back.
"Keep moving, rebel," a Peacekeeper grumbled. She quickened her pace, now walking right behind the girl in front of her. She was tall, and Evelina adored the bouncy, blonde curls that fell down her back. She looked cleaner than any tribute Evelina had seen, so she wondered which district she came from. Maybe District 1, luxury.
Finally, they came to a dome far larger than any building Evelina had seen in her lifetime, and they abruptly stopped in front of it. At the front of the dome, young men and women wearing red suits similar to the one the mud man wore were lined up, their hands sophisticatedly folded in front of their stomachs. Most of them smiled warmly, some scowled, and some had no expression at all. Like a sore thumb, Evelina immediately spotted the man who fell in the mud, his blond hair disheveled and his suit still dirty, though it appeared someone had made an attempt to clean it. It couldn't take away from his handsomeness, though, and Evelina certainly noticed this.
A short man wearing black steps out to greet them. "Good evening, tributes. My name is Casca Highbottom. I am the Dean of the Academy. The graduates in front of you are your allies, your providers, your mentors. They are in charge of giving you all of the information needed to participate in the Games, and hopefully benefit more than harm you." The tributes around Evelina scoffed, some laughed, and others began to cry. She thought this to be odd. Nothing seemed funny, and nothing certainly seemed too mournful yet. She kept her head high, scanning the mentors.
"Each mentor already knows who they have. Please line up horizontally so they can find you."
The tributes lined up so they were all facing the mentors. As if rehearsed, the mentors quickly found their way to their tributes. Evelina was met by a familiar man covered in mud.
He approached her with a soft smile, and grabbed her hand to shake. In contrast to her calloused ones, his hands were quite smooth, and soft.
"Coriolanus Snow, your mentor," he stated, dropping his hand and stepping back. In his other hand, a white rose. He gave it to her politely, to which she accepted with a quick smile.
"Evelina Sanders," she replied. Evelina thought he seemed different than the rest of the Capitol. There was a sort of glimmer in his eye, something of hope. He had faith in her. Even though the odds were against her he could see her intelligence. She admired him for that.
There was some awkward silence before Evelina said, "I like the abstract bits of mud."
"I took a slip earlier," he chuckled, seemingly embarrassed.
"I know," said she. "I saw."
He raised a brow, and opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by some shouting. To the left of the two, a tribute from District 2 was attacking his mentor. He had him in a chokehold and was pulling on his hair, tufts of ginger strands being ripped out. Then he was thrown to the ground, and the tribute stomped on his face. The screaming was unbearable, until a shot rang out.
Coriolanus reached over and grasped ahold of Evelina, holding her chest to his back. He stood in front of her, blocking her view of the killing. A Peacekeeper had shot the tribute, leaving him dead and bleeding on the pavement. Evelina could feel the tears stinging her eyes, and soon they dropped down her blushed cheeks, falling onto her mentor's back, staining the red with tears instead of mud.
Coryo could feel Evelina shaking behind him, but all he could do was watch. His eyes were wide with horror, and he seemed to freeze. This was not meant to happen.
"Finley!" A woman yelled. There was a sound of struggled behind the boy who was killed, and the tall blonde woman sprung from the line. She knelt beside the boy, holding his face, her hands already covered in blood from trying to cover the wound on his head. Finley reached out, his fingers grazing her cheek.
"Jodi," he wheezed. His eyes were fluttering closed, he appeared to be losing consciousness.
Jodi, the girl, looked up, her face red. "Help me!" Nobody moved. "Why aren't you doing anything? Help me!" Her sobs were terrifying. She was yelling at the mentors, who were just as surprised. Soon, several more Peacekeepers ran over. They tossed Jodi aside and hauled Finley into the air, carrying him into a truck.
Jodi continued to scream, thrashing in the hands of two Peacekeepers. Her mentor, a large boy with black hair, pushed the Peacekeepers away and grabbed ahold of Jodi. His words were intelligible, but they seemed to calm her down for a moment. Evelina couldn't tell, though, and soon everyone was swept into the dome. The red haired mentor was taken away as well, into a different truck. The mentors chatted again, smiling and practically skipping their way into the large room. It was as if they were ignoring the situation altogether. It unnerved Evelina, and she couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Coriolanus was, too.
"You didn't have to hold me," said she. She shook the boy off of her. "I'm fine."
"I'm... I'm sorry," Coriolanus muttered, leaning close to Evelina's ear. His hand was wrapped loosely around her waist, guiding her through the other mentors with their tributes. "I didn't know that would happen."
Evelina nodded. She understood. "You still don't have to hold me..." she trailed off, her eyes wide.
They entered the dome, which Evelina soon figured out was the arena in which she would be fighting in later that week. She knew she should be afraid, and she was, but she was also amazed. She had never left District 12 before, and just being inside the Capitol was mind blowing to her.
Evelina scanned her surroundings. The arena wasn't much. There were old ruins thrown about, and the majority was dirt and rocks.
"Well," her mentor suddenly smiled and gestured toward the arena, "welcome to the Hunger Games."
"no, i'm not afraid to disappear
the billboard said, 'the end is near'"
YOU ARE READING
Panem Forever
Fanfiction"hope. it is the only thing stronger than fear." Anyone would tell you that Evelina Sanders was not a "go getter". She was a gatherer, not a hunter. She wasn't particularly good at anything, though she could fancy herself a painter if she were aske...
