The Spark of District 13

I'm taken to a small room where I'm instructed to stand on the rising platform. I'm going to rise up onto the stage the same way I rose up into the arena. It's symbolic I know, but I hate it. It makes me feel like I'm going into the Games again. Practically, I am. I may not technically be in the arena anymore, but I still feel like I'm in the Games. No, this is worse than the Games. Remembering is always worse than when it happens. I can't forget anything. I'm trapped remembering. I don't want to remember. It honestly would have been better if I died in the arena. I was close too. Why did I not just let Lily kill me when she had the chance? I'm so stupid.

I hear the screaming of the ever growing crowd as the Announcer starts the show once again. They cheer as my team rises up onto the stage. I can see the smirk on Bruce's face now. That stupid git. So arrogant & useless. It doesn't take long until I hear the announcer introduce me, & I feel my plate begin to move. I'm hoisted upward, & I nearly have a panic attack. The Games flash before my eyes. I swear I can see the Cornucopia when I make it out of the tube. No, just a cheering crowd. A crowd cheering me that kills on. Why do you people enjoy this?

The announcer gives me his hand as he helps me step down from my post in my elegant dress. The crowd goes wild as I stand there with a fake smile on my face. I watch as the president stands up & silences them. He gives me a salute & then walks over to me with a kid that is holding my crown on a pillow. I almost scream when I see the kid up close. I didn't know that they'd make Avoxes out of such young people. He has to be only eight! There truly are no limits to the Capitol's cruelty.

The president makes a sound in his throat telling me to pay attention. I look back up at those evil snakelike eyes. The same eyes out of my dream. I half expect his tongue to slither out as he reaches down to pick up my crown. He places it on my head with a subtle 'congratulations'. There is something about the way he says it that makes me cringe. It almost seems like a warning of caution to me. I try to ignore it as the ceremony goes on, but the warning sticks out in my mind like a beacon. The president is mad at me about something, but I just don't know what. Maybe he didn't want me to win. After all, I am the daughter of the most notorious war criminals of the Dark Days. I could see why he would want me dead. He has tried to kill me before.

The president gives a speech about how proud he is of me & this successful Third Annual Hunger Games. He goes on & on about why this is an important part of our culture & our nation. He explains how these Games are a huge milestone for the nation & that the Games promise everlasting peace for the nation. The crowd of the Capitol cheers with enthusiasm. I know for a fact that the crowds of the districts are not doing the same. I wouldn't be surprised if they were cussing out the president right now. Everyone in the districts want revenge on the Capitol. The only problem is we're to weak to fight. The Capitol has obliterated us.

Once the president finishes his address, I'm lead to a plush couch where I will watch the highlights of the Games. My heart begins to beat rapidly. This was the part I was dreading. I don't want to watch the suffering of all those innocent people. I don't want to watch myself slaughter those people without a second thought. And worst of all. I don't want to watch Luke. Unfortunately for me, a lot of the highlights are centered around him. I think the president wants to torture me. His face seems overly happy while the highlights are showing. I hate him with a genuine passion now. It has grown to a whole new level.

The highlights obviously starts with the Bloodbath. It was exceptionally bloody this year. Only a small handful got out of it alive. I watch horror stricken as the gong goes off, & Hell breaks loose. All I see is red. Red flying this way & that. I see tributes dropping like flies while others run around slashing at every movement they see. I watch the boy from 2 kill that poor helpless girl from 6. He decapitated her. I watch myself kill the boy from 5 with my hatchet. This is the first time I see the light leave his eyes. Gee, what a horrible way to kill someone. I look down at my hands expecting blood to be on them. There is, it's just underneath my skin. Only a humane person would see it.

I look up to see Luke falling for Rose's trap while he fights the boy from District 1. I watch Rose fall to the ground as my knife pierces her thigh. Then, I watch her get revenge. I see myself running for the forest when she steals & shoots an arrow at my leg. I can almost feel it go in now while watching. It begins to get harder to breathe too while I watch her strangle me. I'm surprised I actually survived that. It truly was by a shear miracle that I was able to get her off me. It's a same for when I was running from her with my injured leg. Still, I survived.

Next, the highlights skip to that night. You first see me struggling with my torn leg. Then, you see some cougar mutt things attack the boy from District 4. The killer! I remember him! I'm genuinely surprised when I see him get nearly killed by the beast. That's when Luke comes in. He's getting attacked too, but he's able to escape. He's almost made it to the tree line when I see him look back. I almost smile when I see him run back to save that boy from the mutt. It's stupid, but it shows me that he was still there. The day hadn't changed his heart yet. For now. The next highlight I can hardly bear. The night the moon turned red.

I see the zombies of our loved ones coming after each of us. I watch the girl from District 10 get torn apart by hers. The boy from District 2 nearly kills Luke near the Cornucopia, but Luke ends up winning. I see myself run onto the plain only to trip & knock myself out. I feel myself blush while everyone watches me fail on screen. I watch Luke pull me up on top of the Cornucopia with him & watch him save me from the District 7 girl. To think I thought this highlight was bad. The next one about kills me.

Next, I see Luke stalking through the forest only to be attacked by Rose. They struggle for what seems like forever where you don't know who's going to win. Then comes the moment of truth. Luke has almost escaped & was in the midst of jumping over a log when Rose's knife catches him in the hand. He slips, she grabs him, rips his hand in half, & pins him to a tree. She then takes her knife & stabs him in the stomach.

"No," I say in a low voice that only I can hear. I watch him fall to the ground & take dying breaths when the unthinkable happens. The boy from District 4 saves his life. He chases Rose off, takes Luke to safety, & with the help of a parachute, heals him. The rest of the highlights are pretty fast. Luke & the boy from 4 end up becoming allies, & I watch them kill Rose & watch the boy from District 4 die. That was when Luke snapped. He was crazy after that. It wasn't for long though. Lily brutally killed him only hours later, & then, I killed her on the beach. The look of pleasure on my face scares the living daylights a out of me. I can't help but think that I have become a monster. The blood on my hands is so bright anyone can see it. I just wish there was a way for me to wash it away.

I'm so happy when the highlights end, but I'm now permanently scared by what I've seen. I now know Luke's true story in the arena. I have now watched him die, & I have now seen what I have done to people while I was in there. I truly am a monster at heart. I should have been slain. That's all I can think while the ceremony goes on. I should have died.....