warning: the first scene contains mature content

sell your soul; ❛ ENIGMA ❜
↷ the hunger games
❝ I volunteer! ❞

𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘰'𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯, "𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺."

"𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤, 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭." 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘰? 𝘊𝘶𝘮?" 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘬, "𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭?"

𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱."

"𝘈𝘴── "

Alina's eyes practically flew open and she sat up in her bed with wide eyes. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘺. Sleeping with him was embarrassing enough, but the fact that her subconsciousness knew she actually 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 it made her want to crawl into a hole and die.

She ran the palm of her hand over her face in frustration before looking at the black clock on her nightstand.

𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯.

The Reaping Day had a different meaning in every district.

In Districts One and Two it was another year where the people in the District cheered for their tributes and wait for them to come back home with the crown because their tributes always came prepared and all four of them created the basic career pack ── even though their alliance sometimes took in tributes from District Three and Four or anyone else that seemed worthy enough to be one of them.

Most tributes from Districts Three, Four, and Five knew what they were doing too. They weren't as skilled as the ones from Districts One and Two, but they were good enough to have plenty of victors.

The other Districts did not have that much luck with their number of victors. Their Districts did not have academies. The children were not taught how to fight there, and they rarely had any volunteers.

That is the only thing where Alina envied them. She would never wish to live in a District that has life conditions like the ones above District Five do; most of them were poor and had to hunt illegally to get proper amounts of food or buy things from the black market. Still, not having to train for a game in which twenty-four kids murder each other would not be the worst thing in the world. At least the tributes from other Districts still had their humanity.

Alina was used to the reaping process by now. Every year at nine in the morning, everyone would get together at the town square, then spread out into groups based on gender and age before watching their District's escort, Mare Peterson announce that year's tributes. Even though it was rare for someone in District Two not to volunteer, it happened sometimes and that was when the escort has to pick a name, first a female and then a male, and that person represents their district that year, or someone volunteered for them. All tributes have to be between the ages of twelve and eighteen.

Being a part of one of the most respected families in the District meant Alina had to look her best and that's what led her best friend to barge into the room not even a minute after the redhead opened her eyes.

"Get up, Red. I've got your dress and the make-up bag..." Sira White trailed off with a sharp voice that faded into silence as she narrowed her eyes at the sweat gathered on Alina's face and her messy hair Sira blinked and tilted her head with an amused glint in her eyes, "Did you have a sex dream or something?"

She snorted at her own joke and made her way towards the big table with a mirror on it on the other side of the bedroom, placing the makeup bag on it and then throwing the dress on the bottom of the bed.

The two girls became friends since the beginning of training when they were kids. Along with Bellamy, of course. They became inseparable and did mostly everything together even though they had different priorities.

Bellamy wanted to finish training so he could be a part of the family business with his older brothers so they could take care of their little sister. Their parents died a while ago, so he didn't want to spend his time thinking about volunteering for the games when his family was more important.

Sira, on the other hand, hated the thought of volunteering after hearing about what happened to some members of her family after doing so. She thought that what the Capital was doing was beyond disgusting, knowing the people in other Districts were dying of hunger.

The girl did not fully understand why Alina was spending her entire life training for something like that, but still decided to support her, knowing she could not change her mind.

"Where were you last night?" Was the first thing Alina asked and threw herself on the bed next to her, her chocolate brown eyes staying glued to the ceiling.

"Training." Alina answered in a deadpan tone, meeting her gaze with a raised eyebrow, "Why? Did you need something?"

Sira turned to lay on her side and shrugged, "No, but that was your last night here and I wanted to make it count but when I came over, Clove said that you weren't here."

"Hey, I'm coming back." Alina spoke up with determination written across her sharp features the second she took note of the sad glint in her eyes, "The last-minute training was just something that guaranteed it happening."

She knew about Sira's thoughts on the games and understood that after the loss of her sister, she didn't want to lose anyone else, especially her best friend. But this was something she had to do and she was confident she was going to win. It did not stop Sira from worrying though.

Sira swallowed and stared at her nails for a few seconds before looking back up, "Before you go in there, I want you to be sure that you really want to do that. Because I'm not ready to lose anyone else to the games."

Alina's eyes softened and she gave her best friend's hand a soft squeeze, "Nothing is going to stop me from coming back."

"Not even Cato?" The questions took her by surprise and it was clearly obvious since the dark-skinned girl clarified, "I know you claim to not like him but I just don't know if you are really willing to kill him."

"I have to be." Alina shrugged, not even wanting to think about what is actually gonna happen inside that arena, "I trained for this my entire life, I'd be damned if I let a boy get in a way of that."

"Good." Sira nodded, but she did not look that convinced. "Cause if I end up watching him put a spear through your chest, I'm gonna kill him as soon as he comes back home."

"Noted."

In all honesty, she had no idea what she was going to come down to the moment when she was going to have to kill Cato. It was one thing to kill the people that she knew for a week and it was another thing to kill the person that she knew her entire life. Cato was an asshole but he was going to be her only reminder of home. She just prayed that someone killed him instead. Her mother would be proud to see her kill a Hadley but she did not know if she was going to be able to handle the knowledge that she killed him just for a stupid crown and her mother's respect.

-

An hour later, Alina was wearing a simple black dress with short sleeves and her red hair was set tightly into a high ponytail. She did everything she had to do except say goodbye to her sister, mom, and Bellamy. She will be saying goodbye to her mother after volunteering and she will be walking with Bellamy towards the City Center, which only left Clove.

She gently knocked on her sister's half-opened door to let her know she was coming in and then walked right in. Clove had her back to her because she was sitting at her desk with makeup scattered across it. The dark-haired girl met her gaze through the mirror and gave her an expectant look.

"Do you need any help before I go?" Alina asked a little awkwardly because she was not blind to the tension inside Clove's bedroom, "Bellamy is gonna be there in like two minutes and then we are going to head to the town square."

Clove turned around to give her sister a weak smile that was accompanied by a small nod, "Can you just zip my dress up?"

The older sister nodded without hesitation and motioned her to turn around, before swiftly zipping her light blue dress up, placing her hand on her shoulder to squeeze it after she did so.

"Do you have to go?" Clove asked weakly, her eyes wide and almost innocent when she turned to face Alina.

Everyone knew the two sisters as the popular, stone-cold girls who come from a long family of Victors. Most people at school and at the Academy thought the girls were unable to show actual emotions. Only a few knew how good they kept their emotions in and how good they were at acting like they did not care about anyone or anything besides success.

But right now, Clove was just a fifteen-year-old girl afraid to lose her big sister in the worst way possible. It was way harder because she knew she was going to have to watch it all go down without any power to protect her.

"You know I do." Alina sighed with a tight frown and watched her stand to her feet in front of her. She knew what she had to do, but she also hated getting separated from her sister for a long time. They were never apart for longer than two days.

"Just come back to us. I need my big sister, Alina." Clove pleaded with sad eyes and wrapped her arms around the redhead's waist, burying her head between her shoulder and neck.

Alina brushed her fingers through her sister's straightened dark hair and kissed her forehead, "Of course, I will."

Clove pulled away from her to give her a grin, there was an almost mischievous glint in her eyes which was a complete contrast to her sad expression before the hug, "I got you something yesterday."

"What?" Alina asked with a growing smile, curiosity filling her eyes.

Instead of answering with words, Clove pulled out a small wooden box from her drawer and opened it to reveal a small gold necklace with a star pendant on it.

"I know you don't believe in good luck charms but just think of it as a way to always have me with you."

Alina smiled fondly at the rare soft gesture as she put the necklace on with shaky fingers. After making sure it was secure around her neck, she smiled at her sister ── and not one of those fake smiles she gave to most people but a real genuine smile ── and told her, "I love it. And I am never taking it off."

"Good." Clove smiled back, before wrapping her arms around her big waist again. They both knew what they were going. They were savoring each other's presence before Alina leaves because there was no way of them knowing if she was ever going to come back home.

-

After Alina and Bellamy arrived at the main square, they stepped in line to get blood samples and then separated. Alina went to the girl's side and Bellamy went to the boy's side.

The pair of friends held eye contact from where they stood at the opposite sides of the crowd, until a smug blond guy stepped in front of Bellamy, giving the girl a coy grin that was accompanied by a wave. Alina immediately tore her eyes away from that side of the town square by rolling her eyes and turning her focus to where Mare Peterson was making her way to the microphone at the front and center of the unnecessarily big stage.

As always, first, everyone had to listen to the boring story about how the Districts were founded or whatever and about the war that occurred before they did. After that was over it was time to reap this year's tributes.

Alina had no idea how Cato was feeling but she was not that nervous. She knew it was coming to her entire life and was basically counting the days to the Reaping since she first joined the Academy. She was not scared by any means but she was also not ready.

𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘝 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴?

"Welcome, welcome." Mare spoke into the microphone with her usual high-pitched voice that used to make her shiver when she was old enough to get reaped, "Time has come for us to select one courageous young man and woman for the honor of representing District Two in the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games. As usual, let's flip the coin first."

In District Two, there was no 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵. Male and female tributes were equally skilled and therefore there was no need for the girls to go first. Therefore Mare Peterson always flipped a coin. Tails for the boys and heads for the girls.

Mare flipped the coin and then lifted it up from her glove-covered palm. She held it up in the air, leaning in to speak into the microphone, "Heads! Very well. This year, we are starting with the ladies."

The escort gave the crowd one last big grin and walked to the glass ball full of papers with names of possible tributes written on them. Then, she carefully picked out a piece of paper. She came back to the center of the stage and opened the paper, "Sersi Gal ── "

The woman didn't even get the chance to finish when Alina's hand shot up in the air, barely visible through the crowd of girls her age, "I volunteer!"

All eyes turned to the source of her voice but she did not take her eyes off the woman on the stage who's grin only grew at her words, "Very well. Join us on stage, sweetheart."

Alina held her head high and slapped a charming smile on her face. The Capitol and possible sponsors were 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 watching. From the moment she volunteers until the day she dies, all eyes are going to be on her.

Her eyes were set in front of her as she walked up to the stage, two peacekeepers now behind her to escort her forward. Alina made her way to the top of the stairs, standing front and center of the stage right next to her escort.

"What's your name, dear?" Mare asked, her eyes solemnly on the younger girl, something unrecognizable inside of them.

"Alina King." The girl spoke into the microphone, her voice steady and confident but the smile on her face was perfectly stuck in place. She had to start impressing her potential sponsors the second she stepped on camera.

Mare nodded to herself before clapping her hands together delicately, "Let's have applause for this year's female volunteer!"

As the crowd erupted in cheers Alina took a moment to look at the front row where the previous District Two victors were clapping. Brutus and Enobaria had their poker faces on as usual. She knew they practically idolized the games and were usually always committed to mentoring until this year when they decided to take a year off. District Two's mayor Marcus Hadley was wearing his usual impatient expression and surprisingly, Alina's mother, Reina King, had a small proud smirk on her face. Ikarus Parker wasn't even bothering to keep his scowl off his face since he never did bother to hide his distaste for the games.

"Now for the boys."

Alina tore her eyes away from Ikarus to watch as the District Two escort made her way to the glass ball that was filled with names once again and picked out a piece of paper. Making her way next to Alina once again, Mare opened her red lipstick-covered mouth to read out the name when a familiar male voice was heard from the crowd before she even managed to read out the name.

"I volunteer!"

Mare narrowed her green eyes, which were overly vibrant due to her blue eyeshadow, at the center of the crowd where Cato Hadley was standing with a cold but slightly hesitant look on his face. For some reason, Alina could not bring herself to look at him and kept her eyes locked on the crowd with a blank look on her face. Mare did not even have to say anything to make the blond climb on stage and stand on the other side of her.

"Well, introduce yourself." Mare encouraged him and he did not waste a second before stepping closer to speak into the microphone and stating his name.

"Cato Hadley."

The blonde woman smiled brightly once more before clapping her hands together, "Let's have one more round of applause for this year's District Two volunteers. Alina King and Cato Hadley."

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. Alina thought while thickly swallowing. And judging by the intrigued look Ikarus Parker was wearing, he was thinking the exact same thing.