Skulduggery Pleasant Fan-Fic: Chapter 3

Valkyrie must have fallen asleep at some point, because when she woke, they were back in Ireland. Skulduggery had his façade up, but the Bentley was drawing attention anyway, as usual. It looked like morning, but with everyone getting up at ridiculously early hours, it was hard to tell.

“So,” Valkyrie yawned. “Who’s this Lucian we’re seeing?”

“A werewolf.”

“Yeah, I got that bit. He was one of the Dead Men?”

Skulduggery took his time to answer. “An on and off one.”

“What does that mean?”

“He wasn’t always a Dead Man. Sometimes he would go, and come back years later, helping us again. Not many know he used to be a full Dead Man, but then he went off.”

“You said he was a werewolf.”

“I thought you got that bit?”

“But you said no werewolves joined our side during the war, not until the Sanctuary passed that law.”

“He wasn’t originally a werewolf. He was bitten, in a mission with the Dead Men. I was there. When he found out he was bitten in the fight, he ran. We all thought he died, that the werewolves killed him. Turns out he became part of a pack. He joined us again when we started getting werewolves on our side.”

“Wait, how does that bite thing work? Same as vampires, or what?”

“Very much different. Only on the full moon is the bite contagious, otherwise it’s just a nasty bite. Most people don’t get far enough to become a werewolf when they’re bitten.”

“So they can turn into werewolves anytime they want?”

“Yep.”

“That’s… not good for us.”

“No.”

“So what’s Lucian like?”

“Strong, proud. Persistent, determined, dangerous. Very much deadly. But it’s not him you have to worry about, it’s his pack. He’s the alpha, the leader. Being the only werewolf in Ireland means he doesn’t turn away many, so you have both good and bad there. He keeps them under control. Mostly.”

They feel silent as they turned into a small, dirty street. Skulduggery parked the car outside a small phone-order only pizza shop. Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery, and he shrugged.

“No one goes in, and they make money.”

Accepting that a pack of werewolves worked in a pizza shop, Valkyrie shrugged and followed Skulduggery to the door.  He knocked once, and a gruff voice growled at them. “Phone order only.”

“I’m here to see Lucian,” Skulduggery said calmly.

There was a pause at the other end of the door. “He’s not expecting anyone,” the voice snarled. “Get out of here.”

“Tell him that he’d be a dead man if he ignored this.”

“Is that a threat?!”

“Just tell him.”

Hearing much cursing and muttering from the other side of the door, Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. “Was that wise?” she asked. “To make what looked like a threat to a pack of werewolves?”

“No,” he said happily. Then the door opened.

A man was standing there. He was dressed in dirty, second-hand clothes. His hair was unkempt and messy. He looked about nineteen.

“Take us to your leader,” Skulduggery said in a commanding voice.

The man growled and walked forward. Valkyrie saw several pizza ovens, and two more people standing against the wall. Both of them were as unkempt as the man leading them. They went through a door at the back.

It was filled with people. About a dozen were lounging around the room, some playing cards, some talking, some what looked like sleeping. But they all looked up when Skulduggery and Valkyrie entered. A few of them growled.

“This way,” the man leading them said. They walked past they people to a door at the end of the room. Looking around, Valkyrie saw that there were a few that weren’t that much older than her. They entered and saw Lucian Tenacious.

He reminded Valkyrie of Vex. He had the same confident air, the same smile. He had light brown hair. He was wearing jeans and a shirt. His feet were resting on a desk. But there was something dangerous about him, but still oddly kind.

“Skulduggery,” he said in a light voice, layered with an unspoken threat. “What brings you to my humble pizza shop?”

“Werewolves,” Skulduggery said.

Lucian stood. “My pack hasn’t killed anyone.”

“It’s not about your pack.”

Lucian relaxed, his smile shinning back. He walked towards Skulduggery and embraced him. “It’s been a while,” he said.

“Indeed. Last time it was in… was it the beach?”

“No, I defiantly remember snow.” Lucian stood back and looked between Skulduggery and Valkyrie. “I also remember bullets. They were from you, no?”

“Ah, yes.”

“And are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Lucian smiled down at Valkyrie, but not in a patronising way.

“This is my partner, Valkyrie Cain.”

Lucian’s smiled disappeared. “Oh,” he said.

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery, who just shrugged. “Something wrong?” she asked.

He looked over at the man, who was standing in the corner. He was looking slightly afraid.

“I think it’s best if you leave,” Lucian said.

“What? Why? We need your help.” Skulduggery took a step towards Lucian.

He bit his lip. “Mathew, leave us.”

The man nodded and walked out.

“I should have known,” Lucian mummed. “Sit down,” he said in a clear voice, gesturing at some chairs.

They sat, and Lucian sat opposite of them, on the chair he was sitting on when they came in.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Lucian said, speaking to Valkyrie. “The kindest of which includes god-killer and world saver. The worst of which include Death Bringer and…” He trailed off.

“There something you want to say, Lucian?” Skulduggery leant forward.

“Darquesse,” Lucian whispered, and then everything went wrong.

Skulduggery moved quickly, his gun pointing at Lucian’s head. Lucian stood, his own gun coming out and pointing at Skulduggery. There was a shout and all the people from the other room came bursting in.

Nobody moved. Lucian’s smile came back, though it was strained. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said calmly. “I just need to talk with these two.”

The werewolves grumbled, and not believing it, they left. Slowly, Skulduggery and Lucian lowered their guns.

“How did you know?” Skulduggery asked.

“Werewolves are stronger than mortals or sorcerers. When the remnants came, the possessed one of my werewolves. We can throw off the remnants, make them leave. But the one possessed was a cub, very young. He couldn’t get it out, but he could remember everything. He remembered you turning into Darquesse.” He was looking at Valkyrie now. “He remembered you holding a gun to her head.” He was looking at Skulduggery now. “Then he remembered nothing. We all thought you killed her.”

Skulduggery silent. So Valkyrie decided to speak. “Where’s the cub- I mean boy, who saw this?”

“He died. He was killed a few moons after he was possessed, in a fight with a vampire.”

Skulduggery raised his head. “So what now?”

Lucian smiled, but it was a cold smile. “I should kill her, like you should have.”

Valkyrie shivered. She now got what Skulduggery meant when he said they were ruled by instinct.

“Do it and I’ll shoot you.”

“You’re surrounded by werewolves. More likely we’ll tear you apart.”

There was silence. “I’m not going to destroy the world,” Valkyrie said, making Lucian’s head snap towards her. “I’m making sure that doesn’t happen.”

Lucian stood there for a moment. Then he nodded. “If I ever hear of anything with you happening again, I’ll kill you.”

Valkyrie nodded. They all sat down again, but Skulduggery was stiff.

“Why’d you accept that so easily?” Valkyrie asked

Lucian shrugged. “I know about fighting not to kill. Fighting destiny.”

Valkyrie nodded.

“So does Skulduggery over here… but has he told you?”

“She knows,” Skulduggery whispered.

“So you know the great skeleton detective was once the Death Bringer, the infamous Lord Vile?”

“You know?!”

Lucian shrugged. “I heard things.”

Valkyrie was about to ask, but Skulduggery interrupted. “We need your help.”

“I’m all ears.”

“There’s a new pack in Scotland.”

“Good.” When they looked at him, he shrugged. “More numbers are good.”

“They attacked us.”

“You entered their territory.”

“They have no assigned territory yet!”

Lucian rolled his eyes. “You can’t tell us where we can and can’t go.”

“The law created needs to go both ways.”

Lucian scowled. “You hunted us so we barely exist, and now you want to rule us?”

“No, we-”

“I bet the same rule doesn’t apply to vampires.”

“Yes it does.”

Lucian was breathing deeply. “Let me guess. You want me to get me pack to fight these werewolves? Forget it. Why don’t you ask the vampire army?”

“There is no vampire army.”

“Yeah. Like the Sanctuary isn’t planning to get rid of us finally.”

Skulduggery stood. “I can’t change your mind, can I?”

“No. The scar between the Sanctuary and the werewolves is deeper than our friendship, as you’ve proven countless times.”

Skulduggery walked out, leaving Valkyrie sitting there. She was about to stand when Lucian reached over and grabbed her wrist.

“You’re not leaving,” he hissed.

She immediately summoned shadows to her hand, but Lucian quickly raised his gun and pointed it at her face.

“Unless you want your pretty little face all over the wall, you shut up and don’t do anything,” he sneered. Then he called out. “Mathew!” He walked in, not finding Valkyrie with a gun to her face at all odd.  “Make sure Pleasant doesn’t get past the door again.”

“He won’t,” Mathew promised, then turned around and shouted orders to the werewolves. They started making noises, and Valkyrie hear what sounded like bones cracking. Valkyrie realised they were turning into wolves.

“Now,” Lucian said, his eyes glowing slightly red. “Let’s have a nice chat.”

Skulduggery Pleasant Fan-Fic: Chapter 2

Skulduggery and Val flew back the way they came, going faster than they ever could walking. Within a couple of minutes, they were landing besides the car, which was parked on the edge of the forest. Valkyrie stumbled when the landed, while Skulduggery calming walked around to the driver’s side.

“What was that?” she asked, regaining some balance by leaning against the car, which earned her a disapproving tilt of the head.

“We really don’t have time,” Skulduggery replied. When he saw Valkyrie’s look, he quickly said “In the car. I’ll explain it on the way.”

“On the way where?” she asked, getting in on the passenger’s side.

Skulduggery was about to reply, but then they both heard something. A single howl echoed from within the forest.  Followed by another howl. And several more.

Skulduggery started the car and they sped along the small road that lead them away from the forest.

Another howl, closer. Skulduggery was going as fast as he could. Valkyrie looked at him, and saw out his window, which was the side with the forest in it, something running through the trees. She told herself there was no way the wolf was small enough to run between the trees, that it couldn’t be a wolf. But then it jumped out.

Skulduggery swerved to avoid the wolf, almost going of the road and onto the rocky, grassy field on the other side. The wolf was fast, impossible fast for something as big. But the Bentley was slightly faster, and it was obvious that they were going to lose the wolf. It apparently realised this to, because it slowed down and howled. It was soon out of sight.

Skulduggery refused to slow down, and Valkyrie didn’t want to break his concentration until the forest was behind them, and the road was easier to navigate. Even when this happened, she stayed silent for a minute, trying to understand. She was never told anything about giant wolves, or why they were even going to Scotland.

Skulduggery slowed down, now going close to the legal limit. “So,” he said conversationally. “You might have a few questions.”

“Yeah, I do.” Valkyrie’s anger was plain in her voice. “What were they?”

“Werewolves. Creatures ruled by the moon and their own savage instincts.”

She blinked. “And how come I’ve never hear of werewolves existing before?” 

“Because there aren’t enough left to worry about.” Seeing the look on Valkyrie’s face, he sighed. “Long ago, before the war, werewolves were plentiful.  There were probably more of them than there were vampires, actually. But most werewolves aren’t particularly nice.”

Skulduggery turned into another road, but Valkyrie barely noticed. “The Sanctuary’s couldn’t have them around,” he said, with something in his voice which Valkyrie had scarcely heard before. Guilt. “They were killed, hunted down. Good or bad, allies or enemies, any werewolf found was killed. It didn’t matter the age, or if they never killed, or even if they didn’t do anything wrong yet.”

“But… anyone?”

“Any werewolf found. It wasn’t an easy job. They were very hard to beat, and there weren’t many who wanted to get into a fight with a werewolf.

“It was more of the good werewolves that were killed, not the bad ones. The bad ones were already hiding, because they were wanted. The good ones were caught unawares. There were even people that were paid by werewolves to hunt to good ones.

“In the end, there were about a hundred left, out of what was once tens of thousands.”

“A hundred?! How could so many die?”

“The Sanctuary’s did what would now be called one of the worst decisions ever. They built a vampire army. Werewolves and vampires and natural enemies, built to kill one another. If they meet, nine times out of ten, they’ll fight to the death. The Sanctuary built an army to attack the werewolves, to wipe them out. They reasoned that most of the vampires would die, and what remained was worth no more werewolves.”

Valkyrie fell back in her seat, amazed. “What happened to the hundred left?”

"They split up. They formed packs and fled. For many years people thought they had died out anyway.  But when the war started, Mevolent promised protection for the werewolves. Most went to him. The ones who didn’t either fought their own fight, making their own side for the war, or didn’t do anything. None of them joined us.”

“So there were three sides to the war?” Valkyrie was astonished. She was finding out so much that sounded important, but she had never heard even a mention before this.

Skulduggery nodded. “The wolves killed anyone on both sides, including what they called traitor werewolves, which were the ones who joined Mevolent.”

“But if there were so few left-“

“Werewolves are naturally fighters. They live by a strict code, and there are no exceptions.”

Valkyrie nodded, although this made little sense to her. “What happened? In the war, I mean?”

“The Sanctuary promised no more hunting werewolves. There was a law put in place, making them have certain rights. This drew most wolves from Mevolent’s side to ours, and the third side of the war reluctantly joined us. They really had no choice. Their numbers were dropping low again, and we were winning the war. That law might have cut the war down by years, and saved their race.”

“How many were left? After the war?”

“Thirty-four.”

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. “And how many are there now?”

“Hard to say. But we can mostly judge by the packs. There are around fifteen werewolves a pack. There are two packs in England, one in Ireland, six in America and four in Russia. That I know of.  So around 720. There could be a dozen more packs in another country, but I know for a fact that there is only three in the UK. I thought I knew until tonight, that is.”

“You said there wasn’t enough to worry about.”

“Really, it’s only the two in England and the one in Ireland. Only one of them, somewhere in Northern England, would fight against us.”

“Right. One last question. Where are we going?”

“Back to Ireland. I have a friend that can help.” There was something odd in his voice when he said friend.

“And who’s this friend?”

“The unknown Dead Man member. Lucian Tenacious. A werewolf.

Skulduggery Pleasant Fan- Fic: Chapter 1

This takes place after the events of End of the World. Yeah, that’s right; it’s a Skulduggery Pleasant fan-fic. Normally, I wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole, because it’s so easy to get wrong. But I have this idea and the only way to introduce it well is with this.

The girl and the tall man crept through the growth. Though the girl was now closer to a young woman and the man was a skeleton, it was close enough. It was late at night, with the moon high in the sky, almost full. The skeleton had an old gun about and the girl was crouching down low, both of them at the ready. They were in Scotland, the highlands to be more precise. They were deep in a forest, with the moon hanging over them and no idea where exactly they were.

“Skulduggery,” the girl whispered. “Where are we going?”

“Onwards, my dear Valkyrie,” the skeleton said with a wave of his arm. He was whispering as well. “And with any luck, out.”

  “So, in other words, you don’t know?”

Skulduggery tilted his head. “You learn quickly,” he said appraisingly.

“I’m spending way too much time with you, in other words.”

“Do you have anyone else to spend it with?”

“Yes.”

“Let me rephrase.  Do you have anyone else to spend it with who’s nearly as good as I am?”

“Yes.”

Skulduggery looked down at her. “Then why are you here?” he asked as if he wasn’t the one who had convinced her to come. He didn’t even tell her why they were here, or why they got out of the car and took a walk through the forest. Valkyrie was about to reply scathingly, but Skulduggery froze.

He was looking to his right, completely still. After a few seconds, he slowly brought his gun up and aimed it at the space he was looking at.

Valkyrie stared at the spot, but it was very dark, and she could barely see a metre ahead of herself. Skulduggery had told her not to make any fire, so instead she focused on the air currents. There was a slight breeze and the forest was very crowded, so for an elemental of her level it was almost impossible to tell if anything was there. But then she found something. Something big. The only movement it made was a slight breathing, in and out.

Skulduggery tilted his head, the gun still aimed at the spot where the thing was. He thumbed back the hammer. This was the wrong move. The thing started growling, and by the sound of it, Valkyrie could tell it was very big, bigger than she thought it would be.

There was a rustling as the thing stepped forward over leaves and branches. Skulduggery glanced quickly at Valkyrie, and then fired the gun.

There was a flash from the muzzle of the gun, and a pained howling that reverberated around the forest. Valkyrie’s heart leaped as she hears other howls from a distance.

The howl from the beast in front of them turned into a roar, and the thing leapt into sight, knocking Skulduggery over. When Valkyrie saw it, she gasped.

It was a wolf. Not just any wolf, this was bigger than a lion. Its eyes glowed red and its teeth were monstrous. Valkyrie’s head could have fitted in its muzzle without her touching a tooth. Its paws where as big as one of the Bentley’s tires.  Its fur was grey, and Valkyrie could see a small bullet hole nears its shoulder. At least it was small on the wolf. Its glowing red eyes ran over Valkyrie when she gasped, and it took a step towards her.

There was another flash and the wolf roared again. It spun around to Skulduggery. Valkyrie would have tried to help, if it wasn’t for another wolf jumping out from the right into the small clearing they were in. It quickly looked at the first wolf, then at Valkyrie. It was the same as the other wolf expect its fur was a darker grey, almost black and there were no bullet holes in it. It looked at Valkyrie with those red eyes and she realised that it looked very hungry.

She tightened her fist and shadows formed on it, barely visible in the light. She whipped her hand across the air and shadows ripped across the monsters face. It jerked back. Valkyrie couldn’t see what kind of damage she did, but it looked more angry than frightened. It lowered itself to the ground, and looked like it was going to pounce. Valkyrie reacted without thinking, and clicked her fingers. A fireball formed and she threw it at the wolf. This time it leapt back, just managing to avoid the fireball. It hit the ground and began to burn ferociously. She realised that the leaves were making it burn faster, and there were a lot of them on the ground. The wolf paced around, so now Skulduggery and the other wolf were directly behind her instead of at her left.  It was wary now, but she could tell it wasn’t going to give up. She could hear Skulduggery and the other wolf fight behind her, but she couldn’t tell what was happening. Then a third wolf appeared, coming from in between two trees.

This was too much. “Skulduggery,” Valkyrie called out, spinning around to him. She saw him on the ground with the wolf standing over him, but a second later he pushed the air and the wolf stumbled back. He rolled over and jumped up to meet Valkyrie. He grabbed her quickly and a second later they were shooting upwards. She quickly looked down the see one of the huge wolfs step on the fire, putting it out and the other two watching them fly away.

Stolen: Chapter 1

Life is cruel. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. Life is cruel, life never gives, it only takes. Life will kick you when you’re down, life will make sure that by the end, you’re begging for death. Life will only take.

And it took everything from me.

This is where it used to be. I'm taking down anything I might consider getting published. 

ABCD... Line?

So. Sooooo. Some of you, at least the few who bother to read, will notice that I'm writing things without having more then one chapter. The exeption is Hunger Games, and I will continue that until it's done. For everything else though, they are tests. I have way to many ideas at the moment, and I need to prioritise. I have more than one HP fan-fic, and several other fan-fics. Original ideas as well, like War, and something else I've been working on for a while, which may be up soon. I have others, and I may or may not put them up. I also have Nixion Strange things, which will be the first time I will write a full thing with Nix outside of Nix and Mist. Now that I think of it, that isn't finished, so if I finish my other Nix stories first, it will be the first time I finish a full something with Nix. Anywho, I am going to be realising the first chapter, prologue or sneek peek at some of my stories, and seeing the reaction. If it is liked, I will continue it. If it isn't, there's a good chance you won't hear from it again. If I like it and none of you don't, I may write it and not post it, or I may write it and post it to see it it grows on you. So it's really important that you give me feedback on everything. Tell people if you thought it was good, because I want feedback from them as well. If it wasn't good, still tell people, because I want feedback from them. If you come on check other posts to see if you've read them. Everything from here on in (not including HG) is a test unless I say so. So check your dashboards for undates, and give me feedback.

War: Prologue

The boy curled in to corner was more scared then he had ever been. He had his hands clasped over his ears, trying to block out the noise. But nothing could stop his family’s screams.

He was in his attic, hiding. The world was at war, countries had turned against each other. Alliances had been formed. But every so often countries would betray one another and change sides. The boy had no idea who it was attacking his home. All he knew was that as soon as his family heard the sound of gunfire, they had taken him and hidden him in the attic. They stayed downstairs, and it wasn’t long before a huge crash came and the soldiers poured in. He heard shouting downstairs, and then the screams started.

 He was only nine years old. Nine years old and forced to listen to his parents being tortured. Tears were flooding is eyes and he made no move to stop them. He heard a gunshot and his mother’s screams end. His father was also silent, but he had heard the threats that his tongue would be cut out hours ago. As soon as he heard the gunshot, the boy cried out.

He froze. But the damage was already done. The voices fell silent downstairs and he heard footsteps. The boy moaned silently. There was a shout and he heard something thrown into the attic. The boy sat in the corner, not making a sound, wondering what was going on. Then the grenade exploded.

The boy was thrown back, but since he was so close to the wall, he hit it almost immediately. For a moment there was nothing but the pain to him. Then he opened his eyes, his ears ringing and every part of him throbbing.

Men were standing there, weapons ready. About a dozen of them, all covered in blood. His parent’s blood. The boy was too sore to cry. Instead he just looked at the men.

The looked back at him, their faces covered by masks. There was a moment of stillness. Then about half of them raised their guns and bullets tore through the boy.

Hunger Games Chapter 2: The Sealing of Fate

Jonathan considered ruining his grandmother’s television. He could hide the remote, but then she would try and get up. He could sabotage the television itself, but then she would try and fix it and might end up getting hurt. He wished he had enough money for sleeping pills, but they were really expensive, and he could barely keep his family from starving. Today was the reaping and he didn’t want his grandmother watching in case he was chosen. The last thing he needed was to watch him if he broke down, like last year’s tribute. The last tribute had started screaming, begging for someone to volunteer. No one did, and he was one of the first to be killed.

Jasa might have been young, but she understood what could, and probably would happen today. She was wearing a dress that almost made Jonathan want to smile, but he was too sad. Jasa’s cute dress was ruined by the fact she had been crying all morning.

Jonathan knelt down to her level. “Hey, stop crying, all right? You’re too young to be chosen, you have nothing to worry about.”

Jonathan’s heart lurched as he realised that in only seven years, she would be old enough to be chosen.

Jasa shook her head, tears still flowing down her face. “You could be chosen,” she chocked.

Jonathan plastered a fake smile on his face. “That won’t happen,” he said soothingly.

He hated lying to her. But he did it with almost everything. Their grandmother, the Games, how they would be alright. How their parents died. He didn’t want Jasa thinking it was her fault that their mother died. It was a bad feeling, Jonathan knew. He knew what it felt like to have a death on his conscience. He had caused one.

Jonathan walked Jasa to the town square. He held her hand tightly, not even realising it. Jasa was squeezing tightly back. Kids all around them were looking nervous. Parents looking frightened. Peacekeepers were everywhere, more of them than usual. Tensions were running high. To Jonathan, everything was a blur. He hugged Jasa, and she went off. Everything after that point was hazy, until the district escort was on the stage.

“Welcome to that 103^rd Hunger Games,” he said, smiling. His name was Nafe, and he was like nearly every district escort. He believed it was a huge honour to be chosen, and couldn’t understand why so many feared the day.  Jonathan tried to listen, he really did. But the heartbeat in his ears seemed to block out all the noise. Nafe continued to talk, and Jonathan started to inspect his hands. He had no idea how long he was looking at them, but he noticed everyone stiffening and he looked up.

Nafe was standing beside one of the balls filled with slips of paper, smiling widely. Jonathan began to shake.

“Let’s pick the boy first, hey?” he winked out into the crowed, as if they should be overjoyed at this. The boys certainly weren’t.

It seemed like Nafe took forever just to reach down and pick up a slip of paper. Jonathan wished he would take longer, but it was only a few seconds before Nafe was holding up a small slip and peering at it.

“Ah let’s see… Looks like we have a Jonathan Maywood.”

Jonathan almost sighted with relief before he realised what was said. He stiffened, having no idea what to do next. The whole crowd looked at him. A thousand thoughts raced through his head.

He was chosen? How could he be chosen? As much as Jonathan feared it, some part of him never thought it would actually happen. What would happen to Jasa? What would happen to him? A cold feeling of dread ran through him. He had no skills that would be useful in the Games. He didn’t want to die.

“Jonathan Maywood?” Nafe called out. “Please step forward.”

With trembling legs, Jonathan stepped forward and drew the attention of the peacekeepers and Nafe.

“There he is,” Nafe said, smiling broadly. The peacekeepers stepped forward to Jonathan, surrounding him, making sure he didn’t escape.

Even though a thousand thoughts raced through his head, not one helped him in the slightest. He felt shocked, like he had no idea how to feel. He blinked back tears coming to his eyes. He wouldn’t cry when everyone could see him. He wouldn’t.

As the peacekeepers walked towards the stage, Jonathan walked too. He was trembling so much that every so often he would stumble, but he was too scared to be embarrassed. When he got to the stage, Nafe beaconed him over. When Jonathan got there, he had no idea what to do. He swallowed several times, looking at the crowd. Some of the faces were sympathetic. Most were relieved, and from the girl’s side, he only got blank stares. They were still worrying about themselves. Jonathan looked right at the back, behind all the boys and girls that were of age were. He was looking for Jasa, who would be there with Kenisdra, but they were too far away. Nafe gripped his shoulder tightly. Jonathan spared a glance at where the mentors were sitting. There were two of them. One of them would help him survive. One of them could save his life.

Nafe smiled at him on more time, before going over to the other ball. He reached into it and drew a slip of paper. He looked at it for a second, and then smiled, calling out “Feles Salico.”

Jonathan knew her, not personally, but by reputation. So was what several called a district 3 career. She had no family besides her mother. She had no talent for engineering, so she mostly trained, in case she was ever chosen. She was seventeen, and very strong. She was also more likely to win then Jonathan, so he knew that she would get the most help. Jonathan lost all hope that he would survive.

Nafe smiled at the crowd, most of which were just looking relieved that another reaping was over.

“Well, this has been exciting,” he said. “Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favour.”

And with those words, Jonathan’s fate was sealed.