Caspian Reef’s POV:

‘’ Wow.’’ I gasp, my jaw hanging low as I stare at Lilly in her pink floral dress as she stands in the doorway of the Mayor’s house – her house.

She giggles.

‘’ You look...great.’’ I continue, admiring in flowing red locks and her bright green eyes. ‘’ Happy birthday by the way.’’

‘’ Thanks.’’ She giggles again, and makes her way towards me down her garden as I stand at her gate. ‘’ You’re looking well in that suit as well.’’

‘’ Thanks.’’ I grin and kiss her tenderly on the lips for a moment.

I then grasp her soft hands in mine and lead her from the house and down the road. The sun beats down on us from above in a cloudless blue sky yet the gentle breeze makes the heat bearable.

‘’ Where are we going?’’ Asks Lilly curiously.

‘’ You’ll see.’’ I grin in response – sensing her impatience.

I lead her down through the town where everyone is busy preparing for the Reapings which will take place in just two hours and I take Lilly towards the ocean. The beach is reasonably quiet apart from a few fishermen standing at the end of the pier out to catch a few to sell on later in the day.

I take her down onto the sand and remove my shoes and socks. She slips off her flats and we take a seat on the sand and stare out at the sea for a few minutes.

‘’ Wait here.’’ I order and I get to my feet and leave her for a few moments.

I run over to a large clump of the marrow grass that stretches the length of the beach and pull out a small picnic basket I had stowed away earlier this morning. I take a quick peak inside to make sure no animals have got at it and then I hear Lilly’s voice.

‘‘ What are you doing back there?’’ She calls.

‘’ Be patient.’’ I laugh. ‘’ And close your eyes!’’

As she does this, I grab the basket and head back over to her. I then quickly remove a small picnic blanket from the basket and lay it out in front of Lilly. Then I remove the basket’s contents out; two large double chocolate chip caramel muffins, a small container of lemonade, two glasses, a small candle and a box of matches.

‘’ Can I look yet?’’ Begs Lilly.

‘’ One second.’’ I laugh and quickly shove the half burnt-out candle into the muffin and light it.

‘’ Now?’’ She insists.

‘’ Now.’’ I smile, holding the muffin in front of her.

As she opens her eyelids and spots the muffin in my hand, her mouth breaks into a huge white smile and her eyes twinkle.

‘’ Happy birthday Lil’.’’ I grin and peck her on the cheek.

‘’ Oh Caspian! This is why I love you.’’ Laughs Lilly, placing the cupcake gently down onto the picnic blanket and kissing me passionately on the lips.

Afterwards, I pick up the muffin and hold it up to her – the candle still alight.

‘’ Close your eyes and make a wish.’’ I instruct and she shuts her eyes slowly.

She then blows out the candle and smiles at me, her perfect white teeth glistening in the sunshine.

‘’ What did you wish for?’’ I ask.

‘’ I can’t tell you that.’’ She laughs.

‘’ Ah go on. You can trust me.’’

‘’ It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just want it to come true.’’ She explains.

We sit on the beach and eat the muffins and sip the lemonade. She locks her fingers in mine and we simply stare out to the sea, enjoying the moment together. The seconds roll into minutes, the minutes into an hour and our moment is interrupted by the sound of the church bell in the town square calling all eligible for Reaping to the ceremony.

‘’ We best get going.’’ I say, tossing the leftovers of our seaside picnic into the basket and carefully stowing it away into the grass to retrieve later.

We walk back through the town where everyone is slowly moving towards the square where the Reapings are held and we both head to the sixteen year old section and wait for the two unlucky teenagers to have their lives ruined.

Mayor Cullen’s POV:

I step up onto the stage and the crowd applauds half-heartedly – as they are obliged to do – and I step up to the podium.

‘’ Good morning ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all here today for the District Four Reapings.’’ I begin.

I glance around the crowd for Lilly, I find her in seconds. She is standing in the sixteen year old female section staring not at me but at Caspian in the male section. He is mouthing something to her which I cannot make out so I turn back to the crowd. I then glance down at the piece of paper in front of me which I am obliged to read word for word.

‘’ One hundred and twenty five years ago, the thirteen Districts of Panem staged an uprising in which the Capitol distinguished easily, resulting in the loss of District Thirteen and the birth of the Hunger Games.’’ I begin, the crowd stay silent – as they always do.

I stare down at Lilly between a break in the paragraphs, now she is glancing at me instead of Caspian. She looks as scared as she always does on Reaping day despite how little her name is in the Reaping bowl. Because we have no need for tesserae in my family, her name is in the bowl the minimum amount of times.

‘’ In each of these pageants of skill, bravery and honour, twenty-four teenage tributes – two from each of the twelve remaining Districts – were randomly selected to compete in a televised fight to the death. The twenty-four tributes would go through a vigorous training period, televised interviews to get them sponsors for the Games and then they would enter the arena.’’

The crowd is silent as I read from the script written for me by some Capitol government official.

‘’ In the arena, each second of bloodshed, pain and anger would be captured and televised for the entire nation to view and the Games would go on until a lone victor remained to be bathed in wealth and riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Then came the Quarter Quells, which took place every twenty-five years that had a special twist to bring something extra to the games. For the First Quarter Quell, each District had to vote for their tribute representatives. For the Second, double the amount of tributes were sent into the arena – so four tributes per District meaning a total of forty-eight in total. For the Third Quarter Quell, only previous Hunger Games victors were eligible for Reaping.’’

As I speak, short clips of those Games flash before the crowd on a giant screen behind me. They all watch in silence as the horrific images they have probably fought hard to forget flash before them.

‘’ Then, to mark one hundred years, the Capitol introduced The Ultimate Hunger Games, in which three qualifying Games were first held between the first four Districts, the second four and finally the third four – where six tributes were Reaped per District and eight victors were sent forward to enter the final Games in which only one could escape with their life. I’m sure you’ll all remember when Pod Pratchett did us all proud and won the Ultimate Games for District Four.’’

As I say the final line, I glance over at Pod who is sitting in his seat amongst District Four’s escort and a few other town officials. He smiles weakly at me – something he is obliged to do today – and the crowd applaud just as weakly.

‘’ Pod won the Games for District Four and won us quite a lot of food and other supplies that we are still living off now! Since then, Pod has acted as a mentor for the tributes of District Four and has unfortunately been unsuccessful as we have not had a victor from Four since he was victorious twenty five years ago.’’

I immediately regret my phrasing as my words imply it is his fault but it is too late to change them.

‘’ Now, another Quarter Quell is upon us and the time has come to select the two lucky tributes from District Four to represent us in this year’s Hunger Games so I want to welcome District Four’s very own escort to the stage!’’

As I say this, the crowd give another half hearted cheer and I take my seat beside Pod as the escort takes my place at the Podium.

‘’ Sorry about that, my words came out wrong. I didn’t mean you have been unsuccessful, I just meant we as a District have.’’ I say apologetically.

‘’ It’s fine. I get what you meant.’’ Replies Pod and he remains silent then so I am forced to listen to the whiny and nasally voice of our escort as she approaches the Reaping bowl for the girls.

Pod Pratchett’s POV:

I stare at the rather plump escort for District Four as she shoves her hand into the Reaping bowl. Please God let some eighteen year old career volunteer before some defenceless twelve year old is sent to her death.

‘’ Oh, that is interesting...’’ Begins the escort, then pauses to look over in my direction.

Both myself and the Mayor lean a tiny bit forward on our chairs to listen to her next words. She clears her throat and scans the crowd.

‘’ Lilly Cullen.’’

As she reads this, the Mayor beside me, everyone in the crowd and also myself gasp aloud in unison. The Mayor sits a tiny bit forwards – as if he is about to get to his feet – but he stops himself.

I glance into the crowd, his daughter is sixteen so she’d be in that age group. I find her quickly, her fiery red hair making her stand out amongst a sea of blondes and brunettes around her.

She steps out from the section from her age group and slowly approaches the stage. As she climbs the steps, our escort smiles broadly.

‘’ Well done Lilly, I know you will do your District and your father proud. Just a quick question before you take your seat to give us an idea of you as a person. If you only had one word to describe yourself, what would it be?’’

‘’ Afraid, I’m not gonna lie.’’ She admits and takes her seat on the stage.

Our chubby escort giggles and then approaches the bowl for the boys.

‘’ Now then,’’ she says as she plucks out a name. ‘’ Tyler-‘’

‘’ I volunteer!’’ Screams a voice – also from the sixteen year old section.

I glance down at the teenager who is approaching the stage quickly, although he is tall and well built, he does not look like a typical career. As Lilly sees him, she gets off her chairs and runs to greet him. He bounds up the stairs and wraps his arms around her.

‘’ I won’t let anything happen to you.’’ He vows quietly.

‘’ Ah, young love!’’ Beams the escort.

The two hug for a moment and then they are broken up by peacekeepers, although they are careful with Lilly as they direct her back to her seat. The Mayor smiles proudly at the boy.

‘’ So I’m guessing you two know each other?’’ Questions the escort.

‘’ Yeah. We do.’’ Replies the boy.

‘’ And what is your name?’’ She questions.

‘’ Caspian. Caspian Reef.’’ He answers, his eyes darting from the rather round woman to Lilly and back again.

‘’ Ooh. How exotic!’’ She chimes. ‘’ Tell me Caspian, what word would you use to describe yourself?’’

‘’ Protective.’’ He says and sits with Lilly in the vacant chair.

As the escort addresses the crowd again, the Mayor mutters under his breath for a moment then whispers to me.

‘’ You have to promise me you’ll get her through this.’’ He begs. ‘’ Tell her everything you know.’’

‘’ I don’t have as much input this time as it’s a Quarter Quell.’’ I explain.

‘’ You’ll still have some time.’’ He corrects. ‘’ She has to come back. You better hope for your sake and the sake of the Falcon family that she does. Are we clear?’’

‘’ Don’t you dare try to blackmail me. Leave Perrie’s family out of this. I will help her because it’s my job, but she is not getting any special treatment just because she’s grown up with a golden spoon in her mouth her entire life.’’ I spit back in disgust as he tries to drag Perrie and her family into this.

‘’ Thank you ladies and gentlemen! Happy Hunger Games!’’ Screams the escort before the Mayor can respond, then we are all lead from the stage.