Flames to Embers

Interlude- Zahra Avlis

Hey guys, this is a chapter from my original fanfic, You're Still an Innocent. I decided I liked this take of the 69th Hunger Games better than one written from Katniss or Finnick's POV.

Also, I forgot to do shout-outs last chapter, so here they are.

Thanks to:

Absolutely No one :(

Interlude: Zahra Avlis (69th Hunger Games)

Zahra POV

When I was little, I had a best friend named Aster Rosnam. We both had younger siblings. I had a little brother named Brom, who was five years younger. She had a little sister named Lydia, who was three years younger. When her mom got cancer and her father was killed in a factory accident, we promised each other that if anything happened to the other, we would take care of the younger sibling.

We were at school one day, when a mentally unstable student started a fire. Most everyone evacuated safely, but not Aster. We were in class together, and I grabbed her hand once we heard the fire alarm ringing. We began running toward the exit, not listening to what our teacher was saying about walking nicely to the entrance, to avoid causing an accident. We stood in with the other children watching flames lick up the side of the building. I didn't hear it, but Aster did. The teacher of the younger children, the eight to ten year olds, whispered that they were missing Lydia Rosnam.

I watched Aster run into the building before anyone could catch her. My teacher held me back as I screamed for her to come back. Not too long after, we watched Lydia climb out of the window, dragging her sister behind her, crying desperately. Aster was burned badly, and struggled to move. The teachers brought her to the apothecary, the closets our district got to a hospital, and she lived for a few days, but eventually she passed away.

Lydia was sent to the orphanage, and I was powerless to stop it. But two years later, when I was sixteen and she was twelve, I received permission from the mayor, who knew me well, to take over custody of Lydia, as I was a responsible adult at sixteen.

...

"Lydia Rosnam!" Aemelia, District 8's escort announces as she reads the little slip of paper in her hand. No. I think. I lost Aster. I will not lose Lydia, too.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I yell, keeping my voice even. I can not let the Capitol, the other districts, or anybody learn of my attachment to Lydia. That is my weakness, and I must keep it guarded at all costs.

"Zahra!" Lydia wails. "Zahra you can't do this to me. Please!" She latched on to me, her little twelve year old fingers digging into my arms.

"I made a promise, Lyds. I can't let anything bad happen to you." I say, pushing her off me. I made my way up to the stage, and Aemelia stared at me in shock. It wasn't too rare for District 8 to have volunteers. We weren't nearly as weak as, say, District 12 or District 6, but it was still out of the ordinary.

Aemelia recovered from her shock enough to carry on with the Reaping. The male tribute's name was Weft MacDonald, a tall, thin boy with a little bit of muscle.

...

I sit in my room, staring up at the ceiling. We had arrived at the Capitol a few hours ago, and just got back from the tribute parade. Laying there on my bed in my comfy pajamas, I begin to feel the first bought of homesickness.

"Zahra, dear, you have a visitor," Aemelia calls, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Tell them to go away," I respond, wiping tears from my eyes, knowing very well that they would NOT be going away