Clove

The justice building is huge, with carpeted floors the color of the stormy sea. I wait for my family in a round room. The whole place has a morbid feeling to it, as if the tributes who have been here before me haunt the place, traces of their restless spirits left behind. The creak of a door signals the arrival of my family. The sight of them breaks my resolve.

My mother hugs me and whispers how much she loves me. My father gives me a ring with a pearl set in the center as my token. My little sister smiles and says how happy she is that we'll be moving into the Victor's Village soon. Her...