I woke up to the sound of rain hitting my window. The soft pattering rhythm of the water cascading down the glass made my eyes open. But it wasn't the sound that woke me.

It was the memory.

I woke up from a nightmare, the same nightmare i've lived with for the past 8 years, when I was on my back of the floor of a foreign place with a tribute looking right over me, spear in hand, ready to kill me. If I didn't move once centimeter over, let the spear hit the floor before I kicked him hard in the nose and run the spear into his chest…if I hadn't moved…..I would be dead.

But in this nightmare, he killed me. If only it was real.

I rose from my bed, looking out the window and seeing the gray skies over the my district, my home. I pulled on a jacket from my wardrobe, the same wardrobe that was given to me by the Capitol as I close my green eyes and relive the nightmare in my head.

"It's only you and me now."

"Please, I beg of you…don't do this."

"No wonder no one sponsored you…you're pathetic."

No…NO!"

I snap out of it and pull the jacket closer to my chest, walking out of my room and down the stairs. It's already warm and the fire's already going. It must of been my servants coming and putting on the fire for me when I was trying to shake off the nightmare. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, going over to the window and peering out from there. The kitchen was clean, giving me a feel as though I lived in the woods. In fact, the whole mansion made me feel like I was in the woods, made of oak and redwood with wooden chairs and chandeliers and all. It must of been designed that way, since the other homes were all marble and I couldn't stand living in a marble home.

I could see past the rain, the small courtyard that was in front of all the homes and then the huge iron gate with the letters spelled out over the entry, like an arch.

Victor's Village

I am a victor from District 8, the only one that is female to be exact. The last female victor from my district died 2 years ago while I was mentoring at the 73rd Hunger Games, and I'm only 24 years old. Being a victor was nothing that I ever wanted. In fact, I never thought I would make it out alive from the Hunger Games. Nor did my brother, whom is also a victor from 9 years ago. You see, we both are fraternal twins, and yet we both survived the Hunger Games two years apart from one another. That's unheard of, especially from District 8 since we are mostly known for our textiles and dress making. I used to be a dress maker, before I was reaped at the age of 16.

I was the second youngest victor in Hunger Games history, right behind Finnick Odair from District 4 who was 14 years old, and my own brother. My brother is Samson, whom was remembered in the Capitol as Samson the Strong, since my brother had a good amount of strength behind him. But that was not his main weapon of choice, nor was it mine when I was reaped.

We both were specific.

Coming from a District that looks at the specific items of clothing and how they should or should not be, we both used our own minds as weapons. We knew details, and we looked for them. I knew my brother was looking for the weaknesses and shortcomings of his enemies when he walked around in the desert dome of the games, He saw what made the tributes tick, and what didn't, using that against him. As I watched from the screen in my own District, seeing my brother snake around and use his knowledge of needles and fine thread to stop tributes, I knew he knew what he was doing.

He was good, and he won for it.

When he came home, everything changed. We moved to Victor's Village, settling into a marble home that they gave him and starting living a life that we knew was not the same as our old lives. The only other residences in the village were three other Victors from the past winnings. Two were males, Chase and Veetro, and both were in their 50's. My brother told me Chase was his mentor when he went into the games and was very kind to him. The third was the female, Sage. She was in her 80's, winning 20th Hunger Games when she was 17 years old. But she died two months after the 73rd games, right after we moved into our new home and I only talked to her a few times. So there were only three male tributes left in Victor's Village, and we were the new residents.

My brother's nightmares kept me up at night, having me go to him and calm him down. He told me stories, of him having to kill when he was in the area. Before the games, my brother was sane. He was the peacemaker in our family, making sure nothing or no one was hurting me. He was the eldest, and I looked to him for guidance and peace. But seeing him break in front of me, seeing him fall to pieces and cry as if someone broke his heart and make his mind bend, it broke my own heart. I would on'y hold him, hush him form the fears and memories.

"It's okay Sam! Samson, look at me!" I said to him as he sobbed in his bed at 3 am, rocking back and forth with tears pouring down his fair face and his bronze hair dancing in the blue moonlight. I grabbed his shoulders, shaking him until he looked at me. His eyes, the same eyes we shared as twins, were looking at me in disbelief and sorrow. I smiled at him and caressed his face gently, feeling the cold sweat on his face and neck.

"It's all a dream. You're safe." I said to him as softly as I could. I used the same voice as our mother did when she was alive, when we would be scared at him she could reassure us all is well. I saw him nod his head as I hugged him close to my body and felt him shaking in my embrace.

"It's so real, I can still hear their screams." Sam said into my chest as I hushed him quietly and I felt him clutch onto me. But I knew he wasn't safe, as I got him to go back to sleep and walk back to my room, I knew deep in my head.

He was never going to be safe.

But when I was called two years later, feeling my feet stomp my way up step by step, I could feel my heart slowly dye when no one was there to save me. I looked on, seeing my twin brother, in his Victor's clothes and my father standing by in horror as I shook hands with the male tribute who was to fight with and against me, Ash. Ash was 17 while I was 16, standing very gawkily and having chestnut brown hair that swept over his brown eyes and high cheekbones. He was a factory worker like my brother before he was reaped, and I was the dress maker/

The odds weren't with us.

We were rushed into the office of the mayor, getting our last goodbyes and send offs before our escort took us on the train. My father hugged me tightly, telling me he loved me fore than anything. I told him the same, knowing that I wasn't going to come back. But it was my brother, who hugged me the longest and told me what to do in the arena.

"Find their weaknesses, all of them. Use that as your weapon, that and your knowledge of making objects." He explained to me.

"I only make dresses Samson, I have no chance." I said to him, using his full name but seeing him shake his head and frame my face in his hands.

"You need to survive this, sis. I'm telling you, you need to come back alive. You're smart, hell, you're smarter that me. I know for a fact that you can get out of there alive. So I need you to concentrate when you're there, okay?" He asked me aloud, having me nod my head with my own tears coming down my face.

"Remember what I told you, look at the weaknesses of the tributes and use those against them. Look at the details, find the details. You know about details from all of the dresses you've made, use that in there." Sam explained to me before I heard the doors opening.

"Look after dad, stay together for me." I said to him one last time before he kissed the side of my head, leaving the room before I could say goodbye to him.

I was rushed onto the train with Ash and we were off to the Capitol. Before we knew it, we were in the tribute parade in front of President Snow and wearing outfits that matched our District. Although in times past, the outfits for 8 were ridiculous and made the tributes look like clowns, the year I was reaped, we didn't look silly at all. I think they finally chose to have someone with fashion sense come in and do the job properly, so we were given outfits that resembled the night sky. Dark blue to black with stars all over the outfits. My dress was slowly, showing the curves that I harbored and making my fair skin more light and pure with the stars dancing on the top layer of fabric down to the the ends of the dress. My hair was in a fancy wrapped bun and my make up was dark around the eyes. I looked more mysterious than ever.

That was my play.

During training, I went for how to use rope or a snare, and how to make a fire. I saw the other working on weapons and how to use them, making me think I should try to get my hands on a weapon. But I also knew they were making alliances with once another, and I was the target since I was too mysterious for their own good. I didn't want allies at that point, since I had no hope for winning. But Ash stuck close to me, showing me a way to use a slingshot.

"Go like this." He said to me as he threw the sling out and towards the target, hitting the head hard and having me hear a crack. I smiled, the first time since I was reaped and I took the sling.

"How did you do that?" I asked him aloud as I got myself ready to throw.

"Older brothers. They showed me when we had time to kill at the factory." He explained to me as I threw out the rock. I missed by three feet. Ash only chuckled and grabbed another rock, having me fuss in my spot.

"Try it again, like this." He said to me, throwing the sling with ease. It took me three tries to hit the target. Having me glad he was on my team, though we would both be dead within hours of the games.

We knew, there was no chance with us.

I got my hands on a bow and arrow, testing it out a few times and hitting the target, but not perfectly. It was nice to use a few weapons up my sleeve in case something were to happen. Next was my evaluation, in which I was given a 7. That was normal, and Ash was given a 8. We both were normal, and that's how it was supposed to be.

Our interviews went off without a hitch, my designer having me wear something of the sunrise in the sky. Strapless with the top of the dress yellow, then morphing into red, then maroon and then purple. The red hair that I harbored was in looks curls around me and my eyes were no longer surrounded by blue and black, but light pink and gold to resemble the sun. Ash was just as majestic as I was, with a orange sun-setted vest and slacks along with dress shoes and his hair slicked to the side. But although I answered all of the questions given to me by Ceasar Flickerman, having the smile on my face when he asked me, "Now darling, how will you win this years games?" I would only smile and look to the crowd, simply saying in a sweet voice, "With my wits, Casear." The crowd cheered, and I knew I fooled them.

But I didn't fool myself. We had no chance.

The first day of the games, it was set in the forests near District 12. Cold, Treaterous, and dangerous. But I knew I had to survive alone, not having any luck with allies. But there was a speck of hope for Ash, my own District partner, so we both stuck together throughout the first few days of the games. I only grabbed one backpack with little or no help for survival, having to rely of my knowledge of how to make a fire. Within the first night, hiding out in the ruins of the dome and seeing about 11 faces lit up in the sky, Ash found me, with a bow and barrel filled with arrows in hand.

"How did you get this?" I asked him in surprise, feeling the bow and arrows in my numb fingers as he passed the weapon to me. He smiled as I looked at him in the darkness.

"The girl from 3 had it, but she was knocked out by the guy from 1. He didn't bother taking it, and after he bolted for the mountains, I grabbed it. I knew you would want it since you're pretty good at it. And I also got two slings for us that were in the Cornocopia." He explained, showing me the two slings that were clearly meant to be at the bloodbath. I grabbed on and shoved it in my backpack, looking back at him in disbelief.

"How did you survive that whole thing?" I asked him in interest. He shifted from one foot to another.

"I backed away from the bloodbath, going to the forest and waiting for the lot to clear out. I knew I had a better chance at hiding then at going in there." He explained to me,"We should stick together for awhile, and I know you're pretty smart with making small handy things. We can use that against them." I smiled, knowing that I found my first ally of the game.

And he was my only ally.

We both walked around together for the next few days, setting up booby traps and snares from our knowledge of blending and mending things together. Those worked in our favors, since we would watch from the trees and see at least 4 tributes get caught in a snare and die at the hands of the careers who heard their screams. The snares were simple ones, but we both knew how to make them from thread we created from the supply of the forest. We only had one butcher knife from Ash's pack, a canteen from mine, rope and other small things. Ash learned a thing or two from his brothers after having some hunting experience, and we both knew how to work with small tools from the trade of textile.

We used our brains, not our brawn.

Ash died on the fourth day of the Games, dying to the hands of the Girl from 1. I watched as he was killed in front of me and I had a split decision to defend myself after he fell, by grabbing the axe that was in his chest and throwing it at the girl in her own chest. She fell, and she was my first kill.

First of many.

Since Ash's death, I was more determined to stay alive, just for the sake of my District. There were only 4 left in the arena, including myself and I knew I was only female left. The rest were from 1, 2 and 5. They were strong, mighty, and could take me out with one blow from their fists. I had to be smart, I had to outwit them. Most of the games was revolved around running away from them, but now I had to run towards them.

I knew the boy from District 5 couldn't swim, I saw him being jumpy around the lakes that were in the mountains from previous observations. I leeward him to the frozen lake of the mountains late in the night, the two other tributes were behind him but watched him as I ran with him behind me on my tail. I saw the moment before me, the low beam from a tree branch above the lake and I jumped, grabbing the branch as he slipped and fell into the freezing cold grave. The cannon shot off as I landed on the branch, looking behind me with a arrow drawn at the bow at 2. I knew he was slow, almost like a ape with no speed, so within second I aimed, hitting him in the left eye and seeing him gasp for air. I kept going, knowing 1 was going to be right behind me as the second cannon went off.

We both were running through a field of grass in the darkest night, having me trip and fall to the ground in a grunt, the pain of my shine as hitting me hard as he stood over me with a spear in hand. As I begged for him to spare me, knowing that it would not work, He stepped on the trip wire I set up, causing a sharpened stick to ram into his leg and stab him. He was stuck in the trap, screaming at the top of his lung as I got up and grabbed my backpack. Inside was the poison dart tube, loaded and ready since I snagged it from the girl from 1 after she killed Ash. I aimed at his neck, shooting and watching him writhe with the poison in his system for forty seconds before dying in the field.

I won the game.

Being whisked away and back to the Capitol was surreal to me, as if it was a outer body experience. I was numb, feeling nothing but the pain of Ash's death in my mind, seeing the other Districts fall to my brain, and knowing that I wasn't going to be the same for the rest of my life. I was going to be their faces, covered in blood and pain, Ash;s white face as the blood was drained from him though I only talked to him once or twice before our time in the arena, and the knowledge that the nightmare was never going to be over.

Never.

I was known as the Deceiver, since I should that I was weak when I was in fact smart. Caesar had a field day with my interview, asking me about the traps and the snares I used in order to win. I only smiled and answered them softly and politely, playing my role.

When inside I was screaming.

After being taken home and going through the victory tour, I knew I had to play the proud daughter from District 8 role, showing my pride in the textile practice and wearing clothes that represented my home. But inside, I was never the same, hearing the screams and seeing the faces of those that were lost. But it was worse, they were children, mere children. And I killed at least 4 of them in order to breathe. I smiled at every District on the tour, but I knew that was a show, and they didn't want to see me. Some of them, I knew, hated me, since I killed their son or their daughter.

And I would hate me too.

8 years as come and gone, and I knew that it was going to be harder as the years went by longer and longer. I only had a few handful of friends to rely on, and my father and brother were still alive. It was only a matter of time and I, Willow the Deceiver, would ever find my way back to the Hunger Games. Not only as a mentor, but as a tribute.

Time was not on my side. Not this time.