This is my story about Lavinia, the red-headed Avox. I will apologize right now because I am the slowest and worst story updater in the history of ever. BUT, I will also add that I feel really inspired by this story, so I'm hoping that the chapters will come a little more easily with this than other fics I've written. That being said, enjoy and let me know what you think!
Chapter 1 – Friendly Gatherings
For as long as I can remember, Mother was always exquisite.
Flawless, ivory skin, glowing red hair, and emerald eyes. Across her collarbone, which was always displayed by the elegantly cut necklines of her sweaters and gowns, twisted a shimmering gold and green design. Most of my friends' mothers had had many surgeries and dyes to make themselves beautiful. Mother had simply walked into the world this way. Daddy called her his most precious jewel.
Whenever they would go to a party or a 'friendly gathering,' as Daddy called them, Mother would always ask, "How do I look tonight, Kellen?"
"District 5 couldn't shine brighter," he would always say.
Mother would smile and reply, "Only when I'm on your arm."
It was true. Together they were the most beautiful people imaginable. After coloring his skin, Daddy was a soft bronze that paired well with the ivory of Mother. His full head of deep brown hair was always combed and shining. He was tall and slender, with a strong face. However, what was always most striking, were his naturally summer blue eyes.
Olivier got Daddy's eyes. The day they brought him home, his eyes were all I saw. As he's grown up, every other part of him has looked more and more like Mother, but his eyes are Daddy-blue.
I have slightly less-than-emerald eyes, not-quite-ivory skin, and red hair that has more fire than glow.
When I was little, I used to sit on Mother's bed and watch her in the mirror as she got ready for friendly gatherings. One day, when I was 8, I said, "Mother, I wish I was pretty."
Then, she pulled me onto her lap and we looked into the mirror together.
"Livvy," she said, "look at this beautiful girl here. She has lovely hair and skin and eyes, full red lips, the most pinchable nose!" which she pinched and we giggled. Then, she said, "Close your eyes." Putting her hand over my heart, she continued, "Now, look in here. Inside there is a caring heart and a personality that glitters more than anything that has ever come out of District 1. Lavinia, when we look at this girl inside, we find strength and beauty beyond compare."
That has and will always stay with me.
Mother and Daddy were my heroes.
As I got older, I started to learn that the friendly gatherings were not exactly the shining, happy parties I always though they were. Once, when I was 12, I broke a rule and snuck downstairs to see all of the people and try to grab one of the many fine foods I was sure to find.
I was lucky I had been able to convince Olivier he should stay upstairs to keep watch for the toys. If he had been there, he would have heard things no 7-year-old should ever hear.
"President Snow is a tyrant," I heard a man say.
"Perry, we know. What he did to your sister is unforgivable, but we need to stop being angry and start doing something," Daddy said.
"If there were a way…" a woman said.
"There is. There has to be. We can change things," Mother used the voice she only uses when Ollie or I have done something bad.
"That's what the Districts thought and look what happened to them. Now we have the Hunger Games and a blood-thirsty, half-mad president. Hundreds of children have died since the last time someone tried to change things, Callista."
"It's because they did it wrong the first time and they didn't have Capitol help," said the first man. "Now they do. So, I say the Capitol needs to just go ahead and kill Snow."
I didn't want to hear anymore, so I ran back upstairs.
Somehow, Mother and Daddy knew I had heard something. The next night, when they came to tuck me into bed, they both sat down and spoke to me.
"Are you killing the President?"
"No, Livvy, we're not killing anyone," Mother said.
"Then, why did that man say he's a tyrant and that the Capitol needs to kill him?"
"Because he's an angry man. He believes President Snow hurt his sister and put her in the hospital," Daddy explained.
"Did he?"
"We don't know, gem. We just wanted to make Mr. Minter feel better, okay? Now you go to sleep and don't let this worry you." Mother and Daddy kissed me on the forehead and never had a friendly gathering in our house again.
I almost forgot about the whole thing for a while. Every so often, though, I'd catch Daddy clenching his fist at something the President said during a mandatory television viewing. Or, I'd see Mother bring some food and flowers to Mr. Minter's home across the street. In fact, if I paid particular attention, I'd have noticed that quite a few people had a tendency to bring him flowers and food.
Once, while watching the Hunger Games, Mother walked out of the room during a particularly harsh obstacle the Gamemakers had set for the tributes of 11 and 12. She didn't come back in for a little while.
For the most part, though, we were happy and bright. Mother, Daddy, Olivier, and me.
The day I turned 17, Mother and I were in her room and I was sitting at her vanity. I wanted to look my prettiest that day.
"Livvy, you know Daddy and I have special meetings, yes? Friendly gatherings?" she said as she twisted my hair up.
"Yes. You haven't had one here since I was little." In fact, she had barely mentioned them since then.
"That was for your safety, gem. You and Ollie were so young. Ollie still is. So, we can't tell him okay?"
I stopped fixing my makeup. "Tell him what, Mother?" I was about to find out what had been nagging me about those gatherings.
"I'll explain after school. Daddy and I will bring you to a meeting sometime if you like."
"I do like. I really do." I resisted the urge to turn and hug her. She wasn't finished with my hair.
"Well, you can truly decide that after we tell you, alright?"
"Yes, Mother."
"Look at you. You are the most radiant birthday girl."
The rest of the day was torture. I couldn't wait to leave school to discover the big family secret. I could barely keep it in all day. It's the worst having a secret and not being able to say anything to anyone. And I didn't even know what the secret was.
The clock must have worked extra hard at being slow that day, but the end of the day did finally come and I rushed Ollie home.
After dinner and the most extravagant cake, Mother and Daddy sent Ollie up to his room and told him he could watch the television.
I sat in the living room and eagerly awaited the secret. I ended up confused and mildly shocked, but not disappointed.
"You mother and I have been trying to bring a group together to…fix how Panem works. The government is corrupt."
This was new. All the school ever taught us about the government was that it was there to keep the Districts in line and make us happy.
"The president, though he doesn't seem it on TV, is a terrible person. He got the power he has through death and pain."
President Snow has always seemed a little, well, creepy.
"We also believe the Hunger Games and the killing of children should end. The Capitol is becoming more vapid and unaware as the people in the Districts labor and work and die. We have become callous and uncaring. Mother, myself, and our friends want to fix things."
"Fix the government? All on your own?"
"Well, not alone. We've been planning how to begin and, recently, one of our friends has found a way. You remember Miss Jessily Harp?"
Jessily. She's used to watch us when Mother and Daddy were out when I was little. "She's part of the group, too?"
"Yes. She joined when you were 13," Mother said.
This was a lot. The government, the president, Jessily. But, I must have had an idea that it was something like that based on what I'd heard years before because I didn't get upset. I simply asked, "What did Jessily find?"
"District 13," Daddy said.
"But that's destroyed. It's been gone for so long now. How could she have found it?"
I must have finally looked afraid or something, because Mother took my hand. "She discovered a problem with the footage the Capitol shows us of that District. She has an eye for puzzles and pictures and she realized that the footage hasn't changed in years. The smoke rises the same way, the sky is always the same. She's even seen a bird in the upper corner of the screen in every single instance that District 13 has been on the TV."
Essentially, my mother was telling me that the government has been lying. That couldn't be true. "Well, they said it's dangerous, right? They used to build nuclear weapons there, so maybe they don't want to expose their reporters to the fumes."
"That's been brought up in the meetings," Daddy said. "But, it doesn't quite make sense, you see. Why report about the District at all? Why dress up an anchor in protective gear to simply put them in front of a green screen and play the same footage over and over again? They're covering something up. And the only thing they could cover up there is the fact that they do not have District 13 under complete control. It exists. And we're going to find them."
It sounded so reasonable, so exciting, coming from my parents. And it was starting to make sense. President Snow had always exuded something fearful whenever he was on TV with his poor health, the roses, and too-red lips.
"Can I come with?"
"That's why we're telling you, gem," Mother said, squeezing my hand. "We'll tell Olivier something a little easier to swallow soon. Because we're all going to go. Daddy and I can't leave you here to risk being punished when it happens."
We were going on an adventure. To save Panem from the terrible, corrupt, and murderous government!
"When will we go?" I was eager. Not entirely aware of what I was excited to get into, but I had been brought up in luxury. As had my parents. Most likely, no one knew what was ahead.
"In one week. We've been preparing. There are already bags for all of us with food, clothes, shoes, and other necessary supplies to keep us alive out there in the wild," Daddy said with a gleam in his eyes. He was excited, too. We were getting out of the Capitol. Out of society and into the great unknown.
Mother looked nervous. "We have it all planned perfectly, so nothing will go wrong."
That's when they showed me the details. The group had pulled together everything they knew about the Capitol and the surrounding area to make it all work. The plan was to travel through the pipes underground until we reached the end of the lines. Mostly the Avox were down there, so no one could tell anyone else what we were doing.
At the end of the path they had chosen, there was a service door for the people who run the trains. A man in the group named Harvel Dropp is one of those people, so he'll get us through there. Once outside that door, all we had to do was get to the surface, run across a small, unguarded field (they're not sure if anything else is guarded, so, for safety's sake, they didn't want to try any other areas), and we'd be on our way. The maps we had would keep us just outside of the Districts until we got to 13.
It seemed perfect.
Two days later, it all fell apart.