Chapter Three: Creatures Lie Here

A/N: Finally, an update! Sorry for my absence but real life tends to take over sometimes. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter :D

"I'm taking a stand to escape what's inside me,

A monster, a monster

I've turned into a monster

A monster, a monster

And it keeps getting stronger."

- Monster, Imagine Dragons

Elethea's POV

District 4 doesn't look the same. No matter how hard I try, it's hard to look. We were always one of the Capitol's most favoured. The wealthy districts, where the citizens didn't have dark circles under their eyes, didn't look malnourished. They still don't, but they do look…changed. There's a hardness to them now, a grim expression on the faces of many. I can't help but find it rather pitiful. Don't they know yet that I'm their saviour?

I step off the train and toss my dark hair over my shoulders. I've always been good at memorising, so I have my entire speech in my head. All I have to do is tell them what a good little district they are, and how much the Capitol will reward them if they choose not to join in this stupid rebellion, if they continue to support President Snow. I chew on my lip before remembering my red lipstick.

If you show conviction, they may yet decide in our favour. That's what the President said. I don't exactly remember when, because everything is a bit blurry. But I have enough conviction, I know it. It's certainly not something I lack. But these people of District 4, with their sad eyes and their tough expressions – they're lacking it. I only hope it won't be too difficult to convince them of our cause.

The mayor greets me nervously. His hands are shaking and there's sweat on his brow. What on earth does this man have to be concerned about, the babbling fool? He leads me out to the podium, and I swell with pride as I see that my entire district is standing there in silence. Waiting for me.

"People of District 4." I step up to the microphone, smiling as my voice resonates through the square. "You know me, I am one of you. I am Elethea Ambrose, Victor of the 69th Hunger Games."

I am only met with silence. This doesn't deter me – I know that they are listening at least. Better quiet than them muttering amongst themselves.

"You all know about the resistance rising up in places such as District 8. The fact that some districts see fit to question the Capitol's motives. But I'm here today to convince you that President Snow will most generously reward any who help him stomp out this little rebellion."

The muttering begins then, as I expected it to. The resistance is always cause for unrest, and my home district is no exception. They would have known about what was going on in District 8, about the fact that several Victors and other rebels have fled. Apparently to District 13, although the notion never fails to make me laugh. District 13 was blown to bits a long time ago now. How could it still exist?

"Join me," I call over the restless murmuring, "Join me, and our President in stopping these radicals."

A hush falls over the crowd, and I frown as I see it parting. Someone is heading towards the stage. What could they possibly have to say? I examine the brunette woman who stares up at me with a mixture of hatred and sorrow in her piercingly blue eyes. There's something familiar about her. I feel as though I recognise her, although I can't remember her name. Her eyes glitter with unshed tears.

"For my family," she calls, and then she raises the gun in her hand and pulls the trigger.

The loud bang that resonates throughout the square sends the district into chaos. Several people scream. I stagger and look down to see crimson liquid pooling beneath my shirt, just beneath my ribcage. The pain hasn't kicked in yet, but the realisation that I've been shot definitely has.

People are starting to panic. A few of them are running. Peacekeepers march down towards the square, as the woman turns the gun on herself, pressing it to her temple. I close my eyes as a second bang rips through the pandemonium. The mayor steps towards me, his eyes wide with shock. Everything around me blurs and fades, and I collapse.

Finnick's POV

The broadcast of Elethea in District 4 reaches our screens in District 13. I can't help but pace. Rayne sinks into a chair with her hands over her mouth. Although it's definitely Elethea, she's a shell of who she really is. Her eyes are completely dead and the smile across her face looks more like a sneer as she raves about the Capitol, about how fantastic the President is.

Movement in the crowd catches my eye, and the camera zooms in to show a woman in her late twenties, heading towards the stage. Her features are recognisable at once, and I hear Rayne gasp. It's Daisy Deran, Dominic's older sister. Her face is contorted with anger as she raises the gun in her hand, and shoots Elethea in the stomach.

Rayne screams, lurching to her feet as if she can physically help her daughter. My entire body stiffens, and I'm helpless, a prisoner to the broadcast as it continues even as citizens run screaming, as Daisy then proceeds to shoot herself in the head. Elethea collapses on the stage and Rayne presses her face into her hands and sobs.

The television is suddenly turned off. I whirl around to see Katniss standing there with the remote in her hand. Her jaw is clenched and she lifts her chin, daring me to wrest the remote from her and turn the broadcast back on. But I can't. The image of Elethea collapsing plays over and over in my mind. Behind us, Rayne is still crying.

"Is she dead?" I ask stupidly, as if Katniss has the answer.

She shrugs. "It's a live broadcast, Finnick. But I can't take any more of it. Not seeing her like that."

Katniss didn't know Elethea that well. I don't even know if they got along, but I know that Katniss has a healthy appreciation now of what it takes to be a Victor. She has respect for quite a lot of her fellow Victors – apart from some of the Careers, naturally. She also realises what it means to me, to see the woman I love being shot on live television. She did what I couldn't, tearing me away from the nightmare in District 4.

I glance at Rayne. Her brother, her son…now her daughter too? We don't know whether Elethea survived the murder attempt, but I know that Rayne will worry until she knows one way or the other. She's a mum, it's her job. I sweep over and hold her close. We share a connection, this woman and I. That connection is Elethea, and both of us will break if we lose her forever.

Elethea's POV

I peel my eyes open to the irritating repetitive sound of a heart monitor. I don't remember anything much. Why am I in a hospital? I look down and stiffen as I see the bandaging over my stomach. I remember now, remember being shot by a hateful woman in District 4. My heart rate spikes as I start to panic, kicking off the blankets and yanking the needles from my arms with a grimace.

"They won't let you leave."

Gloss is a broken man, his blue eyes hollow. He walks closer and then falls to his knees, even as I flinch away from him. My mind is struggling to make the connection between what is real and what is not. I know that it wasn't really Gloss who raped me, that the tracker jacker venom made him a monster just like it does to me. I stare down at him, hands clenching and unclenching. Why is he in my hospital room?

"Why are you here?"

"I'm where I've always been," Gloss replies cryptically, looking at me with tearful eyes. "This is a prison, Elethea. They let me come and see you because I said…I said that I wanted to express my regrets. But not that you were shot, because of what I did."

My eyes flutter closed. I remember what Gloss did, all too well. I want to forgive him, but I don't know whether I can. I take a deep breath, even though it pains me to do so because of the bullet wound that's still healing in my stomach. He reaches for me desperately, but I back away, hitting the wall.

"I'm so sorry," he sobs, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you, or anyone. I can't forgive myself for what I've done, to you or to Storm, so I can't expect you to forgive me either. I just wanted you to know that I regret what I did."

"What you did to Storm?" I frown. Storm Asterbury, the pretty Capitolian girl that Gloss reluctantly fell in love with.

"She was carrying my child, I didn't know…" Gloss breaks down again, choking out sobs, and I realise with horror what he has done. He was violent towards me, but if he was also violent towards Storm…I realise that I pity him, this poor broken boy who has lost everything, who the Capitol has turned against the one person he has left. I swear I will kill Hyperion for what he's done, to all of us.

I can't help but feel sympathy for him now, knowing that his actions are not his fault. I kneel in front of Gloss as he curls up like a child, sobbing hysterically. I reach out tentatively, stroking his blonde hair out of his face. He looks up at me and stops crying, his expression uncertain. He doesn't know why I'm showing him kindness, and that almost breaks my heart. I pull him close, ignoring how pain twinges in my wound.

"We'll be alright," I whisper, stroking his hair as he clutches at me. "We will."

Neither of us believe it, but we have to try and hope, for our own sanity. I don't know how long we stay there on the floor, curled against each other as I stroke Gloss's hair and soothe him. Cashmere should be here to do this, she should be alive to comfort her younger brother. So even though he's older than me, it falls to me to put him back together instead. Only I'm not sure that I can, because I don't think I'm strong enough.

"How touching." Sarcasm practically drips from Hyperion's tone as he enters the room. I don't release Gloss, but instead glare up at him. He raises his eyebrows. "Gloss, get out. I'll have you escorted back to your own cell."

Gloss tears from my grasp and hisses obscenities, and I grab his arm and try and restrain him from lunging at Hyperion. The Capitolian merely looks amused, and two Peacekeepers enter and drag Gloss out. I can hear him yelling down the hall, but I'm painfully aware of the fact that I'm alone in this room with Hyperion.

"You should remember where your loyalties lie." Hyperion tugs me close, deliberately digging his fingers in around my bullet wound so pain surges through me and I cry out. I rip away from him, rubbing at the tender spot.

"Not with you. Not with the Capitol. Just because you load me with tracker jacker venom doesn't mean I need to act like it when I'm actually me."

"They think you're dead, you know." I can tell Hyperion is gloating because of the way his eyes light up, and I suddenly feel nauseous when I realise he's talking about Mum and Finnick. "They saw you shot on live television, they didn't know you made it out alive. Snow has decided that it's too dangerous to have you going around the districts anymore. So he's going to put out a press release to inform Panem of your murder."

I go cold, although I see why they're doing it. Chaos will rise if people think a Victor was shot dead in her own district. It gives Snow a reason to punish 4, something that makes me taste bile in my mouth. The woman who shot me…I know who she was now. Daisy Deran, Dom's sister. I wonder if she would have shot me in any case, remembering that I was the one who killed her brother.

"Then what will happen to me?" I ask, almost afraid of the answer. Wouldn't it just be easier for Snow to actually kill me, so that there's actually a grain of truth in his story?

Hyperion's awful smile tells me it's nothing good. "Oh, you'll see."