I'm ever so sorry for the delay! I've been up to my eyeballs in work (I'm an intern at art camp, and the children leave me so tired I collapse in a heap upon returning home) I've also had a severe case of Writer's block like you cannot imagine. But here is my latest chapter!
I would like to thank Winterowl312 for pointing out the fact that it is Gillian, not Gilligan, as I wrote in the last chapter. That was rather embarrasing.
Please vote on my poll!
I do not own The Hunger Games or Night World, but you knew that already, didn't you?
"Why are we going through interviews again?" Maggie questioned Delos.
"It'll make us see how much the audience hates us," he replied. "They're hoping that'll weaken us in these 'Games' of theirs." He laughed mirthlessly at Maggie's shocked expression. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Night People are evil. Every last one of them."
Maggie gasped. But you're not evil! She chided with her thoughts.
No, but I would have watched this, and laughed, just a few months ago, he admitted.
Maggie could feel the jagged edges of regret in her Soulmate's mind, and it near about broke her heart. Don't, she begged. Don't do this, Delos.
Delos opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by a rather rude witch pulling them into line.
Maggie was distracted by the other tributes in the line. Deep in her mind, she recalled these people were important to her, but the feeling was buried too deep to rise. They were all strangers to her.
She studied the twenty-two others, wondering who would be the one to kill her. The pair up front-the brown haired boy and the flame-haired girl, did not seem like much competition. He was too kind-looking, and while she looked fierce, she was tiny.
Behind them was another feeble-looking pair, a vampire girl with silvery hair and a human boy with dark hair.
The girl who stood after them seemed to be his sister; Maggie could tell from the coloring that they shared. She looked harmless enough, but her Soulmate was radiating danger.
Maggie barely spared a glance at the pair behind them, a tall, blonde girl and a sandy haired boy.
Maggie turned away after looking at the few tributes. She really couldn't bear it, deep down in the repressed section of her mind where she could still remember these people as friends, as people with names.
"And here we have Miss Poppy North," The announcer declared snidely. The redhead walked confidently onto the stage, emerald eyes wide and pretentiously innocent. She blithely ignored the jeers thrown in her direction.
Her soulmate fared even worse, if that was even possible.
"So, James, what made you risk everything to be with vermin?" the shapeshifter questioned.
"They're not vermin," he said in his quiet way. The rumble of dissent that rose from the crowd drowned out the rest of his interview.
Maggie noticed that some of the tributes received less negative slurs than others. One in particular, a black haired, black-eyed vampire who seemed to be named Quinn, commanded respect even from all of the night people that must surely hate him.
When Maggie's turn came up, she walked with trembling legs. She knew that she was at a huge disadvantage-she was a human, after all.
"And please give a warm welcome to Maggie," The announcer sneered in a voie saturated with sarcasm. The audience hooted in laughter and jeered the small girl.
Maggie bit her lip and forced an expression of detached disdain to overtake her features, much like her soulmate would.
"So, Maggie, what possesd you to think you could ever compare to a vampire?" the announcer questioned her.
"The fact that I can," she responded, ignoring the screams of fury emanating from the crowd. "And that I was able to beat a crowd of vampires already," she added blithely.
The angry cacophony that rose from the crowd blazed for a full minute before settling down slightly. Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but the sound level surged upon her doing so. Finally she gave up and sat back, waiting for the timer to sound.
Sorry for the short chapter, I swear I'm already working on the next one. Remember my poll!