Laelia Webber, 18, D5:

I am bombarded by a flurry of apologies from the Capitol scum who are tending to me, as another layer of hair I never even knew existed is torn from me. I refrain from snarling to try and cause them to calm down a bit. They have been so jumpy ever since I've gotten here.

I woke up from being tranquillised on the train only to have my pathetic district escort send me to a room with some Asian guy to watch the other reaping's. What was it, Minho or something? So I haven't had the best couple of days to relax.

The blindfold is so tempting to be torn off, to grant me vision again. The attendants told me I was not allowed to take it off until told too. I really want to break this rule, why should I be listening to people that are hoping to kill me?

"Okay, sorry Laelia, only a couple more hairs..." Viltre says timidly. She is whoever my stylist is supposed to be.

"It better be," I growl, gritting me teeth together. I inhale sharply as a new sensation unexpectedly occurs. It feels like I'm being stabbed in my right upper arm.

"Ouch! What the fuck are you doing! That's not waxing hair!" I snarl at them. One of the prep team from the sound of it, stumbles back in fear.

"Laelia, you have to trust us, we are doing this for your own good," says the voice of Viltre again.

"No, that's fucking enough," I grunt. I rip off my blindfold to see the pale faces of the prep team and Viltre. They stand the horrified, Viltre with a needle in her fingers.

"Are you trying to poison me or something?" I say coldly.

"No, well, you had a problem, and we needed to cure it," she mutters sheepishly. I pause, not exactly sure by what she could mean by this. I don't exactly have any diseases I'm aware of.

"Yeah whatever, just get me my smokes," I say, folding my arms. They don't move, they just stand there looking stupid.

"Was there something that you couldn't understand? Get me my smokes," I say slowly. Viltre speaks up.

"Well, you see, smoking isn't a very popular thing in the Capitol, so we made an adjustment to your tastes," she says, now shaking. I absorb the information she has given me.

"What?" I say flatly.

"We will show you," she says. She grabs a cigarette from a platter behind her and slowly steps forward.

"I'm so sorry about this," she whispers before waving it beneath my nose. The second I get a sniff of the familiar scent, it feels like my stomach shrink to the size of a tennis ball. The vomit floods my mouth before completely overflowing out onto the ground. My head begins to spin and I try with all my remaining sense to snort the disgusting scent out of my nose. I succumb to the dizziness and the darkness consumes me.

...

I find myself on the floor, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth. The only thoughts I can conjure, are those of lung cancer, rotten teeth and unimaginable physical changes, of my own future self.

What did they do to me? Who do they think I am, a play toy?

"Laelia, we are here for you," says a weak voice, I can only recognise as Viltre's.

"I think it worked," says another person.

"They really shouldn't force us to use these untested products on kids."

"It seems to have worked well enough, you saw how she reacted to that death stick."

"We don't know the side effects, did you hear about the Two boy?"

"No, what happened?"

"They used an untested treatment for his cancer, telling him they could easily manage it."

"What happened?"

"He isn't the same as he was before according to the Escort and the Tribute. They describe him as 'increasingly angry', the Escort is worrying about it."

"Shhh, I think she is stirring," Viltre says silencing the others.

I grudgingly pick myself off of the ground. At this moment, I'm too weak too lunge myself at Viltre and tear out her throat for what she did. Somewhere in my befuddled mind however, concludes that someone is apparently in a worse state then I am.

I now have a robe covering my ever so smooth body. They didn't mess with it did they? Something doesn't feel right, I can't tell what.

"You're lucky I don't kill you right now for what you did," I splutter out.

"Laelia, we swear, it was on the orders from Vice President Welsh," says one of the attendants.

"What was? Making me puke and faint every time I smell a cigarette?" I say sweetly but sarcastically.

"Yes, well that and your hair," says Viltre. I freeze. What did they do to my hair?

Instead of the short style I like it in, it is now long enough to reach my lower back, and it feels so thick.

"What have you don't to my hair?!" I scream horrified. I grab the scissors and frantically cut at it. It's a couple of seconds before I notice that the scissors have bent.

"It is no use, your hair was given a formula that made it grow rapidly, so now it is long and beautiful," says Viltre.

"Oh and it's taken on the strength of titanium, so you cannot cut it off," adds one of the prep team.

The anger I feel right now is indescribable, however I hope my eyes show it so the prep team and Viltre can know what they have cursed themselves with. However, they step aside and reveal a mirror that stops me in my tracks.

I-I am... Truly beautiful. Back in Five, there was no positive meaning for beauty, the more beautiful you were meant the more likely you were to be raped or kidnapped. I never got to look beautiful because of this, I would always make sure I had short hair to keep away the rapists and paedophiles.

As much as it isn't me, it really feels like what I want to be.

"Please Laelia, we don't want to fail you, we want to help you, that's what we are here for," says Viltre softly. I remain silent, not knowing how to respond to... Niceness.

"Just trust us to help you appeal to the audience, and we can help get you home," she continues, slowly stepping towards me, afraid I might lash out at any moment. As much as I don't want to allow the Capitol to help me with anything, these four people genuinely appear to want to help out. It's not like I have much choice anyways, so I might as well gain this advantage.

"Fine," I say barely audible.

"Just, do what you must," I say reluctantly. Viltre sighs in relief and leads me over to the next room. I am told to sit down as they begin to work away. My face becomes completely caked in makeup, well at least it feels like it, I've never worn it before so who am I to know what it feels like. My nails are shaped into perfect ovals glossed until they are shiny. After that, they then coat it in a golden liquid that appears to glow in a throb.

"That's a little hint for your costume," Viltre whispers as she styles my new shiny black hair. In the mirror, I finally get to see my face. The usual scowl is still present, as it always is, however my face is coated in a powder that has made my face appear much more tanned. My eyes intact as their emerald green colour, but now my eyelids and lashes are laced by a flashing yellow, similar to the glowing yellow on my nails.

My lips have the exact same coat and all I can think about is how radiant I look, yet I still look completely recognisable as my usual grumpy self. When the final bits of mascara are added, my team congratulates me and each other on their job as I admire myself in the mirror.

A tap on my shoulder signifies that I must follow Viltre alone into yet another room. She motions for me to sit on the plush red couch and face the black cabinet.

"This is what you shall be wearing during the chariot ride," says Viltre. She opens the door to my costume which causes light to flood the room...

A/N: Left it on a bit of a cliff-hanger there. So yes another busy week at school, but its Friday, so I'm hoping to upload one today, Saturday and Sunday. I hope this chapter was alright, and that I wrote Laelia alright as well. She is quite the bitter person. Also I'm sorry that this chapter is quite short, they will start getting longer though. Anyways, who is ready for some proper character interactions next chapter? I know I sure am :D

-Ares