Chapter 28
Berenice laid on the bed all morning, she had been thinking about her choice of terminating the pregnancy. She was against abortion, but she did not want to endure the strain of taking care of two children if a rebellion were to happen.
She had thought of running away and work for the rebels. She had to take her son, Anatolios, her mother and brother with her, she wanted to show Snow that he did not own her.
However, Berenice felt guilt within her heart as she would destroy a child belonging to Snow. She did not want to do that, getting Snow's heart broken as she did come to realize that she saw something within the tyrannical president.
It was pure love, Snow had it for Berenice and for his own family. Berenice went to great lengths to protect his family, even after the death of his daughter and grandson. He eliminated a threat, not to himself, but to his family.
She took out the abortion pills from her corset and looks at the yellow liquid capsules. They were like poison, which they were, but images of a skull and crossbones flashed in Berenice's mind.
"I can't do it," she whispers to herself and decided to dispose of the pills. Where was she going to dispose them, she was not sure. There was no garbage collection until Thursday and anyone could find the pills and report to Snow about them.
Berenice was taught to hide possessions and it had to be a good hiding place. She then saw the toilet and dumped the pills in. She flushed them and they went down the pipe.
A sense of relief filled her, she was grateful that this child was going to survive. Berenice hoped, however, that she would have the physical and mental strength to care for two children later in life. "I know I can do it," she vowed to herself.
She then left the bathroom to join Snow and her family for dinner.
()()()()()()()()()()
In the kitchen, the cooks were at work in preparing the evening meal. Tonight, the president wanted to give a feast for his mistress for the news of her second pregnancy.
The menu contained herb-crusted pork ribs with red wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, bread rolls, and roasted vegetable stew. The kitchen was under guard by a head chef, whose job was make sure that none of the food was poisoned.
The head chef shouted orders while observing each of his staff. He made sure that none of the cooks had injected poison into the pork ribs. The waitresses cleaned off any excess sauce and made sure the food was presentable.
However, there was one waitress whose agenda was to kill the president. Another Capitol rebel had joined the staff at the presidential mansion.
Lucky for the waitress, the head chef did not observe her and no one checked her personal effects. In her apron was a syringe that contained the contents of thallium, also know as 'poisoner's poison'. The rebels wanted the leader to suffer with pain, much like the pain they went through.
She retrieved two plates of food, one for the president and one for his mistress. She went to a quiet spot in the hallway that lead to the dining area where no one would notice her.
The waitress injected the pork ribs with the thallium on the plate meant for the president. She hid the syringe in her apron and composed herself. She took the food out to the dining area.
There was laughing and conservation among President Snow, his mistress, her family, and the president's family. The waitress placed the poisoned plate in front of the president and the other to Berenice.
The waitress bowed and left to retrieve more food.
"Oh no," Berenice said when she saw the wine sauce. "I can't have alcohol," she adds.
"Take my plate, I specifically order the cook to not include wine on my plate, but I will make an exception this time," Snow said and they traded plates.
They ate the meal and complemented of how good it was to the head chef. "Shall we go to the great room for games?" Snow asked and everyone agreed to the idea.
Everyone, except for Berenice had wine while she had juice. Snow and Berenice decided to play backgammon, a board game that had two players with checkers. The objective was to remove all of the checkers before the opponent does.
As they played, Snow and Berenice began to talk about their second child. "What if it's a girl?" Berenice asked.
"I would like to name her after my mother, Eudora, it means 'good gift'. I'm letting decide the name if it's a boy," Snow replies and rolls his dice.
Berenice began to think, a boy must have a good name. "I was thinking-" Suddenly, a blur of pain coursed through Berenice like lightning. She let out a scream and collapsed to the floor.
"BERENICE!" Snow and Mrs. Willowgood cried out and came to her side.
The poor young woman writhed on the floor, taking a clump of the rug, and gripping it tight. She then felt something wet in between her legs and she dared to look under her dress.
All of them saw what every woman feared the most. Blood had streamed out of Berenice's womanhood and it came out like a river. "Go call for a doctor!" Mrs. Willowgood screamed at her son, Phillip and he and Celestia obeyed.
The pain was immense and Berenice did not want to go through with it. She prayed that all of this will be over soon, but a question went through her mind.
'How could this happen? I didn't take the pills,' she thought. Then, another wave of pain hit her and at that moment, she could not fight it, and passed out.
From the author: Poor Berenice! She made the right choice, but it had to be ruined by a Capitol rebel! Please don't hate me!
