Oswine Nanshope,12, Victor of the 81st hunger games


"You look, almost perfect!" My stylist Pebble squeals as she finishes combing back my hair while my other stylist Stone fits a bow tie on my buttoned down shirt that has a shining green tuxedo jacket over it.

"Looks absolutely glorious, oh it's been so long since we last had a male victor from here!" Stone sings as he organizes my jacket and they both squeal in unison once they put the finishing touches on me. These last few days have been a blur mostly, it's the nights that I remember though. Sometimes I'll have a pleasant dream about Xavi or Victoria. Other times I'm having nightmares about what I did to Winter, just that same scene playing in my head over and over of me…stabbing her. It made me terrified to sleep, but sometimes I will just drift off, have a dreamless sleep but I wake up and I'm reminded again just what a monster I am…

"Take a look at yourself, look how amazing you look Oswine!" Pebble literally yanks my shoulders and spins me around where I'm now facing the mirror. I look so different though…like a completely different person. All the wounds and bruises I had were long gone and my hair was combed back, eyebrows were neatly trimmed and the green tuxedo I had on fit me just right. I look into my eyes though and, that's when I realize this is one of the things they can hide. One look into these sad and guilty eyes and you'll know my story.

"Brighten up boy, aren't you happy to be the victor!? You get to go back home! Be rich, be happy! So put a smile on that miserable looking face!" Pebble says in a tone that's both scolding and trying to cheer me up but I just ignore her. She doesn't understand, she never will. She'll never have to worry about her or one of her loved ones being forced into the arena to fight for their lives, she never will…and I envy her for that.

"All of that aside, you look like a boy that's ready for your interview! You must be so excited to see all of your fans!" Stone optimistically states and I also pay him no mind.

Charlotte however enters the room and she immediately spots the discomfort on my face before turning to the stylists.

"If you two are done, feel free to leave." She tells them and without saying anything else, they quickly leave but Pebble mumbles something as she's outside the room, sounds like "Bitch" and I'm sure Charlotte heard it too but she doesn't retaliate.

"Hey…you ok?" she asks in her soft voice and I do a faint nod.

"I know what pests they can be, They were my stylists too after all, it's almost time though. I won't ask if you're ready cause no one is. This is going to be the hardest part, but just take my hand Oswine and no matter afraid you are just remember that I'll be right next to you ok?" She assures me.

"Y-yeah, I'll try." I honestly respond and she holds her hand out which I hold and she begins walking me to the stage where I'll be getting interviewed…I just hope it goes by quickly.

It only takes us several minutes to reach the launch pad and I can already hear the ear splitting roars of the audience above me as Carlton is continuing to rile them up. I feel my heart about to go through my chest though and I squeeze Charlotte's hand a bit harder but she doesn't seem to mind, I know she won't be able to follow me to the stage though, so I'll be all alone for now.

"Just remember Oswine, I'll be right here ok?" she asks in her soft voice and I nod again, wiping my eyes before stepping on the pad which immediately begins rising up.

"It is now time ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our victor of the 81st hunger games, Oswine Nanshope!" I hear Carlton's piercing yell and thousands upon thousands of shrieks pierce my ears as my podium rises to the surface and I'm temporarily blinded by all of the cameras and flickering lights but my eyes eventually adjust and I begin walking towards Carlton who's giving me a friendly gesture to come towards him. Once I get close enough, he extends his hand which I hesitantly shake and guides me to the chair next to him that I uncomfortably sit on. I begin nervously running my fingers through each other and staring at the floor as everyone continues screaming in excitement. There's so many people here…so many, it's so overwhelming. I just want to be alone, alone on a beach and fishing.

"Why hello there Oswine, you're looking fabulous!" Carlton greets me and I only give him a nervous look.

I try and thank him but only "uhm" exits my mouth followed by a long pause and some of the audience finds this funny and laughs while others are just awing at how "adorable" it must all be to them.

"Now Oswine you sure proved all the betters wrong! Not only were you not on anyone's bets to win but you also brung down the tribute who was expected to win these games comfortably, Barbel Beacher!" Carlton states and I envision myself stabbing Winter again but I quickly shake my head trying to get the thought out of me.

"Hmm? You disagree with something I said?" Carlton asks and I faintly shake my head again as several more awes pour in.

"Now how do you feel Oswine, knowing you overcame the odds, that you proved everyone wrong, that you get to return home?" Carlton asks but I'm at a loss of words.

"I don't know…" I mumble and an awkward silence follows afterwards.

"understandable, now Oswine you were in several alliances throughout the games, Xavarion Odoro and later on Victoria Aspen, what are your thoughts on them?" Carlton smiles and i picture the faces of Xavi and Victoria and feel my eyes begin to water. I still remember first seeing Xavi. He terrified me honestly by his sheer size alone. Even the careers didn't want to mess with him but when I saw him smile at me in the elevator, that's when I knew he had a heart of gold, Xavi…he was my brother…

"Xavi is my brother, he always will be…" I blurt out and the capitol eats it up but this was from the heart, I'm not trying to entertain them.

"Victoria…she's my sister." I add and a tear rolls down my eye, I miss them but yet, it feels like they're still here…

"Well said Oswine, I'm sure they considered you a sibling as well! Now you'll be returning home soon, what do you want to do after you get there" He changes the subject, I just want this to end as quickly as possible…

"See my dad..." I answer and more awes pour in.

"Yes, yes I'm quite sure your parents will be delighted to be with their son again! Is there anything you'd like to say before we begin the recaps?" Carlton asks and I remain silent as I envision the recaps and how awful this is going to be. After I don't answer, Carlton just proceeds to play the recaps. First are the reapings. Victoria volunteers and I remember after watching this the first time, just thinking how mean she was but I look back on it now and find it a little funny. She was sassy and snarky but also so kind… I see Xavi gets reaped as his towering figure only calmly walks towards the stage and even so, he still has a warm smile on his face, I know how scary it must've been for him but he still managed to smile.

I hold my head down through the entire district 4 reapings but I feel a pain run through my chest after I hear Barbel volunteer and I clench my fists, I just want to forget about him…I just want to forget.

For district 9 I can only watch it in guilt as Winter is reaped, she's in so much shock upon getting reaped that she literally looks like she's in a trance as she takes baby steps towards the stage, but her world just lights up once her brother Fall volunteers and joins her side. He always seemed to have an attitude but I can tell he really loved his sister.

I take another look at her and the thought of my trident going through her causes me to look away from the screen in shame, if I look close enough, I can probably still see her blood on me…

I watch myself get reaped next as I just walk to the stage with a blank look on my face, I still remember those different floods of emotions just colliding into each other and I just didn't know how to react as a result.

They then show clips from the chariot rides but make sure to skip the part where Karen literally shoved Emmett right over them and it shows clips from training. I see myself and Xavi at the camouflage station laughing as we tried on the different kinds of paints and Fall and Winter were close by also testing out the paints.

They made sure to show a clip of Xavi standing up to the careers after they sabotaged most of the equipment and they respected his strength, they knew even together they wouldn't be able to bully him around so he eventually got them to leave and paved the way for the rest of the tributes to train with a weapon.

After the interviews was where the chaos ensued. So much death…so much blood. Victoria took her time finishing off Karen and I can see the pain in her face from doing that. Xavi managed to knock out Annabelle in the bloodbath but he had no choice but to kill her later after he severely injured her, that really was just a horrifying sight to see, her convulsing on the floor like that, but he ended her suffering. I can tell this took a big toll on him, but he still always tried to stay strong…

They continued showing the "highlights" of the games and it was now at the part where Xavi and Barbel fought. Xavi had the upper hand at first but began to tire and that's when Barbel began having more success. Even when they were well past their limits they continued fighting, trading blow after blow but Xavi finally collapsed and I turned my head away from the screen after seeing Barbel grab a rock. I can still hear it though, repeatedly smashing against his skull and I can only grit my teeth hoping for it to end but a cannon finally fires off and I still can't look back up at the screen. The last time I saw Xavi is how I want to remember him…

Barbel won, but he was severely weakened, not long after me and Victoria found him but he suddenly gained a terrifying amount of strength and nearly killed us but we managed to bring him down. Me and Victoria parted ways after but after I received some food in sponsors, I made my way back to Victoria to share with her but she was being attacked by Rylee, I just wish I could've got there faster…

Zananova managed to directly and indirectly bring down quite a few tributes and after her fight with Winter ended, Winter stayed with her and hugged her as she took her last breathes. That wasn't what I saw though…I saw him!

"Barbel!" I hear myself yell in the screen before piercing my trident through Winter and I jump out of my chair and flee the stage as tears run down my eyes. I can't watch this, I can't take this anymore! I don't even know where I'm going as I'm blindly running but I suddenly feel a pair of arms clutch me and hold me.

"I got you…it's ok." I hear Charlotte's warm voice and I let my emotions loose as she continues hugging me.

"I killed her…I killed her!" I cry aloud but Charlotte only continues holding me, I'm a monster…a monster and I have to live the rest of my life like this…knowing that I'm a killer and that I'm the reason Winter's family won't ever see her again!


Here is the post games interview! Next chapter will be the final chapter of this story and i can finally get things underway with Madness Returns where we'll be seeing more of our little victor! I have received some amazing tributes and I'm quite amazed nearly all of the slots are filled! Anyways guys thank you all so much for your support and heartfelt reviews. I'll see you all soon with the final chapter of this story, till next time!