8/4/17

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games

Hi again! Thanks for reading! For once I'm actually getting a chapter posted when I said I would, so let's hope this starts a trend. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

….

The Manipulation Games 3: Rebellion

Chapter Three: Isolation

…..

It's been a few days since I spoke to Oleander. He hasn't tried to contact me since then, which comes as a relief to me. I don't expect it to last, seeing as he's never been one to listen to others. Any day now when the Peacekeepers make their constant visits to borrow Peeta I expect him to make an appearance as well.

Peeta hasn't been himself lately. He's been quiet and distant, and prefers to shut himself in his room like Enobaria does. Gone are the days of him and Annie building card houses, laughing as they fell over and feeling happy in spite of our current circumstances. Now Annie and I have resorted to watching the TV all day, pre-set to only pick up a singular channel filled of propaganda detailing how wonderful the Hunger Games are.

Peeta appears on a few of these propos. I can only assume that's what they take him away for, but it doesn't explain the bags under his eyes or the way his hands tremble at any given moment. I hadn't noticed how bad it was until I myself was taken away with him this morning. Up close, it's so much worse. The nervous tremor in his hand never seems to stop, he's lost weight to the extent that he looks malnourished, and the smile that used to light up his face has vanished completely. He looked so pitiful that it was hard to focus on the resentment I held for the ridiculous costume my stylist forced me into.

Honestly, I miss the tree costumes at this point.

As of right now, I find myself sitting in the same place I was a few days ago, sans Enobaria and Annie. Unfortunately, I'm still wearing the ridiculous white lump of fabric my stylist insists is clothing. Filming for Peeta's newest Propo has yet to begin, but I'm sure it will start at any moment. In the meantime, I scan the area for any signs of Oleander. I don't see him, but I do see someone notably worse.

Nero Dark: current Head Peacekeeper of the Capitol, father of Maple's cousin, and overall horrible excuse for a human being. He's an absolute skunk but at the very least that long, crooked nose of his makes him easy to spot in a crowd.

Music begin to play as an announcer introduces Caesar Flickerman and Peeta. They greet each other with simple questions of "how are you today?" that no one is really supposed to answer truthfully. After a few more pointless questions that society has pre-selected answers for, they move on to more interesting, political questions.

"Now Peeta," Caesar says, tone becoming serious. "I've been hearing rumors that Katniss has been shooting propaganda for the radicals in District 13. Would you happen to have any thoughts on this?"

My muscles tense up. To side with the rebels would be a death sentence, but to betray them? It was hard enough for me earlier today to stand silently by the President's side. I can hardly imagine what this must be like. In a selfish way, I'm glad it isn't me.

"They're using her, obviously," Peeta says, glancing at Nero. "To whip up the rebels. I doubt she even really know what's going on in the war; what's at stake."

"Is there anything you'd like to tell her?" Caesar asks, but his warm tone and sympathetic facial expression can't fool me. This is no mere message from a distraught teenage boy to the girl he loves. This is an opportunity.

"There is," Peeta says, falling for the bait. "Don't be a fool Katniss. Think for yourself. They've turned you into a weapon that could be instrumental in the destruction of humanity."

This kid… I know that from the bottom of his heart he doesn't want there to be a war. But what I don't think he understands is that there's no other way. These speeches aren't encouraging the Capitol to end the Games. Rather, they're encouraging the citizens of Panem to spend another 75 years suffering, staying quiet about the injustices they've faced.

"If you've got any real influence, use it to put the brakes on this thing. Use it to stop the war before it's too late. Ask yourself, do you really trust the people you're working with? Do you really know what's going on? And if you don't… find out."

Caesar is about to respond when the camera woman cuts him off.

"That's a wrap," she says, irritated.

"But we barely even-" Caesar begins to protest.

"I'm under strict orders from President Snow and Head Peacekeeper Dark to get these two back to their quarters immediately," the camera woman says.

Before I can fully register what's happening, I'm dragged away by Peacekeepers. We take a much more direct route this time, avoiding all the "short"cuts Oleander took me through last time. When we make it back, Nero takes me from the other Peacekeepers. Usually, I would've fought back, but I'm close enough to getting back to Annie that struggling wouldn't do her any favors.

He pulls me inside, and I'm a little confused when I don't see Annie sitting in her normal place on the couch. I'm about to go closer to investigate when Nero forces me away and shoves me into my room. He slams the door shut, and I can only feel relieved that there's finally a barrier between us.

"Hey genius, I'm allowed out of here," I scoff, leaning up against the door and crossing my arms.

I hear Nero's demonic laugh from the other side of the door. "Snow and I have come to an agreement. After all, it's not good for the four of you to have a chance to discuss your escape."

"Aww, good for you," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Oh believe me, I'm going to do some things I've been looking forward to for a very long time."

"Like what, toilet train yourself?" I ask, hopefully hiding the fear in my voice.

There's a silence on the other side of the door, and for a while I even believe I'm alone.

"Your life is about to get so much harder."

….

I should be getting a new computer in a few days, which means hopefully I'll have a working word processor again and won't have to worry about Google Docs messing with my formatting. I'm a little sad since I'm a highly nostalgic individual and I've had this computer for nearly a third of my life (which isn't saying much come to think of it), but from my understanding my old computer is probably going to either my little brother or my aunt so it's not like it's going anywhere. Plus it'll be nice to have a laptop that doesn't have to constantly be plugged in because I messed up the battery (oops).

Quote of the day!

"Knees, knees, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you get arrested because that's cannibalism and desecration of human corpses…" -a wonderful and pleasant song my friend wrote that we all sing regularly now

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess