Genevieve Altruzara,16, Victor of the 82nd Hunger games
"Genevieve? Hey Genevieve?" I hear a familiar voice as a bright light is flashing right in front of me.
"Hey snap out of it!" I hear the same familiar voice and I quickly look away from the bright light that was above me and look across from me to see I'm sitting at some kind of dining table and across from me is Acer, he looks so freshly groomed as his hair is slightly slicked back. He's wearing a deep black tuxedo and he's not even wearing his glasses which makes him look extremely handsome, but that's besides the point…it's Acer...
"Acer…" is all I can mumble but he only gives me a warm smile.
"Hello Genevieve! It's nice seeing you again, but are you going to eat anything? The restaurant is going to close before you eat anything at this rate!" Acer jokes with me and I can't help but chuckle a little, so this is it, one of the pleasant ones…
I look around the restaurant for a moment and all of the tables around us are nicely made up but are completely empty and In front of me is a plate of my favorite dessert, chocolate Souffle and Acer has a plate of candied pomegranates on his. Without even thinking I take a taste of my Souffle and the sweet tender chocolate goodness just melts right in my mouth, it's just as I remembered it! Acer then starts eating some of his candied pomegranates.
"You did it Genevieve, you did it and I'm beyond proud of you!" Acer smiles.
"It's, it's all because of you though Acer, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, you're the reason why I'm still alive, you even gave your life for me." I admit and I can already feel my eyes beginning to swell.
"I only did what a true friend would do…but it was your undying will and determination that got you through the worst adversity. No matter how bleak or tough things got, that didn't stop you from fighting, it didn't stop you from trying. Genevieve you're one of the strongest people I've had the pleasure of meeting, and I'm so glad you get to be with your family again." He smiles at me.
"I wanted to thank you Acer, for everything… you didn't have to do any of this but you did, I was never able to return the favor though Acer, You carried me the entire time…" I lament and it's true, I had a chance to keep him safe from Victoria but he gave his life to save me cause I wasn't strong enough!
"That's not true Genevieve, we both helped each other, you gave me the courage to become a better person, to become stronger, without you, I wouldn't have been able to do half of what I was able to do. I wanted to keep your dream alive Genevieve, and if it meant I had to die to achieve that, I was more than ok with that." He tells me but I can see his eyes starting to water and my lips quiver as tears come down my eyes.
"Acer…" my voice cracks as all I can really do is look into his eyes but he reaches his hand across the table and I quickly grab and hold onto it tightly, refusing to let go.
"Genevieve, there is a way you can pay me back…just live your life ok? Be as happy as you can possibly be with Mandel and continue being an amazing sister towards him. It's ok to be sad, it's ok to have regrets but don't let it bring you down, live your life Genevieve and start a new chapter." he states as a tear comes down his eyes and I slowly nod.
"Yes Acer, will, I promise you I will, and I'll be as happy as I can possibly be. I won't forget you though Acer like ever. You're my hero…" I confess to him.
"Thank you Genevieve, now it's time for you to get going." He still manages to do a faint smile through all the tears coming down his eyes.
"Yes…it looks like it is." I mumble as I can feel myself regaining consciousness, but I continue holding onto his hand tightly as a bright light shines in front of me and becomes wider and wider until my eyes shoot open and I see I'm on the heli.
"Well look who's awake, and just in the nick of time!" I hear Brock and I look In front of me to see both him and Tatianna sitting across from me, I then look out of the window seeing that I'm back in my district, I can see the many beautiful trees, the houses and even the people as I can already see crowds of them forming awaiting my arrival. I want to be happy, I hardly ever spent time with most of the residents here, but I will still like to celebrate with them but I won't be at ease until I know Mandel and my mother are ok!
"You ok Genevieve?" Tatianna asks with some concern as I can feel my body trembling.
"…I will be." I vaguely respond.
"Relax yourself Genevieve, you're home, loosen up a bit!" Brock pats my shoulder, yeah if only it was that easy…
The heli begins landing and I can see the large crowd of people beginning to surround the space we're going to land in. I try analyzing the crowd to see if Mandel is among them, I trained my eyes to be able to see him from a mile away though, he isn't here…
The heli finally lands and I quickly begin unbuckling myself.
"Whoa Genevieve wait!" Brock tries to calm me down, but I loosen the seatbelt off of me and literally have to pry the door open.
"Let her go Brock…" Tatianna sighs, at least she understands.
Once I get off this heli, I have to force my way through this massive crowd of people, I even have to shove a few of them out of the way. The rest of the crowd eventually gets it and clears a wide path for me to bulldoze my way through as I race towards my home. My home eventually comes into view as I frantically race towards it hearing my heavy pants as my feet are pretty much gliding against the ground. The outside of the house looks the same way I saw it last time, wasn't really expecting much to change about it but I race up the stairs towards the front door and punch it as hard as I can.
I expected the door to be locked but it instead flies right open, almost like I'm being invited inside…
"Genevieve!!" I immediately hear a frantic voice and turn towards my kitchen where I see Mandel sitting at the table but he doesn't look happy, he looks horrified…
"Mandel!" I prepare to rush towards him but I feel something cold pressed behind my head which causes me to freeze.
"Don't move..." I hear bitch sternly warn me and I try to remain calm as I realize she has a gun pressed against me.
"No! Stop!" Mandel cries.
"Shut up!" she yells at Mandel but this only causes him to cry more.
"What the fuck do you want!? You haven't done enough damage yet?" I say through gritted teeth as I ball my fists but bitch only chuckles.
"Even I have to admit I'm surprised to see you back here, didn't think you'd stand a chance especially with all those monsters you were in there with, but look at you here flesh and bone, it's just ashamed you went through all of that just to die here!" Bitch chuckles.
"So this is your little plan huh?" I feel my blood boiling, she really is going to kill me if I don't do something…
"Well yeah, and it's a good one too, you're the only one in the way, me and Yvonna will provide the perfect life for Mandel, we already got him enrolled in the best school this filthy district has to offer, he's eating well, dressing well and to be frank, we don't fucking need you, so you can go rot in the dirt with your mother!" Bitch hisses at me and my heart skips a beat as my eyes widen, did she just say…
"What did you just say!? Where is she? Where is my mother!?" I growl at her but this only makes her chuckle.
"You heard me the first time, That weak slutty little bitch, just couldn't take having her two babies taken away from her so she offed herself, the same gun I'm pressing against your head right now is what she used to blow her brains out, it's pretty poetic that's it's also going to be blowing yours out!" she chuckles, but I only remain frozen as the shock completely takes over me, my mother,she's…dead, and it's all because of this bitch right here. Our mother is dead and all she can do is stand here laughing and taunting her, I won't ever forgive her for this, she is going to pay for this!
"I'm not completely heartless though, I'm going to give you 5 seconds to say your last words to Mandel over here and Mandel, I suggest you look away, but if you want to watch this waste of life laying in her pool of guts, feel free to do so!" she "warns" Mandel.
"Just stop! Why are you doing this!?" Mandel yells at her and tears roll down my eyes as I remember my mother, all this bitch did was make sure she suffered, she broke her down until she couldn't take it anymore, you can't get anymore cruel and fucked up than that…
"Well five seconds passed already, so goodbye I guess!" Bitch cackles and I quickly spin around trying to disarm here but she quickly pulls the trigger which narrowly misses me and we try wrestling the gun away from each other as both of us stumble against the wall, she uses her other hand to punch me in the eye and I respond by elbowing her in the side of her head which sends her to the floor but she quickly jumps back to her feet and tries slapping me but I weave it and land a straight jab into her nose which sends her crashing against the wall as she squeals in pain, I'm not going to give her a chance to recover though, everything she put me through, everything she put my mother and Mandel through, I am going to release every ounce of my anger on her!
She tries once again to punch me but I block it and smack her across the face knocking her down again and I kick her hard in the face causing her to cry out in pain but I grab her hair forcing her back to her feet as she continues squealing in pain as blood is running down her face and she manages to rake her sharp nails across my face ripping right through my skin but I grunt through the pain and yank her hair causing her head to slam against the wall, and she shrieks in pain again falling to the floor but I hear an angry scream behind me and I quickly spin around to see Yvonna rushing at me with a knife and tries to slash me but I weave it and she tries once again to slash me but I weave it again and smack her across the face causing her to shriek in pain as she falls against the wall before I can do anything else though, Bitch tackles me and we both crash through the table with my head slamming hard against the edge of it before it crumbles and I'm stunned for a moment.
I then feel Yvonna kick me hard in the torso as I let out a loud groan of pain and I see Bitch rushing towards the gun but I quickly kick the gun away as it slides under the sofa and I kick her hard in the torso causing her to fall against the wall again but I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder as I quickly realize Yvonna stabbed me in the shoulder with the knife and I yell out in pain and she prepares to stab me again but Mandel suddenly tackles her and they both stumble against the wall.
"No, leave Genevieve alone!' Mandel cries trying to protect me but hes still so small, Yvonna manages to shove him off of her and slaps him across the face causing him to stumble headfirst into the wall which knocks him out.
"Arrggh!" I let out an angry yell as I pounce at Yvonna but bitch tackles me to the floor and both of them start pounding on me as I try my best to cover myself up but most of the punches and kicks are still getting through and Yvonna yanks my hair while bitch is still pounding on me but I still manage to tackle Yvonna against the fridge causing her to grunt in pain and land a punch into her jaw which immediately drops her to the floor.
Bitch then grabs me from behind squeezing my neck with one arm and tries stabbing me with her other hand but I grab her arm and throw my weight against her causing her to slam against the wall and I spin out of her choke before tackling her to the floor and begin punching her in the face with full force. The first two punches knocks her out cold as her face is covered in blood and deliver two more hard punches in her face just for everything she's put me through and the additional punches seemingly wakes her up again as she's now screaming and crying in pain. Yvonna suddenly yanks my hair again through and pulls me up to my feet as I let out an angry growl of pain but I land a hard punch into Yvonna jaw that stuns her and grab her face before slamming it against the refrigerator that also knocks her out and I'm standing over the both of them panting heavily.
I think about just taking Mandel and leaving them both here to rot but I remember my mother, how she's now dead because of these two and there's just no way I can let the both of them walk away from this, let home continue to live in her home!
Both bitch and Yvonna remain on the floor groaning in pain and i limp my way towards the couch where I reach under it and grab the pistol walking back over to bitch while aiming it at her.
"Don't…please, please!" Bitch begs me but I have no mercy for her, Did she show our mother any mercy? why should I? She's been nothing but a fucking cancer!
"You're just a waste of fucking life, the way you tortured me, Mandel, mom, and how you didn't even show an ounce of remorse over her death. She raised you, she loved you, never mistreated you, she was our mother! But she makes a stupid decision and you just had to bring her down to the fucking grave and it didn't end there either, you just had to continue shaming her even after she took her life! I hate you, I hate you so much Audoira. Mom is dead now, gone because of you, and you being dead won't bring her back, but I'll at least find a little peace knowing you're no longer breathing!" I say through gritted teeth preparing to pull the trigger.
"Genevieve…" I hear Mandel and I slowly turn around to see him trembling in fear, and I only have to look into his eyes to know he doesn't want this and I turn back to bitch who's still on the floor bawling her eyes out as death is literally staring her right in the face but I pull the trigger and Mandel let's out a horrified scream and my hand trembles as I see the bullet only grazed her cheek as she's frozen in shock and pain and all she can do is gaze up at me as tears are still streaming from her eyes.
"Get out of here, both you and your little girlfriend, and I better not ever see either of you again, cause if I do, I'm aiming for the head, and you can tell Laraleen the same thing!" I sternly warn bitch and she quickly crawls away from me. Both her and Yvonna have to help each other to their feet as they limp their way out of the house and once they're gone, that's when I finally drop to my knees, finally feeling all of the pain my body is in and I let all of my emotions loose, but Mandel sits down next to me and hugs me and I hug him back.
"I'm just so glad you made it back Genevieve, I'm just so glad you're here…" he cries and I continuing holding onto him as my tears drenches his shirt.
"I told you that I'll fight, that I'll fight and make it back to you and I…I wasn't going to let you down. I'm here now Mandel, I'm here and I promise you I'm not going anywhere…" I embrace him as my voice cracks.
"I just wish mom can be here too…" He sniffs.
"Me too…me too, when…when did this happen Mandel?" I hesitantly ask, it still hurts so much knowing she's no longer here…that I'll never be able to see her again in this lifetime…
"It was about three days after you left, Laraleen walked to her room to serve her dinner and that's when she found mom…
She was buried in the cemetery, where Grandpa and Grandma are…," he explains to me and I envision my mother again, the very last time I saw her, how horrifying it was seeing her almost beyond recognition and me being ripped away from her took away the last bit of will she had left, I wish I could've killed Bitch, I wish I could've killed Yvonna and Laraleen, they don't deserve to be alive but I can't lose myself. I kill them, I'm no better than they were and I have to be here for Mandel, I'm all he has left.
"Lets go see her then…" I struggle to stand up trying to ignore the bruises and stab wound on my shoulder but I wrap a cloth around it for now and I'll tend to it later after I visit my mother…
"Right now Genevieve? You're bleeding though, you're hurt!" he worriedly tells me.
"I'm ok, it's not as bad as it looks, we can stop and get some nice flowers for her too, the Dahlias, those were always her favorite…" I calmy say as tears run down my eyes but i hold my hand out to him and he holds it before we start making our way to our mother to say our final goodbyes. Even if you're lucky enough to walk out of the arena alive, there's no such thing as happy endings, there's always going some sort of trauma you have to endure. The things you saw, the things you had to do in order to make It back to those you love. You won't ever be the same person again but eventually, I guess you just learn to live with it. There's always going to be madness, hatred and war in this world, and soon enough, I know it'll be poking its head around once more. There will always be love in this world too though and I believe as long as you hold those you love close to you, there will be nothing that can wither that kind of light...
And Bam! we are finally done with this story!! My goodness I'm so emotional right now, I literally shed a couple of tears not just because of this chapter but because I was finally able to complete this story. I never imagined it'll take me almost two years to finish this story, I was able to bltiz right through madness begins and I expected to finish this at a similar rate but you know life happens.
The story is completed and this concludes the bitter sweet epilogue for our victor Genevieve Altruzara but we'll still be seeing much more of her and Oswine in the finale! Speaking of the finale guys, I can finally put a stamp on this story and start Madness Ends and I'm happy that nearly all of my spots are filled in, well other than the D11F whose slot I consider cursed due to the amount of people who vacated her spot already lol. I'm most likely in the process of receieving one though so I'll absolutely keep you all updated on that.
I will be privately messaging everyone who submitted a tribute to madness ends that's currently not following the story to follow the story. Like in my previous stories, I won't "punish" submitters for not reviewing, but I at least feel better knowing you're following the story and probably reading a bit of it whenever you have the time to. I am very satisfied with the roster I have for the finale though and I already have a ton of plans for a good amount of them. you guys know I'm a sucker for villains so thank you so much for giving me alot to work with this time around!
I want to thank all of you once more for sticking by me, leaving amazing reviews and helping me improve more and more as a writer and I will see you all in the finale, till next time!!
