I hardly had time to collect my thoughts as I was being rushed into the justice building. There were people scrambling all around me. I saw Rumple's family all rush into the little plush room he was pushed into, right before I myself was pushed into one. I sat there in the quiet, my mind still in shock. Until I heard the door open. It was Mungo and our mother, rushing towards me in a blur of tears and whimpering. We sat like that on the small little purple velvet couch for a while.
"All you have to do is be able to out run and outsmart the others. That's all. And you will stay alive. We'll be rooting for you, Myrtle…" Mungo said as my twin and mother were forced out of the small room.
And I was alone again. Left with my thoughts, and asking myself, "why me? How did this happen? I was only in the bowl a few times. I never take out tesserae. It was only in a few times!" Then the door opened again, and I was taken to the train. I focused very hard on making sure that my emotions looked stable. I couldn't stand the thought of looking frightened on camera. Although, I might be able to make that work for me. I wiped my cheek as a single tear ran down it, giving a little vulnerability, but not so much as I look like an easy target. As Rumple and I boarded the train, I waved out the window to the only person who has ever mattered to me, Mungo. I sat glumly in a purple velvet chair, identical to the couch in the small plush room of the Justice Building, and stared out of the window. Parthenia and Barry Kuda were already sitting and chatting. Rumple went directly to the food cart.
"Hello, I'm Barry" Barry held out his hand with a sly smile on his face. He looked very young. He was only about eighteen. Just two years older than myself.
"Myrtle…" I said in a small voice, lightly shaking Barry's hand.
"Well, don't you two just look dazzling in your outfits!" Parthenia chimed in about mine and Rumple's choice of clothes. "And, Myrtle, if I wasn't mistaken, you had twin brother out in the crowd, didn't you?"
I nodded a little, trying so hard not to lose my composure and show how much I would miss Mungo. "His name was Mungo, ma'am."
"Ohhh, ma'am. That has a nice ring to it" Parthenia smiled wide, as if she had never been called anything more flattering in her life.
The train ride was long and boring. Soon after our "conversation" I went to my room, where there was already bed clothes laid out for me. I put them on graciously, as I'd been in this dress all day. I went to sleep almost as soon as I got into the bed. It was just so comfortable. I did not dream that night.