Well, this chapter is going to be short – but not so sweet. And yes, the 'is an insane man insane if he is sane enough to admit that he is insane' thing – I really did think of that. Yes, yes, I know. I was once told that only an insane person would come up with that. So I guess I'm insane. (Or am I?)

*Snow Jr.'s POV*

I had gotten Nich and our champagne, and was looking around for her. She seemed to have disappeared. Shrugging, I gave up, and watched as Father began his speech. He was so strong! To be that strong and important . . . that was my favorite, greatest dream.

That's when the knife came out of nowhere.

It struck Father's back. His expression came to confused, and he continued to stand. Then one of his bodyguards tugged the knife from his back, and Father fell to the ground.

People were shrieking. "FATHER!" I yelled, running to the stage. I climbed up, which really wasn't allowed, but no one challenged me. "FATHER!"

I ran towards him, but stopped short. Blood was coming from his body. He was not breathing. A bodyguard crouched down by me caught my eye and shook his head.

"NO!" I yelled, looking around wildly. Who had done this? And then I saw her, hiding in the shadows, looking at me in terror, happiness, and sorrow. But another emotion gave my sister away : guilt.

"IT WAS HER!" I yelled, pointing. People didn't see her – they were confused. "IT WAS HER! IT WAS MY SISTER! IT WAS NICH!"

Nich started, looking at me in surprise. Then she quickly ducked away from my sight, running away. "COME BACK! COME BACK!" I yelled, running after her, and leaving my dead father on the stage. "YOU MUST PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

She ran faster, out of the party, but I was close on her tail. I began to chase her through the Capitol. As more people realized what had happened, they hurried after me. But none could catch up. Eventually, father's bodyguards joined me, and we cornered Nich.

"What have you done?" I asked her, tears streaming down my face.

She straightened and looked at me, quite seriously. "I did what was right, Snowy. I did what needed to be done."

I flinched as she used her pet name for me. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She shrunk back. "You have to pay," I said, my voice shaking.

One of the guards raised a weapon, and my sister began to cry pitifully. "I did what I believed – believe to be right. You can't punish me for that!" I stopped the guard. "Wait." I said, taking it from him.

Nich looked at me, her facial features a mix of hope and horror. "You have to pay," I said. It sounded like a question, so I repeated it, firmer. "You have to pay!"

"Snowy – Snow, you're my brother," her voice shook "my favorite person in the world. Don't do this to me. I know you love me – I'm the most important person in the world to you, too. Please, Snow, you can't do this."

I gazed at her a moment, thinking. But my mind was filled with scenes of Father, falling, dying. And Nich was responsible for this. She had to pay.

"You must pay," I said, and walked forward with the weapon – a large gun. "You have to pay, Nich, no matter who you are."

She stared at me, crying. "What if I told you the truth?"

I stopped, staring at her. "What truth?"

She laughed, slightly cruelly. "What if I told you that I am not Nich? What if I told you that I am Mazie Skiprose?"

I was taken aback. It took me a moment to organize my thoughts. "I would tell you that you're insane."

"Insane?" she laughed – insanely enough. "Insane? Maybe – I wouldn't really be surprised anymore."

"Yes, you're insane." I decided.

She looked me in the eye. "Is an insane man insane if he is sane enough to admit he's insane?"

"What?" I blinked. "You're insane."

"Maybe I am," she blinked. "Maybe I am."

I blinked at her. "You must pay," I told her, blinking rapidly as I tried to get my thought process back in order.

"Is this a debt?" asked Nich "because all debts must be paid."

I blinked again, surprised. "You're talking in circles – you most definitely insane."

"I suppose I am," she said, and then she looked at me. "What's next?"

Suddenly, her calmness began to anger me. I felt it – billowing, hot tendrils running through me. I felt power – like what Father surely felt at all times – rush through me. I liked it.

"YOU MUST PAY!" I yelled at her. "AND I INTEND TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR IT!"

I then lifted the gun in front of her terrified face. I fired it once, and she crumpled to the ground.

She was dead.

My sister was dead.

My father was dead.

My whole family was dead.

I would be expected to become President.

But I was alone now.

Alone.

It was eating me through – the sudden loanliness. It was an empty hole in my chest that the cool wind blew through.

I dropped the gun.

It was the gun that killed my sister.

I had killed my sister.

I fell onto the ground beside her, and I began to cry.

Father's bodyguards – mine now – only stared at me, shocked and surprised.

I lay on the ground and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed as the horrible loneliness was with me.

Then she began to change.

The girl beside me – Nich – began to change. Her hair color and eyes and skin color changed until I was no longer staring at my sister, Nich, but the girl she had claimed to be :

Mazie Skiprose.

It took me a moment to understand what this meant.

I had killed Mazie Skiprose.

But Nich was alive – in the arena.

She was still alive!

I could save her!

The hole in my chest began to mend, the pain subsiding slightly.

And then I remembered the bottle that the girl beside me, Mazie, had sent to her.

Poison.

Panic began to come across me, opening the hole.

I had to save her.

I had to.