A/N: This chapter is outrageously long. I did it kind of like those shows that start out with the climax and flash back to show what led up to it because I had writer's block and wanted to try something different. I know it's depressing. Y'ALL PLEASE DON'T KILL ME :( Oh and the quote at the beginning is by Friedrich Nietzsche. It really got me thinking.

"He who has a Why to live can bear almost any How."

That phrase has proven true for me. For years, I've seen others waste away and crumble into nothing, all because they've lost their sense of direction in life. There are ways to get by. You can look for beauty in life and take things one day at a time, but none of this will sustain the worst of the downtrodden. Without a Why, there is no purpose in life; nothing to compensate for the suffering.

I've found my Why. I have reason to go on and stay strong despite the challenge. My responsibility to my family is the only thing that's kept me from crumbling along with the rest of them.

Then what am I supposed to do when that Why is seconds away from collapsing? Why and How cannot be separated. One string snaps and the other is not far behind. That Why is life itself, and it's slipping away.

The floor is cold and hard but the adrenaline rushing through me is hot, hot. I can't get up. I can't act upon this sudden strength because doing so would mean the end for my Why, my How, everything. It beats against the core of my being. My body shakes and my heart pounds and I am completely at his mercy.

I look up into the icy, unforgiving eyes of my captor. "Please, don't. You've already won. Please," I whimper, my voice unsteady.

He cracks a smile at my desperation. I'm sure he feels powerful with me begging at his feet. If that's what he wants, he can have it. He can have anything besides what he's threatening to take right now.

~ 3 weeks earlier ~

"Mom, how come I'm the only kid here?"

The question takes me stop what I'm doing and I immediately feel a sense of dread. I knew this question was coming, but I always counted on it being far off in the distance. I assumed I would have my act together by then. Now I'm looking at my five year old and I realize I don't have a good explanation. Not one that he would understand, anyway.

"Destan, it's not bad to be the only kid. You have everything you need right here," I say hesitantly. "What made you ask that?"

He looks up at me from where he's sitting at the table, pencil in hand and a stick figure drawing on the paper beneath him. "Because I saw some other kids on the beach. They said they were going back into town…I thought you said only grownups can go into town? Right?"

His sea green eyes are wide with questions. He's still young and naïve enough to believe that whatever adults say is the truth. We're supposed to know everything, but the truth that he's about to find out is that we don't. I don't even know how to explain this to him in a way that won't reveal everything I'm trying so hard to protect him from. If he knew the truth about everything, then he would see that his parents are nowhere near perfect.

I pull up a chair next to him. "It's hard to explain. All you need to know right now is you're different from those other kids. It's safer for you to stay here. I've lived out there before, and trust me, it's much nicer here."

"How am I different? They didn't look different than us," he questions in confusion. His small features bunch up in thought. I can see the faintest dusting of freckles that only appear in the summer across his nose.

Your parents. Your parents are why you're different. When I speak, though, I say, "You're the only kid born in Victor's Village. You'll understand one day," I assure him.

"I can understand now," he presses on.

I laugh a little. "Come on, kid, we're supposed to go meet Aunt Marilla." Of course, Marilla isn't really his aunt, but that's just how it turned out. We've always been more like sisters than cousins.

Destan reluctantly listens and grabs his favorite red hat from the other room.

A little while later, Marilla and I sit by the pier and catch up. I keep one eye on Alec and Destan by the shore. I told Alec beforehand not to let Destan get his clothes wet, but I can see my son running in and crouching as the waves withdraw, and it doesn't take long at all for one of the waves to catch him.

"Yay, more laundry for me to do," I muse.

Marilla snorts. "That's what you get for wanting a family and all. You won't see me washing other people's clothes."

"It's not so bad," I comment. I stare out at my family again and think about the conversation I had with Destan a little while ago. He deserves a better life than this. He should be starting school this year. Instead, I'm keeping him locked away in Victor's Village. If I send him out into the world, what would happen? I don't want him ending up as a ruthless career.

Then I'm thinking back to what Raini asked me to do in the Capitol. Snow's downfall might be the only thing that can save Destan from a future in the Hunger Games. Then again, my involvement might be the only thing that puts him at risk.

"Whatcha thinking about, Mags?" Marilla asks, peering over at me with blue eyes that match my own.

"What do you think about President Snow?" I ask quietly in return.

"Snow? I guess he's as bad as the rest of those Capitol people. Kids are still getting reaped and districts are still starving and all that jazz."

"He's worse. If you knew what he was doing to the new victors…It's disgusting. I have no respect for him," I say, voicing opinions I've had for a while.

Marilla turns more towards me. "I know you're not going to just say something like that and not tell me the whole story."

I look around to make sure there is no one within earshot. Marilla is really the only non-victor I trust with this kind of stuff. "He's selling them. Prostituting them," I tell her. I look down as I say it, but there's no way to not be blunt about it.

She looks at me, stunned. "Are you being serious right now? What the…you don't have to do that, do you? So help me I will find a way to the Capitol and punch that man myself."

I shake my head. "No, only the victors who have won since Burns died. The two newest victors here are part of it. Raini wants my help getting out of it," I admit.

"Are you going to help her?" Marilla asks.

"Yes? I don't know. I'm just so sick of watching everything get worse. Then I feel guilty knowing that all these kids are going through this when it could change. Knowing and doing nothing to stop it makes me just as bad as Snow."

I sigh and continue. "And then there's my family. I know I should be happy just to have them now, but I have a really bad feeling about the future." I try to block out the memory of the nightmare I had last night: the usual scene of Destan in the arena. "I just don't know if it's worth the risk because I might not even be able to change anything."

"Yeah, but you're going to regret it if you don't at least try," Marilla says.

"You think so?" I ask.

"I know you and I know you will. So go on and tell me the plan because I'm in," she says decisively.

I shake my head. "No way. If I do this, I'm not letting any of you get involved."

She stands up and folds her arms childishly. "You need me. You're the one the Capitol is watching, not me. I'm less likely to get caught and nothing you say is going to change my mind"

I put my hands up in surrender. "Okay, fine, but if anything at all happens, you're getting out of the operation. I'm serious."

"Whatever you say," she shrugs.

~ 2 weeks earlier ~

It's a struggle for us to decide on much. Marilla, Raini and I meet up every night to discuss different plans, but the problem is no one wants to compromise. Every idea we come up to will ultimately place the blame back on us. Maybe that's the only way any of this can work out; a sacrifice for the greater good. I'm reluctant to take any action as long as I'm uncertain what it would mean for my loved ones.

"I say we just be direct with it," Raini argues. "It's not going to make it any less risky to draw things out."

"I hate to admit it, but I think the girl might be right," Marilla adds. "Remember when Burns died and all those other people followed right behind him? That scared people because it was so sudden. Maybe we should do the same."

I have to stop and consider that. Marilla and Raini actually seem to be on the same page a lot. They have somewhat similar sarcastic demeanors, only Raini is more aggressive while Marilla comes off jokingly. No matter that difference, their thought process works a little differently from mine. I want to take risks, I do, but I'm more cautious.

"That's true," I begin. "But if we do that, we have to know that it will shock them enough to do something. As awful as Snow's little system is, how do we know people will fight to change it if it doesn't affect them? People look out for themselves."

"If they're okay with the world like it is then they're all idiots," Raini complains, folding her arms and scrunching her face.

Marilla rolls her eyes at the younger girl. "Then what would make them care?"

We reflect over that for a while and all is quiet except for Raini's periodic grumbles. I think about when Burns died and all the silent panic it caused. Usually, when I think back to that time, I remember discovering I was pregnant. There was much more going on, though. Before my thoughts turned to the baby inside me, I was very suspicious of how Snow was the only one who survived the string of "accidents." There has to be more to that story, but the only place to find answers is in the Capitol.

"Maybe we should hold this off for a year. I was just thinking about how suspicious it was that all of Burns' successors died so Snow could be president. Maybe we can research it a little more in the Capitol. Raini, you might be able to find out something from the-"

"What are you trying to say?" she interrupts.

"I'm just saying.."

"I know exactly what you're saying!" she explodes. "You want me to go sleep with those old creeps all over again just to get your precious answers that probably don't exist! You're going to have to drag my dead body back there before that happens!"

Suddenly I'm scared that that's exactly what I meant, and I'm instantly ashamed. I watch her kick around things angrily. I wasn't thinking about how it would affect her. It was one of those ideas that sounds perfectly reasonable in your head, but is completely insensitive when it comes out.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. That was wrong to say."

"You think?" she snaps. Marilla tells her to lay off but I shake my head.

I have to consider then just what it must have been like for Raini. I remember the first time I tried to get sponsors on my own, an older man tried to take advantage of me. Luckily, it didn't go any further than a long, uncomfortable kiss, but that alone made me feel so violated.

I had Alec looking out for me so nothing like that ever happened again. Who's going to look out for Raini? Most people can't even tolerate her. She doesn't have a mother that I know of, so the responsibility to protect her goes to me. I can't put her through another year of that.

"Okay, we'll get this done now so there won't be a next year," I say.

"Well what are people going to care about?" Marilla asks again, examining a strand of her blondish hair. "All they worry about is fishing and making money. And rebuilding if there's a storm."

"Hurricanes. If they knew the Capitol could predict hurricanes…Hmm, that could work," I say.

"What do you mean they can predict hurricanes?" Marilla asks, baffled. I had forgotten I never told her. I look over at Raini and she has a similar shocked expression.

"It's something Alec told me a long time ago. It's not much of a stretch if you think about it. With all the technology they have, predicting weather should be easy. Apparently people have done it for centuries," I answer.

"Well let's go do this," Raini speaks up.

And so it begins. We scribble down notes about the Capitol. Most of them are about the hurricanes, but there's plenty about Snow's less than humane methods. A few of them question how Snow even became President. Will it be enough? That's hard to say. It might not be, but we have to try.

Doubts lace our minds, but we try to remain positive as we carry the notes out into the night to spread around the district. Once people find them, rumors and spread and uncertainty will ensue. Perhaps then, the public will be ready to hear our stories; ready to make a difference.

A voice in the back of my mind keeps nagging with a somber "or maybe not."

~ 1 day earlier ~

Standing on my front porch, I'm able to stare out and see the crowd of fisherman lining the shore. They're tiny silhouettes in the dusk. Over the whip of the wind, I can hear their aggressive shouts. Fisherman on strike. It's been like this for a few days now, and Four is already starting to feel the effects.

They found the notes. Rumors spread. Neither Raini or I have made any public statements yet. For now, we're watching the chaos build. Like we predicted, it's the hurricane secret that affected them all the most. For all of us living on the coast, it's personal. Time after time, the people of Four have rebuilt from storms, because the little wooden houses stand no chance against the most extreme winds. Flood waters have destroyed families' possessions.

More importantly, the lack of warning for storms has led to countless lives being lost at sea. We have anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours notice once the weather starts to turn bad. Often, this isn't enough time to get all the sailors back on land and safely in their homes. It's these things that fuel Four's anger.

I silently walk into my house, and I hear my name echo down the hallway. All Alec said was "Mags", but his tone tells me there is another sentence hidden in the letters: "We need to talk."

I slink into the room nervously, feeling like a teenager who just got caught by her parents. An uncomfortable conversation is sure to come because I know Alec has caught on to my plan. As hard as I've tried to keep him out of it and detract the attention away from me, he knows there's only one person besides him who knew about the hurricanes. Me.

"Is something wrong?" I ask reluctantly.

I can finally see him, and he looks more exhausted and disappointed than angry. "You caused all this," he says. There's no question in his tone.

I look at the ground. He already knows the answer anyway, and now it's time to talk. I just hope he will understand that I left him out of all this for a reason. "Where's Destan?" I ask.

"He fell asleep. We're free to talk."

We head outside to the front porch and I start defending myself before he can say anything. "I can explain. It's something that I had to do- for Raini, for Destan, for everyone- and it's safer for you to not be a part of it."

"I thought we were better than keeping secrets," he says simply, and it stings.

"I'm-I'm just trying to make things better. And I'm worried about Destan's future. I think this is his best shot."

"I'm worried too, and you know that because we've talked about it. This is dangerous stuff, Mags. I get why you did it but you shouldn't have done it behind my back," he responds, his voice rising with each sentence.

"It's too late to change anything now," I say, looking up to meet his eyes.

He's not done. "They're going to know it was you! I know things need to change. Heck, I've even been thinking about it myself, but we should've come up with a better plan. What were you thinking, anyway? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" He's shouting now.

I have the sudden urge to cover my ears and block all of this out. "I know! I know, just stop!" I turn around and start walking down the brick steps, away from all of this.

Of course Alec follows me and grabs my arm from behind. "This isn't going to go away just because you don't want to talk."

"Please stop," I beg.

"Why should I?"

"Because if I die, I don't want us to end with this argument!" I admit, and it leaves me feeling so drained that I sink down and sit right there on the steps, blinking away the tears.

It's silent for a minute, and all I can hear is the crashing of white-capped waves and the swooshing of the trees as a rough wind whips them around. I see Alec sit down beside me out of my peripheral vision.

He doesn't sound as angry anymore when he speaks next. "Mags, you're not going to die. I won't let you. We just need to be on the same page with all of this."

I look at him and give the weakest of smiles when he brushes away a tear. "Thanks," I say softly.

We look out towards the edge of the beach. The defiant group of fisherman are fading into the golden dusk.

"So they're all upset about the hurricanes. I wonder what would have happened if I got to tell the world a long time ago," Alec wonders, sounding tired.

Something clicks. Hurricanes, predictions, yellow. A yellow-tinted sky is the ominous warning of a storm. The world around us is slowly sinking into an unnatural yellow right now.

Alec and I notice it at the same time, and we exchange a look. "Speak of the devil," Alec says. All rebellious plans forgotten, we leap into action. We get some garbage bags from inside and fill them with sand as quickly as possible before piling them against the door to protect from flooding.

These kind of things have to be dealt with quickly. The storm could be here within minutes. The wind outside is already picking up as I gather some flashlights and other storm essentials.

"This might actually work to our advantage," I tell Alec. "If people were mad before, any damage this causes will only make them hate the Capitol more."

Alec doesn't look convinced. "I don't know. It's almost too convenient to be real."

"Maybe the world is just on our side for once," I try to reason. It doesn't hurt to hope.

Just then, there's a pounding knock on the door, and a million bad thoughts run through my mind. It must be the peacekeepers. They must have found out this is all my fault and they must be here to take me away.

I had already decided that if things get bad, I would go out with dignity; walk to my death with my head held high because I know I've done everything in my power to make a difference.

Then why am I shaking right now? Why am I looking back at my husband desperately with wide, terrified eyes? Why do I feel like there's something more I need to do in this world? The truth is, I'm not ready to die. Not at all.

Alec understands without having to look. "Get upstairs. Take Destan and hide," he instructs.

I stand uncertainly before turning towards the stairs. I'm up a few steps when Alec peeks out the door. "Mags, wait. It's just your family."

Relief floods through me so quickly that I feel like I've deflated. I rush to the door and kick the sandbags out of the way. Sure enough, all of them are here: My parents, aunt and uncle, Marilla, Hallie and her new fiancé. All of them are soaked from rain.

I can barely hear my father over the roar in the background. "There's a storm coming. Peacekeepers went door to door and told us to go to the main factory for shelter. Are you coming?"

"I think it's safe here," I say loud enough to be heard. Even though they are closer to water, the victor houses are much more sturdy against storms than the wooden ones. "Come on in, you all can stay!"

The lot of them walk in dripping wet. Outside, the rain is falling in slanted sheets. I get some towels from the bathroom and set up some cots on the floor. A few hours later, there's a particularly loud clap of thunder and the power snaps off.

"Moooommm!" comes a cry from upstairs, and soon Destan has dashed down. He runs straight to my lap and I hold him there, grateful that I'm alive and with my family for now.

We sleep off and on that night. The only way we are aware that morning has arrived is by the clock. It's still very dark and muggy outside. The rain is much lighter now that the worst has passed, so my cousins and I go out to survey the damage.

The reach of the ocean has expanded significantly, and it inches closer and closer to the lawns with each angry white wave. The yards and beach are disheveled, with branches and debris lying everywhere. The only apparent damage is a few missing shingles and some torn posts on the boardwalk. It's likely to be much worse in other parts of the district.

Some peacekeepers spot us after a while and instruct us to report to Town Square. There's not much of an option. As the white clad men go bang on the doors of the other victors, we gather our group and head into town.

I see hundreds of people piling out of the main factory and filling up the Square. We assimilate into the crowd, huddling together to avoid getting lost. Everyone appears enraged as they look at the storm-torn town. There's lots of shoving at shouting, and once President Snow appears on the stage in front of us, it turns to full blown chaos.

Snow keeps his composure despite the angry mob trying to climb up the stage to attack him. I think they might just get him, and the thing is, I wouldn't be disappointed at all if they did. Capitol reporters behind him gasp at the savagery of the crowd and a sea of uniformed peacekeepers drive into it.

The President speaks up. "I suggest you all calm down and be silent if you want my help."

The crowd quiets a little, though there are still rouge cries of "Haven't you done enough!" and "Give us one reason why we should trust you!"

He ignores them, runs a hand through his pale blonde hair, and readjusts the white rose on his lapel. When he speaks, his voice sounds so commanding that it looks out of place coming from the scrawny young man before us. "Rumors are more destructive than storms. Storms we can rebuild from. Rumors do irreversible damage, so calm down and let me explain."

He clears his throat and continues. "Hurricane prediction is not the perfected science all of you seem to think it is. Conditions change hour by hour. Truly, nature makes it's own path, and the only way to be sure it will hit is when it's already too late to prepare. There is no way to prevent damage even if it were possible to know ahead of time.

"Furthermore, I would like you all to know this is the first major storm that has hit since I became President of Panem. I have provided all of you with means of shelter, and I intend to help you rebuild. Each family will be allowed a certain number of supplies for free. Anyone requiring more can bargain either with money or by using the tessarae system. So please, people, think of the facts before you do something rash over a few silly rumors."

The anger in the crowd settles into a quiet uncertainty as they eat up his words. I look around and I feel disappointed because all our work is falling apart. Now people's primary concern will be repairing damage, and Snow was able to use this to get everyone back on his side. He outsmarted us.

"This was his plan all along," I whisper to Alec, and he nods grimly. Snow is more conniving than I give him credit for. To be able to plan the very thing that made people angry and use it to his advantage…that takes a genius.

Now the question is what this new turn of events means for us. As most of the crowd, begins filing out to supply sites at the peacekeepers' direction, we try to slip out unnoticed. We say brisk goodbyes to my family and Alec, Destan, and I are on our way back home.

We're halfway there when there's a voice behind us. "I figured I should visit my victors while I'm in Four. We are like family in a way, yes?"

We whip around to face Snow. Surprisingly, his personal guards are a good fifty feet away. That makes me suspicious.

"I think the citizens might need your help with getting their supplies," Alec says gruffly.

"I think they can handle it. How about we head back to your house for a cup of tea?" he suggests, though his words are more of a command.

We head back nervously, and I can barely hear Snow's pointless small talk over the stress and terror inside me. When we are in the house, he sits at the table patiently and I feel completely ridiculous walking off to make tea.

"I'm glad I finally get the chance to meet your son," he says, reaching out to touch Destan's shoulder.

"Get your hand off of him," Alec growls.

"Whoa, mind your temper," Snow chastises. "I want this to be a civil meeting."

"Who are you?" Destan asks, looking at the President curiously.

"Oh, your parents haven't told you about me? What a shame. They must really be blocking you off from the world." He looks at me to gauge my reaction. I feel the heat of anger flow through me. If his bodyguards weren't here…

"You know, I like to check in on my victors periodically. I want to have another private session, just two or three minutes for each of you. Let's start with Mags," he says with a grin.

Every instinct tells me not to listen, but I'm hoping cooperation will be what saves us. I follow him to the office and he starts snooping around the room.

"Can we start talking?" I ask impatiently.

He looks at his watch. "I say now is the time to go," he says quietly.

"What?" I ask, but within seconds, peacekeepers have grabbed me from both sides. They carry me out the back door and cover my screams as we are met with more guards. I kick and squirm and try to yell, all to no avail. My tries persist for the whole journey to the Justice Building.

Alec. Destan. What is happening to them? Are they being tortured? Killed? It's all my fault and I have to get out NOW.

My whole body is trembling when they throw me onto the marble floor. No. No. No. No. This isn't how it was supposed to happen. This isn't fair. This isn't fair. I scramble for the door with a scream and they kick me back.

"You shouldn't have caused all this mess, my dear. Luckily, I was able to clean it up, but high treason is a punishable offense, you know," Snow says, his arms behind his back and a devilish grin on his face.

"Are you going to kill me?" I ask shakily. Victors have died before. He could kill me. Just don't kill them.

"Kill you?" he chuckles. "I thought about it. That's what I would normally do for treason, but different people must be punished different ways. Death would be too easy for you. You need to be punished, dear, not offered an escape."

"Where are they?" I demand.

He looks at his watch again. "They're still alive. For now."

Still alive. I could still save them. I fall down to his feet reflexively. My heart pounds so hard I think it might burst. "Let's make a deal. I'll do anything, I promise."

He shakes his head. "There's nothing you could give me now except justice of your crime, and that can only happen through your suffering. I have no use for Alec Calder anyway. He was Burns' pet, not mine. He's outlived his usefulness. And the boy, well he never mattered anyway."

Adrenaline pounds against me, but I'm scared giving into it will only make things worse. I lower my body even more and I am completely on the ground. He's my superior and he's won.

I look up into the icy, unforgiving eyes of my captor. "Please, don't. You've already won. Please," I whimper, my voice unsteady. I can't lose them. They are my everything, my only reason to live. I can't let them die because of me.

"I know I have," he says with a grin. "Care to watch?" He pulls a tiny remote out of his pockets and turns on an ornate TV.

Three.

My eyes are focused on the screen and I see Alec and Destan, both tied up. Ropes are strapped around their arms and legs so tightly that their hands are purple from lack of circulation. Their mouths are blocked but I can hear Alec's muffled shouts. He flops around, helplessly trying to free himself. Destan is thrown over one of the men's shoulders and he is crying and flailing as well.

I stretch my arm out, as if I could reach into the screen and free them. But I can't, and that is the worst feeling in the world. My hand snaps back over my mouth in horror.

Two.

They're headed towards the edge of the dock. The worst realization sinks into my veins. They're going to drown them. They're going to drown my husband and my son, the two people I love most in the world, and I have to watch. Alec and Destan are still flailing and I'm shaking and crying. The adrenaline is still there and it's overtaking my body, yet I am held here. There is no choice but to watch.

"STOP! STOP! YOU CAN'T!" The words fly out, wild, mangled, and most of all, desperate. My eyes flash from the screen to Snow and back in a millisecond. My vision is blurring.

One.

The peacekeepers push both of them under simultaneously. There's lots of thrashing and splashes as they fight for survival. My whole body is consumed by tremors and I am screeching, but my eyes are being held prisoner to the screen.

The smaller splashes cease.

I am screaming at the top of my lungs. That's my son! That's my baby! I can't think; I can't process. But I know what just happened and it kills me. I don't stop screaming as the larger splashes begin to fade as well. It's replaced by the silence of still water. Nothing left.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

The men pull the bodies out and I am gone. I fall back to the floor, my head hitting the marble hard, but it doesn't matter. Every part of me has been torn apart in an instant. It's a struggle for me to breathe because I'm being smothered from the inside.

Alec, my mentor, my husband. The one I fell in love with when I couldn't connect with anyone else. The one who understood what I went through. The one who helped me survive and proposed to me on a boat and married me out on the beach. The one who I shared a life with and got all I really ever wanted. He gave me that life and I destroyed it.

Destan. My baby. Our baby. So young and innocent. The boy with the green eyes who loved the color red and wanted to be a sailor. The one I carried inside of me for nine months.

Gone. All gone. All my fault.

Above the immense pain, I hear a throaty chuckle. It all comes into line. Snow. His fault, not mine. He's the reason for all of this.

I look up and everything else is gone. I do not cry. I do not think. All rational thoughts have suddenly fled, certainly to a world much better than this one. The only thing on my mind is one primal, instinctive need to kill the man in front of me.

The rage is overpowering. It's as if I'm looking through a red lens, and everything is somehow fuzzy and sharpened at the same time. I'm not in control of my own body as I lunge for Snow and knock him backwards into a glass statue. We both fall and I'm on top of him, my arms locked in a chokehold around his throat.

I'm an animal now, because what are we really besides beasts? The whole lot of us; all humans. I see pure fear in his snake eyes but I don't slow or stop. He took everything I had and he doesn't deserve to live.

Two pairs of arms grab me from behind and I kick and flail my way out with strength surpassing anything I have ever been capable of. I'm lunging for Snow again as the arms continue to pull me back. More footsteps storm into the room and my main- my only- focus is to claw into whatever piece of Snow's skin I can reach.

Several men grab me and forcefully slam me into a wall. I jump up, still wild and feral, but with each slam into the wall, the red in my vision fades, as does my strength. The anger all comes crashing down and I am left with my stabbing grief. The peacekeepers finally get a good grip on me while I break down into sobs. I finally become aware of the blood and bruises lining my skin.

Snow limps over to me a minute later, looking equally disheveled. "It's amazing you consider yourself to be kind. Don't forget your place. You're an animal just like the rest of the victors. Face it, you're no better than I am," he says in a low, enraged tone.

Being so close to him brings back a flicker of the flame I felt moments ago. "No. I'm not the monster here," I growl.

"Says the person who just tried to single-handedly assassinate the President," he sneers. He bends down and picks his torn-up rose off the floor. It still smells sickly sweet.

"I'm not like you! The world would be better without you! My family would still be alive! They did nothing! They were innocent! How could you kill a five year old boy?!" I screech. I push against my captors without success.

The president ignores me. Still standing in front of me, he turns to one of the men holding my arms and barks out some commands. "Have her on house arrest for three months. Don't let her commit suicide. I want her to live with what she's done."

While Snow is talking, I swing my legs up and kick him hard. I have literally nothing to lose. Death would be a blessing at this point.

He clenches his teeth and spits out some choice words. "Don't push your luck. I can always make it worse," he snaps. "Get her out of here," he tells the peacekeepers. Even though I attacked him and made him look weak, he knows he's won. He manages to smile mockingly as I'm dragged out the building.

"Have a nice time, my dear Mags," he says.

I'M SORRY! It had to be done! I'll explain whether Raini was punished soon and there will be a large time leap before long.

I'm terrified to read these reviews :/