Sorry it's taken me so long to write this….there was so much I could do, and so much that I wanted to do, that I had to really think about everything before I wrote it all out. When you see what's in store, you will understand hopefully. There's going to be some fun stuff, and you all need to tell me what you think of it. I am closing the poll for the wedding dresses on April 10th, so if you haven't voted on it, please do. I would really love it if you would vote on it, so it's like the story in real life, where the Capitol citizens vote on the dresses. You're like the Capitol citizens in this! So…..please please vote. I don't want to be the only one on there. And also, review review review! I need to hear feedback from you, or I literally just might die. I love reviews, especially the really long ones.
The contest is still going on, and will be until the chapter of the wedding, so I need wedding speeches. The winning speech will be in the story! You can do a speech for any person that is alive right now. I'll give you some examples of people: Cato, Clove, Liz, Luke, Alice, Miklisho, Katniss, Peeta, Vilnius, Octavia, Melody, Xavier, Brent. Those are just a few. You could even do a Victor like Enobaria or Finnick. Please, submit something. Any person you can think of from this story that is alive can have a speech….there will be many people attending(Victors, friends, family…..maybe some other people you weren't expecting at all even!)
And then there are the usual questions, which I don't have many answers to(I lost the ones that I did have), so you should all answer those too. In a review, or a PM is fine, but if you PM it to me, just put 'Answers to the Questions' as the title, or something like that. The same thing for the speech contest. 'Speech' works fine as a title. Oh yeah, the questions. Here they are!
When you think of Liz and/or Luke (separately, or as a couple), what do you think of? Are they stupid love struck teens? Are they the ultimate power duo? Express what YOU think, because it might be different then the way I have written them.
If you could become one of the characters in this story, who would you be? Why?
Who is your favorite character in this story? Why? Least favorite? Why did you pick that person?
If Luke and Liz couldn't be together anymore, and you got to choose who they ended up with, who would it be? Why?
I know, they are the same ones I've had for a while, but I LOST MY RESPONSES! Please send me your answers again if you already did once, and if you haven't, then send me some!
Sorry, but this chapter is going to be long…..like, really long….I don't know if your all alright with that, but hopefully you'll enjoy it enough to not care about the length. I had a lot to write.
Ok, there. I'm done for now. Now you can read the chapter and express all the emotions and junk like that. Ha ha…your in for some awesomeness.
Liz POV-
My father proceeds to run me down the hallway as quickly as he possibly could. Only slightly behind is my mother, who is also running. Why are they running? Are they worried the Peacekeepers will take me again? I doubt that would happen. They've already gotten everything they could want from me. They've already made me feel more terrible and scared and upset then I have ever felt in my life.
I had just watched Miklisho suffering in a way that I could never have found imaginable. I didn't like it, I didn't want it to happen, and I couldn't stop any of it. It made me feel so…..scared. So childish. So vulnerable.
It was either you or him.
The voice comes so quickly, so without warning, that I barely have any time to register what's going on. By this point I've lost all general bearing of what's going on. All I am aware of is that I am no longer walking on my own. My mother is on one side of me, and my father is on the other, and they each grasp one of my arms. My mother's fingers hurt, because my arm is still bare, and she's holding pretty hard. I'm wearing strapless top and black jeans with heels that are dangerously high, Snow's outfit of choice for me to wear when publicly outing my false relationship with Miklisho. Of course. The man is a pervert. I wouldn't be surprised if he made me wear it just for his own entertainment. Ha. And you think I'm joking…..I'm really not.
I feel like a child staying at home alone for the first time. At night. When there's an axe maniac running wild. In District 2, there was always that one person that was just a little bit off in the head. Usually it was my mother, but sometimes there was someone else. Anyway, the feeling.
I was feeling a feeling of intense dread. Guilt. And then there was the paranoia that someone would find out what I was trying to do, and that Snow could kill everyone I cared about. He had threatened it enough. I just couldn't shake that look Miklisho gave me after getting beaten out of my head. The heartbroken cries that Alice let out, knowing her fiancée was near dead when it came to pain, and then there was the fact that she couldn't see him because people thought she was criminally insane. I couldn't help but think that it was my entire fault. And most likely, it was. I found out months ago that when something bad happened to me, or someone close to me, I was pretty closely related to it. I was trouble with a capitol T.
"Liz…..Liz….." I hear.
I snap out of my thoughts pretty quick after that. My parents deposit me down on a bench near a random Capitol building I don't recognize, and Luke sits on the ground in front of me, since his mother and mine have both already taken up the rest of the bench sitting next to me. It's a small bench.
"Honey, say something." Luke says.
I can't make myself form words. My brain is functioning, but it seems that I am simply unable to make my brain form the words. I can't speak. And Luke gives a panicked look.
"Liz…..say something. Please…..honey, please. Say something." He pleads.
I busy myself with looking straight ahead, focusing on the lime green head of a teenage boy across the street, staring back at me, bubblegum pink eyes wide. I did say he was across the street, didn't I? Well…..I could still see the color of his hair and eyes, even from where I sat. Stupid star struck Capitolite.
"Cato, why is she not talking?" Luke whispers.
My father kneels in front of me, taking one of my hands in his own and giving it a hard squeeze. Even that doesn't help me speak though, even though he is squeezing hard enough to make my hand white, and cut off my circulation.
"Lizzy…come on, sweetie. Tell us what's going on in that pretty little head of yours." Katniss adds, her hand rubbing circles on my back comfortingly.
"Miklisho…..Alice…engaged…..separated….my fault…." are the only words that come out.
My parent's audible sigh of relief is clear to me.
"We can't do anything for them. Their screwed." My father pipes up.
My head whips around, glaring at him.
"Damn. There are the eyes…..god. I was waiting for that."
My mom smacks him upside the head.
"I think what your father is trying to say is that we're glad you are back to normal again, and that he is sorry, but we can't do anything to help Miklisho and Alice right now."
For once, my mom looks sympathetic, and I try and smile back, but find I am unable to do so without crying. A few tears slide down my face and Luke wipes them away with his thumb, smiling, and encouraging me to do the very same thing.
My father groans. "That is not at all what I was trying to say, Clove. Damn. Your smack is like a land shark attack!" (A/N: Has anyone else seen that Jenna Marbles video? It's entitled Land Shark. If so, tell me in your review. Dang, I love quoting things in my chapters. At least it makes sense this time sort of.)
"Mom….their getting married. We got away, but Snow still has Alice and Miklisho. They need to be set free, or they'll die. And you know it. Come on…..they both might have been evil bitches, but they are good people deep down….somewhere. At least Miklisho is. He took 50 lashes of a goddamn whip for me! That has to count for something! It has to! Please…just take me back there…..five minutes. That's all I need. Really. I….I want to help them."
Effie crosses her arms over her chest, pursing her lips. "Manners, Elizabeth! A lady doesn't use that kind of language." She says daintily.
I stand up, walking up to her and getting as close as I dare to her heavily made up face.
"And if you haven't noticed, "I say, making an overly dramatic curtsy.
"I don't care."
Effie lets out a laugh and pushes me gently away from her with one manicured fingertip.
"No need for the hostility." She says, tossing me a glare.
I never knew Effie could glare. She has always been so kind, so positive, and if she's negative, it's usually just pouting and disapproving. Really, I didn't think there was a mean bone in her entirely fake body.
Luke takes a protective stance; even though he probably is thinking the exact same thing I am-Effie wouldn't hurt me. And she couldn't, even if she wanted to.
Luke has remained calm and collected through all of this, which makes me calmer….not that I can completely calm myself down right now.
"We can't help them, Liz. Alice isn't someone that can be helped. She's too far gone." Peeta says gently, holding my hand again. My father swats him away(I think he was jealous) and then puts his arm around my shoulders awkwardly, for one reason being he isn't used to having to take a fathering role over me, and the other being that my heels make me taller than him. Because of that, I quickly pull them off, dangling them off my fingers. "I think these shoes could be used as a weapon." I say calmly, trying to change up the conversation.
My mom laughs and hugs me. "Good to know. You can go kill that Capitol kid with them." She whispers, pointing in the direction of the Capitol kid that was staring at me before.
"He looks familiar." Luke pipes up.
I give him a puzzled expression. He seems to understand my confusion. "I think we've seen him before."
I roll my eyes. "I'm confused, not stupid." I murmur, planting a firm but gentle kiss on his lips.
He pulls away. "I know that. Come on. People are going to start mobbing us any minute."
He swings an arm around my shoulders and starts walking down the street, back to where our hotel is. My parents and Katniss and Peeta follow behind us, at a safe distance, but close enough that I swear they could probably hear every word that we say. Which freaking sucks, in case you weren't aware of that. I hate having parents that want to eavesdrop on everything I'm talking about.
"Now, I know all of us are exhausted, it's been a very stressful and taxing night, but today is a big,big,big day, and all of us have something to do, so we can't be lazy this morning." Effie trills.
"Effie….I was emotionally molested. Do I really look like I'm in the mood for this?" I ask, swiveling around to face her.
"You'll get to sleep before we do anything, don't worry. It's 2 in the morning."
"Good." I groan. "Because I feel like I am going to pass out."
Katniss comes up next to me. "Luke, I need you to go talk to your father. I need to have a talk with Liz."
Luke takes his arm off of me and kisses me on the cheek before walking back to Peeta.
"Sorry about that, Liz. I had to take away your husband for half a second and I couldn't talk about what I am going to talk about with you. It would be too awkward."
"Oh…oh my God. Oh no. Is this the baby talk? Did my mom put you up to this, Katniss? Did she threaten you with that knife of hers….again?"
I start panicking, thinking that my mom really wants to have this talk again. We've done this so many times that I know every syllable of every word of every sentence she says each time. I know of every time she pauses. Every word she stumbles on, and every word she laughs, trying to stifle her laughter over it. We had this talk all too often. It was one of the grossest things in the world. My mother, as well as being an expert assassin and murder resource, knew her sex terms like there was nobody else to teach it. She taught it with a strange passion that I could not deal with right now. I would literally die trying to deal with this if she was having Katniss this. I actually respected Katniss, and the sex talk would destroy all of that. But maybe that's what she wanted. Maybe my evil mother got it into her head that this would be the way to make me like her more than Katniss for once. It sounds like something she would do. She is evil as ever…..and I am going insane. I just started ranting….about having a sex talk….oh my god. I am so totally going to be locked up with Alice soon enough.
Katniss puts her finger against my lips, quieting and calming me down, in a complete and total mother figure mode. Nothing like my own mother. I quickly look back, looking for if she is giving me a reaction. She is, but it's more of just a jealous glare toward Katniss. It amuses me how jealous my mother can get when my trust and loyalty between the two of them is being jeopardized.
"No. No no no, honey. That's not what this is about. She's threatened me a lot with that knife. I'm used to it. But this conversation is about what happened with Snow. I want to talk to you about it, because I can see that this is really bothering you. I don't like to see you bothered, Liz. Sadness makes you awfully unattractive for someone who's so pretty to begin with."
I blink a lot to try and clear away the oncoming tears. Katniss steers me toward a bench, sitting me down and taking a delicate seat next to me.
"What happened? The second he took you out of that party, where did he take you?"
"His limousine. We rode to that building where you all found me."
It comforts me that Katniss actually seems to care about all of this. She seems to care about how I am feeling, and how all of the situations are affecting me.
"And what did Snow say to you in the limo?"
"He explained the plan to me. What he wanted from me and Miklisho."
"And did Miklisho go along with everything?"
"He was pouting and looking pissed at Snow the entire time. It wasn't his decision either. He did it to protect Alice."
Katniss throws me a sympathetic look. "And do you agree with that?"
"Agree with what, exactly?" I ask, slightly confused. About Miklisho working for Snow? About him doing all of it to protect Alice? About him being with Alice at all?
"About Miklisho working for Snow to protect Alice." Katniss replies gently.
"I don't know what to think. I do know, however, that if I were in his place, I would probably do the same thing for a while. Love can make people do insanely crazy things. A broken heart is more deadly than a knife, because at least a knife wound can heal up with medical attention. A broken heart can't be treated, and contradicting what my father says, even finding another person to 'hang out' with will not do any good if you were in love, and do not have your lover close to you anymore."
Katniss doesn't seem to know what to say. I wouldn't know how to respond to that either if I was her. People say that I am wise for my age, and I think based on that I agree.
"Alice must be going insane right now. If she feels even remotely as passionate about Miklisho as he does about her, the two of them are going through hell right now."
Alice POV-
"I will ask you one last time. Are you going to admit to telling Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen, Clove Hirsch, Cato Hirsch, Effie Trinket, and Haymitch Abernathy about my plan, or are you going to risk your pretty little boyfriend?"
Snow is a wicked, insensitive, cruel man. He knows that I told everyone about his plan to make Miklisho and Liz pretend to be in love and get Luke and I to fall out of love, but all the same he wants me to admit it to him, which he knows I won't do. He likes to threaten me. To make empty threats of those never come true in his wildest daydreams. But after Miklisho being whipped, I know that Snow would do anything to get what he wants, and he isn't messing around with saying he'll hurt Miklisho if I don't reveal everything.
The problem? Miklisho is on the floor above me, probably already unconscious from resisting the Peacekeepers that were restraining him, and beating him even more than ever. Snow couldn't hurt him any more without him dying. He's bloody, bruised, and battered.
"What…..wh-what would happen if I did do it?" I ask, terrified to no end of what could happen not just to Miklisho, but to me too.
"You know the penalty, Ms. Dawson. It's the same for you as it is for Mr. Maccoll,"
He and I simultaneously say the one last word. "Death."
"So, Ms. Dawson, did you reveal the plans, or was it simply coincidence that they showed up here with you?"
I think for a moment. Luckily, I am an excellent liar.
"I didn't do it, Snow, and you know it. I was locked away safely at St. Onyx's. I went for a walk to go and try and clear my head, and ran into the crew outside. I promise."
Snow's lips curl into a sneer, but it disappears just as quickly.
"Ms. Dawson, are you aware of something called the Victor Sex Trade?" He asks me.
"Yes…..and no…..I've heard of it. But I have no idea what it's about, nor do I know all the details. I apologize."
"Well, luckily for you, you aren't a Victor. You don't need to know everything, but I am enlisting you in the same type of deal as those specific Victors."
I'm not comprehending any of this. Is he saying what I think he is? Am I going to have to….oh no. I couldn't….he wouldn't….
"I don't understand. What are you trying to say?" I ask.
"You are now henceforth a part of the trade. Resist, and you and your pathetic little fiancée will both be put to death. Disobey, and I will make sure I kill him first, in full view of you."
"It isn't fair. I'm only 13. 14 tomorrow. There's a guideline…..something! I have…..I have to be 16 before the trade can take place, right? RIGHT! I don't have to do a thing you say, Snow. And you can't do anything about it unless you want an unhappy Capitol, and my family knowing about all of this. I'm sure my mother and father would love to know their little girl isn't actually dead."
"You're not allowed to go home, and you know it. If you do, I'll blow up your district, and I am not joking."
"I know you aren't, sir." I decide on saying that, playing the respect card, since I don't want my family getting blown up, nor do I want him to do anything to me or Miklisho here in the Capitol.
I don't want Miklisho getting hurt for me anymore. I can handle this myself.
"I didn't commit the crime you accuse me of, President Snow."
"Your lying! I can sense it! I know that you told them. How else would they have known to come here? How would they have known Liz was here?"
I say it before I think of how it could affect anything. "Liz wrote Luke a letter and managed to send it. I saw it in his hand."
"Hmmm…and this letter…..told him of the plan?" He asks me.
I swallow the lump in my throat, feeling like I could throw up. I have probably totally screwed over Liz, Luke, and everyone with them, but it's all worth it. Miklisho and I are safe now.
"Yes, sir. In complete detail."
I don't mention that I received a similar note from Miklisho. It isn't important for him to know that. It's safer for Miklisho and I for him not to know that.
I busy myself with looking down at my feet, trying to see if my shoes shine in all aspects of the light. It's stupid, but it keeps me busy. Keeps me from having to look up into the evil eyes of this terrible man who calls himself a good leader.
"Thank you, Alice."
I look up at him slowly, peering through my dark eyelashes.
"May I leave now?" I ask, annoyed with his calm tone of voice, and the way he seems to think that I want to help him.
"Yes…..I'm sure St. Onyx's would feel better knowing their highest risk patient is back in their secure care."
He lets out a low, throaty, disturbing half laugh, half coughing fit by the sound of it.
"I'm not crazy." I say. It's the only thing I can think of to say.
"I know. But I need you to be there…..so you don't get in my way out here in the real world."
He pinches my cheek hard, and then smacks me, hard. I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. It hurts every time, and I rub the sore area with my hand, trying to make it stop. I'll have to get an ice pack later. Right now, I have to get out of here.
Snow leads me away to another room. What is in store, I have no idea.
Miklisho POV-
"I swear, I didn't do anything! Please….don't hurt her. I didn't mean for insolence…..I'm not in love with Elizabeth Hirsch. I'm in love with Alice Dawson, and I will do anything to keep her safe."
Snow glances up at me with a bigger smile than ever, and I know he was just talking to Alice, which makes my face go even more red.
"Miklisho, dear boy, I am not accusing you of anything. I just wanted to….allow you some joy….Alice…."
My Alice comes into the room, tears running down her face. Ignoring the pain in my arms and shoulders and back, I embrace her, hugging her as tightly as I can without hurting her.
"We'll leave you two alone." Snow says with a small smile.
He and all the Peacekeepers that were previously in the room leave, and Alice and I are alone.
She is still crying. With joy, or sadness, or anger, I don't know.
"What's wrong, Ally?" I say, kissing her on the cheek.
"I want to go home, Miklisho." She sobs.
I hold her in my arms, consoling her.
"Shhhh, no tears now. Everything is alright, and we are together. I know you want to go home…..but you know we can't do that."
"I don't like it here. I don't want to be here anymore. I just want to be able to go back to District 12, just to tell my parents I'm alright. To be able to go and tell everyone that Snow is evil."
"Snow isn't happy with either one of us." I gasp, unable to stop myself from crying.
Now it's her turn to comfort me. She puts a delicate hand on my cheek, her fingers smooth and cool against my hot, wet skin.
"It's going to be alright. But you don't tell them anything about that letter you sent me, you hear? Don't say a word about it, no matter what they threaten to do to me. You know how they like to make us tell them things by bringing each other into the picture."
"I don't want you to get hurt."
It's the only thing I can manage to say to her. What else can I say? Nothing would make enough sense.
"And I won't, Mikki. I won't. Just don't tell them anything. And we'll both be fine."
"He's going to kill us. You know that, right?"
She goes slightly pale, but then it switched back to being a blush, and she gives me a sad smile.
"I know a way we can delay it."
I wipe away some of my tears.
"How?" I ask warily.
"Get me pregnant." She states.
"No." is my answer.
"They can't kill a pregnant woman, or the man who got her pregnant. It's a rule! Snow will have to abide by it."
"I don't want to get you pregnant." I stress.
"But…Miklisho….I know you aren't a virgin. Don't try and hide that from me. I know you screwed over a quarter of the girl tributes in our Games. It won't be any different than that, except your doing it with me."
"It is different, Alice. I didn't love those girls. But I love you. I don't want to have sex with you just because we have to. I know that Liz and Luke are having to, and that's the only reason they are doing it. I don't want to be like them on that occasion."
"We'll die! You said it yourself." She replies.
"Well, we'll find another way to live until we are married. Your 13, Alice. You are keeping your virginity." I say, watching her expression move from giddy to near tears.
"I want to do this."
"And I do too. It takes two to have sex though, and if I say no, then we're not going to be making a baby, now are we?" I say, angry all of a sudden. My lust for her is terribly strong, and I have no idea why, but I am not having her lose something as important as her virginity so quickly.
She clenches her hands into fists at her sides, turning away and refusing to look me in the eye, no matter where I stand. She keeps changing position.
"We will do it when we are married. With protection." I reason.
She turns back to me, looking slightly less angry.
"I love you so much, Miklisho. But I want to do this now. I want to live."
"And we will. Without resorting to this. You don't need to get knocked up to live. Especially if you want to live a good life. Lots of good people get married and get pregnant at appropriate ages and live wonderful lives."
"Yeah, and those people aren't in a near death situation with an evil president that wants to make a girl watch her boyfriend kiss and cuddle another girl on live television!" She yells.
"Come to bed with me." I say emotionlessly.
She skips across the room into the bed. I take my shirt off and climb in next to her. I give up.
Luke POV-
I would never say that Liz looked ugly. It wasn't possible for her to look that way. What was possible was her looking so exhausted and worn down and sad that it looked unattractive on her.
Effie was trying to force her to eat some salad, but Liz wouldn't have any of it. She had fallen asleep four times now at the dinner table, even though it was midnight, and much too late to be eating a real dinner.
"Elizabeth, wake up!" Effie shrieked, shaking Liz awake yet again.
"Effie, I am exhausted. May I go to sleep now?" Liz asks, yawning and stretching her arms out in front of her, palms down. Her muscles are sore from exhaustion and tiredness. I know how that feels.
"Well, eat a bit of salad darling. It's good for you, and you have a big,big-"
"May I please go to sleep?" She stresses.
That makes Effie relent, because Liz never uses the word please. I didn't even know it was in her vocabulary.
I watch as Liz trudges into the room she and I were sharing, and collapses into the bed, asleep within seconds of her head hitting a pillow.
"I'm going to go to bed as well." I say, walking into the room and looking at Liz, asleep. Her breathing is gentle and even, and I climb into bed next to her. Her back is to me, but I still kiss her on the head anyway and pull the covers up over her before settling myself in for sleeping. And I close my eyes, hoping that for one night, I can sleep for a few hours without waking up.
9 hours later….
I wake up to screaming.
"OH MY GOD! HAYMITCH!"
My eyes snap open at the recognition of Liz's voice. Liz is soaking wet and shivering, and there is a huge amount of water and ice cubes scattered on her side of the bed.
I take one of my blankets and toss it around her, but she takes it off and heads off to the bathroom as Haymitch screams profanities at her and Effie shrieks to get ready for a 'big,big,big day'. I get out of bed myself and walk to the other bathroom, getting into the shower and blocking out the arguing going on between Effie and Haymitch.
Even after months of getting used to the showers, then going home, then using them again, I still haven't grasped how to use everything. There are far too many buttons.
After 20 minutes of cleaning myself up for the photo shoot today, and making sure I haven't made myself smell all feminine, which I have done before, I step out and make my way back to the room, where Liz is also sitting, wrapped in a towel.
"Mmm. Seductive today, are you?" I ask playfully.
"Oh, of course not. I'm just waiting for my prep team to get here to get dressed. I don't know what to wear to the shoot."
"Wear something comfortable. You won't be wearing it long, since this is our wedding shoot."
"I can't wait, sweetie." She says.
I kiss her, and I don't let go, too worried I'll lose her again.
Well, there's the chapter. I really hope that you liked it a lot. Tell me what you think,and don't ignore the things in that top authors note. It;s VERY important. And I would like to reccomend some stories that are really cool.
Tears of Blood by 24tributes24authors
The Way Things Should Have Been by LyndseyRyder12
A Grimm Set of Games by Nightfuries
On the Verge of Tears by 12 Hunger Games Fans