"Do you understand what you have done, child?!"

I hang my head low as Snow reprimands me. Snow. I hate him with all my heart. He tried, and succeeded, in hurting Prim.

"Do you understand?!" Snow barks in my face again. I stubbornly stand there, refusing to give him the answer he wants. I won't give him even the smallest satisfaction. Snow sighs and pulls up the video again. I've practically memorized what it says. I've heard it ten two many times, and besides, I'm the main character.

"As I watched Prim in the games last year, my heart broke. She could've died in there! I felt hatred for the Capitol. For sending such a young innocent girl into the games- how could they?! She was only 12, and they didn't care about her at all, she was just treated like a pawn in their games. How could I sit back and watch it happen all over again?"
"How about...Gale, who is he to you?"

"Gale is my brother. But he no longer lives with us, the Capitol has dragged him here to serve as my servant! How much crueler can a human being get? This past week, I had to watch my mute brother serve me food, make my bed, clean my room- and I couldn't do anything about it. He's only 19, and life at home wouldn't have been any better for him. Working in the mines, he would've rarely spent any time at home. And all that coal mining we do in the district, how much coal do the district 12 villagers get to use? Close to none! We're left to freeze in the cold.The one day my brother could rest, would be another work day. He would had to provide for our family of 5, because the Capitol can't spare us even 10g of food each day. And here they purposely barf it up while when we're left to starve. Panem! Do you not realize what your country is doing to you- your Capitol that you've so much respected is not what you think it is. Every single year, they tear 24 children away from their parents and throw them into a cruel game that kills 23 innocent children annually. Panem! How crueler could this get? When these victors were guaranteed to be out of these games, they're just thrown right back into the dreaded arena. Our Capitol is corrupt! Underneath its layers of sparkle, shine, and ostentatiousness, is filth!"

The screen stops and Snow's eyes trail to me once again. He doesn't scare me, not anymore. He looks into my eyes and at first I think it's anger I see in his eyes, then I realize it's disappointment. He stays like that for a moment, then opens his mouth and issues me an ultimatum.

"You will have one shot to redeem yourself, tonight, at an interview with Caesar Flickerman."

I hide in an air duct. It happens. After a few weeks in the Capitol, you start searching for places to hide and well...the air duct has been good to me. I sit still for a while and words start drifting into my head. Words the Capitol servants have been feeding me with.

My name is Rory Hawthorne. I volunteered myself into the games. My brother is mute because of me. My crush has been taken away because of me. My home has been obliterated because of me. Because of me, people are hurt. I am a destructive being.

I know it isn't true. They're just brainwashing me. But sometimes I wonder if what they're saying is really true. I know Gale and Prim's fates are not my fault, at least I hope so. But I am not sure if it was me that caused the destruction of my home. I still feel bad about it. I do understand what I've done. And I'm terribly afraid I still need to pay the price for it.

"It's not your fault, that's just what they want you to believe," I chide. Then I rise from my seat and head over to my 'cell', which is really just a room they've been keeping me in during the past few days. When I get there, I find a bunch of make up artists and stylists ready to whisk me away to the prep room. With a sigh, I follow.

I hate the work the stylists have done on me. It makes me look fake, like a product of the Capitol. I hate it so much that I wash it off once they leave. I don't want to hurt their feelings but I've worn the fake look long enough. The games were a bit too much for me. After washing off the hard work of the artists, I look at myself in the mirror and smile satisfyingly. This is the real me.

"On air in one minute!" Someone calls, and I dash to the stage and get seated. Caesar raises a green eyebrow at my makeup-less face. I almost want to laugh. What have they done to his face?

"On air in three, two, one." The clapper sounds and we're on air.

I sit straight up, trying to look as proper as possible. I might be a bit of a rebel, but I don't want to hurt the people I love anymore.

"Rory, welcome back," Caesar starts.

"Hello Caesar, I guess you thought you'd never see me again."

"To be honest, no. I thought it was my last interview with you. Who would've guessed you'd make it through?"

"Certainly not me, at least it wasn't the plan," I say with a sigh.

"Yes, you made it quite clear you were here to ah, express your views, and protect Prim."

"Yes, those were my intentions, no ulterior motives involved. But things got complicated. Other people had other plans, you know?"

He gives a sympathetic nod. I have no idea if it's genuine or not.

"Well how about you tell us about the last day in the arena?" Caesar asks.

"Sure," I say with a shrug. "Why don't I set the scene first?"

He nods and I continue.

"Well imagine, you're in the arena and sixteen people have died the past two days. Sixteen out of twenty four. This pretty much tells you that the remaining eight will be dead by the next morning. Jungle surrounds you, and it's very much alive. Every hour brings upon a new arena horror. Only one of the eight remaining can live, and you plan that it won't be you."

"Wow...you can really paint a picture with your words," Caesar comments.

"The pen is mightier than the sword," I say with a shrug. Then I start my story again. "The arena is a hard place to survive in, obviously. The games are no longer a game, but reality. You have to kill to live. And that costs more than your life. It costs everything you are."

A hush fills the room. I'm quiet, Caesar is quiet, and even the camera crew is silent. I wonder if the people watching are silent as well. I wonder if Prim is one of those people. I sure hope she is. I wouldn't want her dead, or locked up in a cell, or being tortured.

"In the games, you only have one wish. And that night, my wish was obviously to save Prim. But I was deprived of my single wish. That night I really wished Prim and I had run away the day before but...I was too caught up in Beetee's plan to electrify the beach. I shouldn't have let them separate us! After the wire cut, everything went crazy. I remember only parts of it. Brutus killing Chaff. Trying to find Prim. The arena exploding."

"Ah yes, let's talk about that. Prim is the one that seems to be destroyed the arena. What's up with that, it seems a bit suspicious."

"Prim is not a murderer or destroyer or anything like that! She's gentle, kind, and wouldn't hurt a soul. You all saw the games on the television. She was confused! She had no idea what to do with the wire. She knew nothing of the rebels' plan this whole time."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Do you think she was planning to be killed by Johanna Mason? Do you think she was planning to be paralyzed by an electric shock? To destroy the arena?! We didn't know anything! All we wanted was to keep each other alive."

I'm tempted to just get up and punch him but I know that's not the right thing to do. It's more cowardly than brave, not nice or caring, and certainly not a smart move to make. Prim would disapprove.

"What about Haymitch, your mentor?" Caesar asks. I almost want to yell at him to stop asking questions but hey, this is an interview.

"I don't know if he knew anything. He didn't seem interested at all. He didn't even mention it."

"What do you think?"

I give that question a thought. Then I give a short answer. I hope Haymitch is watching.

"Just that I should never have put my trust in him."

There's a bit of a pause again and I wonder if I said the right thing. I hope I did.

"Now would be a good time to stop if you wanted to," Caesar tells me.

"Was there more to talk about?" I respond sharply.

"Well I was going to ask about what you thought of the war but I see you're not in the mood."

"Oh I can answer that," I say nonchalantly. I turn to face the camera. ["I want everyone watching- whether you're on the Capitol or rebel side- to stop for just a moment and think about what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our numbers are even fewer. Our conditions more tenuous. Is this really what we want to do? Kill ourselves off completely? In the hopes that- what? Some decent species will inherit the smoking remains of the earth?"] (page 25 lines 28-29 through page 26 lines 1-7)

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I want to call a ceasefire."

~A/N~ Hey guys! I know it's been a while but better late than never! There's been a lot going on and I'm pretty happy that I got this chapter up. Updates for MJP won't be that fast but my goal is to have the first 10 chapters up by June :) 

Thank you guys so much for supporting my THG fanfics and I hope you liked this chapter. Special shoutout to equestrianism_ who has been reading my THG fanfics from the very beginning!!

-Monica