Bonus II

"There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true."

Sir Winston Churchill

The Capitol

It starts with a handful of berries.

Of course, I'm not going to start there. I'm going to start at the beginning and it goes back much further than the last fifty seconds of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. If I was going to go all the way back to the very start, I'd start on the first day of school, tell you about the girl with the two pink braids who opened her mouth and sang more beautifully than any of the victors who use it as their talents. But, I won't bore you with the details of how I became friends with Katniss Everdeen. That's a story for a different time.

No. This is the story of the girl on fire.

She first starts to glow at the Tribute Parade.

Since our fathers work in the Control Room, our families have prime seating right next to some of the biggest sponsors. Primrose is so excited because, at twelve, she's finally allowed to bet this year on a tribute. She holds onto Katniss's hand, skipping the entire way to the City Center.

"Don't go based on the parade alone, Prim," Katniss says as we take our seats. "Wait until the interviews and the scores so you'll at least have a chance of winning."

Prim doesn't answer. Her eyes dance with the bouncing lights keeping the runway clear. Opening Ceremonies should be starting soon, so we take our seats and keep our eyes open. You don't want to miss a thing.

Katniss and Prim match tonight. Each girl has on a purple dress and I know that it took a while for the two and Mrs. Everdeen to pick them out. Katniss was complaining because she tried this dress on first and her mother made her keep trying even though she'd found the dress she wanted to wear. It sparkles in the moving light and has feathery details around her middle with a tight purple skirt. It has been attracting my eyes for most of the night at all the parties prior to the parade.

The music quiets and the national anthem begins to play. Around us, people begin to cheer. Prim shrieks in excitement.

...Oh Capitol,

Your glorious diamond shine.

A tribute to

The darkest days behind.

One Horn of Plenty for us all!

The tributes always look so much better once they've been cleaned up and dressed by their stylists. One's tributes are dressed in pink feathers and diamonds. Two's stand tall with their swords drawn. I eye the sizes and facial expressions carefully. Anyone scared during the parade won't do to bet on. It's the first thing you learn in our Betting class at school.

I like the ones who wave. Katniss nudges me when she sees tributes that she likes on first glance for a bet. After six or seven districts, we usually stop paying too much attention. There is that monster of a male tribute from Eleven we saw during the reapings –

"Who are they?" Prim yells over screams.

We turn to the last chariot and the two occupants are on fire. My eyes widen. I've never seen that before. The boy is staring out at us with a blank face, his eyes narrow. The girl, on the other hand, is attempting to wave and hold onto the chariot at the same time.

"What are their names?" Katniss asks. Her eyes are wide, the light shining crazily in the gray, as she thinks.

I look down at the program. District Twelve: Madge Undersee, 16, and Gale Hawthorne, 18. I show it to her and she nods, taking a mental note to watch out for their interviews and training scores. With an entrance like that, how could we not?

I have to go to my stylist a few days a week for touch-up work on my hair. My natural color is blond, so it keeps color nicely, but there is so much dye in my hair in specific places that my stylist likes to see me almost daily. It's because I'm a perfectionist. I couldn't just pick a color to coordinate with my outfits – like Katniss and Prim – or one that looks good with anything – which is what my brothers do. I wanted my hair to look like a sunset, with shades of oranges, reds, pinks, and golds that shine like the end of a beautiful day.

My stylist is so proud of my head that I'm on her brochure.

During the Games, almost everything closes, so aside from getting my touch-ups, I have very little that I need to do. So I wake up at noon, go to my stylist after lunch, and then get ready for the parties. Katniss and I have plans every night for the next two weeks while the tributes train.

We spend the next two weeks sipping alcohol from long-stemmed glasses. We talk about tributes, but never give away which tribute we're leaning toward supporting. We gossip about what the arena is rumored to look like and pretend that our fathers have given us information that has people falling at our feet.

And, before long, the scores come out.

We're at a party, drinking shots of Prairie Fire, when the scores come in. Everything is fairly predictable until the little girl from Eleven pulls a seven. Then the girl from Twelve pulls an eight and the boy receives an eleven – the highest score of the evening.

Katniss turns to me and rolls her eyes.

"They want us to bet on him," she slurs as we head home that night. "So, I'm not."

"Who then?"

She shrugs her shoulders, the sparkly blue dress shimmering in the light. "But I'm not...pickin' the 'leven. Too pre...dic...table. He won't win."

True to her word, she bets on Cato from Two. I take Thresh from Eleven.

And little Prim picks Madge Undersee.

The two kids from Twelve team up together and I'm glad because it means that Prim's pick won't die immediately. My first time betting, I chose a hulk from Four and he was beheaded in bloodbath. I spent the rest of the Games depressed – especially when Katniss's choice, Four's district partner Annie Cresta, ended up winning.

I don't particularly care about watching the Games live. I'd rather have the instant recap at my command. The first few days after the bloodbath are fairly boring. But it's really after the final eight that it really starts to become interesting every year. This year, however, there's something different.

There's a love story.

And everyone loves a good love story.

So do the Gamemakers – they change the rules.

After that, it seems like everyone is rooting for the girl on fire and her flame. Katniss and I, however, stick to our guns. As Katniss says, it's too predictable. There's no way that they'll win.

They do. But you knew that.

The night the Games end, when Cato dies and the star-crossed lovers board a hovercraft, Katniss drowns her sorrows in alcohol. Only, it just makes her eyes bloodshot and her cheeks so red they match her dress, and she is no happier than she was before the first shot. She has to be carried home and, since everyone is out celebrating the victory, we're alone when we get to her house.

She doesn't take losing well.

Thresh died three days before, so I had time to get over losing my bet, but for her to lose the night the Games end, when everyone else is out celebrating, is tough. Especially since Prim won – and won big.

She curls up into me in her bed. I take off my shirt and change into a pair of pajama pants I keep at her place, before letting her rest her head on my chest, her bright red hair splaying across us. She's warm to the touch from the drinks and I can tell that her head is spinning.

"You okay?"

She doesn't move for a second and then she turns to look up at me. "They won," she slurs before putting her head back down and closing her eyes.

The star-crossed lovers don't win for long though. The Quell announcement is made that the tributes will be reaped from a pool of existing victors, which means that at least Madge will be headed back in. And, given her competition now includes adults, Katniss is sure that she and her hothead boyfriend - who likes to angrily reply to Caesar Flickerman, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet - will not win. So, unlike every other sponsor and gambler out there, Katniss doesn't put any money on the star-crossed lovers. She puts it on Finnick Odair.

Ninety-nine percent of the Capitol has fallen head over heels for Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee – Katniss is the one percent who is still bitter over their victory over the tribute she wanted to win.

I've always liked a good story and this is one of the best Hunger Games that I've seen. Now that they're both in the Quell, and two of them will definitely not be coming out together, it should be interesting. However, there is a part of me that's torn. The victors have already competed. A lot of girls are devastated that Finnick could possibly die in the arena.

Like last time, Prim puts her money on Madge Undersee.

The day the screen goes black, we are cast into darkness before President Snow comes onto our screens.

"My fellow citizens," he states, his face filling every screen in the Capitol. People are huddled together just to catch a glimpse of what it going on. Where did the Games go? What exactly is going?

"We are at a grave crossroads. The rebel forces have declared war on our dear country. We have fed them, clothed them, and given them adequate shelter from the elements. However." His voice turns into a harsh gravel tone as he glares. "They have decided to turn against us, but we will rise again, just as we have done before. I ask for soldiers. I ask for ammunition. We as a people must stand up for the rights of everyone!"

The war is not easy. President Snow mandates that all men eighteen and older must fight for the Capitol army against those trespassing against us. Many people are confused by the war, myself included. The well-liked victors, like Finnick and Gale and Madge, are spearheading the rebel forces and we have never had a reason to doubt them before. But now, they are attacking us.

Bombs fall. Fires spread. Many people die. President Snow sets up shelters in front of his mansion for orphaned children to rest their heads.

There are days when there is little activity in the City Center. I hide Katniss and Prim in an old apartment when bombs strike our own homes. Our mothers are missing. Our fathers are at war. I pull at my hair as I look in the mirror, seeing the blond of my roots coming through until slowly the color fades and Katniss cuts the last of it off when she takes off my overgrown curls. Her bright orange hair begins to display her dark roots as well and the two of us look absolutely ridiculous.

Prim cries because she's hungry. Katniss and I do as well, but we wait until after she's gone to sleep to do so. I hate the growling noise my body makes when it goes without food – it's something I've never heard before. We become cranky with each other and lash out. We hope for peace. We hope the rebels realize that they're wrong soon.

Or, at least I do.

On one of the days with little activity, the three of us go into the streets to try and find something to eat. We've gone through all of the cans in the abandoned apartment and our stomachs have growled for days. Without food, we will starve very soon. Prim sits on the curb while Katniss and I stare at the garbage can outside Tigris's fashion studio. I know that Katniss doesn't want to climb through trash, but I don't want to either.

"I'm going to go see if they have anything at that shelter," she says, pointing up the hill toward the president's mansion. "I'll be right back. Happy digging!"

It is disgusting. It is degrading. I shiver as I pick through the mess. Nothing in here looks edible at all and I grab a half-eaten apple before pulling myself out. My stomach growls – and it was my hard work anyway – so I bring the rotting fruit to my lips. My frown remains, but it is food. That is all that matters.

In the far distances, I can see hovercrafts. I run to take cover, forgetting momentarily about Prim. I shove the rest of the apple in my mouth before running toward her, grabbing her tiny body in my arms. She stares at something in the distance and I follow her gaze.

Not far from us, Madge Undersee and Gale Hawthorne are running through the streets. Gale is sprinting toward the president's mansion, screaming for someone named Rory, while Madge struggles to keep pace. The hovercrafts draw nearer. The streets fill. I lift Prim and go back to the hiding spot, just it in time to see Madge stop running. A bomb drops. And then another.

Double detonating bombs.

The force of the blow sends Gale flying backwards, landing on Madge as he falls. The bomb strikes the group of children, and what appear to be rebel medics, in front of President Snow's mansion. I pull Prim close to me.

And I watch Katniss Everdeen become the girl on fire.

So, there you have it. The story of the girl on fire, just not the one you expected, right, Doctor? Well, that was my girl on fire. Your girl on fire, your Mockingjay, is not important to me other than the fact that she gives me someone to blame. Because she lived in the Games means I lost Katniss.

No. Why would I blame President Snow? He had nothing to do with this. He was a great president, and if you disagree, why don't you take a better look at the woman you were going to put in charge. Didn't Hawthorne end up killing her? Isn't that why he's in the cell next to mine while he awaits trial? I hear him sometimes. He's the crazy one, not me.

Are you any better really? I heard your guards talk of Retribution Games. Is that where you have Prim? How dare you? You proclaim to be so high and mighty and yet – you do the same thing that you say we're so evil to do. You're sick. You're wrong. You're liars. You weren't fighting for peace. You were fighting for control.

I'm not brainwashed. Why would you say that?

Come back here! Tell me where Prim is! What are you doing to her? Please! Are you hurting her?

And get Hawthorne out of that cell! I'm trying to sleep and I can't if I keep hearing him moaning through the walls. What's he even moaning about anyway?

He won.

So, there's the Capitol. Sorry this didn't get up last week, or even yesterday. I had some stuff going on that prevented me from putting it up. But, thank you for reading this. It's been fun to write.

The lyrics of the national anthem are Horn of Plenty by Arcade Fire for The Hunger Games. The purple dress Katniss is wearing at the tribute parade is based on a dress by Valentino. I have a picture of it on my tumblr (link to my tumblr page is in my profile, come say hi if you like). Prairie Fire, the drink Katniss and Peeta have at the party, is a mixed drink of liquor and hot sauce. Just to clarify the ending if need be: Peeta is being interrogated as a prisoner/one of the Capitol survivors in District Thirteen.

Thank you all so much for reading this! You've all be so great and supportive. Thank you.