The Evil Thing Is Inside, Not Out.

She’s Really Gone, Then. The Little Girl With The Back Of Her Shirt Sticking Out Like A Duck Tail, The One Who Needed Help Reaching The Dishes, And Who Begged To See The Frosted Cakes In The Bakery Window. Time And Tragedy Have Forced Her To Grow Too Quickly, At Least For My Taste, Into A Young Woman Who Stitches Bleeding Wounds And Knows Our Mother Can Hear Only So Much.

I Will Never Give Up If You Never Give In.

There Were Two Avoxes With Me In Prison. Darius And Lavinia, But The Guards Mostly Called Them The Redheads. They'd Been Our Servants In The Training Center, So They Arrested Them, Too. I Watched Them Being Tortured To Death. She Was Lucky. They Used Too Much Voltage And Her Heart Stopped Right Off. It Took Days To Finish Him Off. Beating, Cutting Off Parts. They Kept Asking Him Questions, But He Couldn't Speak, He Just Made These Horrible Animals Sounds. They Didn't Want Information, You Know? They Wanted Me To See It.

It Starts At Midnight.

Then It’s Just Venia, Whose Skin Is So Pale Her Tattoos Appear To Be Leaping Off It. Almost Rigid With Determination, She Does My Hair And Nails And Makeup, Fingers Flying Swiftly To Compensate For Her Absent Teammates. The Whole Time, She Avoids My Gaze. It’s Only When Cinna Shows Up To Approve Me And Dismiss Her That She Takes My Hands, Looks Me Straight In The Eye, And Says, “we Would All Like You To Know What A…privilege It Has Been To Make You Look Your Best.” Then She Hastens From The Room.