"Where am I?"

My words ring out into the darkness for a long moment, eliciting no answer, not even a slight shuffling movement that could indicate the presence of another person. 

For a moment, a long moment, I almost believe myself dead.

But no, I'm not dead, because these ropes digging into my skin are very tangibly real, and the hard chair I'm firmly stuck in doesn't really feel like something they'd have in the afterlife. 

"Hello?" I ask again. To absolutely no one's surprise, there is no response. 

"I know you're there."

No, I don't, and if I truly am alone I bet I look pretty silly--but then, there'd be no one to see it anyway, would there?

Okay. Let's rewind. 

What happened?

Just moments ago... I was in Mayor Gallopetal's house, sipping a cup of tea and chatting about the things Terra had told me. 

'Everything will be explained in time,' she'd said, echoing the man from earlier. And then, I had blacked out.

What in-between, though? I wasn't awake, obviously, but some subconscious part of my brain was watching over my body, taking the night shift. 

Where am I? How did I get here? Why am I here?

All questions I fully intend to ask, if I ever see another human being again. 

I'm not particularly worried, though, honestly. I have faced worse things in my life, things I really didn't think I'd be able to live through, but here I am now. Mayor Gallopetal wouldn't kidnap a recent Victor, who has the entirety of Panem's eyes on her, unless she had a very solid reason. 

"Hello?" I cry out for the second time, hoping, just hoping. 

My hopes come true: the invisible dove of my prayer spreads its wings and flies off into the blue sky, and the door on the opposite room opens with a small whooshing sound.

Two people walk in: both, I recognize, only one am I surprised by. 

"Shan?" I ask, leaning forward in my bonds to get a better look as her and the Mayor move towards me, as if she is nothing but a hologram, not actually here.

Mayor Gallopetal presses a button on some kind of remote, and the lights flicker on. 

My head whips to glare at her. "Did you kidnap me?"

"Yes," she says, crossing her arms over her chest, like annoyed at a small child having a tantrum for no reason. "It was justified, Daphne, you will understand in time."

"And how much time? You keep saying you'll tell me everything, but then all you do is delay, and delay, and delay--" I thrash against my bonds once again, acting the part of a crazed prisoner. 

"You will know everything very, very, soon," Shan says, stepping towards me and meeting my gaze with that motherly look I've so dearly missed. "Soon." Now she turns to Mayor Gallopetal, giving her an accusatory glance that makes me wonder if she ever wanted to tell me at all. 

"Why not now, then? I think I deserve it, after being drugged and dragged to--where is this, exactly?"

"District Thirteen," Mayor Gallopetal says, her voice monotone, and my jaw drops. 

"District Thirteen? That can't be right. District Thirteen doesn't exist."

"Not on the surface." She takes another step towards me, and I decide to stop calling her mayor, as the crime she's committed against District Four would surely revoke her title. "But we aren't on the surface, are we?"

I take a moment to process, the room silent except for my steady breathing. "You're saying... District Thirteen is alive, real, and that's where I am right now."

"Oh, it's more than alive; it's thriving. We sustain a strong community here in Thirteen. We contain and grow the rebellion."

"The rebellion," I whisper incredulously, letting my head slump down on my chest so I can choose my own feelings on this subject instead of listening to Gallopetal's casual tone.

"Here, I'll undo these ropes," Shan interrupts with a very useful change of subject, pulling scissors from a pocket in the strange one-piece suit she's wearing and cutting them off. 

I stand, facing the two women, keeping my stance tall and my shoulders squared.

They are older than me, but I am a Victor of the Hunger Games. I'm youthful and athletic, and they should know it.

"Let's show you to your room," Gallopetal says, walking out of the room and expecting me to follow. "I'll explain more on the way."

I stretch for a moment, a brief display of defiance, and then follow obediently.

"There are some more things you should know."

"Okay, so tell me." Our footsteps echo in the metal hallway, and my unusual appearance--a comfortable sweater and jeans--stands out amidst the sea of one-piece sets made out of the same uniform fabric. The only difference seems to be the fit, with a few people having tighter bodysuits, others with loose bottoms and tight tops, short sleeves or even a hood.

The uniformity makes me shiver, reminds me of the Capitol and their standards for the Districts, the ones they refuse to follow themselves. 

"Well, firstly. I assume you've been referring to me as Guinevere Gallopetal, and I would like to make you informed that due to my high position in District Four and the likelihood the Capitol will try to come looking for me, I've decided to change it."

"And? What to?"

"Alma Coin." She smiles at me. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Yes, very." I think on it. "So, you're trying to erase your past, since you were the Mayor. I was the talk of the town just yesterday. Should I be doing the same?"

She shakes her head. "No, Daphne, we need you to be exactly who you are--that's the powerful part of it. A mayor defects? They care a little bit, but really, I don't matter all that much. But a Victor disappears only a few months after her monumental Games, that's a big deal. People all over Panem will be invested, and when you speak up, they'll notice."

"So I'm speaking up? That's what you've brought me here to do?"

"In short, yes."

"You didn't care to run this past me first before you decided to drug and kidnap me?"

That sentence turns a few heads, specifically one I feel as if I recognize--dark brown hair, pale blue eyes in contrast. For a moment the memory evades me, and then he scowls, and it all comes back--he's Tupelo's older brother, the one I saw on the victory tour, the one who seemed as if he'd made a vow on his mother's life to take me down, once and for all.

We keep walking, and eventually he's out of view, but still a sort of fear creeps down the back of my shirt, the hair on the nape of my neck standing on end, as if a ghost has brushed its paranormal hand against my scalp. I don't know how I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Gallopetal--or, Coin, now, I guess--doesn't seem to notice, though. She goes on with her tour, pointing out this and that. To our right is the cafeteria, on the left are a few bathrooms. Just ahead is the medical wing, hope you never need to go in there. And, then, finally, we reach the dorm rooms. 

They're small and all the exact same, just as I'd pictured, yet still it saddens me, a little bit. Some part of me really was still holding out for that picturesque life, that large house in the Victor's village, a loving family by my side. 

I turn to Coin just before she moves to leave, asking one last question. "How is Aeolus?"

She raises her eyebrows. "I'm not sure. But Altalune's due to visit next week, and I'm sure she can give you all the updates."

"Altalune's visiting? Does she live here, too?"

A shake of the head lowers my spirits exponentially. "No, she's holding down the fort back home. But she will visit occasionally, and so you'll be able to see her then."

She smiles, a rare occasion. "Is that all of your questions, Daphne?"

I nod. 

"Good, then I'll leave you to it. You can find your suit in the closet, along with a few extra blankets and pillows. You should wear the suit the entire time you're awake--it will regulate your body temperature, check your heart rate and other vitals, and of course, track your location so we can make sure you're safe. Obviously, you're at high risk anywhere you might go due to your recent fame, so this is just an extra safety measure."

She closes the door with a soft thud, leaving me totally, completely, alone. "Sleep well."

I don't, though. I sleep terribly, nightmares plaguing my head as really they deserve to do, with the life I have lived. 

Eighteen years so far, and I have experienced horrors far beyond younger me could even imagine, the kind of things that make you wish for amnesia. 

But, above all, there is a pair of blue eyes that plague my dreams. They are narrowed, thick eyebrows above them, and they bore a hole straight through my middle. 

Lathe, that was his name. Lathe, with the blue eyes, the dark hair. 

I get up twice to check that my door is locked.