"You're sure you can't see me?" I ask, stuffing some more of the scratchy hay over my head. I'm hiding in this cart Jenny got from nowhere, and we're going to go into town. Apparently I have to stay in here until Jenny can buy me a cloak to wear, since mine will stand out too much. 

"I'm sure! No one will notice you're in there." Her voice sounds squeaky, like she's excited but also nervous at the same time. Which makes sense. This is a risky move, but I want to go into town and Jenny's willing to bring me. 

I hear a clunk as Jenny gets on the cart, and then we start to move. 

This ride is not comfortable, not at all. I'm being poked in the eye by strands of hay, jostled around by the dirt track, and it stinks so bad I want to rip my nose off. 

Jenny insisted on hiding me even better with some old meat on top of the hay. Everyone knows her for that, not hay. And she didn't want me to ruin her newer beef, so this is her solution. 

The ride to the city is longer than I'd like. I'd prefer to go fifteen feet on a perfectly flat road, thank you very much. But of course, Jenny needs space, she can't be fifteen feet away from a cloak store. So I live with it, though I'm not happy. 

And when we finally reach the city, it's louder than I'd thought. It also looks somewhat like District Eight, with small shops selling crops and food. I wonder if Jenny has a shop here, somewhere. Probably. 

We stop outside a small shop labeled 'Claire's clothes and cloaks". Jenny pokes her head into my hiding space, making sure I'm ok, then walks into the store. The door jingles when she opens it.

I try to watch, but Jenny put some sort of blanket over the pile I'm under and I can't see anymore. Probably so that no one can see me. 

I hear the jingles again, and wonder if Jenny's done. Maybe it's someone else. 

Footsteps thump against the pavement, sounding to me like slamming my ax into a tree. Of course, that reminds me of when I killed Rylie, and I shiver and try to shut out the memory. 

Someone shouts something, and I can just barely see white outfits through the tiny crack in the hay. I wonder if someone shoplifted or attacked a peacekeeper. Would Jenny do that? I don't think so. 

I hear a rustling at the edge of the hay, and when I look I see a white uniform, not Jenny. 

My blood freezes. They've found me. I'm going to be arrested and then I'm going to be killed. 

My hand reaches for my ax to find that I don't have it. I left it at Jenny's house. 

I wonder if she's okay. Did the peacekeepers take her, too?

The peacekeeper in front of me rips off the hay. I get up as quickly as I can, poised to run, but they grab my wrist.

His grip is so tight it's like its cutting off my circulation, and it's on my bad arm too. I can barely see through the tears, my eyes blurring. 

"Let go of me!" My voice doesn't sound like mine anymore. It sounds sad, like someone who's completely desperate. Which isn't something I'd ever think I would describe myself as, desperate.

"Sorry miss, that's not allowed," the peacekeeper mumbles. I glare at him. I'd forgotten he was a real person, probably with a real life that he might return to someday. 

I look inside the store. Jenny is at the desk, talking to someone I don't recognize. There's three peacekeepers on other side of her, but she doesn't seem worried. 

"Jenny!" I yell. She turns and looks at me, then smirks. 

I almost growl. She turned me in to the capitol, didn't she? I never should've trusted her. 

Jenny waves and smiles sweetly, then goes back to her conversation with the person at the desk. 

The peacekeeper holding me ties my hands together with metal cuffs that I've only ever seen once before. They feel like cheese graters on my skin, especially when I push against them. 

"Let go of me!" I try again. The peacekeeper looks away, and I wonder if he actually feels guilty about this. 

Because he should. 

They all should. 

Everyone should. 

But they don't. No one cares that innocent children die. No one cares that the person who rules us is a conniving snake worse than the devil himself. 

I'll change that one day. Or at least I'll try. I know I probably won't ever be able to do anything. 

I'm just one girl. I can't do anything. 

The peacekeeper holding me pushes my head down, and another joins him, grabbing me so tight I'll never be able to escape. 

They lead me into a white armored vehicle with bars over the windows. I try to struggle, but the soldiers have training and they're much older than me. I don't have a chance. 

Inside the van, there's a capitol person with thin gold tattoos stretching out from their eyes waiting for me. They smile and hold up a needle. 

I try to scream, but the new peacekeeper puts a hand over my mouth. I squirm and squirm as the needle gets closer to my arm, but it's still much too early when I feel the slight prick. 

And then there's darkness.

So much darkness. 

Darkness that drags me in, pulling me by my foot. I thrash and I scream, but there's nothing I can do. The midnight-black force pulls me in like a black hole sucking in its prey. 

I remember last night, when I was falling asleep in Jenny's house. This feels so different now. 

There's still the darkness, but now its suffocating. It feels like chains wrapping around my throat, their iron grip cutting off my airway and making it impossible to breath.

My fingers grasp at my neck, and I feel hands there. The hands are freezing cold, but I can feel a pulse. 

I tear the hands away from me, gasping for air. 

Then I collapse, not knowing if that was real or fake. 

Not knowing what will happen next.