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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter fifty-two, panem today, tomorrow, and forever)

the cells / the lab, 75 ADD.

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JOHANNA'S GURGLED SCREAMS ECHOED around as Juniper winced, leaning against the wall of her cell. Peacekeepers' had taken the woman from Seven that morning and for the next few hours, it was silent until that moment where everyone could hear Johanna's cries. It made Juniper jump slightly as Annie sobbed and Peeta held his head, grumbling mutt to himself. 

Juniper had never heard Johanna scream before. The girl hadn't done so in her own Games. Yes, she shed a few tears to play the weak girl persona, but she never screamed. Not even in the Quell. Johanna Mason was always stoic and hard. She never let her emotions bubble to the surface. But now, Juniper couldn't get her strangled cries out of her head. 

What were they doing to her? 

"Peeta..." Juniper hissed as she stared at the boy. She got a good look at him now that the cell between them was absent for the time being. "Peeta!" 

"Mutt... mutt... mutt." 

"Mellark!" Juniper snapped and suddenly, Peeta's tearful eyes looked up to stare at her. He looked exhausted, as if his mind was fighting a constant battle. "What are they doing to Mason?" 

Peeta stared at her for a while before wrapping his hands around the bars, kneeling on the tiled floor. A lone tear dropped from his eyes and fell to the floor as he said, in a torn voice, "They're not coming, Juniper... they're not coming... they're not coming to save us." 

Confusion settled in as Juniper furrowed her brows, asking, "Who? Who's not coming to save us?" 

"The rebels," Peeta croaked. He looked insane. "Whatever they said to you... they lied. They're not coming. No-one is coming! Katniss... they have Katniss." 

"Who has Katniss?" 

"The rebels!" Peeta yelled. Annie jumped in her cell. "The rebels have Katniss! They're using her, they're punishing her! They can't be trusted. They're going to kill Katniss!" 

Juniper stared at Peeta with wide eyes and watched as the boy began to mutter to himself before crawling to the corner of his cage, rocking himself again. And severe confusion and fear settled deeply into Juniper. She recalled Johanna saying that his love for Katniss had diminished, that he didn't have anything nice to say about her. But here he was, crying over the rebels killing Katniss. And why would the rebels kill Katniss? The rebellion wanted Everdeen to become the face of their lost cause, so why did Peeta think they were going to kill her? 

The Hale woman let out a sigh as Johanna's screams began to die down, glancing over at Annie. She was taking deep breaths as she wrapped her skinny arms around her legs. Her eyes were filled with fear and agony as she kept rapidly looking around at everything. When she settled on Juniper, she let out another low sob. 

"Hey, it's going to be okay..." Juniper whispered as she moved over to the bars that bordered her cell and Annie's. Her ribs jolted in pain at the sudden movement and stung, causing the woman to hiss. "We're going to get out of here." 

Annie didn't respond, but instead held her hand out as much as she could through the bars. Juniper swallowed a lump in her throat before holding onto the woman. She was shaking underneath Juniper's fingertips, but at the sudden touch of someone she knew, Annie calmed down immensely. 

A few hours later, the metal doors opened and two Peacekeepers' came in. One was carrying the limp body of Johanna Mason whilst the other held a tray with four plates on them. Juniper raised a brow as she watched the soldier throw Johanna back into her cell to see that she was completely soaked in water, tremors rippling through her body as she twitched and twitched. She was on the brink of unconsciousness.

"Here." The Peacekeeper that held the tray grunted as he walked to Peeta's cell, grabbing a plate and sliding it underneath the bars towards him. Then he did the same with Johanna, and then Juniper, and Annie. 

And whilst the appearance of food excited all of them except the unconscious Johanna, stomachs growling desperately, Juniper clenched her jaw when she saw it wasn't porridge. Instead, there was a plate of something chunky, which looked to be potatoes, mixed with milk. The smell was foul and it looked unappealing as Juniper stared at it.

"Don't want to eat it?" The Peacekeeper teased, voice muffled from his helmet. "Fine, we'll take it back." 

"No!" Juniper was quick to say. Now that there was food in-front of her and knowing what happened last time when she rejected it, she grabbed the plate with her cuffed hands. "We'll eat it." 

"Good," the Peacekeeper cooed as he and the other soldier left the area through the metal door. The sound of it slamming close jolted Johanna awake and made her let out a ragged gasp of breath. 

Juniper stared at her for a while, watching as the water droplets ran down her skin, how her muscles twitched. What was the Capitol doing to her? Dumping her in water? Juniper clenched her jaw before turning her attention to the potatoes and milk. It stunk and looked very unappetising, but Juniper watched as both Annie and Peeta scoffed down their plates and so, her stomach growling, she joined in too. 

She tried to cherish the feeling of food, trying to ignore the bitter and sweet taste of the potatoes and milk, but the minute it entered her stomach, she shoved nearly the entire plate down her throat. There wasn't even a spot of milk left on the porcelain by the time Annie, Peeta, and Juniper finished. But Johanna's was still untouched. 

"Go on, Mason," Juniper said as she licked her lips clean, sighing at the feeling of food in her stomach. "It's going to be cold by the time you eat it." 

"Shut it, Hale..." Johanna managed to croak out as she shuddered. Her face had a tinge of yellow to it as every fibre in her being twitched. 

The Hale woman narrowed her eyes at this, however. She watched how Annie sighed in relief, how Peeta seemed to calm down with food in his system. Why wasn't Johanna eating it? She knew it wasn't the most delightful thing to eat, but it was still food and they were still prisoners. So why wasn't Johanna eating it? But then Juniper studied how water had seeped into her skin and how tremors tore her apart. 

"Mason..." Juniper said slightly as she squinted her eyes. "What did they do?" 

Juniper expected Johanna to snap at her to mind her own business, to wave her away as she reluctantly ate her food. But instead, she started chuckling as she forced herself to get up, saying, "Isn't it obvious, Hale, or are you that dumb...? Water and electricity don't really go together." 

And that was all Johanna had to say as she reached for her plate, slowly starting to eat the potatoes. Juniper furrowed her brows, however, trying to ignore the pains that still ran through her body. Water and electricity? What did Johanna mean? The Hale woman was tempted to ask her when suddenly, she got it. 

They were electrocuting Johanna. They were dumping her in water and electrocuting her. 

Juniper felt her lips part slightly. 

(It had Juniper's interest, even more so when she saw a bucket that was half filled with water a bit away from where she stood, a drain directly underneath her feet)

That was Johanna's torture. Being electrocuted whilst drenched in water. Where Juniper was beaten, that was where the Mason woman got punished. The Victor from Ten felt a wave of nausea hit her as she forced herself to lean against the wall of the cell, cross-legged. Yes, extreme pains flashed through Juniper's body from where she was hit, ribs in agony whenever she breathed, but she wasn't electrocuted. And it made Juniper begin to think about what was happening to Peeta. 

"What happened to the two crazies while I was gone?" Johanna asked in a hagged voice. She was trying to act like nothing happened, but Juniper couldn't help but stare at the tremors running through her fingers. That's why she was bald. 

"Um — Annie still hasn't said anything," Juniper said as she flicked her eyes over to the woman. She was mumbling something to herself as she stared at her hands. "And Mellark... didn't you say he didn't have anything nice to say about Everdeen?" 

"Because he doesn't," Johanna responded with a mouthful of soggy potatoes. She nearly sighed at the taste of food in her mouth. "He calls her a mutt and that she should be put down... among other things." 

This caused Juniper to raise a brow as she told her, "Really? Because that's not what he said to me." 

"What do you mean?" 

"He was talking about how the rebels aren't going to come get us," Juniper explained. "And how they have Katniss. And how they're going to kill her. Sounded like he cared about her then." 

"Huh." Johanna hummed. "Are you sure he wasn't saying they should kill her?"  

"No." Juniper shook her head. Peeta was curled up in a ball on the tiled floor, head in hands as he dug his nails into his skin. "... what are they doing to him?" 

There was a moment of silence before Johanna said, "I don't know, but he screams his head off. It's like the jabberjays in the arena, only it's real and they don't stop after an hour." 

And Johanna was right. That afternoon, the Peacekeepers' took Peeta out of his cell and through the metal door. And if the Victor from Seven's screams were enough to have Juniper wincing, she felt her gut drop at the sound of Peeta's. They were filled with pain, agony, and suffering. He was screaming for help. Screaming for Katniss. Screaming the word mutt. It had Juniper biting her lip as she stared wearily at the metal door, but Johanna didn't react as she stared at her empty plate. Annie was silently crying in the corner of her cell. 

"How long does it go on for?" Juniper asked in a hushed voice. She was surprised Johanna could even hear her over the cries. 

"Hours," she replied. "They take us all out for hours except Annie. You were out for hours... I'm sure I'm out for hours as well. Guess you're wishing you were back in that white room, huh?" 

Yes, Juniper did. Juniper wanted to be back in the white room. She didn't want to be locked in the cell. She didn't want to be punished for not sharing information about the rebels. She didn't want to hear Peeta Mellark's screams or Johanna Mason's. Juniper despised the two, but there was something about their cries that buried that dislike. It was hard to despise two people who were getting tortured for hours. 

"What did they even do to you in the room, anyway?" Johanna asked. "You were in there for four weeks. It must have been exciting." 

Juniper swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought back to the clips, to the old television and the modernised one. The final moments of the Quell. Cashmere Nicholo and Gloss. Blight hitting the force field. Mags and the woman from Six dying. Wing and Hermes. The girl from Three. Rayon. Cedar and Ash. All of them were dead because of Juniper.

"Oh, was it bad?" Johanna teased. "Or did you just sit there staring at the whiteness until they brought you here?" 

"I think they only brought me here because I attacked Clampitt. If not, I'd probably still be there." 

"You attacked Clampitt?" Johanna let out a croaky laugh. "That's why she had bruises on her neck... that's probably also why she stopped our breakfast and dinner." 

Suddenly, for some reason, Juniper felt slightly guilty. She didn't know if the ceasing of their food was because she attacked Clampitt or because she hadn't eaten the frozen porridge and therefore, her own breakfasts and dinners were stopped. Either way, Juniper was the reason why the three Victors' bones were on display. 

When Peeta came back, he was shaking and yelling vile curse words that even Juniper didn't know. He was nothing like the boy who muttered a prayer with her for Cashmere Nicholo and Juniper felt her eyes go wide as she watched him twitch on the floor, rolling around as if something was itching him and the tiles were the only way to get them off. 

"He does this every time..." Johanna told her. "I think they inject him with something."

Juniper felt herself become appalled as she studied Peeta Mellark. It sounded like he was having a conversation with himself, an argument. It looked like he was trying to fight a war in his soul, but was losing. The Hale woman didn't want to know what that war was about. Instead, she looked over at Annie, who had been laying down with her eyes closed, but with the sudden arrival of Peeta spatting profanities into the air, it was causing her to shake slightly. Johanna looked unfazed. 

When was Plutarch going to get them?

Peeta eventually calmed down and was hissing mutt to himself as well as Katniss. Johanna was leaning against the wall of her cell. Annie had fallen asleep and was letting out small whimpers as she did. Juniper could feel a heartbeat in her ribs. The bruises that littered her legs and arms were very much visible. Blood was dried up in her hair. Her chest felt like it was going to collapse with every breath she took. Specks of the crimson liquid were littered across Juniper's paper robe, which looked much white than the other three's.

But as afternoon slowly left, evening came and the woman became fearful. She didn't want another beating. She could survive it, but she didn't want to endure it. Her ribs felt like they were going to snap if she got up too quickly and she couldn't even breathe or cough without pain shooting up her side. And then she thought back to the clips. Was Clampitt done showing her scenes from the Games? Had she just resorted to physical violence to get information out of Juniper? Had she realised that Juniper knew she was a killer and forgot about that little task? 

The Hale woman didn't know and swallowed a lump in her throat as she heard the metal door banging, bursting to reveal two Peacekeepers'. None of the other Victors' seemed fazed as the soldiers unlocked her cell and lifted her up out of it with tight grasps on her biceps, ignoring the loud hiss that escaped her lips when her ribs began to sting harshly. 

"Clampitt is waiting for you," one of the Peacekeepers' muttered as they began to head out of the metal doors. Juniper looked over her shoulder to see Annie still sleeping, Peeta now knocked out, and Johanna looking up at the ceiling. Would they hear her screams? Would the Peacekeepers' make her scream? 

Questions and fear filled Juniper, with the latter not being common, as they dragged her into the lab once more. Doctors still littered the area, refilling vials with something. Generators hummed. Other Peacekeepers' stood guard. The V-shaped structures were still there. Everything looked the same as it was. 

"Miss Hale," Dr. Clampitt greeted with a wide smile as she stepped away from a huddle of technicians that surrounded a computer screen. They were looking at something. A creature that was completely golden. They looked to be wasps. Tracker jackers? "How are you this fine evening?" 

"My ribs are killing me." Juniper grunted as she was forced to stand in-front of the doctor. She noticed the drain that was underneath her feet and the bucket of water. 

Johanna's torture. 

"How so?" Clampitt murmured as she held a clipboard in her hand, writing something down with a pen. 

"I can't breathe without them hurting," Juniper replied with a sneer. "And I can't move without them hurting."

"Hm." Clampitt hummed as she eyed Juniper. "Well... I'm not that type of doctor... Samuel! Check her ribs." 

A scruffy looking boy with shaggy hair and slight stubble came hurrying over to Clampitt. When he saw that the woman was gesturing towards Juniper, he quickly nodded. Fear enveloped his eyes as he stared at the Victor, but he swallowed it down as he began to, gingerly, touch the area of Juniper's ribs. This caused her to let out a near yelp, which raised Clampitt's brow.

"She has rib fractures," the boy squeaked as he hurried back to the doctor, leaving Juniper wincing. "The area is very swollen and tender, most likely bruised." 

"Severe?" Clampitt questioned. 

"No, ma'am," he said. "It'll heal in a few weeks." 

With that, the boy quickly disappeared to another station and left Juniper with Clampitt, who was eyeing her. The Hale woman felt the presence of the Peacekeepers' behind her and she could feel her fingertips twitching. Her temple still thudded slightly with its own heartbeat and Juniper was sure her legs would give way any moment. 

"I'm going to show you something, Miss Hale," Clampitt said. The Hale woman felt her heart stop. She didn't want to see any more clips. "Go get a chair and the television." 

Juniper thought she was talking to her, but the two Peacekeepers' behind her left to go get the required items. And as they did, the Hale woman felt her heart in her throat, making her choke. She didn't want to see a clip. She didn't want to rewatch, to relive the Hunger Games. The headache within her mind was worsening at the thought of it. 

"But it's not from the Games," Clampitt assured her. "It's from something else." 

Scenarios began to run through Juniper's head. Was it a clip of Orion Hale's torture? Or Finnick's? Or Lucy's? Or was Clampitt going to show her bits of Johanna Mason's and Peeta Mellark's torture to show what power she held? The Hale woman didn't know and didn't want to know. She just wanted to go back to the white room of hell. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted to go back to her father. 

The Peacekeepers' brought the trolley with the modern television on it and a plastic chair, pushing Juniper down on it. The Hale woman let out a muffled grunt and tried to breathe in through her nose as she watched Clampitt pick up the remote from the trolley. Juniper felt nausea wash over her as she watched the doctor aim the controller at the TV. With the push of a button, the screen blared to life with the Capitol Anthem playing and the seal appearing in the centre of the shot.

The final moments of the Quell. Cashmere Nicholo and Gloss. Blight hitting the force field. Mags and the woman from Six dying. Wing and Hermes. The girl from Three. Rayon. Cedar and Ash.

What was Clampitt going to show her that wasn't the Hunger Games. What was Clampitt going to show her that didn't end up with her killing someone? 

Suddenly, the television flicked on and the bright face of Caesar Flickerman appeared. And, despite his beaming smile that was overly too dramatic, he looked terrifying, seeming as if he was bleeding. His annual colour selection that year was a crimson red with his lips, hair, and eyelids dyed in it. And with his pure white makeup, he looked horrendous. But Juniper knew what year this clip was from just by Caesar's chosen colour. The Seventy-Third. 

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and little ones all around Panem!"  Caesar laughed into a microphone. There was a sound of cheers, whoops, and whistles from in-front of him and Juniper gathered it was a live audience. "Today is a very exciting day! Do you want to know why, folks? It's because this day marks the third day of the Seventy-Third Victory Tour!" 

Juniper blanched. Third day of the Seventy-Third Victory Tour. Wade Rankine had won that year. It was his Victory Tour. And then third day. That would be in District Ten. The tours always started in Twelve and went up in district numbers, skipping the Victors' own town, before concluding in the Capitol. Juniper remembered being there when Wade Rankine's tour ended in the Capitol. 

What were her tributes' names? 

"Wade Rankine, our darling Victor for the Seventy-Third, visited District Ten on the third day of his Victory Tour," Caesar told the audience and the camera. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

The screen changed shot to an overhead view of District Ten. The Gamemakers controlling the feed made it look more desirable than it ever did in person. They had edited out any specks of mud that made the district look dirty. They brightened the lights. Banners were strung up on nearby buildings to cover their neglected state. And then the camera washed over the crowd, zooming in on their faces. Every single one of them looked angry and exhausted. 

There was applause, but nothing like what was present in Caesar's studio. There were no cheers, whoops, or whistles. It was simple clapping as Wade Rankine, decked out in a silk suit with his chest on display, came walking out onto the stage of the Justice Building. His eyes flickered down to where a special platform had been constructed where the dead tributes families would stand, but Juniper couldn't see them as the camera only focused on Wade. 

When the clapping died out, the mayor went to give a speech in Wade's honour, but his voice was extremely strained and tense. Then, a little girl came forward to give the Victor from Two a bouquet of wildflowers that must have been plucked from the paddocks at the Barn of Death. The cameras didn't seem to show the banners that were flying high, which had the fallen tributes' faces on them. 

Who were the tributes that year? 

"Good afternoon, District Ten," Wade Rankine spoke into the microphone, staring down at the cards his escort must have given him to say. "It is an honour and a privilege to be here with you today." 

Everyone stared at the Victor from Two with hatred as grumbles echoed around. 

"I want to share with you my victory and my gratitude to the Capitol for giving me it," Wade continued. There was no emotion in his eyes and none settled into his face. "It comes with great sacrifice, strength, and power and those characteristics are my greatest pride. Without any of them, I wouldn't be standing here this afternoon and I am forever grateful. I am also forever grateful for the sacrifices of your tributes, Raymond Carmine and Carrie Ford. They were perhaps the most brave and noble warriors I have ever witnessed. And I am sure they've brought honour to you all. I share my sorrows with you for your losses. But despite the loss of the two most remarkable people, all of us are united. Both Victors' and passed. We are not separate, we are one. Panem today, Panem tomorrow. Panem forever." 

Raymond Carmine. 

The name echoed around in Juniper's head as the television turned itself off. 

Raymond Carmine. 

Oranges. Double-knot. Switching knives.