Elizabeth Willows

"You don't know fuck about my family" - Beth Willows

Beth Willows is a tribute who used to belong to Aria, but was given to PoisonedPoetry. Please do not use her without permission.

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Name: Elizabeth 'Beth' Willows

District: 14, or any career/upper class district. Gender: Female Age: 15

Personality: To say the least, Beth is a rebellious teenager, but she's unruly in a good way. She would be one to stand up against something morally wrong and fight against it for what's right. Despite that, Beth is good at heart and she would be kind to those who deserve kindness. However, never mistake her kindness as weakness as she will not hesitate to chop anyone up into pieces. In spite of the fact that Beth is cool-minded and would be called a strategic, chill person, she never fears danger. Being a kick-ass person, she always takes the kick-ass path.

Height: 5'6

Appearance: Beth has an interesting punk look. She has little colour in her, making her super pale. Her eyes are a shade of green, like a forest after a heavy rainfall. They also have a look that says she doesn't give a damn about your stereotypical opinions.

Beth's hair is a wild mess of green and black stripes. Her hair might as well be a zebra with green stripes instead of white. Green is Beth's favourite colour, after all. She has a piercing in her nose, which always has a silver ring through it.

Beth usually wears tank tops with shorts and keeps her zebra hair messy. The only thing in her punk look that doesn't fit is the half-yin-yang necklace she always wears. The half she has is yang, meaning the white side with the black dot, symbolising the rebel in all the sophistication.

Dominant hand: Left hand

Weapon(s): Warhammer, knife

Strengths: Agile, natural leader, focused

Weaknesses: No plant knowledge, low stamina, climbing

Fears: Loud noises

Reaction to fears: TBA

Allergies: TBA

Training strategy: TBA

Private training strategy: TBA

Interview angle: TBA

Bloodbath strategy: TBA

Games strategy: TBA

Alliance: With Eliza Ryder if they're in the same games. If not, she will be in a small group.

Token: A yin-yang necklace, where the two opposites can be taken apart. Beth has the yang half.

Showmance: No

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Quirks: TBA

Backstory
I don’t know why most babies cry at birth, but I do know my reason. The moment I was born, I experienced an almost literally mind-splitting headache, and I started to cry. Maybe it was just one random event.

Unfortunately, the universe is never that simple–whenever some strange event would occur, the migraine would return. Sometimes, I even heard a voice that wasn’t even vaguely like mine, at the very back of my head, telling me things I had absolutely no idea about. Although often encouraging and relatable, most of the time, it made absolutely no sense to me. Whenever I tried thinking about it, headaches would separate me from the voice, and I’d eventually forget about it.

Anyway, these headaches aren’t the highlight of my life. So, here’s a little introduction of me.

My name is Elizabeth Willows, but I’d prefer to be called Beth. Elizabeth sounds too much like royalty, too proper. I’m the exact opposite of it, and do not want to be defined by my parents and my ancestry.

I was born in the luscious Capitol to Daniel and Pauline Willows, who were quite close and supportive of the infamous Idylwylds.

Now, I’m just going to say it: I don’t like the Idylwylds. They’re nasty, despicable human beings. They’re like the murderous version of my parents.

I lived a posh and luxurious life–in my childhood, at least. My father was the owner of a major company in the Capitol and District 14, which tested new muttations for the Hunger Games and to keep the rebellious Districts in line. I despised the company since an early age, and I hate it to this day. Testing innocent animals–and sometimes, even humans–everyday, to turn them into vicious killers isn’t right at all.

My mother, on the other hand, was a model for the Capitol Times, and she was always caked with makeup. She, just like any other civilian in the Capitol, was a fake. An utter ruse, who became exactly what the Capitol turned her into. Whether it’s about her personality or face, she’s absolutely a cheat.

And they wanted me to become a carbon copy of them. Their puppet.

Around the age of five or six (you really can’t expect me to remember), my mother took me to her photoshoot studio, just for me to see her. At that age, I didn’t think much of it, but today I realize that she wanted to urge me into modeling, to become a doll like her.

“Darling, Elizabeth,” she was telling me while facing the camera as I swung my legs around sitting in the corner, “isn’t this a lovely dress?”

I’ll admit, it was gorgeous. It was a pure, snow-white dress with dazzling rhinestones covering it from top to bottom, and a velvet lace tied as a bow on her waist.

I wanted to wear it.

“It’s really pretty, mom,” five-year-old me said.

She just smiled at me, and faced the camera again.

After a bunch of more flashes from the camera, my mother turned to me. “You know, if you ever want to get into modeling or such, which is absolutely your choice, you could try it out right now. Here, try out this dress.”

Before I could object, she handed me a fluffed up pink dress and sent me off to the changing rooms. After I changed, left the room, got my makeup done and had multiple photos of mine taken, she started talking to me about “the real deal”.

“You know, a child model is required for these new magazine, and since you’ve always wanted to be a model–” that had never slipped into the conversation “–I’ve convinced the publishers to let you into the cover photo!”

To any other Capitol girl, that would’ve been the dream. Even I wanted to be one at time. No, you mustn’t, even though it’s tempting, I told myself.

I don’t know if I’m like you yet, and it’s not your decision if I love you or not, another voice replied. I was confused. The strange voice spoke again, but what was it trying to tell me? I shook that thought off before the migraine got worse, although those words stuck in my head.

So, for the next four-ish years, I was surrounded with cameras and lights and always draped in nothing finer than silk. Girls at my school envied me and boys… well, what do ten-year-old boys do in front of a pretty girl? But even after countless pictures and photoshoots, not one made the front page or was even remotely memorable. The reason for this was because the publishers said that I couldn’t smile properly. I didn’t even bother to smile. My ever-so-encouraging mother slowly lost her passion for me being a camera face, so, at that age, my career as a junior model ended.

So naturally it was my father’s turn to dissuade me into animal cruelty.

“Elizabeth,” he called out in his silky, warm voice, “since it didn’t work out for you at Mother’s department, how would you like if I took you on a little field trip?”

At first, I got pretty excited and bobbed my head up and down, until he finished: “Perfect! You can visit my experimental laboratory today. Get dressed, darling.”

Once again, he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I got dressed in slacks and a shirt that I hadn’t worn in so long because of my model life, and set off with my father.

He enthusiastically explained to me what he’d be showing me all throughout the car ride, but I only focused on that little voice in my head–The simplest solution would be to quit everything.

As soon as we arrived, the worked greeted us warmly, careful not to disrespect their boss and his daughter. I was nervous to get inside and see animals get tortured, but my father dragged me along.

The first sight I’d seen was a mutilated rabbit. Its fur was as white as snow, and it didn’t look harmless at all. I reached out to pet it, despite the glass separating it from me, but it suddenly lashed out at me, and I saw it’s wolf-like fangs. No longer did it look cute to me, and before I even realised it, I let out a short shriek.

My fear of loud noises developed in this torture lab. “There, there, Elizabeth,” my father reassured me. Not that it worked.

I’d passed a few more horrifying muttilations–a frog with a deafening cry of pain, that would not stop shrieking until the tribute falls dead, a group of butterflies that appeared beautifully coloured revealing their poisonous stingers, a tiny mole popping out of the ground under your feet to bite and claw it out, you name it. What’s worse was that some of the workers were playing whack-a-mole with a giant mallet–or maybe a warhammer specifically made to kill the moles–and laughing as if they do it everyday.

I met my limit as soon as I saw a pale human girl with coral hair thrashing around and screaming, as scientists held her down and dripped nothing but simply water on her. It wouldn’t have hurt anyone, but it sizzled on her skin and made gaping holes. I bit my lip to keep myself from joining in her screams, and the noise became unbearable. This wasn’t just horrifyingly scary, but it wasn’t right either, mutilating you against your objections and torturing you.

I had no choice. I quickly ran to the workers with the warhammer and snatched it from them. It seemed surprisingly fit for my hands, despite it being heavy. I raised it, and it went crashing down on the girl’s bonds. Immediately, she jumped up at started breathing fire all over the equipment, and the whole laboratory started shrieking, until my own father rushed up, grabbed a large container of water and threw it at the mutt. She fell to the ground and didn’t move anymore.

I didn’t realize I was still clutching the warhammer as if I were holding onto for dear life. Everyone looked at me, shooting accusing glares. But I stuck to my word–this went against human rights.

Of course, I didn’t say that to their faces.

“I-I’m sorry…” I muttered, “I didn’t think…”

“It’s alright, Elizabeth,” my father said, but the warmth in his voice disappeared. “Mistakes happen.”

I didn’t talk about this again. I tried to save a human life. My father killed her. And he pretended I was in the wrong.

The same tricks that once fooled me wouldn’t get them anywhere. I wasn’t the same kid from their memories. Now I could fend for myself.

Before I even realized it years later, a rebel sparked up in my heart.

At the age of eleven, when my two bratty parents were busy with themselves, I went out, but not in the same direction I usually always head out to. This direction led into an alleyway, which then led to a place you’d call a bad neighbourhood. To me, this was home.

As I started walking down the area, I bumped into someone without noticing.

“Watch where you’re going,” the girl with short spiky hair and blue streaks said. She seemed only a year older than me, but with her attitude and outfits, she would’ve looked sixteen.

“Sorry,” I said, and was about to keep walking until the taller guy she was hanging out with stopped me.

“Never been in this place of the Cap’, have ya?” he asked with a toothy grin. He had a sort of accent I couldn’t place my finger on.

“Not really,” I replied.

The girl noticed where this was going and started to warm up towards me. “Name’s Kali. That’s Blaire. And you are?”

“Elizabeth.”

“Nice to meet ya, Beth,” Blaire smiled. Beth. I liked that name. Much better than Elizabeth, anyway.

Three eight-year-olds were running down the path, and seemed angry and lost. Kali rolled her eyes and shouted, “Move along! This place isn’t for kids. And what the hell happened to you, Intell?”

“Let’s go, Praetorian!” the kid who was assumably Intell said to his buddies and ran off.

“Thought he was thirty a day ago,” Blaire muttered. Kali gave a sigh of exasperation at the kids and turned back to me. “So, Beth, are you a runaway or fugitive?”

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t think she’s either,” Blaire said, “think she just wandered here.”

“I guess?” I concluded. Kali shrugged.

“Don’t care,” she said, “we’re getting you a complete attitude change now. Starting with that hair.”

“My what?” I didn’t know what my hair had to do with my attitude, but I rolled with these two runaways who soon become my best friends, but that’s a tale for another day.

Kali and Blaire dragged me to a hair salon/tattoo parlour and told the stylist to fix my hair. “What d’ya want, Beth?” Blaire asked.

Still bewildered at the new friends I made, although I got a hang of their lifestyle now, since I was used to it, I looked around and saw a woman getting black and white stripes in her hair.

“Uh,” I said, looking at my own black hair, “how about green stripes all through it?”

“You heard her,” Kali grinned at the stylist who nodded with a style and set on my hair. As she painted my hair a green zebra, my new friends talked about their lives.

“My name was actually Cameron Prosper,” Kali was saying, “daughter of the ‘famous’ Paul Prosper. I actually ran away—he’s not as innocent as he seems. I hope he dies.” I didn’t question Kali. Blaire started speaking.

“Me? Was abandoned when m’parents found out.”

“Found what out?” I asked.

Blaire shrugged. “Coming out of the closet was a big mistake. So, anyway, when I realised who I like ‘n who I don’t, parents kicked me out. Fortunate I found Kali. She’s like a sister.”

“So you’ve been living here like this since then?”

“Yeah,” Kali replied, “we just find places to stay until Peacekeepers invade. Then we leave, and the cycle continues.”

“How do you get the money to do all this?”

Blaire grinned. “We steal, we kill, we lie. Kiddin’ ‘bout the killing part, saw you grow pale. But yeah, that’s our lifestyle.”

“Not as bad as it sounds, you know,” said Kali, “and we’re always here if you ever feel like leaving home.”

I pondered on that. It sounded like bliss. I looked over to someone in the salon getting piercings.

“I’d like to get some of those piercings.”

The two of them grinned as I got a nose piercing. My parents were in for a surprise.

“Elizabeth—what?” my mother stared at me in bewilderment. I merely shrugged. “What happened to your hair? And what is that on your nose?”

“I decided to get a makeover,” I said with a smirk, and left to my room without even glancing at my angered father.

The next day, I met up with Blaire and Kali again.

“Back, are ya?” said Blare and ruffled my hair. Kali laughed.

“Blaire, I’m off to the weaponry. Wanna come with?”

“Weaponry?” I said, intrigued.

“Well, it’s not actually a weaponry, per se,” Kali said, “but you’ll know what I mean. Come on!”

They dragged me through an ally and we came across a fairly nice vintage-like store. It seemed slightly deserted, but Kali took me in there anyway.

Kali looked around, and then said, “Benjamin, I know you’re in here!”

The storeowner got up from his desk groggily, as if he had a hangover. “Good after-morning, Madam Delacoure!”

“Perfect,” Blaire snickered. I didn’t get what was going on.

“It’s Miss Darnel, I’m just going to look around,” Kali said quickly, and dragged me to the back of the room. Blaire followed.

“This is better now that he’s heavily intoxicated,” Kali muttered under her breath, loud enough only for us to hear. “I don’t think he’ll notice us.” On that note, Kali looked back at Benjamin, and then stealthily slipped a pair of throwing knives into her jacket.

I didn’t have time to react when Kali asked, “So, what’s your weapon?”

“Uh…” I looked around. Nothing really suited me, and I was about to say nothing, until my eyes landed on a warhammer. The warhammer. I used one so long ago. It was the weapon that sparked up my rebellion.

“Warhammer,” I muttered.

“Er,” Blaire started, “kinda hard to hide, don’t ya think?”

I turned a deaf ear on Blaire, and started towards it. I picked it off the rack, and as a test, swung it around. It was pretty heavy. Practice makes perfect, Beth, I told myself, and went to the desk. Kali and Blaire seemed alarmed, but I flashed my eyes at them and told them to play along.

“We’ll take this,” I said without emotion in my voice.

Benjamin blinked. “Lots of money that is.”

“We’ve already paid, remember?” I said. Benjamin scratched his head, and then nodded.

“Thanks for standing by!” Benjamin called out as we hurriedly left. “Wait, I think the phrase is stopping.”

“I got really scared you’d blow our cover back there,” Kali said, giving out a sigh of relief. Blaire chuckled.

“Already gotten the hang of it,” he said.

By that time, it was getting sort of late and I had to leave. I handed Kali the warhammer. “I don’t think I’ll have an explanation for this back home. Keep it safe?”

Kali nodded as I left for my so-called home.

“Elizabeth, please explain yourself.”

I didn’t respond to my father’s stern tone as I ate a fancy dinner.

“What is up with you? You’ve dyed your hair, you’ve gotten piercings, you leave without notice for hours each day—”

“I’m fine,” I replied with a sarcastic tone, which he did not appreciate. “I’ll be off to sleep. You don’t need to question me; don’t you have poor animals to torture?”

I walked upstairs as my father stood with his jaw dropped. He knew exactly why I did what I did that day when I visited the factory. I didn’t care.

I hung out with Blaire and Kali again the next day. It started to become a daily routine that I actually loved. This day, I found them in an alleyway. Kali was throwing knives at the already-broken wall, with Blaire sarcastically and dramatically commentating her each move.

“If you weren’t an outcast, you would’ve been the next Caesar Flickerman,” Kali was saying, until they both noticed me. “Hey, Beth!”

“Hey, guys!” I said. They both greeted me.

“Want ya weapon?” Blaire waved my warhammer at me. I nodded, and he tossed it to me. Thankfully, I caught it before it could hit me square in the chest, and swung it around as a test.

“So, Beth,” Kali started, still focusing on her knife-throwing skills, “I’ve got a plan today. We’re gonna raid a bakery.”

“Why, though?” I asked.

“Ran out of food,” Blaire explained, “so we’re going to steal some.”

“Do you guys always do this?” I started asking too many questions. Although I had stolen a warhammer yesterday, I couldn’t put my finger on the fact they did this everyday, or very usually.

“We’re outcasts, Beth,” said Kali, “we’re already on the run. We’re already so stooped in crime that it would be harder going back than carrying on. Besides, there’s no right without a wrong.”

I pondered this. Blaire continued what Kali was saying. “See, crime ain’t no good thing, so we do as little as we can. But we still gotta do it. Only way we can live, ya know. Somebody’s gotta be the villain. A villain doesn’t necessarily need to be bad, either. Sometimes it’s their only option.”

I didn’t say much for a while, and kept thinking about Blaire’s words. I finally came to a conclusion. “I’ll go with you guys.”

Kali grinned. “Kelly Mellark’s bakery is just this way. In the good part of town, you could say.”

We walked to the bakery and went behind it.

“Is Kelly not even here?” Blaire whispered. Kali ushered him to shut up.

“No one will know there’s a robbery if everything seems fine, so we should use the front door,” Kali explained quietly.

“Are you nuts?” Blaire harshly whispered back. “She’ll see us and we’ll rot in jail.” Kali rolled her eyes and went to the front. We followed her. As she creaked open the door, it made the noise of a bell. I silently cursed.

Kali shook her head and tiptoed in anyway. It really did seem that no one was there.

“A’right, so we each take a teeny bit, so she doesn’t notice her bread missing. And take nothing but bread, since it’ll be more obvious if something else was taken.” Blaire moved on to fill his pockets with some aromatic bread. It smelled freshly baked. Although I felt a bit guilty doing this, it also seemed fun. It seemed… rebellious. I liked it.

“Let’s get out now,” Kali whispered, and made her way back to the front door. She opened it, and the godforsaken bell rang again, but we left before anyone could notice.

“Oh, that was one risky theft!” Kali exclaimed when we were out of the area. “Now we have food for days!”

I couldn’t help but to join in with their gleeful laughter. I really enjoyed hanging out with Blaire and Kali. It was much better than with my parents.

Speaking of which, a huge surprise awaited me when I returned.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw a bunch of bags and boxes lying around.

“Umm…” I wondered aloud, and saw the devil of a parent walk down the stairs, carrying yet another box. From the top, I could see one of my clothes. “Are we moving out, or something?”

My father merely laughed. “Oh, we’re not moving out, you are.”

My mouth hung open wide. “This—this is a joke, right? This has to be some cruel joke. You’re not actually kicking your own daughter out, are you?”

“I don’t know where my daughter is,” said my soon-to-be ex-mother, “but you’re not her. You’re not my daughter. Even our cousin’s problematic daughter, Clara, is better than you. I am merely ordering a stranger to leave my house immediately!”

My father continued in a sarcastically soothing voice, “Besides, you spend your day out of the house anyway. Surely you can survive on your own. Or maybe you’ll end up dead in a ditch. It’s not our problem anymore.”

I couldn’t believe it. I turned to my somehow ecstatic excuse for a father and angrily said, “You want a hassle-free life? Fine. I’ll leave. I was never your little slave anyway.”

“How dare you speak to your father like that?” my ex-mother retorted.

“He’s not my father anymore, remember? And neither can you tell me what to do. Besides, I’m happier alone. This is the best thing that could’ve happened.”

On that note, I dragged only the things important to me and left the house. This was no longer my home. It was just a mere house which I then swore never to step foot into again. My home was where the people I loved were. And Daniel and Pauline Willows were not any of them.

I can’t lie to you that I hadn’t cried. In fact, I cried until my tear glands stopped functioning properly. I was absolutely homeless. I was worse than an orphan—I was abandoned. My parents shunned me. They kicked me out. They hated me. They said I wasn’t their daughter.

My face was sticky with dried tears by the time I reached my actual home. It was after midnight, so I didn’t know where I could find Blaire and Kali. I sighed, and looked around for any temporary shelter, until I found an old and seemingly abandoned little store a ways from where I was. Remembering what I’d learned from my time with the two, I was able to sneak into there and got greeted by a knife at my throat.

Before I could scream, my attackers recognised me. “Oh, my God, Beth!” Kali exclaimed, and moved her knife away from me. “I thought someone was trying to break in and kill us!”

“You were about to kill me,” I said, breathing heavily. “And what are you guys even doing here?”

“Well,” Blaire started, “did ya really think we literally lived in the streets?”

“Well, umm, I really didn’t think about it…” I admitted. “But how did you guys even get this place?”

“We kinda murdered the owner,” Blaire explained casually. I widened my eyes and started to back away. “Nah, just messin’ with ya, Beth! We don’t kill people. That’s just rude.”

“I was scared you were actually serious,” I said with a small laugh. Little things and giggles like this was what I loved about these two.

“Beth, how come you’re here at like… 1 a.m.?” Kali asked.

“Oh,” I just realised I didn’t explain to them what had happened. “Well…” I tried my best to explain to them exactly how my parents disowned me without a single thought.

“And—And I just didn’t know what to—” Kali embraced me into a hug before I could finish and I cried into her shoulders.

“You’re part of our family,” she muttered.

I slept in the little shop that night, as I would be for the next few years. I was woken up by Blaire.

“Beth, we’re going somewhere to cheer ya up,” he said with a grin.

“Where?” I asked as he tossed me my warhammer.

“It’s a surprise,” Kali winked, and left the shop with Blaire and I following her.

We walked towards a different side of the supposedly bad part of the Capitol, and I still didn’t know what we were doing, and Kali being vague was definitely not helping.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she whispered at last. “We’re going robbing!”

She said ‘robbing’ like it was ‘shopping’. But she was right—doing this would help me take my mind off things. I didn’t steal for the goods. I did it for fun. I loved the thrill of being on the run.

I grinned as we were standing in front of another store. Apparently some other people had a similar idea to ours, as two thieves named Dan and Phil were arguing about what to take while Kali, Blaire and I quietly broke in, snickering at them.

“Wait, did you hear that?” Dan asked Phil.

“This can’t be good,” Phil responded. They started talking about Peacekeepers finding them and about flashlights. Now that they mentioned the flashlights, I started seeing them as well.

“Get down,” I hissed to my friends.

As the commotion went on, and Dan and Phil started leaving in fear, we went in and took some of the money. Not too much—we didn’t actually want it (however, having it isn’t bad, either). Just enough to be noticed.

“Where the heck are we supposed to go?” Dan or Phil asked the latter.

“I don’t know. I guess we submit ourselves to the law.” Good for them.

“Pfft. Fine.”

I heard something about ropes from Dan and Phil and shouts coming from outside, but didn’t think much of them. I was just making sure I avoided them, or we’d be caught as well.

“Uh-oh. Peacekeepers.” Blaire cursed. Of course, the not-so-good robbers were not only caught, but attracted the attention of other Peacekeepers. There was another girl amongst all this talking with the Peacekeepers, whose voice seemed oddly familiar. Just like the one I’ve heard in my head all these years…

I wasn’t paying much attention and about to leave until I heard my own name.

“Elizabeth, we’ll do our best to see your parents locked up for life and executed.”

That sounded wonderful, but what the heck was happening? How did the Peacekeeper know my name and that I was even there?

“Beth, we need to go,” Kali urged me. I shook my head and followed my friends back to what I now called home.

“See?” Kali smiled. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”

“It actually was,” I grinned. I really liked it. It was the exact opposite of what my ex-parents would do. If they knew I was still alive and doing this, they would’ve been outraged. And I would’ve smiled smugly at them.

I didn’t feel too much pain thinking about them now. This was good.

And so I adapted to Kali and Blaire’s lifestyle. Well, I kind of had already done it, but this time for real.

A few weeks later, we were going to go to a drug dealer.

“Err, I don’t do drugs…” I muttered.

Blaire laughed. “Neither do we. See, the guy we’ll be goin’ to is a bastard. Murderous and psychotic one at that. He pretends to sell drugs, but they’re really sleeping pills. It’s just fun to mess with him.”

“That’s… that’s not much better,” I said sheepishly, and Kali giggled.

“Don’t worry about it. But bring your warhammer like I’m bringing my knives just in case something happens,” Kali warned, “since you never know when anything can go wrong.”

“But why are we getting sleeping pills? And for who?” I asked Blaire.

“Err,” he scratched his head, “bit complicated. Don’t ask too many questions about it to Kali. She’s been… a little distraught lately.”

I nodded, pretending to understand, and went with them.

As we reached the place, I wanted to back out immediately. It gave off a bad aura.

“Look, if you want, you can stay here while I go do it,” offered Kali.

“No,” I said, “it’s fine. I’ll go with you two.”

Before we went inside, I saw a figure standing at the rooftop on the building in the corner of my eye. But it was now too late (and would be too annoying for Kali and Blaire) to leave, so I didn’t give it much thought and walked in.

“Saturn, you’re the most experienced of us here,” someone was saying, “so remember to give any customers as gory a death as possible. Pretend to sell drugs, but they’re sleeping pills. Torture them there and then. Understand?” That sounded like a cup of fun.

“Yes,” an annoyed voice that presumably belonged to Saturn said, “now leave me the fuck alone!”

“Jeez, Louise!” the first guy said, holding his hands up in defeat. “But fine.” He left, and Saturn grinned.

As we walked inside, making our paces faster, Saturn started yelling profanity and some other things.

But awaited us was a surprise. I found Saturn dead with a disgusting amount of blood pouring out of his forehead like a faucet. This was worrying because he had been alive ten minutes ago.

“Least he’s gone,” Blaire commented, still wide-eyed.

“Alright,” Kali whispered, “we get the pills and then get out of here.”

“Look, Kali,” Blaire said, giggling, “he still has some cocaine left!”

“Put that down, Blaire!” Kali hissed, a bit annoyed, but Blaire shrugged it off with a grin.

“There.” I found some sleeping pills, and I snatched them off the shelf. “We should get out. There’s a murderer lurking around here somewhere.”

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Kali nodded, and we tiptoed whilst running out of the store. I wondered if it was the figure at the roof that I’d seen before that killed Saturn.

We returned back like it was any other day and the rest of it went normally. It was at night when Blaire and Kali went to sleep, but I was kept awake by Kali constantly shuffling in her sleep. It turned out she wasn’t asleep at all, and was as annoyed as I was.

Kali got up and went to the bottle of sleeping pills we’d stolen earlier that day.

Despite Blaire’s warnings, I was curious. “Kali, why did you want sleeping pills?”

“I can’t sleep,” she simply said and swallowed a pill dry. I hated it when she kept being so vague about these things.

“Why not?” I pressed on.

Kali sighed. “When… when you came here after your demon parents kicked you out, it brought back old memories.” I remembered what she said about her actually being Cameron Prosper, running away from her old home. “You and I aren’t very different, Beth. Although I ran away and you were abandoned, the way you described your hell… it sounded a lot like mine. Since then I couldn’t get to sleep. He keeps entering my nightmares. That’s why I need to force sleep.”

I didn’t say anything for a while. I felt like silence was the only consolation prize for her.

Kali swallowed another pill. “I’m tired, Beth. I’m gonna go sleep now.” She yawned.

“Yeah,” I said. “You know, an overdose can get you killed, Kali.”

“I know.” Kali took yet another pill without water, and headed off to sleep.

That night, I kept wondering what my ex-parents were doing. Were they happy without me, or did they regret leaving me to die? Did they know I was still alive, and what I was doing? Would they take me back?

All these questions were answered a few years later. Kali was still taking sleeping pills on a regular basis, but it had become less and less with every day. Blaire was still good old Blaire, and, well, I was Beth. I was not Elizabeth Willows, or even Elizabeth. I was just Beth. Simple, happy Beth, with a family without a last name.

“Guys,” Kali said, “I think it’s time to say hello to an old friend of mine. More like foe, but it ruins the phrase.”

“A’right,” Blaire said happily, “who is it?”

“Paul Prosper,” Kali responded.

“Your father?” I asked. Kali nodded.

“I can’t live off these sleeping pills, so what better way to get rid of this method than to face what I wouldn’t want to?” said Kali. “I heard he was hosting a party at his mansion. I think a warm present for that would be to mess it up.”

“I like the idea,” I grinned, and we all got set up. Kali and I wore black dresses that we bought with money we stole long ago, while Blaire wore a tuxedo. The dress I wore was very elaborate and I was able to hide my warhammer behind its veil. The same went for Kali with her knives, and Blaire assured us he knew martial arts.

“Perfect.” I hadn’t seen Kali happier before. We set forth to Paul Prosper’s mansion, and we arrived shortly.

Completely blending in with the environment, we pretended to be any old guests. What we were about to do was ruin all the food, destroy the lights and leave the place in tatters. It wasn’t much, but it seemed to keep Kali happy.

“Blaire, get the lights. Beth, you’re in charge of the food. I’ll shred up all the décor,” Kali instructed, and we split up.

Unfortunately, I met someone whilst trying to toss the food around.

“This food is quite rich, wouldn’t you say, madam?” a familiar voice asked me. I recognised it as my father’s. I widened my eyes, and didn’t know how to respond.

I decided that since I’d be caught sooner or later, it was best to confess. “It’s your daughter, Elizabeth.”

Now it was his turn to be startled. “Elizabeth? I thought you were dead!”

“Like you wanted me to be?” I muttered bitterly. “Listen—I’m not here for idle chit-chat, so leave me be.”

At that very moment, I started knocking platters of food off the buffet table, and the lights went out. People started screaming, and loud noises of things being torn and shredded were also being heard.

Suddenly, gunshots were being heard. At first, I thought Kali somehow managed to get fake rifles to imitate the noises, but that wasn’t the case when the lights were turned back on and people were running out of the party. Blaire was in handcuffs and Kali was nowhere to be seen. I noticed Peacekeepers coming towards me, so I started running as a natural instinct, but they shot at me and the bullet landed in my hand. If that wasn’t bad enough, I tripped because of the long dress and the heels, and now, there was no escape.

“You’re lucky you’re not dead,” one Peacekeeper spat.

Kali fell from the top floor splat on her back, and then the person that walked up to her was none other than Paul Prosper. At first he didn’t know what was going on, but then he recognised his daughter’s face. “C—Cameron?” He reached out to help her up, but Kali pushed herself away.

“Get away from me, you goddamn excuse for a father!” she yelled. Some Peacekeepers hauled her up and put her hands behind her back.

“Cameron,” Paul said softly, “I—I don’t understand—”

“You know exactly what you did,” Kali yelled, too aggressively. She was put into handcuffs as I had also been.

“That’ll be all, sir,” a Peacekeeper said to Paul, and took us to prison. And in the first day of it, I apparently had a visitor. A Peacekeeper escorted me to the visitors’ room, and there I saw my parents.

Normal families would say ‘hello’, or something similar, but all I said was, “What do you want?”

My ex-mother sighed. “How are you still alive?” she asked reluctantly.

“I learned to live alone even before, hmm, how do I phrase this delicately… before you decided to kick me out?” I retorted.

“So it works out well between both of us,” my father sneered. “You weren’t like this before. What happened to you?”

“What happened to me?” I whispered. “What happened to me was that I had an opinion. I realised I was being brought up by an animal abuser and a fake model. I realised that what was happening wasn’t right, and that I had the choice to leave. No, I’m not your little slave. I don’t twist and turn that way. I was corrupted from the very beginning.”

“No, you’ve been corrupted,” my mother said, “and I don’t know how, but I hope Ezra doesn’t turn out to be like you.”

I blinked. “Ez—Ezra? Who’s that?”

“Your soon-to-be baby brother,” she explained with her nose held high.

“I… I have a brother…” I faltered. My anger was suddenly replaces with bitterness and a feeling of betrayal.

“Yes. We have to move on and forget about the past.” ‘Past’ was just another word for me. “If we live in the past, then our family would be torn apart—”

“Shut up for one goddamn second!” I shouted. “You’re one to talk. You have the personality of a lemon that has been truly sucked dry.” I turned to my father. “You think you can just fix everything by forgetting about the past? By forgetting about me? You’re not even forgetting about it—you’re just erasing me from your lives. Pretending I never existed. And—and is Ezra just a consolation prize for yourself? A replacement for me? Because it sure seems like it. I’m not sure if you ever cared about me. You just wanted me to be your puppet.”

“That isn’t true,” my father started, raising his voice, “we only wanted you to grow up with a good life. It’s your fault for abandoning the chance and ‘having an opinion’. And this is exactly why I pray that Ezra doesn’t need to know you exist.”

“So, you’ve just admitted that you’re erasing me from your memories, your lives and even one of someone who hasn’t been born yet. That’s… that’s just great. Fantastic.” Bitter tears started to form in my eyes, but I forced them back into my eyes. “I know you’ll ruin Ezra like you ruined me. He’ll become his own person, and you’ll hate him for that. You should be deemed unsafe with children.”

“You are truly a despicable human being,” my mother hissed.

“And you’re a filthy hypocrite,” I countered. “To be honest, I’m glad you left me for myself. Who knows what would’ve happened to me if I stayed with you any longer.”

“You’ve even turned to crime,” my mother sneered, “so don’t even think of yourself better than us!”

“Not every criminal is evil,” I said, remembering what Blaire told me so long ago, “and sometimes we don’t have a choice but to be bad.”

When my parents didn’t respond, I continued, “The same doesn’t go for you, though. You had a choice. You could’ve done something good. You could’ve accepted me for who I was.” After a long while, my father finally spoke. “Elizabeth—”

“Just call me Beth,” I said.

“Beth,” he continued, “there are times I regret having you leave, but for the sake of both of us, it’s better if we pretend to be strangers.”

I took a deep breath. “Look, I’d be as happy as the next person to pretend that you didn’t exist. But in spite of this, I will always have existed in your lives as you have mine. I will always remember what you have done. You’ll always remember what I have done. But we’ll focus on the present. We won’t mention each other, but we will stay at the very back of each other’s minds. You can’t change the ending of a story if you don’t like it, but you can continue it into a better life.”

And for once, my parents understood. “Goodbye, Beth.”

“Goodbye.” The Peacekeeper took me back to my cell, and there I stayed for only three weeks. In those three weeks, I had absolutely no human contact except for the occasional Peacekeeper walking by. I really missed Kali and Blaire.

Apparently, I was called again in the visitors’ room. I thought it was my parents, but it was the head Peacekeeper.

“Alright,” he said, “since you’re only… thirteen? Fourteen? Whatever, I don’t care. You’re a juvenile so you’re being let go.”

“Are you being serious?” I asked. “Because I can’t tell if this is just sarcasm.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m being serious. However, you will be deported to District 14, and there you can do whatever you want.”

“What about my friends?” I asked. I had no idea what was going to happen to Kali and Blaire.

“They’re going elsewhere. One to District 8, the other to District 5. You won’t be seeing them again, though.”

I gritted my teeth and didn’t say anything. I just hoped I could magically find them again, or that they could find me. However, I didn’t do anything and sat silently in the train that took me to District 14.”

TBC

Song Inspiration
Used to be a major scale But the melody went stale Musical cacophony let Insy Winsy spider free – This explains how Beth's life "used to be a major scale", but then it went downhill. "Insy Winsy spider free" refers to how the rebel in Beth burst out.

You're a rich little boy Who's had to work for his toys You've got all the sensibilities, oh Of an upper class guy – To be revealed when the backstory is finished.

No, I'm not your little slave No, I don't twist and turn that way Only got bad things to say You're always asking what is up, up with me – Beth won't bend under her parents' will. "Only got bad things to say" refers to how as a rebel she is protestant and apparently those are bad things to say.

Could never tell you what happened The day I turned seventeen, The rise of a king and the fall of a queen Oh, seventeen Seventeen

Oh, you were embarrassed of me 'Cause I used my tongue freely Bet you wish I couldn't speak 'Cause when I do, you know I tell you why you appear weak – Beth's parents were embarrassed of her because she had an opinion that could cause their downfall.

''You want a hassle free life? Go get your upper class wife She's got all the personality, oh Of a lemon that has been Truly sucked dry'' – This is Beth talking to her father about her mother, of how if he wants to live happily, he should just take his fake, wry wife and live with her.

You teach me how to behave I felt you question the way I was brought up as a baby Well, you don't know fuck about my family – If Beth were to talk about her parents and why she was so rebellious, this is what she'd say. Especially the part where she says, "Well, you don't know fuck about my family."

Never felt like a princess I used to kill myself in this dress That it was just how things Were meant to be Oh, seventeen Seventeen – Beth never felt like the posh Capitol citizens, and she hated trying to fit in with them. But that's how things were meant to be.

Trivia

 * Throughout Beth's backstory, many references are made to the song 'Ignorance' by Paramore.