I plop down heavily onto the bed, stuffing my face in my hands. I close my eyes tightly, a foolish part of me hoping that when I open them, this will have a all been a nightmare. A terrible dream. Then my stomach rumbled. A hollow sound it was, nothing left. Nothing left. It gnawed at my insides, taunting my very core.
Sitting up, and leaning against the wall I sigh, my eyes still closed. I could deal with a little hunger. No, the big problem was water.
Suddenly, I hear the national anthem of Illea blaring to the left and, sharply, I look up, searching for its source. I quickly spot the tv, and scout around for a remote, but alas there isn't one. I guess it must be Friday, the day of the Report. I knew it was mandatory that all citizens watch it, but I didn't guess that that would include prisoners. Blinking the last of the ache out of my eyes, I decide to distract myself by watching. I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do. And besides, perhaps I could get some more information as to why I was here. My memory is quite hazy right now.The Queen, King and Prince Maxon appear, all in their usuall positions. However, Maxon was a mess. It looked as if his maids had tried their best to cover it up, but if one looked closely, you could tell. His hair was the same old-same old style, combed to perfection. His white suit was as crisp as ever. His eyes though, had dark circles dished out underneath his eyes, and he looked kind of pale under all that makeup, giving me the assumption that he hadn't slept right in days. But it wasn't that. His face, a taunt smile, held the eyes of a haunted man. He looked off.....but why? And that wasn't the only thing,  Kriss was on set, but instead of her usual seat to the left she was seated right next to Maxon. She was practically beaming, her eyes lit with excitement. She was wearing an elegant yellow dress with a sweetheart neckline, the bottom cut out to look like petals. She was radiant. Almost like the sun itself. And also, the complete opposite of Maxon.
"Today I have to bring some both sad and joyous news." Started off Gavril. In his usual showy voice. "Let's start with the happy news, shall we?"
"Congratulations to Kriss and Maxon on their engagement!" The  crowd roars its approval. Gavril then calls up both Maxon and Kriss to talk with him in the two sofas near his chair. Naturally, Maxon and Kriss snuggle up into one together. Or more Kriss snuggled to Maxon, and he obliged. Something was definitely off about him.
" So, how does it feel to be engaged?"
"Amazing!" Kriss responded eagerly." I never thought this day would happen!"
"How about you Maxon?"
"Oh...yeah It-s great, great."
This was not the confident, happy Maxon I had seen just a few months ago. What the heck happened?
"Could we see your ring?"
"Sure Gavril, no problem!" Again, Kriss is the one to speak up. She grabs Maxon's hand, and lifts their matching rings up toward the screen.
"Ah, what a beauty those are!"
"I know, Maxon picked them out!" She turns to Maxon. Realizing all eyes where on him, he responded in a rush.
"Yes, the finest in Illea." He says monotoned, looking like he had something else on his mind.
"Well will leave you two lovebirds alone now!"       Gavril teased. Right on cue, the audience laughs.
"And now we return to a more serious matter." Would the King and Queen join us down here for a second?" He requests, turning toward them. Finally!
"Of course," Queen Amderly  responds " it'd be our pleasure." Once they are all seated ( two more chairs where pulled up for them)          Gavril asks, gently.
"Maxon? Do you want to announce this?"
"Sure....."He responds quietly. Now this is quite intriguing. I've never seen Maxon like this. Usually he is so calm, so in control, so princely. For some reason, this whole topic is already making me feel uneasy.
Turning toward the camera, he begins. " I regret to inform those of you that don't know that there was a rebel attack the day that Kriss and I where to be engaged." He pauses, visibly taking a deep breath " And on said rebel attack, Lady America was killed." He chokes, seemingly unable to go on.
" We have, however caught the rebel that killed her." The King starts up, after a brief glance/not-so-hidden-glare at Maxon. " She is in the dungeon currently, and is to be executed Tomorrow." Did he just say what I think he did? I freeze for a second, my heart almost stoping. He didn't mean.....of course it couldn't be......my face seems to catch on before my brain, and I feel tears start to stream down, once again, my raw face. On The Report they talked of a murder, who was in the dungeon...as far as I knew, I was the only one down here....But I didn't.....the sentence isn't even completed in my head when it is overtaken by a haze image.
Swiftly, I ran up behind them, using the but of my gun to knock out the guard accompanying her. He, surprisingly, stays going for a second, his head turning on the impact,allowing me to see his green eyes struggling to stay conscious. He looks handsome, or at least what parts of his face I can see in the dim light do. I watch as, all in a split second, he loses to the darkness that is surely calling him, and drops hard to the ground. This alerts America, who spins at the sound of his falling. A split second later, gasping, she looks up, a horrified look on her face. She wastes no time, spinning back around and running away, back down the hall. I walked after her, slowly unseating my knife. I knew, as she would soon find out, that this hallway was a dead end.
Two and two fit together. I really did....I....I truly killed her.MY execution Is tomorrow. I barely hear the end of The Report, and what little I did hear made no sense. The whole universe starts to once again spin, and my head starts to throb. I feel the world slipping from my grasp, and I have just enough strength to guide my body towards the bed before it fades completely.
________________________________
I know this chapter might be confusing, so if there are any questions, please ask in comments. As always, please give me feedback. Remember, if you comment and vote, I'll give you a shout out in the next chapter! Thank you for reading!!