Sorry I've been so MIA guys, I have a good reason I swear:/ I won't bore you with my excuses as valid as they are. Here's a little sneak peek of what's to come in the next chapter of Business Arrangement! The next chapter should be up by the end of this weekend, along with Chapter 5 of Gale Hawthorne Must Die:)
"You need to bring him back alive. You need to save Vick."
Gale watched through furious eyes as Madge bit her lip in hesitation, as if choosing her next words carefully.
"Gale...," she started, but Gale interrupted her. He refused to even listen to an answer that he didn't want to hear and the way that Madge was steadily avoiding his eyes wasn't calming his worries one bit.
"You got my brother into this mess and you're going to get him out of it," Gale hissed. He felt his hands clench into fists at their own accord and he had to make a conscious effort to slacken them.
"You make it sound like I planned this out or something. This wasn't supposed to happen--"
"But it did. Because of you, my twelve year old brother is going to be on National television either dying or killing people."
Gale watched stoically as Madge moistened her lips in an obviously nervous gesture.
Somehow, this measly apology that didn't solve any of his problems deepened Gale's fury rather than rid of it.
"Then save my brother. Save Vick and I'll give you my forgiveness." His words were spoken through clenched teeth, especially when he realized Madge wasn't jumping at the chance to reassure him that she would try her best. Although Gale wasn't a fan of white lies, at the moment he was desperate for words, even empty ones, to comfort his shattered heart. It already felt like he had lost Vick.
"Don't hate me for asking you this," Madge started, and because of the way she brought it up Gale decided that he hated her question before she even asked it. "But are you sure that would be the... best decision?"
"Of course I want my brother back!" Gale shouted immediately, shocked that she had even felt the need to ask. "What the hell, Undersee?"
There was no trace of shame or apology on Madge's face as she continued to push forward senselessly. "If Vick does survive, he'll be different."
Gale shook his head with a scoff of disbelief, but Madge didn't allow him an opportunity to interrupt her with his indignant protests.
"There are only two ways Vick can return to District twelve; either as a dead body or a murderer."
"He will always be my brother," Gale responded fiercely.
"He will be a twelve year old haunted by the blood on his hands. He'll hear the tortured screams of the other tributes in his nightmares every single day for the rest of his life, and he'll have to live with the thought that twenty three lives were given up in exchange of his. He'll have to kill in some point during the games, and he will be a killer."
As painful as it was to think of this as his youngest brother's fate, Gale would take a monster of a brother over a dead one any day.
"You'd rather have him dead?"
"Would you rather have him be like me?"
Gale took an unintentional step back at her words, his eyes growing wide. As ill-timed as it was, he couldn't help but notice that the color of Madge's eyes resembled the lake in the woods, especially when they were glistening with tears threatening to make an appearance.
"I'm not saying this to be cruel," Madge said in a voice that was way too gentle for the words that it delivered. "I am telling you this because I would have appreciated it if Haymitch had let me die in the arena the way I was supposed to, instead of letting his personal feelings interfere.There was nobody to save me from what is my fate now. It would be the kinder choice to let go of Vick once he enters the arena."
