LUCE DEWITT | DISTRICT THREE | FIN

l u c e dewitt

glory and gore go hand in hand
that's why we're making headlines
oh, oh, you can try and take us
but victory's contagious

How many eighteen year old girls can say they've killed someone, and that they weren't forced to? Especially those from District Three? Not very many, but Luce Preregrine Dewitt has. And if anyone tries to harm her brother, her king, she'll do it again.

People say that when they meet me, they are intimidated. (They should be.) They say everything from my caramel colored hair to my electric blue eyes to my above average height terrifies them. I have done things others have not, gone places that I didn't have to go, and even if I am not proud of them, they have made me a stronger person. Sometimes I scare myself when I realize that most people that have killed were forced to against their will, while I was so freely choosing to do it all those years ago. The man I killed deserved to die though, and it was only fair, because he was the one that ruined my family.

I still remember standing next to my brother in the doorway as the peacekeepers announced that my father had been found dead. Something shattered within me that day, and some of the pieces are forever gone. It took me a few days to perk up the courage to do it, but once I found myself climbing out of my window I knew there was no stopping me. They should have been smarter, and locked their back door that night. They should have hidden their knives better. They shouldn't have all fallen asleep so carelessly after what their father had done. So I punished them all. I ended his life and left him lying next to his sleeping wife. He tried to break us, and I was going to do the same to his family.

Two years later, and here we are, and things have never looked better for us. Just when things were becoming more heated then ever between our families, Cleo Sullivan's name was called at the reaping. She was their backbone. She was, perhaps, the biggest threat to my family inheriting the business. When she fell in the bloodbath, and the cameras let us all watch as the life left her eyes, I had never felt more satisfied. They are weak now. Nobody is there to protect that pathetic boy they all think is fit to be the king of our establishment. He is all alone. He has those other siblings of his, but we outnumber them now. There will always be one more of us then there is of them. We will always win.

"Cleo! Luce! You two need to stop arguing and share!"

The two girls couldn't have been more different, and yet couldn't have been more alike. They fought constantly, always arguing over who got to be queen when the two of them joined up with Nox and Lux, but they were best friends. All four of them were inseparable. Luce scowled, and yanked the plastic tiara out of her friend's hands. "Yeah, Cleo! Share!" And she set it on top of her head. "But you already had your turn!" Cleo argued, and yanked it right back off. Finally, a woman that had fallen ill in the past few weeks walked over and pulled the crown out of both of their hands. "Until you learn to share, neither of you will be proper queens."

I miss my mother. She died when I was so young, and I think that is why my father became so obsessed with his work. I can recall her eyes, so kind and warm. They were the one thing my twin brother and I had inherited from her. Everything else- our dark hair, our height, our strong jawline, it all came from our father. When he died, he left us all alone. I convinced the district officials to let us all stay together- I was sixteen at the time and the fortune went to all of us as children, so as long as I use it sparingly until we get what is rightfully ours back, I think we'll be okay. It wasn't easy, though. How crazy does a sixteen year old asking permission to lead a household of seven other children, all in their teenhood? But eventually I got them to come around when I told them our uncle would check in on us regularly. As far as they know, he is our guardian, but if they hadn't allowed us to stay together I would have used whatever measure I could. I am always willing to do a little bad for a greater good.

I think my parents dying has brought me closer then ever to my siblings. Anyone outside of them is expendable to me, in all honesty. They are my first priority, and nobody can lay a finger on any of them without hell to pay. I'm not some sort of monster, though. I admit I have a horrible temper, and at times I am blinded by it, and maybe make some wrong decisions. I am extremely manipulative, and I can be conniving, but I am not a monster. Every human has flaws, I just know how to use mine to my advantage.

When I am calm, I am a pretty decent person, I think. I like to paint, and to draw. My siblings are always asking me to draw them this and that, and when I have time, I do. I also like to smile. I don't get to that often, but I treasure the times when I do. I like roses- I have a very, very small garden that Kitty helps me take care of. It isn't much, but it's special to me, and there isn't a lot outside of my family that is.

"Cleo Sullivan!"

Yes.

This was exactly what the Dewitt family needed. This was their time to strike. To end this feud, and the Sullivan family once and for all. She would have been lying if she said a part of her heart ached from the hundreds of play-dates she had spent with the olive skinned girl who climbed the stage next to a handsome boy, but those days were gone. There was no happy blood left between the two families. Only blood filled with hatred and fire. This was a war.

codeword: odair
face claim: victoria lee
lyrics: "glory and gore" by lorde
plot: d3 chess plot