𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞➳𝐟.𝗼.➳

𝟶𝟻 - 𝚅𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚅𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛

"Why did you do that?!" I asked him as blood trickled down from his mouth. "I'll say hi to Hailey for you." He smiled.

The final canon for the year sounded, and Claudius' voice echoed through out the arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our victor for the 64th annual Hunger Games." I sobbed when I heard that. I won. I get to go home. But at what cost?

Everything else until I got onto the train ride home was a blur. I can't remember what happened in the Capitol.

"Well done." Nadiyah smiled. I just nodded, my eyes were still a bit bug eyed from the experience. I could hardly comprehend my thoughts, but one that stuck out was, I get to see Finnick again. And that was what started my emotions back up.

I bursted into tears and ran to the compartment that was labeled for me to sleep in. All of my memories flooded back to me. How I had checked up on Dylan when we were going to the Capitol, how Dylan checked up on me in the Capitol, how I had seen the girl kill Dylan infront of my eyes, how I had won for Dylan. I just cried until I fell asleep.

"Tess...it hurts..." I grabbed my knife, shaking, and lifted it above her chest. I grabbed the blade with my other hand, and-

I awoke from the dreaded nightmare with a light gasp. I checked the clock next to me, 12:37 A.M. I knew I wouldn't get much more sleep, so I went out of my room and to the back of the train where we could sit. I sat at the back and looked out the window.

I hadn't had such a bad nightmare ever. I was genuinely scared that a tribute would walk through the door with a weapon. Soon I saw the sun rising, and Sapphire walk through the doors.

"There you are." She walked over and sat with me."I know how hard the Games must've been for you." I nodded, looking down at the cushions."The Victory Tour will be in 6 months. I just wanted to let you know I'm very proud. You showed great courage, and I'm sure that Odair boy will be glad to see you." I smiled at her, but didn't meet her eyes. We sat there in silence until we heard Sapphire in the main car. We got up and walked over, and although we didn't talk, Sapphire placed an arm around me and side-hugged me.

"Ah! There you are, my beautiful victor. We're getting you home by today, maybe like 4?" I nodded."Where's August?" I asked as they went to sit down for breakfast.

"He's still in the Capitol, but he should be here for the Victory Tour, don't fret." I smiled at the thought of seeing August again.

It was a few hours later, and I was just playing a weird Capital board game with Sapphire. There were a bunch of wooden pieces, and a board under it. I didn't know what I was doing, but Sapphire didn't either, so we were just getting yelled at by Nadiyah telling us how to play.

I was laughing at a joke that Sapphire said about Nadiyah's hair, when I saw from one of the windows was the ocean. I ended the 'game' and walked over to the couch. Sapphire was still laughing about it, and Nadiyah had been huffing about the whole thing.

The waves lapped fiercely over the sand, the clouds hung, dark and gray. It looked sad and tragic. It wasn't raining, not yet atleast.

~3rd Person POV~

Sapphire's laughs had died down, as she too realized they were back home. District 4's oceans seemed to go on forever that gave exceedingly enough places to explore, which Tess and Finnick somehow had already succeeded. Even though the place was full of memories, it brought sadness to Tess.

The gray vision was broke up by a stone tunnel that the train went through. Tess sat sadly, watching the bricks go by along with the dim lights. Something felt missing to Tess, or should she say someone.

The tunnel ended after a few minutes, and they were brought into the actual district. There were the buildings, and you could barely see Victor's Village in the distance beyond the many roads of the place. The water looked gray here, almost black, which was far from it's original clear, teal color. Everything just looked like a black and white photo.

Tess saw the Justice Building up ahead. She was scared for unkown reasons. Soon, everyone in the district started piling up to the reaping area, as they stood to applaud their new victor. The train suddenly stopped at the back of the building, and the doors opened to the hall. Tess walked with her head down, next to Sapphire and Nadiyah.

In any other circumstance, either one of them would've told Tess to lift her head up, but they didn't say a word. As the great doors opened, and Tess was revealed to her district, she felt empty as she was walked up to the microphone where Dylan had stood with her before. The guy who had given her a small ounce of hope for a moment. He was now dead, but Tess managed a smile for the cameras.

Nadiyah had started talking to the district, nothing that Tess had paid attention to, except for her congratulating.

"Ladies and gentlemen of district 4, this years victor, Tess Cresta."

Nadiyah raised my arm up, with a smile, but it wasn't a fake or huge one. Just small and sad. No one clapped. The only thing breaking the loud silence were the waves crashing. Tess looked out into the crowd, the smile wiped from her face, her eyes wandered to find Finnick and Annie.

She found them after a few moments. Her arm was let down as Nadiyah continued her long speech. Annie was crying, not hard, and Tess wondered if they were happy tears. Finnick looked almost exactly as he did during the reaping, except his lips were in a straight line. Tess couldn't tell if he was crying or not.

The eyes Tess carved out flashed before her eyes when she saw Finnick's sea green eyes, so she looked down.

"We congratulate Tess in her victory, and she shall live in peace in Victor's Village, till she may continue her life throughout. Again, district 4, your newest victor." The ending of Nadiyah's speech indicated that Tess could go see her family, or what she had left of it. The cameras had been turned off, and the Capitol people had left to go back to their homes. Nadiyah rubbed her shoulder before wishing the victor goodbye and good job.

People started going back to their homes, but Finnick and Annie ran up to the stairs."Annie!" Tess called and ran down the steps and into Annie's arms immediately. The smile that was on Annie's face had now been replaced by loud sobs that matched her older sister's. Finnick hugged Tess from behind.

After a bit, the trio walked back to the house they mostly shared to collect Tess and Annie's items. Annie had gone to her room, and Finnick went to help Tess.

~Tess's POV~

I grabbed the clothes from my first drawer, while Finnick was gathering my small amount of jewelry. I placed the clothes in a bag I had on my bed. At the very back of the drawer, I found a locket, a locket my mom had given me of our family. I sat on the bed and a single tear ran down my face.

"Tessa?" I didn't look up. Finnick sat next to me on the bed."Finn..." My voice cracked, threatning to let out a sob."Did I change? I don't feel like-I feel like I'm somebody else." I cried, as he met my empty gaze, but I couldn't look him in the eyes. Not after what I did. "I can't keep control of my emotions."

~Finnick's POV~

"I can't keep control of my emotions." Tess's light brown eyes had lost their color. But she didn't meet my eyes. Even though she had a few tears rolling down her cheeks that had gone pale, she didn't seem to have any emotion. She looked broken, and empty. "I'm sorry." I muttered as I wrapped her in a hug.

My heart felt like it had gotten wacked with a hammer into a million pieces. I couldn't see her like this. "I promise you'll be okay. I'll be with you forever and I'll never let you go." I heard her crying get louder, as she let out uncontrollable sobs.

edited 01/05/24

Word Count
{2185}