BOMBSHELL - Finnick Odair

24

"It's alright, Ember," Katniss says softly. "It's just a jabberjay. They're playing a trick on us."

"It's not real. It's not your...." Her voice trails off. "Wes"

While that may be true, it doesn't explain where his voice came from.

"No, it's not Wes. But the voice was his. Jabberjays mimic, where did they get those screams?" I question.

Her cheeks pale. "Ember, you don't think they...."

She can't get the rest of the sentence out before I say, "Yes. I do. It's exactly what I think."

Somewhere they must be torturing my innocent brother. I can feel tears prickling my waterline, but I fight them back. I will not let him see me cry.

Another bird starts up and when I don't recognize it, I know it must be for Katniss. I grab her arm and begin pulling her back down the hill. 

"No! We're getting out of here," I say.

The girl struggles against me.

"It's not him, it's a mutt! Let's go!"

I half drag her until she stops fighting against me. The two of us don't stop running until we see Johanna, Peeta, and Finnick standing at the tree line.

Why didn't they come after us? This thought alone distracts me from the fact that I can see their lips moving, but hear no words.

Katniss and I suddenly smack into a transparent wall, bouncing back onto the jungle floor. My face took the worst hit, and I can feel the blood gushing from my nose already.

That's why. We're stuck.

I raise my head to see Finnick attempting to break it with his trident, to no avail. His lips start moving, but I'm unable to understand anything he's saying.

His hand presses against the wall and my shaky one reaches up to meet it. I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing more than anything that I could feel it.

The rest of the birds arrive, announcing their presence with excruciating screeches. I hunch over, my hands gripping at my ears while Katniss empties her arrows into them. Every time one drops, another replaces it.

She eventually gives up and curls up next to me. I can hear a mix of Wes, Finnick, Felix, and Haymitch in combination with the unfamiliar voices that I know must be for her.

The hour is long. No medicine will ever heal these wounds.

I know it's finally stopped when I feel hands on me. My hands remain clasped over my ears and my eyes are still squeezed shut, feeling too stiff to move.

"It's alright, Ember," Finnick whispers as he carries me through the tree line and back onto the beach.

I'm sitting with my back pressed against his front and my head craned far enough to be buried into his neck.

"I've done everything that he's asked."

He rubs my back as he says, "I know, you have."