Sugarcubes // Finnick Odair - Hunger Games Fanfic

II.

When I next wake up, my surroundings are a stark contrast to my white and bright hospital room. In fact, after the brightness before, it takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness in here. I also notice that I'm no longer on a comfy bed. I'm sitting, propped up against a rough stone wall, on cold, black tiled floor. I'm still in the hospital gown I got.

It's no question why I've been moved here. Because I said no. It's always been like this with the Capitol and with Snow. If somebody is usable, or can be used in the future, the Capitol is kind to them. Or at least, as kind as the Capitol can be. The moment that I refused to be of use, I was no longer worth the resources it takes to keep me healthy and happy. Or at least, as happy as one can be in the Capitol.

As my eyes adjust to the light, my surroundings disturb me more and more. I'm in a box, with steel bars all around me, and a steel plate as the roof. It's only tall enough for me to sit uncomfortably with my neck bent and the back of my head pressed against the roof. In the same room as mine, there are several other units like these, place along all the walls.

My neck hurts.

"Kendria! You're okay." A voice sounds from right beside me, and I turn, as quickly as I can in its direction. I see Peeta, relatively untouched, sitting in the cell beside mine.

"Peeta!" I cry, sticking my hands through the bars to touch him. I'm not sure why, but making sure that he's actually there, and isn't one of Snow's tricks is important to me. I touch his rough hands, and he doesn't pull back. I would've.

"How long have we been here? Any idea?" I ask, backing away from the bars so I can see him. It must be a lot more uncomfortable for him. He's a lot bigger than I am.

"I don't know. Quite a while, I think. They've basically ignored me. But not the other two." He tells me, and even in the darkness I can see him grimace, as though a memory brings him great pain.

"Other two?" I'm almost afraid to ask, but curiosity gets the better of me.

"Two avoxes. They were caught trying to escape, I think, to district thirteen, which doesn't make sense because there isn't one. Well, they were caught. And the peacekeepers came in here once or twice a day – I guess and tortured them. I'm talking real torture Kendria. It was terrible to even watch. They kept demanding answers, which these poor people couldn't give. The girl, she died easily. They shocked her with a high voltage and her heart stopped beating. But, the boy, oh god." He trails off, probably imagining the horrors of the capitol. It's a shock to him, somehow, even after all that he's been through, that somebody could be so cruel. I know better. I know the Capitol and I know Snow, and I'm a firm pessimist. I know the things that they could've done to reduce Peeta to tears.

And I'm pretty sure it was done to rip Peeta's mental state apart. They were avoxes. They couldn't give any answers. The purpose they served was to remind Peeta, and by extension me, of the horrors the Capitol could present, if you weren't ready to give it what it wanted. What Snow wants. I wasn't ready. So, it's easy to assume that the same horrors await me in the near future.

"Peeta the Capitol isn't for the faint of heart. I mean they watch 23 kids kill each other every year for sport, and then objectify the kids that do somehow make it out," I tell him softly, but I know my words wont help. He already knows how cruel the Capitol is. I don't need to remind him of that anymore. I'm sure the image of these avoxes being tortured in front of him is good enough.

It shocks me how innocent that he still remains. Everybody I've ever met that somehow made it out of Snow's games have gone down one of two paths. Insincerity, lying, and cruelty, as a sort of shield against what they have done and what Snow is making them do, or sheer madness. I don't know which path I've gone down. Maybe both. Maybe I'm that special soul that's combined both paths and fucked myself up more than required. But here, sitting right in front of me is Peeta. The honest to god, sincere, sane person – the only one who's survived the games and remained exactly where they had started. Maybe that's what is intriguing about him, to everybody, not just to me.