Finnick Odair's Story: Dark Secrets (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

One's Crazy in Love, One's Just Crazy

We wait on tenterhooks throughout the morning, eager eyes glued to the screen. Tricia runs her hands through her hair countless times and begins to pace back and forth. We must drink hundreds of litres of orange juice between us before the clock chimes twelve, and neither Aimee nor Annie have made any progress in hunting down the other. I begin to panic, my heart racing faster and faster.

As the camera focuses on Annie, who is curled up in a pile of leaves, I want to scream and shout at the television. What is she doing? She's going to get killed if she hides like a pathetic animal! As soon as I even think these thoughts, I'm cursing myself for thinking badly of Annie. Breathing deeply, I try and convince myself that she's going to be okay, that by some miracle she will find the strength to kill Aimee.

Then, suddenly, we know what the Gamemakers are going to do to force Annie and Aimee together.

Annie's POV:

Water. Water begins to rush in from behind me, waking me from a sleepy trance with an ice cold wave. I yell in shock as the water gets faster and faster, seemingly causing a flood in the middle of the forest. As one freezing arm grabs me and pulls me underwater, I struggle to breathe and begin to choke.

Gasping frantically for air, I raise my head above the water and try to cling onto a passing piece of wood. The water is constantly picking up speed, and I begin to struggle to stay afloat. Suddenly, the current picks up my body and slams it against a tree trunk, and I swear I feel bones shatter inside me from the impact; I dread to think about the dark purple bruises that must be forming on my back. I can feel myself getting weaker and weaker with every rock that I hit; surely even my ability as a strong swimmer can't save me now.

As I'm gradually forced out of the forest and into the centre of the arena, the Cornucopia, I catch sight of a figure in the water, with matted blonde hair and perfect teeth on show in a shrill scream. Aimee is desperately trying to stay afloat, stupidly clutching a bow and arrow instead of grabbing passing debris. I need to kill her if I want to stay alive.

Frantically, I begin to swim towards her and she soon acknowledges my presence with a sneer. Somehow, Aimee isn't as intimidating when she looks like a drowned rat. With a cry, she lunges towards me in the water but fails to grab me and simply submerges herself. Taking a deep breath, I do the same and open my eyes underwater to see rocks and plants floating around in a blurry haze, and Aimee's feet thrashing around.

I have to drown her, she's clearly a weak swimmer and it'll be easy for me to get away from her if she tries anything.

And suddenly, I forget where I am. There are so many voices in my head, each one telling me a different thing. Zac is telling me to swim away from Aimee, Finnick is telling me to kill her, my mother and father are begging me to come home. A scream escapes my mouth and water floods my lungs, choking me. I rise to the surface and take a deep breath, everything is spinning faster and faster and Aimee is nowhere to be seen.

Something is tugging at my foot, pulling me to my imminent death. Frantically, I kick my legs around and come into contact with Aimee's nose, hearing a strange snapping noise. One final kick with all of my strength knocks Aimee unconscious and her body floats to the surface. Her mangled face is bloody, and her nose is bent and crooked. It takes a while for her to die, and I wait in apprehension for a cannon to boom.

Why did I just kill her? She didn't do anything wrong. Yes, she did, she slept with Zac, the boy I loved. That wasn't real, it was a lie. Everything is a lie. Why am I in this strange arena, floating neck deep in freezing water? I should be at home, cooking breakfast for my father. He's dead, Annie, he died years ago. Both of your parents are dead. I still have Zac though, right? Zac doesn't want you. Zac's dead. Finnick wanted you to kill him, because this is a game. What on Earth is happening?