Finnick had endured seven more appointments since the first cannon signalled the beginning of the 70th annual hunger games. Seven more scorching hot showers.
Six more tributes left.
Five mentors trying their best to keep it together.
Four more panic attacks.
Three screaming matches.
Two District Four victors on the brink of losing their minds.
And one evil bastard at the centre of the chaos- President Coriolanus Snow, the apex predator- that manipulator of all that was left on mankind. He'd been playing us long before we'd entered our own games, and he would continue to exploit us until our bones turned to dust beneath his feet. I'd met some terrible people in this world, but none as truly vile as the President. "Perfidious," I hissed to myself, tapping busily on the screen in front of me, "Truly the most wretched, conniving little snake,"
"I hope this isn't about last night," A fragile voice broke from beside me.
Finnick's hands were twisted together anxiously, we'd fought yesterday, everything about these games had us both on edge- neither of us was in the right, but we knew that. It was as if every little thing was pushing us further away from each other, though we shared a bed every night, he felt an ocean away.
I knew I should have been more understanding of him, if it weren't for the experience of two nights ago, I would have been.
Two nights ago, I had drained my sixth coffee of the day to the final bitter dregs, letting the plastic cup fall into the bin beside me. Finnick was at an appointment, and I was the only one remaining at the mentor's compound level. The hand of game maker Plutarch Heavensbee had gripped my shoulder, swivelling me around on my chair and entrapping me in an unwanted conversation.
I had never told anyone about our conversation on my Victors Tour those short few years ago, not even Finnick, who had found me in an overwhelmed mess post the altercation. I had hoped it would be the last I saw of the idealistic man and the vision he had for me, and I found myself in a position I hated to be in, incorrect.
"Miss Hartley," He greeted me calmly, sliding into Finnick's chair beside me, "Such a pleasure it is to have you back in the Capitol,"
"Mr Heavensbee," I responded in a clipped tone, "You've wandered far from the Game maker's headquarters- do you, minor Game makers, truly have so much freedom," I emphasized the word 'minor' with as much hostility as I could muster.
Plutarch took the hint, stiffening at my cold reaction to his unwelcome presence, "I heard about the disaster at the District Four ports, not long ago, what a relief that your family is safe-"
I froze, zoning out the rest of his sentence as the words mulled over in my head, the words that he had told me that night those years ago reappeared:
"We have to kindle whatever disturbance this is creating, perhaps it can lead to change,"
He had kindled the disturbance, setting it- and my entire familiar life ablaze, all that was left from before was the memories of unscarred hands and Finnick- who had never left me. "They're with you? My parents?"
"And your brother- a determined one, Andante- he'll make a fine leader-"
"He'll be nothing of the sort, their lives may be invaluable to you- but 100 of my people died that day, 100 human lives were lost to your cause," I sneered, standing up and towering over the top of his seated frame, "If you so much as breathe in my family's direction again, it will be the last breath you take. Do you understand me?"
Plutarch said nothing instead he eyed me warily, lifting himself from the chair and walking towards the exit. He paused, turning his head slightly to face me "There will come a day, Aurora Hartley, in which the districts will burn at the Capitol's hand, I hope to see you by your family's side, and not standing beside the President, holding the fuse,"
"Enough!" I yelled, throwing the empty glass next to me at the barren doorway, a loud shatter erupting through the room. My rapid breathing quickly subsided into nothingness as my nails pressed into the meat of my hands, hard enough to draw blood.
Plutarch had killed Thorn's parents and I quickly realised that I was sentenced to spend the rest of my life as a pawn in these games.
To the President or to the resistance.
I was as good as dead either way.
My mind wavered back into the present as I was met with Finnick's concerned expression, his hand resting gently on my shoulder, "You've done nothing wrong," I whispered to him, standing up and wrapping my arms around the taller frame of the man.
"I made you upset, love," He whispered, "Of course, I did something wrong,"
"The empty macaroon platter made her upset this morning- if anything I think she's still hung up on that," Atlas' tired voice said from behind us. I scoffed a poked my tongue out at the older man, who flipped me off in response.
"How're our kids doing?" Finnick asked, sliding into the chair beside me and I ignored the way the phrase our kids made me feel inside.
"Annie's asleep, Pluto's on watch," I caught him up to speed. Night had fallen over the arena, with only six tributes left the game was drawing to an exhausting end. Five Careers and one other tribute remained, tonight would be the last night the Careers stayed together.
They sat on the edge of the clearing, Pluto's head was leant back on a tree, twisting a knife in his hands. The red-haired girl sat beside him, rested on his shoulder and she snored gently, her pinkie finger wrapped around his. Pluto's eyes had a familiar darkness, a bloodthirst that I had recognised from training- "He's making a move," Finnick recognised, leaning forward in his chair, "This is it,"
The grand finale.
Finnick's hand slid into mine as I chewed on the inside of my cheek, "Come on kid," Haymitch muttered, rolling his chair over to our screen, his hand resting supportively on my shoulder. Atlas and Lorelei had joined us too, "Look's like he's taking a leaf out of our dear Lorelei's book, killing all the competition in their sleep," Haymitch nudged the girl who rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder.
"Focus," She hissed.
Pluto shook Annie awake gently, "An," He whispered, into her hair as she straightened herself up groggily, "This is my chance," He whispered, helping the girl to her feet.
"What are we going to do?" She responded quietly, taking his hand in her own.
"You are going to climb that tree as high as you can go, don't come down until I come to you- do you understand me?"
"Pluto no," Annie whispered desperately, "He's too strong,"
"I can't let you get hurt,"
"I can't let you die!" Annie whispered back a tear falling down her face, Pluto brushed it away with his thumb.
"I don't have a lot of people waiting for me back home," he told her quietly, "If I win, I'm just another rich career boy who got lucky- you deserve to go home, you deserve to live the rest of your life, get married, have a baby and name it after me or something like that," he whispered, she choked out a giggle, "go and live, Annie, give Rory and Finnick a hug for me. When you've lived out a long and beautiful life, I'll be waiting for you in whatever comes after, to thank you for making me feel like a human again,"
Annie leapt into his arms, squeezing her arms around his neck, his arms slid around her waist as they clung desperately to each other. They had become family in these games, they had become a part of my family- and now it was time to let one of them go. Finnick wrapped his arms around me as silent tears fell from my eyes, Haymitch's hand squeezed my shoulder comfortingly.
Annie scrambled up the nearest tree scaling it as high as she possibly could, fighting the loud sobs threatening to escape her throat and gripping the crossbow she wielded tight to her chest. Pluto sprang into action, wrapping his hand around the mouth of the nearest career, the district two girl- his knife quickly dragged across her throat, sending a spray of blood over the two remaining Careers. "Come on Pluto," Finnick uttered, squeezing me tighter.
He was too slow.
The District One boy woke away with a startled expression, "Horace!" He called, as Pluto threw the knife directly into his eye. He collapsed on top of the limp boy of the girl Pluto had just killed, Horace immediately leapt into action, before Pluto had the opportunity to strike, the larger boy's axe was at his throat.
"I'll drag this out," Horace hissed, digging the head of the axe deeper into the throat of the boy, "I don't think we're alone here Portello,"
The camera flicked back to Annie, clinging onto the branches of the tree above the chaos, tears still running down her face. Her eyes were flicking around the arena in search of a way out, the dam wall was mere yards from them- she glanced down at the crossbow in her hands before looking back up at the weak point in the dam wall. She couldn't get a clear shot on Horace, but Pluto could swim, as could she- perhaps there was a chance Horace couldn't.
She scrambled to aim the crossbow at the dam wall, but the ruckus below was growing louder and more unbearable by the minute. "Little Annie," Horace sang wickedly, burying a small knife into Pluto's arm, the boy let out a scream of agony and I felt my stomach clench tightly with anxiety. "Come out come out wherever you are," Horace twisted the knife around in Pluto's arm and the boy cried out once more, "Tell me where she is,"
"I would rather die," Pluto shot back through clamped teeth.
I noticed Annie's shaking frame in the tree as she tried her best not to make a sound, she bit down on the flesh of her arm to restrain the sobs from escaping her mouth. "She can't shoot like that," Atlas remarked from beside her, a slight disappointment in his tone, "She needs to slow her heartbeat,"
"She can't," Finnick responded, squeezing my hand, "She doesn't have an anchor- she can't calm down,"
"So, send her one- give her an anchor," Haymitch said gruffly, "God, do I have to think of everything around here?"
It only took several seconds for a parachute to be dispatched into the arena, but by that point, we were too late.
"Time's up Portello," Horace growled animalistically, there was the sound of a clean slice through the air as Pluto's head rolled away from his body. I couldn't help but gag and the amount of blood pouring from the body. Finally, after a few torturous seconds, his head stopped moving- directly above the tree that Annie was hiding in.
His eyes had clouded over, but they were still open, still as blue as they had ever been. Annie bit down on her arm hard enough to draw blood. The emotions hit me like a tidal wave, Finnick took me in his arms and buried me into his neck comfortingly. He was crying too; I wasn't sure if was for Pluto of Annie- I wasn't sure either. He was too young, we all were.
It appeared we weren't the only ones affected by the violent death, Cashmere and Gloss stood shocked by the screens of the district two mentors, Cashmere's hand over her mouth with shock. The mentors from Two stared at their screens, but I noticed Enobaria biting the inside of her cheek.
The parachute we had dispatched floated through the air, but it went unnoticed by Horace, who was maniacally scouting the grounds in search of survivors. His body was covered in blood, blonde hair matted with the dark liquid and a rabid glare in his eyes. The parachute landed in Annie's lap and the terrified girl's trembling fingers pried it open as quietly as she could.
Inside the parachute were three items- three people to remember, to hold onto- anchors for her to keep.
A sugar cube.
To remind her of Finnick and his relentless snacking on the item, his obsession with all things sweet. To remind her of the late-night tea parties we had shared when the three of us couldn't sleep- to remind her of comfort.
A macaroon.
To remind her of myself, and perhaps subtly Blaze. It was the first food we had shared together and certainly not the last time we ate the treat side by side- to remind her of family.
A clementine.
To remind her of home, of the losses she has overcome. Of Clementine Ford, the girl to drowned protecting her. Annie needed someone to fight for, we wanted her to fight for herself. To let Clementine Ford have not protected her in vain.
It was all she needed to raise her crossbow at the wall, her hands as steady as before and a look of determination in her eyes. Three arrows were all that were needed for the Dam to tremble and split, sending a tidal wave of floodwater to the Arena. Everything went down, the trees, the tributes- the only thing visible in the chaos was a flash of red hair, moving her arms powerfully through the water, fighting with the tide as opposed to against it.
Three cannons fired.
Soon after the water began to drain from the sides of Arena, leaving a coughing Annie in an open, destroyed clear, bodies strewn around her. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the victor of the 70th annual Hunger Games, Annie Cresta!"
With those final words, Annie let out a gut-wrenching scream.
ONE MORE CHAPTER FOR THIS PART BITCHES
Sorry, I've been away for a while, I've had a pretty hard year health-wise and I'm trying to focus on regaining some kind of normality.
Times are crazy, take care of yourself
xx