𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗
𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗, 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗
𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝?
-𝚃𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚘𝚛 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚝(...𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝?)
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Warm. My legs are intertwined with Finnick's. Bare legs and bare torso against me. I feel warm with him near, but it's hard to not think about the inevitable day ahead of us.
I turn my body toward Finn and lay my head on his chest and feel his chest move up and down momentarily calming me down.
I feel Finnick start to stir from under me. He moves his hand to his eyes and rubs them, groaning from just waking up.
He wraps his arm around me again and rests his head in the crook of my neck inhaling my scent. "Morning, love." He says with a low voice.
"Morning, Finn." I say, placing a kiss on his jawline. He moves further in my arms. I smile. "We have to get up and get ready for today." I say, playing with his hair.
"I just want to stay here all day with you in my arms." He says.
"I know and I do too, but today is important and I need Annie to know she can make it out of the arena." I say, moving his face to look at me.
He sighs and nods his head. He gives me a quick kiss and gets up out of the bed and looks at me. "Would you like to join me in this shower, my lady?" He asks, bowing, holding out his hand.
I giggle and take his hand. "No funny business." I say, sternly.
"None at all." He says, pecking me on the lips and taking us to the bathroom.
Like he said there was no funny business. We washed our hair and washed our bodies. We walked out of the shower and he went into the bedroom while I pulled my hair into a high ponytail with bubble braids.
I walk into the bedroom and see Finn brushing his hair in the mirror. I giggle at him a little before moving to the closet and pulling out some black leggings, a tight black long sleeved shirt, and a defining cover up.
I put on some white sneakers and looked up to see Finnick on the bed waiting for me to finish up. I smile at him and before we walk out he gives me a kiss on the lips before he walks out before me.
I wait a little bit before walking out just making sure no one would suspect anything that doesn't know we are dating.
I walk out into the living room and see Cody, Winnie, and Finn sitting on the couch, waiting for Annie and Shark.
A couple of minutes later Annie and Shark walk out with some random pieces of clothing on. I stand up and walk toward them.
"I know today is really scary, but just remember what you learned and stick together." I say to both of them. They nod their heads. "Okay, we have to get going now." I say.
The walk to the launch platform was quiet. Not an awkward quiet, but an understanding quiet. Everyone here knows what Annie and Shark feel like right now and no one wants to make them feel even more scared than they are now.
We make it to the launch platform. I walk with Annie and before she can walk on the hovercraft I stop her. "Just please believe in yourself. I know you can make it out." I say.
She nods her head and gives me a small smile before walking on the hovercraft and making her way to her seat.
I walk over to Cody who is just standing there while we wait for Finnick to come back from escorting Shark. Finn walks back over to us and we head to the Mentors room.
When we make it into the room only District 1-4 are here. All of the tributes get on the plane in order of District so we will be waiting a good amount of time until the Games actually start.
I say bye to Cody as he sits at the bar most likely waiting for Chaff and Haymitch. Finnick and I walk over to Cashmere, Gloss, Brutus, and Enobaria.
"Look who it is." Brutus says, "I knew it smelt a little fishy."
"Well that obviously wouldn't be Enobaria 'cause it seems she's all dried out." I say, looking her up and down.
Enobaria tries to strike at me, barring her razor sharp teeth at me. She is held back by a grinning Gloss. "I mean she's not wrong. You did that to yourself." Gloss says.
"I'll rip both of your throats out." She says, gritting her teeth together.
"That's not necessary." Finnick chimes in.
"Always trying to be the peacemaker, aren't you Fishboy?" Brutus asks.
"Well when another Victor who knows what everyone went through to get here today threatens to kill my district partner, I'll step in." He says.
"More like fuckbuddy." Enobaria mumbles.
"Screw off Enobaria, nobody asked for your fucking input. Just keep your damn mouth shut and maybe someone will actually like you." I yell.
She rolls her eyes and walks off. Brutus, not wanting to stay in the conversation, walks away and goes to get a drink from the bar.
"That's a fun way to start off the 70's." Cashmere says, with a fake bright smile.
"I mean these years are bad anyway, we only have 5 more years until we find out what the 3rd Quarter Quell will be." Gloss says.
"I know, I feel like Seneca wouldn't have something good planned." I say, looking at the siblings.
"I think he has a little infatuation with you. We all saw how he looked at you last night." Gloss says.
"What do you mean?" Finnick asks.
"Yeah, what do you mean?" I ask, copying Finnick.
"Oh, it's all over. The TV's, newspapers, pretty much everything. It was the way he was looking at you like you were his next snack. Everyone fell in love with it." Cashmere says, filling me in.
"Yeah because he is a creepy old man who just wanted to get in my pants like everyone else." I say.
"But only we know that. The entire Capitol sees a Capitol darling," Cash says, holding out one hand, "And a beloved Gamemaker." She says, holding out her other hand, "I don't think you can get better than that." She finishes.
"He was the person that made me go through hell in that arena. When I mean hell I mean literally, that shit was scorching." I say.
A hand rubs my back and I look up to see Finn. "Don't worry about it. Nothing will probably come out of it." He says.
"Yeah, you might want to stop doing that because others are kinda looking and it looks like you two wanna fuck." Gloss says. Finnick's hand moves from my back and I scowl at Gloss. He holds up his hands. "Don't be mad at me! We are the only people who know!" He exclaims.
I roll my eyes. "I'm sure the other victors aren't that dumb to not be able to figure out that we are dating." I say.
"I would disagree with that." Finnick says, holding up a hand.
"Yeah, just look at the morphlings," Gloss says, pointing at the morphlings. "They're in their own world high off their asses." He says, laughing.
"I wish I could be in the clouds with them every once in a while." Cash says.
"I want to know what it's like." Gloss says.
"Nothing worth anything." Finnick says, still looking at the morphlings.
I stare at him shocked and I'm sure Gloss and Cash have the same look. "You've gotten high on morphling?" I almost yelled out.
"I mean not morphling, but we have other things we can get high on in District 4." Finnick says, looking at all of us now.
"Imma need some of that." Gloss says with a large smirk.
"No! We are done with this conversation." I say.
Gloss just smirks at me and announces that he is going to get a drink before the games start. I look around and see that the only districts missing are 11 and 12. I haven't talked to Haymitch a lot so I think I'll hang out with him for a little.
"Who do you think will win the bet?" Cashmere speaks up.
"I hope I will." I say.
"What bet?" Finnick asks, looking at the both of us confused.
"Gloss, Cash, and I made a bet on how far Annie will get in the games. I said she would win, Gloss said she wouldn't make it past the bloodbath, and Cash said she would at least make it past the first day. Whoever wins gets $500 from each person, and we have to wait until the end of the games or until she dies." I explain to Finnick.
"So you made a bet on your tribute?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean she said she was going to win, so it's not like she is voting against her." Gloss says, walking in with a glass of bourbon.
"Looks like 12 just got here. We have a total of 15 minutes until the 70th Hunger Games." Cashmere says, wiggling her eyebrows.
"I'm going to go talk to Haymitch, but you can go set up your station like you always do." I say, a smirk playing on my face. Cashmere rolls her eyes playfully and smiles while I walk away with Finnick beside me.
"Haymitch!" I say, my arms extended out for a hug.
"Hey Cordelia," Haymitch says, he hugs me back.
"Cordelia, don't be stealing my drinking buddy now." Cody says, coming up to me and patting my shoulder. I smiled at him.
"I'm not, I just haven't seen him in a little while." I say.
"Alright, I'll be over at the bar." Cody says, nodding to their regular spot they meet at.
"So how have you been?" Haymitch asks.
"Exhausted. I mean you understand." I say.
He gives me a sad smile. "I get it. This can do that to you. Have you had any nightmares recently?" He asks.
I shake my head. "Only some nights. It all depends on what happens during the day. If someone said something about my parents then it's about them, if something was said about the games then it's about that, if someone says something about Adrian it's harder though." I say.
"You'll find your way through it, kid. You have some great people around you that will help you no matter what." He says.
"I just can't wait to get back home to Maisy and Casp. I always wonder what they're doing when I'm not there." I say, trying to think of what they would be doing.
"Probably breaking everything they see or getting into fights." Haymitch says.
I laugh. "I wouldn't put it past Caspian to start a fight, but Maisy, nah." I say with a smile, "She wants to be a doctor, so I don't think she will do anything to jeopardize that. I think I'm going to try and see if the district 4 doctor will let her volunteer with him." I say.
"You are such an amazing sister. I know you will be an amazing mother one day." Haymitch says.
"Thank you, Haymitch." I say, giving him another hug.
"Anytime, kid." He says, patting my back.
"I should probably give you back to Cody before he yells at me." I say with a laugh.
He nods his head and we say our goodbyes. There are 3 minutes until the games start and I see Finnick already at the district 4 station.
I sit down next to him and we sit in silence until we see the first viewings of the arena. It is a beautiful arena. Trees surround everything, but there is a large body of water being held in by a large dam.
"She's not going to know what to do with herself." I whisper to Finnick.
"She'll find a way to make it. She has Shark and he should be pretty reliable." He whispers back to me.
The tributes are all rising up on their pedestals now and get their first glimpse at the arena. We get a close up of Annie and Shark as they take in their surroundings. They are 3 tributes away from each other and I see Shark nod his head at Annie before looking back at the Cornucopia, getting ready to run.
There was 60 seconds to start with, but now there are 10 seconds before Annie and Shark are fish bait. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and the games begin.
Annie runs toward Shark who is running toward the Cornucopia. She makes it without running into any tribute and Shark is grabbing a spear and a couple of daggers.
He turns around and is saying something to Annie, but before he can finish the district 2 tribute comes from behind him and brings the large sword in her hand down on his neck, taking his head clean off his body.
I try to keep my reaction to myself, but I can't get the image of Hazel's lifeless head on the ground. I can only imagine what is going on in Annie's head right now.
Annie tries to turn away and run, but slips on Sharks blood and falls. She looks terrified and is looking around frantically for something she can use to defend herself.
Her eyes locked on the spear Shark picked up. She slowly moves her hands over to where the spear is. It looks like the district 2 tribute is taunting her. She is saying something to Annie and I wish I was able to hear it.
Annie reaches the spear and stabs the tribute in her thigh making her collapse to the floor. Annie grabs a dagger from the pile near Shark, but the tribute slashes her sword against her leg.
Annie bites back a scream and runs as fast as she can to the woods. She grabs a backpack on her way and she runs.
"We need to get something for her." I say.
"We have to wait until she is in a permanent place, but she doesn't have enough sponsors for the care she would need." Finnick says.
"I'll get some sponsors." I say, trying to get up.
"Let her get to a safe place first and make sure she doesn't run into anyone else before you go and do something stupid." Finnick says.
"What makes you think I would do something stupid?" I ask him.
"I mean trying to kill the entire career pack by yourself is a start." He says. I keep my mouth shut and sit back down. He has a point, but I won't say that out loud because I can feel his smirk.
Annie is still making her way through the woods until she comes across the dam. She places her hands into the water and drinks some from it before making her way back to the woods.
"That wasn't the smartest idea. It could have been poisoned." Finnick says.
"She's not as dumb as everyone makes her seem though." I say.
Annie continues to walk until she finds a small cave to hide in. She settles down and I look at Finnick. "You can go do whatever you wanted to earlier." He says.
I ran off and ran around many people trying to make my way to the apartment. When I make it to the apartment I pick out the most revealing dress I can find.
I picked out this short strapless black dress with two slits going up the legs that hugs my curves. I picked some sunglasses to go with it and some black high heels.
I ran back downstairs and into the groups of rich people. I look around and try to spot my next victim. I see a group of older men who have nice suits on. I walk over to them, swaying my hips.
"Hey boys." I say with a flirty voice and a seductive smile.
"Hello there beautiful." One man says. "What are you doing around here?" He asks.
"I don't know. I was just looking for some handsome men to help me." I sigh, putting my shin in my hand.
"What can we help you with?" Another man asks me.
"Well I have a friend and he just got these new shoes and he got them in the wrong color and he wants to get rid of them, but no one will take them." I say.
"What shoes are they?" One asks.
"I think they're the new ones that Caesar just came out with. I can't think of the name." I say, acting a little dumb.
"The Walking Moons?" The youngest one asks.
"I think it's those." I say with a smile.
"They only made 100 of those. I tried so hard to get my hands on them." The first one says.
"Oh well, I have a pair, but you guys will have to help me with something." I say. They nod their heads at me. "You see the redhead from district 4?" I ask, and they nod their heads. "She needs some medical care, so if you want the shoes you should help her out." I say, pushing my boobs out just a little more so I can try and convince them more.
"Why should we help her?" One asks.
"Yeah, she's an underdog." Another says.
"Well I've heard that Seneca and President Snow love underdogs. It gives them a show and if you keep her alive it gives everyone here a better show because you won't be watching someone die in the easiest way." I say.
"How much for the shoes?" The younger one asks.
"I was thinking around $5,000." I say, biting my lips and looking at them with a flirtation smile.
"That's a lot for the shoes." One says.
"Please." I say, pouting my lips and looking up at him like a puppy.
"I'll do it." The younger one says.
I look over at him and smile. I walk over to him and go on my tippy toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll get you the shoes soon. You won't regret helping me out." I whisper in his ear, seductively. I walk away from him and wink at him before walking away.
※※※
I walk back down to the mentors room with a smile and back in the same clothes I had on earlier. I sit back down next to Finnick who is looking at me questionably.
"I'll tell you about it later, but for now can we please just help Annie out." I say. I move in front of the computer screen and see the $5,000 the guy from earlier gave me. I pick out some bandages and some healing gel that heals cuts.
I guess the updated medical supplies have been sent into the arena since my games. I had to deal with getting stitches. I started writing the note. Apply a little, don't go crazy. I believe in you. Don't let his death get to you. Please hold on. Do it for Adrian. -C.B.
I watch as the parachute gets sent and a little while later the parachute is on its way down to Annie. I see her face as she hears the familiar beep of the parachute falling down.
She peaks her head out of the cave and sees the parachute on the floor. She brings it back into the cave and reads the note. She looks up and smiles, mouthing 'thank you'.
13 down. She just has to get through the rest of the days. She better move soon though before someone comes across her.
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𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫!! 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬!! 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝟑𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬