This is the end of the line for Annie Cresta :) I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much I enjoyed writing it. I give this last dedication to the person who had requested me to write this story in the first place. You knew that it wasn't in my comfort zone, but hey, it was a challenge. I didn't expect this to escalate into what it is now, so I have to thank all my readers for supporting me and urging me to update, or else, I never would have had the diligence to not be lazy and actually write and think. Thank you so so so much. I appreciate everything all the fans and readers have done to make this possible.
And now, the last chapter of The Hunger Games: Annie Cresta
~
So many voices. So many voices in my head. Make them stop. It’s dark though. Noise. So much noise. Questions. Flashing lights. Blood. Danny. Everything is together.
And suddenly, I am shaking. Shaking. The sound of screaming again. I’m getting tired of it.
But where am I?
“Annie, Annie, it’s okay! It was just a nightmare again,” Finnick says, waking me up and putting me around his arms again.
Yes. Finnick. He takes care of me now.
There were so many cameras when we got off the train. So many people. It scared me. I didn’t know who was after me. I didn’t know if they wanted to finish me off. I survived the arena. They don’t want me alive.
Come home, Serena said. Yes, I remember Serena.
She was smiling when I met her again. Finnick had said to go and give her the bracelet on my wrist, because I had promised that I would bring it back home to her. He said that it brought me good luck.
Yes. Serena Elodea. She had been kind to me, and she had thanked me for returning her token to her. She didn’t bother me like the others did.
My family. They were at my house. The new house. It is too large though. I scream too much. Finnick decided to take me in instead. My family didn’t complain.
Serena lives in the house beside Finnick’s. She comes by to give more ropes for me. I like making nets. Good distraction. From the blood. From the noise. From everything. Serena is a nice woman. When she can’t drop the ropes by herself, her son does it for her. He is a lot more quiet than she is, but he is kind as well, like his mother.
He talks to me though, and sometimes helps me start with the ropes. Finnick thanks him when he gets home.
I don’t go out much. I don’t like going out of the house, except maybe to sit by the ocean at the sand.
No more blood here. Just the sunset. Home looks nice. It looks better. Peaceful.
Mags goes as well. She doesn’t talk though, not like Serena or her son. Not like Finnick. Mags just sits there and keeps me company while I make knots. Knots. Knots. Nice and tight.
Finnick keeps me in his arms, until the screaming and crying stops.
“Do you want me to stay here beside you?” he asks, holding my face. It makes me understand more. I can see his expression.
My head goes up and down by itself. Finnick stays beside me. His arms are still around me. He falls asleep. I don’t know if he is pretending, but his eyes are closed.
I roll onto my side to get more of the ropes. I need to knot. To distract. To create. I don’t want to sleep. No more darkness. No more noise. I just want the silence. And Finnick. I like having Finnick around.
Danny. I start to think more of Danny. I couldn’t help him. My heart feels heavy. The darkness consumes. My eyelids feel heavy again. My fingers are aching. Keep knotting. Nice and tight.
And the darkness embraces me. More noise again. More lights. More blood.
When will it just end?
These are how my nights go. There is no peace, not completely. Everything is still stained with black and blood. Finnick makes it better. I hear him on the phone a lot though. That’s the only time when I hear his voice raised.
He is always arguing with the people on the phone.
I don’t like picking up the phone. I don’t know what I would hear on the other side.
I like it in the safe house, or sitting on the sand. It’s safe. There is no one to get my there.
I cannot ignore what Finnick says though. I can hear him even when I am in another room.
“I already told you. She’s just recovering. If you put her back in to the victory tour in a few months, all her progress will go down the drain. She’s only just stopped screaming. It’s just muttering now.”
I don’t know who he talks about, or who he fights with. I don’t know if it’s me. He never talks about who he talks with. I ask, but he says that I don’t need to worry. It’s just business.
I think it’s the Capitol. I feel nervous thinking about them. Finnick doesn’t say ‘Capitol’ around me. I think he doesn’t like it either. He said it once, and I remember shaking. Screaming. He never said it again after. I don’t know. I just don’t like it.
He cooks dinner for us, Finnick does.
I like the fish and prawns. They taste like the sea.
“You want some more butter, Anne?” he asks, sitting down across when he lays everything out on the table.
He reaches over to the prawns and takes off the skin, then he gives it to me.
“It tastes better with butter Finnick,” I say. I am calm around Finnick. I don’t know why. He manages it. I feel less scared. My head is clearer. He talks to me about Danny and how it isn’t my fault. Finnick said he’d help me. I don’t know with what.
“I do have to agree on that, but I like it better with milk,” Finnick says, demonstrating it while pouring some hot milk on his prawns.
The fish is good as well. He has mixed garlic and some sauce that I have never tasted before. He looks happy today. I feel happy because he looks happy. There is something in his soft eyes. Sad eyes.
I want to make him happy, just like he makes me.
“Finnick, why do you care about me?” I ask, opening up the fish with my fingers. Eating seafood with my hands taste a lot better than with spoons and forks.
He looks at me for a moment. He looks like he doesn’t want to say. I feel nervous. “Can you keep a secret Annie?”
I blink at him. Of course I can. I trust him. Do I? I search within myself. Yes, I do. There is something about him. I remember him.
“I can.”
“I care about you because I love you, Annie.” He gives me a smile and goes back to eating. He says it simply. I know what it means though. I know what love means.
Something about him. I want to make him happy. I feel happy that he loves me.
“I love you too, Finnick.” There is no shame in it.
We just look at each other for a while. He smiles. I smile.
I smile. That is the first time since getting home.
There’s something about him, those eyes.
I feel safe in his arms. Calm. The calm comes with him. Finnick makes things better. I feel better.
The darkness doesn’t feel as bad with him around.
Safe.
“Is that a secret though Finnick?” I say, after he doesn’t talk for a while.
“No, Annie, not if you don’t want it to be.”
I think for a while. “I want it to be a secret, because it’s special.”
“Eat your food before it gets cold though Anne. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.”
Better.
I know I will be, with Finnick.
~
If you enjoyed that, check out another Hunger Games fanfiction of mine, which is the 45th Hunger Games: The Tribute of District 4.
And since a lot of you requested for a new one, I finally have another one out, which is The Hunger Games: Johanna Mason. Enjoy :)