(A/N: Welcome to my one-shot! n_n This is really an excerpt of a flashback in another THG story that I'm doing, Game Over: The 175th Annual Hunger Games, but I felt this little snippet of my story was deserving of a name of its own, so here it is!
As the summary said, this is a very short AU one-shot in Annie Cresta's POV documenting the last hour or so of her life. The Rebellion failed, and the Rebels are being executed in their own Districts. This is Annie's story. Let us taketh thine look-see, shall we? :3)
*BOOM!*
I press my palms as tightly as I can against my ears, until I'm certain that my head will burst like a ripe melon if I squeeze any tighter. As hard as I try, the rain against the window and the air-splitting thunder is still an army of war drums against my head. Why don't they just kill me already..? …Because they know this tortures me. They don't want me to live out my last hour in silence and comfort. If there is a heaven, they want me to get as close to hell as I can before I go…
I've thrown up twice, so far. Had three or four giggle fits that I couldn't control. I can't tell you how many times I squeezed my eyes shut and reached my hand out, hoping Finnick's hand, or at least his ghost's, invisible spirit's, or even his shadow's, would take mine and just whisk me away with him, or at least offer comfort. The only thing that's worked to keep me bound to reality is something that Katniss taught me.
My name is Anna Beth Alaria Cresta. Everyone calls me Annie. I'm pretty sure I'm twenty-two years old, but I don't know anymore, honestly. My home is District Four. Six years ago, I was in the Hunger Games and barely managed to win. I got taken by the Capitol and was beaten for information that I didn't have. Katniss's cousin saved me. I married Finnick Odair. I'm carrying his baby. He and the rest of Squad 451 died in the Capitol when Peacekeepers blew up the building they were taking shelter in. I broke all the plates when I got the news. I'm pretty sure they let me. The rebellion failed. Again. District Thirteen was taken under siege. I was taken back to District Four. I'm a pregnant woman awaiting her execution…
Alright, now that I'm nice and sure of my life again, I look around to get another hold of my surroundings. I recognize this room, I realize… This is the room where the female District Four tributes are taken to say their goodbyes to their families, in the Justice Building. When I was here the last time, there was a one in twenty-four chance that I would be alive to see it again. Now there is no chance. I'm going to die today. I'm sure that Snow thinks this is so fitting… I continue to hold my hands against my ears as I uncurl from my ball in the corner and start to stand up. It smells like seaweed and tears in here.
My legs ache like crazy from being so tightly curled into the fetal position, so I try and walk off the soreness, my hands still clamped to my head. I've completed about 36 laps around the room when the door opens. I don't notice at first, since my ears are so stuffed with my palms, but eventually, I notice that something is different about the room, so I look and see three people at the door. Two Peacekeepers are standing on either side of a woman who I can just tell is really, really old, even though plastic surgery and bodily alterations make her look like she's in her mid-thirties. I feel like I recognize her, and it's not until she steps inside and speaks to me that it hits me.
"Hello, Annie." says Venus, the head stylist for the female District Four tributes at the time of my Games. She retired after my Games, so she must've been spared from the purge of stylists and prep teams at the Third Quarter Quell. I guess she was rehired for the day for this special occasion.
I'm so happy to see a face other than my own twisted, horrifying visage in the reflection on the clean, polished floor that I fall into another one of my giggle fits. I try to contain myself, and Venus can tell that I'm pretty messed up. She walks forward and runs her hand soothingly through my ratty dark brunette hair, and this seems to calm me down, enough so I can open my mouth and say something that's not incoherent.
"H-Hi, Venus." I manage. My neck tics slightly.
"I suppose you must be wondering why I'm here." she starts, her veiny, sharp-nailed fingers acting as the comb that straightens out my messy hair. I nod slowly, trying hard to keep my neck from twitching.
"To say goodbye, Annie. You were my last and my favorite tribute to style. I'm going to miss you. Take one last look around for me."
A little confused, I did what I was told, taking in the room one more time. The room where I said goodbye to my friends and family the first time, and where I'm saying goodbye to my life now… After I examine the beautiful chamber, I turn back to Venus, who's holding a long black strip of cloth in one hand. The other hand slowly reaches out to run softly across my belly, not quite swollen with the life inside, and never to be as such...
"It would've been the most beautiful child in the world... Hold still, Annie." she says, stepping forward and placing the fabric over my eyes, reluctantly tying it in place. It's a blindfold.
Moments later, I can feel the strong hands of the Peacekeepers take both of my arms and start leading me somewhere. I don't even care where. I'm far too distracted by the images dancing in front of the blackness obscuring my vision. I see Katniss, stubborn and unlikeable as she was, and a smile comes onto my face. As I hear doors open and am led outside to become immediately soaked in rain, I see Mags. Old, kind, toothless Mags, who gave her life and volunteered to protect me from the Games.
As I come to a stop on a wooden platform and am pushed down to my knees, bent forward so my throat rested on a smooth semi-circular wooden groove, I see my everything. My idol, my mentor, my friend, my boyfriend, my husband, and my lover. I see Finnick's smiling face. I smell the obnoxious Capitol products in his hair. I hear his beautiful laugh, smooth and clear like spring water. I taste the salty air that I always used to taste when he would take me on trips in his fancy dinghy. I feel his lips pressed against mine as we sealed our marriage with a kiss and consecrated it that same night...
And as the sound of rope rubbing quickly against wood is followed quickly by the feeling of something sharp and heavy slicing through my neck and decapitating me, I see into the future. An alternate future. I see a tall young man with my dark green eyes and Finnick's beautiful tan skin… I see our son… And I feel pride. Pointless, stupid pride in what could have been. And that's good enough for me.
(A/N: And there you have it! n_n I hope you enjoyed my one-shot. If you liked it, leave a review! If you loved it and want to see more of my current work, check out my other in-progress THG story, Game Over: The 175th Annual Hunger Games! :D If you're reading this, than you've more than likely have clicked on and read this little one-shot of mine, and for that I love you anyway, even if you don't review! Every one of your views means so much to this humble author!
Thanks again, readers! Bye bye!)
