Haunted
She was haunted by them all.
At first it was just her little sister. One moment she was there, sleeping soundly in her creaking white-washed cradle and the next she was six feet under the sand. Annie knew it was her fault. That's what made it so much worse.
She was only seven, so overjoyed to have a new baby sister. When Mama had told her to take Aphra down to the shore she had done so readily and eagerly. How was she to know what was was coming? Just a baby herself, really. Mama had trusted her too much.
She held baby Aphra in her arms, basking in stomach deep sea water, watching the scaled fish dart in between her legs. Then a wave's current had ripped the three month old from Annie's arms, dragging her into the endless abyss of the sea.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened, and Annie, still learning to swim, had tried so desperately to retrieve her from the ocean's depths. It was no use. A fisherman had seen what was happening, diving from his boat and rushing to help. But he was too late.
A boy, maybe a year older, watched from the dock as his father pulled the water-logged corpse of Aphra Cresta from the sand and cold of the sea's bottom. Her sky blue eyes were still open.
Murphey Odair carried both little girls all the way back to their home, one still and lifeless, the other sobbing and thrashing in his arms. His son Finnick stayed on the boat. It was the first time Murphey had questioned whether he would be safe or not.
As for Annie and her family, well, Ceto Cresta never had another child again. And no one ever looked at Annie the same way. When she went mad in her games, the whole town was unsurprised. One woman said she deserved it.
In the years after Aphra's death Annie Cresta learned to swim. Never in the same part of the beach where she had let her sister go.
It was an unpleasant experience for her, even after she worked up the nerve to ask Finnick Odair for help at age nine. He was ten years old, and the son of the man who had pulled her sister from the water. Yet he was the only one who looked at her the same way, maybe even in a better way than before.
He made it easier for her to swim, though she was never one with the waves and the currents like he was. Still she kept trying, determined never to be the cause of someone's death again. No one would be taken by the waves on her watch.
Swim lessons just after school became her favorite part of the day. Every night she had to return home to her mother, who had never recovered from losing Aphra, and her father who was always tired from working out at the docks all day.
One day though, she came home to find the house quiet and stock still. Not a dust wisp out of place. Except for one thing. She called out her mother's name over and over, looking meticulously through the basement and the downstairs. It wasn't until she ventured into the hallway that she saw it.
Her mother, neck through a tightly knotted hole in a fishing net, hanging from the banister. She wanted to die, to collapse, but she knew she couldn't leave her father to find this when he came home. Running all the way from one side of the sea shore to the other, she found her father. By the time she got there all she could do was cry and let him carry her home to see for himself.
Nearly the whole town gathered at the fence encasing their yard when a few neighborhood fishermen took the body down and carried it to the cemetery. She was buried next to Aphra. Another body six feet under the sand because of Annie.
And even though she had learned to swim, she still managed to let another death happen on her watch.
Finnick Odair watched from the sidelines as Annie cried into her father's shirt, and his father carried yet another Cresta to their grave.
It was quiet for another four years, with everything falling into some twisted form of normal. She continued her daily swim lessons with Finnick, and by the time she turned twelve she was just as good as him.
At that point he was maturing, and Annie had started to notice the way all the girls looked at him. They were jealous of how much time Annie spent with him, though neither of them felt that way about each other. Annie had her eye on the tailor's son and Finnick was too busy learning new techniques with his beloved old trident to notice.
By the time the 64th Hunger Games victor came to District Four the girls of her town were doing everything they could to get under her skin. Names like 'baby killer,' and 'mother murderer' were becoming a part of everyday life. One talking to from Finnick quelled it for a while, but that only lasted so long.
Annie's father was forced to become a much more active participant of her life, and while he missed his wife and child dearly, he loved Annie more than anything in the world. He always worked hard to provide her with the best, though he was never late for dinner.
On her thirteenth birthday he gave her the most expensive fabrics he could find, so she could make some new outfits with her sewing machine. Food was always in abundance as well, with the Odair's constantly giving them nice cuts from the things they didn't want to sell. Though if you ever asked them about it, they would never admit it.
It wasn't until the reaping day of the 65th Hunger Games that her world was held under water once more. Finnick Odair was reaped at the tender age of fourteen, just days after perfecting his newest trident technique.
Annie had stayed silent as the shock and panic crossed his face, before he pasted a blinding smile on and mounted the stage. He knew how to play a crowd.
She went to visit him, though the guards weren't going to let her in. How could a gaunt cheeked girl with ghosts in her eyes possible know the radiant Finnick? Murphey Odair had to help her out once more, verifying that she knew him. All she could do was mutter a thank you and duck inside the room.
When she got there, no words were said. In fact, the only thing she did was sit on the velvet couch in his arms until her three minutes were up. "I'll come back." Finnick told her urgently as she was pulled from the room. She knew, as she gave him one last departing nod, that he hadn't finished his sentence. She knew what he really wanted to say was, "I'll come back for you."
He knew it too.
The next day, when Annie was walking down the hall in school, one girl whispered loudly to her friend, "I bet he rigged the reaping to get away from the baby killer."
Annie stayed silent.
Finnick did come back. The youngest victor since the thirteen year old from the 32nd games. It had only lasted three days. He weaved every pattern he knew in order to make nets, so he could capture his victims. Except one. The pattern Annie taught him in the months before he left.
Years later he told her it was because he wanted them to remain untainted.
The girls salivated over him even more, wishing to bask in his newfound wealth. However, Finnick was oblivious. He and his parents moved into their big house in Victor's Village the day he returned. They resumed their daily swim lessons, though Annie no longer needed any help. She was even better than him.
Neither knew why they kept meeting their each day, but they did anyway. Nine years later Finnick admitted it was because he wanted one thing to stay the same. Annie was the only thing that kept him grounded all those years, even if she didn't know it.
In the years that followed Finnick was in District Four less and less. Whenever Annie asked he told her President Snow was always inviting him to parties, dinners, etc. She never believed him.
Still, something inside her was drawn to him. They were friends. Finnick said that was a good thing. She didn't know it was good because he wasn't allowed to love anyone. Just friends.
So when Annie was rejected by the tailor's son, Finnick was the one she cried too. And when he told her everything was going to be alright, she kissed him. He kissed back.
For years he believed that had gotten away with it.
Then the 70th Hunger Games arrived.
Annie Cresta's reaping was the most unexpected there had ever been in District Four, where they believed in Poseidon and Zeus and Athena. Hadn't she been punished enough, many asked.
What had she done to anger the Gods so?
Of course, Finnick knew the Gods had nothing to do with it. Rather a white snake that smelled of roses.
The second most unexpected thing to ever happen in District Four was Annie Cresta winning The Hunger Games.
Nearly the whole town was in awe when she was crowned, and when she moved into her nice big house in Victor's Village, and especially when she started spending even more time with Finnick Odair.
When they learned that she was mad however, the chatter quieted down.
Annie was taken by the Capital the moment the 75th Hunger Games contestants arrived in the Capital. No one knew but her father and Murphey Odair. Bay Odair, Finnick's mother, killed herself the moment he was reaped for the second time.
Finnick never knew any of this.
From the moment she was airlifted into the hovercraft to the moment Gale Hawthorne carried her from her cell, Annie Cresta was sedated, other than eating.
She only knew what happened after she was on her way to District 13. When she got there, Finnick had never looked better to her. She had never loved him more.
The day Annie married Finnick was her favorite. The only thing that could've made it better was having their parents there.
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen,. She saw them filming and thought she hoped to show it to them when the war ended. Finnick's mother would love it.
They never meant to get pregnant. But when they did, both cried.
Finnick hadn't cried since the first time Snow sold him. Though, this time it was tears of joy.
He didn't know he would never get to meet his son. How could he? Finnick Odair, so alive, so radiant, was the last one anyone expected to die.
Annie asked herself, as she thought of all the Gods from District Four, that Finnick deserved some peace. He deserved his son. Annie never knew he wouldn't get what he deserved.
When Annie heard the news, the only thing that kept her alive was the baby growing inside her. A boy. A little baby boy. Not a girl like her sister and mother. A boy. Like Finnick, and her father, and Murphey Odair.
And though he had never said it, she knew Finnick had wanted a boy.
So she put the knife back on the table and spent the night in Johanna's room.
When Annie returned to District Four, she heard the news of Finnick's mother. Her father and Murpehy Odair were still alive, having taken refuge in the underground bunker beneath their houses in Victor's Village.
The Capital never even though to look there.
Finnick Jr. was born just after she returned. He would be raised by his mother, Johanna, and his grandfather's.
And he would be haunted by his father. Just like Annie.
Author's Note: I really hoped you liked it. I have never written anything about Annie and Finnick. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful day and remember to smile! :)