The call echoed out from the shadows…
"Annie! Aanniiee!"
She tore her way towards the source of the cries, plunging slowly onward with arms outstretched, almost as if swimming through ink…
"Annie!"
A figure was revealed from the black haze. Tall, thin; completely static. Waiting.
Annie looked down at herself and saw she wore nothing but a sheet. That's right. This must be that day in District Thirteen; the beautiful moment when she was reunited with her hero.
"Finnick!" Annie replied just as she had before, "Finnick!"
"Annie!"
Something was wrong. Her name was not exclaimed with love, but misery.
Just as Annie reached the figure and embraced him, she was lost once again in the haze of ink. The image had only been an illusion.
"Finnick! No!"
But it hadn't been a complete deception. In place of the figure was a head rolling slowly at Annie's feet. As she lifted it from the smoky ground, Annie knew it had to be that of her husband, and yet, something was very wrong. The head was missing Finnick's gorgeous sea green eyes and sunlit bronze hair. Even his skin was a bleached pale gray and the lips were plastered over with flesh. More a skull than a face.
Annie looked into the empty eyes of her husband and screamed tirelessly. For a moment, she could hear him screaming along. Then that moment was suddenly interrupted.
"Annie!"
"Finnick! Finnick where are you?!"
"Annie, no, it's me! Katniss! Wake up, Annie! Come on, you're dreaming!"
Annie's green eyes fluttered open to look upon her own hands raised around the empty air where the disfigured head had been. Beyond that, the face of her friend Katniss stared on worriedly. For quite a while Annie remained slumped against the side of her bed in silence.
"He was so angry…"
"If it was just a dream, then it doesn't matter. Everyone has dreams. Just forget about it and go back to bed."
Katniss stood from where she had crouched beside Annie and walked out the door before Annie could think of something to say that would stop her. She could only sigh and crawl under the sheets again. Thanks to the strong dose of morphling Johanna had given her, Annie was able to slowly drift away into sleep despite the feelings of terror swirling in her mind.
Just as she had completely disconnected from consciousness, a slender fist bashed against the wall beside her bed.
Gasping, Annie lurched up and looked to the source of the noise in panic. For a moment, she could see a flash of black…
Finnick's suit on their wedding day?
And then there was nothing in its place.