Disclaimer: I do not own Hunger Games.


Madness

I have looked all over District 13 for my husband, Finnick, but I still cannot find him. I am starting to get anxious. He should be with me, at my side, as he always is. Why isn't he with me today? Could something have happened to him? I know for certain that there is very little that can keep him from my side. Ever since I was rescued from the Capitol, Finnick has made sure that he spent every second that he can with me. So why isn't he here now?

I check the hospital. I don't remember Finnick being injured, but even I know that my mental health is unstable at best. Could I have slipped into my madness without being aware of it? Could something have happened to Finnick while I was unaware? Or worse. Could my madness have caused Finnick to get hurt somehow? The thought of that is unbearable-that I could hurt my husband in a fit of madness and not even know it. It is unthinkable.

Johanna Mason is at the hospital. She does not look very well. I remember this woman. She is another victor and also one of Finnick's friends. She might know where he is. I approach her, unmindful of the doctors' warnings – She needs more rest, they say. I couldn't care less if Johanna Mason had been dying at the moment – Thankfully, she isn't – I just want to know where my husband is.

Johanna hears me coming as I approach her hospital bed. She turns to face me, opening her mouth, no doubt to say something sarcastic, but winces instead when she sees that it is me. Her reaction only serves to increase the dread that I feel. I sit down on the stool next to her bed.

"The mad girl," she greets me. There is no malice in her voice, as has been the case of so many others that have called me by that name before her. I do not take it personally. It is the way she speaks to everyone, blunt and to the point. Of course, she claims that her head doctor encourages her to do so.

"Do you know where he is?" I ask. There is no need to specify a name. There can only be one person that I could be looking for and I know that Johanna knows this as well. The pity in her expression worries me. Has something happened to Finnick? What if he is fighting for his life somewhere? What if at this moment an axe separates his head from his body, just like that other–

The image that appears in my head is so vivid that it scares me. It is so real that I think that I am back in the arena. I have relived this moment so many times, the moment that drove me to madness. I see the axe flying towards my district partner, whose name I am sorry to say, I cannot remember, in slow motion. I scream and my hands instinctively fly to my ears, trying desperately to block out the sickening sound the axe makes as it removes my district partner's head.

I hear another sound though–a woman's voice. I cling on to it, because it is so much more comforting than the sound of the axe or of my screaming. After awhile, I realize that it is Johanna Mason's voice. I concentrate harder on her voice until I can make out the words.

"Annie, pull yourself together!"

I am trying.

"You have to come back, Annie."

Where have I gone?

"Don't you want to know where Finnick is?"

I stop my maniacal screaming long enough to utter my husband's name. Oh, my husband. I am not in the arena. I am in District 13. I have married Finnick Odair. I am now Annie Odair. Finnick is my husband. Finnick is –

That's right! Finnick is missing. I am not in the arena fighting for my life. I am in District 13 looking for my husband, Finnick Odair. I fight the madness with all my might. Thinking about Finnick strengthens my resolve. I fight to look past the image of my district partner's head, lying lifeless at my feet. It is not real. I fight to find reality. I close my eyes tightly and slowly remove my hands from my ears.

It isn't real. Not real, not real, not real…

The sounds of the arena slowly fade away. I open my eyes slowly and see Johanna Mason looking at me warily, not sure if my madness has passed. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself.

"Where is he?" I ask again.

Johanna looks away, but she gives me an answer.

"Pretty boy's gone on a mission along with Katniss and the others."

A mission. My husband has gone on a mission without telling me.

"Is he…" I want to ask if he is alright, but I choke on my words. Johanna looks like she understands what I wanted to ask her anyway, but it is not her that answers my question this time.

"He's dead," President Coin's voice, cold and uncaring, answers from behind me.

I hear someone screaming. The sound is sad and heartbroken. I think that the sound is coming from me but I am not sure, because I am back in the arena. I have to fight for my life again. I see my district partner beside me. I see the axe coming. I try to yell a warning but I am too late. The axe takes his head off. His head falls to the ground at my feet. A pair of familiar sea green eyes that have so often looked adoringly into mine looks up at me and bile rises up to my throat as I realize that they do not belong to my district partner. They belong to my husband.

And this time, Finnick cannot pull me out of the madness.