The next thing I knew, two days had passed. Two women, Katniss and Johanna, had done their best to try and explain to me what was going on. Surprising even them, I remembered that my name was Emily Reed and I was twenty-two years old. Katniss had explained saying that she and Johanna were my friends and allies from when I was mysteriously kidnapped and transported from my time in the past to their future to participate in the Quarter Quell.
I'd been a pawn in the games to get Katniss to want to give up her life even more so. I'd joined the rebellion against President Snow, who led the Capital, and had proven pretty good with throwing knives and a bow and arrow in the arena. I'd also been recaptured by the Capital after some parts in their plan to rescue some of the tributes had gone awry.
Katniss and Johanna told me that I'd been subjected to weeks of torture in the facility they'd found me in. They said I would've died if the rescue team hadn't come sooner. What came as an even greater shock to me was that the man from before that had caused me to scream, Finnick Odair, was completely harmless when it came to me and he cared for me deeply. Some part of my mind kept telling me it wasn't true. Finnick was dangerous in many other ways besides having won his year in the Hunger Games. Finnick wanted to kill me. He wanted to betray me to the Capital. He wasn't to be trusted. Finnick would hurt me.
However, looking at Katniss's and Johanna's faces, I felt like they were telling the truth about Finnick. Past all my kicking and screaming, I'd seen the worry and look of utter caring in Finnick's eyes. Somehow, he'd known my fear of being alone in the dark. He'd brought light back into my world.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Katniss and Johanna assured me that Finnick would never even dream of doing me any harm, I still couldn't shake the feeling of dread each time his name was mentioned. It was like the tracker jacker venom they said had been used on me for torture had permanently programmed me to be terrified of Finnick. I just didn't completely understand why if he hadn't done anything to me.
