Dark Paradise
It had been sometime since their friend had come to visit and before I knew it I was being called to attention again by my son and a strikingly deviously looking woman. "Spacing out are we Annie dear?" She mused happily, a smile spread wide across her face, her brown eyes twinkling with amusement. That was Johanna for you. Her spike hair has grown longer since the two last met some years ago, back when Waverly was still just turning four.
"Look at you, still thin as a twig aren't you?" She sighed as she pulled me into a tight hug. "While I am here, we will have to eat a bunch of junk to make you fat!" That warranted a giggle from Waverly and a swift jab from my elbow, but softly since I knew she meant the best from the comment. Now she turned her attention to the young boy and suddenly grabbed him up and help him above her, arms extended as she looked him over.
"What are you now Waverly, six…seven?" It had been sometime since her last visit since she has been very busy as of later, not to mention her distaste for the ocean…something about all that water if I could recall correctly. He gave a bright smile and nodded quickly. ''Yes Aunty Johanna, I turned 7 just last month actually…did you bring me a present since you missed my birthday?"
She gave a small laugh and sent him down and nodded. "Yes, you should know I did." She swiftly walked over to her stuff where she picked up a small box. "But you can't have it until later." Waverly tried to protest, only until he was put into a headlock by Johanna and made to promise he wouldn't open it till later.
We moved out chat to the front porch, watching Waverly run after seagulls and crabs. "You don't really seem to be doing any better Annie…from what Waverly to me; you seem to be spacing out a lot." Her tone was soft as well, just like Waverly's earlier… Somehow this was beginning to get a little irritating. Everyone I talked to handled me as if I was a bomb about ready to go off and maybe I am but it just makes me so…so…so hurt.
Why can't they understand that I just want to be left alone to think? Or that when I do talk, that maybe it's best that we just treat me like how I used to be?
"You should come back with me, I have to head to the capitol to get some stuff…maybe the doctors can" but I had stopped her before she could even finish. "No. I won't go there, ever. Not to the place where he died. Not to the place that the people took entertainment from our suffering!" Now they began to hum to life and before I knew it, they were a loud roar. The voice's came back!
'Finnick is dead Annie; they're going to get you too.' They hissed. 'Don't trust her, she is just like everyone else!' but worst of all they voices egged her on.
'Make her go away, just shove her into the water and scare her off!'
The hum of the voices began to drown out ever thing; Waverly calling out to me, Johanna telling me to calm down, even the sound of the ocean began to fade. My head felt fuzzy even as it began to ache, the blood in my ears was pounding so hard that I swore my heart was going to explode from beating so hard and fast.
I wanted them to stop, they needed to go away! Even now, covering my ears with my hands and mumbling, pleading more like, for them to leave me alone, they still yelled at me so many different things that I could no longer make out anything but noise…
"Finnick," I groaned. "Oh Finnick…." And with that, the world swirled around and slowly faded to black, the voices screaming up until the very last second before I fully lost consciousness.
Alright, so maybe today wasn't a good day for me after all.
