Chapter 4
Poison
I woke up bright and early before training. Estella was still asleep and Winston was the only one fully awake. I had a banana for breakfast and went down to the lobby. Plutarch was waiting for me.
"Well?" I asked hugging my coat tightly around my body. There was a colder breeze this morning, but it was still going to be warm-ish.
Plutarch owed me a favor or two. I could only think of one thing, though. He had to sign me out, claiming he trusted that I wouldn't cause problems. Some Peacekeepers came to pick me up and we got in Capitol cars.
We got to a small building on the outskirts of the Capitol. It looked barely lived in and had a haunted feel to it. I let out a shiver and the Peacekeepers walked me in.
"Mrs. Odair is here to visit Annie Cresta." A Peacekeeper said, handing the Capitol attendant my note from Plutarch.
"Great." A Capitol woman with large purple hair said.
"Only one person is allowed to see her. I'm afraid you will have to wait out here." She said to the Peacekeepers. They nodded and sat in the waiting room.
"I'm Erika." She said shaking my hand.
"I'm Aria." I said with a small smile.
"If there are any problems, please don't hesitate to call. Ms. Cresta has some moments where she's great and some where she's a little unhinged." Erika said as I nodded once.
"You'll be going into a high-security room. We'll be right around the corner." Erika said unlocking the door.
"You keep the door locked?" I asked. Annie would definitely go mad if she didn't have human contact! Isolation is terrible for a lonely mind.
"Only at nights. We can't have her running off somewhere." Erika said as I stepped inside. Erika slammed the door shut behind me and I could hear her quick footsteps running down the hallway.
"Hello Annie. My name is Aria." I said gently. Annie turned so she could see my face. Her startling green eyes bore into mine and I shivered. Her face was gaunt and her hair was frizzy.
"It's nice to meet you." She said, hesitantly.
"Do you get many visitors?" I asked.
"None. I'm not normally allowed to have any." Annie said. My heart throbbed and skipped a beat. I nodded my head and helped myself to a chair next to her bed.
Her finger nails were caked in blood. She had long scratches running up and down her arms. What was she doing to herself? She noticed me staring at her nails, too!
"I get bored." She said.
"That's okay. I'm going to be your friend." I said smiling.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to have friends, Aria." Annie said frowning.
"We can make some exceptions. Besides, I won't have long any way." I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Why?" Annie asked.
"There's a new rule. I'm going into the Hunger Games and have no chance." I said cautiously, testing the waters.
"Finnick and Mags are, too." She said as tears leaked out of her eyes. My heart made another throb and I struggled to breathe. I don't know what came over me!
"Shh... it's okay." I cooed kneeling in front of her and hugging her shoulders. She sobbed into my shoulders and I stroked her back. Once she calmed down a bit, she pulled away and looked into my eyes.
"Keep him safe. For me. I don't care what you have to do, just keep him safe." Annie said.
"I will. I promise." I said nodding my head. She slumped back into her seat and wiped the remaining tears on the sleeve of her sweater.
"If you're going to keep him safe, do whatever you have to." Annie said, calming down. I grabbed her hand and wrapped my fingers around hers. She seemed shocked by the human contact, but I figured this was the best time I had to tell her what was going to happen.
"Annie, I'm already protecting Finnick." I said cautiously, trying to think about where I wanted to begin.
"How?" She asked as I sighed.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Annie said, quickly. I couldn't back out of this. Annie needed to know!
"Well, I figured out a way to get him out of seeing his Capitol clients." I said, trying to sound upbeat.
"How did you manage to pull that one off? Did you threaten Snow or something?" Annie asked, laughing.
"No," I said taking a deep breath, "I agreed to marry Finnick."
Annie's breath caught and she seemed to be struggling to word something.
"Y-you're marrying him?" Annie asked, timidly.
"Yes, there is a group of people who don't like Snow very much. Finnick, Mags, and I are in that group. In order for the Capitol to become more unhappy and short-tempered, Finnick had to marry someone everyone knew he didn't like. I was that person." I said, trying to vaguely explain the rebellion as best I could. But Annie was making it so difficult! She was so innocent and pure, it was like I was speaking to a baby.
"You don't really love him?" Annie asked.
"I can't afford to love anyone, Annie. Snow punishes me through the people I love." I said hesitantly.
"So you don't love anymore?" Annie asked.
I shook my head and Annie looked at me with pity. Why? She was the one who was stuck here! How could she honestly look at someone besides herself with pity?
"Can you act like you love him? For me?" Annie asked.
"I'm doing my best. I promise. I already had to start acting." I said quietly.
"Aria, Finnick doesn't deserve this." Annie said.
"I know he doesn't. He doesn't want to act like he loves me either. He still likes you." I said.
"He needs to move on. We both do. Clearly, Snow made it pretty positive that I'm unstable. I've moved on, he needs to next." Annie said.
"I don't want to rush him. He's still very upset about how things worked out." I said hesitantly.
"You need to help him. Get him to love again." Annie said.
"That's impossible." I said shaking a head.
"Try. Please, try. I'll only blame you if you don't try." Annie said as I shivered. She's going to hate me if I don't make Finnick get over her.
"I'll try my hardest to get him to love something. Right now, he's running on machine mode. I think he's more sad than he's letting on." I said.
"Can you talk to him today? Do it for me, please. Maybe if you get to know how he operates, acting in love will be easier too." Annie said. It made sense and it was pretty smart.
"I don't even really know him." I said sadly.
"Get to know him first, be his friend. Get him to trust and open up to you." Annie said.
"Thanks for the advice. But there's something else I have to do for the little club too." I said as Annie nodded.
"I have to keep the Careers away from Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Do you know who they are? They're the victors from the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. Finnick and Mags are going to be their allies and I have to keep the Careers away from them." I said.
"You're doing a lot! How will you find time for both?" Annie asked.
"I don't know. It's a struggle. The Careers seem to be a bit suspicious of me because Finnick and I. But they're going to get bored of me eventually." I said, forgetting who I was talking to. Why was I telling her about this? We should be talking about rainbows and sunshine! To be honest, I forgot Annie was insane for a while.
"How about we talk about something a little happier?" Annie suggested. I smiled appreciatively and she poured more tea. We sipped on tea and watched the sunrise. Annie had a huge French-arch in her room as a window. I'm surprised some other patients here haven't attempted to jump yet. She had a gorgeous view and a couch facing the window. This was probably the most extravagant thing in the room!
"It's beautiful." Annie said.
"It's too bright." I said shaking my head, making Annie laugh.
"The sunrise is the only reminder I have that the days go on." Annie said as I nodded. Somehow, we got on a sadder topic again.
"So what do you like to do? Do you paint or have a hobby or something?" I asked.
"I like to read. But other than that, no hobby. What about you?" Annie asked.
"I don't even read. I have no hobbies." I said.
"You should read this book I have! It's amazing. I love it and I always have!" Annie said, getting up and looking through some drawer on the nightstand. She pulled out a small book and handed it to me. It was some romance novel called Romeo and Juliet. It was very old and very dusty.
"Thank you Annie." I said.
"And it's symbolic. Finnick knows I love that book! If you read it, maybe he'll put two and two together." Annie said.
"The thing is he can't know I visited you, though. Or else he'd blow the marriage thing that's driving the Capitol citizens insane." I said as Annie nodded. There was a knock on the door and Erika poked her head in.
"Ladies, it's time for Aria to go." Erika said.
"Will you visit me tomorrow? I like having the company." Annie said looking at me. She seemed so sad and so lonely, it made me feel awful! Half of me shouldn't visit her, but I had to.
"Of course. I'll be here tomorrow morning." I said smiling. Annie grinned and pulled me into a hug.
"Ready?" Erika asked as I put my coat on.
"Wait. I want to give Aria something." Annie said, looking through her drawer again. She pulled out a pretty necklace. It was a seashell necklace made from District Four. She clipped it around my neck and grinned.
"Thank you Annie. For everything." I said pulling her into a hug.
I was led down the hallway and was escorted into the Capitol car again. The Peacekeepers dropped me off at the training center and I went to get ready for training. Once I did, I opened the book Annie gave me.
It was in some language that I didn't understand! Why? How could it honestly be so good if you could barely understand the language? I know it is old English or Elizabethan or something like that. But why wouldn't it get edited again?
I still had about an hour before training. I went down to Finnick's floor and just walked in. The avoxes seemed shocked upon my arrival. Mags was eating breakfast and Finnick was nowhere to be seen. But I could hear the shower running from somewhere.
"Hi Mags. How are you this morning?" I asked as she smiled and nodded. She patted my hand and I sat next to her.
"Can I tell you something secret?" I asked as Mags looked serious and nodded. She moved her hand to the small of my back and I felt oddly comforted. I could tell Mags anything.
"Please don't tell Finnick this. But I went to see Annie this morning." I said.
Mags looked thoroughly shocked. She seemed very confused too. I decided that I'd better explain myself a little better.
"She's moved on. She's over him. She wants him to move on! She understands the vague idea of what's going on. She gave me advice on what to do. This necklace? It's hers. And she gave me some romance book that's in another language!" I said.
The hot water stopped and there were footsteps.
"Aria, what are you doing here?" Finnick asked, thoroughly shocked. He was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. I blushed and tried to look away. I forced myself not to stare and squirmed uncomfortably. Finnick grinned at my discomfort.
"Nothing, I was just talking to Mags about something." I said.
"Anything new?" Finnick asked.
"Put some clothes on Finnick. And it's only a new book I started reading. It's called Romeo and Juliet." I said as Finnick nodded slowly.
"I don't understand the language of it though." I said shaking my head.
Finnick smirked.
"It's the language of love." Finnick said, flirtatiously. I rolled my eyes, but my flushed face gave me away. Why did he do this to me? Did he find satisfaction in seeing me be humiliated by my emotions? I honestly think he made a hobby out of humiliating people by flirting.
"Aw, does little Aria get dazzled easily?" Finnick asked.
"No. Now, put some clothes on." I said, quickly changing the subject.
Finnick let out a laugh and went to change. I sighed in relief and Mags grinned. She patted my hand sympathetically and got up to go into her room. Finnick came back out and sat across from me.
"Do you flirt with Katniss like this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you jealous?" Finnick asked.
"Well you're only allies. Imagine what the Capitol would do if you cheated on me!" I said laughing.
"Imagine what they would do if you cheated on me." Finnick said as I laughed.
"I'm the favorite, sociable one of this relationship. They don't expect me to be tied down by anyone!" Finnick said.
"They tried to get me to be like that too. I've always been too independent though. Following someone else's orders wasn't part of my deal." I said shaking my head. Maybe I could try to get Finnick more comfortable with me if he learned a bit about me?
"What happened? They don't take rejection lightly." Finnick said.
"What do you honestly think happen? They punished me through my family. He killed them on my sixteenth birthday and I've been completely alone ever since." I said.
"All alone? But you have me." Finnick said.
"I know, and it's swell. But I can't. I can't afford to love someone." I said.
"You can't afford to love someone? I'm afraid. What if I mess up again and you get put where Annie went?" Finnick asked. Was this a breakthrough? Did this count as one? I honestly don't know. I think it proved that Annie was right about mostly everything.
"Finnick, they can't just get rid of me that easy. I'm the annoying pest that they wish they could get rid of." I said as Finnick smiled.
"I have to get ready for training." Finnick said as I nodded.
"I'll see you at training. I should get ready to run into the Careers." I said.
Finnick began walking me to the elevator.
"Will you be at the meeting tonight?" Finnick asked.
"Of course!" I said grinning.
"Maybe we could finish our conversation then." Finnick said as I nodded. Was he offering to engage in a conversation like this? Did he actually want to talk things out? Finnick pushed the elevator button and it quickly came.
"See you in an hour." I said as the doors shut.
I walked back to my floor and met with Brutus. He was on his way to pick up Cashmere and Gloss.
"I'll come too!" I said grinning. Brutus grunted something, inaudibly. He really should try to form words instead of grunting. No one can understand what he is saying!
Cashmere chatted on and on about my engagement.
"In a way, it's kind of like poisonous love. Because it's so recent after Annie Cresta was taken away and I think he's a little hesitant. He blames himself for her being taken." Cashmere said all-knowingly. But how did she know?
Maybe she was wiser than she let on. But she was right about something.
This love was poison.
Thanks for reading everyone! Nothing like a Saturday night update, huh? I love the weekends! School is such a drag, but I'm happy to tell everyone that I got my highest final grade in my hardest class! I got a 93% in my Human Physiology and Anatomy class! Yay! I'm so beyond thrilled, that's what this chapter was!
GraceQuinn11: Thanks again for the great review! I'm trying to make Finnick and Aria similar, but also very different. I mean every character is different, but I'm trying to accentuate how they're different. I think both of them protect who needs to be protected and they're both very brave. But they're different types of brave. Aria is outwardly know as brave, whereas Finnick is known as a flirt.
sPaRkzZz: Thanks again for the review, I appreciate it! And thanks for being so understanding about the whole schedule thing. Your review was so reassuring, so thank you so much! Work is always pretty busy, but I try to keep my weekdays free from working unless it's absolutely necessary. And since finals are finally done after our snow days, it's a little less hectic!
RJ: To be completely honest, this chapter was a little bit of a surprise to me. Your review kind of inspired me to add so much Annie in this! I started thinking about if she was allowed to watch the Hunger Games and the news regarding it. And so, this chapter was born all thanks to you! Thank you for reading and being so inspiring!
IssabellaGirl: I was trying to make the proposal seem like something that no one would expect! I'm glad to know I succeeded. Now all I need to do is find something for the surprise that I can't mention now because it's a surprise for the readers. Did you honestly think I was going to slip up on the plot so easily? Haha! Thanks for the review!
Green-Nana-Neko89: Haha, I try to go in order of how everyone reviews. But I'm glad you liked being mentioned first. I think there are some chapters where a little bit of a shocker is a good thing! Ch. 3 was definitely one of those chapters. I think I was mostly trying to shock everyone, as funny as that sounds. Because I wanted to make Aria seem really oblivious. I think Aria is beginning to get through to Finnick, now that he's letting her. So that's something to look forward to.
Thanks to everyone who followed this story and especially the newest follower: ashbandicoot! Thanks so much for the support! Ashbandicoot also added this story to their favorites! It is greatly appreciated and thank you so much!
I hope you all have an amazing weekend! I don't know if I can ever thank you all enough for liking the story, reviewing it, following it, and adding it to your favorites! You're all my inspirations and I get inspired by you!
-GirlonFire
