Author's note- It would be great to get some reviews from those of you who are reading the story.

Chapter 4

"You like her," Mags says after the tributes go to bed.

"She isn't right in the head," I say in response, licking the rest of the chocolate mousse from the serving spoon.

"You still like her." She's smiling now and I'm reminded of how young Mags still is underneath all that old skin.

"There's something…" I stop short. I shouldn't continue. There's no point. I am a whore and Annie only has a one in twenty-four chance of staying alive in the immediate future.

"There's nothing wrong with allowing yourself to feel, my dear Finnick."

I don't know how it is that Mags always manages to read my mind. It is uncanny and in certain situations, annoying.

"I'm her mentor."

"Technically, I'm her mentor."

I feel like shaking the lightness out of her voice. There will be no future for me with with any girl. Despite some instinct within me to protect her, I know I probably can't. Any more thought I give her would be wasted. Besides I don't really know her and everyone thinks she's mad.

I sigh. "Aren't there rules against putting kids in that aren't…you know…at their full mental capacity?"

Mags laughs and I know why. There are no rules.

I banish it all from my mind. Instability aside, I cannot allow myself to think about her. She will be dead in a matter of weeks.

Still, once the train has stopped and we're at the training center, I follow Annie to the roof and watch her as she dances in her gossamer dress. She swirls and twirls in the fresh air and I'm taken by her simple beauty.

I decide that it must be the innocence that rolls off of her and crashes against me like a wave that draws me in.

Suddenly, she stops and her eyes pierce mine. "I didn't kill those birds, you know."

I don't know what she's talking about, but I take a step closer now that she's acknowledged my presence. "What birds?"

"Head Peacekeeper Bounty's." She spins once and then moves to the edge of the building, her hands resting on the ledge as she looks out over the twinkling lights of the city.

I am next to her before I even decide to move.

"He wasn't kind. My father and brothers were out on the boat. I never told them."

I feel ill at her words, my mind going in so many directions, all of them equally disgusting and horrible, trying to fill in the gaps.

For some reason, she laughs. Her eyes are wide and innocent when she turns to me. "Even now he makes me pay for what I didn't do."

I'm still trying to riddle it all out when she skips away toward the garden. I am helpless to do anything but follow.

"No one volunteered, Finnick." She was still smiling, but her eyes were trouble. "You volunteered."

I know the connection she is making. It is rare for a non-volunteer tribute from District 4 to go to the Games. I reach out to her, my hand halting her motion. "I don't understand. Why would he…"

She leans in close and I can smell the sea in her hair.

"I know his secrets." Her fingers twine together nervously. "I didn't tell anyone but he…he wants to make sure."

"How do you know his secrets?"

"He talks in his sleep."

I feel winded like I did when August, the tribute from District 1, hit me in the chest with the blunt mace. The oxygen was knocked out of me then and I feel the same now.

She looks down at her arm and my gaze follows her. I realize now that I'm still touching her.

"I'm sorry," I say, quickly pulling my hand away.

When I look back at her face, she's smiling still. "I didn't kill those birds."

I am struck dumb by now innocent she sounds, but I am sure she didn't kill them. I want to ask her why all the other children taunted her. I want to apologize that I never stepped in. I want to say a lot of things, but she's talking again.

"I saw you." Her eyes are bright with excitement. "On television. When you won. My brothers knew you would. My father bet on you."

She leans in close again and takes my right hand in both of hers. "My mother left me two pearls she found when she was very small. I traded them." She's whispering now. "I wanted to send you something special, so I chipped in and when Hetrick was hunting you, and after you killed the girl from District 3, you got the silver parachute."

She's talking about the medicine and the bread. The girl from three had sliced me with a knife, but the medicine from home patched it up like it never happened. And the bread? The green seaweed bread tasted like it was fresh from the hearth, fresh from the sea.

I feel shocked. "You that sent to me?"

"Yes. I didn't get a fair price for the pearls though."

"Thank you," I say sincerely.

"You looked hungry."

"I was." At that point, I'd been cut off from everyone else and there were no fish to be caught. "The bread was thoughtful, as was the medicine."

"Everyone was talking about you at school."

I study her and for whatever reason, I want to be closer to her, but am thankful that she's still holding my hand. "Did you talk about me?" I don't know why I ask it. I guess I hope that did talk about me. I want to be important to her for some reason.

Annie moves away and kneels down next to the night-blooming Jasmine. My hand feels funny once she let go. "No one talks to me, Finnick."

"I'm talking to you, Annie."

Either what I say makes her laugh or the flower does, but then she's serious. "I've never killed anything in my life. I doubt I'll make it very far in the Games. I won't be able to kill, but maybe I can hide."