Chapter Eleven

Where it falls apart.


"You two are so cute," Rayne remarked as he dragged himself into the grassy riverbank. He glistened in the sunlight that beat down on them, sparkling with water droplets in the sunlight from his morning swim. He began to gut the three fish he had caught and Annie turned her eyes away, hiding her face. She didn't have the stomach to watch. He grinned at her knowingly, ignoring the blood on his hands. "You and Finnick – you're like children."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Annie dismissively, popping a strip of meat into her mouth. She had slept well at Rayne's side through the night, and while she was itching with anxiety, Annie didn't have the feeling swelling in her gut that her death was mere seconds away. Rayne was a walking sense of protection. She gulped down her food, shading her eyes with her hand. She and Finnick had been up talking while she watched over them and Annie had assumed that since Rayne looked to have been asleep, he hadn't heard what had been said.

"You two didn't know what to say to each other half the time," he smiled. Rayne tossed the bones of the fish back into the stream, seeing as the pair would have no use for them. He spoke with a shrill tone, trying to imitate Annie's voice. She couldn't even tell what he was saying, it was purely gibberish. Then, he spoke with the slight twinge of a Capitol accent that Finnick had as he repeated his words. Back and forth back and forth, repeating whole conversations. "Finnick. Lovely. Finnick! Lovely!"

"Rayne, stop tormenting the girl!" snapped Mags through the communicator. The signal was fuzzy and her voice crackled, though it was evident that she sounded sicker than when they had left her. The mentors had explained that they were back in the Training Center and both were allowed to communicate with them because of their alliance, Rayne knew that Finnick and Mags were sparing them the gritty details but Annie was happily oblivious. "Haven't you ever fancied someone?"

Finnick chuckled distantly in the background. It was a hollow noise, but rang like the old bells that clanged along with the wedding choir in song to Annie.

The girl blushed madly. Her eyes flickered toward the riverbank to see Rayne with small slabs of meat in the grass. Growing up tying nets at the docks and occasionally sailing with her brothers, it was amazing to Annie to watch Rayne's nimble fingers work adroitly to follow through with his task. She hated knowing that he was so better than her. She hated knowing he would win over her, but then she could think of him reuniting with his sister and he became more than a Career. Annie raked her fingers through her sweat-slicked, knotted mess of hair as she kept her eyes on him and the communicator in her lap. "Thanks, Mags," she reminded herself to say after a moment.

The longer Annie sat still, just watching the rippling grass in the breeze or the sunlight reflecting off of the water, the more her mind wandered. While she had spent the first few days of the Games escaping them by thinking of other worlds entirely, like home, she know was imagining the Capitol. She worried how her family would be treated after her death and if they would face any ridiculing in District Four, even if that was unheard of. The last family that was abused after their child was killed in the Arena 'deserved' it because their son had so grotesquely torn apart his victims and hid their severed corpses across the playing field. She shivered at the thought, but knew in the back of her mind it would be better for her to think of that than wonder what her brothers were doing at that very moment.

"Annie," snapped Finnick warily. The cameras were surely on them at the moment for he reacted in such a way to her distant and unreachable expression. He had to call her name several times, each getting more desperate than the one before, before she heard him. Her eyes flashed and she settled back into the Arena. "Talk with me."

She glanced to the communicator in her lap, outer plastic warm as it sat in the sunlight. Annie controlled her breathing carefully to synchronize it with the wind so she didn't drown in the breeze as she came down from her panic. She stammered, "Um, about what?"

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Rayne turned his back to them and hung his feet into the river. His bare skin was golden in the sunlight, his muscles tensed rigidly. He tried to close his ears to their conversation kindly.

"I'm fine," assured Annie. The shiny Capitol appeared in her mind with its swept, paved streets and the skyscrapers that stuck up into the puffy white clouds like an old children's book. In the blink of an eye the streets were overwhelmed with the waves of District Four and the clouds were dissolved to reveal the pale blue sky that blanketed the sea. Homesickness was swelling within her. One by one, people dotted the seashore. Classmates. Fishermen. Peacekeepers. Her parents. Her brothers. Finnick. Mags. Her fantasy grew deranged as Capitol residents began to appear; Gossamer, Caesar, President Snow. Even those she thought were decent, Octavia and Faye and Charmant. The Games. The sounding trumpet. The canons. Imagining Cael's and Hollis' faces in the sky. Imagining her own, illuminated above the Arena. District Four, she thought to herself sickly, District Four.

"Annie," said Rayne. "I wasn't kidding when I thought you might drive yourself mad."

The girl ran her fingers through the grass. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Today," said Mags, clearing her throat. She proceeded to give Rayne instructions as to what he needed to accomplish over the day's course. Most of it involved finding new sources of food, their stash was running low. The lull of the woman's words sound like a low roar to Annie. It was pretty, though Mags' voice gave way with some of her words.

"You can keep that with you," said Rayne, eyeing the communicator in her lap. Annie nodded. He waded into the river until his head was bobbing above the waves when he slipped under. Before she knew it, Rayne was walking out on the other side of the water, gripping one of her nets in his fist.

"Are you alright, Annie?" asked Finnick timidly.

"Yes," she breathed as she watched her ally disappear into the forest.

"Really?"

The girl shook her head. Bile rose in the back of her throat and tears rimmed her eyes. One even dribbled down her cheek. "No. Finnick, I hate this."

Silence hung in the air between them for the longest time. She listened to the breeze rustling the leaves and the grass while she waited to hear him speak. He was trying to piece his heart back together before he spoke, for he knew that he wouldn't be able to control his emotions otherwise. Both of them had grown heartsick.

"Annie, dear, breathe," Mags coaxed her sweetly. "You need to calm down. You're alright. You're getting there." Her voice was worn by something much more severe than worry or anxiety, it was babbling like she couldn't speak at all. Annie felt terribly nervous for her. "Breathe. Breathe." She ducked away from the speaker for a moment. "Finnick, she needs you. Calm down."

Annie nodded her head and curled into tight ball. Her thoughts swam, darting around her mind like fish in a pond. She tried not to pay any attention to them, but that was something much more difficult done than said. One of the most haunting made itself known. Fourteen-year-old Finnick with the trident poised just above his shoulder, net dangling from his other hand, sea green eyes gleaming as he watched his next victim wither to the ground of the Arena before him. She tended to forget that being a victor meant more than just surviving the Games. Annie shivered.

"Things can only get better," Mags reassured her. The woman must have assumed that she was still fretting about Cael and Hollis, which she was, but there was so much more to it. Annie couldn't look away from the horrific nightmares.

The girl nodded in agreement, her eyes were glued to the spot where Rayne had disappeared.

"Annie," he said her name with such adoration, such longing. "You're going to come home, you don't have anything to worry about."

Finnick's light tone made things better for her. She saw the sunlight pouring down on her and thought happily of home, remembering the good things instead of the bad. Her mind was unstable. She could now smile, knowing that District Four wasn't as miserable as she was.

"Okay, Finnick," said Annie, wiping her tears. Saying his name made her feel a bit better. "Okay."

The communicator buzzed, vibrating her fingertips. Annie stared at the thing curiously, wondering what it could mean. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought it might have thought its power. "Finnick!"

"What?" he asked, voice coming through just as certainly as ever. Relief crashed down upon the girl's shoulders and she sighed. "Annie, what?"

He didn't see anyone approaching, he didn't see anything wrong with her, so he must have thought her to be crazy. "I just…I just thought…it's nothing," she answered. Things were okay.

Well, as okay as things could in the Arena.

She laid back in the breeze, dark curls splayed out messily across the blanket. Annie closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel the heat of the sun washing over her face, her arms, her bare stomach. She hardly thought about why she didn't have her jacket anymore. Her hand rested over the communicator at her side and drew it close to her. Annie could relax, who aside from Rayne could swim?

Finnick took a moment to collect himself before he spoke again. He picked up from where he had left off the night before, painting her mind with stories that were so beautifully drawn out. His words were nothing less than perfect.

"Finnick," interrupted Annie halfway through a tale about him catching turtles off of the docks in the marina. She had a curious notion in mind that she remembered something, though she couldn't determine if it was something her mind had formulated or if it had been real. It was too clear for her to picture him sitting there with his legs dangling in the water, his father standing behind him with the net, and she had to question if she had been there. Real or not real, that was forever the question. "Did we…ever meet before the Games?"

He breathed. "I think we did, actually," he said unsurely. Finnick paused a moment and Annie wondered why. "I think I met you at the reaping once, a while ago."

"Oh." It was necessarily the answer she was looking for, but it was an answer. Annie tried to recall what he was talking about, fear, however, was all she could remember about any of the reapings – especially the recent one. "Just once?"

"Once we talked, I noticed you when you were around but nothing more than that," explained Finnick.

"Hm," said Annie. She wouldn't say she remembered any of that until he was reaped, that would have just been wrong to tell him. She couldn't say that she was still childishly terrified of him, not when she also knew she was in love with him. Her eyes fluttered open. The ironically cheerful blue sky was dotted with clouds here and there. "Sorry I interrupted, continue."

"She has just the best manners, doesn't she? It's two cute!" shrieked Gossamer somewhere in the background.

"Gossamer's there, too?" Annie asked, shocked. She should have expected as much.

"Yes," said Finnick. "But she isn't allowed to speak to you. She didn't get permission from President Snow like Mags and I did."

Annie sat up and stretched, tucking the communicator partially under her leg. She clenched her eyes shut, popping the vertebrae of her back. Tension was rung out from her muscles. She was about to lie back down when Finnick snapped at her.

"Annie. Stay calm. Hide the communicator."

She moved her leg completely over the communicator. Her heart dropped into her gut when she opened her eyes and she entirely stopped breathing. Walking along the far riverbank were the four Careers, kicking up sand as they went. Annie's eyes bulged from her head. It was as if no matter how much distance she thought she could put between herself and the Careers, they always seemed to meet up.

"What the hell are you doing over there?" demanded Pascal as he laid eyes on Annie, pointing her out to the others.

Mira's eyes widened. Iem flexed and looked as if he were about to dive into the river and swim over to her, but Maroon caught his shoulder. "Who are you kidding?" she demanded fiercely. "You can't swim!"

"Sunbathing," whispered Finnick, voice crackling with static from the communicator.

"Sunbathing!" called Annie across the river without falter. She sounded much more confident than she was. She felt a strange pang of satisfaction when she watched Pascal's face scrunch up in frustration.

"How'd you get there?" he asked, tone lightening. He was planning to play this for all it was worth.

"I swam," instructed Finnick under his breath. "I'm from District Four, remember?"

"I swam!" she announced. "I am from District Four, remember?"

Maroon chuckled. "She's got you there, Pascal. Maybe we should have kept her from the beginning, should've tried harder."

Pascal's threw his thick hand back at her, snapping her across the face. Maroon's cheek turned bright red and purple around where the base of his palm hit her. Annie cringed. In the red she could see Cael's gash, even though it was completely unrelated to this. She sucked in a desperate breath through her teeth.

"Calm down, lovely."

"Swimming is useless here!" Pascal roared. He broke off into an evil, unsettling laughter.

"It's keeping me safe from you, isn't it?" Annie beamed boldly without prompting.

"That's my girl," said Mags proudly as Finnick sighed.

Iem scowled at her. Mira's jaw about hit the ground and her eyes flickered in hatred. Maroon was masking her emotions well and stared at Annie with a blank expression. Pascal was clenching his fists and his shoulders were hunched forward angrily. "I swear, it's going to be me that takes you out!" he screamed.

Annie stared at him. Inside, panic streamed through her and her mind was unraveling. Finnick's words calmed her, kept her anchored. "Stay calm," he said repeatedly. "You're going to be fine."

"You haven't seen good ol' Rayne around have you?" asked Iem and wiped the scowl from his features, deciding to play along kindly.

"Lie," spat Finnick fiercely.

"Can't say that I have!" shrugged Annie dramatically. She was quivering uncontrollably. "I thought he was on your team!"

"So did we," growled Mira. She was an antsy child. She shifted her weight between her feet and darted in between the other Careers restlessly. The girl slithered around Maroon to stand in the shallow waves. "He ditched us yesterday, though."

"You left your camp to look for him?" asked Annie curiously.

"That was stupid," snickered Finnick.

"That was stupid," repeated the girl.

"Shhh!" sneered Mags in haste.

Annie's face turned embarrassingly red and she scolded herself under her breath. She willed the Careers just marching back off into the woods yet they remained directly before her on the opposite side of the river. Her heart was thundering in her chest, creating a storm out of her.

"We left our camp to kill him, actually," corrected Pascal with a terrifying grin that sent chills down Annie's spine. Rayne's face in the night sky flashed through her mind and she nearly blacked out. "So I don't think it'll be an issue."

"If you say so," drawled Annie weakly. Her voice had lost its power.

Out of nowhere, Mira's spear escaped her grasp and was hurling towards her. It easily cleared the river and Annie stared at it as it soared towards her, frozen.

"Duck!" Finnick commands in a powerful voice.

Annie throws herself into the ground, face in the dirt and the communicator digging into her fleshy stomach. The spear whirls over her head. Her heart doesn't stop pounding until minutes later when she finally gathers the nerve to sit up. The Careers scolded Mira for the waste of a weapon, for now they could never retrieve it. Annie hoists herself up, exhausted and drained from fear, but leaves the communicator on the ground. It was hidden by the overgrown grass.

"Take it," whispered Finnick.

Annie's eyes darted to the spear sticking out of the dirt. It had ripped the blanket. She wrapped her frail, shaking hand around it and yanked it from the ground. Cautiously, as if it was going to start acting on a mind of its own, Annie examined it at an arm's length away from herself. Growing comfortable with it, she began to twirl it around like a baton.

"Get it back, you idiot!" snarled Pascal, shoving the little girl into the water. She tried to get back on her feet but splashed helplessly in the waves. Pascal followed her into the water; he hoisted her above his head and threw her out as far as he possibly could. She struggled to tread water, let alone swim forward. Annie's heart ached for her, yet she obeyed Finnick when he said to stay put. Annie, Pascal, and Finnick all knew what was going to happen.

The Careers marched off after growing tired of watching Mira exert all of her energy. The girl floated on the waves, face dipping in and out of the water. Annie couldn't stand watching her. Despite Finnick and Mags warning her not to, Annie dove into the water and swam out to Mira.

The current was pulling down harder on her than normal, so Annie took the moment to appreciate how long Mira had made it without being sucked under. She sank below the waves and propelled herself with the current towards the girl. She reemerged at Mira's side. Desperately, the child threw her arms around Annie's shoulders. The adrenaline that coursed through her helped give her the strength she needed to pull the girl to the far shore. Annie dragged her into the grass. Mira began to cough and sputter, spitting up water, as the swimmer swam back to her camp.

When she walked ashore, Annie took the spear and held it up to Mira. The girl had stood weakly and held her drenched hair out of her eyes to look at Annie. "I'll be keeping this!" said Annie. Mira nodded and ran off.

When the child was gone, Annie brought the spear down over her knee, snapping it in half. She wasn't kidding anyone; she had no intentions to use it.

"You're too good for the Games, Annie," said Finnick sadly. "You've done nothing to deserve this hell."

"Thank you," was the only thing she thought to say. "Since you're kind of all-seeing, let me know what happens to Rayne, okay?"

"Oh, he's fine," piped Mags hoarsely. "The Careers are actually going in the opposite direction as him; you've nothing to worry about. I promise."

Annie nodded, starting to drift off again. She stared at the two splintered halves of the spear and wondered how she had been strong enough to snap it; it didn't make much sense to her. Absentmindedly, she rose to her feet again and gathered the pieces of the spear. She tossed it into the river, knowing that the Gamemakers would have to retrieve it some time.

She settled cross-legged on the blanket. Her stomach grumbled, which was strange since she had just eaten when Rayne had left. The fish meat he had stripped from the bones earlier were packed in an empty container and in her backpack, but she didn't reach for it. Instead, Annie scolded herself for having grown accustomed to eating the fine Capitol food in only a matter of weeks. She thought of what the people of District Four must think of her, longing for scrumptious food that the district could only dream of while they were just scraping by. A full meal on everyone's tables every day to keep their bellies full for the following day at sea never seemed to be enough. Annie laid back in the sunlight, ignoring her stomach's pleas.

"Annie," said Mags, drawing the girl's attention back to the communicator, "Rayne is on his way back."

She was relieved. Annie was simply relieved.

After the passing of several minutes, Rayne bounded through the trees, yelling excitedly. His face was bright and his eyes danced. He had just jumped into the water separating them when the light in the Arena flickered before going out entirely.

The noise remained – leaves rustled, waves lapped, grass swayed in the breeze, birds called, crickets chirped, and frogs croaked – but the entire Arena was black as pitch. She couldn't see a single thing. Annie nervously dug her fingernails into the dirt and screamed. "Finnick! Finnick! Finnick!"

"Annie! Hush! Annie, lovely!" he called to her. The communicator was a distant object in the grass at her feet. She couldn't reach it; it was a million miles away. "Annie! Annie!"

Rayne pulled himself from the waves. "Annie!" He pressed his hands down over her shoulders. She couldn't tell that he was there; she didn't see him before her. He could feel the girl's heartbeat through her skin. "Annie! You're fine, it's fine."

"Good afternoon, tributes of the Seventieth Hunger Games!" boomed Claudius Templesmith over the Arena. "I would like to cordially invite you all to the Cornucopia for a feast of sorts."

"Hasn't there been enough action for one day?" muttered Rayne under his breath.

"With only six of you left, I believe you are each itching for that final tool to bring you to victory," he continued, obnoxious Capitol accent lacing his words. "This is what you will find waiting for you. Enjoy finding your way in the dark – may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Rayne didn't hesitate for a single moment. "I'm off," he said. Annie didn't feel him dripping on her anymore and knew he was gone. The rhythm of the waves was disrupted as he dove back into the river. He was very impulsive.

"What do I do, Finnick?" she asked timidly, crawling towards the communicator in the grass. Annie craved his guidance, since he seemed to be the only one thinking things through. "What should I do?"

"Go after Rayne," he instructed. "But don't go to the feast. I don't think you'll find it worth it." He knows, he just wasn't allowed to say anything. President Snow was more cautious by agreeing to this than Finnick had led her to think. "Leave the communicator here, be careful."

"But, Finnick–" she protested.

"I'll be watching," he said.

Annie rose slowly to her feet. She crept towards the riverbank. It was terrifying swimming without being able to see where she was going and she didn't dare submerge herself completely. Pulling herself onto the other shore was exhilarating; knowing that she hadn't drowned was relieving. She walked with her arms stuck out in front of her, feeling for trees so she didn't slam into one. The Capitol was 'kind' enough to play the anthem at the Cornucopia, drawing the tributes to the open field. Annie managed to keep her stumbling to a minimum and only crashed into three trees before she reached the Cornucopia. Her eyes had slightly adjusted to the darkness and she could faintly make out the silhouettes of trees and people and the Cornucopia. She was hidden behind a tree, watching the shapes of the tributes circle the giant horn, inspecting the six packages placed around it.

The first sixty seconds of the Games were brought back to her as she watched the Careers and Rayne sprint in for their designated packages. Annie noticed that Mira, in particular, was staying clear of Rayne. She held her breath.

The feast at the Cornucopia was used to draw in attention, as Rayne had said earlier, and to bring the tributes into one area. Some years, they arrive to find actual food and others new weapons and such. The boxes taller than Annie was must have held something important, for each tribute was receiving one, though she couldn't imagine what was inside. She bit her lip as she watched the competition close in on itself. The Careers were now battling amongst themselves and tearing open packages, each searching for the one placed there for them.

Pascal's shining new ax buried itself deep in Rayne's calf, bringing him down to the ground. Surprisingly, her partner barreled out of the way just as the ax came down, burying itself in the grass where his head had been. Annie nearly passed out.

"Rayne!" she cried.

Pascal and Iem both dropped their fights and dashed for her while Rayne turned to her in shock. His eyes gleamed, screaming for her to run. Annie turned and ran as fast as she could until she was waist-deep in the river. She hadn't even realized she had run that far. When she turned back, Annie didn't see Pascal or Iem anywhere in sight and dared to return to Rayne. She wasn't going to let him go.

"Rayne!" she called, running hard, driven by fear. "Rayne Saltwood, where are you!" He wasn't at the Cornucopia and she began to truly panic. What if he had died? What if he had already been taken out of the Arena by the hovercraft? Why hadn't she heard the cannon?

All the way back at the Cornucopia, Rayne was curled up on the ground. He clutched his calves, holding the flaps of skin over his wounds. He looked so similar to Hollis; the only difference was that Rayne lacked the spear jutting out of his core. His bright eyes were already beginning to fade, she could see, just as Cael's had. Nightmares were running through her mind.

"You're not the mindless slut those pictures portrayed," observed Pascal. He stood over Rayne, ax poised for the chop, looming like the trees against the sky. His eyes were angry, impatient. "You saved Mira. You stupidly came back for him. You got any last words for him?" He kicked Rayne in the back.

Rayne grit his teeth in pain and pressed his eyes shut. Annie's heart broke watching him. She reached for him but her feet remained planted. Annie couldn't break her eyes away from Rayne, despite Pascal threatening to kill her as well just by standing there. She couldn't form the words she wanted to say to him. Her mouth hung open.

"You're going to get out of here alive, Annie Cresta," he breathed roughly. "Do you hear me? Alive."

Annie gulped and nodded vigorously.

"And when you do, tell Calypso that I love her and that I tried to come home and I am so sorry. It will mean more coming from you than hearing it now. Promise that you'll tell Calypso, promise!"

"I promise!" she choked, sobbing. Annie dropped to the ground and grasped Rayne's hand. It was the best she could do.

"Tell Calypso. Tell Mags thank you. I know you can do this. Get out for me."

"I promise I will!"

He squeezed her fingers.

"You were always weak," muttered Pascal. He drew the ax above his head and brought it down to Rayne's throat. Blood spattered across Annie's face. Again and again the ax struck him until Rayne's severed head was staring at the sky with dead eyes.


Lots of action in this chapter and I honestly don't know how I did with it or how you guys will like it so...yeah. I listened to the Sweeney Todd soundtrack while writing this so it inspired the violence and such, that inspired the dark side of me to finish this chapter off.

Thank you all for favorites, following, and reviewing! Every one of you means so much to me and I am glad to have nothing but positive feedback. As always, let me know what you thought of the chapter and if I need to work on anything.

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