Chapter 12.

I have been home for a few weeks and nothing has gotten better. I hear things and see things whenever I close my eyes. I have nightmares that show me Dan getting decapitated and scream myself awake. My mother is worried about me which isn't surprising because I scream every night, and sometimes talk to things that aren't around. I moved into Victors Village and I am not fond of the place because it just reminds me of the place I want to forget, the place I see in my nightmares.

Finnick sees me everyday which is nice but, it has gotten annoying recently. I like being with him because he can get me to calm down but, sometimes I just want to be , he shows up and invites himself into my house. Sometimes he doesn't even knock on the door which I don't think is wise especially with me being so jumpy. He said I was stuck with him for life but, I didn't think he would come over so often.

Today I am going into town for a walk, I haven't done this by myself yet. I have gone with Lana and Finnick before but, not by myself. People don't want me to be left alone. I don't like because it makes me feel that something is wrong with me because they don't want me to be alone.

I walk on the path out of Victors Village and notice that the leaves have started to change colors, which I like. I like autumn because everything is bright with color. We also have nice festivals during this season but, nothing can beat the spring festivals the flower festival is my favorite but, that is a long while off.

I pick up a leave from the ground and smile at it, it is a perfect yellow color that goes well with the oranges and the reds...

Red. The color of blood. I think to myself.

Think of something else, anything else. I think to myself but, it doesn't help. The red leafs on the trees are dripping blood everywhere. The yellow leaf flys out of my hand and some of the blood of the red leafs falls onto my face.

"No!" I shout and start running to get out of the bloody rain that is falling on me. I trip on one of the cracks of the sidewalk and fall into the pond near the entrance of Victors Village. I scream loudly, water has not been the same since the arena, I keep thinking I am going to drown. I quickly get out of the water and sit on the small fishing dock and rock back and forth slightly until I get a hold of myself. The water was cold and I am shivering and I get flashbacks of me in the arena but, pull myself together before I start crying.

"You need help?" I hear him ask and see him coming out of Victors Village.

"What are you doing here?" I ask Finnick annoyed.

I comb out my hair and squeeze it to get the water out.

"I heard you screaming, wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Well, I tripped and fell into the pond." I say annoyed.

"Excuse me for wanting to see if you were alright." He smiles and sits next to me.

"Well I'm not." I tell him truthfully

"You're honest." He says surprised.

I shrug "I don't see the point in lying I know what they all say anyways." My chin starts trembling. I know what everyone in town thinks, they all think I'm crazy because I shout at things that aren't there and zone out to escape my troubles.

"Annie you aren't crazy." He tells me gently.

"Gee thanks." I mutter "What would you know anyways, nothing bad happened to you after your games. I think your life improved."

"What makes you say that?" He says confused.

"Come on Finnick, after you won everyone went crazy for you. You can also get any girl you want with the snap of your fingers." I say.

He sighs

"Annie, there are things you don't know." He says.

This comment confuses me.

"Well do tell." I say confused.

He bobs his head back and forth probably debating if he should tell me.

"Annie, remember how you said I did things that didn't make sense or that I was fake?"

"Which time?" I smile

He laughs.

"Well you are right."

"What do you mean?"

He pauses

"Finnick." I impatiently

"Snow he… sells people."

I scoff "Fine don't tell me." I get up but, he grabs my wrist.

"I'm serious." He looks at me and for once his eyes have no sense of humor. He looks very serious. He looks as if he is aged a years and is not nineteen.

"Okay I'll play along what does he sell people for?" I say.

He stands up and is face to face with me.

"Isn't it obvious Annie?" He tells me sadly.

"Not to me." I say.

He sighs

"Sex."

"What?" I say confused.

"Snow sells victors to important Capitol citizens, he sells us so we will have sex with them."

"No." I say not wanting to believe him.

"Yes." He tells me.

"So you mean that Snow is prostituting out all of the victors."

"The popular ones yes."

"So you being the cocky Capitol golden boy who gets any woman he wants is fake."

"Yes." He says sadly

"Okay." I say and stand up

"Anne where are you going?" He asks me confused.

I don't answer him because the person I know isn't the real Finnick. I don't know anything about him. I don't know the real Finnick I just know the one he is forced to be. I think I have seen shreds of the real him but, other than that it is nothing.

"Listen I understand if you want to be away from me but you should know this because…

"Annie." I say pointing to myself

"What?" He says confused.

"That's my name Annie Cresta."

"Annie?" He says worried.

"What's yours?"

"Finnick..." He says confused

"Well Finnick it is nice to meet you. I can't wait to learn all about you… the real you." I smile.

He smiles.

"I look forward to knowing all about you too Annie." He says back.

"Good now that we are on the same page you can walk me home." I say.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to go home with strangers." He teases.

"You're right they did, see you later kind sir." I smile and start to walk away.

He runs after me.

"Can't have you walking back by yourself Annie, there are a lot of weirdos out here."

"I have a feeling I'm looking at one." I smile and we walk back to Victors Village laughing the whole way.


I am sitting outside my house trying to get away from everything. I don't like staying in my house too long, I get an uncomfortable feeling that someone is watching me.

I see Finnick walking back into the village and smile at him. He comes over and sits next to me.

"What are you doing out here? It's kind of cold." He says.

"I don't like being in my house for too long."

"Oh." He says confused.

"It just reminds me of..." I trail off and start to remember the Hunger Games and me being in the arena. I put my hands over my ears to try and get the memories to stop from creeping into my mind.

I feel Finnick put his arm around me.

"It's not real, you're here with me." He whispers. Whenever Finnick says this I always snap back into reality, I think he has noticed this because he says it all the time now. I don't know why this works but, I'm not going to question it.

I look at him and tears are starting to fall out of my eyes.

"It will be okay, just come with me." He tells me and reaches out his hand and takes me back to his house.

We walk inside and his house looks just like mine except for his personal belongings.

"Finnick!" I hear someone exclaim with joy.

A girl who looks thirteen runs over and hugs Finnick. She has brown hair, sun kissed skin, and the same sea green eyes as Finnick, this must be his sister.

"Hi Marci, can you sit here with Annie for a minute." He smiles at her

"Okay." She says and sits next to me on the couch.

He smiles at me and squeezes my shoulder and leaves the room.

A tear falls out of my eye. I try to keep it in so Marci doesn't see but, I couldn't help it.

"Don't cry, Finnick will make it alright. He makes me feel better when I cry." She smiles.

I remember that first night on the train while he was talking with her on the phone. She didn't seem to know her parents were dead.

"Do you cry a lot Marci?" I ask.

"Only when I have nightmares or he doesn't tell me where mom and dad are."

"Marci..."

"What?" She says eagerly

"Nothing." It's not my place to her, her parents are dead. I wonder why she doesn't know, Finnick must have told her before.

Her hair is in an elaborate braid that has flowers in it.

I touch her hair.

"Did you do this by yourself." I say in a cute impressed tone.

She shakes her head.

"No Finnick did."

"Finnick did this?" I say surprised.

"Yes, he's good at weaving stuff. He says hair is just like rope." She smiles "But, between you and me he isn't good with putting in the flowers." She says in a hushed tone.

"It can be difficult." I smile "I am good with that though, I do it every year for the flower festival. I could show you later if you want." I smile.

"Really." She says excited

"Yes." I hear a bang and hear people talking loudly.

Marci looks sad.

"What's wrong?" I ask her confused

"That's probably Finnick and Uncle Michael fighting."

"Why are they fighting?"

I hear the water turn on it's probably to drain out the noise of them auguring.

"He thinks Finnick leaves for the Capitol too much but, he has to go for Hunger Games stuff. But Uncle Michael thinks it is for other reasons."

"Oh." I wonder if his Uncle knows about the deal. If he did I don't think he would be arguing with him.

"Do you go there a lot?" She asks

"No, but Finnick has been a victor longer."

"Five years." She says

"Yes that is probably why." She is only thirteen. I doubt she knows the real reason he goes there.

"Maybe in five years you will go a lot."

"Maybe." I laugh awkwardly because I don't think that will happen. I hope it doesn't happen.

"Do they argue a lot?" I ask.

"Only when Finnick is leaving for the Capitol, which he is tomorrow." She sounds sad

"Don't worry he will come back soon." I tell her gently

"I know." She says

"So you're staying with your Uncle then."

"I live with him." She says confused

"Oh." It makes sense Finnick is only nineteen.

"Well, you still get to see him." I smile

"Sometimes." She says and looks at the floor.

"What do you mean?" Does Finnick not want to see her.

"Uncle Michael thinks he is a bad influence so sometimes he won't let us see him, even though he comes over every day."

"Oh." I get a tight feeling in my stomach because the reason I always hated Finnick was because I thought he didn't care about his family. Turns out his family life is really messed up.

"I wish we could stay here like before. Finnick is the only one who can help me when I have nightmares." She says with tears forming in her eyes. "Jason tries to but he isn't as good so I always have to call him."

Jason is Finnick's brother we are the same age and went to school together. I don't know much about him because he likes to keep to himself but, everyone knows that he is Finnick Odair's brother.

I hear another clatter, the water is drowning out some of the sound but you can still hear it.

"Why don't we sit on the porch. I can teach you how to braid flowers into your hair." I tell her. It will be harder to hear what is going on in the kitchen. I don't think she should hear this but, Marci says this happens whenever he leaves so she has probably heard it many times.

Her face lights up when I say this.

"Okay."

We sit down in the porch and I get a variety of flowers that are next to his house.

"Now Marci the longer the stem the easier it is because it is wraps around your hair." I tell her.

"Okay." She says.

I show her how to do it and she watches intently.

"Here why don't you try on my hair." I tell her and undo what I have just done.

She nods and has a look of pure concentration but, she doesn't get very far because the door clatters open causing both of us to jump.

The person who opens the door is probably in his late thirties. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, and pale skin. I'm assuming this is his Uncle.

"Annie." He nods to me.

"H-Hello." I stutter

He smiles. If Marci hadn't told me those things I would probably be thinking he was a nice man but, that doesn't sound like the case.

"Marci it's time to say goodbye." He says firmly.

"Already? but we just got here." She says disappointed and confused.

"I'm sorry but, Finnick has other things he needs to be doing." He says

I have a feeling that isn't true the only thing he was going to do was talk to me and I don't care if his sister is here. She is nice and innocent. She is pure.

"No!" She shouts and runs into the house.

I can hear her talking to Finnick and can tell she is crying.

"What does Finnick have to do?" I ask him slightly angry.

"Nothing, I just don't want Marci around him."

"Why?" I ask

"That's not really your concern." He says.

I'm getting uncomfortable so I just look at the fountain that is in the middle of Victors Village.

Finnick takes her outside and kneels in front of her.

"Don't cry Marci it will he alright. I will be home soon and then I will see you." He tells her in the same tone he does when I cry.

She hugs him

"Can't I stay here longer." She says looking to her Uncle.

"No, as I said Finnick has things to do."

She looks at me.

"Oh." She says

Finnick grabs her waste so she will look at him.

"It's not Annie, she is leaving after this too, it's Hunger Games stuff." He tells her gently.

"Okay." She whispers and hugs him again.

He strokes her hair and kisses her cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you Finnick." She mutters and I can see tears spill out of her eyes. She lets go of him and Michael grabs her hand and takes her away from here to leave the village.

I turn and look at Finnick and smile at him.

"Do you really want me to leave?" I ask him.

He looks confused but, then his face has realization.

"No, I only said that so Marci wouldn't hate you."

I nod.

He grabs my hand and pulls me up and takes me back inside his house. He leads me to the living room and hands me a glass of water.

"Do you feel better?" He asks me.

"Yes, talking with your sister helped." I smile.

"She has that effect." He smiles but, it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I ask him. He doesn't look okay he looks hurt.

"Relatively speaking." He says

"Does your Uncle know about...

"Yes." He says angrily.

"Then why does he...

"Because he resents me for killing his sister."

"But you didn't...

"Snow asked me more than once I could've said yes but, didn't so now...

"That's not your fault Finnck just like you tell me it isn't my fault I killed people in the arena."

"But it feels like it is."

"Well it's not." I tell him and reach for his hand. He laces his fingers with mine and I lean against his shoulder.

"It will be okay." I say.

"No it won't. When I go over there and he won't let me in I can always hear Marci crying. She wants to see because she feels safest around me. Especially when she has nightmares of our parents dying. It seems no one else can help her but me."

"Why doesn't she know that your parents are..." I trail off not wanting to finish

"Dead?" He says in a dead pan voice.

"Yes."

"She has been told multiple times but, she either doesn't want to accept it or her mind won't let her. She does have triggers that make her remember and those are not nice days. She has nightmares of them dying but, that is all she thinks they are. Even when she gets told they died in an accident she doesn't believe it." He says sadly.

"Oh." I say sadly "So you're going to the Capitol tomorrow." I say changing the subject.

"Yes, I get to see clients." He says

I nod.

"You'll be home before you know it though." I say trying to comfort him.

"Two days there and two days of travel. Four days total, you won't be able to reach me but, if you feel the need to remember me you can just come in my house."

"Really?" I say surprised.

"It's not like I have anything worth stealing." He says

I nod.

"Can you leave now Annie, I like to have some alone time before I head to the Capitol." He tells me gently.

"Of course." I say. I have a feeling he wants to be alone for other reasons though.

"I will see you before I leave though." He smiles.

I nod.

"Goodbye Finnick."

"Bye Annie." He walks me to the door and watches me until I get inside my house. I close the door and lean against it. I never knew Finnick had such a hard home life. I feel guilty for all of the things I thought about him before I met him, because it couldn't be further than the truth.