Chapter Twenty One
Finnick watched the large screen as the young boy from District Eight snuck into one of the houses. The boy was obviously looking for food and water as he'd clearly not had any since the Games begun. Nearby, Cecelia began crying once more. "No..." she sobbed. Looking over toward her, Finnick saw that she was curled on one of the large couches with her arms around her knees. Woof was beside her, stroking her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her.
Looking back to the screen, Finnick frowned when Aidan was shown silently coming down the stairs having heard the boy enter the house. Cecelia cried harder. He didn't want to watch, but he made himself.
The boy was in the kitchen, going through the cupboards, desperately searching. He was making that much noise he didn't even hear Aidan come up behind him. The first the boy knew about it was when Aidan had grabbed a handful of his curly hair and yanked him to his feet. It was over quickly. He didn't torture him like he had the girl from District Twelve. Pulling a knife, Aidan swiftly cut the boy's throat and let him fall to the ground as the canon sounded. Cecelia howled and Woof escorted her quickly from the room.
"District Eight is down." Brutus commented and Finnick returned his attention to Annie's screen. She looked rather startled after the canon. She was looking toward the window as if afraid something may come through. When nothing did, she settled back down, chewing absently on the dried fruit she held in her hand. Leaning toward the screen, Finnick bit his lip, looking at the dark fingershaped bruises marking Annie's throat. The medicine he'd sent had taken care of the pain and allowed her to speak normally again, but it had done nothing for the now purple and black bruising that stood out in stark contrast to her otherwise pale skin.
Mags grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him back in his chair. "Sit back." She said gruffly. He glanced at her and tried to remain sitting in his chair properly. "Pressing your face into the screen won't help her."
"I know." He replied softly. "I was just looking at the bruises..."
"Mm." Mags' eyes moved to Annie's screen and she nodded. "You took care of the problem. She's not in pain. That's fine." He watched the woman's eyes move over Annie once more. "Makes her look tougher."
"I think it makes her look like a victim." He murmured, closing his eyes. It made him want to get in there and protect her. He shifted restlessly. What else could he do? What did she need? He couldn't think of anything. He shifted again. "Mags..." he breathed.
"She's fine for now. Go and rest."
"No..." he shook his head. "I'm not leaving..."
"She's okay." Mags told him. "You haven't left since the Games started... You need to shower. Go."
He looked back to Annie's screen. "You'll watch her?"
"I'll watch her." Mags confirmed. Finnick nodded slowly and got to his feet. Pressing a kiss to the top of Mags' head, he turned and hurried out the door. He would shower and be back within twenty minutes if he was quick.
Annie looked up when The Capitol's anthem began to play. Getting to her feet, she followed the others to a window to look out at the seal in the sky. The first face to appear was the young boy from District Eight, and Annie let out a small sigh. The girl from District Eight came next and then The Capitol seal once again.
"Well, that's District Eight down." Jarek said, "I didn't think that kid would have lasted five minutes."
"Well, he lasted over twenty four hours." Torsti replied before going back to his position by the wall and sitting down again.
"Surprising." Jarek said flatly.
Annie sighed again and returned to her own position by the wall. Leaning her head back against the wood, she closed her eyes. The climb had completely worn her out and she knew that she'd sleep deeply tonight. The thought rather scared her as she didn't know if she'd be able to wake easily if something happened. What if someone snuck in while she slept and tried to kill her? If she was too deeply asleep she might die before she even knew there was any danger.
Lumina sank down beside her with a groan. "My legs..."
Annie smiled at her. "Aw."
"I hope we don't have to do that climb too many times." The blonde girl said, rubbing her calves.
"We got enough water for a few days." Inciness put in. "It could be fine."
"Not if someone steals it." Maverick said, rubbing his own legs.
"I'm cramping..." Lumina whined. "Oowww."
Annie watched them all. Every one of them seemed to have felt the after-effects of the climb. Apparently the Careers from Districts One and Two didn't train much with leg work. She'd felt the work out, but she wasn't in pain from it. The thought made her smile. The more time she spent with them, the more she realised that she'd counted herself out too quickly. Finnick had been right; she was capable of winning. She just needed the right circumstances.
"Shall we get some sleep?" Torsti murmured, stretching with a yawn. Annie nodded, resisting a yawn of her own. They all looked up when something tapped against the window. Getting up with a pained groan, Maverick went and opened the window, letting in the silvery parachute. Silent, they all watched as it drifted toward Lumina before landing in her lap. Annie watched the blonde girl inspect the small tube that had been attached.
"What is it?" Jarek asked.
"For the pain..." Lumina answered, unscrewing the lid and squeezing a bit of the ointment onto a finger before rubbing it into her legs. "Oh, yeah..."
"Really?" Maverick asked.
"Yeah..." Lumina squeezed more out and rubbed it into her legs. "That pain fades so quickly..." She grinned and looked up, throwing the tube to Maverick. When he'd rubbed some into his own aching legs, he passed it back to Lumina who then tossed it at Inciness. Annie blinked, not expecting that. She was fairly certain that the tube hadn't been cheap, and here Lumina was just sharing it with her rivals from other Districts. Still, she couldn't figure the girl out.
When they were all done, Annie lay down to get some rest. Her eyes were growing heavier by the second and she knew she couldn't hold sleep off for much longer. Within moments, she was out.
Finnick yet again spent the night in the Mentoring Station. Mags had tried to get him to go back to the Fourth Floor to sleep in his bed, but he'd refused. If Annie needed something, he had to be there. When his eyes opened in the morning, he looked straight to her screen. She was still asleep. He watched for a moment, looking her over. He watched the way that her chest rose and fell as she breathed slowly and evenly. He watched as she lifted a hand and brushed back the hair that was splayed across her face. A moment later her eyes opened.
Finnick watched her blink slowly before sitting up and looking around. Leaning over, she nudged Torsti awake and they both got quietly to their feet and headed outside without waking anybody up.
"How do you feel this morning?" Annie asked. Torsti nodded, rubbing his head.
"Okay..." He replied.
"Good..." She said, looking at him. "Jarek nearly looked as if he thought it was time to attack..."
"I would think so." The tall boy agreed, "But he still needs us for the moment..."
"Needs us?"
"Well, maybe not... But we're still useful."
"Okay..." Annie looked around before blinking as she apparently tried to focus on something.
"What is it?" Torsti asked.
"I think I saw someone in that window..." She pointed to a nearby house. Torsti turned to look, and Finnick looked to the main screen which was now focused upon them.
"I'll get the others..." The blond boy said, and before Annie could argue he'd run inside and awoken them. Finnick watched the screen which was now focused on the darkened window of the house.
"What was it?" Cashmere asked nobody in particular.
"Someone hiding probably..." Gloss replied, leaning forward toward the screen.
"Who?" Finnick asked, looking around. Somebody had to know. Somebody had a screen with one of their tributes hiding in there on it. Nobody was saying. He narrowed his eyes and looked back to the large screen where Annie was now looking from window to window, trying to catch some movement. "Good girl..." he murmured, relieved that she wasn't about to go running into the house to investigate on her own. He watched her shift her weight from one foot to the other continuously until the others came out of the house behind her.
"Someone holed up in there?" Jarek asked loudly.
"I guess so..." Torsti replied as the camera zoomed out to get a good shot of the group eyeing the house.
"Well, let's go hunting." Inciness grinned, unsheathing her blade. Finnick leaned back in his chair as he watched the group approach the house. Annie followed behind them, one of her own blades in her hand. Getting to his feet, Finnick moved closer to the large screen. He looked around, trying to get a glimpse of something useful on another screen, but most of them were generally blocked by mentors sitting in front of them. He had no way of telling who it was that was waiting in that house or what Annie would face.
Swearing when Jarek split them all up into groups to search the house, Finnick sat himself down in his own chair once more, wanting to keep an eye on Annie if the main screen was to focus on another group. It did. It followed Jarek, Inciness and Maverick heading into the ground floor kitchen. He watched Annie's screen as she, Torsti and Lumina went upstairs.
"...Not what I expected." Gloss' surprised voice had Finnick turning back around to the big screen in time to see the girl from District Three hurry into one of the upstairs rooms. Not what he had been expecting either. He'd thought for sure it would be Aidan.
"I'll check down here..." Torsti's voice had Finnick's eyes flicking back to Annie's screen. He watched as the blond boy headed down a hallway, leaving Annie and Lumina by the stairs.
Annie jumped when Lumina suddenly spun around, staring up the hall. "I heard something..." The blonde girl grinned.
"Heard what? A person?"
"Let's find out."
Annie followed her up the hallway. She watched the way Lumina's movements had become more balanced, almost feline. She was once again reminded that the girl had been trained her entire life to become a living weapon. How could she keep forgetting?
"Where was it?" She whispered. Lumina turned to look at her.
"Just up here..."
"Maybe we should get the others..."
"And let Jarek steal all the action? Screw that." Lumina murmured, stopping outside a door off to the left. Annie stood behind her, watching the girl listen carefully before opening it and stepping inside. Annie hurried in after her. Catching a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye, Annie reacted without thinking. She threw herself at Lumina, pushing her clean across the room. Something splashed over Annie and a second later she screamed as her skin burned.
"It's acid!" Lumina yelled, "Lose the jacket!"
Annie ripped her jacket off and threw it to the floor as she backed into the wall. Another splash erupted around her and she turned away when she realised it had come from above. Whoever had lured them up here had booby trapped the room. Looking up, she saw several containers suspended in the air around the room.
"Who sends somebody acid?" Annie cried, going up on her toes when the acid pooling on the floor began to approach her.
"A sick fuck!" Lumina replied, getting around the pooling acid on the floor and to the doorway. Annie watched fumes rise into the air as the liquid slowly ate the floorboards. If she didn't get out of the room soon then the floor would give way beneath her. The acid blocked her path to the door however.
She looked at Lumina who shook her head.
"I'm going to have to..."
After a moment, the blonde girl nodded. "Be quick then..."
Annie nodded and readied herself. The only way out was through the acid. She'd have to run. She jumped when another container fell from above, splashing to the floor. Letting out a breath, she darted forward without further hesitation. After only three steps she could feel the bottoms of her shoes become tacky and begin to stick to the ground. She leaped.
Landing safely by Lumina, Annie quickly kicked her shoes off and watched as they practically disintegrated before her eyes. Whatever that acid was was good stuff. She didn't want to imagine what it would do to somebody if they copped a face full of it. Whoever sent it into the arena was a nasty piece of work.
Both Annie and Lumina jumped when a canon sounded. Without comment, they turned and hurried back down the hall and down the stairs. Annie stumbled when she caught her foot on something sharp while hurrying down the stairs, but she kept going. Neither girl stopped until they were outside.
"Who do you think it was?" Annie asked. Lumina shook her head.
"No way to know..."
Annie nodded slowly, her eyes on the door to the house. She gasped when the door suddenly opened, but then let out a relieved sigh when it was Torsti who exited and headed toward them.
"It was the girl from District Three." He said. "I got her."
Author's Note:
I hope you enjoyed the long awaited chapter.
Reviews are motivation.