Omg I realized that I haven't been getting email alerts for reviews this entire time...so I'm sorry to those who I could have responded to! Believe me, I'm the type of person who feels the need to respond to every comment.
I decided to choose two random reviewers and respond to their review!
To clove1113: Gia, I'm sorry that your life wasn't going as great when you reviewed on my story (way back in May) and I hope it's much better now! Thanks for wishing me luck with my "Cato". I think you brought me good luck because I am still happily with him and it's been more than a year now! :) Thanks for reading/enjoying my story!
To Emma: You were my first ever reviewer of the story and the one and only person to wish me happy birthday! I didn't expect any one to notice my birthday since it's Christmas Eve and stuff, but you did and you didn't fail to put a smile on my face when I read your review. Thank you for your awesome reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy my story!
I'm sorry to those who I didn't choose this time, but don't worry! I'll try my best to get as much reviewers as possible. Those who reviewed multiple times or gave lengthy, meaningful reviews tend to catch my attention more which is why I chose to respond to those two first.
If you skipped all of that above, that's okay. I honestly would have done the same thing because I have ADHD so my attention span is literally 2 seconds. But I may have given you a personal shout out so maybe skim so you don't miss it? Sorry for the crap load of words, I just felt I needed to do that since I seem to have this habit of being M.I.A. often.
ON TO THE STORY.
"Just do as she says," Finnick said calmly, skillfully keeping his composure as he always did in public. He couldn't handle it if someone got hurt as his expense. "I'll be fine. Just let me go with them. I'm a celebrity which means they can't contain me for too long. Just do as she says for my sake and yours."
Everyone had no choice, but to disarm themselves and let the rogue agents walk out the door with Finnick as prisoner.
"Where are you taking me?" Finnick asked calmly, masking his true feelings of fear under a shield of indifference. It was a trick he developed when he was forced to do business on the side with clients who violated him physically and emotionally. Conceal don't feel, he would always say to himself before being defiled by a customer for the night. No amount of showers could seem to erase the filth and disgust he felt all over his body the next day. That's why he always tried to flirt with as many celebrities and others as possible. He didn't truly desire all the women he dated regardless if they were attractive or not. Finnick just wanted an excuse to evade another night with someone who was usually much older, perverted, or just plain creepy in their own way. He wanted to be with someone who didn't pay thousands of dollars for one night at a hotel; someone who was his age and could see past his good looks. But after some years of daydreaming about that special someone, he knew deep inside that girl didn't exist. He would always be the one who flirted around but never committed, never loved...the one who was always shared with everyone else like a toy.
Instead of answering his question, Gloss pushed Finnick forward into the back of a white van and handcuffed his wrists to one of the bars on the sides of the car. Once Gloss and Cashmere hopped in the front, Finnick asked again. "Where are you taking me?"
"The Capitol." Cashmere sneered at him from behind bars separating the couple from Finnick. "Now shut up."
"Or what?" He challenged back defiantly. "You're going to kill me? Go ahead. Let's see what happens."
Cashmere pressed a button above her and a black metal slide went down and covered the bars, blocking out all sound between the front and back of the van. Then, light green smoke cascaded down from the sides of the car. Knock out gas. Finnick tried to cover his nose and mouth to prevent the gas from affecting him, but it was futile. The gas made him so drowsy and dizzy he couldn't even sit up. He was asleep before his head even touched the floor of the van.
"Please Cato," Clove held on to his arm in weak desperation. "Please stop."
He had been chopping down dummies and throwing spears everywhere in the workout room that Finnick owned. It was similar to Thresh's arena in size and equipment quality except that Finnick had an inexhaustible amount of targets and dummies to demolish with an unlimited amount of weapons to use. His training center was like a buffet for deadly weapons.
And Cato was using that to his advantage.
Messy piles of numerous dummy body parts were everywhere, chopped up and severed viciously by the tall blonde's wrath. Clove allowed him to let his anger out in this room; it's something she would've needed to do whenever she got extremely pissed off. But after watching him slice the tenth dummy to shreds, she knew it was time to stop.
He tensed at the contact her small hand made on his large bicep. Then he slowly relaxed, breathing heavily from all the energy he expended during his violent fit. The long, thin silver metal of the sword blade clanged loudly against the cement floor and Cato finally turned to face Clove. His face was impassive, but his cerulean blue orbs couldn't hide the raging storm of emotions that were inside, slowly dissipating when they focused on the beautiful girl in front of him. He took the time to study her closely. The dark circles under her deep brown eyes, the worry lines etching her features, and the extreme weight loss. All this stress has been chipping away at her health and she hasn't said a single word about it. That's one of the many reasons why Cato was in love with her; she didn't complain when things got tough. She just dealt with everything without expecting anything in return. Clove was strong physically and mentally, never giving up her fight to survive. To him, she was perfect in every way possible.
Without warning, he pulled her into a tight embrace bending down so his lips could barley touch her ear. "I love you."
Her heart nearly exploded from his words. It echoed inside her head over and over again as she tried to process what she heard. Did he really say what she thought he said? Deep down inside she knew it was true, but it was just hard to form the right words to respond. "Uh I...I..."
He chuckled at her stuttering. "You're so adorable when you're speechless."
She stuck her tongue out and playfully punched him in the arm. "Oh shut up, Brooks."
Someone cleared their throat from behind them. Clove and Cato turned around and saw Bristel and Lavinia standing at the doorway of the arena. Both were clearly tense and stressed from the abduction of Finnick; he was like a brother to them. "If you two are done, Lavinia and I would like to talk to you and everyone else in the family room. Now."
Lavinia nervously twirled her red locks with her long slender fingers. Would her plan work? Most likely not. But she had to try for Finnick. He saved her from the Capitol so she owes him her life.
She signed hesitantly to Bristel. "I have a plan...but it's incredibly risky and dangerous...and a little crazy."
"Lavinia, I don't think we can handle crazy anymore. We just did crazy by allowing my dad to waltz into their headquarters." Cato replied bitterly at the memory.
Clove intertwined her fingers with his and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Let her speak."
Lavinia gave her a small smile and signed faster and more confidently. "As you remember, I was a member of the Capitol. I wasn't as privileged as Cato's father was, but I still knew every facility of the building by heart. I knew some of the people and the systems which makes me a valuable informant. So that's why...I want you all...to...to...plan a strategy...with my help and...and steal Finnick back."
Everyone's mouth dropped a little in total shock.
"That's not crazy...that's totally insane!" Madge exclaimed. "We'd all get ourselves killed!"
"I agree with Madge," Gale added. "That'll be like walking in like a Christmas present to the Capitol."
"But you'll be armed and have a solid plan!" Lavinia tried to argue back, desperately moving her fingers for Bristel to translate. "You could sneak in like Haymitch or break in or...or...anything!"
"I know you want to save Finnick, but don't you think this plan is a little too rash?" Peeta said reasonably.
Lavinia's once determined expression dropped to defeat. It was hopeless. She knew they could easily hurt him or even kill him and just somehow cover up his death like it was a tragic car wreck. She had seen it happen many times before while she was working for the Capitol. They were swift and efficient with their tasks and never failed to tie up loose ends.
Cato watched as silent tears streamed down her pale cheeks. He could sympathize with Lavinia's feelings of having someone you love ripped away. He still vaguely remembered the night Annie, his only happiness at that time, was suddenly ripped away from him just like Finnick.
"Mr. Cato, pass the steak please." Annie giggled as the two siblings played pretend.
They were imagining that they were eating at a fancy restaurant, since their father could never pay for enough food to fill their bellies everyday. They didn't have any toys- Haymitch sold them all to make money to gamble with- but they had each other and that was all they needed to keep each other entertained.
"Of course Ms. Annie." Eight year old Cato replied with a goofy grin, handing her an imaginary plate.
As they ate their nonexistent meal, Annie sighed wistfully and stared at the ceiling.
"What's wrong sis?" The little blonde boy asked worriedly. His sister meant the world to him and he would do anything to protect her. They took care of each other through thick and thin.
"Sometimes I wish that we could be eating real fancy steak."
"I do too," Cato sighed dejectedly. "But don't worry! Once we grow up we can make our own money and buy our own real fancy steak."
"Can we get a castle too?" Her pretty sea green eyes sparkled with excitement. "I've always wanted to be a princess!"
Cato chuckled at his 6 year old sister's crazy imagination. "Uh, how about a puppy instead?"
She nodded her head vigorously. "Ooh I love puppies!"
"So when we grow up I'll get you steak and a puppy." Cato smiled.
"Pinky promise?"
"Definitely."
As they made their vows, the rusty metal door to their apartment was knocked down. Annie screamed from the sudden racket and Cato pulled her to him so that they were hiding under a counter. After that, it was all a blur. He remembered a very livid Haymitch cursing at them for destroying his already broken door. He remembered one of the men roughly wrenching Annie out of his arms while she cried for her brother to save her. He even remembered them saying Haymitch needed to pay his ninety grand debt to get Annie back. But most of all, Cato remembered his father's reactions to all of this. He didn't even try to put up a fight; he just begged like a pathetic coward for his daughter.
And when they all left with Annie, Haymitch didn't call the police or go after them...he went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of vodka.
"Dad!" Cato said frantically. "What are we gonna do?!"
Haymitch just looked down at him with grief over his lost daughter. "Nothing...there's nothing we can do," was all he said before he started downing the heavy amount of alcohol.
That very moment was when Cato exploded with intense rage. He always held back for Annie's sake, but now that she was gone, he could finally let out all the anger and disgust he had toward his father. With his mother and possibly his little sister gone forever, Cato couldn't help it but become emotionally unstable. "WHY WON'T YOU DO ANYTHING? WHY CAN'T YOU GET ANNIE BACK?"
"Because I can't." Haymitch replied simply, but as if those words were painful enough to say. "I just can't."
Hot tears rolled down young Cato's cheeks. "YOU NEVER CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF! I HATE YOU!" He screamed harshly and then ran into his and Annie's room.
Cato cried the entire night, curling up on his lumpy mattress with an old family photo of the Brooks. It was a picture of the family he wished they could be again.
He kissed the picture where little Annie was smiling widely as a younger Cato carried her on his back. "I'm sorry, Annie."
He glared at the side of the picture where his father was. Sober, happy, practically unrecognizable, his father held hands with a beautiful woman who was unmistakably Cato and Annie's mother. The mother who left her family behind for unknown reasons and never returned.
Cato could hear his father's words echo in his mind. "There nothing we can do..."
You're wrong Dad, I'll prove it to you if it's the last thing I do.
That night, Cato vowed that he would make things right again and rebuild that same happy family he had loved and cherished.
"Wait," Cato sighed, causing Lavinia to look up at him with sad but curious light blue eyes. "I owe Finnick for all the things he's done for me. And I don't want to lose him too."
"Cato...where are you going with this?" Gale asked cautiously.
Cato stood up with determination in his eyes and his promise still fresh on his mind since all those years."I'm in for Lavinia's plan."
When Finnick woke up, he realized he was being carried on Gloss' shoulder like a dead animal he had just hunted down. Instinctively, Finnick tried to kick him, but his legs wouldn't budge. His whole body was immobile from his neck down to his feet. Not wanting to go unconscious twice in a day, he decided it was best not to try and head butt Gloss.
"Where are we heading?" He might as well annoy them with his words while he waited for the feeling to return to his body.
"To see the Boss." Cashmere replied with her eyes trained down the hallway they were walking through. Finnick couldn't see what was in front of him since he was facing the other direction, but he stretched his neck to see past Gloss' body. He could make out a huge black metal door from his upside down position, and it was opening. A tall, fit and extremely intimidating looking blonde woman stepped out, her sharp hazel eyes glancing at Cashmere and Gloss before trailing down and focusing on him. As Finnick and her made eye contact, he instantly recognized her as the soon-to-be governor's assistant he met just weeks ago at a conference when they were working on increasing Snow's publicity for the campaign.
Her eyebrows raised slightly, but her face remained emotionless. She pointed a harsh glare at the two rogue agents. "So I'm guessing you failed to follow through with the plan?"
"We got one." Gloss replied blatantly, readjusting Finnick on his shoulder like an inconvenient weight. "And they're going to want him back."
"You know who else is going to want this boy back?" Enobaria snapped. "Millions of his damn, obsessive fans. Do you idiots realize he's one of the top celebrities out there?"
"Would you rather we came back empty-handed and not have any leverage over those kids?" Cashmere shot back. "Let's not waste any more time, the Boss needs to know about this."
Enobaria bared her fangs in frustration before turning around and re-opening the door. "Boss, you need to see this. Cashmere and Gloss brought a guest."
As they all walked in, Finnick glared at the well groomed man sitting calmly at his desk. The man's icy blue eyes hardened at the sight of him. "Finnick Odair...fancy seeing you here."
Finnick's usual beautiful sea green eyes were transformed into a stormy, violent ocean of anger. "What the hell? I agreed to advertise you because of your goals to improve the lives of the underprivileged and raise more money for animal shelters. I did not sign up to help a murdering, crack head extortionist who tried to kill children."
"Do you want me to sedate him some more Boss?" Gloss suggested.
The Boss chuckled casually, as if Finnick hadn't said anything offensive. "Now Gloss...let's treat our guests with respect." He gestured at one of the chairs in front of this desk and Gloss roughly placed Finnick on it.
The handsome teen could only tilt his head to scowl at him before turning toward the Boss. "You know you're not gonna get away with this. They're going to come back for me."
The Boss leaned forward, his white hair giving him an eerie glow. "And what if they don't?"
"Then...then I have everyone who worked with me on my movies and photo shoots and my bodyguards...and my family..." Finnick faltered on the last part. His parents won't realize he was missing until they returned from Europe after their movie finished filming.
The Boss gave a knowing smirk. "You and I both know I could easily make a few calls and make sure no one even realizes you were in any danger. I can even concoct your tragic death, so while everyone mourns for you, you'll be stuck in here forever."
"Whatever," Finnick weakly shot back. "Someone will come for me and kick your sorry ass very soon."
"Oh yes," The Boss relied sarcastically. "I'm very scared."
The three henchmen in the room snickered at his comment, exchanging knowing glances.
The Boss' smirk widened into a sinister grin, so unlike the bright smile Finnick once thought was friendly and good hearted. "You sound so much like someone who was in your position many years ago. Of course now that unfortunate soul was ripped of all hope and sanity. I think you two should be cell mates; so you can see how you're going to turn out in just a couple of weeks."
Despite the growing terror inside of him, Finnick still maintained his fierce stature. "Screw you."
Gloss carried Finnick to the "prison" floor and was led by a tough looking redhead to a certain enclosed cell. It looked small from what Finnick could tell, and wasn't what he expected. Instead of bars where there was no privacy, it was like a tiny room with only one steel door to get in or out. There were no windows, so he couldn't see who was his future-and hopefully temporary- roommate.
Maybe this guy Snow was talking about has some hope left in him...Finnick thought, trying desperately to reassure himself that everything would be okay. But wait...what if he is so insane that he'll attack me? He could only silently pray that it wasn't the latter.
The muscular, red headed woman pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. She stuck her head in the room and gestured a hand toward Finnick. "Hey, you." She said harshly. "You have a new roommate."
Before Finnick could react, Gloss shoved him into the room. He landed hard on the cold, metal floor, banging his handcuffed wrists very roughly. Gloss laughed in amusement before slamming the steel door shut, officially imprisoning him. Finnick instantly brought himself to his feet without using his hands, but it was already too late. He grunted in frustration and slammed his cuffed wrists against the door; a move he really regretted doing right after. Finnick cursed in pain as he bent over to cradle his badly bruised arms.
After a few moments, he tensed suddenly, remembering he wasn't the only one in this room.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a dark figure on the other side of the room. With his heart thudding in his chest, he slowly turned to face the shadow. His mind raced with the possibilities of who the figure was in the corner.
What he saw wasn't anything he expected at all.
It wasn't an insane man who would attack Finnick or pose any threat to him whatsoever. It wasn't a man with extreme depression or desolation. In fact, it wasn't even a man. It was just a little girl huddling in the corner like trapped prey.
Her face was hidden by her long light brown hair, but he could see the unmistakable trembling throughout her frail body. She was definitely afraid of him. Either that or she's suffering from a case of hypothermia.
"Uhm, hello?" Finnick tried to sound polite, but it came out as more of a question.
The girl inhaled sharply at his voice. Her trembling increased dramatically as Finnick dared to slowly approach her. "P-please, stay away." Her voice was broken, shaky, and sounded as if she were on the verge of crying.
"Don't worry," Finnick coaxed gently, reaching out his cuffed hands to comfort her. "I won't hurt you."
When his hand barely brushed her shoulder, she screamed and clawed at the air around her frantically as if wasps were attacking her. "NO! I don't want to! I'll be a good girl and do whatever you want! But please don't hurt me! I don't want to!"
Finnick, completely caught off guard by her reaction, got hit in the arm by her vicious swiping. The stinging pain brought him back to his senses as he grabbed her arms with his cuffed hands, holding on for dear life. After a few rough kicks to his legs, Finnick managed to pin the crazed girl to the wall with her hands above her head and his body flush against hers. She refused to look at him, keeping her eyes shut tight and shaking her head in an unsuccessful attempt to escape.
"I'm not going to hurt you!" Finnick repeated louder to her. "I promise."
She continued to keep her eyes closed and squirm. "How can I trust you?"
"Do you know who I am?"
The girl slowly opened her eyes to reveal stunning sea green eyes that matched his own; something that completely contradicted the dull, gloomy looking eyes Finnick had originally expected his cell mate to have. She had high cheekbones that were protruding slightly due to weight loss, but overall, she had an elegant facial structure. Her full lips were chapped from lack of water and her extremely pale skin from sunlight deprivation gave her a ghost like glow to her. However, it still struck Finnick with awe that no matter what this girl went through, she still remained incredibly beautiful.
What also hit Finnick was the feeling of familiarity. Was she a fan of his that eagerly asked for an autograph at some movie premiere? Or maybe he bumped into her during one of his excursions around the city in which he donned a variety of disguises for.
She studied him closely before shaking her head and closing her eyes again. "No, I don't know you at all."
Finnick was taken aback by that comment. He's never met anyone in his life who had no idea who he was or haven't at least seen his face in some magazine or movie. Has this girl been living under a rock? He wanted to slap himself immediately for thinking such a stupid thought. She's probably been locked up in here for years.
So maybe they haven't met before...but she still looked incredibly familiar to him. It was one of those moments when it's at the tip of your tongue, but it never escapes your lips. Finnick always had a talent for remembering every name and face out there regardless if he were a celebrity everyone wanted to meet. How come this girl is different?
Suddenly, a crazy thought passed through his mind. Could it really be...-nah don't be stupid Finnick...he scolded himself. But...maybe it wouldn't hurt to try asking...
He blurted out what was on his mind before he could stop himself. "Annie?"
it was as if that was the magic word. The girl's eyes opened wide in complete astonishment and her quivering stopped. "H-how...how do you know my name?"
Sorry if this chapter seems rushed it's because it's been really hard to edit this when the story kept deleting the things I added or fixed -_-
Also, if you haven't read what I wrote above, please do so incase your name has been mentioned!
Feel free to message or review ideas! :)
