1/16/15

Hi again! I'm sorry for not keeping my promises. I'll try harder from now on. I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I finished writing the epilogue. If I can get caught up on my schedule, it'll be posted by the end of January, and I'll start on Cashmere's Games. I decided not to write Marissa's Games yet because I already have Cashmere's all planned out, and I'm still planning some stuff for Marissa's story.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or anything else I may mention.

….

Chapter 36: Those Evil Reptiles

Attina leans over the edge of the boat and sighs. "Why can't every day be like this? I mean, I've got a bunch of homework waiting for me at home, but I don't really care? It's just…"

"I think I know what you mean," I interrupt.

"Yeah," Caspian says.

"I hate to ruin your fun, but I think it's time to turn around kids. There's a storm coming and I don't want to be out here during it," Dad says.

Attina's expression changes to something almost unrecognizable. I briefly remember how her birth parents were lost at sea during a storm. Her brother Nemo too. She was old enough to remember it, and I remember how Caspian and I had to convince her to go on a boat again. The thing is, she's just now recovered from it.

Annie shakes Attina's shoulder gently. "Don't worry sis, we'll get home."

Attina doesn't answer, instead continuing to look out at the sea. Her eyes go blank and she starts to tremble. Caspian wraps his arm around her, but she doesn't notice. A pang of worry hits me.

"Hurry up, okay?" I tell Dad.

"Don't worry Finn," he says calmly. "I won't let anything happen to us."

I sigh in relief and turn my attention back to Attina. She wraps her arms around her legs and rests her chin on her knees. "I don't like being out here during storms," she says quietly.

"We know," I say gently. "We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?"

Attina looks at the bottom of the boat, her eyes remaining blank.

"She'll be okay," Annie whispers. "This is just something that happens sometimes."

"Right, I know," I whisper. "It's like she's in her own little world, isn't it?"

"Oh, but she is," Annie replies. "And it's almost impossible to make her leave."

I think about this for a moment. In a way, I guess Attina is in her own little world right now. She's shut me out, that's for sure. Annie and my father, too. Maybe she hasn't shut out Caspian though. I'm not really sure. Hopefully she's shut out that storm too, because it's coming. And fast.

A drip of rain hits me on the head. It must've happened to Annie too, because she's covering her head with the hood of her jacket. Attina and Caspian are too involved in their world to notice this. Dad probably has though, but he's used to it by now. He's been out here in the rain before. The only reason he's turning back this time is probably for Attina's sake.

"What's that?" Annie asks.

"What's what?" Dad asks.

"Those snakes. They don't look like sea snakes or eels," Annie says, her eyebrows knitted together in concern.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Dad says, nodding his head. "There's lots of strange creatures in the ocean. Us, for example."

"Yes, but why are they swimming towards us?" Annie asks. I look over the side of the boat to see what she's talking about. Sure enough, these weird animals are swimming towards us. They look like they could be sea snakes, except I'm pretty sure that sea snakes don't have four heads each. I flinch at the sight of them. In a way, they kind of resemble the muttations I encountered during the Games.

"Is there any way to go faster?" I ask.

"We're almost to shore Finn," Dad says as one of the snakes jumps on the ship. Annie and I scream like a pair of 5 year old girls. Caspian jumps up, leaving Attina alone. He crushes one of its heads with his foot, but the other heads don't seem to be effected.

"Dad!" I whimper.

Dad turns around in time to see Annie grab the snake by it's tail. "Annie, don't!"

The snake whips one of its heads around and lunges for Annie's wrist. Dad knocks the snake out of her hands, but not without being bitten. The wound turns a bright green and blood gushes out of it. He flinches in response and grits his teeth.

"They're venomous!" Attina says, snapping out of her trance. "We need to keep them off the boat!"

"Right," I agree. Annie trembles and looks at Dad's wrist.

"Will you be okay?" she whimpers.

"Don't worry about me!" Dad snaps. "Get the steering wheel!"

Annie nods her head and starts to steer us back to land. A look of determination crosses her face, before it is instantly replaced with fear.

"There's more of them, aren't there?" Caspian groans.

"You guessed it. But, you know, there aren't too many of them," Annie says, trying to sound optimistic.

"Yeah right," Attina scoffs. "There's a ton of 'em. How are we gonna…"

And that's when the boat flips over.

This time, it's not just me and Annie screaming like little girls. It's all of us. Even my dad. Which, to be honest, is a sound I thought I'd never hear. We scramble to turn the boat back over, only for it to be devoured by the snakes. So they eat wood as well as human flesh, huh? Never would've guessed that little piece of trivia. Maybe they'll be too full to eat us?

No such luck, another one bites me on the foot. Twice. I start to swim to the now visible shoreline. Annie, the fastest swimmer I know, passes me up. Attina and Caspian catch up to me, with Dad a couple yards behind. The snakes start to catch up with us, nearly surrounding my dad. Well, this is it. This is how I die. Surrounded by my friends and family, but still being devoured by mutated reptiles. Exactly what I hoped for.

No, not really.

The sand is only a couple feet away now. Much to my surprise, Blight and Ivy each grab one of my arms and drag me to safety. My eyes search the beach, and I see the rest of the visiting victors, as well as several of the one's from home. Kai and Ariel are crouched over Annie, asking her if she's okay. She nods her head several times, but they continue to ask in panic.

Mom runs over to me and throws her arms around me. "Oh Finnick, you're safe."

"Well, yeah. How did you know I was in trouble in the first place?" I ask.

"It was all over the news," she says, her voice shaky. "A shipment of muttations for the next Games dropped into the ocean. I guess they'll have to reuse the one's from your Games now."

So, she's worried about this, but not about me during the Games? That's nice to know.

"Where's your father?" she asks.

My eyes widen. "Still in the water."

Mom's facial expression changes to one of true terror. Maybe she wasn't really worried about me, but she truly does love my dad. She drops me and runs to the edge of the sea. My father's mangled body swims up to the beach, still surrounded by the snakes. Mom shrieks in terror as Angus drags him out of the water.

"Come on, stay with us," Angus mumbles, throwing a snake back into the water.

"Will he be okay?" Mom asks crowding over the District 10 victor's shoulder. Angus shakes his head. Worry and dread fills me. What does he mean by that? Attina limps over to us, covered in a gooey green substance.

"Those things bit me a couple of times. Should I be worried or something?" she asks.

"I don't think so," I say, my voice shaky. "I was bit too, and I don't feel anything."

"You were bit?" Ash asks. "Over here. Now."

We do as we're told and walk over to him. I sit down and take off my boot to show Ash my foot. Sure enough, green pus is leaking from it. Maybe that's what Attina's covered in. The stuff from my dad's wounds. I don't want to think about it, though. He'll live, won't he?

"Okay, let me see here. Were either of your friends bit?" he asks.

"Last time I checked Casper and Annie were fine," Attina says. "It's Finnick's dad I'm worried about."

"I see," Ash says. He looks over our wounds a couple of times. "According to the information given out by the Capitol, you both should be fine."

"Really?" we ask at the same time.

"Really. You're both 14, right? For it to have done even a little damage to you, you'd have to be bitten at least seven times," Ash explains.

"I was only bit three times," Attina says.

"Twice for me," I sigh.

"Then you'll be fine," Ash says. His expression changes as he adds, "But I can't say the same for your father."

A tear leaks out of my eye. "He's going to die, isn't he?"

Ash shakes his head. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do for him now."

Tears keep streaming down my face. There really is nothing they can do for him. He's going to die. Attina lays her hand on my shoulder, and I lay my head on top of it.

"Sh, it'll be okay," she says quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," I sniffle. "There's nothing you could've done."

And then I realize it. This was my fault. President Snow sent those snakes because I sassed him off. If I would've agreed with him, if I would've done what he wanted me to do, my father would still be alive. This is all my fault, I could've stopped it if I tried.

"No, Sheldon!" Mom screams. "Stay with me!"

I get up and run over to where Mom and Angus are crouched over Dad. His eyes are closed, his lungs no longer breathing. His heart isn't beating any more. His pulse is gone. My father is dead.

"No," I whisper. "No."

Mom looks up at me, angry tears falling off her cheeks. "This was all your fault, you monster!" she hisses.

"What, no! Well, yeah, but… I'm not the one who caused this!" I try to explain, but Mom isn't listening.

"Mrs. Odair, this isn't Finnick's fault!" Annie says, standing in front of me. "It was no one's fault! It was just an accident!"

"Just like you!" Mom hisses, slapping Annie in the face. Annie takes a step back and bumps into me.

"Leave her out of this!" Angus snarls. Annie buries her face in my chest, and starts whimpering. Between the two of us, I'm sure we've cried more than a toddler today.

"Well you're one to talk!" Mom snaps.

"And so are you," Angus says, his eyes narrowing on her. "Don't think I don't know why you and Sheldon got married in the first place! To cover up your little one night stand! And then what? Your first son died so you had a replacement! At least I didn't sink that low!"

I knew I had a dead brother, but I've never thought of myself as a replacement. Angus is pretty good at making my mother feel like crap, but I don't think he realizes how much he's making me feel like crap too. Now that I think about it, my brother's name was Nick. How did I not see that I was a replacement earlier?

"At least I won't get remarried 3 months after my spouse died!" Mom snaps.

"My first marriage was arranged! That doesn't count," Angus argues.

"Then how did you have two kids!" Mom smirks thinking she's won.

"You don't have to love someone to have kids. Just look at you and Sheldon!" Angus argues.

"I did love Sheldon!" Mom screeches.

"But did he love you? Or was he still hung up on someone else?" Angus says, his tone dangerous.

Right now, I don't know who to root for. Mom is, well, my mom, but Angus is the one who's standing up for me and Annie. Come to think of it, both of them are stooping pretty low. It's surprising, actually. I previously didn't think that either of them were capable of being so, I dunno, evil?

"Well, I can't see what you ever saw in that Marissa twit. Or what she saw in you," Mom growls.

Angus was the guy Marissa was in love with? I would've never guessed. I have this fight to thank for that knowledge now. But how is that complicated?

And then it all makes sense. Annie has always looked a little too much like Marissa for it to be a coincidence. And she and Angus have the same chocolate brown hair. She's their daughter, isn't she?

I look between Annie and Angus, noticing similarities I've never seen before. Yes, this theory fits the facts. Annie is only half District 4. I doubt Snow's very happy with that. District 4 is somewhat considered a lapdog district. And District 10, although very wealthy compared to the others, is still an outlying district. Any form of alliance between the two would be strongly discouraged.

I don't think Annie has figured any of this out yet. She's still blocking out the world right now, like Attina was earlier. I wrap my arms around her and glare at my mother.

"You know what? That's just how love works," Angus says. "Even though the other person is so messed up, you still care about them. "

Mom scoffs. "I don't know if love exists anymore." She glares at Angus and leaves without another word to either of us.

Angus sighs and walks over to us. "Are you two okay?" He asks, his eyes filled with concern.

Annie looks up and sniffs back tears. "Y-yeah," she stutters. "I mean, I will be."

"Good," Angus says.

"Thanks for standing up for my sister," Attina says. I didn't remember she was there until recently.

Angus's eyes sadden. "No problem," he says, as if remembering that Annie belongs here, and not in District 10 with him.

Attina smiles gratefully and turns to me. "And you? Are you okay?"

I want to say no, but I know that's not quite the answer Attina's looking for.

"Well, my dad just died," I say pathetically.

"Of course you're not, then," Mags says, walking up from behind us.

"Where's Caspian?" I ask.

"Right here," Caspian says. "Sorry about your dad. And your mom."

And when I think about it, Caspian has a point. Even though my dad is the only person who really died today, in a way both of my parents have died. Because I know that no matter how hard I try, my mother will never be the same again.

….

I wasn't planning on revealing that Annie was Marissa and Angus's daughter until I got to her own Games, but characters like to rebel against me so… yeah.

Quote of the day!

"Wild party? There wasn't a wild party here! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go catch my naked friend." –Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Bloo

I swear it makes sense in context…

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess