Ever since Annie won the Games about a month and a half ago, she'd locked herself away in her mansion. It was empty, dark, and far too big for just one lonely, enervated girl. She couldn't bring herself to enter any room besides her own, two of them were supposed to be in use of her mother and sister, but they were dead. And she ceased contact with her aunt, mostly to protect her from the same fate.

Annie only went in her own room, and the living room and kitchen downstairs, the rest of the house was too painful and creepy. The hallway that connected her room to the staircase was long and eerie, and the untouched rooms attached were dim and unsettling. Annie was scared of the dark, and she was horrified by the thought of seeing something in the pitch black of her room, especially with her new nightmares and isolation. So every night she would sleep with her lamp on.

Each day was bland and friendless, she would wake up and read in the living room, if she could focus, and hopefully escape into whatever world was on the pages. Some days she would sit on the beach and stare into the horizon for hours, hoping her mind would stay foggy. She'd maybe glance through one of her marine biology books that no longer brought her joy, she would possibly eat, then go back upstairs to her room and try her best to fall asleep, repeating the same process each day.

She left the Victors Village once to get groceries, but she'd avoided that for as long as possible, which resulted in her living off of plain bread for two days. She wanted to go back to the fishing spot her and her sister would illegally fish from before she was reaped, but it was now too far away.

She dragged herself through every day, barely holding on- sometimes she did not want to hold on anymore. She spent many nights considering ending it all, weighing the pros and cons. She spent many days feeling nothing, she'd tear her skin up just to feel something. And some days were spent feeling too much– grief, fear, loneliness, panic attacks, flashbacks, waking up from horrifying nightmares that left her shouting with a racing heart– and she was alone through it all. Annie was wondering how much longer she would be able to hang on, if it was even worth it.

But that changed. It was afternoon, Annie was sitting in her living room on her chair by the window, weaving shells into a net, when there was a knock at her door. The sudden noise made her jump, no one had come to her door since she lived here. She shakily stood up and made her way to the entrance of her home, expecting it to be someone from the Capitol coming to bother her. But when she opened the door, it was Mags, her district partners mentor. Annie had not spoke to Mags since the end of the Games.

"Hi…" Annie nervously mumbled, confused by her sudden company.

"Hello Annie, I know we haven't talked since the train ride, but I'd been thinking about you and I wanted to give you this," Mags says while passing the dish to Annie. "It is a seafood casserole I made, I thought maybe you'd like it."

Annie, taken aback by the kind gesture, manages a smile, "Thank you so much... it smells amazing."

"Of course, I was making one earlier with Finnick and I thought I'd make a second one for you,"

Annie thought of Finnick, how things were rather awkward between them since they'd returned from the Capitol. They had not spoken since her Victor Interview. Once Annie walked past him when she was walking home from the beach and they both kept their eyes on the ground.

"That is very kind of you, Mags. I am sure it is delicious," Annie said. She felt herself beginning to tear up, this was the first time she had talked to someone in a month and a half. She felt happy at the thought that Mags had been thinking about her, she didn't think anyone cared much for her.

"If you'd like, you could come over to my house for breakfast tomorrow morning," Mags offered.

Annie was not too sure what to say, as much as she wanted someone to talk to, she was not sure how to be properly social anymore. But, Mags was kind and outgoing, so Annie couldn't imagine anything going wrong or being awkward. She shyly looked down at the dish in her hands, unsure how to translate her thoughts into words.

"Go ahead and think about it. If you decide you want to come, breakfast will be served around 8:30," Mags beams. Annie liked the way Mags talked to her, she was kind and warm, she didn't talk to her like she was subhuman. She spoke to her like she was a normal person and did so in a way that made Annie feel warm.

Annie nodded and they said their goodbyes. She took the lid off the casserole, it had a perfect, golden crisp to it and it had shrimp in it, Annie's favorite. She took a bite out of it, it tasted good as it smelled– if not better. As she ate the casserole and stared out the window at the ocean, she felt a glimmer of hope. A chance to be happy, a chance to escape the confines of her solitude. She figured that maybe she should join Mags for breakfast the next morning.

So, the following morning, at 8:30 AM, Mags heard a knock at her door.