A/N: Chapter is rated M because of gruesome disfiguring and mentioned rapes
It was the morning after my sixteenth birthday when I received the next call. The last few calls were mild, and a relief. The nightmares have all but subsided, although I still wake up in a cold sweat. It was strange because Scarlet called, but Snow took over.
"Finnick my dear boy, how are you doing?" Snow asked.
"What can I do for you, Mr. President?" I asked.
"I have a train arriving within the next twelve hours, and you are to be on it." he said.
"What are the details?" I asked.
"You'll be briefed when you get on the train." Snow said, and then hung up the phone.
"Can't wait to see you." I said, hanging up the phone.
At that moment, the front door opened and closed. I snuck into the kitchen to grab a knife.
"Finnick." male voice said.
"In the kitchen." I said.
A moment later, in walked Cinder.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"You've been in an out of the district a lot since you've been crown victor." Cinder said.
"Trust me, you're so much happier no knowing." I said.
"Is that a good or bad thing?" Cinder asked.
"Good or bad, doesn't matter. Trust me when I tell you, you don't want to know what I've been doing." I said, placing the knife back in the draw.
"Must be nice." Cinder said.
"Why's that?" I asked, my hand still on the knife.
"Being the new victor. Although, if I'm being honest, it is quite strange that you've been spending a lot of time in the Capitol." Cinder said.
"You think I want to spend as much time as I do in the Capitol? If I could pass it off, I'd be more than willing to give you the job." I said.
"You can take your hand off the knife. I'm not dumb enough to attack another victor. I'm just voicing concern." Cinder said.
I take my hand off the knife and shut the draw. "It's been a very taxing few years since I became a victor. If you were supposed to know what I've been doing, Snow would have briefed. The thing I'm apart of you don't want to be anywhere near it. I don't want to be anywhere near it." I said.
"Talk to you later." Cinder said, and then left.
I grab a pot of water, filled it, and placed it on the stove to boil. I open all the windows on the ground floor, and then go sit out on the porch. I was a quiet and breezy day, and the other victors are either visiting their friends, heading into town, or staying in their homes. I think about what's going to happen in seven hundred and twenty-nine days: me becoming an official sex slave. How is Snow going to do that?
Is he going to just throw me to the wolves, or is he going to get a list of people, and then call me to the Capitol to put on a show? I thought.
I could hear the pot whistling, so I head in and pull the pot off the stove. I make a big pitcher of tea, head back to the porch, sit down and then spend the next ten hours contemplating my fate. What does Snow and Doc have in store for me this time? There was plenty of action going on in the village today. A lot of arguments, one scuffle, and a fist fight almost broke out. All in all, it was an uneventful day.
At eight pm I was approaching the station as the train was pulling in. There was a small shipment that was being dropped, plus a small shipment of district gifts was being picked up. In the doorway, I saw Scarlet waving.
I stepped onto the train, and immediately Scarlet pulled me into a hug. I was momentarily surprised, but after a moment, I hugged Scarlet back. As we broke the hug, Scarlet kissed me on the cheek, and then pulled me to the dining room car. As we entered, the train was pulling away from the station. And to no surprise both Snow and Doc were in the car.
"So, what devilish plans do you have for me this time?" I asked, taking a seat at the table.
"There have been a couple of murders this past two weeks, and they don't make any sense." Rantipol said.
"Why not?" I asked.
"The people have no shared life experience." Scarlet said.
"Okay." I said.
"The live in different parts of the Capitol." Rantipol said.
There was a moment of silence, and then I looked at Snow and asked. "And?"
"That's all we know." Rantipol said.
"Is it?" I asked, looking directly at Snow
"Why are you looking at me?" Snow asked.
"It may be nothing to do with you consolidation of power, but that doesn't mean it has something to do with your machinations." I said.
"I have an inkling, but I need hard evidence before I commit to it." Snow said.
"What are you willing to part with?" I asked.
"It's possible that the people may have worked on a similar project in the past." Snow said.
"And that's all I'm going to get out of you." I said to Snow. I look at Doc and asked. "Do you have a profile on the two deceased?
"Not yet, but I'll have one when we get back." Rantipol said.
"Off to a bad start." I said.
"Even I didn't have access to that information before coming to get you." Rantipol said.
I roll my eyes, and then ask Scarlet. "Do you have any information on the victims?"
"I've seen the two of them at my brothel over the years." Scarlet said.
"I'm going to need a data readout of the two lives so I can go over it with a fine-tooth comb." I said.
S.D.D.
Capitol: Presidential Palace-
The four of us entered the library and there were ten boxes for the two victims. I move five of the boxes to different table. I open the first box, grab the first folder, and start reading. I was busy reading the folder that I almost missed the conversation between Doc and Scarlet.
"How long until he figures it out?" Scarlet asked.
"Don't know, but we can't help him." Rantipol said.
Can't help me, huh. I thought, and then said. "I want to visit the spot where the bodies were found, as well as the victim's houses.
"I'll take you." Scarlet said, and Scarlet and I left library.
"How long do you plan on let that boy fumble in the dark?" Snow asked.
"He's intelligent. Finnick will figure it out." Rantipol said, and then left.
S.D.D.
The places where the victims were found in a back alley and a playground. Nothing seemed out of place at first glance, but that's the problem. The killer could have easily killed these people in their homes.
They must have been extremely uncomfortable in their final moments. I thought as I looked at the surroundings.
"Okay. What's the play here?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Scarlet asked.
"How does this link to the president?" I asked.
"I don't understand." she said.
"Come on think. What does the killer stand to gain by killing these people? What's his endgame?" I asked.
"I don't know. I never really thought about that." she said.
"What was in the death report for both victims?" I asked.
"Autopsy." she said.
"What?" I asked, looking at her.
"It's Autopsy report." she said.
"Fine, fine. What was in the autopsy report for the victims?" I asked.
"They were killed somewhere, and then the bodies were dumped where they were found." she said.
"That would have been nice to have known—"
I stopped midsentence when I saw something out of the ordinary. It was under a pile of refuse near the entrance of the alley. It was a piece of paper with the number 1 written on it.
"Mean anything to you?" I asked, picking up the piece of paper and showing it to Scarlet.
"No." she said.
"Take me to the next dump site." I said.
"Driver, take us to the next site where the other body was found." Scarlet said.
"Yes, madam." the driver said.
Scarlet and I got in, and we rode over to the next site, but this person, a woman, was found in a public park. Amazingly, the park was still close pending investigation.
"We're looking for a piece a paper with another number on it?" Scarlet asked.
"Yeah. Good to see you're wearing clothes for the occasion." I said, making light of Scarlet wearing athletic pants and shirt instead of a dress.
"I knew that I was going to have to help this go round. So, I thought I would wear clothes for the occasion." she said.
Clothes for the occasion? What does that even mean? Do they know who the killer is, or even what they're motives are? I thought.
I was lost in thought that I didn't notice Scarlet get on her phone.
"What's up, Scarlet?" Rantipol asked.
"Finnick found a clue at the first site, and we're probably site going to find another clue at the second one as well." Scarlet said.
"What was the clue?" Rantipol asked.
"There was a piece of paper with the number 1 written on it." Scarlet said.
"Interesting." Rantipol said.
"Found it." I said.
"He found the clue at the second site. What is the number?" Scarlet asked, walking over to me. Scarlet put the phone on speaker.
"It has the number 2 on it." I said.
"What's the next play?" Rantipol asked.
"Any discerning features on the bodies?" I asked.
"None that were relevant." Rantipol said.
"None that are relevant?" I asked.
"To the morgue?" Scarlet asked.
"To the morgue." I said.
"We'll call you later." Scarlet said, and then hung up the phone.
S.D.D.
Capitol: morgue-
"Heya Scarlet. Here for those victims?" the male morgue worker asked.
"Yeah. The president wants him to look into it." Scarlet said, pointing at me.
"The crowned victor. Why's he here?" he asked.
"Not my choice. Just consulting." I said.
"Awkward, but here are bodies." he said, opening the spaces with the bodies.
One look at the bodies, and I had to stop myself from gagging. The body modifications that the people had undergone made me want to puke, but what really got me was the physical disfigurement that was done was… beyond horrific. The skin was ripped off of the face, the eyes were removed, and every tooth was pulled from the jaw.
"I hate to ask the obvious question, but were you able to identify the victims?" I asked, gagging again.
"Yes, we were actually." he said, quickly covering the bodies again.
I looked at Scarlet and she was a few shades of white.
"How did you identify the bodies?" I asked.
"Well, aside from dental impressions being removed, we learned that the fingertips had been removed as well." he said.
Scarlet's eyes rolled back into her skull, and she passed out. I just manage to catch before she could hit her head.
"These table clean?" I asked.
"We have the strongest sterilizers in the city." he said.
"I'll take that as a yes." I said, and then laid Scarlet down on the table.
"Do you know when the fingertips were removed?" I asked.
"If the victims were still alive or were they dead when it happened?" he asked.
"This case keeps getting better and better." I said.
"But wait, there's more." he said.
"You were way to excited to say to say. You've been waiting to say that for awhile, haven't you?" I asked.
"Yes, very excited." he said.
"Tell me about the fingertips first, and then tell me how you identified the bodies." I said.
"The fingertips were removed before death." he said.
"Which means our killer was looking for information. How did you identify the bodies?" I asked.
"I was able to do so by the serial numbers on their implants. Here is the name and addresses of the victims." he said.
"Anything else? Or will I regret. Asking that question?" I asked.
"Both of the victims had sexual contact hours before their death, although they were also raped." He said.
"I'm guess you found bodily fluid, and tissue damage?" I asked.
"I found vag—"
"Nuh-uh. Don't say it. I don't need another mental image in my head that I can't get rid of. Anything else of use?" I asked.
"There was a rumor that these two had worked together in the past." he said.
I knew that. I thought but asked. "Do you know what they worked on?"
"No clue, and it's a rumor at best." he said.
"Any relevant details pass it on to me. I'm staying at the Presidential Palace." I said and maneuvered and my body so I could pick Scarlet off of the table.
"I will." the morgue technician said.
S.D.D.
Presidential Palace-
The car was pulling into the driveway of the palace when Scarlet came to.
"What did I miss?" she asked.
"Not much, albeit, he did say that they worked together on a project in the past." I said.
"Did he say what project?" she asked.
"No, but he did state that it was a rumor." I said, as the car pulled to a stop. I'm beginning to wonder if the project that these people worked on was the project that brought me into existence.
"What did you learn?" Rantipol asked when the door opened.
"I came to drop Scarlet off, then I'm heading to the homes of both victims." I said.
I stepped out and helped Scarlet out of the car by offering a hand.
"Thank you, Finnick." Scarlet said, and then walked to the palace.
Rantipol and I got in the car. I gave the driver the location of the first victim home, and then he drove away from the palace.
"What did you learn?" Rantipol asked.
"The killer had sex with both victims before he killed them." I said.
"And if they refused?" he asked.
"The killer still had sex." I said.
"So, he raped them." he said.
"Yep. Whether the victims had sex with the killer or not is yet to be determined." I said.
"What was the condition of the victims?" he asked.
"The skin was removed from the face, the eyes were removed, and all of the teeth had been pulled." I said.
"How did they identify the victims?" he asked.
"Serial numbers from their implants." I said.
"This is a very disturbing turn of events." he said.
"You could say that." I said.
We made the trip in silence.
