Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games not matter how much I would like to.
'Morning little girl, and how are we feeling today?' Boreas stood over me smirking, I don't reply, my face is stained with tears and my body is too bruised and broken from ramming against the wall for me to move.
'Don't worry little girl, this is only the beginning. There is much worse to come.' He moves to the side as the door swings open again. I gasp as in walks President Snow, his snake-like eyes boring into mine; he leans down and lifts my face in his hands. I gag on the smell of blood and roses remembering what my brother told me of him assassinating people with poison and then taking it himself to hide his crimes.
'Boreas has been telling me all about you Miss. Odair and not all of it has been good. You have been causing the Capitol quite a fair bit of trouble young lady. Now all this pain you are feeling can stop if you just tell us what you know about the rebellion.' Seeing the face of the man who caused my brother and my family so much pain filled me with new strength. I wrenched my face from his grasp and stared him right in the eye.
'What makes you think if I knew anything I would tell you?' I lunged forward and bared my teeth; Boreas grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him backwards slamming me across the face with his gun.
'I told you not to get too close sir. She has a temper.'
'Now Miss. Odair, I've tried being fair but now I'm going to have to do something I didn't want to do.' He turns on his heels and leaves; Boreas kicks me in the stomach before following.
Boreas comes back a few hours later, he pushes a television into my cell; he pushes a few buttons before leaving me alone. I stare at the screen as an image flickers into view, the Capitol seal flashes onto the screen as the anthem begins to play; as it fades the image of President Snow appears as he strides onto a stage. He's followed by a young boy dressed in a white suit, holding a simple wooden box. President Snow begins to speak, to remind us all of the Dark Days from which the Hunger Games were born. When the laws for the Games were laid out, they dictated that every twenty-five years the anniversary would be marked by a Quarter Quell. It would call for a glorified version of the Games to make fresh the memory of those killed by the districts' rebellion. He goes on to say what happened in the previous Quarter Quells. "On the twenty-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that their children were dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every district was made to hold an election and vote on the tributes who would represent it. On the fiftieth anniversary, as a reminder that two rebels died for each Capitol citizen, every district was required to send twice as many tributes. And now we honor our third Quarter Quell,' the little boy in white steps forward, holding out the box as President Snow opens the lid. I can see the tidy, upright rows of yellowed envelopes. Whoever devised the Quarter Quell system had prepared for centuries of Hunger Games. The president removes an envelope clearly marked with a 75. He runs his finger under the flap and pulls out a small square of paper. Without hesitation, he reads, 'On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors.'
I stare at the screen confused before it dawns on me, he meant Finnick, and he meant Annie or Mags. He was punishing me by destroying the people I loved the most in front of the whole world without even having to reveal that I was alive. I shake my head tears spilling from my eyes,
'no, no, No, No, NO!' I struggle against my chains and try to charge at the screen but I am pulled back and land hard on the floor. I start to scream at the top of my lungs and pull at my restraints until my flesh starts to give way and my blood starts to pool on the floor. After a while everything starts to go black.
I wake up in my cell; my arms are heavily bandaged and throbbing. The floor is till sticky with my blood and my white jumpsuit is now stained red on top of all the dirt. I curl up in a ball and cry.
I stand next to Mags my fingers intertwined with hers as we watch Connie walk up onto the stage to start the reaping.
'Now as usual we will pick the gentleman first.' Her fingers reach into the big ball pulling out a slip and reading the name off the piece of paper. 'Finnick Odair.' Mags squeezes my hand and her face goes pale as Finnick walks up slowly onto the stage. He promised me he wouldn't go, that he'd stay here to take care of me since our parents died.
'Are there any volunteers?' Hands shot up everywhere and I knew there was a chance that my brother would be safe. I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers but even after the very complicated ritual, it was still him.
Me and Mags walked into the Justice Building and were guided into a small room where Finnick was sitting by himself. When he saw us he ran towards me and picked me up into a bone-crushing hug.
'I'm going to come home okay. I promise and then we'll have a big house and all the money in the world.'
'But we already have all that stuff.' It was true; we'd been living with Mags for years in the Victor's Village.
'But this will be ours, just me and you okay?' I nod and he wipes the tears from my cheeks. He gives me one last squeeze before hugging Mags. 'Are you coming with me?' She nods and pats his cheek pulling him in for one last hug.
'Come on Mags hurry up! I wanna see Finnick!' I pulled her through the hotel to the roof where the hovercraft was waiting for us. It felt like forever and Mags kept trying to get me to calm down as I fidgeted in my seat. As it landed I saw him standing there smiling his arms outstretched.
'FINNICK!' I flew into his arms and he spun me around squeezing the air out of my lungs.
'God I missed you he whispered in my ear. 'I promise you I'll never leave again.'
'You're okay right? It looked so scary.'
'It was but I will always come back to take care of you. No matter what. You're the whole reason I'm alive, I won to save you.' He let go of me and ran to Mags grabbing her and wrapping her in his arms. He had to go and get ready for his interview and when the peacekeepers lead him away and he thought I couldn't see the sadness washed over his face and that's where it stayed.