Innocent Annie
"It's finally the last stop." Annie says relieved.
"Yes it is, then we get to go back to District Four." I tell her gently. Annie is my tribute and I'm her mentor, but I would consider her a friend. I spend time with her in Victors Village. Maybe the real reason is that I finally have someone my own age to talk about this stuff with. Or maybe it is just Annie. She is a very likable person. She's so caring and very easy to talk with and despite everything that has happened in her games she's still innocent. Apart of the screaming nightmares that all victors have she is still somewhat pure.
"We just have to go to the Capitol first. See President Snow." Annie mumbles.
"It won't be so bad. I will try and stay with you." I smile.
"Try?" She says worried.
"People might want to talk to me."
"Here I thought tonight was all about me." She smiles.
"It can't totally be with Finnick Odair in the room." I tease
She rolls her eyes.
"How silly of me." She smiles.
Annie doesn't know about me. She doesn't know that Snow owns my body. That I have to come here and do sexual pleasures to keep the ones I love safe.
I sigh.
"Annie! It's time to get ready!" I hear the shrill voice of our escort shout. "Time to make you look marvelous!" She says with glee.
"Don't worry Annie." I say because she has a nervous look on her face.
She turns to me.
"Just remember after tonight we are going home." I say and she smiles .
"Okay." She says.
"Okay." I say. She then walks toward our escort who leads her somewhere to get made up.
It's been hours and we are only thirty minutes from the Capitol and I haven't see Annie yet. I hope they aren't making her look like some pin up doll. Sadly though, I think that might be the case.
I hear the door open and turn towards it and see our escort.
"Here she is!" Our escort shouts.
Annie walks out the door, more like stumbles by the silver heels. When I take all of Annie in my heart sinks.
They have her in a ridiculous dress. The top is a very tight. It is a see through corset. It only coveres her breasts with flimsily green fabric. The skirt is far too short for my liking. I think you could barely call it a skirt. This leaves nothing to the imagination. This isn't going to be helping her case. She might get roped into Snows deal just from that dress alone.
Annie is picking at her cuticles. She doesn't like this. She is uncomfortable.
I walk over to her.
"You okay?" I whisper.
She shakes her head.
"No." She whispers.
"It's only for a few hours. Then you can get on the train and put on pajamas." I say.
At least her makeup is subtle and her hair is up in a high pony with sparkles in it.
"Okay." She whispers.
"Don't worry Annie. Nothing bad is going to happen to you." I say. She turns her head to meet mine and looks me dead in the eyes.
"Promise." She whispers.
"Promise." I say although I can't really keep that promise.
"Okay." She says.
"You'll always be my innocent Annie." I tease.
"Finnick my god." She says and playfully shoves my chest.
We get to Snow's mansion and the party is in full swing. People and food everywhere. Confetti flying in the sky like rain. Festive music and people. So many shallow people.
"Stay with me." Annie whispers.
"I'll try." I say. If I get asked to dance with someone I will have to say yes. At least I don't have to have sex on this visit.
Annie and I make the rounds. We end up staying near the soup table. Annie has taking a liking to a fish stew that reminds her of home.
I hear a loud boom and turn around and see fireworks are going off.
Annie reaches for my hand which I take. There were lots of explosions in her arena.
"You're okay Annie." I say.
She nods.
"Can we dance?" She whispers.
"Of course." I say surprised. I think she just wants to be close to me. I have hugged her before. I know it makes her feel safe. She is my friend after all… well she is to me.
"Can we leave yet?" She whispers as I twirl her around.
"We have to stay until midnight." I say that is usually when the victors leave or at least I think they do...
She pulls herself closer to me and hugs me.
"It's okay." I whisper into her hair. Her shoulders start to shake and I know she is crying. "It's okay Annie. I-"
"Finnick!" I hear a chipper voice say from the crowd.
I close my eyes and sigh. I know I will have to leave her alone now.
I let go of Annie and see looks at me alarmed.
"Forgive me Annie." I whisper. She looks at me confused when the pink woman comes over towards us.
"Finnick, I think the newest victor has enabled you enough for the evening. Come dance with me." She demands. She forcefully takes my hand and leads me to a different part of the dance floor. I look back at Annie who looks terrified.
I see other people start to come up to her and she stands still unsure what to do. I hope no one asks her to dance. With a dress like that they could easily get handsy.
I sigh.
I wish I could stay with her.
It seems like I danced with a million people before I see it is 11:30.
"I should find Annie." I whisper to myself.
I excuse myself from the woman I'm dancing with saying I must find my victor.
I leave and start to look for Annie. I'm looking for her everywhere. I can't find her. I would've thought she would stay in the same place or at least by the soup table. I hope no one wondered off with her. I keep thinking about that damn dress. Someone could take advantage of her so easily. It isn't helpful that she is a frail person in general.
We are supposed to leave in thirty minutes. I'm getting worried.
"Annie." I whisper.
I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask someone. I mean... this party is supposed to be all about her.
"Excuse me." I say to one of the servers who looks honored that I'm speaking with him.
"Have you seen the newest victor? Annie Cresta?" I ask.
"Ahh yes Mr. Odair I just saw her go around there with someone." He points to the gardens then walks off. I'm assuming it is out escortk but why would he take her to the garden?
I turn the corner and hear cries immediately.
"No! No! Stop! Stop! Please stop!" I hear a women shout panicked. It's Annie.
I run to where she is shouting.
Then I see her. Someone else is holding her down. Annie has most of her dress pushed up and she is exposed on the top half. The man has his pants unzipped but still on.
It looks like I got here right in time.
"Get off her." I shout and shove him off of her. He starts to say something but I just punch him and he goes down.
"Let's get you out of here Annie." I say gently and wrap my arms around her. I look at her dress it is torn to pieces and you can see her whole top half. She is trying to cover herself with her hands and arms.
"Here." I say and give her my jacket.
"Thank you." She sniffles.
Before we go back out to the party I look at her, really look at her. She looks terrified for obvious reasons. Her makeup is smeared and her chin is trembling. I can tell she is holding in sobs.
"It's okay Annie." I say.
She hugs me.
"Finnick." She sobs.
"It's okay." I say and smooth her hair.
"If you hadn't-"
"Don't think about that Annie. Nothing happened and you're okay now."
She sniffles.
"It's okay." I whisper to her over and over again. Although, I know what she is feeling and that feeling she has right now will never totally go away.
"He touched me." She whispers and tears leak from her eyes.
"It's okay Annie. You're here. You're safe here with me." I look down at her torn dress. I wonder if she still has her underwear on. She needs to get back on the train immediately.
She scrunches her face and starts sobbing.
"I've never been touched like that before Finnick." She sobs.
I rub her back.
"It wasn't supposed to be like that." She mutters. "If you wouldn't have…I would… he would've… not gentle…" She starts sobbing again.
"You're okay." I say. It sounds stupid. I know what it feels like to be abused too well. It's been going on so long I don't even think I would have fought him off.
She nods.
"Annie! Finnick! Where are you!" I hear our escort shout angrily.
"Please don't make me go out there Finnick. Not like this. I'm almost naked." She whispers.
"Annie it will be fine. Once we leave, we will be one the train going home." I say gently.
"Home." She repeats with a smile.
"Yes home." I say and smooth her hair.
"Okay." She says and wraps her hands around my arms tightly.
We make it to the cab that will take us to the train. Annie gets a look of disapproval from our escort.
"Honestly." She says and shakes her head.
"Enough." I say firmly.
Annie makes a whimpering noise and leans into me.
"You're okay." I whisper and rub her shoulder.
We get on the train and Annie runs to her room sobbing on the way.I don't know if I should follow her or not.
I sit on one of the sofas in the main train car. I remember my first client.
I shiver from the memories of being touched, of being used. I close my eyes and shake my head back and forth. I start to bite my nails of the memory, from all the memories. I somewhat know what she is feeling. I just don't know if she would rather be alone.
I hear rapid footsteps and turn towards the door. I see Annie, she runs towards me and tackles me on the sofa so I am now on my back.
"Finnick." She sobs.
I wrap my arms around her and stroke her hair.
"It's-"
"Shh." She says and buries her face in my chest.
This is an awkward position to be I but I don't care.
I run my fingers up and down her back. She is now wearing flannel shorts and a long green shirt. Her face and hair are also free of make up.
She lays on top of me for what feels like forever and honestly I don't mind. I strangely like her being this close.
She starts tracing circles on the back of my shirt.
"Annie." I whisper.
She makes a whimpering sound.
"Annie you'll feel better when you go back home." I say. I know I always do, but I try and keep my Capitol persona in the Capitol and the real Finnick in District Four.
She mutters something into my chest.
"What was that?" I say gently.
"You don't know! You don't know!" She shouts.
"Annie actually-"
"Actually what?!" She says somewhere between a sob and whimper.
I sigh. I didn't want to tell Annie this mostly because I didn't want her to know. I didn't want her to wonder if this would happen to her. Now I have to tell her. I have to tell her my secret.
"Actually Annie I do."
She sits up and rolls her eyes. She is about to run back to her room but I grab her wrist before she can.
"Get off!" She whimpers.
I let go gently.
"Annie I do know. I… I-"
"You what?"
"Snow sells me… my body. Which is why all those rumors about my lovers… spread around the Capitol." I say quickly.
She cocks her head to the side and squints her eyebrows together.
"All those women… all those women." She says and starts to fall. I catch her before she can hit the ground.
"It's okay Annie."
"How can you say that so nonchalantly! People touch you! Have sex with you! They are abusing you Finnick! Just like that man did to me!"
"This has been happing for awhile Annie… I've accepted that." I say and push hair behind her ear.
"You shouldn't. It's not right." She blubbers.
"I know but, I need to keep the people I care about, the people I love, safe. This is a way." I say.
Her chin is trembling.
"It's okay Annie." I say.
"No it's not… he kissed me and touched me... Finnick he was…" she shivers and leans back into my chest. "That happens to you all the time." She sobs.
"I know." I rub her back.
"How do you bare it?" She asks.
I shrug.
"It's just a part of my life."
"Finnick-"
"It's okay Annie." I say. She looks at me strangely and hugs me.
"Finnick." She whisper suddenly out of breath.
"What's wrong?" I ask worried.
She is starting to fan herself and her breathing has exhilarated.
"Annie are you alright?" I ask nervously.
"I don't feel good." She gasps and her speech sounds slurred.
"Annie did that man give you a drink or food?" I ask worried that he drugged her.
"Yes." She slurs and is starting to loose her balance:
"Annie you should lie down." She should also have a doctor check her to make sure she doesn't die from the effects or a least OD. I'm not going to say that because it will just scare her.
She moves her hands to her temples.
"My head hurts." She slurs.
"It will feel better if you lie down. Let's go back to your room." I say gently and stand up.
Before she says anything she falls straight on her back hitting her head hard.
"Annie!" I shout and kneel next to her. "Annie." I say careful not to touch her in case she has a head injury. "Annie wake up." I say gently. Although, I know it is no use, those Capitol drugs can knock you out for a good nine hours. Why someone would want to have sex with an unconscious body is beyond me but, I have seen it happen.
I can't move her because she hit her head.
I hear one of the train attendants come in here. We have an in house doctor on the train. I have no idea why.
"She needs help." I say and they look at me as if I am speaking another language.
I sigh.
"Just get the doctor."
I say. They nod and leave.
"You're okay Annie." I say and rub my thumb over her face. "It's okay." I say. More for my benefit because I know she can't hear me.
The doctor looks at her and takes some blood. He says it wasn't an overdose but she has strong levels of a certain drug that is used to knock people out. It is mainly used to rape people apparently.
"We should leave her here until she wakes up then it will be easier to decided if she has a head injury." He says then leaves like this isn't a big deal.
"You're okay." I keep saying. He said she could wake up between 4 to 6 hours.
It seems like forever until I hear her here gasp. She moves her hands to her face immediately.
"Mmmmh why am I on the floor Finnick?" She moans.
"You fell down. That man slipped you something but you're okay now."
She scrunches her face and starts crying.
"Shhh. Shhh." I say. "It's okay you're going to be okay."
She sobs something I don't understand.
"Finnick." She sobs loudly.
"I'm right here Annie."
I hear the doctor come back and he determines she doesn't have a head injury but might have some memory loss from the drug. I just wish she could forget that man assaulting her.
I get Annie to stand and she sways. I pick her up and carry her back to bed.
She leans her head against my chest.
"Don't leave me." She whispers over and over again.
"I won't leave you Annie." I keep saying back.
I place her in bed carefully and pull the covers over her.
"Don't leave!" She yells as I stand up.
"I wasn't going to." I say gently. "I was just going to sit down." I say and motion towards the chair.
She shakes her head.
"No, no, no." She whimpers.
"What's wrong?" I ask confused.
"I want you to hug me." She whispers.
I know what she actually means. She wants me to hold her while she is sleeping.
"I won't be able to sleep." She whisper and I see and tear drip off her nose. I don't want to say no to her.
"Okay." I say and lay next to her and wrap my arms around her. She lays her head on my chest and squeezes and unsqueezes my shirt.
I can feel tears drip onto my shirt.
"It's okay." I say and rub her back. "You're safe here Annie. I'll make sure no one hurts you like that." I whisper.
She nods into my chest.
After a few hours her breathing has deepened and becomes even. She is asleep. My eyes start to get heavy and I soon fall asleep too.
"Get off me!" I hear Annie screech. "Let go of me!" She says again and I do confused. "What are you doing?" She looks at me and her eyes are glossed over. She's not fully here. She must be seeing something or more likely someone else.
"Annie it's me Finnick. You asked me to stay here with you last night. You wanted me to hug you. You wanted me to protect you." I say. I know she didn't say that last bit but I know that is why.
She puts her hands over her ears and starts rocking back and forth. She keeps muttering 'leave me alone'. I know she isn't talking to me.
I rub her back.
"It's not real Annie." I say. "You're safe here with me. We're going to be home later tonight. Everything is going to be okay." I whisper.
After an hour she stops this and sits up.
She wipes away tears and rubs the snot on her shirt.
"You okay?" I ask her.
She nods.
"Relatively speaking." She sniffles. Then looks at me strangely. "You didn't leave." She smiles.
"You told me not to?" I say confused and worried.
"Most people would've." She says and hugs me.
"I guess I'm not most people." I whisper.
She hugs me for a long time before I hear her say.
"Do you ever forget?" She whispers.
"The games… no. I thought I've said that before."
She swallows hard and shakes her head.
"Not that... the thing that happened last night." She whisper and her chin starts trembling.
I sigh. I wish I could say yes, but I can't. I don't want to lie to her either, but I also don't want to tell her the truth. That she'll never forget the face of that man or when someone else tries to be intimate, someone you care about, you feel there hands all over you.
I open my mouth to talk but I hear Annie instead.
"It's okay." She whispers "You don't have to tell me." She says.
I look at her strangely
Is this because she doesn't want to know? I think to myself.
"Annie-"
"You don't want to." She says and looks up at me with those green eyes. "So I won't make you." She says with a smile.
I look at here with a mix of confusion and awe. Annie Cresta is a strange person but in the best way possible.