-Rachel:
The next morning I congratulate Saga and Ginger as join our table on their performance, it was really good.
"Training starts today, just try and make friends" my father explains. I nod, agreeing with his point. An hour later Effie stands to take them off to training. I'm left alone with my father.
"So where were you last night? You never came to your room." he asks after a while.
"We were having like mad sex last night Haymitch, we really missed each other," I hear Finnick's voice behind me. Oh course he's kidding, we only sleep together, nothing more than that, Finnick just likes to joke that we have sex too.
My father's face goes red, "one day I'm just going to ruin your face over one of these jokes." he growls. Finnick puts his arms around me from behind, "who said they were jokes?" his semi-whispers into my ear, I know he wants Haymitch to hear. I burst out laughing, as Haymitches face contorts in some way out of rage.
Finnick takes this as his cue to leave and does with a promise to see me later. Haymitch just gets up and leaves going over to Chaff. God it's creepy how much time they spend together.
Someone taps me on the shoulder, I turn and see an avox standing before me with a slip of paper. I take it and dismiss her. I unwrap it and I catch my breath at the words written on it:
'Can you meet me tonight? I'll have a car pick you up behind the tower at four.
Love, Zapher'
so this is it? The start to my life with this Zapher boy. I guess so, I don't really have a choice now do I?
*Flashback*
"Why are you here?" I ask the man sitting on my living room couch, in my house. The man is President Snow.
"Oh, I just made an arrangement so you can pass the time more quickly while you mentor" he tells me with a sly grin on his stupid face.
"wha-what arrangement?" I ask, I can hear Haymitch swearing at the peacekeepers who had literally dragged him out of the room earlier, so my conversation with Snow would be private.
"You get to spend private time with a friend of mine. He's your age of course. "
I'm still confused, "okay?" I ask
"Yes, his name is Zapher, he is Enobaria's son."
I literally feel my jaw drop as my mind makes the connection of what Snow means by "private time" with this Zapher.
"'.this" I growl
"Oh, but I can, and I am."
He leans closer so his face is right by mine; it smells of blood and roses. I don't hide the disgust on my face.
"That boy was right; you're too perfect not to be loved."
*Flashback end*
At four I go behind the training tower, to my hatred there is a car there, waiting for me. I climb in; the driver says nothing to me. No one else is in the car. I play with my pants, how long will they stay on? I should've worn a skirt or something so this could just be done and over with faster.
Sadly the building we go to isn't far away at all. I step out of the car and make my way inside. I trudge to the room that I was instructed to go to. I knock on the door and wait a while.
What if I just leave? Oh right, Snow will hurt my father, or chaff, or Finnick, or Seier, or anyone else really. A tall muscular black skinned boy answers the door. He smiles when he sees me,
"please, come in, let's talk" he smiles at me, he seems...friendly.
I walk in and he closes the door behind me, I take a seat in a chair in the big room.
"First, I will never make you do anything you don't want," he tells me.
"What if I don't want to sleep with you?" I spit out at him.
"Then we won't do that, not until we're friends"
Friends! Friends! I'll never be friends with Zapher, but I just nod.
"So I'm Zapher, Enobarias son. I didn't grow up with her though, I live here in the Capital with my father" he tells me.
"You know about me"
He laughs, "yes I do, who doesn't?"
"good point"
Then, for the next two hours, we just talk. He doesn't even touch me. Not once. Maybe he isn't like I thought, maybe he is nice. He opens the door for me as I leave.
"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asks
"yeah sure." I shrug.
A smile spreads across his face, "thanks!" and then, he hugs me. I stiffen at first, but he loosens his hold so I relax a little.
The next day is training again for the tributes. So I have nothing to do really. I spend most of the day with Finnick until he says he has to go meet with some sponsors for his tributes. It doesn't make sense, but I nod and tell him I'll see him at dinner.
Once Finn is gone the same avox has before comes over and hands me a note, it tells me I will be picked up in the back in an hour. I go and change my clothes and shower.
When Zapher opens the door I can feel something is wrong. As soon as he closes the door he's on me, hugging me, kissing me.
"Stop! What are you doing? You sai-" he cuts off my protests with a kiss.
"I lied, because I have to avenge my best friend's death in some way, don't I?" he sneers. I'm in shock at his words while he takes off his shirt and then my own.
"Cato?" I whisper.
"Exactly smart girl, he was my friend."
I go and slap Zapher across the face, he wastes no time in returning it, but ten times harder and bashing me into the wall. I feel the blood come out of a new cut on the backside of my head.
"Just relax" Zapher snaps as he keeps kissing me, my lips, my neck. He holds me in an iron grip, creating bruises all along my arms and shoulders.
Soon he throws me on the bed and is on top of me.
*ya you know what happens next*
my body aches, it kills, I'm disgusted with myself, terrified of Zapher. Every move of protest I had made had earned me a slap or a punch. Zapher made sure that only serious wounds would be covered, so no one else could tell the torture he put me through.
I slip out of bed and put on my pants. I walk to the bathroom and wash my hands. As I'm looking down at them I hear footsteps, a second later my face is driven forward and smashed into glass mirror, it shatters.
"I didn't give you permission to leave" Zapher snarls.
"I'm sorry" I mumble. He knees me in the back.
"Should be worthless whore" he goes and shoves me out of the bathroom. I go and put on my shirt. Then Zapher has me again and is kissing me again.
He shoves me away, "you weren't bad, and I'll see you soon. Get out!" he commands, shoving me at the door. I quickly get out; closing the door behind me I cover my bloody face from the world. Even though no one is around. The actual cuts are just above my hairline, so once they stop bleeding, they will be unnoticeable.
It takes all my will force not to sprint through the lobby of this sickening hotel. A car will be waiting for out back. I make my way out the back and jump into the car.
Soon we are back at the tower, where I don't hesitate to run to the elevator, slam my fist on the twelve button, and then sprint to the bathroom in my room and lock myself inside. I have an hour before dinner, an hour to get the bleeding to stop.
I turn on the shower and step in; every muscle in my body resists movement, every muscle protests. I watch as the water mixed with blood goes down the drain. I retch as I think of what just happened, how I got these bruises, these injuries, these scars.
After I shower I go and press towels to my forehead until I get the bleeding to stop, then comb my hair so it covers whatever could be visible.
I'm super self-conscious as I step into the dining area. Pain floods my body, but I make it to my table and sit down. I greet my father and tributes with a smile. I eat slowly as we plan what to do for private sessions; I let Haymitch do most of the talking.
I feel someone watching me, when I look I see Finnick. He smiles; I grin and look away quickly. I can't hold anyone's gaze; I'm focused on the pain, on trying to not let it show.
After the tributes go to bed Haymitch goes over to see Chaff. So I'm left to finish my dinner.
I feel hands go on my shoulders; I stiffen, my eyes widen in pain and fear. My body expecting to be shoved into the table, or into a wall, or used. I start to shake slightly, the hands immediately go off.
"Come with me now!" Finnick commands from behind me. He's never talked to me like this; I've never heard this tone from him. It's furious, scared, demanding. I nod and stand.
Finnick takes my hand and starts for the elevator, I stiffen as I walk, then Finnick picks me up and carries me the rest of the way.
Once we are in his room he places me on his bed.
"WHAT HAPPENED!" he orders. I start to shake slightly, "nothing Finn it's,"
"No! This!" he motions to me, "is not nothing! You're terrified, you almost fainted when I touched you, you barely ate, and you avoid eye contact with anybody! And you're in serious pain," he yells.
I rub my forehead like I do when I'm stressed, but it opens the wounds on my forehead. Finnick's eyes widen as he sees the blood come down over my face. He runs and grabs a towel and puts it to my forehead. He sits there, shaking his head, until it stops.
"Show me!" he demands after. I nod, knowing now I have to tell him, and lift the hair off my forehead. I know he sees the cuts.
"What else?" he whispers.
I roll up the sleeves on my shirt to show the long bruises. Then I unbutton my shirt and turn around, so he can see the gashes from my body being slammed against the bed frame. The bruises on my hips, and then finally, after I put my shirt back on, I show him the gash on the back of my head, under my hair.
When I turn around its Finnick who is shaking.
"What did they do to you?" he asks slowly.
-Finnick:
I want to kill whoever did this to her. How did they do this to her? How could someone do this to her in such a short amount of time? She was fine this morning, fine when I left her, fine when she said see you at dinner. But now? Now she's a wreak.
"What did they do to you?" I ask slowly.
She just stares at me, like I'll hurt her if she tells me the truth.
"God Rachel! Tell me the fucking truth so I can help you!" I yell at her, tears roll slowly down my face.
"He sold me to him" she whispers. No, no he didn't. She's only fifteen, right; I was only fifteen when he first sold me to those women. He still does too. I just shake my head; she seems to understand and explains further.
"He sold me to Zapher, Enobaria's son, he was Cato's best friend, he said he'll make me suffer for what I did. He said that we get to have fun every night he wants."
-Rachel:
"Why you? Why to him?" he says in shock, I start to cry here, giving into the pain.
"Because they got the idea when Peeta said I'm too perfect not to be loved!" I shout at him.
"I'm gunna kill that bastard." Finnick murmurs.
"No! You can't! If you do Snow will hurt someone else, he said he'll hurt someone I love if I don't cooperate."
Finnick swears again under his breath then puts his hands on my shoulders, I stiffen. He goes to push the hair back out of my face and I instantly pull away, ready to be slapped, hit, or punched in the face again.
"You need to know one thing." He whispers
I nod slowly.
"I will never hurt you. Never." He promises me, hearing the words make me relax as I nod to him.
"and you need to tell me everything that happens okay? I just want you to be you again, like we were before."
"I'm never going to be like I was before Finn" I say bluntly as I stand and walk around him.
"Where are you going?"
"I'd rather sleep alone, don't you worry though, I won't be in bed alone tomorrow." I snap at him, I can tell he's pissed. I've never pissed off Finnick before. Seeing we've been friends for six years, I should get a national award or something. Before I walk out I turn to him, he's just standing in front of his bed.
"You should understand Finnick; you went in there once too. It may seem like it, but I'm not some strong fifteen year old girl. I'm terrified and weak, and sometimes, I'd rather be dead than see those faces when I sleep again." Then I walk out, leaving Finnick alone with his mouth hanging open, his face red with rage.
-Finnick:
"Where are you going?" I ask as she walks past me.
"I'd rather sleep alone, don't you worry though, I won't be in bed alone tomorrow." She snaps at me. I stand, my hands go into fists and I clench my jaw. So this is what they've made her? A pissed and arrogant girl. She stops and turns to me,
"You should understand Finnick; you went in there once too. It may seem like it, but I'm not some strong fifteen year old girl. I'm terrified and weak, and sometimes, I'd rather be dead than see those faces when I sleep again."
My jaw drops, one she called me Finnick, she never does. Two, does she think I'm so strong; sure the nightmares don't come often for me. No I'm not that strong! As she walks out the door I go in the doorway and yell at her as she walks to the elevator.
"You know what! I have nightmares too! I don't let them get to me though! I don't let them bother me do I? No I put that hellhole behind me, it's the past!"
She spins around on her heel and stares at me, eyes wide, tears in them.
"YOU DIDN'T HOLD THE BOY YOU LOVE AS HE DIES! YOU DIDN'T SIT THERE AND KNOW IT WAS YOUR FAULT HE'S DYING!" she yells at the top of her lungs, I'm pretty sure everyone can hear her. She flips me off and then storms off and slams her fist on the elevator button. And she's gone. And I can still hear her crying as the elevator goes up.