Author's Note: Hello Everyone. Here is Chapter 8. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Eight

I woke up feeling terrible. I felt ill and I didn't want to move. I just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. So I did.

I fell back to sleep only to be woken – what felt like only moments later - by the sound of knocking on my door.

"Annie?" It was Grandma. I heard my door opening and her coming in. The bed moved, only slightly, as she sat down by my back, her hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

"Annie, it's time to get up."

"Do I have to?" I asked though I was already rolling over and blinking up at her. She pressed her hand against my forehead and frowned.

"Don't feel well?"

"Not particularly." I mumbled, forcing myself to sit up.

"Do you think you're up for training today?"

"Do I have a choice?" I asked and she hesitated.

I nodded and rolled out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

I took a quick shower, which made me feel a little more alive, though still not particularly well.

Grandma was waiting for me as I came out, her eyebrows slightly raised when she saw that I had straightened my hair.

"Different."

"Bad different?" I asked, playing with a straight strand nervously.

"No, just different." She found a headband from one of the drawers and placed it on my head, to keep my straight hair out of my face.

"Breakfast?" she asked, watching my face carefully. I placed a hand gingerly to my stomach, figuring out whether or not I could stomach food. After a moment's contemplation, I nodded.

I ate breakfast quietly, trying to keep my food down as I did so.

The second day of training was miserable for me. Not only was I feeling ill but I was now being constantly surrounded by the Careers. Everywhere I went, they were there, even when I went back to the editable plants station or the knot tying station, they were following me. They didn't talk to me, as such. Merle spoke to me, as did the twins from District One but mainly they just seemed to be watching me, calculating on whether or not I was worth keeping around. I couldn't understand why they were bothering. There were other tributes who were far more impressive than I was, but it was me that they were annoying.

They were also scaring away the few friends that I had made yesterday. The look Willow gave me when she saw me surrounded by Careers was heartbreaking.

By the afternoon I was just about ready to call it quits and head back up to our floor when something strange happened.

I was at the weapons stations, once more throwing spears, trying to learn how to put more force behind my throw, when I heard my name being called.

I looked at the trainer strangely for even he looked surprised before I looked towards the direction where my name was called from.

A tall man, not a Gamemaker, was standing at the entrance of the Training Centre, looking around the room, calling again, "Annie Cresta?"

I frowned, wariness eating me.

What was going on? This can't be normal, right? Another look at the trainers face told me that it wasn't.

"Off you go." He said and I lowered the spear and placed it back on its rack before walking towards the man, who was looking me up and down with an interested expression. I fingered the ends of my hair nervously as I passed him, him gesturing me out the door, closing it behind him once I was through.

"Come this way, please." He said gesturing for me to follow him.

"Um, what's going on?" I squeaked as I did as he asked.

He said nothing; he just kept on walking down a corridor that I had never been down before. I felt panic start to overwhelm me. What was going on? Had I done something wrong?

We came to a white and gold door at the very end of the corridor and he opened it, motioning for me to enter the room behind the door.

I did and I felt my heart stop.

"Hello Miss Cresta."

As I tried to get my heart beating again, as well as not throw up at the conflicting smells of roses and blood, I couldn't stop staring at the snake-like eyes that were the eyes of President Snow.

I jumped slightly as I heard the door behind me close, but I didn't take my eyes off the small, white-haired man in front of me.

He smiled at me, almost grandfatherly though his eyes were cold and snake-like and seemed to be enjoying my confused terror.

"How are you today Miss Cresta? Or may I call you Annie?"

"Um…"

"Would you like some tea?" he asked and I became aware of that he was standing in front of a table, laden with things one might use to have tea. He gestured for me to take a seat at the small round table, while he sat opposite me.

"How do you like it?" he asked me, still smiling grandfatherly as he picked up the pot of tea.

"Ah," I was trying to get my brain around what was happening. The president of Panem was offering me tea?

"I have milk and sugar." I squeaked as he poured the rich smelling tea into my cup. With a smile he added these things to my cup before handing it to me. I took it from him with trembling fingers.

"So," he said as he took a cup himself, filling it with cream and sugar. Enough to make my own teeth ache, "returning to my original question, how are you today Miss Cresta? Or do you prefer Annie?"

"Annie," I babble out while inside I cursed.

Get a grip, I growled at myself, but it was hard. So hard. This man destroyed so many lives. He made my boyfriend do things, terrible things, made him hurt and suffer and if he tried to refuse, Snow would kill him or Grandma and me.

And his breath! I fought back another wave of nausea.

"My day has been fine, thank you." I managed to say, my hands digging into the china of my teacup. He raised a white eyebrow over his own.

"Really? I was under the impression that you weren't feeling particularly well." He replied kindly, but the coldness behind it made me shiver. And then panic. He knows! He knows about the baby!

"Well, yes," I mumbled, staring down into my tea, "I haven't been feeling particularly well today. But I'm sure I'll get over it by tomorrow." I add quickly.

"Oh, I do hope so. I do understand that it is quite difficult to do things when one is in your unique condition, even in its most early stages." He knows… I sink down in my chair.

"I hope the father…"

"He's dead." I say without thinking, but I sound so mournful and sincere that I almost believed myself.

Snow raised his white eyebrow once more and looked me straight in the eyes, searching for truth, searching for lies.

"Is he now?"

"He died a month ago. There was a big storm that hit unexpectedly and his boat went down, along with most of her crew. They never found his body." I wasn't lying. There had been a big storm a month ago, that had taken a crew during her wrath and one of them had been a classmate of mine, a friend of mine. One of the few friends that I had actually had. I had cried for days after he had died, almost inconsolable. But since I was the only one who was actually grieving his lose, I felt entitled to a couple of days of grief.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. What was he's name?" He was going to check. He was going to get people to check out my story, to see if I was really telling the truth. I'm glad now that I was such an antisocial person and that Devon had been an only child, living in a community house and being antisocial himself.

"Devon Cree." I whisper and I feel the familiar grief of his death start to choke me up. I felt a tear fall from my eye but I quickly wiped it away.

Snow was watching me closely, observing everything I did. I seemed to have thrown him off and he was trying to regain control over the situation, trying to get back to what had been the original reason for my being brought here.

"Once again, I'm so sorry for your lose. I suppose Finnick Odair helps you deal with your grief?" ah…

I look up at him, trying to appear innocent, which I guess was an easy thing for me to do right now since I was all puffy eyed and red in the face, things that always happen whenever I become teary.

"Finnick?"

"I was under the impression you were quite close." He says casually.

"He lived with my grandmother and me for a couple of years, but he moved out about two years ago." I say off hand.

"So your visits during the nights these past two years were?" I felt myself deflate. So he knew, he knew about mine and Finnick's relationship, he knew or suspected that my baby was his, so why wasn't he just telling me what he knew and save me all this misery?

"He has bad nights and I just want to take care of him, be a good friend to him."

"A good friend?"

"Yes."

"Just a good friend?"

"Yes. He's just a good friend." He knew I was lying. I knew that he knew I was lying, so why…

Doesn't matter, a voice in my head that sounded like Grandma said, say whatever you can to just keep yourself, the baby and Finnick safe. Say anything and hope that he'll let you be.

"So he being your baby's," I shuddered when he said 'baby', "father is…" I cut him off with a firm look.

"He's dead. My baby's father is dead. Our relationship wasn't a public one and the baby wasn't planned."

"And you'll stick by that will you? This story of yours?" he seemed amused as well as calculating. I look him straight in the eyes and said once more, "My baby's father is dead. He's name was Devon Cree, he died a month ago in a boating accident."

"And your relationship with Mr Odair?"

"I have no relationship with Finnick Odair. We're friends, that's all."

"Well," he said and he was smiling widely now, too widely and the smell of roses and blood hit me even stronger than before, "that is very good to hear. I can tell you now that many here in the Capital would been very disappointed to hear that Mr Odair was taken… along with yourself, of course." I swallowed thickly and shook my head, feeling sick.

"Well, he's not. And I'm not, for what little that is worth." I'm trembling worse than ever. I watch Snow check his pocket watch while I slumped in my chair trying to control my shaking.

"Well, I'm glad we had this chat, it does clear a number of things up, which I am very pleased about." He rose from his chair and I did the same, desperate to get away from him.

"Yes, I am too." My words came out so fast, they probably made no sense at all, but I didn't care and he didn't seem bothered. I made for the door, my hand reaching for the handle when I felt a cold hand being placed on my shoulder.

"I'm so pleased that we could be honest with each other Miss Cresta. It saves a lot of time I find and leaves one with a guilt-free conscious, knowing that no lies will come creeping back to haunt them." I nodded my head.

"No lies." I whisper.

"Good girl. Let's keep it that way shall we or things might become… unpleasant for those you care for."

I nod again.

"Thank you sir, I'll keep that in mind."

He smiled and I was hit with another nauseating wave of roses and blood.

"I'm sure you will, Miss Cresta, I'm sure you will. Off you go now and remember this chat, won't you."

I nod again before bolting out of the room. I tore down the corridor, ignoring the looks of passing Avoxs' and other workers; I just kept running until I reached the elevators to get to my floor.

Once I got there though, my knees buckled from under me and I collapsed to the floor breathing hard and raggedly.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, to where my baby slept and I felt a whole new wave of panic hit me.

I was dead. He wasn't going to let me survive these games. He may have been letting my story about Devon being the father stand but he wasn't going to give me any opportunities to say anything different.

I don't know what people would do if they found out Finnick was the father of my baby, but I was guessing it wouldn't be good, for anyone involved.

I ran my fingers through my hair, which was now becoming wavy again, trying to gain control over my breathing.

How long had he known about mine and Finnick's relationship? Did it even matter? He wasn't going to let me live. He probably figured that my death would be the thing that finally broke Finnick, break him so completely that he'll become an obedient Victor for the citizens of the Capital.

It made me sick and it made me wanted to go back down the corridor and punch Snow. I would force myself to live through all hells before I let him and the Capital destroy the Finnick I love.

I rub my face and stared up at the ceiling of the lobby outside of the training centre. I wasn't sure what time it was, all I knew was that all the other tributes had left the Training Centre already. I just couldn't find the energy within me to follow their example and return to my floor.

I don't know how long I sat there, probably quite awhile before someone came and found me, or stumbled upon me rather.

"You? What are you doing down here? Why didn't you go back up with the rest of them?" demanded a voice from above my head. The voice was rough and a tad harsh.

I looked up and frowned. This man who was standing over me was so obviously not from the Capital.

His clothes were roughly put on and not entirely clean, his hair was messy and obviously hadn't been cut in awhile and he smelt strongly of alcohol, though his steel grey eyes were surprisingly clear.

I knew him from somewhere; he was familiar to me, though I know that I have never met him before in my life.

"Haymitch Abernathy?" I guessed after a moment or so. I wasn't entirely sure I had guessed right when he only gave me a grunt in reply.

"Your one of Mags's, aren't you? Her grandkid or something?"

"I'm her granddaughter, yes?"

"Then whatcha doing down here? Trying to worry her out of her mind? You've got plenty of time to do just that in a couple of days, so why start now?"

"I wasn't, I mean, I'm not." I stuttered weakly. "I had to go and see – they called me out of training so that I could go and see – I sort of couldn't move once I got here." I was starting to shake again, which made my words start to jumble together, my hand unconsciously moving to rest on my belly.

The look that Haymitch was giving me was something close to concern and possibly pity.

"Come on," he said, grabbing my upper arm and yanking me to my feet, "lets get you back to your floor, everyone is probably wondering where the hell you are." He punched the button for the elevator with his finger and when the doors open immediately after him pulled me inside with him, punching Number 4 as he did so.

On the ride up, I tried to gain some control over my trembling, to compose my face into a look that could be read as neutral. I didn't want to tell anyone that I had been taken out of training to go and speak with the President of Panem. I could predict the reactions from my mentors if they found out about my meeting with Snow. I could kiss any support, what little I had managed to gain from them these past few days, goodbye.

The elevators open at the fourth floor and I stepped out, as did Haymitch, though he wasn't tackled or interrogated as extensively as I was.

"Where have you been?" Grandma cried as she hugged me close to her, squeezing almost all the air out of my body. Over her trembling shoulders I could see Finnick staring at me; his face was a white as it possible could get with his bronze skin.

I tried to smile, but my face still felt numb so it came out awkward.

"You were called out of training, why?" Marlin demanded as did several other Victors. More questions were thrown at me, but I couldn't comprehend what was being asked.

"Give the girl some air; she can't think what with you all jabbering at her." Haymitch said unexpectedly. I hadn't realised he had stuck around after I had been tackled by Grandma.

"Where did you find her, Haymitch?" Marlin asked. So I had guessed right, it was Haymitch Abernathy, district Twelves only living victor.

"Standing by the elevators, getting ready to come up. Thought I might save myself the wait and came up with her." He was lying. Why was he lying?

I twisted my head around to look at him. He met my eyes, daring me to call him out on his lie. But why would he lie? Why wasn't he telling them that he had found me sitting on the ground, shaking and staring into space, unable to give him coherent answers to his questions? He must know that if he did that, told my mentors how he really found me, then his tributes would have a better chance of surviving during the games if a Career tribute was considered weak by her own mentors. But he wasn't and I couldn't understand why.

"Why were you called out of training, Annie?" Marlin asked again when everyone was quiet and Grandma had realised her death grip on me.

"Oh, um," I started weakly, trying to get my brain to come up with some excuse, some believable story for my being calling out during training, for being called away for so long and only returning just before dinner – probably would have come back earlier if my body and mind hadn't given out on me just by the elevators.

"Um, well you know that I've been feeling ill? Well the Trainers or maybe it was a Gamemaker, noticed and so I was sent to the medical client and they checked me over. To make sure that I would be alright by the games and that I don't have something that could infect the rest of the tributes. I feel fine now." I lied badly and yet everyone seemed to believe me. Well, when I say everyone, I should probably exclude Grandma, Finnick and Haymitch.

Haymitch simply shook his head at my lie, Grandma looked worried and Finnick looked downright terrified, though he quickly hid that and his facial expression became suspicious.

"Well, I'm off. I only came with her because I wanted a ride up." Haymitch said as he strolled back to the elevator.

Finnick dodged around the group who were standing around me and went to walk Haymitch to the elevator. Haymitch said something that I couldn't hear, but judging from Finnick's expression, it wasn't about anything good.

He shot me a pained look, while Haymitch gave me a firm nod as he stepped into the elevator, punched a button in it – twelve most likely – and the doors closed.

"So, you're all fine now? What was it? A bug?" Coral asked as she ushered Grandma and me to the dining table.

"Um, yeah. But I'm all fine now, they gave me some stuff and I feel great." I forced myself to smile widely and brightly back at the mentor who was only a few years older than Finnick.

Coral is probably one of our more beautiful Victors. Thick, wavy sandy brown hair down past her waist, brilliant ocean blue eyes, tall and curvaceous. It's no wonder that she's such a huge hit in the Capital, with both the men and women, though she apparently doesn't mind. She does it for the money, she looks at what she has to do as if it's a job, an unpleasant one at times maybe, but she's apparently learnt to close off that part of her mind once the "job" is done, or so she's told Grandma over the years. She's tried to teach Finnick to do the same, but he never can, he hates it too much too simply forget it or push it to the back of his mind.

Coral looks relieved.

"That's good to hear. We were really worried when Merle came back up and you weren't with him and when he told us that you were called out of training, well we could barely stop Finnick from racing off to look for you. He's been out of his mind with worry all afternoon and evening." She added looking at Grandma for confirmation.

Grandma nodded her head seriously; her dark green eyes were focused on my face as if trying to read from it what had truly happen to me this past afternoon.

"I'm sorry for worrying everyone over nothing. I'm fine now, I promise and this won't ever happen again." Coral nodded as she lightly tucked some of my hair behind my ear.

"Oi, where you been?" Merle called when he came out to the dinning room, stretching his rope like arms above his head. His hair was tousled and he's eyes were bleary. He must have just woken up.

"Had a medical check up, nothing important." I say with a shrug,

"Really?" he gave looked surprised, "They do that sort of thing?" he asked everyone in general.

"They want us to be in the best of shape when we enter the arena and since I haven't been, they gave me a check up." I replied. Wow, who knew lying could be so easy and natural.

Grandma was looking at me strangely as I spoke, but before I could ask what was wrong, dinner was served and Grandma was piling up my plate and setting it in front of me, telling me to eat. Which I did, I was surprised by just how hungry I was, but I found that I was starving and so I ate everything that Grandma kept loading on to my plate.

No one question my appetite or when I asked to be excused so that I could go to bed. No one, except for Finnick.

He blocked my path down the corridor to the bedrooms; we were out of sight of everyone else. He placed his hands on my shoulders and forced me to look up at me.

"What happened?" He demanded, which I felt was a tad rich coming from him as he had been the one who had been ignoring me for all this time and all of sudden wanted to talk to me, to demand answers from me. "What really happen?"

"I told you. They just wanted to do a check up on me. Make sure that I would be well for the games. Now, let go. I want to go to bed." I snapped, putting my hands onto his chest and shoved him away from me. That, shoving him away from me, hurt me just as much as I saw it had hurt him. Well good, now he knew how it felt.

He let go of my shoulders immediately and took a step away from me and then to the side, so that he was no longer blocking the corridor. The look on his face was almost unbearable, but I had to do this, I had to push him away or Snow would hurt him.

It still broke my heart to walk away from him, to not say anything to him. I did, however look back at him when I reached my door, my resolve not to look back had failed by this point.

He wasn't looking at me, but at the opposite wall, his chest heaving, his hands tightly fisted by his sides. He seemed to be struggling over something and it took all my control not to run back down the corridor and embrace him. Instead I forced myself to open my door and enter my room, but I stuck my head out again to have a final look at him. He seemed to have gain control over whatever it was that he had been struggling over and now, now he looked determined about something.

I ducked my head back into my room as he looked up the corridor towards my room, but when I sneaked another look out my door he was gone and I heard the elevator arriving at our floor.

Where was he going? Did he have a "job" to get to? But that couldn't be it, because I had heard, only moments before Coral calling out to him, asking where he was going. I hadn't heard any response from him, but I was sure somehow that where ever he was going, it had nothing to do with his other "job".

I was too tired to think too deeply as to what he was actually up to. Too tired and too numb and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and try and forget everything.

And I did just that, after having a quick shower first, but I didn't fall asleep. My mind was too awake, thinking over everything that Snow had said this afternoon. I was scared, but I wasn't as scared as I know I should have been. I was feeling more numb than anything else.

I wanted to live, I wanted to survive the game, to return home, have my baby, be with Grandma and Finnick. But I didn't want Finnick to suffer because of me, as I knew he would if anyone were to find out about our relationship, about the baby and reported it back to Snow. Snow would hurt Finnick, not kill him, he needed him too much for him to kill him, but he would hurt him in every way that he could. And what about the baby?

Even if I did survive the arena, did win by some odds, what would happen to my baby? Would he or she live to be born? I could come back damaged from the games, something could happen in the arena and the baby dies inside my womb? And if he or she does live to be born, would they live to see adulthood, or will they be reaped the moment that they turn twelve and I'll be forced to watch them die in some horrible arena and unable to do anything to save them.

My chest feels compressed and I can't breath. I roll on to my side, gasping in air as tears roll down my face.

There is a knock on my door and I have barely enough strength to wipe my tears away as Grandma enters my room.

"Annie?" she comes to sit on my bed after she closes my room's door.

"Hi Grandma." I say thickly.

"Annie," she wipes her hand against my face as she reaches out and turns on the lamp that is by my bed, "Oh Annie." She says as she wipes a tear from my cheek. I feel something in me break.

"They're going to kill me, Grandma."

She looks me straight in the eyes, her face frozen.

"How do you know that?"

I laughed a high-pitch bitter laugh.

"They told me as much."

"Who?"

"President Snow. I met with him this afternoon." Grandma's whole body became stiff and her eyes were wide with terror. "He knows Grandma." I continued on nonetheless, "He knows about Finnick and me. He knows about the baby."

I could see that Grandma was trying to remain calm, for my sake and for her own, but I could see that she was struggling.

"It's ok though." I added quickly, "I told him that Devon is the father of the baby."

"And he believed you?" Grandma asked, her voice was sad.

"Well, no, but if I keep to the story, if it should ever come out that I'm pregnant and no one has any reason to think differently, then you and Finnick should be fine." She gave me a hard look before sighing heavily.

"Oh darling. Oh Annie. My dear, dear Annie."

"Everything will be alright. You and Finnick will be alright. I won't let them hurt you, not because of me anyway."

"That's not what I care about, little one. I care about you and your baby." She pulled me into her arms. "What is my life, seventy-five years, compared to a young life that has only just begun?"

"Grandma…"

"I wish I could tell you how we're going to get through this. I wish I could tell you that everything will be alright and you will win and then come home to us, whole and well. But I can't dear one. I want to, so desperately, but I can't because I don't know." she was sobbing now.

"I'm not giving up Grandma." I whispered, "I promise you that I'm not. I'll fight as hard as I can to win."

"But you said…." She trailed off weakly.

"Yes, and I'm sure they'll try their very hardest to make me suffer and die, but I'll fight and give it all I have to win. I'm not going to lose because they want me to. I'm not their toy, their puppet that they can pull the strings of and make do whatever they want."

"And the baby?" she asked and I hesitate.

"I'll tell the story that Devon is the father. It's the only way to keep Finnick, the baby and you safe," I add quickly when she opens her mouth to protest. "I have to keep you all safe." I whispered.

"You'll break his heart you know." she whispered as she leant her head against my shoulder.

"Whose?"

"Finnick's. You're not going to tell him that the baby is his, are you?" I shake my head and I feel my own heart ache.

"He'll never accept it, you know. He'll never accept that you had a relationship with Devon."

"I cried over him when he died. I cried for days." I reminded her.

"Yes and whose arms did you cry in for those days?" she replied, "He'll never accept it and he might do something stupid as a result. You should tell him."

"I can't." I whisper and a fresh wave of tears roll down my cheeks.

"Why?"

"Because I can't be near him. I can't be with him. I don't even think I can even pretend to be just a friend to him. Snow doesn't want me and him to be together. If we are, then… bad things will happen. He promised as much."

"So, you're going to break his heart." Grandma mumbled, stroking my hair as I cry.

"It's the only way to keep him safe. Everyone safe."

"You'll have a hard time explaining that to him."

"How? He's been acting as if I don't exist basically from the moment we got here."

"To protect you."

"Well, I have to protect him too. And that means I have to break his heart and make him believe that I've been going behind his back with Devon."

I could feel Grandma shaking her head.

"We'll figure something out." She said finally, slowly rising from my bed and tucked me in like she had done when I was a little girl, "for the mean time, lets keep the baby between us and," her face became deathly with hate, "and Snow."

"I thought you said I should tell Finnick." I say, confused.

"And you should," she said with a nod, "after the games."

"What?"

"Trust me. It will most likely be better for the both of you, if you tell him about the baby after the games."

"Even when I'm going to tell him that the baby is Devon's?" I asked.

Grandma pulled a slight face at this before nodding.

"Even when you're going to tell him that the baby isn't his. Now, try and get some sleep." She said as she turned off my bedside lamp.

"Good night Grandma."

"Good night, dear one. Sleep well."

"Hmm, will try."

Author's Note: So the plot thickens. Yes, I'm evil. I threw Snow in and made him know of Annie's and Finnick's relationship, along with the baby. My argument for this is, if the guy knows about the kiss that Gale gave Katniss in the middle of the woods, he was bound to know about Annie and Finnick. Well, that's my logic and I'm sticking to it.
And yes, I threw Haymitch into this chapter too. I couldn't help it and he seemed like the perfect mentor to stumble upon Annie.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are much loved.