Chapter 11- Revived

Annie's P.O.V

Ouch. Ow! Is death supposed to hurt? I liked death better when I was paralyzed and suspended in darkness, the numbness of my limbs soothing me. This part was not included in the description. It's as if boiling water was put through my veins, burning me to the core. It all started in my neck, then immediately ran through to the tips of my fingers and toes. I thought death was supposed to be painless once you passed, but I feel everything right now. This could only mean one thing.

I'm still alive.

But that's impossible! That gorilla thing bit me, and I bled so much. Wasn't I in the arena? Medical attention ceases as soon as you get in those launch tubes. The boiling sensation starts to subside and suddenly my nerves wake up. I feel grass under my hands, the familiar flatness of dirt that I lay on, and the gentle breeze that rustles the loose hairs on my head. I can smell the combination of copper blood and wood around me. I must be alive. I am still in the Game. My heart sinks and flutters at the same time; I can still win and see Finnick again, but I awake to this torture?

I assess the damage in my body without opening my eyes. I don't want to see the arena yet. As the painful feeling completely erases, I start to move different parts of my body. My fingers and toes seem intact and movable, my core seems doable. My shoulder, ankle, and a couple of ribs, on the other hand, start to throb in pain.

Open your eyes, girl. You're still playing, the silky voice thrums in my head.

I groan as soon as I hear it. I thought that thing was gone. I thought that maybe the shock of almost dying would make it disappear. I guess I was wrong.

"Annie? Annie, are you awake?" Demere's voice comes at a distance, to my left. He sounds desperate, as if he's been waiting for me to respond to my name for a while.

For some reason, I don't have the strength to open my eyes, so I bob my head up and down once, slightly. That small movement sets a fire of pain coursing through my neck immediately, and I wince.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Oh thank goodness. I thought you were gone there for a second. You got a sponsor gift, a needle full of scary looking stuff, and I read the directions as closely as I could. I thought I might've messed up. I'm not good at this sort of thing."

I still don't open my eyes, but whisper weakly, "It burns."

He gasps. "Oh God, oh God. Maybe I hit a vein or something. Oh God, is it supposed to burn?" I hear the rustle of paper, and assume he's checking the directions. After some time, he sighs. "Okay, it says it's supposed to make your joints sore and your nerve endings sensitive for a while. But it should wear off sooner when you start to move and stuff. Can you open your eyes, Annie?"

His voice sounds so sincere, that I do. I thought the sun would blind me, but instead, a roof of some sort blocks its rays. Huh, I think. Demere made a shelter.

That's more than you've done for him, the voice says.

Suddenly, I feel guilty. I do owe him now. He brought me back from the dead. I slowly, and painfully, turn my neck left and right, taking in my surroundings. It's a nice shelter, really. Standard, but it looks trustworthy. The roof is supported by two oak tree trunks on either end, making an entrance. On the other side, to the right of me, is closed off. The roof slants down to the ground and is nailed into the damp dirt. A thick layer of foliage is layered on top of what looks like a net.

I manage a couple of words, the dryness of my mouth making it hard to form the sounds. "This looks great, Demere."

He looks around in pride and grins. "It's not a lot, but it protects us from all the rain at least. I had to do something to distract me while the medicine was sinking in."

"How long did it take? How long was I out?"

"The longest forty eight hours of my life. A solid two days you were out cold," Demere says as he takes a quick glance outside. "Nobody's been bothering us, it's been pretty quiet."

The sand paper texture of my tongue is hard to manage. "Water?"

His eyes widen and he reaches for a bottle. "Oh, yeah! We got plenty! Ever since that storm, we've been overflowing with water."

I take two large gulps, and breathe in slowly through my nose.

He continues. "Two people are gone now. I don't even think the careers did it. Between the monsoon and that thing that attacked you, the careers don't really need to kill anybody I guess."

"The mutt definitely killed one: a little girl."

He nods slowly. "She was in the sky the night I found you." He looks back at me then, and knits his eyebrows together. "Annie, what happened?"

I sigh and slowly but surely retell the story of the beast. Well, as much of the story as I can. I don't include the part that I was worried about him. And I don't give much detail on the state of the redheaded girl. After a couple of words, the dryness in my mouth resurfaces, and I have to take a break to swallow some more water. He waits patiently, never showing any emotion.

When I'm done, Demere shakes his head. "I thought I heard something peculiar. I thought it was the storm or something. I never thought that it was something that could have hurt you. So, I found something to cover me up, and I waited until the end of the storm to look for you." He stops and brushes a strand of hair from my face. I tense up at his touch, and he pulls his hand away quickly. "I thought you were safer than I was."

I shrug as slightly as I can, sending a bolt of pain from my shoulder where the beast bit me. "It's alright Demere. You would have been in the same state I am, and then who would take care of the other?"

He grins slowly, and nods. "I guess you're right."

"I always am," I say with a smile.

A couple hours later, I come to the conclusion that Demere really wants to heal me back to perfect health. He feeds me a little rice topped on the crackers from my pack. The combination is actually pretty settling. It calms my raging stomach, and for some reason, also numbs the pain. It also seems that my ribs are just bruised. I can move my core, but only controlled movement. My shoulder is useless; I don't even try to have any contact with it whatsoever. My ankle is swollen and purple, though I have managed to put weight on it. Whatever Demere shot in my system seems to be working, but slowly.

I feel guiltier and guiltier every time he does something for me, because it's just another thing I need to pay him back on. He doesn't seem to mind, almost as if it's in his nature to take care of me. I promise him that I'll be able to do more things tomorrow - that my wounds should heal enough- but he dismisses my excuse and says that "he's glad to do it."

Does he even remember that this is a game? Does he not know that only one will win?

I don't bring that up, though. I'm grateful for everything he's done. I'm still worried about the predicament the Games are in. There hasn't been much activity for days. I bet the beast attack and the storm was the most action the audience has gotten. Unless the Careers are doing something that distracts the viewers enough, we have something coming to spice things up. I can tell Demere thinks the same. He keeps on glancing out of our shelter to make sure no one's coming. It's a little annoying, but we are better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Even now, as I sit up against my backpack eating one last rice cracker, he glances outwards. Satisfied with the emptiness of our surroundings, he comes back in and eats a little.

"Have you taken in the arena yet?" I ask when the silence becomes uncomfortable.

He shrugs. "A little. You know that weird wall over there?" He points outward, I nod, and he continues. "I think it's a dam."

My eyes widen in shock, "A dam?"

"I know, it sounds crazy, but I swear it looks like one. It must be holding back whatever water is in this place."

"Apart from the rain," I add.

"Yeah, that too. Somebody is bound to break it open once the lack of water gets to their brain."

"Nobody else thinks of the storms as water."

He smiles. "Or they do, but they don't have Annie's fancy water traps."

I smile too. The throbbing sensation in my head brings me to silence for a while. Finally, I speak again.

"Have you seen anybody for the days I was out?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. It's been pretty quiet," he opens his pack and continues. "I have a feeling this is just a big build up for something ahead. You know, to keep the audience watching and waiting."

I nod. "We have to be prepared for whatever that might be."

He shrugs. "I guess so." He looks at me then, and his eyes widen, "Oh my gosh! You look so much better!"

I knit my eyebrows together. "I do?"

"Yeah! You have all of your color back and I think your shoulder finally stopped bleeding. How do you feel?"

I take a minute, breathing in and out, and notice that the soreness in my joints has ceased to exist along with the throbbing sensation in my ankle. "I do feel better, now that you mention it."

Demere smiles, pokes his head out of our shelter and looks towards the sky. He whispers, "Thank you sponsors!"

I laugh a little. Why is he so happy? Shouldn't he have hoped that I would be in pain longer, my weaknesses growing by the minute? He must know that only one could win. If he simply refused to inject whatever medicine was in that syringe, I wouldn't blame him. This is a game. Healing me back to health is a foolish decision that won't get him any sponsor gifts of his own.

He gets his head back inside and rests his upper body against the tree trunk that supports the roof. He looks at me once, and slowly closes his eyes- completely at peace.

The curiosity pokes at me, and I am forced to ask one question. "Why did you do it?"

He slits his eyes open again, and raises an eyebrow. "Do what, exactly?"

"Oh you know, bring me back from the dead and all."

He sighs and leans forward. His nose is inches from mine, and I can hear him breathing. I would move, but the pain everywhere else paralyzes me into staying. Finnick is watching.

"I couldn't let you die, especially when my opportunity to save you was so obvious."

I am taken back by his answer. It sounds like something Finnick would say. That just makes my heart ache for him even more. These two boys are so similar. It's like they are one…working together.

Working together.

It jumps out from my mind, those two words. Finnick would do anything to save me, but to ask another boy to do the same, and trust him on his word? That's a long shot, unless Demere values my life more than his own. But what on Earth would make him do that? My heart stops as the pieces come together. The only thing that would put my well-being above Demere's is the same thing that puts Finnick's well-being above mine.

Demere is in love with me.

And just like that, the waves crash over the horizon. The stable ground wobbles from beneath my weakened body. Demere loves me, or is close to it. That is the only excuse, is it not? Finnick and him are working together. They are added up for only one solution, to bring me home. Finnick fights out there, and Demere fights in here.

My head swirls, and I close my eyes, shutting out the world. This is unfair. Demere needs to fight for his own life. I can fight for my own.

No you can't. You were dead for two days, and would have remained dead if it weren't for those two. Play it up, use Demere, the voice in my head says lightly.

I am not using Demere. He has done his duty, and I will not need him again. I'm not letting him fall for me any time soon, my own voice responds.

Foolish girl, you are.

I breathe in evenly, in and out. A blanket of guilt has permanently found its way on top of me, suffocating my breaths. I will not let Demere die for me. I cannot let Demere die for me. Every ounce of humanity I still hold is riding on that. If I let him fall for me to stand, I am no less of a monster than President Snow himself. My sanity will shatter if that happens.

I open my eyes to find Demere back against his tree, eyes closed once more. I wait until his breathing is even, for me to shed a tear. He is at peace while a war is raging inside of me. I need to find my own serenity to think straight. My thoughts go to Finnick at once. His arms wrapped around me, like a net of safety. I close my eyes, and I am in them. His forehead rests atop my own. A gentle hand plays with my hair, while the other traps me against him. I trace my own fingers against his back, and let them glide over the hills of muscles that he has obtained over years of fishing. If I focus enough, the scent of mud and blood subside to sand and lavender- the smell of Finnick.

Suddenly, my imaginary Finnick's arms grow tighter and tighter around me. They begin to squeeze me to a point where air is unable to fit in my lungs. I look up, and his eyes are red, his skin layered with scales. A snake's tongue darts in and out of his mouth, and fangs protrude from his lips. My breathing has ceased completely. He smiles, and bites me exactly where the beast did.

I scream and wake up with a jolt. My heart drops as I realize what my nightmare means.

My sanity is already slipping away.

N/A- Hey guys! Sorry this took me a while. I was at my grandparents' house and they had like ZERO wi-fi. It was painful. Anyways, thank you to all that reviewed! I'm glad you all have enjoyed the story so far. Don't forget to let me know what you thought of this chapter too!

See you next Thursday...

FinnickandAnnieForever