Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Twenty-Seven

Marissa does not know how long it's been since she has eaten or even had a drink. Her stomach grumbles uncomfortably and her mouth is parched but, there's nothing she can do. After her interview, Marissa and Peeta had been roughly dragged down to a cell right at the bottom of the Tribute centre and, they haven't been seen to since.

Marissa is curled up in the corner, her knees pressed to her chest as she plays with her fingers and tries not to think about the fact that President Snow has Finnick. He could be doing anything to him right now and there's nothing Marissa can do. It's all she's thought about since they were shoved in here and nothing Peeta says makes it any better so, he's fallen into silence. In fact, there's no sound other than the occasional rumbling of their stomachs.

That's why the whimpers that sound from the adjoining cell seem so loud when they start. Marissa's heart constricts painfully, a lump forming in her throat because she would know that sound anywhere.

"Annie?"

"Marissa?" the crying girl calls out, confirming Marissa's fears that it is Annie Cresta. "Where are we? Why have they put us here? Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, no, Annie. You haven't done anything, sweetheart," Marissa soothes. "We're in the Capitol but, it's not your fault. It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"What do they want from me?"

"I don't know, Annie," Marissa says. She assumes that they're punishing Annie to punish Marissa. "Where's Mira?"

"I don't know," Annie cries. "She's not here."

Marissa knows it's selfish but, the fact that Mira is not in that cell with Annie comforts her a little.

"Are you okay? Have they hurt you?"

"No. They haven't hurt me. I want to go home, Marissa."

"I'm sorry, Annie. I'm so sorry," Marissa breathes out. She's absolutely devastated that Annie has been captured. Annie has been through enough at the Capitol's hands, she doesn't deserve this. And the worst part is, it's Marissa's fault. When they agreed to the rebel plan, they didn't ask for them to take Annie and Mags to District Thirteen. They only cared about Mira and, Annie is paying the price for their selfishness.

Annie doesn't respond, she just weeps into her hands and, Marissa wipes away her own tears as Peeta stares down at the ground. Marissa's chest heaves as she struggles to breathe because now she's responsible for two people being captured by the Capitol. Annie and Peeta are here because of her and there's nothing she can do now to save them. She missed her chances because she didn't ask District Thirteen to save Annie and, she couldn't cut Peeta's tracker out in time. Her heart races in her chest and her head sound as she struggles to catch her breath, her body trembling violently as she buries her hands in her hair.

"Marissa," Peeta says softly, watching the girl as she curls in on herself during her struggle. He reaches out, placing his hand on her shoulder and she cowers away, his touch startling her. He apologises but, she relaxes ever so slightly into his touch so, he does not move his hand. He's unsure on what he should do but, he gently wraps her in an embrace, holding her as she works through her distress and eventually, she calms down. Her breathing still judders and her body still trembles but she's no longer crying and hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry," Marissa whispers to Peeta.

"You don't have to apologise to me or anybody. You didn't do anything wrong."

"No... I did... I did. I didn't cut out your tracker and I didn't ask them to save Annie."

"Marissa, it's fine. You tried to cut out my tracker, it's not your fault that you couldn't."

Peeta continues to assure Marissa that he does not blame her but she's adamant that it's her fault and, nothing he can say gets through to her. She cries herself to sleep in his arms, whimpering about how everything is her fault and that everybody, including Finnick, will hate her.

When she wakes up, she's no longer in Peeta's arms and their shared cell is nowhere to be seen. She's strapped down to a table, the restraints digging uncomfortably into her skin.

She doesn't cry out, not wishing to alert whoever may be waiting for her outside of the room but, she struggles desperately to break free. The sounds of her struggle seem to trigger something and an agonising scream echoes through the room. Marissa's blood runs icy, the limited colour in her cheeks drains and her eyes widen in terror.

There's another scream, followed by another and then, the voice calls out for her.

"No, stop it," Marissa pleads weakly, tears running freely from her eyes as she wrestles with the restraints. "Don't hurt him, please!"

The screams do not quieten down. In fact, they only grow louder and more tormented as the minutes pass by and, Marissa's pleading in response only grows more distraught. She injures herself in her fight against the restraints, too angry and distressed to even worry about herself because they're hurting Finnick and she cannot do anything to help him.

"I'm sorry," she rasps, still wriggling in her restraints. "I'm sorry. Please stop. I'll do anything... just stop hurting him..."

Eventually, Marissa's pleads turn into screaming, hers mixing with Finnick's. Her throat burns and it pains her to cry out for Finnick and with Finnick but, she's so upset that he's being hurt that she barely even registers the pain. Her chest heaves and, despite how weak she feels, she continues to fight against the restraints that keep her tied down. She knows that her attempts to free herself are useless. There's no chance she'll be able to break out of the restraints and stop them from hurting Finnick but, she does not give up.

Every time she thinks that it can't get any worse, that his screams can't grow and louder and his pleads for her cannot hurt her anymore, it does. His screaming progressively worsens with the occasional whimper and at one point he just repeats her name over and over. He's begging her for her help and she cannot do anything.

Hearing Finnick in this much pain is worse than any other form of torture.

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