Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 21

Katniss and Johanna had gone insane. They were no longer fun to hang out with.

Taiya  was able to keep up with them in training, but they were no longer  matching her vibe. They were taking training way too seriously for  Taiya's liking.

Taiya had thrown a fit when they told her she was  getting moved into a higher-up class with her other two friends. She had  no intention of joining in the war, so what was the point in changing  her training? She could just stay in the beginner's class so she had  something to do with her days.

But then Johanna taunted her and  teased her about being the loser of the three. Taiya knew it was a  manipulation. But she fell for it. Hook, line and sinker.

Today  was the first day though that she properly was flat out refusing to  train. The drill for today was called the 'Block'. It was deep  underground in 13, an artificial Capitol city block. The exercise  consisted of breaking into squads of eight and attempting to carry out  missions. It was a perfect simulation of what being in the war in the  Capitol would be like.

The anxiety over the idea of the exercise set her off. And she didn't have Finnick on hand to calm her down.

She'd  been standing at the back of the class muttering to herself when  Johanna looked back to check on her. Johanna's eyes instantly widened as  she took in the pale shade of Taiya's face. Taiya had looked after her  the other week in the rain, she needed to look after Taiya now.

"Tay, it'll be fine," Johanna touched her arm as she walked over to her.

"No! No! No!" Taiya shoved her friend off, her hands were shaking, and her palms were sweaty.

"Taiya, it's ok, you're safe."

"Be  quiet!" she yelled at the empty room, slamming her hands over her ears,  and drawing everyone's attention to her. Johanna hadn't realised how  bad she was. Before that, her breakdown had gone relatively unnoticed.  "No, no, no, get out of my head!"

"Taiya," Johanna tried to pull  her to the side, but the girl was refusing to move. "Tay, no one's  speaking. You're fine Tay," she tried to reassure.

"NO!" Taiya collapsed onto the floor.

"Get Finnick!" Johanna snapped at the class.

Katniss  was the only one to move, she immediately started running out of the  room to get the only person who'd be able to break Taiya out of this  fit.

"He's going to kill everyone," Taiya clawed at Johanna's arm. "He's going to kill us all."

"Who? Who?"

"Snow!"

The  room seemed to close in on Taiya, her hands returning to clutch her  head in an attempt to ward off the invisible assailants attacking her  mind. The artificial sounds of the Block, meant to replicate a war zone,  were now blending with the haunting words of her dead loved ones.

"Snow's  not here, Tay. You're in District 13. We're safe I promise. We're going  to kill Snow. He won't be able to hurt us anymore," Johanna tried to  reason.

"He's in my head!" Taiya tried to press her hands closer  together, and Johanna had to grab them and hold them back, not wanting  her to bruise her face. "They're all in my head."

"Hey! The only real voice here is mine ok. Listen to my voice. Don't listen to them. They're not real," Johanna coached.

Taiya  opened her eyes and looked at Johanna, she knew what the girl was  saying was true, but she still couldn't quieten the voices rattling  around her mind.