Finnick Odair's Story: Dark Secrets (The Hunger Games Fanfiction)

Annie's Point Of View

Finnick hugs me quickly before I am kidnapped by the glass tube and transported upwards, my fragile, shaking hands hammering frantically on the unbreakable glass. I'm terrified. I feel my palms sweating and heart beating faster than ever before.

I glance around me. Zac is directly opposite me on a podium about fifty metres away. I am about to open my mouth to wish him luck when a loud cannon booms, signalling the beginning of the Hunger Games. Immediately, animal instincts kick in and I am running towards the Cornucopia, where twenty four bags of survival essentials lie waiting for us. Along the way, I dodge a spear thrown at me by a dark haired girl from District 12 and manage to out-run the boy from 9, both of us diving towards a pack. Clutching it as if my life depends on it, which it probably does, I head towards the mountains. Tall, threatening trees overshadow the stony hills, making it a good place to hide.

After what feels like hours of running, I finally collapse on to the ground in exhaustion. I pant like a dog. Thirsty for a drink, I viciously claw open the pack I snatched from the Cornucopia and examine its contents. A length of rope. A small pack of mysterious blue liquid. A pen knife. I swear under my breath. Why don't I have a sword, or food, or something that I actually know how to use? The translucent liquid could be medicine, or poison.

There is virtually no noise around me, other than the soft humming of insects and the crunching of leaves on the forest floor. I wait and wait for what feels like weeks for a parachute to appear from the sky, filled with fresh water. Finnick could get a sponsor for me without any hassle whatsoever, so why hasn't he?

Then it dawns on me. After years of watching the Games on television, I know a mentor wouldn't waste a sponsor on something their tribute could easily get for themselves. Mustering all my energy, I drag my feet along the floor to try and find a water source. It must be nearby. Green plants are growing near here without any sign of rain, so I'm almost certain that there must be some kind of river or lake within the next few metres.

I'm right. In front of me is a river, with perfectly clear water flowing easily downstream. Like an animal at the watering hole, I drink as if I haven't drunk a single drop for weeks.

Night begins to fall, and the once innocent tree branches turn into dark creatures, their bodies twisting and contorting against the soft glow of the moonlight. Taunting me, they sway softly in the cold breeze. I should sleep in a tree, or a cave, somewhere safe from the other tributes. Suddenly, a cannon booms and my head stretches upwards to see the faces of dead tributes in the sky. There are ten dead, none of whom I know or particularly recognize. Zac is still alive, along with his allies, the Careers.

After finding a tree to sleep in, I climb it using my last bursts of energy. I drift off within seconds, perched clumsily on the edge of a branch.

Crash! Pain fills my body as I hit the hard, water-deprived ground with a thud. It's almost dawn, and I've been asleep for just over six hours. Faint voices are getting louder and louder, and a sharp cackling suddenly rings out from not too far away. Shit.

''It's Annie Cresta! Let's get her,'' Mona's tantalizing voice cries out, and she begins to pick up pace, followed like sheep by Brutus, Aimee, Elijah and, to my horror, Zac. The Careers are chasing after me, heavily armed with knives, axes, swords and arrows. I run faster than I've ever run before, occasionally stumbling on small rocks and my own clumsy feet.

''We're coming, little baby. This is what you get for not teaming up with us!'' Aimee laughs like a hyena, her high-pitched witch's screech piercing my ears.

As I sprint along the twisting forest path, I begin to find myself completely lost and disorientated. Where can I go? Climbing a tree would be a stupid idea, there don't seem to be any caves in which I could hide, there's nothing to do except keep on running.

Luckily, I eventually lose them by twisting and turning, changing direction as often as possible. Night is beginning to fall and stars litter the moonlit sky. As I find a shelter in which to sleep, I think of Zac and his alliance with the other Careers. I was intimidated by him when we first met. At school he was in the popular crowd, and always had a loyal following of both boys and girls. His then-girlfriend, Cassie, was in the crowd when he volunteered, clapping and cheering. Her confidence baffled me, how she wasn't even considering the possibility that her boyfriend might die in the Games.

Over the past few weeks however, despite being arrogant and cocky, he's helped me a lot. The kisses we shared were magical, and he truly is handsome. Stop it, Annie. Love is foolish at this point, you'll either die unhappy or live the rest of your life in regret and misery. But Zac's with Mona, Brutus, Aimee and Elijah now. For all I know, he could be plotting to kill me.

Finnick.

For some odd reason, I'm thinking about Finnick, our mentor. Me and him, the relationship we had was strange. Despite being annoyingly good looking and athletic, his flirtatious nature and charm didn't fool me; there was always something deeper going on, something dark and scary. When I turned to him for help and ended up falling asleep on his couch, I was awoken by the sound of his screams and shouts, whilst he tried to convince me a nightmare he had was real. The hurt and pain in his sea-green eyes was unbearable. Each morning since then, I tiptoed to his door and listened for shouting. More often than not, he would wake with a yell and begin to cry. Finnick never showed any signs of this during the day, or when he was around us, and I knew something was wrong. But I guess I'll never see him again, and sadly can't help him.

Convincing myself that the Careers are far away and can't harm me, I drift off to sleep, blocking out the faint noises that the forest boasts, odd croaking and the occasional howl. I wake up a few hours later to the sound of gleeful cries coming from the direction of the Cornucopia.

Why is everyone so happy? Perhaps I should go and take a look. As long as no one sees me it'll be fine, right?