Victors' Purge

Annie Cresta

From the day of the reaping the redheaded girl had struggled more than ever to reside in her home district Victors' Village as the two closest people to her were reaped into the third Quarter Quell Games, a reality way worse than any of her worse nightmares. She was so distressed that she moved to Mags' home, the third one ever built in the district and one of the oldest ones, where only her cats lived with her as she never had any children. Annie viewed that house almost as her own due to the many times she spent time with the eldery woman. She shed a tear as she remembered when she received the news of the death her once mentor experienced in the arena only days ago, leaving more lonely than ever. She didn't even dare to turn on the TV in fear of witnessing Finnick's death, which most certainly would have driven her into a darkplace that she could never recover from. Before her games she found comfort in the sea, the water... That was her safe space before Finnick and Mags ever were but the events that led to her victory five years ago had left her a stranger of the sea, her once dearest friend. It was only yesterday when the arena was cracked open by Katniss Everdeen and a sigh of relief left her mouth as Farrel and her found out that he was rescued successfully by District 13, along with the Mockingjay. After that Annie didn't care what could happen to herself as her love being safe and sound gave her more peace than her own safety in that moment. On the other hand Farrell, who had grown a gray and red beard since his victory, was adamant that they were not safe throughout the last day, which led to deciding to hide his family away from Snow's paws. Annie watched from the large window facing the large plaza of the victors' village as she timidly waved at some of his grandchildren, some of them only a few years old, as the family was loading the cart in hopes of reaching the periphery of the district in the next couple of hours.

However, as Farrell loaded the last suitcase, a large truck entered the village full of peacekeepers with guns and pistols. Almost as if nature knew what was about to happen, rain started pouring very gently to begin with but it soon became a thundering storm, socking everyone outside. Annie stood frozen for the next few minutes as they approached the cart, forcing all family members to get off the vehicle and face their bodies down. Farrell, fearing the worst, obliged but he was told to stand up instead and his wife pledged for mercy but she was knocked down in a second. An eyre atmosphere settled in the village as a second group of peacekeepers were entering Annie's empty mansion in search of her. However the female victor was still peeking out of Mags' window, petrified both by the fear and the PTSD that seeing the peacekeepers again gave her. As Farrell appeared to come to peace with his fate, giving a farewell to his loved ones laying on the floor, three single shots were fired on his chest, sending him to the floor and shaking Annie out of her trance. She cried out loud and alerted the peacekeepers that were checking the outside of the mansions of her location.

— She's in this one!

The voice of a peacekeeper made her squealed in terror as she started to run barefooted from one room to an other, not thinking clearly of what she should do as she gave up and hid in a corner of the dining room, rocking herself back and forward as the bangs on the main door grew louder and louder. Tears runned from her eyes to her mouth and cheeks, trying to comfort herself as she tried to dive into what she thought were her last ever moments, thinking of Finnick, the sea and Mags. The amount of time the three victors spent in her kitchen, the few months that Finnick wasn't required back in the Capitol, the endless evenings cooking, painting and listening to music as they enjoyed the view of the sea from the backdoor in her kitchen... The backdoor. As soon as she remembered she stood up and runned all the way to the kitchen, located at the end of the corridor at the back of the mansion and she was opening the door, a loud noise coming from the front door was followed by the footsteps of many of the peacekeepers that were checking the mansion. She let out a sight of relief once she was out of the mansion and into the sea but she was quickly surrounded by three peacekeepers who were already waiting for her with rubber guns and a sack. Annie screamed in fear before a peacekeeper headbutted her with the end of their gun, which made everything turn black.

After what felt like hours an unconscious Annie finally woke up to an intense and jarring brightness that made her close her eyes almost immediately to instead gradually open them to adjust her eyesight to its new surroundings. For a few seconds she thought to herself that everything before was just a bad dream, that maybe she was dead and that she was finally at peace but quickly reality sinked in when she realised she was in a room. A white room.