Finnick Odair~White Sand

1

  I've never had peace. Not since the Games. I wake in terror, as my dreams pull me back to those wretched times.

   It had been almost 11 years, and she could still feel the stabs, the aches, the anxiety. She was only thirteen when she was in the Games. Her skills in the water were a huge factor in her win. Almost every person she killed was in the water. Except for one.

   The other tribute from District Four was a quiet boy. He was seventeen, quite short with brown eyes. When it was just the two of them left, he begged for her to kill him. Sometimes the words come back.

   Eliana, just do it. It's okay. I forgive you.

   Of course, she wouldn't do it. She was just a little girl. But then, when he stepped forward with a knife, she ended up throwing a spear at him. And even though she won, tears spilled out of her eyes. How can the Capitol just sit and watch a little girl murder people? Why were they so sick?

   Upon her return home, Eliana felt empty, she wasn't required to go to school anymore, but she still did so. People would move as far away as the could.

   "Can you believe what she did to him?"

   "She didn't deserve the win."

   "I bet she enjoyed killing him."

   The words stung, but none of them understood what she went through as she did. It was heart wrenching to kill any of those people. Even to be there felt like the worst thing in the world. And of course, because she was so.. desirable. As President Snow put it. She was auctioned off to people in the Capitol, of all ages, for their own pleasure. Even at such a young age. Her mother and little brother's lives were threatened if she refused.

   So she did it. She felt disgusting, she felt wrong, she felt tainted. Every morning after, she would scrub, and scrub, and scrub her body until it was red. But nothing would help the terrible feeling in her chest.

   The next year, she was a mentor, and that's when she met Finnick. A boy her age who was chosen in the Reaping. She taught him as much as she could, and helped him get better with his trident. She couldn't help but think he was cute, even if he was most likely going to die.

  But he didn't. And they became friends as soon as he got back from his victory tour. They could relate to each other, the way it felt to be so young in the Games. But when she would disappear for days at a time, to the Capitol, for those days that she wished would turn into blurs. She could never explain it to him. Until the day he was there too.

   "No, no, Finnick. They can't do this!" As soon as Eliana saw him, she ran up and shouted as she grabbed his face in her hands. Tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks. He held his hand to her mouth and shushed her, a sad smile on his face.

   "I'll be okay. I always am."

                                         -~-

   That was 9 years ago. Eliana was in the Victor's Village. Her brother, Alex, was now 12. The Quarter Quell was being announced on the television, and Eliana felt the pit in her stomach, knowing her brother's name was now in the glass ball every District uses.

   "The Quarter Quell Tributes will be drawn from the existing pool of Victors." Caesar says calmly.

    Eliana's mother, Susanna, dropped the plate she was cleaning, and Alex stared at his sister, tears threatening to fall.

   Eliana let out a gut wrenching scream and ran out the door, straight to Finnick's and she pounded on the door.

   "Finnick! Please let me in-! Ple-!" She sank to the ground as Finnick answered. He tried his best to stay strong for Eliana, but he couldn't help the tears that fell. Seeing her in this much pain was terrible for him.