Never In Your Favour

⚠️Sold⚠️

⚠️⚠️⚠️TW - Implied rape, non consensual sexual experiences, sexual slavery, sexual assault.⚠️⚠️⚠️

Apparently there had been a horrific shark mutt attack on the previous night watch, and Finnick's father's group had vanished without a trace. I had no idea whether Snow had found out about us, or if Finnick had done something else to anger the tyrant, but I knew this was no 'accident'. Finnick's mother was in an awful state, and the tragedy affected my family greatly as well, having been so close to the Odairs for nearly ten years. As Finnick's mother went out to settle his father's affairs one day, I was left with Arabelle. Despite her clear grief, she seemed to be coping the best of all of us, probably for our sakes. She still tried to smile and greeted me with the same warmth she always had. She was eleven now - far too young to have lost a parent - although are we ever old enough to deal with such profound despair? I could see similarities between her and her brother, although they were not as prevalent as those I could see between her and her mother, nor those with her father. I could definitely see his features in her face, and when she smiled a small part of it seemed to come from beyond the grave.
'Morning Annie!' She brightly spoke. 'It's a beautiful day. Daddy would have liked it. He liked to see the sky when he was out at sea.'
For an eleven year old, she was extraordinarily perceptive and mature, as she gazed out at the ocean, speaking as if resigned to the presence of death in the world, and not wholly depressed by it.
'Indeed he did,' I replied. 'You know, I've known your father - knew him, for nearly ten years, and only once did I feel a single bad sentiment towards him, and that was when he sent your brother off to the career training year, and now I look back, I'm so pleased he did that, otherwise Finnick might not be here today.'
'But he's not here.' She said, turning to look at me. 'He's in the Capitol, with Drusilla, and he doesn't know about father. Do you think he loves her? Drusilla I mean.'
'No... I don't' I replied, with absolute certainty. This was not a matter of jealousy but of fact: Finnick would never actually fall for a member of the Capitol. I was fairly certain he still loved me.
And that was another matter: many of Finnick's escapades had been televised for all of Panem to see. Everyone was enthralled by the love life of the universal heart throb, and when he had been caught in a dark room with Drusilla Sanguis, the nation went berserk. The 'couple' could be seen smiling and waving at every event - stealing quick kisses, and getting 'caught' in long, passionate scandals. Of course, I knew it was all a facade, but none of what was happening truly sunk in until the day I received the first correspondence from Finnick since our fight:

My dearest Annie Cresta, (I hope I can still call you that.)
Life here is... more than unbearable. On my arrival into the Capitol, I was transformed into their ideal darling. I was promised that the repercussions for any resistance would be severe. The very next day I was introduced to Drusilla. Despite the fact that I have been ordered by Snow to seem utterly besotted with her, when we sleep together, (which we were required to do from the onset), she likes me to pretend I do not want to sleep with her, so she can feel 'more powerful.' Basically, she likes to enact glorified rape. I cried the first night. Normally, I would not want to worry you, but this is not the sort of thing I can make out to be a wonderful experience. I miss you so terribly much. Give father, mother, Arabelle and of course your family my best,
Ever yours',
Finnick Odair.

This letter seemed to break me too, in a way. Of course I went through nothing to the same degree as the the torture Finnick was dealing with, but I almost felt pain through hearing of his suffering. With each letter he sent me after that, I cried and cried. He told me of the scars he had received from Drusilla on the final evening of that year's victory tour, and how he felt like an object, merely being handed a bundle of money at the end of the night. He preferred to close his eyes while he fucked her, much to her displeasure, but it helped him to feel like it wasn't happening. Like it wasn't real.
Soon, Snow must have deemed Drusilla unable to financially 'provide' for Finnick's services.