Pearls and Perils ・❥・Finnick Odair x Reader

Chapter 18

Ronan is running towards the sound, a look of disbelief over his face. The unidentified female voice screams for help again.

"Mom?" Ronan bellowed. He's coming closer to the forest, about 30 feet from where I'm hiding. The voice now continually cries out Ronan's name, begging for help. Even through the thick forest I can still see Ronan's facial expressions, they're hauntingly human. I'm suddenly reminded that I am to kill him- a teenage boy distressed by the screams of his mother. I feel a knot in my stomach so large I fear I might vomit it up at this very moment. The sound of his mothers voice intertwining with my mother's voice, I try to shut it out. I try to stop it. I have to do this to win. I force myself to remember what Ronan has done to me. In the corner of my eye I see the girl and boy from 1 emerging from their sleep and lifting their heads towards the commotion. The sounds of Ronan's scuffling feet draw closer.

"Mom? What is this?" He yells out. He's changing directions at rapid speed, whipping his head side to side, trying to figure out where all the noise is coming from. I slyly shift my position closer to him, I use a tree with a large trunk to conceal myself. He's distracted enough to not notice. He throws his hands up in genuine disarray and slowly stumbles closer to the tree he has no idea I'm on the other side of. He is now in close enough proximity that I can't even slightly peek my head around the tree without a high risk of being noticed. More treacherous screams from his mother send him into flight. My heartbeat accelerates. He runs past my tree and without thinking I plunge my trident into his abdomen.

My mouth is ajar, I let out an audible gasp. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat. I look at what I've done, my trident speared perfectly in the center of his stomach. My eyes unexpectedly meet Ronan's. I don't see the same daunting eyes that met mine when I was reaped. I don't see the same hostile eyes that demeaned my skill set. I don't see the same menacing eyes that watched me during my interview. I don't see the same murderous eyes that tried to choke me out on the elevator. I see the eyes of a scared boy- a scared boy who knows he's going to die. The utter shock covering his face is a haunting image. His open mouth twitches as if he's trying to take a breath but can't. My hand trembling uncontrollably, it takes all the power in me to pull the trident from his stomach. When I do, he collapses to the forest floor, clenching the wound that I have created. Blood is pooling over the grip of his hand on the puncture. His silence within the whole ordeal is what's the most uncanny, his face shows how much agony he's in, yet he doesn't make a single sound.

"I knew it would be you." He sputters. "I knew you'd be the one." He doesn't say it with anger but instead sadness. He starts sputtering up blood. His crimson blood dripped from his lips. I can't force my body to do anything but watch, frozen in shock. His head drops in utter defeat, and finally, a cannon sounds.

I stare at his lifeless body, his warm district 4 tan slowly fading. Snapping back into reality, I look to the beach. The other careers are gone. Where are they and where is Micah? I scurry back westward trying to find the tree that Micah had climbed but it's virtually pointless. I scan every inch of green looking for any sign of him or the careers. I keep running. He's good at hiding in the trees so I look for him up there. What I don't expect is to eventually find his frail body lying face up on the ground in front of the tall tree he released the birds from.

"Micah!" I yelled, no longer caring if the careers were near and could hear me. I sprinted to his side and flung myself to my knees. An arrow stuck out of his shoulder. He was taking raspy, shallow breaths. "Micah what happened?" I sobbed.

"Careers found me in the tree, shot my arm, I lost balance and fell." He croaked. A little body falling from a tree that high is a death sentence. "They knew you were near, they ran that way." He points southward into the deep forest. His eyes were glazed. His pattern of breathing sounded as if someone had shot a hole directly through his lung. I try to hide my emotion, I tell myself not to cry, but my body gives in. There's still hope. He's going to be fine. Tears slip from my eyes like rain on a window.

"The cannon, did you get him?" He muttered. I nodded. "Good."

"I'm sorry." I wailed, taking his small hand in mine. His breaths become stiffer as the grip of his hand becomes looser.

"You're going to win." He whispered. My heart sank with grief and sorrow at his words. "You're going to go home and see your loverboy." A calm grin fell over his face. Even through tears I couldn't help but smile and bury my face. "Just stay with me?"

"Of course, I'm not going anywhere." I assured him. I lifted his head to rest it on my lap, trying to make him comfortable. I played with the tight curls on his head. A little boy so full of life being stripped of it. He will never see a sunset again. He will never make one of his sarcastic jokes again. He will never see his family again. He will never get to grow old and die peacefully in a warm house. His grip on my hand slips completely from mine. His sputtering breaths come to a hault. His chest stops rising and falling. I press two fingers into his lower neck trying to find a pulse, but I find nothing. The cannon sounds. I hang my head in defeat, his lifeless body still resting in my lap.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." I say softly, embracing his cold body. I stay there, buried too deeply in my own grief to move. Micah's peaceful demeanor could only be compared to that of a baby deer curled up in a ball. "I'm going to win, okay?" I'm certain that I seem crazy, talking to my dead ally, to the rest of the world watching. But it makes me feel better so I don't care. I notice the hovercraft appear above me. I know I have to move out of the way. I gently rest Micah's head back on the ground and step to the side. The crane comes down and secures his body. Before I know it, Micah's body is being raised into the sky and I'm all alone with 3 other deadly tributes.

AUTHORS NOTE: heyyy y'all how you doing...
BIGGGG CHAPTER YIKES. Sorry I had to kill off literally the best character😐

Also sorry about slow updates- I was spending time with a piece of shit real life dude when I should of remembered that fictional men exist and will never let you down! Anyways... love y'all -Raya