THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

22 ~ the mistake

Carolina didn't go out for the rest of the week and became the perfect mentor. She coached Annie before her training sessions on what she should do and stayed up late talking to her about what went well that day, she helped her prepare for her interview, and Carolina was the last person Annie saw before going into the games.

It felt weird being on the other side of it all.

Annie was silent the entire time they were in the launch room. Carolina tried to speak to her about what she should expect based on the clothes she was given, but her eyes kept drifting to the tube at the far end of the room. 

Carolina had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't the one who was going to be put in the tube, but she was still shaking when she watched it lift Annie up into the games. 

Finnick was on the other side of the door of the launch room, waiting for Carolina to leave. He knew how she would react to seeing Annie off from first-hand experience. 

When she walked out, Carolina's eyes met his for a moment. Finnick studied her carefully before deciding to walk her to the mentor room without a word.

The mentors of the tributes that were still in the games after the bloodbath were gathered in a room with the games displayed on hundreds of screens. The more interesting things that occurred were put on the largest screens towards the center. On the opposite wall, photos of each tribute were lit up if they were still in and darkened if they had already passed.

Carolina looked to the wall and saw that Annie's face was still lit. She let out a sigh of relief and took a seat next to Finnick.

Half of the tributes were dead within the first forty-eight hours. The District 4 boy was beheaded right in front of Annie on the second day, and all the girl had done since was hide and suppress her cries with her hands. 

Unless something big happened soon, the girl was going to be dead in a matter of days. Despite all odds, Annie was still alive on the third day, and Carolina was still holding out for something big. 

She was promised something big.

"Might as well leave now, Seymour," Cashmere laughed from across the room. "Your girl is a goner."

Each mentor was given a small tablet with different options for sponsor gifts they could give out. Carolina was scrolling the tablet's options, but she couldn't send anything. No one wanted to sponsor the girl who didn't do anything but cry.

"I wouldn't count her out just yet, Nicholo," Carolina replied teasingly to her friend.

"What is he doing?" Beetee, the District 3 mentor, stood up from his screen. 

Carolina turned to walk over to the screen he was looking at, finding that it showed the boy from District 3 stopped in the middle of his tracks and put his hand to the ground.

"There's an earthquake," Gloss said, pointing to another screen that showed rocks tumbling down the hills of the arena.

"It's only the third day," Finnick looked confused. "It's too early for a big event. Half of the tributes are still alive."

"Someone's getting fired," Haymitch said in a sing-song voice from the back of the room. 

His tributes died on the first night, but the mentor room had a bar, so the man was there to stay.

"Oh my god," Carolina jumped up from her seat, pointing to one of the smallest screens in the room. "They're going to flood the arena."

"What are you talking about?" Finnick asked.