THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

23 ~ the fire

The next night, Carolina was put on a train to District 4. She kept to herself the entire time, only coming out of her room when there was a meal. All she wanted to do was go home and talk to Pearl about what happened between her and Finnick.

She left him by himself in the Presidential Palace after telling him their kiss was a mistake. 

It was. 

She was in a relationship with Cyrus. She was supposed to love Cyrus. 

Finnick was the Capitol's heartthrob. He can't be in a relationship. 

So if kissing him was such a mistake, then why was it all Carolina wanted to do?

Liking Finnick Odair was a stretch when Carolina first started spending more time with him. She didn't even want to spend time with Finnick when she first got out of the games. She hated him. He was a rude, annoying, handsome idiot. 

But somehow, she ended up liking him. As a friend. A good friend even.

Surely, she couldn't have fallen for him, though. 

All Carolina knew at that moment was that Pearl was going to have a field day when she found out. 

The train rolled into the station, and the second Carolina stepped off of the platform every thought about Finnick disappeared. 

Something was wrong. She didn't know what, but her stomach turned as she looked out at the town. It didn't feel like home.

Carolina was used to someone being at the station to greet her when she came back from the Capitol. Usually, it was her family who would wait for her. Charlie would be standing at the edge of the platform all giddy when her train arrived, jumping from one foot to the other. 

If her parents weren't able to welcome her back, then Pearl would be there with her long list of the latest gossip. 

But that day, not a single person was on the platform other than Reef Selby's daughter. 

Rather than heading to her house in Victor's Village, Carolina walked straight to her family's home, trying to come up with any reason as to why no one would be at the station. 

Maybe the train arrived in District 4 early or late, and she didn't even realize it. 

Maybe they forgot the time her train was coming in or forgot that she was coming home that day all together. 

Maybe everyone slept in or maybe they're just running late. 

All of those reasons were plausible, but nothing could have prepared Carolina for what actually happened.

The second her home was in sight, Carolina's footsteps slowed. She couldn't even recognize it. 

It was completely engulfed in flames. The roof was falling in on itself, and black smoke was twirling around the entire house.

"NO! NO!" Carolina screamed, sprinting toward her childhood home. 

Dozens of people were surrounding the fire, either holding buckets of water or just observing it with horror in their eyes. Those holding the buckets were throwing water at the house, attempting to put out the fire, but their effort made little difference. 

Carolina quickly scanned the crowd. She recognized some of the people in the crowd as her neighbors or old classmates, but not a single family member was in sight. 

She stumbled back at the realization, gasping and turning back to the burning house. Carolina started running towards it, but before she could get inside, someone stopped her, picking her up off of the ground and moving her away.