THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

61 ~ the escape

"They found her body on top of Lina's in the arena," Annie said softly. "I think she was trying to save her."

"How," Finnick paused for a moment, taken aback by the news. He had never been close to the woman, but he remembered the many nights Carolina spent with Cashmere during their time in the Capitol. The two girls were inseparable. "How do you know?"

Annie moved her gaze to the woman in the bed next to hers. She sighed before standing up and sitting down beside her.

Johanna's face turned downcast as her facade began to break. She looked older. Maybe it was the pallor of her skin or the sickly aura encasing her, but she was a fraction of what she was before entering the arena again.

It scared Finnick.

He thought he overstepped by asking her about her time in the Capitol. It was too soon and too much to bear for one person alone.

"I was there," Johanna said after a moment. "I was awake in the hovercraft. They didn't even try to save her despite her getting the brunt of the blow. She cried for a while, but after an hour or two, she went unconscious and never woke up."

"Surely, Lina knows," Fletch said. "She was also in that hovercraft."

"She wasn't allowed anywhere near us," Johanna said slowly. "They put all of their attention on her."

"Why?" Fletch asked.

"I don't know," Johanna snapped, her voice growing louder and more annoyed. "Look, I was too busy being tortured to keep up with everything that was happening to your precious songbird."

Annie sent Johanna a worried look before placing her hand over hers. Johanna seemed to calm down slightly at the contact.

Fletch's posture straightened at Johanna's words, and he nodded, muttering a quick apology before turning around and walking away. Finnick's eyes followed him, assuming that he would head towards the elevators, but when he saw that the man was walking back to Carolina's room, he knew he had to go with him.

"I've got to go," Finnick mumbled quickly to the two women. "I'll come back tomorrow."

With that, Finnick ran to catch up to Fletch. He found the older man standing right outside of Carolina's room, staring at her through the one-way mirror. Finnick's heart sank when he stared through the glass as well.

"The medics said she would whisper to herself," Fletch started. His face morphed into anger. "They're idiots if they think that's all this is."

Finnick followed his eyes into Carolina's room, and his heart sank.

Inside, Carolina was sitting up in her bed, talking wildly as she faced a corner of the room. A ghost of a smile was present on her face, which was the closest thing to happiness that Finnick had seen from her in a long time.

"She's talking to Cashmere," Finnick said slowly.

"Or someone else who is dead," Fletch said. He kept his gaze on Carolina for a moment longer before turning to Finnick. "She can't find out. Not yet."

"Why?" Finnick asked. "She deserves to know. If she keeps doing this, it will only hurt her more when she eventually finds out."

"Maybe," Fletch nodded slowly. "But if she finds out now, it might just break her beyond repair."

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

A week passed before Carolina's handcuffs were removed. Her wrists were red and covered with scabs when she was released, but she could barely feel a thing with the morphling they were shooting into her veins.