𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔; 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈

It's a painful game, waiting. But that's all Lilith can do. Melinda helps her pass some of the time, but there's only so much she can do. Lilith knows her punishment is coming. She can feel it.

"Tell me more about him," Melinda urges. Lilith has mentioned Finnick a few times as they've talked. Melinda has become a friend. Lilith can't exactly be too picky in times like these, but she actually enjoys Melinda's company.

"I don't know. Everything about us I've always kept private, for safety," Lilith says. She's scared of Finnick getting hurt.

"Well, there's nothing left to lose? Right?" Melinda says in attempts to convince her.

Lilith thinks it over for a moment. Melinda has a point, there's not much else Snow can do to punish them. "Okay."

"What does he look like?" Melinda curiously asks.

"Well, he's blonde. He has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. They look exactly like the ocean," Lilith recalls with a soft smile.

"Blonde like me?" Melinda asks.

"Yes, almost exactly," Lilith begins to see the resemblance between Finnick and Melinda. They're  eerily similar. "He's also the sweetest soul I know."

"I wish I found someone to love like that," Melinda smiles.

"Yeah, he's great. You know, when we first met, we absolutely hated each other," Lilith says with a small laugh. She remembers all the times she and Finnick picked on each other.

"How did you go from hating him to admiring him so much?" Melinda leans forward, completely invested in their story.

"I guess I realized that I didn't actually hate him. I was just taught to. Even when he hated me, there was always something about the way he looked at me.." Lilith trails off. All this talking about Finnick causes her heart to clench. She misses him dearly. "He promised to take me to Four and see the beach."

"I'm from Four. It's gorgeous," Melinda says.

"You never told me you were from Four?" Lilith says.

"You never asked," Melinda shrugs. "Actually, now that I think about it, I've seen Finnick around Four."

"You have? When?" Lilith quickly asks.

"I think it was a few years ago. From the looks of it, he was never a 'one girl' type of guy," Melinda attempts to joke.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Lilith says defensively. Melinda is a child, she doesn't know what Finnick is like.

"I'm just saying—" Melinda starts.

"Well, don't," Lilith snaps. After a second, she feels guilt for getting snippy with her friend. "I'm sorry. You just don't know him like I do."

"I'm sure you know him very well. I was just telling you what I've seen," Melinda defends herself.

Lilith stays silent. Finnick has always seemed genuine with her, but maybe it was a ruse. She doesn't know what to believe anymore. She didn't think she would be left behind, but here she is, sitting in a cell.

Some time later, a guard actually stops outside of her cell. Lilith freezes, almost like she's trying not to scare a small animal. She watches as the guard slides two trays of food through an opening. As soon as the guard walks away, she rushes to the trays and begins eating. She doesn't care what it is, as long as it's food, she's eating it.

Melinda joins in too, but at a slower and neater pace. Although it's not much, Lilith feels more satisfied than she has in a long time. She hasn't eaten a proper meal since before the games.

"Was that the first time you've eaten in a while?" Melinda asks.

"That obvious?" Lilith says, wiping her mouth.

"A bit," Melinda chuckles. "I wonder why they decided to give you food now."

Lilith wonders the same thing. She's been in here this whole time, and they haven't given her a second thought. But after Melinda shows up, they make sure to feed them. It's strange, the timing of all this.

Suddenly, screams begin to ring out through the cell. It's not unusual to hear screams, but these ones sound different. Lilith slowly moves towards the wall, peeking through the bars. She sees someone's being dragged down the hall. She squints as she vaguely recognizes the face.

"Peeta..?" Lilith mutters. Another scream from the boy confirms her thought. "Peeta!"

"What's the matter?" Melinda says anxiously.

"It's Peeta. Peeta!" Lilith says. She grabs onto the bars of her cell and tries to see more. "Peeta!"

"Hey! You! Get off the bars!" One of the guards yell.

"Peeta!" Lilith yells once more.

The guard comes up and smashes Lilith's hand. She cries out and pulls her hand back. "I said, get off the bars!"

Lilith glares at the guard as she cradles her hand.

"Come back here," Melinda says quietly, watching the guard intensely.

Lilith scoots backwards until she bumps into Melinda. Melinda places her hand on Lilith's shoulders in attempts to calm her. The guard leaves and Lilith looks at her hand. It's throbbing and red.

"You think it's broken?" Lilith asks.

"I don't know," Melinda answers.

Poor Peeta. What are they doing to him? He doesn't deserve any of this.