Sell my Soul⇸Finnick Odair [1]

05

There was a hollow feeling that settled over her when she spotted the sun rising over the horizon. Her swinging slowed to a stop and she just watched - sitting still as the animals began to stir, the lights in the house started to flicker on. They would be preparing to lose a mornings worth of work.

She swore she could hear it, her fathers cursing if she listened hard enough. He would have been dragging the name of Snow through the mud, words harshly ripping the man apart for another year of horrifying games. Her mother would have been just as angry, whisper of words slicing through the air about how unfair it was.

The injustice of it all was very clear to her, the promise of safety being harshly ripped away from her. She had done terrible things to survive and now she was being forced to do them again against those she knew- those that she called friends in the past.

As the sun began to make its way higher she decided it was time to go and get ready. She began her way down the hill, leaving behind a small goodbye letter pinned to the seat by her favourite tea up. She hoped someone would find it, that they would read the things she had to say.

The letter was as much for her as it was intended for her family. It was a way for her to express what it was truly like to be a victor, the things she would have to endure. She had confessed that she had not had a full night's sleep in year - nightmares clawing at her throat unless she had someone at her side.

She had admitted to her secret romance, she had told of the overwhelming love that kept her rooted to her sense of self. She wrote of how she does not fear the games and their outcome knowing that she will be reunited with him for a last time.

The walk through the village to her home was a solemn affair - for her it would surely be a final goodbye, the last time she would see any of this. To the others, she imagined it was probably similar to seeing a ghost, images of her younger, innocent self must have plagued them for they tipped their heads down in her direction respectfully as she passed.

Coming upon her house in Victor's village, she was momentarily stunned by how quiet it was. The children in the house over did not make a sound, the others were silent - not one light appearing in the window.

Terra shook it from her mind and entered her front door, smiling softly at her brother sprawled across a couch in her sitting room from the night before. She had offered him a room but he had refused, his wife only agreeing to take a bed so they could get their daughter to sleep.

Her niece was a smart girl. She may not have understood what was happening but she knew that something was wrong. Mella could feel the tension growing in the district and it upset her greatly.

She was quiet as she went up the stairs and hid in her bathroom. She didn't want to bathe, nor did she want to appear beautiful for the people in the capitol but she did so anyways - knowing the way to make sponsors was also the way to keep Snow happy.

It didn't take her long to get ready. Her hair was gathered on top her hair in two identical buns. She wore a dress nearly identical to that of her first reaping. She had conjured up the scared 16-year-old girl that was chosen, the only difference being the simple shell necklace and the scowl that had taken up her expression.

Angry was something she supposed all other Victor's must have felt. Their lives were being uprooted once more only to be thrust into a kill or be killed situation once more. Angry was something that every district felt the longer that the rebellion spread.

Terra wondered what would happen after the reaping, if her district would continue to wait. She didn't know what she wanted anymore and she guessed it was no longer her most important problem now.