Black & Blue || Finnick Odair

16

.=.=.=.=

.=.=.=.=

Finnick smiled softly as he watched Prim brush Tommy's long knotted hair after the boy had showered, all the dirt and blood that once covered his skin was gone. The twelve year old chatted animatedly to the blonde girl and wouldn't stop moving as she pulled the brush through his hair once more, he quite liked Prim; she was nice and caring. She kind of reminded him of Venus.

'Katniss is going to District 8 today,' Prim murmured quietly before she looked over at Finnick; 'It's for a promo video... President Coin sent her.'

The man paused undoing the rope in his hands and looked up at the blonde girl sitting in front of him, Tommy turning to look at them both.

'Why would they send her there?' Finnick asked.

'Because it's been under attack for days now... Bombings, shootings. There's hardly anyone left,' Prim replied.

'What other Districts have fallen?'

'Mine did,' Tommy stated quietly; 'All my friends are dead... So is Zyra and Sylvia.'

Finnick placed a hand on Tommy's head as tears welled up in his eyes, Prim pulling him in for a hug.

'Almost all of them have,' Prim stated quietly; 'District 12 isn't even a District anymore.'

The man watched she the girl stood sadly, smiling politely at them before she left. Tommy scrambled up the bed and laid next to Finnick, silently observing the knots in the rope that lay on his chest. Finnick didn't speak, he was too caught up in his thoughts to. He thought about what might occur in these next few weeks, how all of Panem might collapse and be forever destroyed. How everything he once knew, what everyone once knew, would disappear.

=.=.=.=.

It was late at night when Venus began screaming, her whole body struggling against the restraints as she tried to move against them. The nightmare she had just had replayed in the back of her mind, it was about the games; her first. She been receiving them ever since the Capitol as stopped giving her the purple liquid, which she was grateful for because it meant she didn't have to do interviews with Peeta anymore.

The abuse still occurred as it always had, and the sound of Johanna and Peeta's screams were becoming more familiar. Her body was littered with scars and bruises, her ribcage showed through her skin and her skin was unnaturally pale. Venus was sick, mentally and physically. She would think about taking her own life some days just to get away from the constant torture, but she would quickly think otherwise at the thought of Finnick and Tommy.

The girl let out a yelp at the sight of a dark figure standing in the doorway, before she sighed as Peeta moved into the dim light. She smiled softly at him before patting the bed beside her lightly, for that was all she could reach with her hands cuffed to the bed. The boy walked slowly over and stood beside her, but didn't move to take a seat on the bed as he looked at her with no emotion.

'What are you thinking about?' He muttered.

'Everything,' Venus replied simply.

'Are you thinking about the rebels?'

'No, I'm thinking about my little brother.'

'And Finnick?'

'Well, yes. Of course.'

'Why?'

'Because I think I love him, don't you remember what that's like Peeta?'

'He's a traitor, he's working with the rebels. He's bad, Venus. He's trying to get us all killed, he's working with Katniss.'

'He would never do that.'

'But, he is. He's with them right now. Don't you see, he doesn't love you... I bet he never even liked you. All that in the arena was an act to get sponsors... He used you.'

'No. No, he didn't.'

'Yes, he is!'

Venus went quiet as she glared up at the boy from Twelve, his chest heaving as he looked down at her blankly. She fiddled with her fingers nervously, not wanting to fight any further with her friend; or what was left of him anyway.

'Finnick, would never hurt me Peeta. I've known him my whole life, and has never once hurt me,' She stated firmly.

'He's going to, just you wait,' Peeta replied.

'No.'

The Hereford girl couldn't even blink as Peeta launched himself at her, his hands instantly going to her throat before he pushed down hard. Venus gasped harshly as her hands came up to try and pull Peeta's from around her neck, her breathing was restricted and was easily heard in her short raspy gasps for air. She struggled under Peeta's hands, her eyes beginning to rolled into the back of her head as her brain slowly gave up trying to get her to breathe.

'P-Peet... Peeta, s-s-stop,' Venus gasped.

A look of regret passed through the boy's eyes, before he released the pressure from around her neck and left the room in a rush; leaving the half dead girl on the bed fighting for her life. Venus lightly placed her hands over the sensitive skin on her neck, hissing slightly as she hit the rapidly forming bruises. She continued to gasp for breaths, her throat burning as the air passed through her damaged airways before she coughed loudly.

Venus didn't know when the sun rose and the night ended, or even what time and day it was; but what she did know was how many screams she had heard since the power went out. There had been fifty six. Some were familiar, others were foreign. And from simply knowing that, she knew the Peacekeepers were coming around to do their beatings; whether there was power or not. Her breathing still hadn't returned to normal, and the pain in her throat hadn't subsided; nor did she think it ever would until she got proper medical treatment.

As her door opened, Venus shut her eyes and waited the for the pain she was about to feel; her hands instinctively moving up to protect her throat. She didn't scream as the first electric taser hit her skin, instead she flinched and endured the pain as the rest of it came quickly. There was hit after hit of pure torture, but not a sound echoed through the room besides the howl of the taser moving through the air before hitting her skin. And after they got a few more hits in, the peacekeepers were gone as quickly as they came; leaving Venus to revel in the pain.

Tears burned in the corner of her eyes as her raspy breaths continued to echo through the small room. In that moment, all she wanted was Finnick to come and make it all better. To hold her tight and whisper in her ear. She let a single tear rolled down her cheek and onto the pillow behind her head, a soft painful sob left her mouth and echoed through the room but nobody heard a thing.