Enchanted; A Finnick and Annie Fanfic ♥ (Currently Revising/Editing)

Chapter 14: She's Fueling the Rebellion

My vision was blurry when I first came to. The only light ame from a dim lamp that was far away, so that didn't help any. When my eyes finally adjusted, I took in my surroundings.

All I saw were stone walls to my left and right. Behind me was nothing but darkness, and I couldn't tell how far it went. In front of me was a barrier made of vertical bars that seemed to be made of metal.

I looked down at myself. From what I could tell, I was in a white dress that was slightly tattered and no shoes. There was a dark spot on my arm, probably a bruise. But besides that and a slight headache, I thought I was fine.

Using the wall as support,I pulled myself up. My head spun a little, but I kept my hand on the wall and made my way towards the bars. I was right, they were metal, and slightly rusty.

Outside the bars was a thin hallway, and across the hall was another holding cell. At either end of the hallway was a wooden door.

The door to my left swung open, and even though there was hardly any light, I hid. I leaned against the wall and tried to control my breathing while listening to the person's heavy footsteps.

He jumped when he saw me. He had a Peacekeeper jacket and helmet on. I watched him unlock the metal gate, enter my chamber, and slide the gate closed behind him. I backed up slightly towards the shadows, but he stepped towards me. My heart rate sped up.

"Hello, Miss Annie," he said. His voice was low and rough. He took his helmet off and threw it to the side, so I could finally make out some of his features in the dim light. His face was round, his eyes were dark, and he had a slight beard.

"H--hello." I took another step back, and he took another step forward. "H--how do you know my name?"

"Oh, Miss Annie, everyone in the Capitol knows who you are." His lips curled into a wicked smile.

I continued to step backwards as he stepped forward. "I--I'm in the Capitol?"

I hit the wall. I had nowhere else to run, and I could barely see his outline in the shadows. I was stuck, and he continued to come after me. He slid his jacket off and threw it on top of his helmet.

"Of course you are, Miss Annie. Where else do you think we would keep you during the rebellion?" He was only a few feet from me now.

"Rebellion? W-what are you talking about?"

The man was standing right in front of me now. "I think you know."

He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, and I pushed his hand out of the way. He didn't like that, got really angry, and his hand flew through the air and slapped my cheek. It stung, and I clung to it.

He was obviously angry, but he tried to keep his cool. "We know Finnick knows about it, Miss Annie. And we know you and him have had a thing for quite some time. So it's safe for us to assume he told you some vital information about the rebellion."

"He loves me, that's we he didn't tell me anything. He wanted to protect me." Mentioning Finnick stung worse than my cheek, but I refused to break down. I would defend him. I wouldn't give this man satisfaction.

I felt the man's hand rub my arm gently. "Are you sure, Miss Annie? Because you would only be hurting him if you knew something and didn't tell me."

"Get your hands off of me," I said firmly, smacking his hand away. "And even if I did know something, I wouldn't dare tell you. I have to protect him."

His creepy smile disappeared. "You really shouldn't have done that."

He grabbed both of my arms and held them hard at my sides. I squirmed and tried to get free, but he wouldn't let me. He threw me to the ground and forced himself on top of me. I screamed, but he hit me. No one heard me anyway. He pulled a needle out of his pocket and jammed it into my arm where the bruise I had discovered before was. I thought I would be knocked out again, but I only felt my muscles starting to numb a little. All of my other senses were heightened.

He leaned over me, holding my arms together with one hand, and his other hand on my bare side. "If you won't tell us what we want to know, we have ways of making you."

I screamed, and he covered my eyes with some kind of blindfold. And I finally understood the pain Finnick had gone through before I stood up for him so long ago.

~

I guessed a day had passed. I'd fallen into some form of sleep, but my nightmares woke me up several times. The stone floor was hard and cold, so I tried to sit up, but my head swam. I leaned against the wall for support.

My entire body throbbed. There was a dark stain on my dress, which was even more tattered than before, that smelt like rust. The bruise on my arm had grown, and had made some friends.

One of the doors in the hallway opened again and I screamed, but it was drowned out by someone else's screams. The cell across from mine was unlocked, and I heard a thud, almost like someone was thrown inside. The doors opened again and the screaming stopped.

I crawled along the stone floor to the metal bars of my cell and tried to look into the other one. The light was still dim, but I could see the outline of a boy I'd know anywhere. Everybody knew him.

"Peeta?" I asked. "Peeta Mellark?"

He jumped and shook his head, trying to see me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Annie. Annie Cresta. I don't know if you've he--"

"Wait, Annie? Like Finnick's Annie?"

The mention of Finnick hurt, as it always did, but I held it together. I even laughed a little. "Yes, that one."

"So...you really are here?" He asked. His voice was filled with disappointment, which I guess made sense.

"Yeah, last time I checked. Why are you here? Did something happen to Finnick? How is he? Is he okay?"

"I don't know. We were in the arena, there were 6 or 7 of us left. The arena blew up, it was their plan all along...and the Capitol took me."

I was shaking. I tried to hide it, but it was impossible.

"I really don't remember what exactly happened," Peeta continued. "I was knocked out, and I can hardly remember any of it. All I know is Katniss is a traitor, and she's fueling the rebellion."

There it was again. The mention of this rebellion that no one would explain to me. "What rebellion?"

"You don't know about it?" I shook my head. "Well, the districts are all rebelling again. Apparently Katniss having that funeral for Rue and us almost commiting a double suicide made some people mad at the Capitol, so they've decided to rebel again. Apparently, and don't hold me to this, but apparently they're rooted in District 13."

My jaw dropped. "But...that's impossible. District 13 was--"

"Destroyed, I know. I don't know the details yet, just what I've heard from the people here. I only know they're apparently in 13, most of the districts have had uprisings, and nobody tells me anything."

"So, you're saying the people that were in the arena with you knew about this?"

"Most of them, yeah. People outside knew about it too. Katniss blowing up the arena was all part of the plan. And of course, I don't get told anything."

"Finnick told me something was going to happen, but he wouldn't tell me what. He said the less I knew, the better. This must've been what he was talking about." I paused for a minute and took in a deep breath befre continuing quietly, "Finnick's not here too, is he?"

I let out the breath I'd been holding in when Peeta shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure he was in on what was going on. The rebels got him out of the arena."

"Is anybody else from the arena here?"

"The only one I saw was Johanna Mason. From District 7."

As if on cue, we heard a woman's muffled scream and an electrical shock. Peeta and I both shuddered.

Peeta and I talked more and more, considering we were each other's only company. We got used to each other's screams as the Capitol tortured us. Each day, Peeta changed. He was taken out of his cell at least twice a day, and whenever he returned, it took him a while to pull himself together. He talked so bad about Katniss, each day it got worse. I thought he loved her but...now he really just seemed to hate her. It must've been a part of what they were doing to him.

I tried to be patient, but it was hard. On top of the torture they forced on me, I had to deal with his. And it really was torture.