When We Fall~Finnick Odair {Book 3}

Chapter Four

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It had been an entire month since Autumn first woke up in the hospital wing in the Capital.

She had been beaten daily. Almost every other hour. Sometimes she was taken to the special torture room and sometimes she was left in her cell and beaten on the hard stone.

The people that tortured her liked to do different things on the tributes. Peeta git injected with tracker jacker venom. Johanna got electrocuted and drowned. Autumn got whipped and burned.

They would sometimes use fire. Lights that they held against her skin. Sometimes hey would just use hot surfaces and stick her body to them. She also got whipped fairly often, making long gashes across her body that made the monkey claw markings look like little scratches.

But the worst torture of all came only to Johanna and Autumn. About once every week, both Autumn and Johanna were dragged into their own separate bedroom and left with a Capital man. This was their new reality. And the sad thing is that that was normal for Autumn.

Within the past month, the around the clock torture and lack of food had already taken a toll on Autumn, Johanna, and Peeta. All of them were very skinny due to malnourishment. Johanna's head had been shaven completely and they all bore new scars and bruises daily.

Autumn and the two other tributes had not been beaten for two days, which was a new record in Autumn's head. This is because they were filming a propaganda commercial.

The Peacekeepers had been careful not to bruise up the tribute's faces or arms too much, sticking mostly to the back and stomach and chest. This is so that the makeup artists of the Capital wouldn't have to work so hard to cover up the injuries.

Autumn sat down in a makeup chair in a room separate from both Peeta and Johanna. Peacekeepers were stationed at every door and Autumn's wrists and ankles were tied to the chair.

Autumn wasn't surprised to see one of the makeup artists that had worked on her in the Games. He was in charge of covering up the injuries on her body.

For the most part, he didn't show any remorse for Autumn's current state except one moment where he was working on converting up bruises on Autumn's neck. He took his opportunity to whisper 'I'm so sorry' in Autumn's ear, but then kept working like nothing had happened.

The makeup artists only made her think of Everlee. Autumn had no idea if Everlee was still alive or not. And if he was alive, was he in the Capital?

Autumn's makeup was finally done. She looked in the mirror and was, sadly, impressed with how well the makeup artists covered up the bruises and scars.

They then put her in an all white dress made of a silky fabric. The dress was quite beautiful but there was one very disturbing factor to it. The straps over the shoulders that opened onto the back looked very similar to a whip.

Autumn was walked into a film room that had already been set up. There was a white backdrop with a white throne that President Snow was already sitting upon. Johanna and Peeta were standing on either side of the throne, obediently. Although you could see the annoyance in Johanna's eyes.

A Peacekeeper pushed Autumn over to stand next to Peeta, placing her on an x mark made on the floor.

"If any of you even move you will be punished severely," the Peacekeeper spoke. The Peacekeeper assumed they understood as he turned and walked away.

"Let's begin," President Snow spoke. The film crew rushed around the room to get everything started. A man ran behind the camera and began filming, pointing at President Snow to start talking.

"Coming live from the Capital, I am President Snow and I have a message," President Snow began.

The message was live. Autumn could talk to the rebels. She could talk to Finnick. But she would be punished severely. What would she even say? She had nothing to tell them that was worth a beating. But if she told the Districts. If she told them that she, Johanna, and Peeta were being held captive in the Capital.

But she couldn't even get a word in with President Snow. She would wait. Wait for a different interview where she would tell the entire country what was really going on.