The Silent Killer (A Finnick Odair Love Story)

Chapter Eight

I sit patiently as my prep team re-dyes my hair the same blood red color they had before, outlines my eyes in black, and paints my nails. When the dye sets, they curl my hair into perfect ringlets and take me to Evangeline.

She has me keep my eyes closed. I feel a gown zip up and something is placed lightly on my head. I feel my hair being curled around it and then the back is teased and braided.

"Okay," she says quietly. "Open."

When I open my eyes, I'm wearing a strapless silver gown. It's simple, but beautiful. Black undertones shimmer as Evangeline has me walk.

"You look beautiful," she sighs.

This doesn't look like your work, I write on a notepad, since she doesn't know sign language.

"No," she agrees. "Cinna insisted on making your dress for this evening." She hooks a silver cuff to my wrist. "Press on this when I give you the signal."

I can only nod.

"You look beautiful," is the first thing Finnick says when he sees me. I smile slightly, feeling myself blush. "When it's my turn up there...pay close attention to what I say."

With that, he's gone.

I watch the Interviews pass by. Everyone tries to stop the Games. Until Finnick.

"I never thought I'd see you up here again, Finnick!" Caesar exclaims.

"I never thought I'd be up here at all," Finnick laughs. I can tell how fake it is, though. Maybe because I know what his real laugh sounds like.

"Still good with the 'ol trident?"

"I'd say so."

After pointless banter, Caesar cuts to more serious, emotional matters.

"So, Finnick, you said you have something to say to a very special someone?" Caesar inquires and the entire room is silent.

"I do," Finnick nods. He looks straight into the camera. It's as if I can feel him staring at me, his eyes piercing my soul like they did at the Tribute Parade. "My love," he begins and my heart nearly stops, "you have my heart for all eternity. And if," he pauses, "if I die in that arena, my last thought will be of your lips."

He loves me, I realize. I don't know what to do. Nobody but my family has ever loved me.

Before I can register, though, I'm being called to the stage. I clench my jaw and set my eyes in the glare I give pretty much everyone but Finnick, Atom, Ryder, and Johanna.

"Asphodel! You are stunning!" Caesar exclaims and I force a small smile. "Because of your voice, write your responses onto this tablet and they'll show up on the bottom of the screen."

Yippee, I think sarcastically. However, I nod slightly.

"Alright! So what's it like, not being able to speak?" he asks.

I don't need my voice when I have my mind, I write.

"Very true," he nods. "How about your weapon of choice?"

All I do is sit back, cross my arms, and smirk at him. Is he an idiot?

"Right," Caesar says quickly. "Of course. Anyway, do you have a special young man back home?"

There's only two people in the world I love and neither are in District Five, I write, glaring. I must look genuinely full of hatred. They're the only ones the Capitol hasn't murdered because I refused to be a prostitute.

The room is dead-silent.

"Well..." Caesar says, shocked. "That is..."

That's why the second I won, I wished I hadn't, I write. But now? Now I refuse to die unless it's done my way, on my terms. There's only one person in that arena I would die for and it's not Katniss Everdeen.

"Anything else?" he says, sounding nervous.

Only this.

I press the button and I'm erupted into flames. My silver dress burns away until all that's left is a dress identical to the first, but with fabric that looks like flickering flames.

The audience screams and cheers, chanting my name.

I own this crowd, I tell myself.

I turn and walk back to my place on the platform with my head held high.

After Katniss's interview, we all join hands. The first sign of unity between the districts since the Dark Days. I feel Finnick's eyes on me, but I stare straight ahead, a deadly glare set in my eyes.

Being in the Games doesn't scare me, like the Capitol intends. It's makes me furious with a rage that makes me see red.