The Silent Killer (A Finnick Odair Love Story)

Chapter Eleven

I go running into the jungle, ignoring the protests for me to come back. I run as fast as I can and I finally stop. I look up and see a small black bird. It screams again and I throw a knife at it. Once it's fallen, I retrieve my knife and observe the bird.

A jabberjay?

My eyes widen as I realize the scream was fake. Katniss runs in after me.

"Asphodel. You okay?" she asks and I nod slowly.

Finnick is perfectly fine, I tell myself. Atom is, too. The Capitol is just trying to play you.

Another scream rips through the arena, but this time, it belongs to a little girl. Katniss goes running, but I casually stroll. It must look hilarious. Katniss, freaking out. Me, acting like nothing's happening. I'm smarter than that. These screams aren't real. I was a fool to believe it in the first place.

Katniss slams into the barrier keeping us into his torture and continues crying. I raise my eyebrows at her and sit down at the base of a tree. I reach my hand out and a jabberjay perches on my finger. They seem friendly enough.

The two of us stare at each other, observing the other's faults and flaws. In a way, we're one in the same. Abandoned creations of the Capitol. Left to die after we've served our purpose. The bird must understand that because he gently rubs his head against my finger before flying off, leaving a single feather in his wake.

I take the feather and braid it into my hair. I think I might have just made Hunger Games history. A mutt meant to harm me came and went peacefully.

The bird comes flying back with a nut grasped between his feet. He drops it in my hand and I smile thankfully at him. His black eyes stare into mine for several seconds before flying away.

I peel the shell off the nut and pop it in my mouth, since I instantly recognized it as edible. The flavor is rich and slightly sweet, making it a wonderful treat. I turn my head slightly to see our entire alliance staring at me in bewilderment. I shrug and run my finger over the jabberjay's feather. However, it immediately regains its original shape. These things are Capitol-enhanced as well, apparently.

I hear my brother's scream, Atom's scream, Neutro's scream, and, yes, Finnick's scream. But I know they're fake. I can tell because Finnick is literally ten feet from me. Finnick looks at me helplessly and I shrug, as if telling him not to worry about me.

Finally, the birds stop and while Peeta runs to Katniss, everyone else watches me intently.

"How did the birds not affect you?" Katniss sniffs.

I figured them out.

I write the message in the sand and everyone stares at it, then me.

"Whose screams were they?" she asks.

My brother's, at first. Then Atom's, Neutro's, and Finnick's. Once I saw they were jabberjays, I realized the entire thing was a setup. My brother and Neutro are dead. Finnick was ten feet away and I have to have a mentor to send me sponsor gifts.

"Is this how you won, then? By figuring out all of the Gamemakers' tricks?" Peeta asks. I glare at him.

I killed every tribute in that arena one by one. I got inside their heads, manipulated their minds in ways you'll never understand. Then I killed them before they could blink.

When we find Two, I kill them. That's what I finally write in the dirt.

"Why? I hate Enobaria!" Johanna whines. Finnick glares at her.

"She wants revenge," Finnick answers for me. I nod.

The alliance goes down to the beach and Beetee suggests we go to the Cornucopia to restock on weapons. We all agree, so we make our way to the rock island. Once there, I pull out my pack of knives and restock my belt, then fill the many remaining slots on my vest and belt with throwing knives.

"Wait guys..." Katniss says.

We all fall silent. Silent. My eyes widen as we all turn to where Wiress was. Now, Gloss is there and Wiress's throat is slit. I pull out a knife and see Enobaria coming at me. I hear the sickening thud of Johanna's axe impaling someone. Brutus is already long gone.

"I've always hated you, Five," Enobaria says, raising her sword. "At the Cornucopia, I wanted you dead. However, that didn't happen. So I killed your idiotic district partner."

She says more, but all I see is red. First Neutro, now Ryder. Two district partners I couldn't protect. I try as hard as I can to scream in anger as I run at her, noiselessly screaming horrid things at her. Her eyes widen in panic and when she tries to hit me with the sword, I disarm her and break her wrist with my bare hands. I yank my cruelest blade from my belt and tackle Enobaria to the ground.

"No! Plea-"

I cut her off by stabbing my knife between her eyes. I stab her again, and again, and again until all the red I see is her blood. Her face is mutilated, so I begin stabbing her torso. My anger has hardly lessened. I hear strangled gasps of horror behind me as I viciously tear into her corpse. When I'm finished, I yank one of her famous teeth from her blood-filled mouth. A prize. I slowly rise to my feet. I stumble back a few steps and hold tight to my blood-coated knife.

"You..." Peeta trails off, horrified.

You asked how I won? I shakily scribble with my victim's blood. That's how.

Finnick's arms are open and I instantly walk into them.

"It's okay," he whispers. "You needed that, didn't you? For what she did to Ryder?"

I nod, burying my face in his chest.

When the Cornucopia starts spinning, Finnick jumps into action. He shoves his trident into the ground and holds onto it with one hand and he grabs me with the other. I wrap my arms around him as tightly as I can, so he holds onto the trident with both hands.

"We'll be okay," he murmurs to me. "We'll be okay."