ODDS

ᴛᴏʀᴛᴜʀᴇ

Alana

𝓐 𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓴 𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 to be such a short time, especially when I was home in District Four. When you were actually allowed to be somewhere you wanted to be after spending so much time somewhere else that had become a nightmare, time sped up, as if mocking that you weren't in control.

Or maybe I was imagining it?

No- I couldn't have been imagining it.

I couldn't hardly focus anymore. That was my problem.

"Walk faster." A Peacekeeper demanded. I obeyed.

They'd already shown what happened to those who didn't.

I was shaking again. The sound of the Peacekeepers' footsteps were unnerving, and so agonizingly loud.

Everything was loud now.

We made it to the end of the long hallway, much to my relief. The boots of one of the Peacekeepers squeaked, sending a chill and small twitch down my back. He'd done it on purpose.

I was fun to mess with.

My hands rushed to my ears as I winced at the loud sound of what I assumed must have been the door. I didn't know. I was still clouded in darkness.

"Alright, get in." A Peacekeeper's voice sounded in a bored manner.

I felt my way into the room- or, more accurately, the cage. Each cell was about five steps wide. Mine was directly in front of Peeta's- that's what he'd told me, at least- and his cell was near the back, in the third cell from the door.

Fifteen steps and I'd be left alone.

Footsteps. Squeaking.

My slight tremor became heavier, weighing my body down. My steps became slower, which contrasted from my quick and shallow breaths. Even my heart became too loud to bear.

"Go, Four. You're wasting my time." His voice echoed around the room.

It was so loud.

"Please- I can't-" I didn't finish my sentence.

A firm and deadly grip held on to my upper arm, dragging me across the slick floors. I felt my arm pop and let out a little yelp.

"Hey, be careful with her!" Peeta protested from his cell. Despite his efforts to help me, I wished he wouldn't speak so loud.

Johanna followed Peeta's lead. "She's not a damn ragdoll!"

Apparently, that was exactly what I was. The Peacekeeper through me into the cage, not worried at all about the healing of my hip. I'd been in surgery not seventy-two hours ago. I was still recovering when they started the torturing.

A loud noise resonated in my ears, making me groan.

"You're next, Seven. Be back to get you in the morning."

The Peacekeepers still in the hall laughed as the lone Peacekeeper stomped out of the cage, wallowing in his threat. He chuckled under his breath, and I could only assume he was looking at me as he exited.

Another loud sound grated across my head and then silence.

I let silent tears fall down the sides of my face, still laying face up, unmoving. I was still pretty heavily drugged, but the affects would wear off in half an hour or so.

Then the real pain would begin.

"Alana? You awake?"Peeta's voice had softened. I was grateful that he put in the effort to be quiet in a room that was made to echo every sound known to man.

I sat up with much effort, finding a comfortable position by leaning on the wall. Peeta could see me this way. I wished I could see him.

"Yeah."

"You okay? I thought you were going through another surgery." Johanna seemed to soften her voice too.

I let out a deep breath, feeling the affects of the drugs they used to torture me wear off second after second. I leaned my head back for support.

"No, they started the torturing early against doctor's orders." I winced at the vibrating of my voice. I wondered if this would last forever, and if so, if I would ever get used to it.

"But your hip-" Peeta lost his words. He knew we were in the Capitol. Sure, we were victors, but we were also captives. The revolution had begun, and we were prisoners of war.

"Surgery was rescheduled for next week." I hummed, trying to talk without my throat vibrating. It didn't work very well.

"What- what-" Johanna couldn't get the words out. They'd figured out fairly quickly that she had been in on the Rebel plan. She'd been tortured almost immediately. For her, they'd stuck to a 'simple' form of torture, as they'd described. Electrocution by water.

So simple.

Still, I'd almost wished they did the same to me. At least Johanna got a break. At least she had time to escape.

I was trapped in it, and I knew it would only get worse, become more intense as time went on.

"What did they do to you?" Her voice barely came out as a whisper.

"I don't know what you'd call it, but they injected something into my arm and played all of these different sounds at the same time. And something happened to my skin-" my voice wavered. "-like it was cold and hot at the same time, and super uncomfortable. And there were a lot of smells, and they stuffed different foods in my mouth-"

I heard Johanna curse under her breath.

"And it felt- overwhelming. So many things were happening, and my- my mind couldn't keep up."

"Do you still feel it?" Peeta asked quietly. I let out another breath.

"It's wearing off now. But I wish it wouldn't."

Silence.

I realized that I needed to explain.

"My hip- it's starting to hurt again."

Peeta hummed.

"I would be shocked if it didn't. They just chuck you into the cell every time, expecting you to be alright when they come get you again." Johanna's voice cut through the air like a hot knife, murder in her voice.

"I wonder what the others are doing." Peeta piped up. By his tone, it sounded like he was simply asking himself a question. I'd wondered the same thing myself.

"At this second? Probably lollygagging around, waiting for the Capitol to attack wherever they are." Johanna said this with no emotion. She hadn't meant it, I knew from experience. She just wanted out of here, which I understood. We all understood

"I hope Katniss doesn't blame herself." Peeta wished, emotion coating his throat.

"I hope they don't kill themselves before they have a chance to rescue us." Johanna gave a spiteful laugh.

I closed my eyes, despite not seeing anything in the first place. Old habits died hard.

"I hope we see each other again." I whispered, reaching towards my neck to the necklace Finnick had given me all those years ago. It had become one of my most prized treasures, besides the man himself.

But something was missing: the seashell.

"Do you see a pink shell in the floor?" I asked in a nervous manner. It was quiet for a second before the answer came.

"No, I don't see anything."

I nodded, but the indication that I was fine a huge lie. Probably the biggest lie I'd ever pulled off. I didn't have anything to keep, nothing to remind me of Finnick, to get me through this until we saw each other once again.

I swallowed thickly, keeping myself from crying.

And the cell became silent, torturing me with thoughts of the green-eyed boy who'd saved me.