It was coming from my left. I picked myself off from the floor and forced my legs to remember how to run again, but it was pointless. I was floundering around like a fish out of water, but the water wasn't where I wanted to go. It got hold of me in a matter of a minute before I was consumed by its great waves and tossed around like ragdoll. With one kick I flew upwards and emerged to the surface, the water was even colder than my dreams and it seemed like it was reaching into my lungs and stealing my breath away. The over saltiness of the water stung my eyes as I tried to rub them clean, but that was when I didn't see the big wave.
Once again I was flailing in the water, and with every attempt I tried to swim back to the surface, I was beaten by another wave.
This is it. I am going to die.
I couldn't hold my breath any longer; the world grew fuzzier and darker as I sank lower and lower. It was a lot more peaceful than my nightmares. Everything was calm and quiet. Drowning wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I even saw my life before my eyes.
"Daddy, what if I drown?" I said shyly knotting my fingers together and standing by the oceans edge. I was five years old and still didn't know how to swim.
My father chuckled. "You'll be fine, Annie."
"But, what if there is a shark?"
"I'm scarier than anything you can find in this ocean." That was a lie, he was so sweet and of course he said it to make me feel better. "Just run in. I'll help you."
I nodded, took a deep breath and sprinted into his arms.
Next was my reaping day, the train journey and the parade. Next was Finnick and I's kiss. I remembered it perfectly; I also remembered the look of horror in his eyes when it was over.
"You have to win."
I willed my eyes to open and saw the clear water above. I knew that I had one chance for air and that was it. I had to win, for my parents, my District, for everything. With my last ounce of energy I kicked down hard at the water and sucked in the biggest breath that my lungs could take when I burst through to the surface. I sputtered and coughed but kept my legs moving to help me stay afloat. Though that proved to be a challenge. The waves just would not stop coming and I had to keep on swimming, the only relief I had was when small currents would slowly drag me along, until I get drawn into the crest of a wave. This happened multiple times, it got to the point when I feared any sort of movement in the water. Even the water itself.
I had no idea how long I was swimming for, but I knew it was somewhere between a day and a half. It was cannon after cannon until I realised that there was only two left. My breaths got shallower as my lungs filled with more water and my limbs shook with every move that I made. I had three rules for survival.
Head up. Head up.
Most of the time I found it a struggle to stay on the surface for more than a mere minute.
Live in the present.
Sometimes the flashback would come back and each time I had to submerge myself for them to go away, which kind of went against my first rule.
Swim.
I just had to keep moving, and swimming and-
My thoughts were cut off by the sudden pull of the water under my legs. I tried to swim away but this was a lot stronger than any other current I faced before, and my legs were too weak to fight against it. It felt like my legs were kicking through air and getting me absolutely nowhere. With a heavy sigh I let go, waiting for me for the other person to die first.
What I thought was a current, was much worse than that. It started to turn slowly and it wasn't until when it started spinning faster when I realised that I was in a whirlpool.
With newfound adrenaline in my body I kicked and scraped at the water to set me free from my awful fate. There were no whirlpools in District Four, so I had no idea what to do with one. My breathing got harder as my legs slowly began to fail on me, I pleaded for them to work but I was too distracted by being pulled down under.
A found a pair of disastrously familiar green eyes glaring at me. Maeve started clawing at my small legs to pull me deeper and I unwillingly complied. The spinning water was so disorientating that I could barely see her pale hands wrap around my delicate throat, making it twice as easy for her to drown me. Her feral eyes never left mine as she was tightening her grip. I began to see black and wide spots consume my vision as my arms went limp at my sides. That was the moment when my hand brushed the knife in my belt.
With the final push of my energy, I swiped the knife and impaled it into the side of her throat. Then her elbow. Then her face. Her gripped finally loosened as the water turned cloudy red. I kicked her body to use it as a tool to bring me to the surface, and when I broke through, I heard the last cannon fire.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventieth Huger Games, Annie Cresta! I give you – the tribute of District Four." Claudius Templesmith announced.
It's over?! Thank God.
I released a sigh of relief and floated on the surface of the red water, trying to get my breathing back under control and tears of joy trickled down my face as I saw the hovercraft emerge from the sky. A ladder was released from it and I grabbed hold as it brought me up to the hovercraft.
I was finally pulled up from the ladder and laid on the floor. Frantic doctors fussing over my body as my eyes slowly began to close. I was so exhausted that I couldn't help it.
I won.
"Speck! No. I'm so sorry." I begged to the reflection in the pool of water that I was standing in. A bloody scream erupted from her lips as her reflection painfully contorted itself into Rio, carrying his head like before.
"Rio! I'm sorry." I cried and blocked my eyes from the reflections. I screamed and screamed.
My wild eyes flew open and I was shocked by my surroundings. I was in a sterile white room, I noticed that I had some restraints removed from my body, but I saw a drip in my arm, a bottle of water and a glass by my bed. I licked my dry lips with anticipation and leapt to the water. The unsalted water was heaven and I finished the entire bottle in a minute, so I was standing by my bed in the silent sterile white room and for the first time in a while, I felt at peace.
I heard the door open before I turned around to see who opened it, but I didn't bother to look. Before I knew it, I grabbed the bottleneck and smashed it against the side of the table and pointed it towards the intruder. My eyes went wide.
It was Finnick. He stood still at the other side of the room, raising his shaky hands in surrender, his own eyes glistening with tears.
"Annie." He whispered.
"F-Finnick." I stuttered and glanced downwards. Diamond glass stung my hands and feet and ruby red blood seeped through the wounds. My find fled to the memory of Rio, Pyronn, Speck and Maeve. The blood. I had killed three.
I dropped the bottle and pressed my bloody hands to my ears, realising a primal sound of sobbing and screaming. In an instant Finnick had wrapped my body in his arms and sat us down on the bed, I relaxed into his arms and that moment an Avox boy walked in.
"Get out!" Finnick shouted, which made me jump. The Avox gulped, left the tray of food on the floor by the door and rushed out.
My fat tears were relentless and my entire body shook in his arms. Finnick just sat there and allowed me to cry into him, knowing what I had been through.
"What have they done to you?" He murmured as he stroked my hair.
They broke me beyond repair.
Writing an entire chapter with only description is quite difficult, I hope that it's okay. By the time that I will publish it I will be on Christmas break, which I am very excited about. Look out for more of my stuff soon, (but I am not specifying c;). Reviews and criticisms are deeply appreciated.