The decent into hell is easy( Finnick Odair)

Head above water

There are things that people experience in their life. There is trauma, pain, love, passion, sadness and happiness. These things shape us into who we are but not who we were supposed to be because in reality no one is supposed to become a murderer, they arn't supposed to have any intentions of killing someone yet i'd Done it, i'd Revealed in it because i had no choice and now all that was coming back to haunt me.

"Chloe" the voice sounded muffled in my brain but it became clearer with every time it was said. Feeling a hand on my shoulder Finnick was soon in my view as he knelt down in front of me. Looking into his eyes i couldn't focus on anything but what had just happened, that was him, he was really there. "Chloe? Are you okay?" He asked squeezing my shoulder tighter but i couldn't find the words to say to him. He didn't think this was real he just thought it was a mutt that the game makers had created and why wouldn't he? He saw what the rest of the world saw and that was Cato being ripped to shreds.

"Yeah" I mumbled getting to my feet "Yeah I'm okay" running a hand through my hair my mind was refusing to separate the lies from truth. Was that him? Was he truly alive? Was everything just a toy to make me go insane? I didn't know but I sure as hell wasn't about to loose sight of what I wanted.

"What did it say to you?" he asked with concern searching over my body for any marks but whatever it was hadn't hurt me.

"Nothing of any importance. They thought it would brake me but you can't brake whats never been whole" I answered staring at the ground before moving towards the others who all gave me pats on the back and offered a caring hand before we headed back to the beach. Sitting on the sand I watched as the waves gently overlapped onto the shore as I turned the ring in my hand over and over again. It brought back memories of hurt and heartache and I wasn't sure I was ready to re visit that period of my life. Slipping the ring back into my pocket my attention was pulled away by the cannons going off to announce todays dead. Cashmere, Gloss, Wiress, the Morphling that had died to save Peeta and one from 5 and 10.

"They're really burning through us" Johanna said and I snorted a laugh.

"Better dead than alive" I said as the captiols anthem carried on playing and they all looked down because they knew I was right. In all honesty we were probably worth more dead than alive. Dead we could do no harm, alive we could burn their city to the ground. When the music had finally finished we started to set up the camp so we could actually get some rest which was a luxury by this point. The thunder and lightening comes and goes followed by the irritating sounds of some kind of insects that were probably not as harmless as they would seem to be. They can't touch us as we aren't technically in any section but the threat is still there. Katniss and Peeta volunteered to take the first shift but I couldn't sleep anyway and instead stayed awake listening to their muffled chat about how they both enlisted Haymitch to help protect the other. It looked like we had all made similier deals with the one person we all trusted above anyone else. Ontop of that I could hear the odd mutter from Finnick, usually Annies name and I have to admit it stung slightly to hear him say her name, shaking my head to try and clear those thoughts from my head I had no right to get jealous about that. Finnick was nothing to me I had to tell myself. He got me into this brother, he was the real reason my brother was dead. Wrapping my arms around my knees my mind flowed back to earlier, he had called me weak but had then reminded me of what he had said before he went it. 'I told you not to let them see you break' those words echoed constantly in my head.

"Chloe?" looking up Finnick was now looking at me with darkened eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you still awake?" he asked.

"Can't sleep" letting go of my legs I stretched them out in front of me

"You're thinking about him" sitting up he was now fully facing him and I knew I couldn't lie. Nodding once I let out a deep breath. "I don't know if you want to here this or not but you need to. Whatever their plan was with that you need to ignore it, Cato is dead and he isn't coming back" he said his voice harsher than I had heard it in a very long time. "So you need to let him go"

"You think I don't know that?" narrowing my eyes at him he was making me angry and that was not a good thing.

"Yeah well do it then"

"I will. When you let Annie go" I spat and I saw a twinge in the muscles in his face as I struck a nerve.

"What's Annie got to do with this?" he asked trying to keep his voice stead.

"Oh come on Finn, please tell me you are now going to deny the fact you like her?" I had definitely struck a nerve as the vein on his forehead was beginning to stick out. "News flash Finn she doesn't have the mental capacity to like you back. The girls a crackpot"

"Shut up!" he snapped yelling at me but now I was already invested in this and I wasn't about to stop.

"Oh, sorry, did that hurt? Yeah that's the thing about the truth it hurts like a bitch. Poor Finnick, in love with a girl that could never love him. You really don't have anyone do you?" laughing in his face he shot to his feet and I joined him.

"What is wrong with you!" he shouted grabbing my arm and shaking me slightly "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can" smirking I yanked my arm away from him I pushed him hard. Stumbling back a few steps he wiped the hair that had fallen into his face away.

"Of course, what would I expect anyway from a girl that massacred her own brother" feeling rage like never before my fist had connected with the side of his face. Falling to the ground I was about to kick him before Peeta grabbed me around the waist and pulled me away.

"Let me go!" I screamed thrashing around.

"Calm down!" he hissed holding me tighter as Johanna went to Finnick whilst Katniss stood looking confused

" Whats going on?" she asked as I pulled away from Peeta. Remaining silent I just glared at the man on the floor. Maybe once I ahd seen something redeeming in him but right now I saw nothing that meant anything. Looking at the others they all looked shocked, did they really expect this alliance to last forever? How long would it be before we had to kill each other? I was already half way to killing Finnick so how long before the rest turned? How long till we all dropped like flies?

"She's loosing it" Finnick sneered still on the floor.

"It's always me! I'm always the one that's loosing it." throwing my arms up in the air I walked away to leave them all to sort themselves out. By now the sun was starting to rise and that meant that we had made it another day without dying which right now was a bloody miracle. Sitting back down I watched the hours pass by with no attempt on anyone's life and no cannons coming from the other parts of the arena. Picking up a handful of salt I watched as it slipped through my fingers and created a hump on the otherwise flat terrain. Looking over my shoulder no one was paying any attention to me, it would be so easy just to slip away right now and head off by myself. I was always better by myself anyway, it was when I was with people that I was a problem. Maybe if I was lucky the arena would finish them off so I wouldn't have to or a tleast it would take me instead so I didn't have to fight anymore. All it would take is for me to get up and run, they would never find me in that hell hole.

"Hey Chloe come over here" Peeta shouted beckoning me over and putting a don't in my plan. Walking over they were all surrounding Bettee who was still fiddling with his wire but he looked as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head.

"I believe we all agree that our next job is to kill Brutus and Enorbia" Everyone nodded " I doubt they'll attack us openly again, now that they're so outnumbered. We could track them down I suppose but it's dangerous and exhausting work" he was right, there was very little chance we would just wonder into the jungle and find them. It could take days and that's only if they didn't find us first. "I think we need to set a trap" motionng for us all to take a step back we did and he quickly began to draw us his plan in the sand. Drawing the arena he divided into the 12 sections. "If you were them where would you feel safest?" he asked.

"Here" I said because out in the open you can't be attacked by surprise.

" So why aren't they here?"

"Because we are"

"Exactly! So tell me Chloe where would you hide if the safest place was taken?" he asked and everyone turned to look at me. Where would I hide? I didn't really ever hide during my games, I just kept running but I guess if I had to pick somewhere.

"On the edge. If something happens I could run either way and be out of there but I could also watch without being seen" offering my idea Beetee looked like I had struck gold.

"Good. Now here's what I propose: a twelve o' clock strike"

"That's when the lighting hits the tree" Katniss said reminding us all of what happens asif we could forget. Nodding Beetee begain to explain his elaborate plan to kill the other two off by electrocuting the water and ground. They would be fried and we would be safe for the time being. I had to be honest the plan seemed very elaborate and fantastical but greater things had been done from less.

"And you're sure it will work?" Peeta asked looking sceptically at the thin piece of wire in Beetee's hand.

"Of course it will! I invented it" he said sure of himself and his abilities and in all homesty who were we to question him? We were brought up to mine coal, chop lumber and catch fish. " This isn't actual wire in the sense, nor is the lightning actual lightning or the tree actually a tree. You know tree's better than all of us Johanna. It would be destroyed by now would it not?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow because ha lready knew the idea he was just getting conformation for the rest of us.

"Yes" she answered him

"Don't worry about the wire. It'll do exactly what I say"

"And where will we be when that thing goes off?" Finnick asked.

"Far up enough in the jungle to be safe. This is up to you 5 if you want to give it a go. I need all of you for it to work" he told us. Looking at each other none of us had a better idea or even an idea itself. He wasn't wrong and this probably would work but what if it didn't? What if they were still left alive and we eliminated our main food source?

"I saw we go for it. Whats the worst that could happen?" Katniss said agreeing to the plan and was soon followed by Peeta. Turning to Johanna she agreed as well.

"We may as well give it a go, it's better than hunting them down"

"I'm in" Finnick said and that just left me.

"What choice do we have?" Taking that as me agreeing we all started to device the plan in more understandable terms which then involved hiking up to the tree to inspect it. Traipsing behind the rest it would best so easy to kill them all right now and have done with it but the promise in the back of my mind to Haymitch kept my head on straight Making sure not to wonder off I knew Katniss could hear the force field so none of us would walk into it. Eventually reaching the tree the size of it is incomprehendable. From the back it looked huge but up close it was something else. if I didn't know any better I would say it went through the top of the arena. Taking a position at the edge of the clearing I was on watch duty to make sure we had no nasty surprises.

"Why was it him?" Looking behind me Katniss was coming to stand next to me.

"Why was what who?"

"Whatever was in that section ith you. Why was it Cato?"

"Are you sure you want the truth?" I asked not looking at her but keeping my eyes focused on the surrounding area.

"Yes" smiling slightly I knew she would change her mind when she knew but who was I right now to keep it from her? I had never planned on telling her but we would be dead soon anyway.

"We were engaged" glancing out the corner of my eye her own had widened as she turned to face me. "Snow had plans for us to be the power couple but you put an end to that"

"I didn't know" she muttered.

"Why would you? The plan was to announce it after he had won the games, no one planned on him not coming out" thoughts floating back to the extensive talks before the reaping had even taken place I could still smell the sickly white rose's that consumed the room.

"Did you love him?" she asked which shook me a little. Why would she ask something like that?

"Would it make the memories less vivid if I said no?" answering her question with a question it was the only way I knew how to get out of awkward situations and place it onto somebody else. About to answer she was cut off by Johanna calling us to go since the lightening would be coming back soon. Heading back through the jungle towards the beach I could feel Katniss glancing in my direction every so often, probably wondering why I hadn't made any attempt to get her back for what she had done.

"I'm sorry for what I said about your brother" coming up behind me Finnick apologised rather sheepishly but despite how angry I had been he had no need to apologise and it should have been me for starting it.

"Don't be. You were right. I need to let him go, I was just angry and you know how I get. Sorry for what I said about Annie you know I love her" wrapping his arm around me he pulled me in and I didn't push him away and I hoped Annie could forgive me if I made it out of this since she was someone that I never had any intentions of ever hurting. Stepping onto the beach it as clear from threats and was our only sense of peace, if you could call it that. Walking towards the water's edge both me and Finnick began to catch what would be our last seafood haul. Throwing widdled spears left right and centre it was quite a catch we had collected which meant we would be good for food for a few days though I wasn't stupid enough to think that we would make it that far.

"You would have done well in 2" looking across Finn had stopped what he was doing and was watching me. How long had he been doing that?

"What?" I asked not sure what he was trying to say.

"If you'd have married him and moved, you would have thrived there. That's the only part of him dying I regret" why was he now bringing this up when earlier he had told me to forget it and move on? "I wanted that for you, I wanted you to be somewhere where there wasn't a bad memory at every turn" looking sadly at the gentle waves it made me realise just how much he had been hurting when we had fallen out, how despite me hating him he still wanted what was best for me

"My entire life is a bad memory"

"But he could have given you something better" did he genuinely think that? "Better than what I could have given you" muttering that last bit I barely heard it but it made my heart stop.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing" he flustered, his face turning red.

"You said better than what you could have given me. What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Just forget I said anything" turning away from me he tried to walk away but my arm shot out and pulled him back. Staring into his eyes I could see the pain and torment that he kept hidden by a cocky attitude and pertinacious smirk, the Finnick in front of me was the real one. the one that very rarely came out to play. Raising his hand to my face he cupped my cheek gently. "You really don't know do you?" he asked and I shook my head because I no longer knew what I knew or didn't know. "It's always going to be you" turning away from me he left me stood waist deep in the water wondering what the bloody hell had just happened.