i know the end [d4 train]

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

This hasn’t been easy for her the last couple years has it? Annie would never get the rest she wanted as long as she was a victor. Long gone were the days where she could slack off just a little bit, think about what life would be like if she got to spend just a little more time with her mom.

It was all fickle and futile all in the same train of thought.

Speaking of trains, Annie knew well that the games was in full swing again, which meant another year of worrying if any one of her family members were going to be on the pike. The one she was really worried about was Trish, of course. Seeing her in the games would have been everything that her father would have wanted, and the last thing that she wanted. The thought of it was enough to make her search out the full bottle of sleeping medication that she had hidden in a precariously placed safe that she had access too. The pills were sweet, which paired nicely with the water she had used to guzzle them down. Younger Annie would have washed it down with booze, but that was not a proud time in her life. Her early years of being a victor were not her proudest, so she was working diligently to rectify what she could.

She slept soundly that night, and while she was worried at the reaping, she found some solace in the fact wasn’t the one in that position anymore. Seeing Shy up there was weird, the young boy she knew, was now a different person entirely. However, she didn’t know him too well, just enough to know that he had given one hell of a showing the year she won. The odds were against him, just like they were against her. But she overcame them, and to see Shy there now, she could at least rest easy that he truly was and is, the end of an era.

Her concentration was broken by the clamor of two children that she did not know. Nanette Carter, the name being familiar, and some boy that had been pushed over to be volunteered for. Turner Grey. That would be someone to watch possibly. Both of them actually. Annie knew well that it was not best for her to size up her tributes. Some of them rose to the occasion, Beck, Noel, even Bell even though she doesn’t want to think about her. And then some of them sank deep. She tries to forget, but that’s hard, seeing as most of the recent tributes have had the same last name as Beck.

She wondered how he felt that none of his family have been reaped.

She would have to ask him later, because now it was time to head to the train.

---

Annie had tried to focus on anything else except for the alcohol that had been on the train car. She would help herself after she at least talked to the tributes. That was only fair. Before entering, she stared at Beck and gave him a light smile. ”You look well.” she hadn’t known what he had been thinking, but it had been a little bit since she had seen him. Luke had just passed not too long ago after all. It was the least she could do, offer kind words and hope that he doesn’t rip her head off.

Grieving was always a fickle thing after all.

Annie really had been the poster child of being lucky. She didn’t question it anymore. If people wanted to talk about the situation that was created around her, then she would let them. Some people said the crown was handed to her on a silver platter, and she still couldn’t help but call bullshit on that. However, people were going to talk, and while she wanted to name names, she wouldn’t, because she was trying to be above all of it.

Everyone knew her business already, even before it had become Annie’s business. It was quite infuriating.

Annie pressed forward, letting Beck in first before taking her place in the main cabin. She quickly headed to her room to at least put down the bag that she had carried with her when she had to make trips to the capitol. It wasn’t too often anymore, seeing as she hadn’t really been talking to Shelby. She would find herself in one the most often to catch Ridley, and maybe ten if she really wanted to see Saffron. She hadn’t focused on many of the other victors because none of them made it a point to reach out to her.

She was used to being alone anyway.

---

A little time had passed, and she realized that the train had started to move, which meant that her tributes were probably on. This was Annies chance to step out and at least introduce herself. She had always hated this part, because she had always marked this part as the one that she would get attached to tributes. She remembered meeting Bell and Cole, and remembering just how different Beck and Noel were from them. They were probably the first two that she had real hope in.

And Beck proved himself.

She walked out of her room, and into the main carriage, her posture straight, and her demeanor calm. ”I don’t know if I need any introduction…” Annie was confident in her tone. ”Anatalia Morrisen.” she spoke. ”But please, call me Annie.” Annie realized that she was sober for the first time while doing this. It was a weird feeling, but one that she could get used too.

She was already starting to get attached wasn’t she?