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The Sacrifice (WillowVX & littlerooster)

"They might cancel, then again they might push the whole thing forward the lottery and the sacrifice, they might be worried this will be the last one and might want to do it one last time before it is cancelled for good" Clarke explained.
 
Annie looked worried. Very worried. She didn't say anything. Her mouth was dry and her pulse was racing. If they pushed it forward, she wouldn't have a lot of time.

"So what does this mean for us, exactly, Clarke?" Julie asked, getting right down to business.
 
"When?" Ruth asked, quietly. "When do you think they will select a sacrifice?" She looked small and sad.

"Can I see Robbie?" Annie asked Clarke. She looked concerned and pale. "I just want to see for myself that he's okay." Her head was spinning. Usually, looking at Clarke made her feel more at ease. But this time it wasn't working. She felt like the resistance was at a stand still and they were running out of time. She feared that they were right, and her uncle would fix the drawing.
 
"Lets just see what happens, I don't think they will allow us to see Robbie, but let me call my dad first" Clarke explained.

He was getting edgy, Annie didn't seem to want to accept what was happening and how things were done here, it was pissing him off. He looked at Ruth, Ruth seemed to be looking at Annie for inspiration.
 
Annie nodded her head at Clarke. She noticed he was irritable towards her. Had she done something wrong? Last night he had kissed her, not just a kiss, it was so much more than that. But today, he barely even looked at her. Every time he spoke to her, his voice was clipped and stern. Like he was talking to a disobedient child. She frowned at him and turned her head away.

She noticed Ruth staring at her, hoping that she would have more revelations and plans that would set them all free. Annie got up and sat next to the girl. Ruth wasn't much younger than her. Couldn't be more then nine months, but somehow she seemed so much more fragile. She was like a beautiful little porcelain doll. Annie put her arm around the girl and squeezed lightly.

"It's going to be okay." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "What ever happens, you guys will be safe. I promise."

Annie was already making a plan in her mind to see Robbie. If Clarke wouldn't help her, she would sneak out tonight and see Robbie herself.
 
Clarke got off the phone with his dad.

"He says you can't see him, but I can, what do you want to ask him" he asked Annie.
 
Annie shook her head. It wasn't the same. Annie needed to see him herself. She needed to talk to him. She needed somebody to understand her. She looked around at all the faces and she suddenly just felt alone.

"Just tell him that I'm sorry." Annie told Clarke. She left Ruth, got up, and walked out of the cave. She needed air.
 
Clarke left, the others thought he was seeing Robbie, but he just wanted to get away, this new girl was pissing him off she wanted to undermine the whole festival.

She didn't realise the whole resistance movement was a front, to draw out others who really did resist the festival and the sacrifice.

Julie and Ruth were paid to be a part of it by being assured their numbers would never be drawn.

Robbie however was genuine, very much opposed to the Sacrifice and seen as dangerous by the rest of the group.
 
Annie didn't know where to go. It seemed that every time she had an idea, or a question on how to stop it all, they just blew her off or made an excuse. She couldn't let herself think about Clarke. Why had he suddenly become so cold towards her? He didn't seem like the same guy she met. Everything that she thought was holding her together suddenly felt like it was constricting her, suffocating her. She didn't know what to do. Or who to trust.

That was a lie. She knew one person, if anyone, there was a chance she could trust him. She needed to see Robbie. Annie had a feeling that Clarke didn't want that to happen. It suddenly became very clear to her, that was the only thing that she could do. She couldn't go back to Clarke, not right now. The way he acted today made her almost afraid of him. Everything was so confusing. The resistance seemed to be falling apart, she couldn't trust her own family, and in a few days she might be sacrificed. Robbie was her only hope.

Annie needed to find out where Robbie lived. How could she do that? Her uncle. She thought suddenly. If he was the big guy around here, he would have records and files of everyone, shouldn't he? It was worth a try. Robbie was on house arrest, they weren't going to let him out of their sight until the time of the sacrifice. Her only hope was to get to him and pray he would help her. Annie walked back through the woods and almost got lost, thankful for the daylight. She saw the park she had walked through the night she ran away, she could find her way back to the house from there. Walking through the park gave her the chills. She thought of Clarke. Who just so happened to be roaming around at night, looking for escaping girls. It almost didn't sound like he was being helpful. It sounded like he was on patrol. Annie couldn't let herself think of that right now. She couldn't handle it.

She got to the house and was thankful to find her aunt and uncles car was gone. She didn't have much time, she had to find Robbie's address.
 
The rest of the so called resistance group spoke about their concern's regarding Annie, they knew she would try and de rail everything, she bring down the festival, she would ruin Ruth and Julie's free ticket out of the lottery, they knew she would try and contact Robbie who was genuine.

Clarke spoke to his father, it seemed that the lottery might just have to be rigged - again. What Clarke never told Annie was the lottery was often used as a punishment, rigging it so that a problem girl would be picked, this year the biggest problem was Annie, she would have to be drawn and taken by the whole town, that would teach her. She was cute too a bonus, last years girl was rather ordinary, fat with a chubby face, but she still felt good, or so the other boys said.
 
It didn't take Annie long to find Robbie's address. To her advantage, her uncle had files of everyone in the town. She was cautious as she entered her uncle's office, looking out the window and listening for noises. Luckily for her, Robbie's file was out on the desk just waiting for her. Probably to do with his recent run in with the jail house. She quickly looked through the file and found his address. Now she would just have to figure out where that was. The town wasn't very big. She noticed her uncles computer on the desk, she checked out the window to make sure they weren't coming back, and she powered on the monitor.

Annie typed in Robbie's address and searched directions to his house. It wasn't far. She could find it easily. She would have to go at night, there would be too many people watching. In the meantime, she didn't want to see anyone. She had an urge to find Clarke, but a nagging in the pit in her stomach told her that wasn't a good idea. She quickly powered off the monitor, closed up the file, and exited the house. Where could she go to hide out until she could see Robbie? She went back to the park. It probably wasn't most private of places, but there was a small tube slide. She could hide in there until it got dark.

She walked to the park and laid down in the tube slide. The park was empty. It always seemed to be empty. It was cold outside and her jacket wasn't enough. She laid down on the cold metal and tried to prevent herself from thinking about how scared she was. It wasn't that hard to do, because it didn't take long before she fell asleep.

When Annie woke up, it was dark. And silent. She just hoped she wouldn't run into "Clarke the girl saver" roaming around at night. He wouldn't let her see him, he would stop her. She went as carefully and silently as possible, through the sleeping streets, until she finally found his house. How was she going to do this? The house looked dark, and quiet. Annie didn't know what time she slept until, she didn't know how late it was. She snuck around the house, looking through windows. She finally saw him. Through a window in the backyard, his bedroom. She saw him laying in bed, awake, staring at the ceiling. He looked disheveled. His face looked worried and his eyes looked angry. Annie took a deep breath and lightly knocked on the window.
 
Robbie was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, he was thinking about the injustice of the festival and the sacrifice, he was thinking about how much stuff he had over heard and how powerful these people thought they were that they weren't careful enough to keep their mouths shut when he was in earshot. They thought isolating him was enough to solve their problems.

He heard a knock on his window and looked, he saw it was Annie. He carefully opened it letting in the cold night air.

"Annie, what are you doing here? Come in" he let the shivering Annie in and gave her a blanket.

"It's a front, I always thought it might be, the resistance, I was sucked in, they are all fakers, how did you make it here? They are watching you Annie, you are on high alert" he told her.

"They rig the draws when they have a trouble maker and Julie and Ruth they are exempt from being chosen because they are supplying information" he added.
 
Robbie looked surprised when he saw Annie at the window. She hoped he would let her in. He opened the window immediately and invited her in. She almost forgot how cold she felt, but apparently she looked it. He offered her a blanket and they sat on the bed. Annie listened to Robbie explain what he had over heard. She had to grip the side of the bed hard to keep from falling over. Her head was spinning and she thought she would be sick.

"Everyone was acting weird..." Annie started. "And Clarke..." She had to breath deep to stop from crying. "I didn't know who to trust. It all seemed.. just... wrong. I snuck away. I went back to my house and found your address in my uncles files. I hid in the tube slide in the park until it got dark. Nobody knows where I am." She looked a bit embarrassed at the invasion of privacy. She didn't know Robbie at all. She had only met him once. When she thought of it that way, coming here seemed impulsive and foolish. She had no idea whether or not she could trust them. Look at everything Clarke's done for her, and it might have all been a ruse. Robbie knew they were rigging the draw too. She wondered if he knew they were fixing it for her.

"Robbie." Annie started, trying to sound bold and strong. She didn't do a good job because she felt a few tears slip out. "Robbie, Jenny is going to be safe. You have nothing to worry about." She tried to look at him and force a smile. Why did she come here? What did she expect? Maybe she just wanted to say goodbye to him. But she didn't really understand why. Maybe it was the intensity and the understanding that they shared. What ever the reason, she felt better now that she's seen him.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." She nodded and sniffled, she tried to hide the fact that she was crying. "I have to go. I have a few hours and I could probably get a good distance away from here before anybody notices I'm gone." She whispered and stood up.
 
Robbie listened to Annie talk about what she knew. But she still didn't know everything nor did she understand. She spoke about why Jenny may have come back or was brought back, she spoke about hiding in the tube at the park.

She stood up to leave and he stopped her.

"Annie, you don't understand, they were going to sacrifice Jenny, I know this now, they were going to rig the drawer to teach her a lesson for leaving, she was brought back by some seriously powerful people, you just don't get how huge all of this is. But you are right, Jenny is safe now, they want you Annie, they want to teach you a lesson, Clarke and the others have told them everything, they know how serious and angry you are, your very own Uncle Ben wants to rig the vote to sacrifice his own niece they have had enough of you Annie, the running away, the not listening to them, the whole thing. I am lucky to still be here really, Clarke found you on patrol, you probably know that by now. It's why he is such a hero to so many girls, and the whole Selena story he spins, it's all lies." he looked at her letting it all sink in.

"But Annie, you and I, we have to get out of here, I, I, I can't, I can't see that happen to you and they will make me take part in it" he looked down ashamed and pained.

"We need to run away, somehow, we really have to accept that we are screwed either way now" he told her, holding her by her arms.
 
Annie couldn't listen to Robbie's words. Her knees were starting to buckle underneath her. Clarke tricked her. He lied. About everything. She trusted him. Annie looked up, sad for Robbie, just as much as she was sad for herself. The pained expression on his face made her chest tighten. He looked even more pale than usual. But she didn't know what to do. Could she trust him? She scanned his face. Hard, angry, intense. And real. Not the glowing knight saving damsels in distress. That coldness that Robbie had was real. And Annie knew that he could be dangerous if he needed to be. Her knees gave out. She almost fell to the ground but Robbie grabbed her arms and held her up, he said they needed to run away. Annie didn't try holding back the tears this time.

"Why? Why would he lie?" She was crying hard. She felt so betrayed. But everyone. The Resistance was the only thing she thought she could trust in this twisted fucked up town. "Why are they doing this? I don't want any part of their stupid festival. Why is this happening to me?" Annie fell. Robbie kept holding into her and they slowly sunk to the ground. He still held her arms, to keep her steady. "Clarke told me that my uncle brought me here because he wanted to sacrifice one of his own." She sniffled. "You aren't screwed, Robbie. Your sister will be safe. After this year, you can leave if you want. You're both nineteen. I think that's how it works. I can't stay. They might find me if I leave, but they will definitely find me if I stay. It will be worse for you if you come with me." She shook her head. "I've already gotten you in trouble once. I'm so sorry." She cried harder. How did all of this happen? She was so angry with her parents. For not telling her about any of this. For leaving her here. She tried to wrench out of Robbie's grasp, to hit something, to run, to do anything. He held onto her tighter. He pulled her into a comforting hug and put his hand in her hair, trying to calm her down.

"Why do you care?" She cried, and tried to push him away. "You don't care. Nobody does." The more Annie tried to push him away, the tighter Robbie held her. "My parents left me. Everybody lied. I'm alone." She buried her face into his shoulder. "How do I know I can trust you?" She whispered into him.
 
Robbie held Annie, he let her cry and push and hit him as much as she needed to, he was upset as well, the amount of turmoil that this festival can cause for everyone. He and Clarke were friends once, until Robbie started being more open about his concerns, and then he noticed Clarke slowly but surely pull away a little more, bit by bit he pulled away from him until he noticed Clarke would look at him with disdain in his eyes.

"No, I won't abandon you, I do care, we'll think of something, we have to hurry though, they are announcing the lottery earlier this year, there are outside groups that are genuine and causing a stir, we might have a chance there. I can't just let you go by yourself Annie" he looked at her for a moment.

"I love you, something about you that I have loved since I first saw you" he said to her.
 
Annie felt numb. She cried, and pushed, and hit his chest until she lost all of her energy. She just slumped forward and let Robbie hold her. She rested her head against him and closed her eyes. She didn't know what to believe. Robbie was her only hope.

Annie lifted her head and listened to Robbie as he spoke. He told her he wouldn't abandon her. He wouldn't let her go alone. There might be a real resistance group. She felt hope stir slightly inside of her. And then her body froze. He told her that he loved her. She lifted her body and the embrace slightly broke. She looked up into his eyes, confused.

"What?" She whispered. How could she be surprised? Even with Clarke, there had always been a tie between her and Robbie. That understanding. The mutual rebelliousness in their eyes. Annie never noticed the way he looked at her, but now that she knew, she could remember. "I... I had to come back. I had to.." She tried to draw her breath. "I had to see you. Before I left. I don't know why. Since I heard you got caught, I tried to convince everyone to go through with a plan to save you." She looked at him carefully, glancing at every feature of his face. "I was going to give myself up. Tell them the fliers were my idea because I knew what my uncle was going to do. But Clarke said they let you go. He said nobody could see you and you were on house arrest." Her stomach lurched when she mentioned Clarke. "I told him I needed to see you, but he just got angry."

Annie didn't know where she was going with this. Maybe she was trying to say that she loved him too. But she didn't know how. They just sat there in silence, looking at each other. They were talking with their eyes, they didn't need to say a word. She heard his voice in her mind. They would be okay. Even if they weren't, they would be together.
 
She didn't have to say anything, he just held her closer. He didn't know how they were going to get out of this, or whether they even could. But he couldn't allow her to be sacrificed to the whole town, it just couldn't happen to her.

"Best stay clear of Clarke, he is two faced obviously, I think we are best trying to pretend everything is normal. You are in no danger until we know the date of the lottery, until then lets stay cool. They still don't think you suspect anything" he told her.

The wind got colder outside and it began to snow.

"You will need to go back to Clarke's or your Uncle's place, you can't stay out tonight you will die and you can't stay here because then they will think you ran away " he told her as he looked out the window.
 
It felt so good to just have Robbie hold her. It felt different than Clarke. Robbie saw Annie as an equal, not a pain in the ass little girl who always tried to run away. There was a fierce protectiveness about him, it made her feel secure that he felt that way about her. That made her realize that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She wouldn't let anything happen to him, either.

"Oh, trust me. I don't want anything to do with that snake." Annie's hands clawed and her body tensed. Robbie's arms tightened around her. She sighed. "Okay... I'll try to pretend that everything is the same. When do you think they will draw the lottery?" She asked Robbie.

Annie could hear the cold wind whistling outside of Robbie's bedroom windows. Small, white flurries hit the window in menacing manner. It made her cold just to look at it.

Annie looked at Robbie with wide eyes and shook her head. "No..." She whispered and rested her cheek against his cheek. "I can't go back there, please don't make me go back there." She held onto him tight. "I don't want to leave you." They sat there, holding into each other tight, their faces pressed against each other. They embraced like it was the last time they would ever get to. Annie was terrified to let go.
 
Robbie held her, "If you stay here you might have to sleep under the bed, if they find you, you are screwed" he looked worried but at the same time didn't want Annie to leave. "It's your choice" he told her, "You know the risks and it is your life" he added.

Meanwhile Annie's Uncle Ben and the counsel were meeting to set an earlier date for the lottery, they agreed the lottery would be held on Wednesday, 3 days from now, this would speed up things as they were under a great deal of pressure for this to be the last one and Uncle Ben wanted one of his own to be the last sacrificed virgin in the town.

They would announce it in the morning.
 
Annie was torn. She didn't want to get Robbie in trouble but she didn't want to leave him.

"I don't care about the risks." She looked at him. "Do you want me to stay?" She was scared. She didn't like her choices. She didn't want to be with her uncle or with Clarke. And she didn't want to drag Robbie down with her. But what if she never got a chance to see him again? Leaving would be the right thing to do. But at that very moment, she found it impossible to pull herself away from him.
 
Robbie looked at her, he became angry that he couldn't stop her pain. " fuck it, stay the night tomorrow we start preparing and we run away" he told her
 
Annie felt Robbie's grip tighten around her. There was no way he was letting her out of his sight. She looked at him deeply. Yes, she loved him. Of course she loved him. Annie had never been one to believe in soul mates, but what other explanation was there? There had been something strange between them since she first walked into the cave. There was always that nagging feeling inside of her and it always brought her thoughts back to him. She tightened her arms around him just as protectively.

"I won't let anything happen to you because of me." Annie said to him. "Tomorrow we will run away and we will never look back. We won't stop running until we're far enough that they can never catch us." Being this close to Robbie made her whole body tingle. She felt warm. She knew the danger was still there, but they would fight it together. It made her feel strong. Then suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

"Jenny." Annie said suddenly. "Robbie, we can't leave her. What if they choose her when I leave? We can't leave her here with them." She pulled away slightly to look up at him.
 
"I'm not sure Jenny would come with us, she is quite scared, Fuck, I don't know what to do, I am no better than the others" he said getting angry again.

There was a knock at the door, Robbie hid Annie behind the bed and answered it, it was his father.

"Robbie, they will be conducting the lottery tomorrow, I think you should be there, you are in a lot of trouble boy and you need to start making amends" he said to him before leaving.

Robbie just looked at Annie with a grim expression.
 
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