Cato's POV
"Cato! Cato!"
Clove! Her scream made me halt and turn to the direction of the voice.
"Cato!..Catooo!"
"Clove!" I yelled, terror washing over me.
Running towards the Cornucopia, I saw Thresh bring down a rock on a girl's head. He released his hold and she fell with a thump.
Clove!
"You better run, fire girl" I hear Thresh yell, picking up his packs and taking off towards the woods. Fire girl ran in the opposite direction. I could easily kill them right now, but know Clove would want me to stay.
As I got closer to her lifeless body, my body began to tremble while taking in the sight before me. She had a huge bruise on her neck from Thresh's grasp. And an ugly dent in her skull from the rock.
I kneeled down beside her, taking her pale hand in mine.
"Clove! Clove! Talk to me!"
All I heard was a pain-filled moan. Good, she's still alive! Taking her limp body I moved her closer, resting her head on my lap.
"Shhh..you'll be okay..you're going to live"
I honestly don't know know how that was possible. The dent in her skull was bed. I knew she only had minutes left.
I felt her hand rest on my cheek, stroking it. I tilted my chin up to look at her eyes..it was full of love..and this was probably the last time it will ever be.
"I love you, Cato.."
I knew what she was doing. She was saying her final good byes.
Cupping her cheek, "Listen to me, Clove. You are not going to die. We are going to get out of this together.."
She shook her head. Tears swelling in her eyes she said..
"No, Cato. We both know I am dying. Promise me one thing, though"
"Anything.."
"Promise me you'll win. For me..for us"
"I will. I will kill them all. I swear to you I'll get revenge"
"And..promise me you'll go on with your life. That you'll find another girl who is worthy of you..have kids and be happy..."
I knew I couldn't keep that. No one could ever replace my little Clover. She'll always be the one. If I ever did have kids I'd want her to be the mother. So I merely nodded at her.
"I love you so much, Cato..you were the only one who understood me..you were my best friend. You could imagine the joy I felt when you finally asked me to be your girlfriend. I want nothing more than to marry you and carry your children. But I guess fate is cruel. I you to know that I would watch over you..always"
She was crying right now. I caressed her face and she held my hand tightly.
"I'm sorry..I'm sorry I failed to protect you. I'm sorry for all the fights. I'm sorry that I haven't told you 'I love you' that much..I'm sorry–"
"Shh.." she said, pressing her finger on my lips.
I bent down to kiss her. This was probably the last time I'd feel her lips against mine. It was full of love unlike our usuals which were rough and sadistic. No, this time it was soft and gentle.
"I love you, my little Clover. I would win this for you"
The nickname made her smile. This was last time I was seeing those precious, rare smiles. She gave me a light squeeze...and then stared into blankness.
No! No! Not too soon!
"Clove! Clove, stay with me! Clove!" I said squeezing her hand tightly, shaking her body.
"Clove!"
I tried giving her CPR. Seconds have passed and she still wasn't breathing. She can't be saved..
With trembling hands, I carried her lifeless body towards the mouth of the Cornucopia. Sitting with her, I waited for the hovercraft to come. Staring at her pale face, I reach down to stroke it.
I remember the first time I saw her. I was 13 and she was 11. She was promoted to my level and it was her first day.
If I die young, bury me in satin
I was in my usual station. The swords. I was good, no great, at swords and hand-to-hand combat. When I'm seventeen I'm going to volunteer for the games. By that time no one would be ever good enough to beat me. I was going to be their best chance at winning. And of course I had no doubt I wouldn't.
Most of the kids were watching this new kid at the knife-throwing station. I made my way through the front of the crowd. There, a girl was aiming for a target 15 feet away.
I look at her intently. She was only about 11. And she was very small, her body was petite. There was no way she could be a good fighter.
I smirk. She probably wouldn't hit it right.
Flexing her wrist, she let the knife go. Thud! It landed right at the center. Murmurs of praise and amusement were heard from the crowd behind me. She was good for her size.
"Hey, you must be the new kid. I'm Cato" I said, approaching her as the people left.
"I'm Clove"
"You are pretty good with knives. Never seen a girl throw a knife that well"
"Thanks" she said, smiling brightly.
From then on, we became inseparable. She always had my back and I always had hers. We both wanted to be victors someday. And I knew she would be, no doubt at that.
Years passed and she grew into a beautiful young woman. She still had the aggressive and deadly trait, though. She started to catch the attention of most boys from the training center. I felt jealous every time I saw her talking to another guy. All I see is red and the sudden urge to kill him.
By the time she was 14, I decided to make her mine..officially.
Lay me down on a bed of roses
We were laying down on the grass under a tree in our private meadow. Clove and I found it while we were walking in the woods. Only the two of us knew about this and it soon became our refuge.
"Cato? Why are you always protective when I'm with another guy?
I shifted to my side and touched her face, caressing it for a while. When she looked at me confused I crushed my lips on hers.
Her eyes widened but then she started to kiss me back. I pulled away and looked at her.
"Does that answer your question?"
She smiled and pulled me in for another kiss. It felt so right being like this.
Our relationship went blissfully afterwards. We ended up spending more time together every day. Everything was perfect. Until the day of the 74th Hunger Games reaping came. Clove knew I was going to volunteer this year. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
Sink me on a river at dawn
I hugged Clove before separating ways to go to our respective rows. The reaping starts off by our Mayor telling us the history of Panem. How it was divided into 13 districts. And how the Hunger Games were born. When it was over our escort, Marilyn, came up to the mic.
"Happy Hunger Games!"
-silence-
"It's now time to pick our tributes for this year's annual Hunger Games!"
"As usual, the boys will go first"
She marches up to a glass ball with all the names of the males. But before she reads the name I lunged forward.
"I volunteer for tribute!"
"Oh my! Well it looks like we have another volunteer this year! Come on up, please"
I make my way forward to the stage. I locked eyes with Clove briefly as I went up to Marilyn.
"What's your name?"
"Cato. Cato Biers"
"Well, now we have our male tribute. It's time for the girls"
I watched as she walked towards another ball. She picked up a slip of paper and read it out loud.
"Clove Carter!"
I swear my heart stopped beating at the name. Was I hearing correctly? It couldn't be her!
Again my worst fear was confirmed when she called out again..
"Will Clove Carter please come up to the stage?"
I scanned the crowd for Clove. I saw her pushing through the girls to walk to the stage. She tried to look confident and holding her chin up. But I saw a hint of fear in her eyes. Honestly, I was too. Not because I'm worried that I'm not going to win. But because if it means I'm going home she would need to die.
"Let's give an applause for our this year's tributes!"
Soon everyone was clapping for us. Clove held out her hand for me to shake. But instead I pull her into a tight hug. They all immediately fell silent, including Marilyn. It was the first time we displayed affection towards each other in public. I guess they would already know we were together.
"You're going to be safe. You're going to come home" I whisper before we were pulled apart and put into different rooms.
I remember when she was glaring at Glimmer the whole time during training. The blonde couldn't keep her hands off me. I saw something in Clove's eyes, one that I've never seen before – jealousy.
I wanted to make sure Glimmer meant nothing and that I would always choose my Clover. You could imagine her face when Glimmer dons a provocative mini-dress for the interviews with Caesar. She was probably thinking of shoving a knife down her throat right then. Glimmer is just a piece of crap next to her.
Send me away with the words of a love song
My stylist dressed me in a black tux. I walked to the backstage to join the others. Glimmer struts up to me.
I tried not to look digusted. She was wearing a sheer pink gown and stilettos.
"Hey, Cato. You look hot tonight" she said, rubbing my arm and battling her eyelashes at me.
"Thanks" I said, managing a smirk.
Clove then arrived. A scowl appeared in her face when she saw me and Glimmer. Beautiful. She was wearing an orange dress, her hair strands falling in perfect waves around her face.
The interviews started and we watched Glimmer flirt with Caesar, occasionally blowing kisses to the crowd. Marvel went next.
"You look beautiful" I whispered, wrapping an arm around her waist.
I felt her surpass a smile, beaming at me.
"You're not bad yourself" she winked before a man took her by the arm guiding her towards the stage.
After it was over, I dragged her to the elevator. Slamming my hand on the number '2' button before I attacked her lips and neck. I caught sight of Glimmer staring at us. Smirking, Clove wrapped her arms around my neck before getting back to kissing.
It was our last night before the games.
I spotted the hovercraft at the end of the field. Cradling her body, I gave one last kiss on her cold lips and closed her eyes.
"I love you, Clover. Always have, always will"
As Clove's body was taken away, I gave out a frustrated roar of anger..at the Capitol, Thresh and fire girl. If it wasn't for them the love of my life would still be alive right now.
The rain poured and the thunder rumbled but I didn't care. My body trembled with rage and sorrow as I picked up my sword before taking off at the direction Thresh went.
I only thought of one thing: I will win this for Clove.
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