"What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?" a gigantic force hauled Clove to the ground. Clove automatically scrambled back on all fours, like a frantic insect and then looked into the eyes of the monster. It was him. The one she had feared from the very beginning. The monster. Thresh.
"No! No, it wasn't me!" Clove shouted at the tall, dark beast hovering over her. What had happened? Why was she on the floor? Clove was about to give the audience an immensely entertaining death of the so called 'Girl on Fire' when she was plucked from the air, hauled against the Cornucopia and thrown upon the hard ground. Shock was the first wave that washed over Clove, then the current changed to anger; but now the storm of fear had completely taken over her. "You said her name. I heard you. You kill her?" the monster growled.
"No! No, I-" Clove tripped over her words, her voice in a tangled knot in the pit of her throat. And then she saw it- in the monster's hand; a rock the size of a small loaf of bread. The rock… the weapon chosen to kill her. By this time, Clove was more than terrified- she was cocooned in a web of horror. Clove looses it then; she finds her voice and uses it to its full potential. "Cato! Cato!" Clove screeches insanely.
"Clove!" Cato's voice called. Clove was swept with relief; Cato was coming, everything would be alright. At the sound of Cato's voice, the monster's head snapped up, his eyes sweeping the trees, but Cato was nowhere to be seen. Despair hit Clove as she realised now, that Cato's voice was too far away. That he was too far away. That help was too far away…
The monster stuck his bottom lip out; the way a child does when they are made to do something they don't want to. Nevertheless, he brought the rock down hard against Cloves' temple.
Blackness. It was the first thing she saw. Everything around her was silent, like every living thing was holding its breath- not wanting to be noticed. The ground felt like it was moving. Was this Clove's descend into hell? She had killed a few tributes after all… Why did she feel no pain? Wasn't dying supposed to be painful? Why did she feel numb, and no agony? It could have been seconds or minutes or hours or days that Clove lay there, with her limbs scattered in uncomfortable positions. She strained to hear the stomping of feet, and the rustling of branches. Was it the monster finally withdrawing? Or was it more monstrosities heading for her? And what happened to Katniss? Not that Clove cared, but it would be likely that the monster got her too?
"Clove? Clove!" a voice pounded towards her. Clove knew that voice. The voice of her ally, the voice of her partner, the voice of her friend. Cato was finally here. 'Open your eyes' Clove mentally told herself. 'Cato is here; now open your damn eyes!' Clove's eyelids flickered, and she managed to half open her eyes. The world was spinning...
"Clove! Clove, I'm here." Cato's voice called. Cato had to do a double take when he saw her. This couldn't be the girl with the knives, could it? Clove looked like a broken doll. Her arms were tangled behind her back; her legs were sprawled out imbedded in the earth, and the un-noticeable dent in her temple… Who did this? Cato dropped his sword and entwined his fingers around Cloves, a lump building in his throat. "Clove? Clove, it's time to get up" Cato blubbered, tears brimming in his eyes which looked directly into Clove's. Clove struggled to reach her free hand to her best friend's cheek. No more words had need to be said. They were talking through their eyes. Cato's light grey clearly saying 'Don't leave me' and Clove's half opened, dark brown stating 'I will miss you'. The tears overlapped Cato's eyes but Clove brushed them away "Don't cry for me" Clove whispered. Clove's heartbeat began to slow, her breathing began to shorten. Clove knew her time was limited, she knew she would be swept under death's heavy tide soon. Cato had shifted himself so he was cradling Clove in his lap. Cloves eyes began to close; and her hand fell from Cato's face. And after one last sigh Clove's cannon fired, signifying her death.
"Clove?" Cato said. Silence.
"Clove? Clove!" Cato's voice got louder "No, No NO! Cato screamed and buried his head in Clove's hair and began howling. He didn't care that camera's were watching him. He didn't care that he was bawling like a baby in front of everybody. This isn't how it was supposed to go. Clove and him were supposed to win the games, together. Why has she left him? More tears spilled over the edge of Cato's eyes as he remembered Clove's last words 'Don't cry for me'. Cato nodded his head once as if replying to Clove's final wish, wiped his tears away and unwillingly yet gracefully pulled Clove's body from his own. The hovercraft would be here soon. Cato knelt besides the dead District Two girl and kissed her forehead, then stood up, collected his sword and began to walk away. Cato had to carry on the journey as an individual now. The girl with the knives is gone.
