Chapter 1

Savior

"You said her name. I heard you. You kill her?" He repeated, a hint of danger in his voice. "You cut her up like you were going to cut up this girl here?"

"No! No. I- Cato! Cato!" This was my last resort. I had to call my District partner. I had to call to him for help. I remembered in snippets how I told Cato back in District 2 how I would not call to him for help but… this time I have to. He's my only hope. "Cato!" I tried to move, as though it would let me escape, "Cato!"

I saw Eleven take a stone from the ground.

I closed my eyes and anticipated the pain that was coming. For a minute, I waited but when I opened my eyes… Thresh was impaled with a bloody spear. His grasp on my shirt loosened up and he sunk to the ground. I whipped my head up and gave out a sigh of relief, "Cato."

There was a cannon sound after I realized that I had been saved. Eleven was dead.

I met Cato's eyes and he looked panicked, as though he was afraid of something. It was there for a moment then it disappeared when we heard the shuffling of feet. I remembered we were not alone. Katniss Everdeen was getting away. I took out a knife from my jacket and flicked it towards her. My blade went deep in her shoulder, I only aimed to give her an injury. She gave out a sound of pain and then she fell on the ground.

"May I?" I smirked at Cato.

He nodded and gestured with a hand, "Be my guest."

I made my way towards Twelve, like a predator would with a prey. I loomed over her and took out my knife from her back. Katniss groaned in pain and I smiled, This is going to be fun. I turned her around and she looked up at me with those eyes – those steel grey eyes that were hardening with each second. She did not want to be defeated, even in death.

"May I continue?" I pinned her down and chuckled as she tried to get me off her. I wanted to continue what I had left with. I took out my dainty knife again and without any warning, cut up the outline of her lips. She had tried so hard to push them together but the pain had been too much for her. I laughed.

I just laughed at her.

I continued with her cheeks, forehead and arms. I carved her skin with my many knives, it was fun. She screamed loudly and I did not stop. I only decided to finally kill her when Cato called out my name which brought me back to my senses. With a swift strike, I plunged my knife into her heart. Almost at once, as if the Capitol was expecting it, her cannon sounded.

"Why did you stop me?" I growled at him softly as we took our bag.

Cato smirked and laughed, "Even though that was really fun to watch, it was dragging. I got tired in hearing her scream." He then flung his large arm on my shoulder, "Two to go."

"Lover Boy and that red-haired girl." I murmured softly.

"That girl is not going to last long, she looks completely starved." Cato commented, "Good thing she disappeared in the woods, I stopped running after her and heard you shout my name." He turned to me, his eyes serious, "I was scared that I wouldn't be able to get to you on time."

"But you did."

Cato took his arm from my shoulder and faced me, "Thresh could've killed you. He could've killed you if I didn't get to you on time." He threw a dirty look towards the impaled body of District 11 before looking back at me, "I should never have left you alone."

I frowned up at Cato, "But you saved me."

"I did." Cato's lips finally went into a small smile, "I don't know what I'd do if you died." His eyes watched me carefully. He lifted a hand to my cheek and wiped off something, "You're dirty. Twelve's blood."

I chuckled, "That reminds me. Their backpacks. We better get them because no one else would use them anyway." I went towards Twelve's body which was in the pool of her own blood. I slashed off the tiny backpack she had and opened it, "Medicine for Loverboy."

"What are you going to do with that?" Cato raised an eyebrow.

I took the vial of medicine and stared at it for a moment. I uncorked it and dumped the clear liquid on the grass. I smirked with satisfaction – it seemed like I was going to get my wish of Lover Boy dying the way I wanted him to suffer.

"I want Twelve to die a slow and agonizing death. He's probably dying from blood poisoning now." I also took Eleven's backpack before turning to Cato, "Let's go before these bodies start to stink up." We started to walk away from the Cornucopia, there was a feeling of joy rippling inside of me. We actually had a chance to go back to our District together. I spoke again, "What shall we do now?"

"Hunt for the redhead." He said as he continued walking towards some group of trees. There were no danger lurking for us here now.

I stopped and looked at Cato, "But we haven't seen her for the last few days, where do you think we can actually find her?"

He shrugged, "We have to try."

"I'd rather watch Lover Boy die." I laughed and looked around, "This is going to be boring." I turned my head and heard a rumble from a few distances from us. "What is that?"

Cato was staring at some trees. I followed his gaze and saw a pile of trees falling to the ground. We heard a scream, a scream of a girl – it must be the redhead. "There she is." He raised a hand and pointed towards the small figure trying to avoid the falling debris. "C'mon. Let's get her."

We started running towards her – this was another plot from the Gamemakers to point out the nearest tributes to the other tributes. They also seemed to push the odds to our favor, they wanted us to narrow the field as fast as possible.

When we got close, we were already at the clearing, I raised a knife and threw it towards her. My blade buried itself in her thigh and she rolled to the ground. The trees stopped falling and the earth became still. The redhead clutched her thigh and groaned in pain. Her eyes caught a sight of us and it widened in fear.

Cato took his sword from its place in his side and killed the redhead in one blow. Her cannon resounded. It was followed by another cannon.

"Lover Boy's dead."

"We're the only ones left."

There was a feeling of happiness stirring in my heart. We did it. We made it. Cato and I were going home together. There was absolutely no need for one of us to die.

Cato turned his eyes to me and there was a huge smile on his face. He took a step towards me and cupped my face with his calloused hands. I drowned under his blue eyes. Before I could realize what was happening, he was already kissing me. His lips was warm, gentle and loving as they caressed mine. I responded in a way that I could not fathom how I was able to. I just could. I just did. I gripped his jacket and pulled him closer – we did not think about what the Capitol people would think now. We won. We were coming home.

That is what mattered.

We separated, feeling absolutely proud of ourselves.

"Attention. Attention tributes." I listened carefully and my eyebrows met in confusion. Weren't we supposed to be declared Victors now?

"There has been a slight rule change. The previous revision allowing Two Victors from the same District has been revoked and only one Victor can be crowned. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

And then our worlds came crashing down.