AN: Decided to make this multiple chapters. Just for the hell of it.
I shift, trying to get as close as possible to Cato. I smirk to myself when I see Clove glaring at me over the embers of the dying fire. Someone is jealous.
My closeness toward Cato is bound to confuse the audience, maybe even win me a few more sponsors when I make my ability to wrap almost anyone around my little finger clear. I have to say, Clove's annoyance toward me surprises me quite a bit, I've never seen the District Two tributes show any kind of affection toward each other. If anything, I would have thought they hated each other.
Marvel gives me an occasional surprised look. I hardly know him, but I know he doesn't give a bull's notion on romance. All I know is he wants to win. Might have something to do with that little sister he just won't shut up about.
Aqua's just sitting there, staring into the fire. She still hasn't gotten over the death of her district partner. Her fault, they shouldn't even be close in the first place, it just hurts you more in the end when you have to kill them.
That brings me to Lover Boy. He keeps staring mournfully into the tree and freezing like a deer in the headlights when he notices I'm watching.
I chat about random things to Cato. He mostly just wants to talk about killing the girl in the tree above him, so I join in and laugh every now and again, trying hard to ignore Clove who is angrily impaling an innocent little lizard with her knives, no doubt imagining that it's me.
I keep 'talking' with him until Clove finally tells us to shut up and Marvel actually agrees. I make a big show out of rolling my eyes and I lie down next to Cato. Right next to him. I mean, I'm practically lying on top of him. I grip my bow in one hand and pray that Clove won't kill me in my sleep.
I wake up at the sound of buzzing and screaming. Things start to sting me and the pain is unbearable. I stumble to my feet, barely aware of my surroundings when more things sting me. Golden tracker-jackers are flying around the camp, madly stinging everyone. Marvel is screaming "Get to the lake!" and Cato and Lover Boy are nowhere to be seen. Aqua's screaming while flailing around on the ground. I can barely recognize her from all the stings she's got. Her cannon goes off a few seconds later.
More tracker-jackers sting me, I feel like I'm on fire and I force myself to move- well, more like stagger away. I'm panicking now, I start randomly squatting at the wasplike mutts with my bow when I feel someone shove me back down. I just manage to glimpse Clove's smirking face before the tracker-jackers leave and the hallucinations begin.
As I lie here, too swollen to move properly, I see a rainbow bridge stretching across the morning sky. A badger pads over, kneels over me and asks for the time, shaking it's head disapprovingly and walking away again when I don't answer.
I moan and roll onto my side, only to be greeted by the sight of my two sisters and younger brother being brutally decapitated by bread rolls with swords. They have just time to scream at me to stay focused before their heads are cut off and their blood sprays all over my face.
Our parent's house in the Victor's Village is burning town while running toward me at the same time, a second later, it transforms into Miss Oh-So-Perfect-Fire-Girl from District 12. I try and whack the hallucination with my bow, but my limbs have swollen to at least twice their size and I can't move at all. I discover that Miss Oh-So-Perfect-Fire-Girl isn't a hallucination when she woozily yanks the bow from my grip and rolls me over and tries to pull the quiver off my back. Behind her, I notice Cato is dancing around, singing extremely inappropriate at the top of his lungs and all of a sudden, it's raining cats and dogs. Literally. A Siamese kitten lands right next to my face.
I think it's the venom from the stings affecting my brain, but in the last few seconds of my life, I suddenly wonder why the heck I volunteered in the first place. Both my parents were victors, we had more money than we needed, I was popular. I had nothing to gain except pride in winning these games. I almost laugh, yeah, I'm feeling really proud now.
Looks like my arrogance has led to my death. Yippee.