I pulled away from Rose, slightly dazed. Once I was able to grab a hold of reality, I leaned into her and whispered in her ear, "We're on live television, five. Even if I did go that way, I'd still kill you. Emotions are nonexistent in this arena." I heard her laughing softly, and leaned back to look at her face. She was smiling goofily and staring at me with soft eyes.
"If you did not have any emotion other than the ones you pretend to harbor, I would be dead right now. Please tell me why you have not killed me yet," she pleaded softly. I looked down and then looked back at her.
"I made a promise to my sister. She is the only reason you're still alive. Learn to be grateful and never question me again."
The anthem played and the faces of the dead tributes glowed in the sky. Marvel and Thresh's faces lit up the sky a tiny bit, and I tried to ignore the fact that Marvel was only up there because I had killed him. He's with Glimmer, though, Clove. It's okay—he's with something he loves, my sister's voice told me. Maybe that was true…but was there really an afterlife? Could there truly be a place where people could be at peace? A place without the Games…somewhere you are not forced to kill each other?
"I'm still dizzy," Rose admitted. I glanced over at her, thinking of why she would be passing out and feeling so faint. "I think I'm running a fever." Reaching over, I touched the back of my hand to her forehead, and sure enough she was burning up."Am I going to die…?"
"No. I will not let you," I whispered. Through the darkness, I saw her smile at me. "Don't think you're going to die, because you—" I was interrupted by a beeping sound, and I looked up to see a small silver parachute slowly floating down. Attached to the parachute was a cylinder; I ran over to where it landed and eagerly opened the cylinder, jabbing my hand into it and pulling out a small bag of…pills? A note inside read:
Wow—your first sponsor. Surprise, surprise
Pulling a canteen of water out of my backpack, I held Rose's head up and had her swallow a sip of water along with a pill. "Sleep," I commanded. She nodded and closed her eyes. After putting everything away, I lay next to her, feeling her cuddle up next to me to keep warm. Rose may be taller and smarter than I, but she was not as strong as I was.
There was a chance she wouldn't make it.
Realizing this, I stood up quickly. Rose groaned and twitched, but she did not fully awaken. I grabbed my backpack and held a knife in my hand as I ran deeper into the forest. I was unsure of who I was looking for, though I did believe that it would be Katniss, Rue, or Peeta. I could not bring myself to kill Cato yet; it'd be too hard, even for someone like me.
"Attention, tributes! We have a surprise for you at the Cornucopia. You all need something right now, and that is what we have for you. Pick up your 'something' tomorrow morning at the Cornucopia!" a voice boomed. A deep growl escaped the back of my throat, displaying my irritation. I had hoped to kill someone tonight. Now, though, morning sounded like the better plan.
Disregarding everything that told me to wait for morning, I continued to trudge through the forest, trying desperately to make my footsteps as quiet as Rose's. For a moment, I stopped walking. In that moment, I heard leaves rustling behind me. Hiding behind a tree, I watched as three figures walked past the tree I was behind. It was Rue, Peeta, and Katniss. I suppose I had to give Rue some credit for staying alive, though I knew that the only reason she was alive was because Katniss and Peeta were protecting her.
The knife grew heavier in my hand, though I did know why. My eyes were fixed on Rue; she'd be the easiest kill. It was evident that Katniss cared for her, and killing Rue would mean destroying Katniss a little. Perhaps, in that split second of Katniss's shock and depression, I would be able to kill her as well. That would leave Peeta, but he would be so upset over his girlfriend's death that he'd be begging me to kill him.
Maybe I could have some fun with this.
I darted out from behind the tree and wrapped my arm around Rue's small neck as quickly as possible. My other hand held my knife against her throat. Katniss aimed an arrow at me, but I shook my head. She stared at Rue for a minute, then back at Peeta, and then at me.
"It's three against one, Clove. You can't win," Peeta said.
"Drop all of your weapons or I'll kill her right now. All three of you know that I can and will kill her," I stated. Slowly, Katniss and Peeta lowered their weapons. "I said drop, not lower." A smile was plastered to my face as I dug the knife deeper into Rue's throat, hearing her whimper in pain.
"Katniss…please…just kill her…" Rue begged. Just as Katniss dropped down to pick up her bow, I ran the knife across the young girl's neck and fled from the scene. Katniss was able to shoot an arrow at me, catching me in the shoulder.
"Rue!" I heard Katniss scream. My smile grew wider at the sound of the canon firing.