Second chapter today! =] Warning: For all of you that really hate graphic violence, skip this chapter. It gets pretty gory, as will parts of the rest of the story.

She wasn't sure where they were going, only that Cato was leading with such confidence that he'd been there before. She wanted to turn around and go back to the safety and non-violence of the cave, but at the same time she knew that he was about to show some of his crazy and that it would be better if someone else was there to receive it.

He ducked under a branch that swung back, snapping her in the face. It made her cheek sting, and she frowned at the rudeness of not warning her before she realized that she'd just be digging herself a bigger hole.

Finally, she saw it—a trail of smoke twisting and dispersing off into the sky. Whoever had been dumb or desperate enough to light a fire was about to pay for their actions.

Cato slowed his gait just enough to be more deliberate about how he placed his feet...how this near-200-pound boy could move so quietly was beyond her. He circled, coming to the back of the Tribute when Evania recognized him. She tried to snatch Cato's arm to stop him, but she was too slow and he was already breaking from his cover with a savage yell.

Paul, the boy from her District, hit the ground hard, and she heard a crack that could only have been a bone. "No! No, please! Please!" the boy begged, eyes meeting his attackers. This only made him panic worse, thrashing around and trying to no avail to remove Cato's grip.

"Stop!" barked Cato, straightening and moving his grip to the boy's neck.

Immediately, Paul froze, the terror in control now.

"This girl, she's been staying with me. She's definitely not a Career, but she is useful. But get this—she hasn't killed anyone yet!" Cato laughed, pausing for a moment. "So, I thought I'd help her out. It's not hard to track one of you worthless losers down, and you aren't hard to kill. Since she couldn't do it completely alone, I found you. Now you get the honor of being the pretty lady's first kill."

Paul looked at her, stunned. "Is it true, Evania? You're with the Careers?"

"More like, 'Career.' The only other ones left are Clove and Marvel, and they don't have to know how I'm keeping so well-fed."

"How could you? You knew that they already had the upper hand with all their years of training, and all their sponsor gifts." Paul was near tears, he was so furious.

"Paul, it isn't what it sounds like..."

"Isn't it? You faithless bitch!"

At those words, Cato stood, sending a vicious kick into Paul's side. Ribs cracked, and he landed face down in front of Evania. "Now, is that any way to speak to a lady?"

"No 'lady' would team up with a Career, especially one like you! The Evania I knew helped people, not whatever the hell she does with you."

"Shut up, Paul." she finally snapped, tired of hearing about what a traitor she was. She knew that by teaming up with Cato she would have betrayed some people, but she just couldn't not do it...there was something about him that was irresistible, and surely the sponsors that had stuck by her realized the predicament she was in. She owed him her life, and he owed her his...they were technically even, but still stuck together.

"Why should I? Because you want me to, and now that you're fucking Mr. Career-Boss here everyone has to do what you say?"

Evania stood in shock for a moment before kicking dirt into his face. "I'm not fucking anyone, but I'm sure you mother will be happy to hear you talking like that back home. Last words out of her son's mouth so foul not even a sailor would think them."

That wasn't necessarily true, but he was young enough to believe it and she wanted him to shut up.

He turned red in the face, but didn't stop. "And what about your mother? What would she think of you spreading your legs for this asshole?"

Evania laughed. "I haven't, so I'm sure she hasn't had any issue with the way I've conducted myself." she didn't bother mentioning that both of her parents were dead.

Cato was oddly silent, and she realized that he was observing, learning. That was part of what made him such an effective hunter.

"Go die, Evania. Go get that cute face all cut up and your head chopped off and your guts strung all across Panem."

Her jaw dropped, but before she could think of a response Cato intervened. "Is that any way to treat your District partner? Is it really, now?" she saw him glancing to the crippled foot that Paul had, and before she had time to blink Cato's boot had come down on it, and the sound the shattering bones made was unforgettable. How he had not been crying before, she had no idea, but now he screamed bloody murder and the thrashing began anew.

Her stomach twisted at the sight, and she had to put herself somewhere else in her mind to escape it.

"Now, see?" Cato asked tauntingly, smirking at the prone boy. "You can't do something like that and let it go unpunished."

"You're right, you can't." the voice rang out from across the clearing, and Evania straightened up to see a Tribute she didn't recognize striding from the trees. He held a wicked-looking scythe, and before Evania knew it it was leveled with her throat.

"Cato!" Evania screamed, trying her hardest to hold still so she wouldn't cut herself on the blade.

He turned, eyes full of rage. "Now what did you do that for?"

The newcomer ignored the question. "Let the boy go."

"What about him interests you?"

"He is my partner, much as this girl is yours."

"He's useless—his foot is shattered."

She felt the boy behind her moving, and she just barely had time to shift her foot out of the way of a vicious stomp. The movement cost her though, making a thin line of blood ooze from behind the blade. She fought back her panic at the sensation, blinking and wishing that Cato would hurry up and do something.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that," murmured Cato with sadistic glee.

"I'll do whatever the fuck I please."

"Well, while you're doing that, you should remember one thing—for every drop of blood you take from her, I take twice that from him. Who do you think is likely to die first?"

"Probably her," Paul hissed, kicking out at Cato with his good foot. Cato dodged easily, but rather than turn to face the boy he kept the armed one in his line of sight.

"You should really rethink what you're about to try to do," he snickered, the laugh trailing off into a snarl. "People have a tendency to get in way too deep in these games, and it would be a pity if something you cared about met a very...slow...end."

"Is that so?" asked the boy, tightening his grip on her.

"Let go of me!" she growled, connecting the heel of her boot with his shin.

His grip loosened for a millisecond, but a millisecond was all it took for Cato to pounce, taking both of them to the ground. The intruder swung with the scythe, aiming for Cato's head but Evania took the opportunity to snatch the handle closer to the end, causing it to miss. "You are just a ruthless little bitch, aren't you?" Cato laughed, smiling at her before drilling the other Tribute in the skull with his fist. The boy realized he was in trouble, but had no time to do anything about it before Cato had taken over the scythe, and beheaded him neatly.

He spat onto the bleeding, headless body. "Let that teach you to mess with one of the pack."

Paul was lying a few yards away, face ashen with fear. He cowered as they approached him. "This one is yours, Evania."

"Cato, please don't—"

"I just saved your life! You owe me this!"

She slowed, knowing he was right but unwilling to risk the hate of her District should she kill one of their own.

Paul was shaking. "I'm sorry for what I said, Evania," he whimpered, fear dictating his every move. "Please don't hurt me."

"If you don't kill him he'll starve to death," Cato reminded her coldly. "The only humane thing to do is finish him."

"I know," she whispered, tears running down her face. "Please—please. Cato please don't make me. I knew him, he worked a few barns over and he's just a little kid."

The Career took the scythe, running it across the boy's stomach. A line of red appeared. "Evania, a few minutes ago he was rooting for you to be beheaded. Do you really believe he wouldn't do it if the situations were reversed?"

"No...no, he'd do it." she whispered. "He'd do it no problem."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" he snapped impatiently.

"I...I..."

"Here. Since something like that won't motivate you to do your job, maybe this will." this time he pressed the blade harder, and more crimson welled up. She could see into the cavity of his stomach...if Cato moved him, his guts would spill out.

Paul was screaming, begging, but none of it seemed to affect Cato in the least. He went on about his business like nothing had happened. Seeing that she was still going to wait for him to do it, he reached down, pulling a handful of the boy's intestines out.

The scream Paul gave at that was unlike anything Evania had ever heard before. It was a wail of disbelief, confusion, pure blind terror. He lost the ability to speak comprehensibly.

"Put him out of his misery, Ev. Do it, because you know that I won't. I can sit here all day and torture him, and it won't make a bit of difference to me. His pain means nothing to me."

The sound of retching came, and she realized that Paul had been sick all over himself. "Cato, please!"

He pulled out more. "Cato!"

"It's not like there's nothing you can do," he growled, insanity shining in his eyes.

"I can't kill people, Cato!"

"Oh well. He'll bleed out shortly anyway."

"Ev, please!" Paul finally managed, "Please! Even the Capitol can't fix this!"

She knew he was right. They both were. And she wanted the screaming to stop, but...it wasn't worth killing someone. She was already going to see this every time she closed her eyes, hear this in every silence.

Still, she took the scythe from Cato, who was smiling deviously. The guts in his hand shone, and the new exposure to the air had to be stinging like hell. She lined up the scythe with his neck, and she was just about to flinch away when Paul pushed up against it, slicing deeply into his jugular.

Blood spurted up onto Cato, and onto her...it was like a great, bubbling fountain, and she cried out in dismay at the sight. "See? You did it!" applauded Cato, dropping the dying boy to the ground.

She fell to the ground, shaking and unable to look at him. How could she have just done that? How could he do that without a second thought? Why was the Capitol so cruel that it forced them all to have to endure something that no child should ever have to go through? Because that's what they were—children. Barely old enough to make their own decisions, then thrust into a place where they had to make decisions about life and death all the time, be it their own or someone else's.

"Let's go," Cato said without emotion. "We have to clear out so they can collect the bodies."

She laid there, barely able to look up at the cruel beauty before her. "No."

He reached for her, scooping her up. "Come on. Not only do we need to let them take care of these bodies before they start rotting, we need to take care of this, too." he ran the pad of his thumb over the thin cut the intruding Tribute had left on her throat.

"Which one was he from?" she asked absentmindedly, not looking at him.

"I don't know," Cato replied with equal disinterest. "It doesn't really matter now. He picked the wrong fight and he won't be going back because of it."

At this point, Evania fell silent, wishing desperately that she hadn't allowed him to drag her off on his hunting trip. If she hadn't just let him boss her around, then maybe Paul would've died quickly. At least if Cato had found him alone she wouldn't have had to see it.

They reached the cave again within less than an hour. Cato moved straight to the back, unzipping his sleeping bag and sliding her into it. She laid there, gazing up at the ceiling, seeing everything that wasn't actually there.

It didn't take him long to realize that he didn't have anything to treat the cut she had. If their roles had been reversed, she would've had some kind of leaf gunk to put there and it would've made everything better. But she was in some kind of horror-induced stupor, and therefore no help.

He still tried. "Ev, you need to tell me what to do. I don't have any medicine, which is what I'd normally use on something like that. I don't know what kind of leaf it was you showed me that stopped bleeding. This isn't a very bad wound but it needs taken care of."

She just looked at him before reaching out, taking one of his bloody hands in hers. She examined it, turning it over and gazing at the gore with an analytical stare. "Why did you want me to kill someone?"

"Because, Ev, this is the Hunger Games. People die. You have to kill people in order to not die yourself."

"I didn't think I was capable of something like that," she whispered.

"You barely did anything. If I wasn't afraid it'd drive you nuts, I'd say that it didn't count."

Her eyes flashed angrily as she sat up. "You think that it's not my fault they're dead? You might've taken out the first and condemned the second, but if I hadn't been kill-less, you wouldn't have gone looking for them in the first place!"

"Of course I would! Their deaths were just a matter of time, just like—"

"Like what?" she asked quietly. "Like mine?"

He just growled, staring at her with an unnerving intensity.

She laughed, on the edge of madness herself. "What? Do you think I don't know that you'll have to kill me sooner or later? Face it, Cato. My death is imminent, just like your victory."

He closed his eyes, making an unintelligible noise.

"What?" she asked irritably, disregarding the recklessness of what she was doing.

"Just shut up!" he finally snarled, shoving her back against the wall with more force than he'd used on her to date. "Shut up! I really don't wanna fucking hear it!"

Sensing the peril she was in, she didn't respond.

His hand found her throat. His fingers carefully encircled it, tightening threateningly. "Just. Shut. Up."

She wanted to cry, but held it in, focusing on keeping her breathing even. That was something she'd noticed with kills she'd seen him make in the past...when their breathing became panicked, he lost more of himself to the hunt. Instead of verbally replying, she just nodded, not making eye contact.

He made a frustrated sound, letting go and turning to leave. He did so without another word, and she crawled back to his sleeping bag, curling up in it and breathing in his scent. It was reassuring, despite her fear of what he was capable of.

Despite knowing it was wrong, she wished that he was still there.