Seriously, the end of this chapter had me in tears. Don't know if it'll do the same to you guys, because of my vaguely mediocre writing, but I've tried ;) Just to say, I personally liked Thresh a lot.
The sound of the anthem wakes me from my slight daze. My whole body still aches from the episode with Cato and Clove- my heart is smarting too. I thought I left Clove, at least, on reasonably good conditions? She's always been a manipulative sort… Perhaps she just wanted me to believe all of that. Maybe she didn't even want me to work with her at all, and just viewed me as a threat against her and Cato… Well I'll never know, will I? Either she'll be dead or I'll be dead in a couple of days…
Doubt there'll be time for much conversation.
Sitting up, I rouse Marissa from her sleep. She opens her eyes blearily as I point up to the skies; we found a cave a few hours ago and were trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. Cato got me pretty badly- I knew I'd never hold out too well against him in a fight, but he absolutely humiliated me. At least my wits won out against his though, right? He thought I was dead… and I survived. It'll be his downfall, leaving someone to die. I'm surprised he hasn't learned better of it yet.
Crawling my way to the mouth of our tiny cave, I stick my head out, keeping my hands firmly grasped around two sharp knives. I'm not taking chances. Looking up to the sky, I feel Marissa crawling up beside me as we lie flat on the ground, holding up our heads by our elbows. We aren't taking any chances of being spotted. A loudly amplified voice- Claudius Templesmith's, the Games' announcer. I wonder what he wants? We listen, ears pricked up… and the news is half a blessing half a curse. My expression changes at least a thousand times during his speech, and when the trumpets go again to signal the end of the announcement… A feast. He's inviting us to a feast- there's something we all need desperately. Food, that's what me and Marissa need- I don't know about the others.
But to go to a feast? That means fighting it out for it- if everyone needs something, then everyone will most likely go… I guess they've got bored of watching us skulk around and stalk each other. They want some action, some blood. Because a feast always results in fatalities.
"I'll go," I say flatly, turning around to my red-haired companion. She opens her mouth to argue, pride wounded, but I interrupt her. "You can't use weapons. They want the fighters to go and massacre each other." but she still glares at me stubbornly. Sitting up, she gives me a cold look.
"I'm just as much in these Games as you are, Lykos," she says slightly haughtily. Irritated, I shake my head, trying my best to explain it to her. She can't go in! What if Clove sees her again? She'd be dead for sure! "If you're going, then I'm going with you. Even if I don't fight, I know I can't, there are other ways I can help. I'm not entirely defenseless, you know."
Fiercely, I grab both of her shoulders and look deep into those angry, amber eyes. I can't let her go! I'm not even sure that I want to go- we all know that Cato could take me, I bet Thresh could too, and Clove and Katniss might be able to at a distance. Honestly, it's suicidal for even me to go, and I've trained as a Career for years! Damn this, how can I explain it to her? I should tell her I love her, that I can't risk her… But I can't risk that, can I? She's too smart and headstrong to take that as an argument. Grinding my teeth, I say, "Don't you understand that I don't want to risk you?! I've lost practically everyone else in my life, and if you die too… I won't let you. I won't go."
We glare at each other, both wanting to prove the other wrong. She's smarter than me, but I can throw knives almost as well as Clove can. This is a fighting situation, not one where we have to outsmart others! Slowly, Marissa's eyes soften. She looks away for a second, then back at me. "I don't want to lose you either. So why don't we settle with both going? I've got an idea…"
And I have to go along with it. We're both starving hungry, and there's no other way for her to let me go. As we walk out of the cave entrance, she fills me in on her plan. And I have to smile. Sleeping in the Cornucopia and then running out and grabbing our packs before any of the others can do anything?
She really is a genius.
XXX
We approach the clearing stealthily, keeping our eyes out for Clove or Cato. If either of them come along we're screwed- but I doubt they will be. They'll be hunting the woods for firegirl and Peeper (his real name escapes my mind… Pita? Peeniss? Oh who knows, I don't care…)- we're not much of a threat. They know they can beat us, so why do they need to bother tracking us down properly? They can leave us till last… Unless we get them first. Or if somebody else does… Personally, I hope Thresh will get them. He'll crush their skulls easily… and then I can take him out with a knife to the back. Win-win.
Sneaking across the clearing, we run the last 100 metres to the Cornucopia, and duck inside it. Since it's a hot evening, the metal of the great golden horn is scorching to touch. As the space inside is very enclosed, we really have to squish up so not to touch the walls and burn ourselves. Eventually, she settles in my lap, and I wind my arms around her. I really don't know what I'd do if she died… thing is, if she died, I'd probably be dead too. Since we're generally together. Marissa empties her pack on the floor, and comes up with a handful of blackberries and half a litre of water. Not a great dinner… Although, if we get our pack in the feast tomorrow, we'll have plenty. She's emaciated- so thin that I can practically see her bones.
I'm probably better since I had a Careers diet before firegirl blew up our stash. But I doubt I'm much bigger.
We split the last of our supplies, and go to sleep that night with grumbling stomachs. Not a nice feeling, but we'll have food tomorrow. Or so I pray.
XXX
Marissa wakes me early the next morning. There are black circles around her eyes from lack of sleep, and she gives me a weak smile as she leans to kiss my nose lightly. I laugh hoarsely and sit up, rubbing sleep dust from my eyes.
"Wake up, sleeping beauty." she teases, and I smirk and lean to kiss her. For a few seconds our lips touch, before I pull away.
"Isn't that how you wake up a princess? Because seriously, I think you woke me up wrong."
Rolling her eyes, she silently points outside the mouth of the Cornucopia and I poke my head around. Slowly, a smile comes onto my face. Her plan worked: the table with the bags on it is already there. Two large black bags with 2 and 11 on them, two medium sized green ones with 4 and 5 on them (ours), and a tiny orange one with the number 12. It runs through my mind to steal someone's, but then it occurs to me that if I did, I'd be chased. And, looking at our other competitors, most likely killed.
I poise myself to run, and watch Marissa do the same beside me. My heart is racing- what a risky plan… What if it goes wrong? I'll have to trust her. She didn't fill me in on all the details, because it's her, but I'm going to have to have faith. As she whispers a countdown, so quietly I can barely hear it, I feel like I'm going back into the Games. Oh God…
And then, we're running. There is movement in the undergrowth around the clearing, and for a second my heart freezes as I stand still, hand hooked around the edge of a bag and one knife in hand… Staring around, terrified, I feel like time is stopping around me… An arrow is pointing at me from out of the bushes. Firegirl. My gaze locks with hers, and for a second I'm certain she's going to shoot… An arm grabs my arm and pulls me hard- turning, I see Marissa is staring at me with a look of horror on her face. She is shouting at me to run, her mouth is making the words but I can't hear her… Fear has taken over my whole body. An arrow aimed at my face… I run, and the arrow misses me by inches.
Sprinting as fast as I can after Marissa, I head for the woods. But I can't run fast enough, as another arrow pierces my arm and I fall with a yell to the floor. Staunching the flow of blood from the wound with one hand, I writhe in agony as I feel the head sinking in deeper… There are footsteps heading for me. I have to keep running! Getting up, holding the arrow in my shoulder and trying to numb the pain, with tears of fury in my face, I keep running. Marissa grabs me and pulls me into the safety of the woods where I fall to the ground immediately and sit on the floor, shaking- the pain in my arm is immense.
Stupid fucking firegirl!
Shivering, face drained of blood, I grab the arrow and slowly, agonisingly, pull it from my shoulder. With a moan of pain, I watch as the blood splurts from the wound down my arm. Throwing the arrow as far away from me as I can into the undergrowth, I hold the deep wound with one hand and grit my teeth. Marissa is holding it too, trying her best to staunch the bloodflow, but there's nothing she can do. I hear the sound of tearing and, looking up, watch as she tears a piece of canvas from the end of her trousers and wraps it around my arm. It's still bleeding, but that's the best she can do and, anyway, I want to watch the rest of the Feast. An arrow in the shoulder is nothing. There will be death.
Together, we crawl up to the edge and watch… Oh God. Clove is there. My heart skips a beat as I stare at her- she's straddling Katniss, with her knife at her throat and a look of sadistic glee on her face… Oh God she's mad. She's talking to Katniss, whispering to her, with her knife at her throat… Firegirl's struggling, and Clove's selecting a knife… This is going to be a torturous death. It's the same knife she was going to use on Rue, a curved, almost dainty little knife with a sharp blade. A beautiful thing… I wonder what she's going to do to firegirl? Honestly, after the arrow in the shoulder, I can't wait…
Marissa touches my arm. "Let's go, Lykos. Cato might be hunting."
For a few seconds I consider going with her… but I don't want to. My eyes are feasting on the sight in front of me- Clove is tracing her knife around firegirl's face. I want to see blood. I want to see firegirl's blood! All this time I wanted her dead- wanted to do it myself. At least it's Clove doing it. She'll do the job properly, not like bloody Cato… My eyes feast on the sight, and a small smile appears on my face. Hopefully it'll be long… I want to hear screams… Shaking my head, I try and get that thought out of my head. I'm not a killer, not like that… Or am I? All I want right now is to go and assist Clove in the torture… I can't. But there is a primal feeling of yearning to go and shred "Catnoose Evergreen" into a thousand pieces.
And anyway, if Clove is going to put on a show, shouldn't I watch? Be rude to walk away now.
"Lykos, once she's done torturing firegirl, she'll come after us. Come on- we've got food, and whatever else's in these bags. That's all we need. District 12 is as good as dead now. Come on."
"Let me watch." my voice is practically unrecognisable when I say that. I stare at her silently, with my eyes wide, and my heart beating fast. I need to watch this… there's something about me that's been missing the action, missing the killing. God, I've been trained all my life to kill. And I need to see this, simply to tell my grandchildren if I get out of here. The great day firegirl died, tortured slowly to death. I hope the Capitol doesn't censor the kill. That would just ruin it for everyone.
Turning my eyes back, I notice a shape in the distance, barrelling towards Clove and Katniss who are still locked on the ground… For a second I think it's Cato, from the large, bulky form and long strides, but then the figure's dark skin makes me realise something… It's Thresh. And he's running straight for the two duelling girls. Clove. My whole body tenses as I watch, wide-eyed. Marissa, beside me, is staring too- there is a look of half terror, half fascination on her face. I'm not fascinated. He's heading straight for Clove.
Thresh grabs her and pulls her off Katniss, right off her feet. I let out a sharp intake of breath and, standing up, move to grab another one of my knives. I've completely forgotten that Clove and I aren't allies anymore; all I can see is the look of fear on her face as the huge boy holds her in the air, screaming words I can't quite make out into her face. Then, he slams her to the ground with a resounding thunk, knocking all the wind out of her body. I let out a hiss, and I feel Marissa grab my hand hard, gripping it, silently willing me not to go. What's he doing?! Clove get up! God damn you, girl, get up! She's scrambling backwards on her hands and knees like a frantic insect- she's even dropped her bloody weapons! Get them! Get them!
I want to run out there and scream at her; what's she even doing?! DEFEND YOURSELF! PLEASE! Frantically, I make to run through the undergrowth and into the clearing and take Thresh on myself, but I cant- what would I do?! But I have to… I can't! COME ON, LYKOS!
Grabbing Marissa by the shoulders, I plant a passionate kiss on her lips. Then, eyes burning with fury, I sprint out of the bushes and hear her yelling behind me, trying to get me to stay back, to be safe. I scream at her to stay hidden, I scream at her to live and carry on even if I die… Pelting across the clearing towards Thresh, Clove and Katniss I bring my hand back to throw a knife; but I'm too far! Two hundred metres… Come on, it's only two hundred metres! I can do it!
Thresh is yelling at her again, a look of fury on his face and I can see the horror on Clove's face as she scrambles backwards, crying out back at him. He's advancing on her, holding a rock the size of a small loaf of bread in his hand. No!
"CLOVE!" I scream at the top of my lungs and she turns her head to look at me. Thresh looks at me too, and a dark look of hatred comes onto his features. Katniss stares at me too, and a look of anxiety comes onto her face. Fifty metres if that… Willing myself to run faster I watch as Thresh raises his arm high… And smashes the rock down on Clove's head. Things seem to go in slow motion.
She lets out a shriek of agony and falls backwards… as the boy from 11 raises his bloodstained rock away, I see the dent in her skull and I stop to a dead halt staring at her. I fall to my knees and just stare, in total shock, as she tries her hardest to breathe. Clove's dark eyes meet mine and I stare at her helplessly as, slowly, the life drains away from her. Katniss and Thresh are talking, now, he's threatening her… She gets up and runs and he doesn't follow. I can hear my heart beat in my ears… boom boom… boom boom…
The sound of a cannon?
No, it's not; Clove is still alive. Her eyes are still open, and I can see her chest rising and falling shallowly, trying to retain her life… A little blood dribbles out of the corner of her mouth. Thresh turns to me with malice in his eyes and lifts the rock again, ready to slam it down on my head… But fury fills me. How dare he?! How dare he let firegirl go?! With a roar of rage, I throw myself at the boy from 11 and we slam to the ground. Fury pulsing through my body, we struggle for a few seconds, like Katniss and Clove did, before he ends up on top. He smashes the rock towards my head and I duck away at the last minute- it crunches into the ground leaving a crater. Grass and mud fly everywhere, and I hiss in shock as he raises it again. Grabbing both of my knives, I stab them upwards into his stomach, using my own weight to push them further in, and he calls out in pain and flops on top of me.
His blood seeps through his shirt and onto me- I feel it staining my skin. He lies there on top of me, gasping. I flip him over, finally in control, and look down at him with crazed, sadistic eyes. A smile comes onto my face at the look of defeat in those dark eyes… But I feel a nagging feeling of doubt in me. Was he really beaten that easily? I'm just beginning to doubt it, when he throws himself at me, knocking me to the floor. A fist sinks itself into my face, and I feel a splurt of blood coming from my mouth. He begins to pummel me- sinking punch after punch into my face, neck and chest.
For a few moments I lie there, pain filling me and knowing I'm going to die… Then I remember the way he sank that stone into Clove's head and a new power fills me. Bringing my leg up, I knee him in the crotch and bring my leg up even further to kick him in the face.
"How does it feel, 11?!" I hiss, as a dribble of blood comes from his nose. Bringing a fist back to punch him again, I try and sink it into his face but he grabs my hand and stops me, pushing me backwards.
I skid across the floor, smashing into the Cornucopia and lie, dazed, against it for a second before springing to my feet. Out of my jacket I grab a small knife and ready myself… He's running towards me, arms outstretched, ready to smash my head into the side of the great golden horn and be done with it… At the last moment before he collides with me, I sidestep and he smashes headlong into the metal. Then, grabbing him in the small of the back, I sink the knife into his head and twist slowly…
Blood splatters out of the wound and he struggles, letting out great bellows of pain, but I don't care. Carving the skin away upwards with my knife, I watch as it flaps, disconnected from the skull, before stabbing again, harder. The sound of crunching hits my ears and I hit something soft… More blood comes out, coating my hands and forearms and he's screaming in agony now, but I don't care… Twisting the blade around mercilessly, I stab for one final time… He goes limp. Slowly, as I watch him fall, twitching to the ground and his cannon goes… An air of satisfaction fills me. I turn back to Clove who is lying, now, breathing shallowly. The look on her face is of purest pain. I stagger over to her side and fall to my knees, staring into her eyes. Several tears fall and splash onto the ground.
Clove. The girl who lay in my arms all those nights, the girl who kissed me, the kitten with sharp claws… She's being taken from me. Being taken from this world. Grabbing one of her limp hands, I hold it in both of mine and stare at her. It can't be happening! She's not… she's not dying. It's all a dream… Oh God. But I'm conflicted- is it better she dies now rather than me having to face off with her later? NO!
"Clove…" I whisper, and a tear dribbles down my cheek. "I'm sorry. So sorry. He's dead now. I killed him."
"I think I saw that… did you have to make that much mess?" she let's out a shaky laugh, and then bursts into a round of coughing. Eyes watering, she chokes, and sprays blood from her mouth all over her front. Moving behind her, I settle so her head is on my lap and stroke her hair, trying to help her get through death peacefully. Eventually, after she's stopped coughing, she looks up at me with pathetic eyes. She knows she can't win. She knows she's dead, now. "I just wanted things to be right… I wanted to go home… Is that so wrong?"
"No, Clove, it's not wrong… But you need to sleep now." my words are almost nonsensical, like I'm talking to a baby. Sweet nothings- what do I mean, she's going to sleep? She's going to die, damn it, and we both know that. She's not a child. She's 14 years old, and she's going to die. "It's alright, Clove. Nothing can hurt you now. Nothing can hurt you. I promise."
For a few moments, she is silent, staring deep into my eyes. She reaches up and kisses my lips- I do nothing to stop her. Although I know Marissa is watching, there's nothing I can do. I know her too well to think she'll be made jealous by this- this is a dying kiss. For a few seconds her lips remain on mine, and I feel the sweet savour of blood dribbling into my mouth. And then she breaks away, and pearly tears come out of her eyes.
"Please, if you see my family, tell them I tried? Tell them I tried to win but I couldn't… please tell them?"
I nod, not wanting to tell her I probably won't win. I'll try.
"Win. I'm so sorry… I was so upset and jealous… I'm so sorry… So sorry… so sorry…" her breathing is slowing, and her eyelids are drifting shut. Taking two fingers, I gently help them shut. She's still mumbling that she's sorry, over and over again, as if in sleep. I reach down, tears dripping down my cheeks fast now, and tell her that I know. I tell her that I forgive her. She lets out one last exhale, before lying still.
Clove's cannon booms.
Please Review. For all you Lyove lovers, all is not lost... I have some news for you next chapter that might just cheer you up a little bit... Have to wait and see...