Chapter 14:
Clove's body was aching, it felt like layers of her skin were being slowly ripped away. She tries to scream but all she hears was another deep voice screaming for help.
"Help…. Help…." A shout from an unknown voice said
Who is that? Why is that person calling for help when I'm the one that's being injured, Clove thought. The deep voice that she hears continues to scream for help. With the little strength she has left, she turns her head and her eyes widen in fear as she sees Cato being strangled by a huge snake.
"CATO!" Clove shouts
"H-help me, C-clove…" Cato mutters
"Cato! I'm coming" Clove says. She tries to stand but fails miserably as her body won't move. She looks down to her body and her eyes widen in fear as she sees two huge snakes holding her down. They were wrapped around her body and they were digging in their razor sharp teeth into her skin. Clove screams loudly making the two huge snakes hiss at her.
"C-Clove!" Cato shouts
Clove tries her best to wriggle her way out of the tight grips of the snakes, doing that irritated the snakes. It each went to Clove's ears they hissed at her first then pierced her ears next. Clove screams as loud as she can and her eyes widen in fear as she doesn't hear a thing. She suddenly feels something warm oozing out of both of her ears and it falls down the sides of her face. The snakes satisfied with their ear biting goes back down and continues biting her skin off.
"Help!" Clove screams, but all that comes out was just a little squeak.
"Clove!" Cato shouts
Clove gives Cato a I'm-so-sorry-i-can't-be-with-you-anymore-look as she shakes her head.
"No, Clove!" Cato shouts as he sees a small tear falling down from Clove's face
Clove gives him a reassuring smile and looks away and thinks to herself, It's no use, Cato. I'm going to die soon. I'm sorry that I can't be with you any longer. I'm sorry because I wasn't able get out of this damn snake... I was weak. I'm sorry I failed you but at least now you won't have to worry about me, you can finally concentrate on winning the games. Goodbye, Cato… I love you. Clove closes her eyes and wishes it for all to be over but it doesn't and then she remembers. The Tracker Jackers! Their poison is messing with my body! Shit. How long will this last? Can't I just die? Let me die …, Clove thought. Her request didn't come true as the snakes continued to bite her skin off. Clove tries to scream one last time but it doesn't work as she only hears once again a little squeak.
Clove turns her head and sees Cato in pain as well. She tries to get his attention but fails miserably. She tries to wriggle her way out of the snakes grips again but it pissed of the snakes and went to her face and bites her eyes out. Her vision suddenly goes black and like a horrible nightmare, she starts to see visions of her loved ones.
Clove's father being hung in the justice building where everyone can see, he tries to escape but the peacekeepers block his path.
Clove's mother walking around in the market, in each hand she had multiple grocery bags filled with food and all of a sudden a gang of kids came out, These are the kids who weren't able to join the games. They had huge clubs, sharp swords and guns with them. Her Mother sees them, she tries to run away but they get a hold of her. They tease her, touch her and play with her while the others go through the stuff she bought. Clove's mother was a knife user like her so she had a small knife with her, she catches the other guy and slices his throat, killing him. The rest of the gang glares at her and proceeds to beat her to death, slicing her, shooting her, hitting her while she cries for help. No one responded, no one seems to care about a woman being beaten up.
Carter, her brother was being reaped for the games. Clove's eyes widen in fear as she sees her little brother walking up the stage, the female tribute brings out a bow and arrow and shoots him multiple times. The girl's hair was short and messy and it was blonde. Clove's eyes widen with anger as she knows that girl, Glimmer Rose. Glimmer killed her brother.
Cato, her man, her everything was alive. Clove smiled and thought At least the tracker jacker stings got something right. She was smiling and was enjoying herself watching Cato live a normal life when all of a sudden a blonde haired girl entered the house and tapped Cato's shoulder. Cato turned around and quickly kissed the girl. The girl wrapping her legs around him and kissing back. Clove's eyes widen in anger and thinks to herself Who's that b***h? Why is she with Cato? Wait… Blonde short messy hair, perfect curves, perfect skin tone. Glimmer… Why is she with Cato? Wait, no. this isn't supposed to be like this. Why is this happening? Glimmer's from 1 and Cato's from 2? And why is Glimmer alive? They couldn't have allowed two victors? What's going on? Clove thought. Glimmer pushed Cato's head to her neck, while Cato was kissing her neck. Glimmer looked at Clove and winked at her.
Clove wakes up screaming with a little cursing added into it. She stops and touches her ears "I can hear" she says. She looks at her body and sees it healed "I'm okay" she says. She then looks for the tracker jacker stings and says "I'm healed…"
"You're finally awake" A boy says
Clove turns her head and sees Michael sitting down on one of the logs holding a weapon tightly. Clove takes a look at him and sees that he has eye bags under his eyes, He must have stayed awake the whole time while I was sleeping. She looks around and sees that she was back in her camp. "What happened?" Clove asks
"I was done setting up the mine traps so I decided to get cleaned up. When I got to the lake I saw all of you collapsed on the ground so I carried all of you one by one back to the camp" Michael says
"All.. of us?" Clove says as she processes it in her mind but one thing comes into her head and she shouts it out loud "CATO!" She turns her head and sees him beside her still sleeping soundly and healed. Clove sighs in relief and brushes a part of his hair away from his face causing Cato's eyes to snap open and grab Clove's wrist and pulls her down into a hug.
"I thought you were dead" Cato whispers
Clove smiles and lays down on his chest happily hearing his heart beating as she whispers "I won't leave you alone, Cato. I promised you"
Cato hugs Clove tighter not wanting to let go, the fear of losing her crept in as he whispered "I love you"
Clove smiles and says "I love you too"
They both stay in that position in a few minutes, not really caring that Michael could see the whole thing. Michael smiles at the sight and looks away to give them some alone time for a few minutes.
Clove chuckles and sits up, helping Cato up. She takes a look at her injuries and his and finds it all healed. She turns to Michael and says "Why are we all healed? What happened?" Clove asks
Michael was about to tell them the whole story when Marvel sat up quickly and turned his head around frantically.
"What the hell happened?" Marvel asks
"We were just about to ask that question to him when you interrupted!" Clove scowls
Michael sighs and says "I was finished setting up the mines liked you ask and I wanted to freshen up a bit so I went to the lake and found the three of you collapsed on the ground. I checked Marvel first since I was nearest to him and saw tracker jacker stings. I panicked and went over to you and Cato and saw the same stings but Clove you had tracker jacker stings and sliced up injuries. I started to panic, I didn't know what to do then some stuff landed on my head and I saw two silver parachutes. I knew that it was from your sponsors, so I carried Clove first since she was the lightest and was in the worst shape. When I got all of you to the camp, I healed your injuries by using the stuff the sponsors sent you guys. I took some survival lessons at training and it came in handy and that's it"
"Not bad, 3. Not bad" Cato grins
"Thanks, I owe you" Clove mutters
"Wait… Us 3? Where's Glimmer?" Marvel says as he turns his head frantically to find Glimmer's body lying down anywhere
Clove quickly remembers everything that happened. She killed Glimmer, she didn't know how to break it to Marvel so she decided on telling Cato later.
"Where is she?" Cato asks
"I don't know. Like I said, I only saw you three on the ground, while I was moving your bodies, a canon fired and on that night her face appeared in the sky" Michael mutters
"S-she's dead?" Marvel stutters
Clove bows her head down and grins an evil smirk. Cato who didn't give a damn about Glimmer saw Clove's little evil grin and knew something was up.
"You're lying!" Marvel shouts. He charges for Michael but Cato pushes him back down
"Get a f***ing grip, Marvel" Cato scowls
Clove pins Marvel down and quickly knocks him out by hitting him on the neck and she says "Bring him to his tent. He'll be awake tomorrow morning and while your at it, Go get some rest. You earned it."
Michael nods and drags Marvel's body like a stroller bag
"Wait, how many days have passed?" Cato asks
"2 days" Michael says as he places Marvel inside his tent and goes to his own to get some well deserved sleep time.
"Tomorrow, we hunt" Cato says
Clove stretches her body and sits back down on the log, a little later Cato sits back down while he places his arm around Clove's waist and pulls her closer to him, making Clove lean on his shoulder.
"I need to tell you something, Cato" Clove mutters
"What's wrong?" Cato asks as he holds on to Clove tighter
"I killed Glimmer…" Clove mutters
"You what? You couldn't have, could you?" Cato asks
"Don't play stupid, Cato. I know that you know already. Didn't you hear what the boy from 3 said? I was sliced up badly! Being sliced up is not made by tracker jackers but made by another tribute." Clove says frantically as she faces Cato and stares him in the eye.
"Clove, I don't give a f**k about Glimmer. Who gives a shit if she dies by your hands? As long as she's dead and your still alive" Cato says with a grin as he wraps his arm around her waist and pulled her close once again. Clove was now leaning on Cato's chest listening to his steady heart beat when Cato adds "Although, I do want to know how you killed her"
Clove chuckles and says "You'll know at the replay of the whole games at the victor's ceremony"
"Not revealing eh?" Cato grins
Clove grins and says "I need at least one skill to hide from you"
Cato leans closer to Clove and whispers in a seductive voice "You can't hide anything from me"
Clove nudged Cato, pushing him a little bit backwards and said "Shut up"
Clove looks up at the sky and sees it getting darker. She starts to shiver as she pulls up the zipper of her jacket to keep warm. Cato sees this and he wraps his arms around Clove to keep her warm.
"Let's go back to the tent, in this weather no one would attack us" Clove mutters
"Fine" Cato says as he lifts Clove up easily and brings her to the tent. He slowly places her down and zips up the tent to lessen the cold air coming inside.
"Clove, If you're going to fight a tribute. Please tell me? I don't want to lose you" Cato says
"Cato, you won't lose me!" Clove says
"Clove, please! Seeing you not beside me gives me a lot of hell inside. When I saw you collapsed on the ground and bleeding my heart skipped a beat. I thought you were dead, Clove!" Cato says frantically
"Cato…" Clove mutters
"Clove, Please… Seeing you bleeding and on the ground…" Cato muttered but he was cut off when Clove wrapped her arms around him and claimed his lips softly she then pulled away whispering "I'm sorry. I won't leave your side again and besides. The great Cato worrying? It doesn't suit you"
Cato wraps his arm around Clove's waist and grins at her while saying "Shut up, Cleverwood"
"Much better" Clove grins as she claims his lips once again.
The next day, Clove and Cato exited their tents looking well relaxed and energized and ready to kill some tributes. They went to their camp fire and found Marvel sitting on one of the logs looking depressed and beaten down.
"What's wrong with you?" Clove asks and she gets no answer from him.
"Don't bother, I tried talking to him a while ago and he wouldn't say a word" Michael says as he appeared from the other side while eating an apple
Clove rolls her eyes and sits down at the other side of the camp fire where Cato was cleaning his sword.
"Tell me, for the past two days we've been out how many tributes died?" Cato asks
"One" Michael says
"Glimmer…" Clove says
Marvel's eyes widen in anger and shouts "shut up! It can be the fire girl or lover boy! I don't see him anywhere!"
Clove glares at Marvel and thought to herself, Is he stupid? Michael already told him that Glimmer's face appeared in the night sky the day he found us. What's wrong with him? He's practically broken hearted and beaten down. Did he like Glimmer? If he did then why didn't he show so much emotion when Glimmer was flirting around with Cato? I know I did. I somehow do know how he feels but instead of whining and protesting like that, I'll go and avenge Cato's death and win the games in his honor but for Marvel that's not the case. He's lost it.
"They're not dead. As far as I can remember, the canon sounded when I got to Lover Boy, and when I got there, he was pushing Fire Girl away, telling her to run. He f***ing betrayed us and what's worse is that Fire Girl was holding Glimmer's bow and arrows in her hands. I saw Glimmer, Marvel. She was sliced up and beaten down. She didn't look like she was going to stand up. She looked like shit – " Cato was cut off when Marvel shouted "SHUT UP! HOW CAN YOU F***ING SAY - -" He was cut off when Clove shouted "MARVEL, SHUT THE F**K UP. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW THE F***ING TRUTH? THEN FINE. I KILLED GLIMMER!"
Marvel's eyes widen in fear, "B***H! Why did you do that? She was our ally! Why did you kill an ally?" Marvel shouts
"An Ally who couldn't do a damn f***ing thin except flirt and be pretty" Clove scowls
"Her looks could have gotten us sponsors! Isn't that why we are healed now?"He shouts
"And yet, Me and and Cato got 3 gifts and you guys got 1. When Glimmer died that's when you got your first gift, dumbass" Clove shouts back
"Shut the f**k up, Cleverwood! She was an ally and you had no right to kill her" Marvel shouts
"F***ing wake up, Marvel. This is the Hunger Games not the Ally Games. We kill to survive. We kill everyone even our allies. Allies only prove their worth once, Once you have done that, you will die. Glimmer proved her worth and failed and I'm not going to stick around this f***ing arena with a b***h like her who can't even f***ing do a thing" Clove shouts
Marvel doesn't say a word, his eyes now filled with anger and hatred. He takes the sword beside him and charges for Clove who was getting ready to throw a knife, When Marvel was halfway there, Cato stood in front of Clove and pushed Marvel to the ground and said "WALK OFF YOUR ANGER!" Marvel shrugs off what Cato says as he quickly grabs the sword and tries to stab Clove again but fails miserably when Cato swiftly takes the sword out of his hands and pushes him down "F***ING WALK IT OFF, STONE"
Marvel gives a death glare to Clove to give her a sign that she better watch out, Clove returned his glare with the same glare she gave Glimmer, the eye piercing death glare. Marvel looks away and is now off by himself, walking off his anger while cursing loudly.
Clove sighs and sits back down and says " He certainly didn't take that well"
Cato turns around and chuckles and sits back down beside her and says "Do you think Marvel likes Glimmer?"
"Probably. Look at him. He's a f***ing mess. I know I would be, if you would die" Clove mutters
"Clove, you know that one of us is going - -" Cato was cut off when Clove says "I don't want to talk about it, Cato"
"Clove, look at us? What would happen if it gets down to a handful of us?" Cato asks
Clove sighs as she looks on the ground and thinks to herself I know, Cato. I know. You don't have to f***ing remind me every day. I know that one of us has to die, we both can't live, we both can't go back to our district. I won't be going back, Cato. You will.
Cato stares at Clove and sighs as he thinks to himself Clove, I'm sorry. I know that you don't want to talk about it but we have to. One of us has to die, we both can't go back, both of us can't live. They never will allow two victors. Clove, this might be the last moments we'd be sharing and I would cherish every single moment of it. You're the one going back, Clove. You'll win this.
"I know…" Clove says sadly "But what if - -" Clove added but she was cut off when Marvel came back and said "Where's Lover Boy?"
"I took him out right after Fire Girl got away" Cato says angrily
Clove glances at Cato and chuckles Someone's annoyed, she thought
"You're sure that you killed him?" Marvel asks
"Not exactly. I didn't initially kill him. I cut him pretty bad, and I know where I cut him. He'll bleed to death quickly" Cato says
"What?" Clove asks
"So you didn't kill him?" Marvel scowls
"Shut up, Marvel. When Cato says he knows where he cut him then lover boy will die soon!" Clove scowls back
"Why are you al - -" Marvel was cut off when Michael said "Oh, I forgot to tell you that the mines are in place and all your supplies are protected already"
Clove chuckles and shouts back "As long as we know where to step to go and actually get some stuff" Michael calls all of them over there to show them where to step in order to reach their supplies
"Now do NOT and I mean do NOT step anywhere else, you hear me?" Michael says harshly
Clove chuckles and mutters "Such a small kid. Thinking that his scratchy voice can scare me" Cato heard this making him chuckle as well.
"Not bad" Clove says, crossing her arms "So you're sure that this is a good idea? What if someone steps on a mine? Will any of the other supplies be damaged?" she asks
"The plates are pressure activated, so one explosion shouldn't set off another one" Michael says
Cato looks at Clove and sees that she was a little worried about the idea as she takes a few steps forward and takes a good amount of food in her bag.
"You're not going to have much room for weapons but then again that's better. No weapons for you just supplies then you will die." Marvel scowls, who they all know has about a dozen of weapons in his bag
"Sorry to burst your stupid dreams but all my knives are on my belts and pockets, dumbass" Clove scowls, showing each and every one of her knives neatly placed around her body making Marvel curse.
Once they got back to their camp fire, they spent have of their time trying to freshen up, forcing themselves to drink some water and eat some food. They fill their bellies, fully convinced that none of it has been touched.
"I like the way you arranged the supplies, piling some of it up and then scattering some more around the pyramid making it a bit of a little sculpture of the Cornucopia. If they try to get anything from there, they'll be blown to bits. Congratulate yourself, you did a good job" Clove grins
"T-thank you" Michael stutters as a little bright rose color formed on his cheeks making Cato roll his eyes
Clove took two apples and threw one to Cato who patted the ground beside him, Clove was about to relax beside him when she sees a huge black smoke rising from the forest
"Look! Someone's playing stupid" Clove chuckles
Everyone turns to the direction where Clove was pointing. Cato and Marvel were starting to arm themselves with weapons but Clove didn't move an inch as she was analysing the situation.
"It's too easy, It's a pretty huge pillar of smoke. Only an idiot who would do such a thing and I can simply recall that we've taken out all of the idiots in the games" Clove says
"You're over thinking this Clove" Cato says as he tightens his grip around his sword then he adds "Michael, go get your spear and let's go"
"We don't need to bring him!" Clove protests and then adds "Cato, you're not thinking clearly. It must be a trap! They must have seen our supplies and are now trying to get us away from it just so they could get some food. Only an idiot would do such a thing"
"Clove, we need to go now! I let Fire Girl escape and I'm not about to do it again" Cato scowls as he pulls Michael up from the log
"Cato, listen to me! It's a trap. They're all starting to get desperate! Or maybe they're just running out of food and they all know that we have all the supplies they need. It's a trap Cato" Clove scowls back
"Shut up, Cleverwood. Do you want me to repeat what I just said? I let Fire Girl go and I'm not about to do it again. Unlike you, who let her go when you could have easily killed her when she was sitting up on that damn tree" Cato shouts
"Shit. Cato, shut up! Can't you hear yourself? You're not thinking clearly!" Clove shouts back
"Just shut your f***ing mouth, Cleverwood. He' coming. We need him in the woods, his job is done here. No one can touch those damn supplies. I don't want to hear another f***ing word out of you or else you're next" Cato says angrily
There was a moment of silence, Clove was still glaring at Cato and he was glaring back, until Marvel speaks up.
"What about Lover Boy?" Marvel asks
"I keep f***ing telling you, forget about that asshole. I know where I cut him. It's a f***ing miracle that he hasn't bled to death yet! He's in no condition to f***ing steal food from us" Cato shouts. He was starting to get impatient. His blood was starting to boil as he holds on to his sword tighter.
"Come on" Cato says shoving a spear into Michael's grasp. "When we find her, I'll kill her my own way and no one interferes and I also don't want another word coming out of all of you or else you're all going to die next" Cato shouts
Cato glances at Clove and sees a bit of disappointment in her eyes, he curses silently and makes a run for it to the woods. He didn't need to glance back to check if they were following him.
Clove ran after Cato who was sprinting his way to the fire. She curses lightly and thinks Cato, this is not like you. Why won't you listen to me? You know that this is a trap but why are you still going through with this? You were never this stupid. Open your eyes. You told me to calm you down when your mad but you won't listen... Have I failed you yet again? Has the games gotten in your head? Have you turned into a m-m… monster? No. Cato please… Open your goddamn eyes and turn back. This is a trap. I know that you're head is still in the game and is still pure enough to know that this is a trap. Why can't you understand that this will only lead us to our death? Open your eyes, Cato… please
Cato holds his sword tighter as he was making his way to the fire thinking Clove hasn't said a word ever since a while ago. Did I hurt her again? Shit. This games is turning me into a monster. Maybe I should stop and turn around but if I do then it will bring dishonour to my district. I can't let that happen. Clove should understand that this is the only way for us to win, for her to win. She needs to understand that everything that I do here is for her. She needs to understand that I'm doing this to keep her safe. Maybe I should have left her in the camp, no I can't do that. I need her beside me always. His thoughts were cut off when the fire was coming into his vision. He holds on tighter to his sword and runs faster thinking I'm coming for you 12, you will die in front of the whole world and no one will stop me. I'm coming for you, Katniss Everdeen.
Hey Guys, After this story I'm thinking of making a Catching Fire Cato and Clove version. What do you guys think? Should I? I want to hear from you if this is a good idea :)
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