Revenge

by awalkerlifeforme

Aspen lives in District 12, but she may as well never have. It isn't their skills that she possesses. Instead, she is the perfect District 2 girl. Tough inside and out, skilled with most weapons, and ready for the Reaping- physically that is. However, there is one thing that makes her different. The Games are not in her plans. She hates the Games. And she has more reason than most.

14. Chapter 14

In District 2...

Like every other day the Hadley household was buzzing with life. The house built for eight people was one person short but even with only one person missing it felt like the entire house was empty. The seven remaining Hadley's all crowded around the television watching as the Games began for the day. It was still early so most of the Tributes were still asleep. The large recliner in the middle of the room was empty and it weighed heavily on the family. It was the chair that their middle son always sat in, watching that year's Games eagerly.

The family had mostly been in segregation from the rest of the District since the Games had started. A few of the family's friends and some of Cato's had come by since the Games had started. On the day of the Bloodbath the family remembered having to ask a large number of their visitors to leave because they had only been asking why he had saved the girl from District 12. No one knew why. Cato's friends were all floored by his interactions with the girl from District 12. All of District 2 was.

No one could quite understand what was happening with the girl from District 12. She had proven herself to be nothing like anyone had expected. She'd stopped to speak to the little boy in the Capitol, she had literally been on fire during the Tribute Parade, she'd earned a twelve during training, and had given an Interview that had charmed everyone. She'd managed to get out of the Bloodbath relatively unscathed, she'd won every fight she'd been in during the Games, she'd managed to kill the wolf mutt, and she'd avoided the disastrous fire. Even more surprising was the fact that Cato was falling in love with her.

The friends of the Hadley's all thought that it was odd the way the family had been acting. They were usually the first ones to have a huge party for the Games and invite every one of their friends over. But this year the family all stayed indoors together, threw no parties, and watched as their boy fought for his life. They hadn't really even stepped outside since they had bade their family member a goodbye. The food and supplies were plentiful enough so that they hadn't really needed to make an outside trip. Plus there was no one that was outside that the family felt the urge to talk to.

The only person that they wanted to speak to was hundreds of miles away at least. They would have to wait until he won the Games and came back home to actually get a chance to talk to him. At least they knew that he was prepared. Even with everything that had been happening the Hadley's knew that Cato still had it in his head that he was going to be coming back home. And the Hadley's were all determined to still believe that. They knew that everyone would just want to know what their son was thinking or what his game plan was but the family would all have the same answer. They didn't know.

No one had known that Aspen Antaeus would be in the Games before Cato had volunteered. Cato Hadley had been physically and mentally trained for the Games since he could stand but everyone knew that the arena was completely different than anything that the trainers could think up. You were in constant isolation and the air was always thick with nerves. There were mutts straight out of hell and it was the first time that any of these kids had actually taken a life. It was easy to see every year which Tributes were able to get over the deaths and which ones were affected beyond repair.

There would be a number of kids that would rather die in the arena then go back home. So far they could tell that nothing had really been bothering Cato that much. None of the deaths had hurt him. The girl that he frequently found himself drawn to was a little different. She was obviously disturbed with having killed the boy from District 7 and the girl from District 9 so early on. The girl from District 8 hadn't seemed to bother her so much. It had really been the boy from District 9 that had attacked her yesterday. That was the one that she was having a problem with. Not that anyone blamed her.

The eldest of the Hadley's, the patriarch, Damien, knew that his son was able to win. It was the one reason that he had agreed that Cato was the right person to volunteer for the Games. He would have done it anyways, but Damien had agreed that Cato had what it took to become a Victor. He knew that his son was a little hot-headed but he had figured that he would learn before the arena that he couldn't react before making moves. He had made sure that Cato was put in the best training program, had the best weapons, and was at least proficient with all others.

Since Cato was fifteen they had all known that he was going to go into the Games. But that didn't make it any easier the day that the Reaping had come for him. It was his last year and it was now or never. So he volunteered and the rest was history. He had always had the simplest of plans. Get into the Games, kill everyone that gets in his way, and win. Come back home and bring the Hadley family to live in Victor's Village for the rest of their days. It had all been so simple. At least that was until Aspen Antaeus had come along.

Damien remembered the first time that he had seen the District 12 girl. It had been right after Cato's Reaping and the family had all walked back into their home. The Capitol was broadcasting the Reaping from District 12. No one had been interested until they heard the call of a volunteer. Damien had known instantly that she was the first volunteer from District 12 and he had known that she would cause a huge stir. Then she had proved herself to be lovable but also deadly with the score of twelve in training. A perfect score that no one had ever achieved.

Even in the Districts people were thrilled with Aspen. There was just something so interesting about her. Perhaps it was the fact that her parents had died in the Games. Damien could remember both of their deaths. He remembered cheering on their killers. Now he was cheering on his son to kill their daughter. Although Cato had gone down the wrong route. Because now he was drawn to her like a moth to flames. Literally. There had been rumors circulating the Games the entire time that Cato and Aspen had somehow gotten involved with each other and Damien had always thought it had been a load of crap.

His son knew what to do and what not to do in these Games. Getting attached to a Tribute was a don't do. He knew that despite the fact that Cato was friends with Clove the two would have to move on from each other's deaths. They had already made it clear that this was the way that it was going to end. And they wanted the winner to celebrate the others death by winning the Games. Damien didn't blame his son for being attracted to the girl. Everyone seemed to be attracted to her.

They had once said that District 12 Tributes were some of the ugliest in Panem. They were wrong about her. She was gorgeous to look at. She had light blonde hair, just like Cato's, that trailed down her back. Although it was now a few inches shorter. She was muscular enough but definitely hadn't had enough to eat in her life. She had deep blue eyes that held little hints of brown in them. Her personality only helped her attractiveness. She was sarcastic, funny, and tough. She was everything that his son was attracted to.

Despite how similar the two of them were they had two completely separate views on the lives that they took. It was one of the funny things about the two of them. They were quite an interesting little pair. It almost made Damien smile. Almost. The only reason that he didn't smile was because of the fact that there was still a chance that Aspen could turn around and kill Cato. But Damien had a feeling that she wouldn't dare hurt his son. It was partly because of the way that she thought. Aspen thought out her attacks and debated on whether the life was really worth taking. He knew that the deaths took a toll on her.

The other day when she had killed the District 8 male it was easy to see that the death had taken a toll on her. Mostly because of how gruesome it had been. She'd practically peeled the skin off of his face. She had nearly died too but his son had saved her. Just when Damien had thought that he was be rid of her. Cato was the complete opposite. He didn't think about the lives that he took. He just killed them and pushed the feelings down. Exactly the way that he had been taught at the Academy. The only Tribute that he couldn't kill without thinking about it was her.

Somehow she had changed him. She was making him think again. She was such a strange little character. There had to be more to them. Damien had seen very few of their interactions - as everyone knew that the two of them had spoken before the arena - but he knew that something serious had to have happened. And her comment... You're nothing like I expected. There had to be something behind that. He saw the softness in Cato's eyes when she said it. Whatever she was saying meant the world to him.

It was a long time before Damien had believed that the little thing between Aspen and Cato was real. At first Damien had thought that he was just messing with the girl. That was what it seemed like. He knew Cato's smirk. He knew the look in his son's eyes that meant that he was happy that he had gotten into someone's head. And he saw how flustered Aspen was. He knew that it was just a strategy to mess with her. Even early on in the Games that had been the way that it had seemed. But now he knew that it was different.

As Cato's visits to Aspen became more and more frequent and he grew more protective over her Damien knew that his son had actually fallen for her. It was all in the way that he looked at her. He gazed at her the same way that Damien looked at his wife. It would be hard for his son to kill this girl. Damien knew that. They all knew that. But he knew that Cato knew what he was doing there. He would kill the girl and it would tear him apart. Damien had known that his son wouldn't return the same way that he had left. But he had never thought that it would be because of some District 12 girl.

The camera shifted onto his son and he sighed deeply. Now when he looked at his son he was nervous. For the first time since saying goodbye to Cato over a week ago he was nervous. All because of her. Damien was watching Cato move around on the screen. That had almost been him. Just about twenty-five years ago Damien had been ready to volunteer for the Games. But then he'd met his wife, Alana, and everything had changed. She had begged him not to volunteer for the Games and have him stay with her. It had been a hard choice. He was at the top of his class but he decided not to volunteer. For her.

He couldn't if it meant risking his relationship with her. Through the years he had always wondered what it might have been like if he had volunteered that year. The girl that would have been his District partner had won that year and he had always been happy for her. The two had been friends and he had frequently visited her after she had won. She had seemed different but for the most part she just seemed proud. Still he wondered what it would have been like if he had volunteered and won. Would Cato have been a legacy or would he have never decided to train?

The matriarch of the Hadley family softly placed her hand on her husband's hand and squeezed it gently. She had been trying to be the lightness in the house over the past week or so. She wanted to keep everyone smiling while they were all nervous. Even though Cato knew what he was doing she couldn't help but to get a little nervous for him. Alana knew that Damien was nervous for their son and she didn't blame him. She was nervous too. But she was a mother. She always would be.

Cato had always been the boy that no one had expected to be kind or caring. But he was, and more. She saw it every time that he looked at Aspen. He was torn between killing her and letting her live. It meant that if she lived he would die. He would give up everything that he had worked his entire life for. Alana Hadley was nothing like the rest of her family. She had never been overly fond of the Games and she had never wanted to volunteer for the spot to represent District 2. Alana had trained growing up but she had never been the best. Knives were her best weapon and she really wasn't even that good with them.

She was nothing like the girl from District 12. She was even better with knives than Clove. Alana wasn't quite sure how Aspen had become so strong with weapons but she was glad that she had. She liked the girl. But she also knew that Cato had every potential to win these Games. There was only one problem. He just had to get past Aspen. Unlike the majority of her family, Alana actually like Aspen. If her son wasn't competing in the Games she probably would be rooting for the District 12 girl. There was some pull to her and most people felt it.

She was fiercely loyal to her family, clearly had a big heart, was funny in the sarcastic way, and she was talented for a Tribute from District 12. She was talented for any Tribute. There were even rumors that she had turned down an offer to be a part of the Career pack. Alana could believe that. There was probably some illegal training going on with Aspen but it didn't matter. The Capitol had no way to prove it. A tiny part in the back of Alana's brain hoped that Aspen would be able to get out with her son. They made a lovely couple and she was sure that they would be even better without the stress of the arena on them.

There was also the issue that most of the girls in District 2 only cared about being with a Victor. That was the perfect kind of person to be a husband in District 2. Everyone wanted to be married to a Victor of the Games. If Cato won he would be the most eligible bachelor around. Alana had already known that. Her family had frequently made jokes about it. She even smiled at the memory from just a few days before the Reaping between her kids.

"You'll be the most sought after bachelor in District 2," Carrie teased.

"He always was," Dean said, slapping Cato on the back.

"You'll even have girls in the Capitol that want you," Aidan added.

"I'll pass," Cato said, making the entire family erupt with laughter.

"You could probably even have someone from a different District," Dean put in.

"Like?" Cato asked.

The two brothers exchanged a devious smile. "District 12," Aidan said.

The whole family guffawed. Even Alana cracked a small smile. Although she really did hate the way that people made fun of District 12. "Absolutely not. Their Tributes are pathetic. They're weak and stupid," Cato growled, turning a knife in his hand. The family laughed and nodded their agreement.

The memory made her smile. If only Cato could have seen himself now back then. It hadn't been that long ago but he had been so different. He had never thought that it would be possible to fall in love with a dirt-poor girl from District 12. It didn't matter to Alana where the girl had come from. Alana would much rather have Aspen be with her son than any of the girls in District 2. She cared for him even when they were fighting for their lives against each other.

The youngest of the Hadley clan all seemed to have mixed feelings about the clever little Tribute. They had since the first time that they had seen her. The eldest of the Hadley children, Dean, wanted nothing more than to have his brother and best friend back. Dean had been the second best in his class during his time. He had been one of the two boys in the running to volunteer for the Games but his wife had begged him not to go. She had just found out that she was pregnant at the time and the thought of leaving his child fatherless had forced him not to leave.

That year the District 2 male had died. Cato had only been fifteen at the time but he had already known that he would be the one going into the Games. He had promised his big brother that he would compete and win for him. Dean didn't really know what to think. He had only ever wanted two things for his brother. To be a Victor and find a girl to settle down with. It was cruel that he would find her now. He knew that Aspen was a good girl but he also knew that Cato was constantly thinking about what to do with her. It was a hard situation.

The only of the Hadley's to have been married into the family shifted at the sight of her brother-in-law asleep. He had briefly woken up but the realization that no one else was awake had turned him to go right back to bed. She was now watching his still form. At least he was sleeping on the grass and didn't have to sleep in the trees like Aspen did. Although she looked like she might have been used to it. Carrie loved her brother more than anything and prayed every night and day that he would be okay.

She knew that he had every talent that he needed to win. She had even known that he would win when he'd left. That had all been until Aspen had come along. Cato had always had a few soft spots but they were rare. The only ones that Carrie ever saw were for his family and for her daughter. It seemed that Aspen had become the only person that had ever been able to break through his icy exterior. She wished nothing more than for the two of them to have a happy life together. But there was no way that it would happen now. Both had been forced into a hard spot.

Like the adults the younger Hadley children all missed their brother too. He had only been gone for a week but it had felt like he was gone for a month. It would actually be getting close to a month by the time that Cato returned to District 2. Aidan was only ten but he was training just like Cato had. If Cato was going to go into the arena then Aidan was too. He wanted to be just like Cato. The trainers all said that Aidan was just like his brother. The sword was his weapon of choice and he swung before thinking. The youngest boy in the family wanted nothing more than to get his brother back and follow in his footsteps.

Leah was the youngest of Alana and Damien's daughters and she was rarely allowed in the living room during these two weeks. Although she was only six she knew that her brother was fighting for his life somewhere. She also knew that he had found a pretty girl. Leah wanted to meet her when Cato came back. Marley was the first of the grandchildren that had been blessed to the Hadley family. She was only two and didn't really know what had happened to her uncle. But his name had been her first word and recently it had been the only thing that she was saying.

As the clock hit ten in the morning Damien sighed and glanced back over to his television that his family was crowded around. Glimmer and Marvel were already awake and the latter had volunteered to go on a hunt, leaving Glimmer to watch the camp. Cato was still sleeping soundly and Damien got up to leave the room. He wanted to see what was going to happen to his son but it didn't seem like he would awaken for a while. He walked out onto his porch and took a seat in the metal chair before shoving his palms into his eyes. There was a soft padding of feet behind him and Damien dropped his hands.

He went to turn and tell his wife that he would be back in a few minutes but it was only his daughter-in-law. He smiled brightly at her and she returned it as she took the seat next to him. He had always liked Carrie and was happy that his son had chosen a woman so different from him. She made a good balance to the pair. It was obvious that Carrie was having a hard time with Cato being gone. He knew that besides her husband she cared for the next oldest boy the most.

Damien rested his hands on the table and glanced up with a smile as Carrie took his hands in hers. It pained her to think that Cato's being gone was hurting the rest of her family. Her real mother and father had passed away a few years ago and since they had departed the Hadley's had become her new family. Carrie thought back to the first time that she had ever met Dean's family and smiled. They had been fifteen and sixteen. Cato had been thirteen and boasting about how the trainers thought that he had what it took to become a Tribute. He had been so proud of himself. From that day on she had loved the boy.

"Tell Alana I'll be back soon," Damien said.

"I'm not heading back in just yet. She knows," Carrie said.

"Just needed to step out for a few minutes," Damien said.

"I understand. We all do sometimes." They sat it silence for a few minutes. "You know that when he does get back from the Games it will be up to us to help him get past her loss," Carrie told her father-in-law.

He glanced up at her and nodded. He knew that Cato would be able to kill Aspen but it would tear him apart. He would be destroyed and she was right. It would be up to them to get the family back together. Damien thought back to the day that Carrie and Dean had announced that she was pregnant. The entire family had been thrilled but Cato had been the most excited. He had kept a protective eye on Carrie after that. He had been even more protective of her than Dean. He wondered what Aspen would think if she could see that Cato.

"I know. He worked so hard for this. It was all that he ever really wanted," Damien said.

"It's still what he wants."

"But now there's something that he wants more."

"Unfortunately that's not something that he can have."

"I'm not sure that he understands that. One girl is going to rip it all out from under him," Damien snarled.

Carrie sighed and leaned forward. She knew that most of the family weren't overly-fond of Aspen. "She's trying to survive. Just like him," Carrie said.

"What if she kills him?" he asked the younger girl.

She shook her head and nodded back to the television that his family were all glued to. "You've been watching these Games as close as the rest of us have. Tell me that you haven't seen something. The way that she looks at him. It's the same way that Alana looks at you and it's the way that I look at Dean," Carrie said.

"She could be faking it," Damien said.

For a while Carrie had thought that she was faking it. But it was her comment, about him being nothing like she expected, that told her that Aspen wasn't faking it. "She loves him. You know that. She won't kill him," Carrie argued.

"She could."

"From a distance. Not close up. You know that even if she does try to kill him he can overpower her. He's twice her size," Carrie said.

Damien sighed deeply. It would be easy to kill her. She was good from a distance but was definitely weaker when she got cornered. Of course. She wasn't that strong and she wasn't that large. Everything she had said was true. He knew that Cato could easily flatten her but the question was whether or not he could. Could he actually go and slit her throat? He loved her and it was obvious that he didn't know if he could kill her or not.

"What if he can't though?" Damien asked.

"Maybe he can't. Maybe he can. We'll have to wait and see."

"I know that physically he's stronger than her but which one is mentally stronger? He's never been in love before, not really," Damien said.

They both knew that it was the truth. Cato had mostly been focused on his training since he was a little kid. No one had ever really captured his attention before. There had been the occasional girl that he had brought through but they were usually gone quickly after. Cato would never seemed that thrilled with them anyways. They were just something to amuse him. It hadn't bothered Damien. He had been the same way before Alana had come into his life. Damien had never seen his son look at any of those girl the way that he looked at Aspen. And that was a problem.

"Have a little faith in your child. Cato knows what he's doing and if he chooses to save her... well you should be proud. You should be proud to say that you have a son who gave up his life so that an innocent girl could continue living hers. No matter what happens to him I know that I'll be proud to call him my brother. Will you be proud to call him your son?" Carrie asked.

Damien stared at her for a minute in total shock. Carrie was normally a quiet girl who only spoke when spoken to. She really would only start a conversation with Dean, Marley, or Cato. He would have never expected her to say anything like that. She wasn't the type. But she was fiercely protective of Cato. Damien thought for a moment about the fact that she was right. He wanted to say something back to Carrie but he wasn't sure what to say to her. Some part of him would be proud of Cato if he chose to save her. But his son would be dead. And Damien couldn't handle that.

On one hand Damien would be proud to say that his son had died for love. But it would tear him apart to think that he would lose his son to it. Cato was such a wonderful kid. He deserved to live. Damien finally went to respond to her but a loud call came from his eldest son. Fearful over what was happening, the pair went running back into the room. The screen had left the Career camp and was now split in half. Damien quirked a brow. What was happening? Nothing good if the screen looked like that.

On one screen was Aspen's sleeping form. She was still in the cave that Cato had brought her to last night. But on the other screen was Marvel. He was staring at her cave and standing only a few yards from it. He had a spear in hand and was twirling it, clearly waiting for her to come out. Damien and the rest of his family watched the screen closely as Aspen began to stir and Marvel continued to twirl his spear. Maybe he'll kill her, Damien thought. He'd kill her and she wouldn't ever get near Cato. But nothing about this was sitting well. As Aspen sat up in her cave Damien's stomach lurched painfully.

In The Arena...

Rolling onto my side I hissed at the pain that radiated through my stomach. I glanced down and saw that the stab wound was slightly white. Immediately I groaned. An infection. Of course. The only good thing was that the area of my thigh that had been burned was already almost completely healed. It was still a deep gray - looking like someone had smeared some soot on it - but the burns were gone and so were the blisters. The stab wound there was gone but there was a scar. It was still a little sensitive but it could have been worse.

At least I would be able to walk on it now. Running wouldn't be a problem but medicine would make it easier with how my stomach was. I glanced outside of the cave and realized that it was about noon from the position of the sun. Sighing at the slight pain I slowly rolled back over and grabbed my pack. I pulled out the dried fruit and meat and stared at it. There wasn't much left and I felt my heart deflate. Only two pieces of each left. Deciding that I may as well eat it all I downed both items quickly and washed them down with as little water as I could spare.

A light ding came from the front of the cave and I smiled. A Sponsor package came rolling into the cave and landed at my feet. I laughed lightly as I leaned forward and grabbed the canister, falling back into my spot. I unscrewed the lid and ripped the medicine out of the package. It was a thick white paste that smelled like sewage but that didn't matter. As long as it did something about the infection. Lightly I placed it over my stomach, expecting there to be a searing pain, but it felt good. It was cool and soothing. I looked to the camera in the back of the cave and smiled weakly.

"Thank you," I said to the Sponsor.

Grabbing the rest of the medicine and shoving it back into the bag I wondered if the Capitol was getting annoyed with me constantly needing medicine. I'd needed a number of packages so far. I was probably the person that needed medicine the most. But maybe if they would stop sending people and mutts and fires after me I would stop getting hurt. I kept quiet, knowing that a conversation like that probably wouldn't go over well. Grabbing the bottom of the canister again I dug around for the note and pulled it out. It was scrawled in Haymitch's messy scribe and I smiled.

Good kiss. It got you lots of Sponsors. Be careful with him -H

That was Haymitch for you. Any compliment had to be backhanded. But that didn't matter. He had managed to get me the medicine and some part of me loved him like a father figure. Even despite every annoying thing that he had done to me since being Reaped two weeks ago. Despite everything good that had happened this morning I was still broken about what had happened yesterday. My nightmares had been fueled by the unfortunate circumstances of the attack.

I'd practically been burned alive before being nearly drowned by the District 9 male. I had just barely gotten out of that fight with my life. Then I had met up with Cato and he had basically admitted that he did have feelings for me. And I had made it obvious that I cared for him. Then there had been the note from President Snow. I couldn't tell if it had been a threat or if he really did want me to be happy with Cato. That would be the opportune way out of this. Fall in love with Cato and the two of us could team up and beat everyone else. Then we would be allowed to win together. But I knew that it would never happen.

Despite me knowing better I fantasized about what could happen if Cato and I were allowed to be together. I was done killing for these Games. I'd done enough damage. Although maybe I would kill Glimmer. But the rest would be up to Cato. He would gladly finish everyone else off. I would wait for him in the meantime. Once he got back the two of us would win together. We would get patched up from these Games and then the Capitol would have the Closing Ceremony. We would be like a real prince and princess when we would be crowned together. Then we would get to go back home.

Cato would get sent back to District 2 where he would be hailed as a hero. He could be with his mother and father. His two younger siblings and his older brother and his wife. He would be with his niece that he seemed so fond of. They would move to Victor's Village and he would get everything that he wanted. After that I would be sent back to District 12. I would be with Katniss and Gale all the time and we would hunt freely. Prim would be with from then on out and I would make sure that the young girl knew that I loved her. We would all move into a new house in Victor's Village and we would never starve again.

Those were all of the good things. But with everything else there would also be a number of bad things that would come with it. Winning with two people wasn't the way that the Games were supposed to go. It was designed so that one person walked out. What would happen if two people walked out? Maybe nothing. Maybe we would move on like normal. We would still have plenty of issues like the normal Victors did. Number one would be the Victory Tour. On one hand I would get to see Cato again after six months but we would be facing the families of the children that we killed.

The worst part was that they would be forced to thank us like we had done them a favor. I had already killed four people. That would mean that there would be four families that I would have to stare in the eyes. And Cato was at an even higher count than me. We would only have two weeks to see each other before we were whisked back home. Then the next time that we would see each other would be at next year's Games when we had four Tributes combined that were all fighting against each other to live. It was a nightmare even if we won.

For nearly two hours I tried to think about any good ways that we could win together but everything always ended in disappointment. I finally got sick of all the sad endings and decided to test the waters to see if the medicine had helped any. I stood and smiled when I realized that there was no pain. My plan was to head to the mountain range and stay there for a while. Cato knew this place too well and he knew my hiding spots. If I got over there maybe I would forget about him and it would make him just another Tribute when the Death Match came. It was a farfetched thought but I needed to try.

Grabbing my blanket I stuffed it into the pack and sighed, shouldering it and beginning the journey to what would become my new home. Hopefully there were no wolf mutts there. Sliding out of the cave I stood and began to walk off of the rocks that covered the cave. Right as I hit the edge of the rocks I felt a heavy force knock me over and I cried out as my head hit the sharp edge of a stone. Whoever it was had to be a male. He was heavy and knew what he was doing as he knocked the knife out of my hand and sat on top of me. I tried to buck him off of me but he only laughed.

Laughter. Was there a chance that it was Cato? No. He wouldn't have wanted to hurt me like that. He would have just grabbed me and yanked me into him. My eyes shot open at the laughter and I swung out. The boy only caught my arms and forced my hands back to my sides. The voice seemed familiar but I didn't know it that well. It was someone that I had probably only heard once or twice. Finally I stopped struggling and let my eyes focus on the figure that had easily planted themselves on top of me. If I wasn't dead yet it meant that they didn't want to kill me.

"Hey, Twelve."

"One," I greeted irritably.

"How have your Games been?" Marvel asked, as if we were only having daytime tea together and not in the middle of a fight.

"Oh, they've been alright. How about yours?" I asked.

Don't show fear. The Capitol people would think that the banter was funny and I wouldn't lose Sponsors. "They haven't been too bad," Marvel said.

As nice as it was that he wanted trying to kill me I really wanted him off. His spear laid a few feet away from us and I tried to grab it but I was too short. My knife was too far away. He laughed and laid himself heavily on top of me. I coughed as he pressed into my cracked rib and grimaced in pain. He didn't know that I had been injured but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to just let him sit here. He was going to torment me and then probably bring me back to Cato. Damn it. Why hadn't I stayed it the cave?

"Fuck off, Marvel," I hissed.

Everyone should have known that I could only be nice to Marvel for so long. But now I wanted him off of me and back with the rest of the Careers at the Cornucopia. I threw my leg up to his crotch but he caught my leg. I should have known that he would have seen that coming. I sighed as he pushed my leg back to the ground and sat himself on it, ensuring that there was no way that I could move. He laughed at my struggles and patted me roughly on my face twice before I moved my head away from him. He was such a prick. I would have shoved his spear through his throat if I could.

"Now, you see, I would," Marvel said.

"You're disgusting."

"Thanks, doll. But I think that you'd much rather prefer if a certain blonde-haired Tribute were to do that," he said.

My fighting became even stronger. "You don't know shit about me," I snarled.

The laughter became even louder as he knew that he had gotten to me. "Of course not. But I do know some things," Marvel said.

He was heavier than he looked. Although I wasn't exactly the strongest of the remaining Tributes physically. "Get off of me," I growled.

If he wanted to talk to me he could at least stop sitting on my stomach. He was getting to be a little heavy and my stomach was still throbbing slightly. Eventually Marvel shrugged and complied with my wish. He stood and took a few steps back. I watched him closely but he never grabbed his spear. He left it right where I could grab it. He didn't want to fight. He wanted to talk. Cautiously I stood and pulled a knife out of my sheath, ready to throw it just in case.

"What do you want?" I asked, with knitted eyebrows.

Smirking like he had already won the Games, he crossed his hands behind his back and began to walk around me. I growled under my breath and turned with him, watching the woods in case he had any friends waiting for me to let my guard down. There was always a good chance that this could be Cato coming to kill me.

"Aspen, I'm not here to fight," Marvel said.

"So tackling me was just for fun?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I thought you had better hearing than that."

"I do."

"So why didn't you hear me?" Because I was too busy thinking about the fact that I'm falling in love with one of your alliance members. "I'm here to make you an offer," he said, walking back to his original spot.

An offer? No one ever made offers to District 12 Tributes. No matter how strong we were. I scoffed at him. All of me had to fight the urge to let the shock cross my face. The Capitol people would all be wondering what I was thinking. They would want me to be smart. Why was he making me an offer and not the Careers? Something was up. And why now? Why had he risked a fight with me just to ask me about an offer? It was dangerous. Part of me was curious about what he wanted but I knew that it would be smarter to walk away and pretend that I had never seen him.

"Not interested," I told him quickly.

I began to walk away before I got tempted. "Oh, I think you might be," Marvel said.

A moment later I heard his footsteps walking up behind me. I was nervous that he might throw the spear at me if I refused to even listen to him so I stopped and turned to him slowly. He wasn't holding the spear, thankfully, but he was smirking at me and staring carefully at the knife in my hands. We didn't trust each other. I knew that I should throw the knife and just eliminate another threat but it might benefit me just to listen. Maybe I would find something out about the Career camp. But still I knew that I couldn't risk him thinking that I was genuinely interested in what he had to offer me.

"I don't really care what you think," I said, with a nasty bite to my voice.

Being so used to dealing with Cato I had thought that Marvel would get angry and threaten to kill me but he only laughed and took a step closer to me. "I didn't think that you would," Marvel said.

I backed off from him and he smiled at me, his eyes still locked on the knife that I was gripping tightly. "So leave," I snapped.

"At least hear me out."

"No."

"Please, drop the knife and we'll talk. My spear is on the ground and I'm not holding anything else," he pleaded.

He tapped all around his body and tossed his jacket to the side, trying to get me to believe that he was telling me the truth. I tightened my new jacket around me and glared at Marvel. Was there a chance that I could trust him? Was he being serious? Taking a few steps forward I grabbed his jacket and threw it behind me, not taking my eyes off of him the entire time. If he wanted to talk we would talk. But there was no way that I would let my guard down.

"I'm not dropping the knife. You can tell me like this," I said.

He shrugged. He knew that I wasn't going to kill him and clearly he trusted me enough to be completely unarmed around me. "Fine by me," Marvel said.

He kicked his spear over to me and I pushed it to the side. "How do I know that your little groupies aren't hiding around here somewhere ready to pounce and kill me?" I asked him with a sneer.

He smiled and gave a few slow claps. My gaze narrowed. He really thought that he was a comic. I would have been one of the first ones to admit that he was a funny kid. But that didn't mean that this was the right time for it. I didn't need him making me feel like a fool when all I'd wanted to do was leave and head to the mountains. I just wanted to be away from all of them. The Careers and the rest of the Tributes. I wanted to be alone.

"I guess they're right. The older ones are the wisest. Happy late birthday, by the way," Marvel said, with a fake smile.

I had to resist chucking the knife through his eye. "Thanks," I growled.

Were all Careers this irritating? "There you go. Now you're thinking like a real Tribute. You know, I think people have really underestimated you," Marvel said.

"Something we might agree on."

"We do. Cato has underestimated you too. That's what will make this so easy for us if you're willing to trust me," he said, looking actually serious.

I scoffed and shifted on my feet for a moment. "And if I don't?" I asked.

He stared at me for a moment before giving me a shrug. Clearly he didn't care whether or not I trusted him. Although I was sure that he was used to it. The chances were that he didn't trust any of the people that he was teamed up with and vice versa. He shook his head again as he walked up to me and I found myself dropping my knife slightly. I didn't really think that he was actually going to hurt me. For some reason I actually found that I trusted Cato not to kill me more than I trusted Marvel. What kind of fucked up person thought that?

"Well you'll just have to learn. Now I know we both have a problem here," Marvel said.

"I don't have a problem."

"You do. So do I. We both need a certain Tribute dead but neither of us can do it on our own," he said. My eyes widened. There was no way that he was really thinking about killing Cato. Was there? He was the leader of the Careers. Normally it would be a few more days before they started to fall apart. "Which is why I came to you."

Everyone in the Capitol would be pressed up against the television to see what was about to happen. This would determine what I really felt about Cato. This would affect my Sponsors. Twirling the knife in my hand I stared at Marvel with a cross face. I stood with one hip out hoping that my face was betraying no emotion. His eyes followed the lines of my body and I grimaced. I was sure that Marvel wasn't a bad guy but there was no way that I wanted anything to do with him like that. I would rather have my first time in the cave with Cato with all of Panem watching.

"You want me to help you kill Cato?" I asked, hoping to steer him back to the topic at hand.

His eyes shot from my body and he looked back up to me with a smirk. "Exactly," he said.

It was like he had come up with a plan to overthrow the Capitol without ever having to leave the couch. Would it be worth it to kill Cato? It would certainly make my job much easier but I didn't like the whole idea of deception. Despite the fact that it would mean that I would never have to lay a hand on Cato the whole thing just felt wrong. If anyone was going to kill Cato it was going to me and I was going to do it honestly. Like the blonde-haired Tribute had said, I'd see him at the Death Match and it would be a fair fight. There was still a flicker of doubt in my mind but I pushed it back and shook my head.

The Sponsors wanted me with Cato and I would do just that. "No thanks," I told Marvel, before turning to walk away and head to the mountains.

All that I wanted to do was get to the damn mountains. I wanted to be away from everyone else for just a few days. At this rate I would rather deal with a mutt. The sigh that escaped Marvel's mouth was loud and for a moment I debated stealing his spear and running off with it. But if he really did have another weapon on him he could kill me easily. It really wouldn't be worth the fight but the whole thing was extremely tempting.

"Come on, I know that you can't kill him and I can," Marvel said, with an arrogant sing-song tone to his voice.

The anger in me started again full-force. I had been trying to be calm for the sake of not starting a fight with one of the toughest Tributes out here but it was getting harder and harder by the moment. "I can when the time comes," I said.

"So why not now?"

"Why would you even want to kill him? He's part of the Careers," I said, in a last ditch effort to keep calm.

He nodded and shrugged his shoulders again. "I know. He's useful but we both know that when it comes down to it I'd lose in a fight with him. So would you," he said.

He was right. We would both lose in a one on one fight with Cato. The only shot that we had was that we were long distance and could potentially get him before he got to us. But Marvel only had one spear and knives were easy to avoid if you knew how.

"Maybe not. Not if I surprised him," I said.

"You won't surprise him. I propose that we help each other out here."

"How?"

"I know that he's the reason people don't bother with us and he's why we get Sponsor gifts," he said.

I nearly laughed at the memory of Finch stealing from them but I kept quiet. I didn't want to unintentionally send the Careers after her. "Exactly. Why get rid of him?" I asked.

"Because I need to. Avoid the fight later. After I kill him, I'll take his place as the leader," he said, full of pride.

"And you think that he won't kill you first?" I asked.

He immediately lowered his chest and stared at me. I knew that I had ruined his moment but it was true. Cato would flatten Marvel in two seconds flat. It seemed like Marvel didn't want to say whatever he had to say next as he grabbed the bridge of his nose. I was frustrating him. The feeling was mutual. He managed to spit it out anyways.

"He would. Which is why I need you. Now I have a plan and you're the last part that I need," he said.

My head tilted to the side. "I am?" I asked.

"You are. Willing to at least listen?"

For a moment I debated back and forth on whether or not I should listen to him but I finally made the decision to listen. It might be worthwhile to see how smart Marvel really was. "Go on," I told him.

He smiled at me and I felt my skin crawl. "Every morning I go on a hunt for Tributes. Cato knows that. I'll do the same thing but this time I'm going to invite Cato to go with me. Once we get into the woods I'll split up with him to cover more ground. That's where you come in. I need you to get into Cato's sight. He'll be so focused on you that he'll never see me coming. I sneak up on him and kill him. After that we both have one more enemy down and we get to go on our merry ways. I focus on winning and so do you. No more Cato distractions," he said.

I let the whole thing process for a moment. Without thinking I began to laugh and he glared darkly at me. Once I had stopped laughing I turned to him and shook my head. "You're even less intelligent than I thought you were, Marvel," I said.

"Watch your mouth. I'll kill you without that spear."

"Go ahead. My knife will be between your eyes before you can move. You know that Cato would never let you just sneak up on him. He isn't a hunter but he knows the sound of an approaching Tribute," I said.

It was true. Cato had impeccable hearing for someone who had never hunted a day in their life before. I assumed that it was something that they were taught at the Academy. They had to know the sound of an enemy approaching. Taking a moment to compose himself he nodded slowly at me and smirked.

"Very good, Aspen, but you didn't let me finish," he said. I scoffed. He was just trying to save himself. "Of course he won't just let his guard down if he sees you in the woods. He'll warn you to leave and then he'll move on. This knife, I got it off another Tribute."

He pulled a knife from his boot. I scoffed darkly at him. "So much for no other weapons," I said.

"I never intended to use this on you," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "That makes it okay then," I muttered.

The knife had a wooden handle and looked like a wood sawing knife. "Cato's never seen it. You take it and stab yourself in the leg. Lay on the ground and when Cato finds you injured he'll lose all rational thought and rush to save you. He'll never know that I'm right there," Marvel said.

My eyes widened at his suggestion and I scoffed. He was absolutely wrong if he thought that I was going to help him with his stupid plan. There was no way in hell that I was letting him stab me or the leg or that I was going to stab myself. I had had quite enough of being stabbed and cut up for one lifetime. No more of me getting hurt for the Games. I wasn't hurting myself just to help him. I would take my chances against him in the Death Match.

"Honestly, you think I'm going to stab myself for you? Fuck you," I hissed.

Marvel rolled his eyes. I knew that he was getting quickly frustrated with me. "Relax, there's medicine back at the Cornucopia. I'll bring it to you before we ever even start the plan. You just have to lay there and then you get to fix yourself up. That's it," he said.

I was astounded at how he made horrid things look like they were a stroll in the park. It came with being a Career, I supposed. For a moment I thought about the plan. It wasn't bad but there were a few vital flaws in it. And as long as Cato was thinking, he would figure them out. Plus the Sponsors would be furious if they thought that I was going to kill Cato. They wanted the two of us to be together.

"It isn't a bad plan but don't you think he'd be a little suspicious of who would have caught me off guard?" I asked.

"Probably not. I caught you off guard."

My jaws set. "Let's think about whose left here. There's me, you, and the rest of the Careers. Plus Ethan and Peeta. But they'll all be back at the Cornucopia so it can't be them. Then there's Finch but she has no weapons. Then there's little Rue who we both know wouldn't hurt me. And there's Thresh. He carries a sword not a wooden knife. That leaves only the District 7 female and I'm relatively sure that she uses an axe," I said.

Her District partner's face flashed through my mind and I shook it off. "Then it's hers," Marvel groaned. "He doesn't think like you do. He stabs first and thinks second. And like I said, Aspen, he loses all rational thought when you're around. He'll never see it coming. You just lay there on the ground and play hurt and I'll do all the heavy lifting. You won't ever have to kill him. I'll do it for you. I just need a little help," he said.

It was obvious that he was thinking that he was going to be the first on the chopping block with the Careers. Maybe he would be first on the chopping block. He would be the next biggest physical threat. As much as it bugged me, Cato would be able to take out the girls without problem. I wondered when they would get him if I said no. Probably once Thresh and Peeta were gone. I shook my head at him and walked over to a tree as he slipped the knife back into his boot.

"Like I said, it won't work. He'll know that something's up the second that you invite him to go hunting with you. And he conveniently finds me injured on the ground? He's going to know that there's something going on. And when he hears you he'll kill you and then who does he have to be angry with? Me. And he won't be easy on me if he thinks that I betrayed him. No thanks," I said.

The whole thing wasn't worth it. If I was going to die at the hands of Cato it was going to be because I wasn't strong enough, not because a plan backfired. I also really wasn't in the mood to lose my Sponsors because they thought that I was betraying him. Marvel growled at me and took a few steps forwards. I was standing back against the tree and I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach. But it wasn't the type that I got when Cato was around. These were jittery.

"You do this and you improve your chances to win. If he figures it out then it's two against one. Still pretty good odds," he said.

He was right but chances were that one of us would still die in the fight. "Not good enough," I said.

"I can see it, Aspen, You want to do this. I'll give you a little bit of time to think about it," Marvel said.

"I don't need time."

"Its day nine now. I'll come back two days from now and you tell me whether or not you accept my offer. I'll be here at noon and I'll stay until sunset. If you come then the deal is on," he said.

"Okay," I said, before I could stop myself.

At least he was giving me time to think about it. My brain went into overdrive and I leaned into him slightly. He smirked at me and I sighed. I had been hoping that he would back off but he only stayed right in my face. I was desperate to leave now. I wanted to be away from him.

"Let's say I don't accept," I said, with my eyebrow raised.

He smirked and leaned in as close as he could without pressing his lips to mine. I wanted nothing more than to punch him but I really wasn't ready to die yet. "Then you've made a dangerous new enemy," he said.

"And you weren't my enemy before?" I asked.

"We don't have to be," Marvel said, smirking at me. "I'll be seeing you soon, Twelve. Good luck and think about this. It's our one chance to really win this thing. Make the right choice."

Dumbfounded I watched as he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on before turning and grabbing his spear. I tightened my hold on my knife and watched as he smirked when he saw my movement. He turned away from me and began to move through the woods. I let out a deep breath when he disappeared from my sight that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Once I was sure that I was alone again I took my canteen out. I needed to get water in it now. I was going to head to the mountains and get settled there. Somewhere that was far away from stupid Marvel and Cato freaking Hadley.

In District 2...

Only about three hours had passed since the Hadley residence had began to watch the television together but the air had shifted drastically. Damien was pacing back and forth across the room muttering curses under his breath. He looked ready to throw anything in his sight. He couldn't believe that after everything that his son had done for her that she was going to sell him out like that. His son had done everything for her. He had nursed her back to health twice. He was the reason that she had the Sponsors that she did. He was the one that had saved her life.

He had been there for her since the beginning of the Games and here she was ready to sell him out. Damien was convinced that Cato wasn't going to hurt her. But now she was going to hurt him. She had seemed like she might actually be a decent person but then Marvel had come along and offered her a way out. And now she was going to take it. He was sure that her family was ecstatic that she had a way out of this but here in District 2 she had become the main target of the Games.

Unlike the rest of her family, Alana was sitting in her chair calmly. It wasn't anything that surprised her. From time to time Careers would go outside the pack to try and eliminate the main threat before the real fighting started. Cato was definitely the main threat. She wasn't shocked that Marvel had become desperate to take out her son. And it was completely unsurprising that he had gone to Aspen for help. He was right about one thing. Cato became a totally different person when Aspen was around, especially when she was injured. Alana was sure that Marvel was right about Cato losing his head when he saw her hurt.

But Aspen had some pretty good points about her son as well. She seemed to be leaning towards saying no to the plan but there was always a little bit that they could be concerned about. Aspen was right about the fact that Cato would know that something was up the moment that Marvel would offer him to go hunting. But it would have been a lie to say that she wasn't worried for her son. She didn't believe that Aspen would take the offer but she knew that Aspen would be smart to take it. She really had no idea what the young girl would do. No one did.

Dean had ordered the youngest members of his family into Aidan's bedroom when he realized that his father was going to explode in a rampage about the young girl and her potential deal with Marvel. They were still trying to keep the youngest members of the family somewhat innocent. They didn't need to see their father the way that he was about to be. He was going to lose his mind. Aidan was now taking care of Leah and Marley in his bedroom until his father calmed down. Not that Aidan wanted to be in there. He wanted to see what was going to happen.

All of the Hadley's had nasty tempers but Damien's had always been the worst. For the time being he was just pacing quickly muttering terrible curses under his breath. Dean himself paced a few times, wondering what Aspen was going to do. He didn't think that she had the heart to do it but she had surprised them all more than once. He didn't know how they would all get over it if she took the offer and killed his younger brother. Dean just knew that if she did this, if she killed him and then won, it didn't matter what kind of punishment he would get. He would find her and kill her.

Like her mother-in-law, Carrie was calm about the whole ordeal. She loved Cato with all of her heart but she trusted her brother to know what to do. If they went through with the plan then Cato would know what was going on. Maybe Aspen would warn him somehow. Then they could kill Marvel. For some reason she didn't think that Aspen would do it and she seriously hoped that she wouldn't. The girl was only about a year and a half younger than Carrie and she would be curious to meet her. She wanted to know what was going through her head right now. Whatever it was, she knew that it wasn't clear.

Carrie was following her father-in-law closely, grabbing anything that would easily shatter. She knew that he had a real temper on him and this was testing it more than anything ever had. "That little bitch!" Damien finally yelled.

He saw everyone jump at his voice but he was furious. "Be quiet," Alana warned.

Damien ignored her. No stupid little District 12 Tribute was going to kill his son. Not after all of the training and time that his entire family had put in. "She's going to take his offer!" Damien hissed.

"You don't know that," Carrie said.

"Of course I do. There has to be something that we can do. We have to warn him or make sure that he kills Marvel and then goes after her," Damien growled to his family, desperate for an option.

Standing from her spot for the first time all day, his wife walked over to him and grabbed his hand tightly. Both Carrie and Dean stepped into the corner, watching the older couple. "You know that's against the rules. No one can warn him about what's happening in the other parts of the arena or the outside world," Alana told her husband.

He pulled away from her and she watched him go sadly. "We have to do something," Damien muttered.

Alana was upset about her son too but she was more nervous while her husband was angry. "We can't. We knew ahead of time that something might happen. There was always a chance that something like this could happen," she said.

Stepping up to the older couple, Carrie strode across the room and picked up a lamp that had fallen during Damien's rampage. "Calm down. Look at her. She's completely torn," Carrie said.

She was pointing back to the television. They all turned to look at it. No one had looked at her since Marvel had left. While Marvel was heading back to the Career camp the screen was focused on Aspen's face. Her face was twisting and contorting as she thought about what her choices were. She was making it to the river so she could get water. Caesar and Claudius were - along with the Capitol - panicking at the change of pace in the arena.

"She won't do it. Whether or not she wants to admit it she's terrified of Cato. She wouldn't dare cross him," Carrie told her father-in-law, hoping that she could get him to calm down.

Dean joined the trio and laid his arm over the shoulders of his wife. "She's right," Dean said.

"He'll be fine," Carrie said.

Damien glared darkly at Dean and he abashedly dropped his arm. "Maybe she'll go to him and tell him that Marvel is plotting to kill him. Maybe she'll help him," Dean offered.

He wasn't the brightest of the Hadley's but he was always at least trying to look on the bright side of things. His father scoffed and walked to the television, staring at it as Aspen came through the woods and reached the river. She looked like she was going to collapse.

"Fat chance," he said.

Damien leaned onto the television and stared at her. He was staring so hard that Dean thought that his father might burn a hole through his television if he continued his staring. Alana walked up to her husband and stood close behind him. She knew that he was upset and right now it wasn't a good idea to touch him. But he needed to know that someone was there for him.

"Like she said, Cato is smart. He'll know that something is up the minute that Marvel offers him to go hunting. He'll figure it out, he's trained for all of this," Alana tried to reassure the man that she loved.

"He was never trained for anything like this," Damien answered her lowly.

In The Arena...

The river came into view and I sighed. My head was starting to thump so I knew that I was in need of water. I was getting dehydrated. But now I didn't really even want the water. I would have rather had someone come by and drown me. It certainly would have made my problems a little bit easier. Where was the District 9 boy when I needed him? Maybe I should have let him drown me the other day. At least I wouldn't be in this spot right now. I knew that all over Panem people were wondering what my next move was going to be with baited breath. Would I betray the boy I supposedly loved?

Cato's family was probably screaming at the television and starting a riot to kill me. Marvel's family were probably praying that I would take the deal so their son could come home. My family was probably cheering on the deal too, happy that I wouldn't have to deal with killing him. But what was I supposed to do? Did I join Marvel and take out Cato or stay away from the deal and have one more person that was determined to kill me? I could tell Cato what was going on. Was it worth it? What if Marvel got away? He would come after me and make sure that I didn't make it to the end of the Games.

Marvel was right about one thing. I couldn't kill Cato. This entire time I had been fooling myself by saying that it was possible to win and forget that I had ever had to take his life. It would tear me apart if I took his life. No part of me wanted to admit it but I loved Cato. He had somehow gotten my heart to thaw and he was wrapped around it now. The smart option was to join Marvel and hope that the plan went well. But how did I know that the medicine he was going to give me was real? I supposed that I could put it on my face first and see if it healed the cut. I sighed and dropped onto the bank of the river.

Letting my hair down I sighed at the sight of it. It was curly and nearly brown from all of the grease that had been built up. The tips were still a bright blonde but they were charred and breaking from the flames. The hair at the roots was all clumped together and it flew out in huge waves. I smirked as I thought about everything that Cato would be saying to me right now. I was sick of this. Everything that I did was always tied back to Cato. Things were so much simpler before I had ever volunteered. But I knew that the moment that I had volunteered that everything would change, whether or not I won.

Leaning back, I dipped my hair into the river and pulled it out, squeezing the excess water. I needed a bath badly and I was tempted to take one, but it wasn't worth the risk. I would just take a long one once I got back to the Capitol. Without Cato. One way or another I would get back there without him. I pulled my hair tie onto my wrist and dunked my canteen into the water. It filled and I smiled as I tightened the cap. Cato could wait. I was going to head into the mountains and I wasn't going to come out until there was only one person standing. And then it wouldn't matter who it was. I would kill them and I would win.

My hands were still slightly blistered from the fire so I decided to just go for it. I waded into the shallow end of the water and sighed. It felt so good. In the meantime I slid my canteen into my pack and glanced up to the mountains. They were probably about half a day's trip so I would need to head out now if I wanted to get a head start. I shouldered my pack and went to stand up. Just as I raised up I heard the soft call of voices. I looked around for a tree to hide in but by the time I had spotted a suitable one they had already spotted me.

"Oh, there she is," Glimmer cheered.

"There she is!" Marvel added happily.

They were all laughing and cheering loudly. I stared at the Careers in horror as they started to run after me. Without a second thought I pushed myself out of the water and sprinted off towards the tree that I had spotted. I wished that I hadn't gotten in the water. My feet were a little slippery and it was almost hard to run. I just hoped that the Careers would get caught up as they tried to chase me down. I hated the excitable look on Cato's face. He was cheering happily along with the rest of the Careers.

"She's mine!" Glimmer shouted.

"Come on!" Clove yelled.

"Oh, not if I get her first!" Cato added.

I'm a damned idiot. He didn't love me at all. It was always just a joke. "Where are you gonna go?" Marvel called.

Finally I managed to gain some distance. The tree rose in the distance and I sighed. The branches were hard enough for the average Tribute to climb but not hard enough for me to scale. So I grabbed onto the first of the limbs and lifted myself up. I climbed up the tree quickly and hit the branches heavily as I scurried up the branches. I had to be careful not to break the thinner ones near the top. A squirrel would be proud of me if they could see me now. I had made it up the tree faster than I had ever thought was possible. I was at the top of the oak tree and clinging onto the base tightly.

By now I was about thirty-five feet off of the ground. I would just have to hope that I was high enough to avoid anything that they got to me with. I glanced around their group and quickly realized that Ethan wasn't with them. He must be guarding the Cornucopia. I was sure that Finch was having a field day with that. Lucky girl. Standing up weakly I grabbed the trunk tightly and tucked the letter from President Snow into my jacket tightly. The last thing I needed was for that to fall out right now. I couldn't give them any more of an advantage than they already had.

My only consolation was that most of them looked pretty beaten up. Glimmer was holding a bow and arrow in her hands and part of me wanted to dive down and rip it from her hands. That should be mine. She couldn't even use the damn thing. I was sure that I could kill them all if I had the bow. Glimmer was looking up at me with a cruel smile and I glared back down at her. She looked like she hadn't even been in a fight yet and I looked like a cave person. Bloody face with bruises all over me and torn clothes.

Luck might have been on my side right now. There was a reason it was Katniss and me and not Gale who ventured up to pluck the highest fruit, or rob the most remote bird nests. I must have weighed at least fifty or sixty pounds less than Coral - the smallest Career. Hopefully I would be safe up here. Either until I could figure out a better plan or they would get bored. They all managed to come up to the tree within seconds. For a moment they just stood there. I managed to plaster a smile on my face.

"How's it going?" I asked.

That took them aback. But Cato recovered quickly. "Well enough. You?" he asked.

"It's a bit warm for my taste," I said.

The Capitol people must have been in stitches. Even Cato's lips quirked upwards. "What you got up there, baby?" Glimmer asked, sick of the banter.

She had obviously seen me tuck the letter away. "Why don't you come on up and see?" I asked.

Cato stepped up to the branch with his sword in hand. "I think I will," he said.

I grabbed one of my knives and held it tightly. I didn't want to do it, but if it were me or him I would. "Kill her Cato!" Glimmer called, as he made his way up the tree to get to me.

"I'm coming for you!" he yelled to me.

"Way to go, Girl on Fire!" Marvel yelled.

"Keep climbing, Miss Antaeus!" Clove added.

"That's not gonna help you up there, Aspen!" Glimmer shouted.

"Where are you going?" Clove asked as I went up a few more branches.

There was a sneaky smirk in Cato's eyes. My heart beat quickened as I looked at him. Maybe I had overestimated just how well this would work. Maybe he would be able to make it all the way up the tree. His normally bright blue eyes were so dark that they almost looked black. This was the Cato that I had originally been terrified. This was the Cato that was the full Career. He didn't care who I was. The others were screaming from the ground for him to kill me as Cato climbed, his eyes full of danger.

But behind the menace I could tell that he didn't want to do it. He hit the branch a few feet below me and I heard the branch crack. It broke and I watched Cato fall from the tree in horror. He hit the ground with a loud thud and I looked down to him. He was swearing like a fiend as he stood. I found myself grateful that he hadn't been hurt. It would have been easier for him to die from the fall but part of me had hoped that he was okay. Glimmer sighed and grabbed her bow, nocking an arrow and aiming it at me. I watched as she shot it off and I ducked to the side. Her arrow came within a few inches of me but she missed.

"I'll do it myself," Cato growled.

He grabbed the bow from her. He shot an arrow and I squealed. It had barely missed me by a hair. If I hadn't moved I would have been skewered back against the tree. What the hell was that about the other night, when he had told me that he didn't want to hurt me? I looked down at him and glared. Apparently we were no longer leaving each other alone until the Death Match. I guessed that our truce was over now. Marvel was staring at me with a smirk and I looked away from him. Peeta was staring at me like he was worried for me and I shook my head at him. I didn't want his pity.

"Get her!" Glimmer shouted.

"Come on. Come on," Marvel yelped as Clove threw a knife.

She was the one that I knew that I would have to be careful with. It was an odd angle. They would be better off trying with the bow but none of them were good enough. Cato, Peeta, and Marvel only had one weapon each that they couldn't lose. Glimmer was lousy with the bow and I had a feeling that Coral didn't have great aim. The knife lodged into the tree a few inches from my head and I gasped. I grabbed the knife and tucked it into my belt, much to the displeasure of Clove.

"Thanks for the knife," I told Clove.

She looked furious. "You're welcome," she said between gritted teeth.

I turned away from the branch and sat down slowly. "Maybe you should throw the sword," I told Cato.

There was something between fury and mirth that flashed through his eyes. He wasn't the type to like losing and I was sure that was probably was about to throw the sword up to me in hopes that it would skewer me against the tree. But he wouldn't. He wanted to actually feel my blood on his hands when he died. And he would still lose the sword. Just as it looked like Cato was about to make an angry remark to me turned away. The Careers started to growl conspiratorially among themselves. They were furious that I had made them look foolish. But twilight were here and their window of attack on me was closing.

Finally Peeta cut in. "Let's just wait her out. She's gonna come down at some point. That or she's gonna starve up there," he said.

There went not hurting each other. I had been planning on leaving at night. I turned my angry gaze on him. That was the first time that I had heard him speak in a week and it was to make me starve. To think that I had ever been friends with him. Part of me hoped that he would win just so that Katniss could tear him a new one. She'd shoot him straight through the throat. The Careers stared at me for a moment before Cato finally nodded. His eyes still remained locked on mine.

"Okay. Somebody make a fire," he ordered.

They didn't say anything else as Cato sat down on a rock and started twirling his sword in his hands. They all walked off and went about their business. Clove made them a fire for the six of them to sit around. I ended up staring into the foliage trying to will myself to rest. But I couldn't. My thoughts were down with the Careers. Birds were settling down for the night and singing lullabies to their young. Night creatures emerged. An owl hooted. The faint scent of a skunk cut through the smoke from the fire. The eyes of some animal peered at me from another tree - likely a possum - catching the firelight from the Careers' fire.

They all sat together and chatted. A ways into the night I noticed that Cato was letting the tip of his sword linger in the fire. He pulled it out after a few moments for me to spot that the tip was bright white. I cringed and looked away. I would love to never see fire again in my life. Cato spat on the tip of the sword to cool it down. Glimmer laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Boys," she said, giggling and looking around at the others.

It wasn't long after that when I watched as Cato ordered Glimmer to keep watch for the night. They all settled in and I watched as one by one the Careers fell asleep. Cato was lying on the ground about two meters from the base of the tree that I was in. Glimmer was sitting right at his side and my teeth ground together. Even though I shouldn't care. He had betrayed me. He was planning on either killing me or waiting me out until I starved. Not long after Panem's anthem played and I stared at the seal on the night sky. There were no deaths today and the sky faded back to black.

Right now this was entertaining enough. They didn't need a death. I stared down at the Careers and their dying fire. Glimmer was starting to doze off and I knew that I just had to wait them out for a while. My teeth were grinding together at the sight of Glimmer half-asleep on Cato's arm. Not that I should care. Once she was fully asleep I could sneak off and I would be fine. Maybe I'd take some of them out along the way. Cato first. The Capitol coouldn't say anything. He had betrayed me first. I could head to the mountains and forget that this had ever happened. I twirled a knife in my hand and stared at Cato.

Part of me wanted to chuck it into his skull and be done with it but I couldn't. Despite the fact that he had tried to kill me today and had looked so eager to do it. I growled and began to seriously consider taking Marvel's offer and then moving to the mountains. The night went by quickly and I continued to wait for Glimmer to fall asleep. I knew that she was passed out but now I was so exhausted from the day that I had begun to fall asleep too. My head was back resting against the tree and I was nearly asleep when an irritating sound began to sound from my right.

"Pssst. Pssst," the voice kept going.

What the hell was happening? I glanced over to my right and realized that the sun was starting to come up. Day ten of the arena was over and I would have to get out of here soon unless I wanted to wait until day eleven to move on. I needed to leave now. No time to wait and attack them. That was when I realized that the possum eyes weren't from possums at all. Looking to my right again I realized that Rue was in the tree next to me. She was hanging just a few branches above me. I looked over to her in shock and she put a finger to her lip. I nodded and watched as she pointed straight up.

Up? I couldn't go any further up. The branch that I was on was already too thin. It would break if I made too much of a movement. Any higher and I knew that they would start cracking. A fall from this height definitely might kill me. I followed where she was pointing too and gasped at what was hanging above me. A huge nest that I had thought was a bee hive. It might have been a beehive. But I refused to believe that the Capitol would put something so simple in the arena. As I looked closer I realized that it wasn't bees at all. It was a nest full of Tracker Jackers.

They were another one of the Capitol mutts and I nodded my thanks to her. Tracker Jackers weren't nearly as nasty as the wolf mutt that I had encountered earlier but they weren't friendly at all. If they were bothered they would sting a person just like bees did. But the Tracker Jacker was venomous. The venom was enough to cause severe hallucinations and could cause a person to pass out for a few days. Normally they weren't lethal but if you were stung enough times the venom had the potential to kill you.

Like the Jabberjay's, the killer wasps were spawned in a lab and strategically placed, like land mines, around the Districts during the war. They were larger than regular wasps and had a distinctive solid gold body with a sting that raised a lump the size of a plum on contact. Most people couldn't tolerate more than a few stings. Some died at once. If you lived, the hallucinations brought on by the venom had actually driven people to madness. And there was another thing. The wasps would hunt down anyone who disturbed their nest and attempt to kill them. That was where the tracker part of the name came from.

After the war the Capitol destroyed all the nests surrounding their city, but the ones near the Districts were left untouched. Another reminder of our weakness, I supposed, just like the Hunger Games. Another reason to keep inside the fence of District 12. Whenever Gale, Katniss and I came across a Tracker Jacker nest, we would immediately head in the opposite direction. We'd come close to being stung once and we had never wanted to feel that panic again.

Turning back to Rue I realized that she was making a sawing motion with her hand. My eyes brightened as I finally figured out what she wanted me to do. Cut the nest down. If I cut the nest then it would fall straight onto the sleeping Careers. They would scatter and I would be able to get away with no risk of them catching me. Hopefully they would all just be in a panic to get away from the insects. I nodded to her and she smiled at me before darting through the trees. If I ever ran into Rue again I would have to thank her. Slipping my pack off of my shoulders slowly I grabbed my cutting knife and held it up to the branch.

It took me a few seconds to climb up the tree and figure something out. The branches were narrow and I was risking accidentally causing one of them to break. So I just had to move slowly and inch along the branches. Unfortunately the part of the branch that I had to saw was thick. It meant that I would have to rush it. I was surprised that the Tracker Jackers weren't moving around much as I made my way to the top of the branch. They were rather subdued. But that was when I realized that it was the smoke from the fire. It was the one defense that the Districts found against them in the war.

Below me I could see Clove stirring and I knew that she would be awake in a few minutes. I pressed my knife to the branch and began to pull it back and forth. With every little saw that I made the Tracker Jackers became more and more irritable. My heart rate picked up. I was definitely risking my life. One of the insects flew out of the hive and stung me. I hissed in pain and slapped the bug but it was too late. I already felt the effects of the venom. The little fuckers worked fast. Making as quick of work that I could, I sawed the branch as the insects became more aggressive and began to sting me.

Glimmer was sleeping pressed up against Cato and I hoped that she would take the blunt of the impact. I was determined to keep working. The branch was about to fall. I could tell that I had been stung at least three times already. With one last saw the branch began to crack and I slipped the knife into my pants, knowing that gravity would do the rest of the work. The venom was fast acting and I knew that I had to get a move-on. The world was swerving and I watched as the branch finally fell to the ground and exploded on the sleeping Careers. Their yells began immediately as they stood and ran away from the scene in a frenzy.

"Run! Run! Run!" I could hear Clove shouting.

"Damn it. Go!" Cato yelled.

His figure disappeared through the trees along with the others. Moving down the branches I lost my footing and fell off of the trunk of the tree to the ground. I hit it roughly and stood as quickly as I could without vomiting. Taking slow and stumbling steps I made my way away from the Tracker Jackers and leaned onto the trees. Seneca Crane was stepping out of the trees and was beckoning me to come to him. I tried to say no and run away, but nothing worked. Instead I fell and hit the ground again.

The nest was nothing but an empty shell. The wasps had vanished in pursuit of the others. I didn't think that they would return, but I also didn't want to risk it. So I staggered in the opposite direction of the lake. The poison from the stingers was making me wobbly but I found my way back to my little pool and submerged myself in the water in case any wasps were on my trail. After about five minutes I dragged myself onto the rocks. People hadn't exaggerated the effects of the Tracker Jacker stings. The one on my knee was closer to an orange than a plum in size.

A foul-smelling green liquid oozed from the places where I was pulling out the stingers. I knew that I needed to get to a good hiding place. My struggle was getting harder by the minute now. I had to find cover soon. But the world looked like I was looking through a kaleidoscope and everything was spinning. The figure of a person came charging through the woods and for a moment I thought that it was Cato. They had the same blonde hair and blue eyes but they were smaller. I could tell that the sword they were carrying wasn't his. It was the other blonde haired and blue eyed Tribute. The boy who had betrayed me. My District partner.

"Peeta," I barely managed to breathe out.

I knew that I should have run or stabbed him but some part of me was grateful that he was here. After all, his suggestion of starving me out was the reason that I was still alive and not being skewered by Glimmer. "Aspen, no!" he yelled.

"Peeta," I repeated.

He ran up to me and grabbed me by the arms. He was shaking me and I wanted to warn him that I might throw up but it was like I had lost the ability to speak. "What're you doing? Go! Please do something. Aspen, go! Get out of here! What're you doing? Go!" he yelled, shoving me away from him.

Finally I began to stumble away from him like I had drank way too much. I couldn't even begin to fathom how Haymitch constantly felt like this. It was awful. I was both seeing and hearing things and I felt like a lamb trying to walk for the first time. The cave, I just need to get to the cave. I'm not that far. My feet began to move one in front of the other but I was still falling as I made my way back to the cave. I wasn't even sure if I was going in the right direction. But I needed to get away from here.

That was when I remembered the bow. The bow! Glimmer had it and the cannon just went off. I was pretty sure that it was a cannon. It had to be for her. She was the slowest. The Tracker Jackers had vanished. Glimmer, as much as I hated to admit it, so breathtakingly beautiful in her golden dress the night of the Interviews, was unrecognizable. Her features were eradicated and her limbs were three times their normal size. The stinger lumps had begun to explode, spewing putrid green liquid around her. I had to break several of what used to be her fingers with a stone to free the bow.

The sheath of arrows was pinned under her back. I tried to roll over her body by pulling on one arm, but the flesh disintegrated in my hands and I fell back on the ground. Was it real? Or had the hallucinations begun? I squeezed my eyes tight and tried to breathe through my mouth, ordering myself not to become sick. Breakfast has to stay down. It might be days before I would be good enough to hunt again. I had a bad feeling that I would be out for the count in the coming days.

I heard the birds fall silent and then one give the warning call, which meant a hovercraft was about to appear. Confused, I thought it was for Glimmer, although that didn't quite make sense because I was still in the picture, still fighting for the arrows. I lurched back onto my knees as the trees around me began to spin in circles. In the middle of the sky, I spotted the hovercraft. I threw myself over Glimmer's body as if to protect her. The hovercraft hesitated for a second. Maybe they were waiting for me to do it.

"Do it!" I commanded myself.

Clenching my jaw, I dug my hands under Glimmer's body, got a hold on what must have been her rib cage, and forced her onto her stomach. I couldn't help it, I was hyperventilating now. The whole thing was so nightmarish and I was losing my grasp on what was real. I tugged on the silver sheath of arrows, but it was caught on something. Her shoulder blade. I finally yanked it free. I had just encircled the sheath with my arms when I hear the footsteps coming through the underbrush. The Careers were coming back. They were coming back to kill me or get their weapons or both.

But it was too late to run. I pulled a slimy arrow from the sheath and tried to position it on the bowstring but instead of one string I saw three and the stench from the stings was so repulsive that I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I can't do it. That was When Caesar Flickerman stepped out of the woods in a white suit. I glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow. Why was he out here? Was he coming to tell me that I was too old and it was time for me to leave? Please.

"Tracker Jacker stings... produce powerful hallucinations," Caesar said.

"Help me," I whispered.

He liked me. I could remember that from the Interviews. I stumbled through the woods with my grip on the bow tightly. I couldn't lose it now. Not when I'd just fought so hard to get it. Caesar vanished and I whimpered softly. He needed to help me. I couldn't do this. What was happening to me? Was all of this really here? There was a flash of blonde hair and I turned to call out to Peeta. There was no way that I was getting out of here without his help. He might have betrayed me but I needed his help right now.

I saw his figure turn the corner of a tree and I smiled. But I quickly realized that this Tribute was to big and too angry looking to be my District partner. No. It was someone worse than the Tracker Jackers. Cato sprinted up to me and I turned to run but I fell again. I pushed myself off of the ground but as soon as I did I felt him grab me. He sent me flying back into a tree and I coughed as the world spun again and colors began to light up his angry face. Cold steel was pressed to my throat and I gulped. He was finally going to kill me.

"You're fucking kidding me right? You dropped a damn Tracker Jacker nest on us!" Cato howled.

"Technically it fell," I mumbled.

"What the hell was that for, Aspen?" he growled.

He dug the blade into my throat and smacked my head back into the tree. The bow dropped from my hands. I saw his gaze quickly drop to the bow. Were his eyes always pink? I could feel the bile building in my throat and for a while I really wanted to vomit on him. He probably wouldn't have appreciated that. But instead I willed my voice to work. My head was rolling around freely on my shoulders and I was barely able to focus on him.

"Are you nuts? You tried to kill me! I had to do something or you would have waited me out all night and until I starved. I couldn't just risk jumping down. Blame your little Glimmer. She was the one that fell asleep and gave me the chance to do it," I hissed, knowing that I was slurring most of my words.

"The bow. That was your plan? All of this for the bow!" he shouted.

"The bow was an added bonus. I just wanted to get away. She couldn't use it anyways."

"So you dropped the Tracker Jacker nest!"

"Blame your girlfriend!"

Without giving me any warning he reeled his hand back and slapped me across the face. My world went black and I thought that I had passed out. My legs were almost useless underneath me. If my head hadn't been spinning a second ago it certainly was now. But a moment later I came back to and stared at him in shock. He had never really hit me before and I had never seen him look so angry with me before. Not even before we'd bonded.

"You little idiot," he hissed. I felt my heart drop. "Did you really think that I fell off of that branch?"

"You were too heavy."

"Of course! I knew which branches could and couldn't support my weight! I took the fall so I wouldn't have to hurt you!" He was looking at me like I had betrayed him. "You think that I don't know how to shoot a bow? I might not be as good as you but I do know what I'm doing!" he shouted.

"No..." I whispered.

"When have you ever known me to just give up on a Tribute hunt? I gave Glimmer the night shift because I knew that she would fall asleep. I did it all so that you could get away!"

"No," I repeated.

"And what did you do? You dropped a nest of Tracker Jackers on me," he seethed.

There was no way that he had done all of that. I felt the guilt build up anyways. I hadn't thought about it that way. I'd immediately jumped to the most violent conclusion I could think of. I hadn't thought that running off would have been the better idea. My hand dropped to his hip as I saw that he was flinching every time that he twisted slightly. I raised his shirt and saw him flinch again. His entire body had tensed as I let my hand wander over the insect bite on his hip.

It was huge and what I assumed to be red. Right now it looked purple and blue polka dots to me. It was even larger than the one on my knee. Although that one now appeared to be larger than my knee. My head was pounding as I weakly stumbled against Cato's body. My hand ghosted over his wound and I pushed his pants down slightly so that I could see the wound better. My hand was dangerously low but I didn't really care about anything right now.

"You got stung. Let me help you," I said to him pathetically.

He was right about everything. He had tried to let me go without having to hurt him. He hadn't betrayed me. I had actually been the one to betray him first. But it had been an honest mistake. I had hurt him more than I had ever meant to and I knew that I had to do something to make it up. He shoved my hand off of his hip and pushed his sword back into my throat, forcing me to let go of his torso.

"No. You're done helping me and I'm done helping you."

"I didn't know," I said desperately.

"You should have. Remember? I'm not what you expected." My heart gave a painful lurch. "Now I am. I'm not going to kill you now because I still want that fair shot at you for the Death Match. You wouldn't even be standing now if I wasn't holding onto you. I'm going to kill you, Aspen. Intimately. In every way that I know you fear most," he growled.

My eyes widened in shock. "No... You won't," I muttered.

"I will. And when I'm done I hope that the little girl was watching it all. I hope she knows that the only reason that you're here is because she got Reaped and you saved her. She'll know that it's her fault that you're dead."

Every part of me felt like it had just died. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I couldn't believe that he had just said something like that to me. He had never said something like that - not even when we'd hated each other. I wasn't sure that it was the Tracker Jacker venom or just the fact that what he had said had broken my heart. I wrenched my arm away from his grasp and slapped him as hard as I could across the face. Tears began to stream down my face and they were making it even harder to see.

"I hate you," I told him softly as he stared me down.

"Good," he said.

He gave me no chance to respond before grabbing me and bringing my mouth to his. I tried to fight him off and push myself away from him but he only tightened his grip and sunk his sword into my throat. I tasted some of the awful-smelling venom as he kissed me desperately. I felt blood trickle down my neck and I knew that he had made me bleed. I didn't care. I wanted more. His mouth was pressed to mine harder than it had ever been before and I had never wanted him to not let go more. Finally he released me and wiped a tear that I had left on his face off.

"I'm glad that you hate me. You use that hate. You bottle it up and hate me more than you've ever hated anyone. And when the Death Match you try your hardest to kill me. Make me kill you," he said.

That was when the realization hit me. I took a step closer to him so that my neck was once more pressed against the blade of his sword. "That's what you want. You want me to hate you so that I'll kill you. You didn't mean anything that you just said. It was all a lie. All of it," I said.

Even through the Tracker Jacker venom I knew that I meant it. He didn't mean to kill me and he didn't mean the slap either. He only wanted to make me so mad that I would hate him. I would stew over how much I hated him that when I came back to find him at the Death Match I would give him the fight he always wanted and he would be forced to kill me. It was all so that he could make my death easier on himself. He growled and I saw the fury flash through his eyes. He backed off of me and I thought that he would admit that I was right but instead he grabbed my arm and threw me to the ground.

My head spun and I knew that I didn't have much more time before the venom finally got to me. "I meant it all. You're weak and never meant a thing to me. This has all just been for fun. Feel like a fool yet?" he asked.

There was a cruel grin on his beautiful face. Whether or not it was the venom, I saw that Cato's eyes had adopted the snake-like look that President Snow's normally did. My heart shattered into a million pieces at his words and I tried to stand up but it was no use. The venom was so far into my system that I could hardly even move anymore. My bow was near me but it was forgotten about for the time being. My tears were falling heavily now and he stared at me like I was nothing more than a pathetic speck of dust on his boots.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him softly.

He ignored me and sheathed his sword before turning his back on me. "Go find Peeta. He's about to die," he said.

My heart leaped into my throat. "What did you do to him?" I asked.

He had been fine the last time that I had seen him only ten minutes ago. He turned back to me as I tried to crawl after him but I knew that it was no use. "Goodbye, Twelve," he said.

He said nothing else before turning and stumbling slightly away from me. "Cato... Come back," I muttered.

His figure slowly disappeared and I hoped that he would look back, but he never did. Instead I was left in the middle of the woods by myself and badly injured. I needed to get back to the cave but the world was so jumbled that I didn't even know which way was left or right. I just knew where he had gone. I forced myself back to my feet and desperately tried to get somewhere that I could hide out the rest of the poison that the Tracker Jackers had infected me with.

All I wanted to do was chase after him. But I knew that I wouldn't be fast enough. But I had to try. So I stumbled back to my feet and forced myself back in the same direction that Cato had gone. I tried to follow his tracks but now there were footprints in the shape of a wolf's paw. I panicked and fell back on my hands and knees, stumbling away from the mutt. Grabbing my bow again and holding tightly to my bow and arrows, I set off. I was banging into trees that appeared out of nowhere and tripping and falling as I tried to keep my balance. I went back past my pool and into unfamiliar woods.

The world began to bend in alarming ways. A butterfly ballooned to the size of a house and then shattered into a million stars. Trees transformed to blood and splash down over my boots. Ants began to crawl out of the blisters on my hands and I couldn't shake them free. They were climbing up my arms and neck. Someone was screaming, a long high pitched scream that never broke for breath. I had a vague idea that it might have been me. I tripped and fell into a small pit lined with tiny orange bubbles that hummed like the Tracker Jacker nest. Tucking my knees up to my chin, I waited for death.

"Please," I whispered.

It was my own way of begging Cato to come back. I didn't want to die alone. If I was going to die I wanted someone to be with me. Then the ants started to bore into my eyes and I blacked out.

A/N: Here's another fully edited chapter. Let me know what you think! Until next time -A