Hey everyone!
I'm back with a new chapter :3
Like the previous one, there is pretty much no dialogue from the book in this Chapter – but, just in case, I am once again informing you that all content from the book IS BOLD AND IN ITALICS.
Born to Die
Chapter Fourteen: An ally turns traitor
Disclaimer, Point's of View, Characters (including O/C's) and Pairings list:
See Chapter One.
-The Hunger Games, Day Eight. As the Career pack have been knocked out by the Tracker Jacker venom for 3 days-
My world remains dark and senseless for days on end, till the eerie hue of the arena comes back into view.
At first, I believe that the hallucinations have decided to make a reappearance – but eventually I accept that the trauma of the venom has worked its way through and out of my system; leaving my body limp and feeble.
Clearly, I'm not the first to wake. As the forest's clear sky works its way into my sights, I notice that it's blocked by a blurring face marked with concern.
A face that usually donned a smug grin and belonged to a blonde boy who's weapon were swords.
"C-Cato?" I stammer, my head spinning as I do my best to sit up.
"...Oh, you're awake." He's doing an awful job of hiding a relieved and excited grin.
"You're observant," I snap, my hand flying to my forehead. "Headache's killer," I wince.
"Don't move!" He demands and races off. Before I can even let out an 'OK' he's back, a silver tin gripped tightly in his hand. The way Cato hold's it so tightly and securely makes it look as if the small can holds the gift of life and death.
"Marvel woke up a couple of days ago, said it was for the stings." Automatically I extended my arm to reach it, but regretted it immediately.
"Agh!" I cried in distress, pain darting through my body and setting each nerve end on fire. It felt as if the tracker-jackers had taken hold of me once again, sending their flaming sting through my bloodstream.
Cato winces at my suffering. At least, I think he did...Maybe the sun was blinding his eyes?
"Well, uh...Take this," He hands me two small pills the size of peas from the tin and I swallow dry.
The effect is instantaneous, as if the attack had never even happened. Everything, from moving to breathing, is easier; I don't even bother to hide my relief.
"Must have been expensive," was all I could muster as the medication took effect.
"Probably." We sat in silence for a while, before everything came flooding back to me.
"Kelly, Glimmer?" I enquired.
"Dead. Marvel saw them in the sky,"
"Anyone else?"
"Not yet." My last conversation with Kelly replayed in my mind, was I one of the few people she shared her story with?
Or was Panem listening in too?
What was going on in District Four? In Kelly's home? Were her parents ashamed of her, did they go about as if their daughter never existed?
Being a Career Tribute District, the frightening truth of it all was that yes, Kelly probably never existed in her families' eyes.
Which is exactly what will happen to my name if I don't win these Games.
"YOU'RE AWAKE THEN!"
I whipped my head around in a sharp, fluent movement to see Marvel – smile painted on his face as he came into view.
The cannon fired, soon revealing that the spear in his hand was tipped with fresh blood.
Cato responded. "That was quick then," clearly Marvel had gone hunting for a tribute.
Why did Cato stay with me, then?
"He didn't even bother to put up a fight. Just stood there crying, begging." He put on a squeaky, childlike voice. "Please, please don't kill me! Oh God help me, please!" The remaining District One Career then proceeded to laugh, almost manically.
Cato joined him in the snigger, making me force a smile.
What's so funny about someone begging for their life to be preserved?
Marvel's attention turned to me. "Well, get up – I want to get back to camp. Lord knows what the little nerd has been doing, and I swear if our stuff is gone I'll go hunt for him myself."
"Calm it, Marvel. She's been awake for literally five minutes,"
"That's four minutes too long to be resting in my opinion." Marvel sneered, grabbing a second spear from the ground and heading north of the arena.
Quickly, I scrambled to my feet and kept in time with Cato's swift, speedy stride.
"So, mourning your girlfriend?" Cato let out an involuntary snort.
"Ha, ha, uh – I mean, it's not like I'm glad she's gone it just...Doesn't bother me." For some unknowing reason my face morphed into a beaming grin that I rapidly tried to conceal.
"Well, of all the tributes to go, I'm not sad it was her." Cato nodded along with me.
"Katniss is still out there then?" Cato's nod turned graver. A random question occurred to me.
"Where's Lover Boy? Back at camp?" Cato's face turned furious then, the brute everyone believed the career to be on display.
"Do you remember just before you blacked out that I ran off when you told me you had no idea where he was?" It was my turn to resemble a nodding dog.
"Well he was back to Katniss, helping her escape. She was trying to take Glimmer's bow, for some reason-"
"It's her weapon." I cut him off.
"That's how she got that eleven. The bow is Katniss' weapon, her secret skill."
"How'd you know that?"
I explained hastily, but with detail. Cato's scowl grew into a furious grimace.
"Right, well – back to your question. Fire girl was attempting to steal her weapon-" he spat the two words wrathfully, "-from Glimmer's corpse, when Lover Boy showed up and began shouting at her to go. She got away, but not before I arrived." His features turned sinister.
"So he's dead?"
"No, but I cut him high. He'll either die from blood loss or blood poisoning,"
"Unless someone else finishes the job before nature can take him."
"Exactly," Cato confirmed; ending our conversation.
-LineBreaker-
Nothing much happened throughout the rest of the day, but Marvel was fruitful with his gifts at twilight.
Midnight overwhelmed the arena, the moon was visible for the first time.
I wondered if it was the same moon that glistened over District Two; that mother could see from her room and Ira, Iris and Irene could marvel over. Maybe it was, on the other hand – it could be the clearest day with the brightest sun glowing in the sky right now in Panem, and this was just a generated moon and a programmed night courtesy of the Capitol.
For some reason, I wanted it to be my moon; I wanted more of home than my token from mother and bobby pin from Cassidy, of which was permanently slid into my hair.
Just as I was about to take my watch Marvel gathered us around the fire – which wasn't hard to do when it was merely the four of us now. We'd been whittled down from seven members, just Jace, Marvel Cato and I in the pack now.
And one day, soon, the pack – the tributes, in fact – will be whittled down to one.
One tribute.
One victor.
The boy, who was from District Eight according to the projection boomed into the sky as the anthem echoed, wasn't empty-handed when he died – as it turned out.
"These aren't your everyday sunglasses," Marvel held out five pairs of glasses – smiling gleefully. "We have them at home. Help you see in the dark," he explained.
"How the Hell did eight get hold of five pairs?"
"Took them out of his backpack. Why there five, I have no idea – but whatever." Marvel shrugged, passing them out. He gave the extra one to me.
"Seeing as your first watch - if someone attacks and breaks your own ones; you'll have a spare pair. Give them to Cato when it's his turn, he'll pass them to the little nerd, who'll give them to me." Marvel explained, placing his own pair beside his sleeping bag.
My spare pair was hooked onto my hip, actual set slipping onto my face and brushing past Cassidy's bobby pin.
The remaining careers and Jace piled into their sleeping bags as I settled beside my regular tree.
"Remember, wake me in two hours." Cato told me before closing his eyes.
Little did I know I'd have an eventful time during those two hours.
I REALLY HATE THIS CHAPTER.
I'm just going to go ahead and say it.
This was just a filler one, and I'm tempted to write a second one today to do it justice.
*hides.*
I don't think this even deserves a review – but...Review anyway, please? :3