Happy Thanksgiving Break!

Chapter 21

Home

"Tributes! I would like to invite you to a feast! Now, this is no ordinary feast. You all need something desperately. The feast begins at the cornucopia tomorrow by daylight" Claudius Templesmith, my new best friend's voice, came booming through the arena.

"You hear that Cato?" I called to him. He poked his head around a tree where he was busy setting up a trap.

"Course I heard it, I'm not deaf" He smirked. "But what do we need?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's going to be really valuable. And we can kill some tributes at the cornucopia. It's a win win"

"I guess" he turned back to his trap, but at the same time I heard a loud snap.

"What the fuck was that?" Cato turned back towards me with a big grin on his face, and in his hands was the unlucky squirrel that fell into Cato's trap.

"That, my friend, is dinner" by then, we had already relocated to a rocky creek. He placed the squirrel on the rocks and began skinning it. "I bet you those damn District 1's could never do this."

"Don't flatter yourself" I began to lay out my knives on the rocks and count them, making sure they were all there, minus the one Cato was using.

"C'mon. Admit it" he leaned over and whispered in my ear; his hot breath hitting my neck. "You're glad I found you" I just wanted to melt, but then again, the thought of Cato being so close to my neck. So close to his lethal killing spot; it bothered me. I jerked away and returned to counting my knives.

"like I said, Cato; don't flatter yourself."

"Are you trying to play hard to get?"

"I dunno am I?" I said in a smart ass way.

"Yeah, you definitely are" he went back to the squirrel. "But it's all good. Take all the time you need" he smirked to himself again. We worked silently, and I must admit, I snuck a couple furtive glances at him as he worked. When we finished cooking, eating, and cleaning up the fire, I slid into my sleeping bag. It wasn't long before Cato slid in too, and just to annoy him, I pressed my cold feet against his legs.

"Damn Clove!" he shuddered. "You're cold! Here, let me warm you up" he used to do this all the time. He'd joke like that and tickle me. Yes, the big bad knife thrower from district two is ticklish, so what? So, as I had expected, he started to tickle me.

"Ow- Cato! Ha-ha! Stop! Cato!" I was on the verge of tears. It wasn't until he stopped tickling me that I realized I had ended up beneath him.

"Shhhhhhhh" he commanded all of the sudden, placing a hand over my mouth and looking around, like he had heard something. He finally looked me in the eyes closely. Longingly. He finally lowered his lips to mine. He hovered, a couple centimeters above my lips. I couldn't help myself any longer. I placed a hand behind his head and pressed his lips to mine.

He pulled away slightly, looked into my eyes, kissed me a second time, and then smiled. "What?" I asked.

"Goodnight" he laid back down beside me, much to my annoyance. I propped myself up on my elbow and looked at him closely. "What?" he asked.

"That's it?"

"It's only our first date" he smiled slightly and stretched his arms behind his head, giving a heavy sigh and allowing his eyes to close. I pulled myself closer to him and placed my head on his chest. This was where it was warm. This was where I belonged. This was home.

I woke up early. Like so early, the sun hadn't even come up. The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the cold. The cold; meaning the lack of Cato by my side. He was sitting by the creek, sharpening his sword. "Gonna sleep all day?" he asked mockingly.

"When does the feast start?" I stretched and crawled out of the sleeping bag and walked over to him. I took his sword and placed it on the ground, and I took it's place. I sat in his lap so that he could wrap his arms around me and keep me warm.

"Half an hour" he rested his lips on the top of my head. "I've been thinking a lot about our strategy, and since I sliced Lover Boy up pretty good and he's not dead yet, Fire girl is probably going to go in at the feast. I figure I'll go in after her and kill her and you look out for Thresh. He's our biggest threat."

"Cato, let me go in." I smiled slightly. "You against fire girl? She doesn't stand a chance. It feels like cheating"

"Since when do you care about cheating?" he laughed.

"Since I started to hate that bitch and decided I wanted to take her down myself"

"Okay, okay! Calm down. Fine, you go in. But, what if Thresh comes out? You've got no chance."

"Well you just be a good lookout then. I'm not passing up the opportunity to kill fire girl's sorry ass"

He frowned. "Okay. Just be careful."

"no need to worry about me" I said, jokingly flexing my arms. He flexed his arm in reply.

"I think I win"

"Whatever" he wrapped his arms back around me and squeezed me so tight, I'm sure my face turned purple. "Okay, okay! You win" I muttered.

"Got you're knives?" Cato asked, double checking.

"Yes"

"They sharp?"

"Always"

"Okay, now only wear what you need. You just need to run as fast as you can. Don't worry about taking any other packs or killing anyone, just get in and out."

"But, Cato! What's the fun if I don't get to kill Fire Girl" I whined like a little girl.

"Just trust me. I don't want you to get caught" Caught? I scoffed. Cato thought I would get caught!? He doubted me? That's what really sent me on edge. "Ready?"

"Yeah" I muttered. I'll show him, I thought. We hiked out to the edge of the field that the Cornucopia was on. When it was finally light enough to see, I spotted the bags. One with an 11, one with a twelve, one with a 5, and then the one with a 2. I prepared to run and I bounded off. Or tried to. Cato grabbed me from behind and yanked me back.

"What the hell?" I asked. He pointed at District 5. The girl had come out of nowhere and retrieved her bag.

"You can't be careless like that! You have to pay attention, Clove. You know what-" he took off his pack, "-Screw it. I'm going."

"No" I pushed him back and ran out into the field before he could stop me. Right as I was reaching the table, I saw Fire Girl. That was my chance. I turned towards her. She kept firing her puny arrows at me, but I deflected a couple with my knives. I finally got a chance to throw a knife at her. It grazed her forehead and, much to my satisfaction, began to spill blood. She fell on her back and I ran to her, jumping on her and restraining her arms with my legs.

"You think you're gonna get away this time? Forget it, District Twelve. We're going to kill you. Just like we did your pathetic little ally What was her name? The one that hopped around in trees? Rue? Well first Rue, then you and then we'll just let nature take care of lover boy. How does that sound?" I cooed, tracing her lips with the tip of my blade. She struggled against me, but it was no use. She was helpless. I raised the knife over my head and was about to bring it down when an almighty jerk pulled me from behind.

"You kill her? You kill that girl?" I found myself staring into the eyes of Thresh. His voice filled with blood thirsty threats.

"No- no! No" I stammered.

"You said her name! You kill her?" He yelled.

"Cato! CATO!" I wailed. I saw Cato sprinting into the field, but I knew he wouldn't reach me in time. With tears filling my eyes, I mouthed the words to him I'm Sorry.

The world spun and I felt a sharp pain on my skull. I could tell that My skull was shattered. It was only a matter of minutes before I bled out. It was a painfully slow way to die. So this was how it was going to end. With a rock. I always figured I would die somewhat like my mother did, but I found myself in the middle of a patch of grass, away from water.

"Clove! No... no no no! Clove, stay with me" Cato cried out to me. His image came in and out of focus as he grabbed my hand and put it to his lips. "Clove, please don't leave me" tears were streaming down his face. Something that I had never seen him do before. It was heartbreaking, but not as heartbreaking as what I asked of him next.

"Take one of the knives. Put me out of my misery" my voice quivered, yet sounded nothing like my actual voice. It sounded so distant.

"I- I can't do that Clove."

"P-p-please" I stammered, in between sighs. I blacked out.

It was like being in the fire again. My future flashed before my eyes. The last thing I saw was two kids running around. One was holding a knife. "I'm Clove!" he shouted. "Me too!" The other one shouted, tossing a knife, weakly. I was wondering the whole time, where's Cato? They're going to kill themselves! But I saw Cato in a slump on the floor, crying.

I Would love you forever if you reviewed.

BY THE WAY, MY NEW STORY IS OUT, ITS CALLED ONLY THE LONELY, HERES THE DESCRIPTION

Lacey never told her boyfriend she was pregnant. She never intended on it either, but as soon as they end up in the 70th annual Hunger Games together, he's going to find out eventually. There can only be one victor. Who will make it out? Clayton? Lacey? Or their baby?