Okay, if you thought the last chapter was the most intense, this chapter will prove you wrong. This is way more intense. I mean it. SERIOUSLY. Okay, so, I would let you read it, and I will...but first I need to speak to the reviewers. Yep.
clarissa: Thank you! Thanks for reviewing, and here's that update!
Catolover123: You'll be pleased to hear about some Clato in this chapter!
The Mockingjays Flames: Don't forget, he's got tracker-jacker venom in him. Your guesses are very good with good reasoning, and you're going to find out the murderer in this chapter! Now I see you bouncing on the edge of your seat. I can imagine it. XD
drea29: Since you guessed one person, I can't tell you if it's right or wrong, but good guess! You're going to find out in this chapter. Thank you, and here's the update!
The Knife Throwing Expert: Thank you! Here's that update you asked for!
HogwartsDreamer113: Good reasoning on your guesses and why you didn't guess some people, and here's the new chapter!
Emma: I try to make it unpredictable...so that's good. Yep, CLATO! I wouldn't say it's perfect, but thanks anyway! :) And I'm crazy-minded too. This chapter will prove it.
EvelynElizabeth214: Thank you, and I can't tell you if Peeta dies or not. Sorry! But here's the next update!
Alright guys, I know you are all super excited about this new chapter!
Deaths in order: Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, Foxface
Now, read on!
Night of No End
by SassySunshine
Kidnap or Be Killed
"Okay, Katniss, Peeta, and Gale have been gone for far too long. Something's wrong here. I need to look for them and make sure they're okay," Madge says, getting up out of her seat.
"Madge…take Finnick's trident with you. You don't need to know much except that when you're in a lot of trouble, just stab someone with it. I don't think Finnick would mind if you're using it to protect yourself," Johanna says. Madge nods and picks up the gold object, fingering it delicately before ascending the stairs with it, leaving Cato, Clove, Marvel, and Johanna in the living room.
"I'm really worried now. There's eight of us left here. Seven of us are innocent. One of us is guilty," Clove says. Cato puts an arm around her and pulls her closer, and this time Clove doesn't bother pulling away.
"It'll be alright, Clove. We'll find out who it is and I promise you both of us will make it home," Cato tells her. Clove nods to him, and Cato smiles contently as the two rest together on the couch.
Katniss looks from Peeta to Gale repeatedly. Gale doesn't look too banged up, minus the cut on his arm, but it is Peeta who alarms Katniss. Peeta had received a kick to the chest, an arrow to the abdomen, a large cut all down his right arm, and had been slammed into the wall and wrestled to the floor several times. All and all, Peeta is injured terribly. Katniss kneels beside the blonde boy, pushing hair from his eyes. His eyes are barely open, and he faintly smiles up at Katniss.
"You okay, Katniss?" he asks.
"I'll be okay when you are. Peeta…it's gonna be alright. We're going to make it out of here…just please, don't die on me now. I need you here with me, Peeta. Stay with me," Katniss whispers. Peeta gives her some sort of a grin.
"Always."
"Lies," Gale hisses dangerously.
"Stop it, Gale. You have tracker-jacker poison in your system. You aren't yourself. Just stop talking," Katniss says to him quietly.
"No…Mellark ain't gonna win here," Gale growls, struggling to his feet. Katniss sits in front of Peeta protectively, grabbing her bow and arrow, as well as Peeta's sword for Peeta to hold. Gale pushes Katniss aside, right when a fourth voice cuts into the thick tension.
"Gale Korrin Hawthorne, leave them alone."
Gale spins on his heel to see Madge standing there, Finnick's trident in her hands. There is a flicker of the old Gale as he drops his bow and arrow to the floor. Katniss looks at Peeta as the blonde boy shrugs. Gale makes his way over to Madge and engulfs her in a hug. Madge returns it, and Katniss nods.
"It seems Madge is the only one who can bring him back to his senses," she says.
"Madge…you're alive…you're here…," Gale whispers. Madge pushes him back a bit and grabs him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eye.
"Gale. Are you stable now?"
"Peeta didn't kill you…"
"Not real, Gale. We don't know who the murderer is. We don't know if it's Peeta or someone else. The murderer is unidentified," Madge says. Gale nods absently.
"Are you ready to apologize to Peeta?"
"For what?" Gale asks obliviously. Madge turns him around so he can see Peeta, bruised and bloody, lying on the floor while Katniss kneels beside him.
"Peeta!" Gale exclaims. Peeta recoils while Katniss steadily moves in front of him, holding up her bow and arrow. Gale looks down at his feet in shame. Katniss's demeanor softens and Peeta slowly opens his eyes to find nobody has been attacked. Instead, Gale kneels beside Peeta. Madge and Katniss keep a watchful eye on the Seam boy.
"Peeta…I'm really sorry…I really don't know what happened," Gale says.
"Someone put something in your drink. It had tracker-jacker venom in it," Madge explains from behind him, "Farrah identified it and died shortly after."
"I remember her death, but everything before her death and after while I had that venom in me is a blur," Gale says.
"The venom messed with your memories where you repeatedly accused Peeta of being the murderer and tried to 'do justice' as you called it. Basically, you tried to kill him both times," Katniss explains. Gale looks down at Peeta in shock, while Peeta nods to him.
"It's true. You were gonna finish me off, and then Katniss came along. You tried to kill her, too, for not loving you. I shouted something at you and you got off of choking Katniss to death and lunged for me. I held out my sword and cut you on the arm, and you lodged an arrow in my stomach. We fell to the ground, Gale. Katniss watched us for a few minutes before finally talking to me. You got all mad and staggered to your feet. You pushed Katniss away because she was in front of me and were about to kill me again when Madge yelled at you. You gave her a hug, and I suppose you know what happens next," Peeta explains to the dark-haired boy.
"Peeta," Gale says, "I'm really, really sorry."
"It's alright, man," Peeta says.
"Okay, who else is officially bored?" Clove asks.
"I am. Who wants to go look for clues? I'm feeling adventurous," Johanna says.
"I'll go, I guess," Marvel says.
"I'm staying here. I need to catch up on my sleep," Cato says drowsily. The other three nod and take off, leaving Cato all alone in the living room.
"Alright, so, we need to find something that could possibly tell us who the murderer is," Clove says to Marvel and Johanna. Johanna's eyes catch a bright yellow piece of paper sticking out from a wall down the hallway.
"Guys, look," she says, pointing to it. Marvel walks to it and rips it out of the wall.
Dear Friends,
After listening to Gale having told Peeta, Madge, Katniss, and me about those murder movies and that board game, I have decided to write this letter should I die. There's something I should really tell you guys. I'm jealous of some of you. Very, very jealous. Most notably, I'm jealous of Annie, Katniss and Madge. They have boyfriends from back home, but I'm still as single as ever. I am not desirable to most people. A lot of people in the Seam dislike me because they view me as a wealthy, stuck-up merchant kid. No; I'm not. And if I do find someone they like, they only view me as a close friend. I've always been friend-zoned. I've always wanted a boyfriend, someone handsome and loving. But no. All I get is guys who are semi-handsome and friend-zone me.
I don't like jealousy. It's an ugly feeling for me, but I have it anyway. It drives me crazy. If I die tonight, let me let you guys know I'll still love you all no matter what. If anyone from Twelve should make it home tonight, tell them to let my parents know that I love them. Tell the Everdeens, the Hawthornes, the Mellarks (well, Mr. Mellark and Peeta's brothers, anyway), and the Undersees that I've enjoyed their families very much.
Love, Delly
"That's…tragic," Johanna says, putting down the note.
"Delly can't be responsible for any of these deaths, even Annie's, though she's jealous of her. Delly's just too good a person and she died tonight," Marvel says.
"Well, no duh. Let's think here. Gale didn't start going crazy until the tracker-jacker stuff was put in his drink, after Farrah died. Madge is too innocent to do this, and Johanna only uses axes. I only cut up faces, so I would use knives and everyone's faces would be all weird-lookin' when we found them," Clove says.
"That leaves Marvel, Cato, Katniss, and Peeta," Johanna says.
"Peeta's too nice to kill anyone," Clove says.
"I'm right here, guys. That hurts, that really hurt," Marvel says.
"Alright, so it's either Katniss or Cato," Clove says, glaring at Marvel.
"Katniss has been on edge all night. I really don't think it's her," Marvel says.
"Guys…this means Cato is the murderer," Johanna says.
"Well, well, well," a nasty voice sounds from behind them.
"Run!" Johanna shrieks, taking off down the hallway. Clove shoves Marvel into Cato and runs in the opposite direction of Johanna. Marvel's eyes widen at the sight of Cato. Cato grabs him by the shoulders.
"Marvel, listen here. They know I'm the murderer. They're probably looking for Katniss, Peeta, Madge, and Gale so they can warn them. They still trust you. Don't let them know you're in on this with me. I need you to find Clove and bring her to me. ALIVE. Do you understand me?" Cato asks. Marvel nods.
"Good. Now, go find her. I'll be waiting," Cato says. Marvel nods with a smirk and runs off screaming. Cato grins deviously and grabs his sword. Cato's eyes sparkle with an evil only his can make.
"Watch out Mellark," he whispers, "You're next."
"Okay, so all we need to do is find the others, now. Are you sure you're okay now, Peeta?" Katniss says as they walk along. Peeta nods.
"I'm fine. Worse has been done…by my mom," Peeta says. Madge nods to him.
"I came over early one day and heard her hitting him. Real bad. He came out with a nosebleed and several scratches."
"Don't remind me," Peeta groans.
"Guys!" Clove yells, running in from down the stairs. She practically knocks them over as she runs up to them.
"Clove, you look frazzled. What's wrong?" Katniss asks.
"Cato's the murderer. We're sure of it. Marvel, Johanna, and I went off exploring while Cato stayed in the living room to catch up on his sleep. We found a note from Delly and narrowed down the list of murderers to Katniss and Cato, and then we eliminated Katniss, and Cato comes up behind us all like 'well, well, well' in that creepy voice! Johanna screamed and ran, so I pushed Marvel into him and took off to warn you guys," Clove explains hurriedly.
"Let me get this straight. Cato is the killer, and he's been telling everyone else to confess. I should've seen the signs!" Peeta exclaims.
"Listen to me. We need to escape this mansion as fast as we can. Cato's out looking for us, and who knows who he's going to kill next? We need to find an escape route somehow," Clove says.
"Clove, Clove! HELP!" a scream rings out.
"That sounds like Marvel," Gale says quietly, looking at the others. Clove shakes her head at them.
"I've gotta help him. You guys find Johanna and get out of here. I'll be looking forward to killing Cato. He killed Gloss!" Clove says, taking out a large knife from her jacket and running off. The others watch her leave.
"What now?" Peeta asks.
"I say we split up and get out of here in a smaller group. Cato will be able to find us more easily if we're in one big clump. For safety measures, I'll be going with Madge. Peeta, Katniss, good luck," Gale says. They break off and begin running in opposite directions. Katniss and Peeta run up a flight of stairs while Gale and Madge take off down another set.
"Clove, Clove! HELP!" Marvel screams. Cato stands around a corner, looking on while at the same time planning Peeta's demise. Clove comes running around a corner a few minutes later, large knife in her hand. Cato grins acrimoniously as Clove stumbles upon their trap. A steel cage falls on top of her. Clove's jaw drops.
"Marvel! What the heck?" Clove shouts, gripping the bars.
"Sorry, Clove. I had orders."
"Wha—"
Cato appears from around the corner, grinning at Clove maliciously. Clove backs up in the cage as Cato walks toward the silver trap.
"Ah, Clove Neilson. What a pretty young girl, if I must say," Cato says.
"Cut the act, dumbbutt. We've been friends for years. Why are you suddenly being such a jerk?" Clove snaps at him. She turns to Marvel.
"And you! I thought Cato was killing you! Do you know how disappointed in you Glimmer probably is?" Clove says, trying to make Marvel feel guilty. Marvel's expression hardens.
"Don't bring her up, Clove. Your best option here is silence," Marvel responds to her in a dangerous tone. Clove keeps her mouth shut as she glares at the two of them. Cato smirks.
"Deactivate the cage, Marvel. Clove, listen here. This is simple. You don't run away, you live. You try to run, you die. Simple enough?" Cato says. Clove nods with a glare at him. Cato grins at her.
"Good."
Marvel deactivates the cage trap, and Cato puts his arm around Clove. Clove starts to pull away when Cato gives her a warning look. With a huff, Clove moves back over to him. Cato nods approvingly.
"Now, Clove, you and Marvel have a mission. I need you to find Johanna, Gale, Madge, Katniss, and Peeta. I need you to bring them to me, alive. There are cameras everywhere. I'll be watching your every move. If you so much as let them escape, not only do they die, but you do as well," Cato threatens.
Marvel and Clove reluctantly nod and walk off to find them.
"Cato is nuts," Johanna whispers to herself from the other side of the door in the hallway. She had been listening in and watching Clove, Marvel, and Cato ever since Marvel had been screaming. Now she leans against the wall, trying to sort everything out in her mind.
"Cato could quite possibly know my location. Clove and Marvel must obey or be killed. Katniss, Peeta, Madge, and Gale are oblivious and completely vulnerable in this situation. Cato is stupid. Cato is mean. Cato must die," Johanna mutters.
"Just what was that, Johanna?"
The door swings open to reveal Cato with his sword. Johanna holds her axe out in front of her.
"You better watch out, District Two! I've been wielding this thing back home for years and can take your head off in one throw if you're not careful!" Johanna shouts at him. Cato smirks and shakes his head.
"Johanna Mason. You were a friend of mine, you know. You were headstrong, and sometimes very arrogant. You cared for your friends and you always made sure they felt okay, and that they were out of harm's way. But tonight everyone has changed. I've changed, you've changed. They say change is good…but not all change. I have a proposition for you. If you aid Clove and Marvel in finding the others, maybe I'll reward you, by letting you live. If you disobey, you and the others die. I need you to bring me Katniss Everdeen, and I want her alive," Cato says. Johanna looks down and sighs.
"Fine. Only because I want them to live," she grumbles. She walks off.
Cato smirks.
"Johanna will find Katniss, Marvel will find Gale, Clove will find Madge, and that leaves Mellark all for me."
"There's something wrong here. I don't hear Clove screaming. I don't hear Marvel screaming. I don't hear Cato's head falling to the floor," Katniss says, putting her arm in front of Peeta suddenly. Peeta meets her gaze as they hear a series of thumps sounding, closer and closer to them with each passing minute. Johanna appears down the hallway at the top of the stairs with her axe, and Peeta holds on to Katniss.
"Peeta…something doesn't feel right," Katniss whispers.
"I'm getting the same feeling," Peeta whispers back.
"We better run."
"I second that."
Peeta and Katniss take off running down the hallway, and Johanna also breaks into a run as she chases after them.
"Peeta, what do we do?" Katniss shouts.
"We figure out how to get away from her!" Peeta responds, throwing open a door and shoving Katniss in. He goes in and slams the door shut. Katniss locks it and the two of them lean against it, breathing heavily.
"I think we're okay, for now anyway," Peeta says. Right then the blade of the axe comes through the door, right in between the small space between Katniss and Peeta's heads. Both teens' eyes widen as they look at each other.
"Alright, alright. Just don't panic. We'll find a way out of here. We just need to assess everything," Peeta says.
"Wait…Clove said Cato's the killer…so why is Johanna after us?" Katniss interrupts.
"He could have accomplices, or he could have forced them to do something! Listen, it doesn't matter now who it is. It could've been multiple people, I don't care. All I care about now is getting you out of here," Peeta says.
"Open this door, now!" Johanna shouts from the other side of the door.
"Peeta, we don't have a choice here, do we? There's no way out of this room and eventually Johanna's just gonna end up busting the door down," Katniss says. Peeta wraps his arm around her.
"Kat, whatever happens, I love you."
"I love you too Peeta."
Katniss pulls open the door and Johanna stomps in and grabs Katniss by the arm.
"What are you doing with her?" Peeta demands.
"Cato's orders. It was this, or my life on top of yours and hers. He wants her alive, don't worry," Johanna says, slamming the door. Peeta is left alone to watch Johanna take Katniss's bow and arrows and put them in a bag with other weapons. Peeta looks down at the sword in his hand and sighs. He slams it on the ground.
"Who's left? Clove and Marvel are probably doing the same thing. That leaves Gale, Madge, and me. Cato is smart enough not to take on Gale…but Marvel probably is taking him on. Since Johanna took Katniss…that leaves Clove to get Madge. And that leaves Cato to take on me," he talks to himself, putting his head in his hands.
They took Katniss from me.
Cato is making them all do this. They don't want to. They're sparing our lives.
I need to find them. All of them.
Peeta pulls open the door and steps into the hallway, looking around for his friends.
"Don't worry guys. I'm coming."
Meanwhile on the top floor, Katniss is being tied to a chair in the center of the room. There are four chairs in the center of the room and three against the wall. Gale and Madge are also tied to chairs in the center of the room. All of the chairs have their backs to each other.
"This bites," Gale snaps.
"Tell me about it," Katniss says irritably.
"We need to find a way out of here," Madge says.
"We can't. I was told we were under surveillance, and we still are," Gale says.
"Cato is stupid. He's a nutcase. Next time, we're not inviting him to our parties," Madge snaps.
"There is no next time. Half of our friends are dead and for all we know, we could be next," Gale mumbles.
"Listen guys, there's still hope. Peeta's out there looking for us. He's gonna find us, and he's gonna help us escape," Katniss says.
"Not likely. Cato's out to find him and Cato has a sword," Johanna pipes up.
"Peeta has a sword too. You forgot to take that when you yanked me away," Katniss replies with a glare.
"Don't get snippy with me, Katniss," Johanna warns, "Cato said if I let you get away, we would both be dead. I actually did you a favor."
"Whatever," Katniss mutters. Johanna sighs and looks up at one of the TV monitors in the room. Cato is approaching Peeta.
"Listen guys. As soon as Cato finds Peeta, Clove, Marvel, and I are busting you all out of here. You got that?" Johanna explains.
"That would be soon," Marvel says, eying the screen.
Peeta turns another corner with his sword in his hand, searching for Cato. He feels a presence and turns around. Cato stands there, grinning maliciously, his sword in his hand. Cato smirks at him.
"Well, fancy seeing you here, Bread Boy," Cato says.
"Cato," Peeta says uneasily.
"I'll make you a deal, Peeta. If you surrender to me now, you'll live, and so will your precious Katniss. If you don't surrender, I'll kill you, and then Katniss will be next. Now, you don't want her pretty little head to be slashed off of her body, now, would you?" Cato snarls at him with a malicious grin.
Peeta is torn.
"Having trouble deciding?" Cato asks darkly, "I'll help you out." With that, Cato lunges for Peeta. Peeta jumps back, holding out his sword, and the two metal weapons clash. With another series of attempted strikes from Cato and parries from Peeta, the two boys end up on a balcony overlooking a cliff with the water of the ocean below. It is still pouring outside, making the fight even more precarious.
"You don't wanna give up, do ya, Bread Boy?"
"You aren't going to kill Katniss even if I have to die to make sure she's safe!"
"That can be arranged!"
"Not on my watch!"
Peeta makes a jab at Cato. Cato jumps over the blade and he brings down his sword to make a death blow to Peeta's head. Peeta raises his sword and the two weapons clang together. The two boys push their swords together, coming face to face. Cato kicks Peeta in the abdomen, sending him flying onto his back on the slick concrete balcony. Waves of pain rip through Peeta as he holds up his sword to block all of Cato's attacks. Cato grins and makes a swipe for Peeta's leg. Peeta deflects the sword again and tries this time for Cato's ankle. Cato jumps out of the way, giving Peeta enough time to stagger to his feet.
"I take it you don't want to go down easy," Cato growls.
"Never," Peeta responds, gripping his sword.
"Please, Peeta. Everything done for love always ends in disaster. I thought you were smarter than this," Cato snaps.
"And you're a living example!" Peeta says, and adds after a grunt, "You turned a murderer just so you could kill Gloss and get Clove, but that backfired so horribly."
"You better keep that mouth of yours shut, Mellark," Cato snarls, making a cut over the one Gale made on Peeta's arm earlier. Fresh rivulets of blood start dripping down his arm. Peeta bites his lip to keep from crying out and masks his pain with a demeanor of determination. He tries to slash at Cato's leg, but ends up getting another cut, this time on his left leg. It isn't too deep, judging by the not-so-intense pain. It still hurts Peeta, nonetheless. Cato senses this and makes another jab at Peeta. Peeta deflects the blow just in time and backs up as Cato initiates another wave of attempted strikes, all of which Peeta manages to parry.
"You're really getting on my nerves, Mellark!" Cato snaps.
"You're so very welcome," Peeta responds, making a slash on Cato's shoulder. Cato growls and jabs at him. Peeta jumps onto a ledge, and Cato joins him up there. They carefully side step as they one-handedly wield their swords. A few times, both of the boys almost fall off of the slippery concrete into the angry waters below.
"Peeta!" a voice cries. Cato and Peeta's eyes both fly to the entrance to the balcony to see Katniss, Johanna, Gale, Marvel, Madge, and Clove.
"How did you all escape?" Cato screeches in rage.
"Please, like we would all listen to you, you over-controlling psychopath!" Johanna shouts at him.
"You're all defying me? How dare you! Just for that, you'll pay! You'll get a front-row viewing of the demise of Peeta Mellark! How does that sound for you all? Fun, right?" Cato shouts.
"Cato! Why are you doing this?" Clove screams over the thunder.
"For you, Clove! I hated Gloss because you loved him! So I killed him! And you still didn't want me! And everyone kept getting in my way!" Cato shouts at her.
"That's not winning me over, you idiot! All that's doing is taking away people that the rest of us knew and loved! You're crazy, and now you'll never have a chance with me! So you can go home back to District Two and cry about it to your mom! GET OVER IT, CATO!" Clove screams at him. The pain and shock registering in Cato's eyes quickly turns to fury, and he turns toward Peeta, to take it out on the blonde boy. Peeta backs up in shock.
"Peeta, be careful!" Katniss yells.
Cato smirks when he hears Katniss's voice, and fear becomes evident in Peeta's expression as Cato kicks him over the edge, into the murky waters below.
Deaths in order: Annie, Cashmere, Gloss, Finnick, Glimmer, Delly, Foxface (Peeta? Hmm...)
OH. MY. GOODNESS. Intenseness!
Will Peeta be okay?
Has Cato lost his mind?
I bet I shocked you when I told you the murderer is Cato. …No, some of you saw that coming. Kudos to The Mockingjays Flames, Ivy Blackwell, and plaidprincess3000, because at some point they guessed Cato as the murderer!
Even if you didn't guess Cato, you had a lot of good reasons for it to be whoever else you guessed. A lot of you said the evidence was stacked against Johanna. I made it that way to throw you guys off. I'm evil like that.
I'm also evil enough to give you a cliffhanger.
Mua ha ha.
Anyways, this story is not over yet! It will have one or two more chapters after this one, and then as an added bonus at the end of the story, if you guys would like, we sit down with the characters and talk about filming this fanfic! As in…we do an interview/behind the scenes with Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Madge, Delly, Johanna, Finnick, Annie, Cato, Clove, Gloss, Cashmere, Glimmer, Marvel, and Foxface.
So, what do you guys think?
I'll see you all in the next chapter!