The brutal truth of it was that if you wanted to get out, then others had to die, and that was an ideology that Glimmer was willing to accept.
So here she was, hosting a little informal meeting of the greats in a white-tiled bathroom. Cato sat there, silently, a dumb brute, Clove beside him. They were the a Careers, the best of the tributes, and on top of that they had Katniss in common; she was an anathema to them; they loathed her with unprecedented anger.
This was their moment after all, they had trained for this all of their lives, and Twelve was stealing the glory. Hadn't Cato had lifted his weights, Clove sharpened her knives, and Glimmer made herself a deity on earth? Didn't they deserve more points than this, not just Katniss' leftovers?
Glimmer was a thing of beauty, a modern masterpiece, and looking like she did took time and preparation. Even now, as they talked, Glimmer was in the bath. There were no suds or bubbles to conceal her naked body, and she did not care. This was her talent, and by hosting the meeting in the bathroom, she had ensured that the cameras would display her talent, the craft that was her body.
Did Katniss show any of that appeal, did she even care about what she looked like? No, the idiot didn't.
"Thresh," Clove continued. They were ticking off a list of who was left, noting potential allies and scheduling the deaths of the others.
"Assets- well he's strong. Imposing," Glimmer said. "So am I," Cato muttered, "We don't need him."
"Then how do you propose we get rid of him?" Glimmer asked sweetly. "It's going to have to be a stealth attack- I know you're superior in a fight Cato," and she winked at him, "but why risk it if we can take him down from afar?"
Glimmer was keeping Cato on a leash with all those winks and smiles. She saw the way he looked at her as she massaged her legs in the warm, clear water. She could make him do whatever she wanted.
"Alright, we'll come back to him. So far that's Thresh, Rue, Marissa and Katniss left to kill, and only Peeta to keep," Clove stated.
"I still say we kill him too." Cato countered.
"Listen," Clove said in a voice like steel. "We dispose of all the others bar Twelves first, okay? And then we kill Katniss but keep Lover Boy around. He'll still have his half of their all points, right? And if we're gonna be honest, he's popular, even without her. Folks at home love his homey salt-of-the-earth act. He'll keep on clocking up points until the very last night, and then that's we kill him and get the most possible out of it."
Neither Glimmer nor Cato dared argue with that tone. There was a silence, and then Glimmer said, "Okay, sounds good to me. You can leave now," and she began scrubbing herself with soap.
"I don't think so," Clove said.
Glimmer sat up, and her wet hair plastered to her. Rivulets ran down her front like tears. "What do you mean by that, Clove?" she asked, her voice not so sweet anymore.
"I mean," Clove said, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Cato and I have talked it out, and we asked ourselves, what does the lovely Glimmer bring to the table? Why do we need her? She's just another dumb bitch like Katniss if you ask me, but without all those points at that."
Suddenly the bath water seemed very cold, and Glimmer was aware that goosebumps covered her skin. Her nipples were hard and visible through her wet hair. She left go of the soap and smiled at Cato. He was her escape hatch, he'd get her out of here. Clove was just testing her.
"You can't be serious Cato," Glimmer said softly. "We haven't even had any fun yet. Clove, you go on ahead. Cato will stay here a while, won't you Cato?" She bit her lip gently and looked up at him.
Cato spoke in his stentorian, rumbling voice. "I don't think so Glimmer," he said, echoing Clove. "You're just a whore like all the others. Selling sex just isn't good enough at this stage in the game."
He approached the bath and now Glimmer was deathly afraid. She screamed, and he slapped her across the face, hard.
"No one's gonna come rescue you Glimmer," Clove told her. "They all hate you. They'll be glad to see you go. You were gonna kill them anyway, so why should they come running now?"
Cato grabbed her by the arms, his grip unbreakable, and pulled her out of the bath and threw her onto the bathroom floor. The tiles were cold beneath her naked skin and she pushed herself backwards, her hands still slippery from the soap, and she scrambled looked for something, anything to use as a weapon. Cato pushed himself on top of her and pinned her arms and legs down. She squirmed and struggled but could not shift his weight.
"Look at you two. It almost looks like you're two lovers. How romantic," Clove said flatly, standing over them.
"Wanna have some fun with this one Cato?" Clove continued, as if Glimmer wasn't even there. "I was just waiting for you to ask," he replied and they laughed and Glimmer realised how desperately wrong she'd been, and struggled and kicked, but Cato was unrelenting. She bit at his ear and he only laughed more.
"Yes, murdering you is going to be quite a bit of entertainment," Clove said almost to herself, and Glimmer screamed and kept screaming.