Chapter 3:
It feels so good to have my weapons back. I smile at the cool metal in my hand and with a quick flick of my wrist I send the knife through the practice dummy's heart. The trainer beams at me. Knives are so underrated. Cato and I have been arguing on and off for the past few years about that. Idiot's convinced that swords are where the real power is. I hope he's watching me now as I show off my prowess. I twirl the blade in my finger gracefully before sending it spiraling off into the head of the dummy the girl from District 1, Glimmer, is practicing on. She gasps and turns her head around to glare at me. I smile and wave at her. She looks indignant for a moment before returning to her work. I chuckle. Love me or hate me, Glimmer is going to have to obey me once we get into the arena. At least until I decide to slit her throat.
When we break for lunch Cato and I claim the largest table with the most food piled onto it. We talk in low voices, scrutinizing each tribute and eventually extending invitations for the worthy to sit with us. Not all deaths are equal after all. After we are all seated we strike up a conversation. I let Cato do most of the talking; he's more charismatic than I am. We talked about this earlier. He would make them talk, and I would learn as much information as I can about each of them. The more we knew, the better their deaths would be. I tried desperately to keep up with the stream of information that kept coming my way. Glimmer was vain and selfish, as far as I could tell, she liked herself and the fine goods her district was famous for producing. I glance over at Cato. By the way his mouth tightened when she spoke I could tell she was infuriating him. I smirked. Does anyone care if a girl is blonde and beautiful if she can't utter a sentence without making a fool of herself? I shake my shiny, dark ponytail and steal another glance at Cato. Surely he thinks I'm more beautiful than her? Shh, of course he does. I tell myself, and return my attention to the conversation.
By the time Cato and I return to the District Two floor I am confident I know my fellow careers as well as they know themselves. As I am about to step into my room Cato catches my shoulder. I whirl around, "Yes?" Cato fixes my with a searching expression, "Did you catch all of that." I smile tauntingly, "every word." Cato smiles and kisses me lightly on the cheek, just in case we're on camera. "Good night." I murmur. Cato looks at me, eyes filled with something like remorse, "Good night, Clove." As I slide into bed and begin to drift off, it occurs to me that his 'good night' sounded an awful lot like 'good bye'.
"Wake up, Clove! Wake up!" Geraldine Wish shouts in my ear. I struggle into a seated position and look around groggily. "Come on, come on! Today will be very busy; you have your session with the Game Makers!" I nod and murmur something incoherent and stumble to the shower. Once I have washed and dried my hair and tied it up in a slick ponytail atop my head I get dressed and head down to the area where the other tributes wait for their session with the game-makers. I watch as the District One tributes, Glimmer and a boy named Gore go in, and then as Cato goes in. I take deep breaths and sit with the other careers from District Four. Finally my name is called. I stand, nod to my table mates and head into the large room where the Game Makers wait for me.
They are all seated at a long table, eating and drinking. I am grateful that I live in District Two because the Game Makers are not yet so intoxicated that they don't even pay attention. I throw a smile towards the table and head straight to the knives. I choose some of the daintier ones. Quick as a whip I whirl around and send one hurtling at the wall just above the Game Maker's heads. I smile as it goes in so deep the blade becomes invisible, perfect. I send my next knife at the neck of one of the dummies, the head pops clean off. I see that I have the Game Makers attention now. I send two more knives into the stomachs of another dummy, then without even turning my head, I flick my final knife behind me. I can tell from the noise that it is lodged deeply into the wall. The Game Makers stare at me appreciatively. "Thank you, you may go." I smile, give a little bow, and exit the room assured that no tribute will be able to beat that display. Watch out Katniss Everdeen, your reign is over.
Cato and I are jittery to say the least. Our mentors and stylists sit around us as we all lean in towards the big television. They flash the scores for District One, both Glimmer and Gore do well. I nod. Good, they need to be strong enough to help us. Next comes Cato's score. I nine flashes up on the screen. I beam at him and smiles back at me. A nine is good; people will know how strong he is. I turn my attention back to the big screen just in time to see my score come up, a ten. I can hardly repress my glee. Cato shoots a look of irritation and infuriation at me but I don't care. Tens are very good, surely I have the highest score out of all twenty four tributes. My mentors congratulate me. I confess I don't pay much attention to all of the other tribute scores, I know none of them will be higher than me. I do, however, pay a bit of attention to the District Twelve scores. I need to be doubly sure that Katniss has been defeated before the games even begin. Her male counterpart's score is nothing to look twice at, just an eight. I sigh in relief. He looked like he could post a much greater threat then Katniss. I relax. I have won. Suddenly I hear the people around me. I jolt up and stare at the television just in time to see a huge eleven.
As soon as we say goodbye to our party Cato grabs my wrist tight enough to hurt and drags me to the elevator. As soon as the doors close and we are in private I let out a scream of anger and frustration. I try in vain to pull my hand away from Cato's iron grip but he refuses to let go. Once the elevator reaches our floor he drags me into my room and slams the door shut. "Let go of me." I spit at him. "Clove..." His voice is serious. No nonsense, don't do anything stupid. I glare at him, "Let me go." He sighs and drops my arm. I am surprised and a little at a loss of what to do. I had expected him to keep his hold firm; I hadn't really thought of what I would do if he obeyed me. I settle for collapsing onto my bed. "What the hell?" Cato sits next to me and pulls me close to his side. "Remember the plan Clove. You never miss. One of your knives will be with death of her before the people of the Capitol even have time to sponsor her." I don't allow myself to feel comforted, I'm too angry. I am shaking with rage when I reply, "I hate her so much." Cato smiles and kisses me, a real kiss, there are no cameras here. He whispers, "Be calm now, save all of this fire for when you send a knife through her heart. Save it for a time when you can show her who the real 'Girl on Fire' is. I nod, suddenly deflated. Cato smiles, "see, relax, it will be alright, sleep now and prepare to show her up at the interviews tomorrow. "Good Night, Cato." I murmur. "Sleep Well, Clove."
Tonight it is me who seems to be saying goodbye.