Wonderful Suzanne Collins owns everything. Except my story line. I by accident thought Cashmere and Gloss were from 2 (whoops) but thanks to you're wonderful reviews I fixed it. So that's why Enobaria is now the female mentor. Sorry for my mistake. Thank you so much for the reviews! They have helped me so much!
Chapter Six.
"Can I help you?" I snarl. Instead of a reply he backhands me on the side of the face, hard, enough to send me to the floor. Maybe I should have been more polite? I feel the side of my face burning and a lot of unwanted memories and feelings are rushing back. My mother hitting me, the embarrassment, the fear. But I'm not little Clove anymore and I'm not his punching bag.
I pull out one of my knives and stand up. Prepared if he tries to touch me again. Instead he sits down on the couch casually.
"I guess we both keep our promises, don't we?"
"Naturally," I don't move any closer to him. Instead I keep a defensive position with my knife in front of me.
"That's a concealed weapon."
"Not in District 2."
He remains silent for a moment and I don't know what to do. Is he here to gloat or something? If so he better just get it over with and get out. The sooner he leaves, the sooner I can see Cato on the train.
"Is there something you want?" I sound impatient. He raises his eyebrows.
"Should I have a valid reason to visit you?" he wonders.
"Yes."
"I need to talk to you about what you just did."
"What," I laugh, "are you going to scold me?"
"I guess so," he starts, "What you did was uncalled for."
"Really? Because I told you I would."
"I guess I didn't believe you."
I raise my eyebrows, "don't underestimate me Mr. Mayor. A lot of people have been doing that lately and they've all landed themselves a hospital bed."
He gets up to leave, now that our three minutes are up. "I just need you to know that it's your fault you're in this situation. You hurt Pearl, that is the reason you are here. That is the reason you may die in the next few weeks. That is the reason you and your boyfriend will be separated forever. Maybe he'll even die for you, because of you. I just wanted you to know that." He leaves me in dumbfounded silence. I don't want his words to hurt me, but I can already feel the guilt taking place in my heart.
The large metal train is magnificent. I've seen the trains before, but never from this close. The car ride over I was squished against the window, beside Athena. Cato practically took up two seats, so we were squished together. Thanks Cato.
"Seriously Cato?" I say when I slip out of the car.
"What?" he wonders, "I need the space."
I shake my head and walk towards the train. Following an impatient Athena, apparently we need to be 'perfectly on schedule'. The citizens of District 2 are cheering us on, as we confidently follow Athena up the steps and into the train. We don't bother to wave goodbye, we don't need to. The inside of the train practically takes my breath away.
There are polished mahogany tables and blue couches. The tables are covered in many assortments of food, some food I've never seen before. Crystal chandeliers line the cart, it looks polished and clean. I don't want to touch anything, being afraid I might ruin it.
"Isn't this wonderful? you get to experience all this," she gestures around the cart. Is she really that vain. To think that dying is worth any of this, maybe if I wasn't with Cato. But I am. Our mentors enter the cart, Edward and Enobaria lounge in two plush blue chairs. Edward is shooting me glares which I ignore. Enobaria stands up and leans against the far wall.
"Now I see why you wanted to switch Edward, you wanted to take this one all for yourself," she eyes Cato, "and leave me with the little thing." Edward gives her a startled look, did she just call me a little thing? She didn't.
I take out a knife and throw it at her. It lands in the wall, inches above her head. "Want to know the real reason why Edward doesn't want to mentor me?" I ask. She nods. "Because I'm the one who did that to his face." Enobaria looks like she wants to laugh, Edward looks embarrassed.
"Fine Edward I'll switch, seeing as you can't handle this one." Edward is at a loss for words, good. He needs to learn to be less cocky.
We talk about the games with our mentors, for most of the day before dinner. After dinner we watch the recap of the reapings. Cato and I each get a sheet of paper to write down possible allies, we will run it by our mentors after. The Capitol seal appears on the screen before it turns to District 1. The girl is blond and beautiful, Glimmer. What a stupid name.
Then the boy volunteers and I know I will remember his name forever.
"What is your name?"
"Marvel Coates."
As in Andrew Coates, as in my father. Who also came from District 1. The boy is funny and charming, I need to talk to him either before or during the games. I need to know who he is, whether he knows my father. I want to know more about my father.
Cato and I look malicious and batal hungry as Cato lunges forward to volunteer and I'm being pulled back by peacekeepers. They don't show the part where I run up to the microphone and tell Dan's secret.
District 3 is worthless. The girl from 4 volunteers and looks like she could be strong. However, the boy is 13 years old, skinny. He won't last past the bloodbath. I notice a sly red head from 5, but she looks scared and skinny. I doubt she'll last long. From District 10 there is a boy with a limp and I almost laugh. How pathetic. The girl from 11 is 12 years old, which almost makes me sad, almost. The boy is huge, tall, wide. Practically as big as Cato, if not bigger. He will be a force to be reckoned with, we better hope he joins our alliance, so we can kill him in his sleep. If he doesn't, he could be the number one person standing in my way of getting Cato home. I perk up when the girl from 12 volunteers, but then I realize she was only volunteering for her sister. Her and the boy are only the normal worthless crop from 12. They'll be out in the bloodbath for sure.
"Who did you put?" I ask Cato, when the screen goes dark. I can see him trying to read his messy scrawl, even he has trouble making out the words.
"Both from 1, girl from 4, boy from 11."
"That's the same as me," I agree. We'd better appoint ourselves as pack leaders before the other can. We run the show, they should know that from day one.
"We'll talk to their mentors once we reach the Capital!" says Enobaria, Edward just lounges sleepily in his chair, a glass of booze in his hand. Opps, I must have drove him to drink. My bad.
"You two should get some sleep," Athena exclaims, "you've got a big day tomorrow." I follow Cato into another cart and down a hallway, once he's sure we're alone, he turns to me and pushes me against the wall. Suddenly his lips find mine and his body pushes against me. He opens my mouth quickly and our tongues find each other. He runs his hands down my body and I wrap my arms around his waist pulling him closer. Then we hear footsteps and break apart quickly. However, no one comes down the hall. That was a close one. We can't afford to be caught, we can't afford to have a weakness. No one can know about us.
Cato takes my hand and pulls me into his room. I shake my head. "You smell," I complain, he doesn't actually, but I want him to have a shower.
"You too," he agrees, he knows where I'm going with this.
"I guess we better take a shower then," he grins and pulls me into the spacious bathroom. I don't have time to look around, before Cato has me pushed against the sink and has his tongue down my throat. He starts removing my clothes and I undo his pants. He slides them off while I pull my dress over my head and discard it. Soon we're only in our underwear. He unclasps my bra and slides it off. I'm not nervous around him, never have been. I slip off my underwear while he slips off his boxers. His skin is tanned and his muscles are toned. I run a hand over his abs and he pulls me towards him.
"We'd better start the shower," I breathe in his ear. He nods before going to the huge shower, it takes the length of the wall.
"Coming?" he wonders.
I step into the shower beside him, we could fit all the tributes in here, there are two shower heads, one on each side. Perfect for two people, not that we don't mind sharing. There is a panel on the wall with buttons, the words are too small to read. I guess we just have to wing it. Cato pushes a blue button (the obvious choice for water) and a thin stream of icy cold water hits us. I squeal and jump backwards, causing me to slip. Cato catches me quickly, before I hit the shower floor. I'm lucky he's always here to catch me.
Finally we find a way to turn the water temperature up. Soon we have both shower heads going with nice warm water. Cato has his back turned to me, standing under the stream of water. The muscles in his back contract and I watch him in fascination. He is so beautiful. I step behind him and wrap my arms around him. He pulls me around his body and pushes me against the shower wall. His lips find mine, the water pouring down on us. We all know what happens next. Luckily the shower masks the noises we make.
Once we're finished he turns off the shower and wraps me in a plush towel. I give him a kiss before entering his room and shuffling through his drawers. There's nothing that could fit me, so I put on my underwear again and an oversized t-shirt. I pause when I pass the mirror, my freckled cheeks are flushed and my eyes are green and lively. My wet hair drips down the back of my shirt, making it look black rather than brown. I look nothing like my blonde mother. I must look like my father.
Cato comes out wearing only his boxers. His blond hair is fluffy and sticking out in all directions. He looks so cute. Ya...I just called Cato cute. A slightly large and scary cute, that sounds better. He reaches for me and pulls me to him. I put my head against his chest and breathe deeply. Matching the way his chest moves up and down. The full significance of where we are hits me.
Cato and I are going into the Hunger Games together. Here we are, on our way. There is no going back, no making plans. No planning a future. Our future together has been taken from us. One of us is going to die, either way we lose each other. I'll do anything to have him live, which means I'm travelling 200 miles an hour to my death. I can't take it anymore, I collapse in his arms. He is the only thing holding me upright. I can't lose him. I can't. And it's all my fault.
He carries me to the bed and tucks me under the covers. I know I will need to sneak out early in the morning, but I'd rather have to get up early if that means I can spend the night here with Cato. He turns off the light and gets under the covers beside me. We face each other, he closes his eyes but I see his wet cheeks. I have never seen Cato cry, never. He is my rock. He is always in control. Here and now I see the soft side of him. The side that loves. I might just be the only person who ever gets to see it.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, but he is already asleep.
Slowly I fall asleep. My head against his chest and his strong arms around me. His presence keeps me warm and makes me feel safe as my eyelids flutter closed.
A/N: Yup I'm back lovelies.
Wow, I'm on a writing role. Hopefully I can still update lot's this week, (I'm a busy bee you know)
Happy Mother's Day, to all the Mother's out there.
Clato is just so great, uggg. Poor Clove though...and Cato really. He's so soft when it comes to her.
Writing this was sooooo fun.
The Capital next chapter (are you as excited as me?)
Reviews would be lovely, waking up in the morning and seeing your reviews makes my day!
xoxoxoxoxo (hugs and kisses)