Darius and I headed out to welcome the tributes from District 12. I saw Katniss and Peeta first, and then saw Haymitch, who was sort of glaring at us. I turned my head slightly, wondering what he was glaring at, and then heard Effie speak.
"Looks like they got a pair this year," she said, then smiled as if nothing was wrong. I looked at Darius and for once realized that we looked like twins. We each had red hair, our faces looked nearly identical, and it was sort of freaky. Katniss stared at us and her eyes filled with horror. Haymitch grabbed her arm and she suddenly turned around and ran away. I looked at Darius and he shrugged, and we headed back to start picking up dishes.
It was a water arena. I knew that nearly nobody knew how to swim in District 12. I didn't even know how to. But when the countdown reached zero, Katniss jumped off the pedestal and started swimming. Peeta stayed where he was, obviously unable to swim. I gritted my teeth and continued working, but looked up at the TV screen whenever I could. Katniss survived the games once, I thought to myself. She can do it again.
I stared in horror as blood poured out of Katniss's arm. Johanna quickly jumped off of Katniss and dashed away. Brutus and Enobaria came out of nowhere and looked down at Katniss.
"She's good as dead," Brutus said. "Come on, Enobaria!"
After a few minutes she stood up and started racing toward the tree where she'd put the wire on. Their whole plan had been confusing to me because I'd only caught bits and parts of it on the televisions.
"Katniss!" Peeta howled in the distance.
"Peeta! I'm here! Peeta!" Katniss shouted back, hiding in a tree. What's she doing? I thought. Getting herself killed? And then I understood. She wanted to get herself killed so that Peeta could survive. Maybe she really did love him...
Finnick and Enobaria appeared out of nowhere, right in front of the tree Katniss was in. A cannon sounded.
"Katniss!" Peeta shouted in the distance. Katniss didn't reply. She knocked an arrow on her bow and pulled the bowstring back. She aimed at Enobaria and looked like she was going to shoot when she suddenly dropped the bow. She shakily grabbed the wire and winded it around one of her arrows. She stood up, revealing herself, and knocked the arrow. She pulled back on the bowstring and aimed upward. What is she aiming at? I thought. The sky?
I saw Finnick and Enobaria stare at Katniss, but she didn't even care about them. She let go of the bowstring and the arrow soared through the air and hit something in the sky. Lightning struck the wire that was attached to the arrow and electricity raced upward and there was a blinding blue light. Katniss was thrown off the ground and explosions were everywhere. A hovercraft appeared in the arena, and just as it did the screens went black, making whatever happened next a mystery to all who were watching. Including me.