I know this is really short for how long I've been gone, but I've been really busy with dance and stuff. (I know, excuses, excuses..) Anyways, I plan on writing a chapter that's longer than two lines for once, but since I'm a slow writer, that would probably take forever and I'd feel bad for leaving you with nothing. So, here's this until the next update. I promise it'll be longer. I promise. I swear. I pinkie swear.
Clove pulls out a knife so fast that I can't tell where it originally was and throws it with great speed. I think she was aiming for my stomach, but it hits my waist on its way by instead. It lands behind me with a thud.
I feel an arm – or a leg – I'm not sure – graze my leg, near where the knife landed. I don't know who it is, or what they mean by it, but right now, I don't care.
Before I can pull a bow from my sheath, Cato is already giving Clove orders. "Get her and run."
By 'her', he means Rue. I figure that out when Clove grabs her by the hair and pulls her off of the ground with a snicker and runs as fast as she can, with Rue's short brown locks tight in her grasp as she drags her to her death.
My arrow barely misses Cato before he pushes me up against a tree, his hand around my neck.
"Hi, Katniss," he smiles. I struggle against him, but he tightens his hold on me and laughs.
There's no escaping now. I am about to die. In a way, I am already dead.
I notice the glassy look in my opponent's eyes and the deep shades of purple under them. He's exhausted. Has he been up waiting for a chance to kill me?
"All out of witty remarks, are you, Fire Girl?" he asks. "That's unfortunate. I was looking forward to laughing at you before I kill you. That's alright, though. Clove would be upset if she missed anything really good."
"Although she is a little upset that she isn't the one taking you out, but she settled for Rue," he continues.
The way he's nonchalantly telling me about how upset he is about not getting a good laugh out of me before kills me makes me sick, but at the same time, I feel a stab of pity surge through me. I wonder how Cato would be if he wasn't raised to be a killer.
"How do you find pleasure in this?" I choke out. It's a stupid question. Maybe I'm just trying to delay everything.
"Who are you to question me?" he asks.
My lungs scream for air and my throat feels like it's being torn apart piece by piece, even though Cato's hand is unmoving.
He throws his sword in the air with the hand that isn't pinning me against the tree and catches it again.
He lifts his leg up so his knee is against my stomach and releases his hold on me. I gasp for air, but before I can even inhale, his sword is pressed to my cheek. His free hand is over my mouth and I make an effort to bite his palm, but it doesn't work.
"No one can save you now," he growls. He stops for a moment and laughs. "No one can save you now.." he repeats. "This isn't all that bad. I feel like some sort of movie villain. Always wanted to be famous.."
He drags his sword down my face, and my muffled screams only get answered by even deeper injuries. My screams aren't a reaction to the wounds. They're a reaction to Rue's cries off in the distance.
Suddenly, he stops when the blade has almost reached my jaw. His eyes widen and his breathing slows. He falls forward on to his knees, and then on to his face. I look down and see the sharp knife Clove threw at me earlier has pierced the back of Cato's skull. I look up, and Finch is panting, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know if I should help you or go after Clove – I'm sorry if I made a mistake, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeats through sobs.
"She isn't dead yet. I can hear her. We have to find her! Get it together, Finch," I demand. "We have to find her."
Cato's cannon booms in the distance.