Chapter 22

Fears

Daylight came with a persistent heat that trickled through my body. I zipped the sleeping bag open, feeling the heat next to Cato overly immense and the sleeping bag even worse. I threw the sleeping bag off me and Cato, obviously awakened by my movement, pulled me on top of him.

"Good morning." he mumbled.

"Morning." i replied, smirking.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good."

"The morning sickness back yet?" Cato questioned.

"Surprisingly, no."

"Good." he rolled us over so that we were in the sand instead of the sleeping bag. He propped himself up on his forearms so he wouldn't crush me with his weight and he buried his face in my hair. "Because I hate seeing you in pain."

"I hate being in pain." I mumbled.

"You won't be, as long as I'm here." Cato, with surprising gentleness, brushing his nose against mine, then his lips against mine. I bit my lower lips, stopping my gasps of pure relief from escaping my lips. It was such a relief to be with Cato like this. I wasn't thinking about the baby, or the arena. It was just Cato and I, alone in that moment.

"I love you." I whispered, as if to make sure no one else could hear me. That no one else could steal my love for Cato.

"I love you too." Cato rolled off of me and stood up, offering me his hand. "Come on." he whispered. "Let's go for a swim."

"Now?" I asked, taking his hand as he lifted me easily. We walked to the opening of the cornucopia, realizing it was dawn. None of the other tributes could be awake.

"Yeah, now." Cato nodded, picking up a sword just in case. I reached down for my knives, but he swiftly stepped between me and the knives. "You don't need to be doing anything. Plus, we're just going for a swim."

"If you get to take your sword, I get my knives. I'm pregnant, not incompetent." I retorted. Cato chuckled, still not stepping out of my way. "Cato." I warned, moving stealthily towards the knives. Cato was quicker. With one movement, he swept me up in one arm and draped me over his shoulder. At first I pounded on his back in anger and frustration, but it was only a matter of minutes before I was giggling like a teenager.

Cato continued away from the cornucopia to the waterside, setting me back on the ground, as well as his sword. "Come on." he smiled, taking my hand. We waded out into the water until Cato could touch, but I couldn't. He picked me up so that I could wrap my legs around his waist. "Shouldn't we be worried about poisonous water creatures or something?" I asked.

"No." Cato replied with a whisper, brushing his lips across the exposed skin on my neck. "Stop talking, Clove." I obliged, drawing a hand up to ruffle his hair. His lips trailed up my neck, along my chin, my cheekbone, my nose, and then my mouth. At first it was a light sweep across the lips, but it turned into something more. He pressed his lips against mine harder and harder, exploring my mouth, not that he needed to. He knew every part of me as well as the back of my hand. His hand trailed up my back to the zipper on my wet suit-like outfit.

"Cato!" I gasped, stopping his hand midway down my back. "We're on TV"

"They'll give us privacy, I promise." Cato didn't sound so sure, but I told myself to ignore it. I hadn't been this happy in a while, I wouldn't let my insecurity change that. Cato walked into deeper water so it was up to our necks and nothing below was invisible. Cato's hands still worked at the zipper while his lips trailed across my collar bones, placing small purple bruises here and there. I allowed a sigh to escape my lips.

I heard a low, feral growl, and Cato jerked away from me. "Was that you?" I asked.

"No, I thought it was you?" Cato replied. His hands expertly pulled my zipper all the way back up. Cato looked down at the watch he had found in the cornucopia. "It's five o'clock. None of the other tributes could possibly be up right now."

But the feral growl came again. I looked around wildly, holding myself close to Cato's body. "we need to get to the sword." Cato ordered, rushing out of the water with me in tow. The feral growl sounded again. He picked up his swords and we walked with faster paces to the cornucopia, but Cato hit a wall. An invisible wall.

One minute he was walking, the next there was a thud and he was on the ground, rubbing his forehead. "What the-" he pushed towards the air again and some invisible force trapped his hand still. "They gated us in?"

"What? No. That can't be right, we were just in the cornucopia." I tried to reason. The growl was closer and a figure appeared out of the early morning shadows. A figure I would never forget. The mutations from last years games, and in it, were Katniss's eyes, raking my body hungrily. "Cato-" I stopped, my voice taken by fear. The mutation lingered closer, obviously aware we couldn't escape.

"Get behind me, Clove." Cato insisted, standing in front of me with the sword. At the same moment, the mutation lunged towards Cato and I wasn't sure if I screamed or some other thing screamed. There was no telling what you heard in the arenas.

The mutation pounced on Cato and pinned him to the ground, his sword skidding off. I ran to retrieve the sword and another mutation appeared, pinning me to the ground. It's paws dug my shoulders into the sand and it's haunches poised themselves around my legs so that I couldn't move. not without being ripped to shreds first.

The mutation snarled, a drop of drool escaping its lips. The acrid smell of its breath was overwhelming, and made me a bit queasy. But as the mutation snarled, it looked straight into my eyes, confused. I shook its head and I could swear I saw the image flicker like a hologram, but this mutation was indefinably solid by the way it's paws pressed all its weight onto my shoulders.

But the image flickered again and for a moment, it wasn't a mutation at all. It became my father for a moment, then an image of Cato dying right before my eyes, then it was a small boy/girl, flickering between the two that looked like it could have been my child, except for the fact that bruises were prominent against their face, and blood trailing from cuts. The images split, a boy and a girl, both easily identified as what could be Cato and I's children. And right before my eyes, I could see the kids grow to twelve, at least, and then turning to each other, slaughtering each other.

The image flickered for another moment and returned to a mutation, then my father, and flickering between all my greatest fears. Little did I know I would have to watch my greatest fears occur before my eyes until it was 6 o'clock, but even then I couldn't escape my biggest fears.

reviews please! IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are interested in reading any of my original works, I have posted an original work (not a fanfic) on fiction press and wattpad, both under the same username as this one on fanfic. I'd love to have some people check it out. thanks!