I was walking aimlessly, not caring about where I was heading. Knife slipped from my grasp on few occasions.
I found myself at the stream. The net was still in place. I put the backpack on the ground and walked in the water and released the fishes in it. They swam away quickly and I stood there.
I felt the coldness of the water seeping in my bones.
I felt it clearly. I wasn't numb. But I hoped I would be. It would make it easier for me.
I went out of the water.
Right then a screen lit up on the sky and today's dead tributes appeared. A girl from 3, boy from 7 and lastly Morriss's face.
I stood there staring at the sky even though the screen disappeared. I don't know how long I was there.
It was dark around me. Moon was hidden behind clouds and the temperature was low.
"It's great to see you again."
Vale. Just what I needed.
I kept looking ahead of me, paying no attention to him.
He walked in front of me and frowned upon seeing my face. "What happened to you?" He asked with fake concern.
"Nothing." I said.
He sighed and lowered his head. "You know, I have this dilemma. I don't know when I should kill you. You deserve to be killed in the worst way possible after what you did to me." He contemplated.
"What have I done?" I asked, acting innocent.
His face turned into a sneer. "You betrayed me."
I looked him in the eyes and said: "I didn't."
He stood there like I smacked him in face. Unsure of how he will react, I took a small step backwards, putting more distance between us. Knife that was before loose in my hand was now gripped tightly.
My step awakened him from his daze and his eyes flashed with hatred.
Adrenaline was released in my body and bolted away from him, neglecting the pain in my knee and ribs.
"Don't run away from me!" He shouted angrily after me. I heard another set of feet running behind me, so I pushed my legs faster. I ran between trees, trying not to trip over fallen logs. A mistake like that would cost me a lot.
I was exhausted and my speed was gradually decreasing. My ribs were burning as I was gasping for breath.
I didn't dare to look back whether he was close on my tail, but I heard him running after me.
It was still dark, so I was running intuitively, hoping not to crash into a tree or maybe some tribute.
Small glow was coming from ahead of me between the trees, illuminating the forest.
I knew that I was probably heading towards the Cornucopia so I started running more left to avoid running into the clearing.
Sharp pain made me halter and screamed from shock. I looked on my arm. Vale threw a knife at me and cut me. It was nothing life-threatening but it was stinging uncomfortably.
I set off again, without a second thought of direction.
I realized that I ran into the clearing and seconds after that, someone caught me and held me against their body.
I kicked and screamed, trying to hit the person. I jabbed my elbow into their stomach. They let me go and I tried to escape.
Another set of arms enveloped me, this time stronger, so my kicking and trashing around didn't help me.
"Shhh. Cory. It's fine." A smooth warm voice entered my ears and I went limp.
It was Peeta.
I turned around slowly and leaned on him, hugging him with as much strength as I had left.
"I'm sorry, Cory. I'm so sorry." He whispered into my hair. I understood without more words that he was referring to Morris. I took in his words and cried on his chest. The feeling of being in someone's arms made me feel instantly better.
I looked up in his face. "Hi cupcake."
"What happened to you?" He asked worried, running his fingers gently down my face. When he traced the cut on my forehead I slightly hissed in pain. In that moment, the state of my body came to me in full force and I slumped against him, my right knee bent.
He picked me up and carried me to their camp. I closed my eyes in comfort and let him carry me.
He gently put me on the ground near a crackling fire.
"OH my." Said a female voice.
"I personally think I never looked better." I joked and opened my eyes. Clove was crouching next to me worried, with a bottle of water in her hands. I took it out of her hands."Thanks for the water." I said and without asking drank the whole bottle.
"You took me of guard there." Commented Marvel, sitting in front of me. It was him, whom I jabbed in the stomach.
"Well of course." I said and threw the bottle at him. He caught it with easy and grinned.
Something wet was pressed against my knee and I recoiled from it. It was stinging like hell.
"What are you doing Peeta!" I said, looking at him. He was holding a white cloth that was now strained with blood and dirt and a small dark bottle in the other one
"Do you want to get there an infection?" He asked with a stern look on his face, before pressing the cloth against my knee again.
I clenched my teeth and let him do his work. His constant prodding was making me feel nervous. At least Marvel and Clove were trying to distract me with their talking.
Marvel then went to take something from the supplies at the Cornucopia. He came to me and put a tin can in my bandaged hands.
"What's that?" I asked curiously.
"Try it out for yourself."He said and opened one himself. I looked inside and saw small triangle pieces of something orange floating in water. Marvel was eating happily, so I picked one piece as well.
I studied it for awhile and then put it in my mouth.
"That's so good!" I exclaimed and stuffed more in mouth.
"They're called mandarins." He told me and shared the can with Clove.
When Peeta came back from the lake, I offered him some too. It almost looked like we were camping.
High-pitched laugh came from behind me and Marvel's, Clove's and Peeta's face froze in mid smile. They looked at each other with question in their eyes and stood up almost simultaneously. Peeta grabbed my elbow and made me stand with them.
I stood between him and Marvel, with Clove in front of me.
When two blonde heads ventured out of the forest I knew what was this all about.
Cato was coming. And he was not going to be happy.
Glimmer was laughing was too loud at something Cato said. He was too laughing. But then he turned to look at the camp and his face changed in a second.
From laughing face to murderous glare.
He unsheathed his sword and took long deliberate steps to our group. I saw Clove fingering knife on her belt, cold expression on her face.
When Cato was near Clove, she opened her mouth to say something, but he didn't even spare her a glance. As he neared me, he slowed down until he came to stop in front of me.
I had to look up to see him in face. I was surprised at myself how I easily forgot how big he was.
He raised his sword and rested the blade against my throat.
"Well, well." He said tauntingly. "Look who the wind carried here." I gulped dryly, skin on my throat scraping slightly on the sharp blade. He slowly looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. His eyes darkened and knuckles on the sword turned white
I kept my mouth shut, looking into his blue eyes.
"What? Are you not going to tell us some more lies?" He whispered harshly, bending a bit to look me straight in the eyes while keeping the sword at my throat. The others around us were standing still, watching our exchange.
I really don't know what came over me to say those things. Looking back, I think it was all that happened to me that night, what made me reckless.
"You're a big ass idiot Cato!" I burst out. " Why the hell do you think I should have something with my best friend!"
After saying that, I clamped hand on my mouth, my blue eyes wide. I could hear gasps coming from the group at what I said.
"Just kill her already!" Glimmer called at him. Cato stayed still, his blue eyes darker than ever before. He came even closer to me, his body pressing into mine. I looked up in his face once more and was taken back by the intensity in his eyes.
"Say that again." He whispered, his blonde hair tickling my forehead.
"You are an idiot for thinking I have something with my best friend." I replied. From the corner of my eyes I saw Clove making her way to us to pull us apart.
"Say that again and you'll be dead."He snarled, digging the blade deeper into my neck drawing a bit of blood. I winced from the stinging and took a step back, but he followed me, his body still pressed against mine.
"I won't say it. I'm not stupid. I don't want to be dead." I said, putting the bandaged hand on my cut to stop the bleeding. With my other hand I gestured to Clove to stay away. I don't know what he would do I someone would interfere.
"So you think that you can just come back, like nothing happened. You're a stupid little girl if you think you could have fooled me. I know that you have been just playing around before the arena." He said completely pissed.
Now, I know I have the knack to say stupid things sometimes. I got used to it.
But I never thought even my actions would be so bad. They are actually even worse than that.
And I really don't know why I did it. Well, maybe it had to do something with the fact that I wanted to it quite some time and that it seemed like the best way to shut him up.
And boy, it did.
So I kissed him.
It wasn't the ideal first kiss, that I can tell you. It was more of a peck no lips, but even that was enough for him to shut up and me to feel dazed.
When I pulled back, my hand still on his neck, I took a few deep breaths and looked into his eyes. He had an unreadable expression on his face, his lips parted.
"I like you, you big idiot." I whispered to him.
His eyes were looking into mine without him saying anything. He suddenly frowned, turned away and left into the forest.
His huge frame disappeared between the trees, his shoulders tense, sword tightly grasped in his right hand.
I stood there with a shocked look on my face when Peeta hugged me with all his strength.
"I thought he was going to kill you." He said in a worried voice.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." I said. He sneaked his arm around my waist and walked back with me to the camp. I hissed little when he did it, because he touched my bruised ribs.
"You really are not normal." Said Marvel after we sat around the fire. Peeta was bandaging my ribs, Clove was checking her knifes and Glimmer was looking on her nails. She didn't say anything after she told Cato to kill me.
"I'm sorry but he was acting stupid." I said on my defense, tucking the shirt into my pants after Peeta finished his job.
"I thought he was going to kill you right there on the spot." Said Clove.
"He should have." Glimmer spoke up, looking in my face. "Or maybe you should have died with that District rat you came here with."
"What did you say?" I asked her in furious tone. I couldn't believe what she said.
"Glimmer please shut your mouth, we had just enough of your stupid talk for today. And you Cory, don't listen to her." Clove said, with a death glare in her dark eyes. Glimmer visibly paled at her glare and stayed silent.
"Those nail polish fumes messed up her mind." Marvel said and I chuckled. "Hey Cory, what actually happened to you and Morris?" He asked curiously.
I stayed silent, averting my eyes from his. I didn't want to talk about it now.
"How about we leave that topic for tomorrow?" Suggested Peeta. I looked into his warm eyes.
I gratefully leaned against Peeta and yawned.
"You should go to sleep." He said and went to get me some blankets and a sleeping bag.
When he was handing me the things, a cannon boomed through the arena. My head snapped up at the sound and I immediately thought that something happened to Cato.
When Clove saw the look on my face, she said: "I wouldn't worry about that. He can handle himself."
She took the first shift and leaned on the tree trunk. I buried myself in the blankets Peeta gave me and tried to fall asleep.
But I couldn't. Every time I would close my eyes, I would see Morris's face staring at me.
It was easy to put aside today's events when you are in a group of people that you like. Apart from Glimmer. But when person is alone, it is a lot harder to bear. Tears gathered in my eyes and slowly dripped downy my cheeks, falling on the blanket.
I played with the bracelet Morris gave me and somehow fell asleep.
I am a light sleeper, so any kind of sound or touch wakes me up.
I opened my eyes in the dark, searching for the cause of the noise that woke me up. Suddenly a large body slid into the blankets behind me.
I turned around and when I saw who it was I said silently: "Mister grumpy pants came back." I teased Cato and smiled devilishly.
"Shut up." He muttered and kissed my forehead.
I smiled in content and snuggled even closer to him, laying across his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me, holding me close to him in possessive manner.
"You're still an idiot you know that?" I asked him, my voice muffled by his shirt.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I heard smile in his voice as he said that.
And with that said, I finally asleep.
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Disclaimer: I think it is obvious that I still don't own anything from the Hunger Games. And that I never will. Thanks for the reminder.
I just had to update! I'm still not sure how this story will end but I guess we will just have to wait and see. Btw, whenever I see the photo of Sam Claffin and Jennifer Lawrence in the Training Center, part of me swoons over Finnick. I hope Sam won't screw him up, but I believe him that he did a good job.
The weather outside is terrible. Snowing and freezing. So I went out on a bicycle. Why not to take the opportunity to freeze my legs and butt? I hope that at least some of those fat cells froze to death.
I don't know about these author notes. I thought for a moment I will stop writing them, but them I was like 'nahh, who wants to read them, will and those who won't, well, those won't', right?
Thanks to GingerNut2012 and ClarVoYant2015 for favoriting.
And thanks to I-Have-A-Dark-Side and ClarVoYant2015 for following.
SFEllie: Thanks so much. I found out I hate writing death scenes but I'm afraid this wasn't the last one in this story. And I too didn't want Vale to be seen as the only threat in the arena, that's why it wasn't him who killed Morris.
NatashaJayJay: Cato is here! :) Hope you like it. And I love your nickname.
jolenelovedancex3: The squirrel thing was just a spur of the moment on my part but I kinda like it too.
mormongirl33: I didn't want his death to be soulless. He deserved it.
Thanks for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated. Lia