The Unmatched Beauty (Cato Hadley) - Currently being Rewritten -

Trente Trois

A forest. It was a forest.

The cornucopia stood in front of me, and to my back was a sea of tall, green trees. I briefly glanced to my right, only to do a double-take; it was Tua, the little boy from Four. His eyes locked with mine, all blue and filled with fear, yet his face was twisted into a knot, bracing himself as the countdown continued. 

A little under a minute left.

My eyes shifted to my left, an unknown girl from District Nine. She looked beyond terrified, but her line of sight wasn't only focused on me. To her right was Thresh. 

I swallowed. I could hurt, possibly kill the two on my sides, but Thresh was definitely a threat, as his height and bulky stature could come as a huge disadvantage for me. I could only hope that he was slower than Cato, which meant that I would be able to better assess the situation before acting.

Speaking of which, I looked down the line of Tributes, brushing over countless of children just to get a peak of the blond. Nothing. He must be on the other side.

I glanced back at the glaring numbers that kept on changing.

10

I'll go into the cornucopia and kill.

9

Cato will be there, I'll see him.

8

We'll both be safe.

7

We'll be with the rest of Careers.

6

We'll hunt other Tributes.

5

We'll kill them.

4

We'll survive.

3

One of us will survive.

2

My blood turned cold.

1

I lurched forward, sprinting to the nearest weapon splayed out on the floor. A dagger. It'll have to do for now. I twisted my body around to be met with a girl from District Seven. She was slightly bulky, and seemed to think that she could take me down.

I swiftly sidestepped as she lunged, grabbed her hair and slashed her throat. Bile rose in my mouth as I avoided looking at her mutilated trachea, releasing my grip on her and letting the limp body hit the grass. 

A pained scream hit my ear, and a body crashed into mine, clammy hands prying at the weapon in my hand. My eyes could somewhat make out the face of the other Tribute from Seven, his lips opened into a feverish snarl as his nails dug into my wrist's flesh.

Pushing all my weight into my left leg, I flipped over our position, yanking the dagger back, ripping away his grip from the cool, metal handle. The blade sunk in directly into his heart, scarlet liquid spurting out.

I paused, staring at the blood that pooled out of his torso and onto my hand. My hold on the dagger faltered a bit, and I was leaving myself vulnerable.

I can't go on.

My breath quickened as I got off the body, dizziness slowly setting in.