Stars | Cato Hadley

Chapter Fourteen

Her hair flipped behind her as she sprinted off the pedestal. The blue bag next to the whips was in her sight. Wren was two feet from the bag when the girl from Six snatched it.

"Fuck!" Wren screamed. "You bitch!"

The girl from Six left the whips and they found their way into Wren's palms. Her hand darted out to her left and the whip latched itself around the girl's throat. The end of the leathery weapon was sharp, so with a swift yank, her head came clean off. Wren made a break for the backpack and put it on. With wide eyes at the headless body, the brunette turned around only to face two other tributes out for blood.

The boy from Nine had come into her sights and the girl from Seven followed. The brunette from Ten narrowed her eyes. Her arms spread out into each of their directions and the whips once again wrapped around their necks. With a grunt, she pulled hard and the two tributes were decapitated. Wren let out a shaky breath. She had just killed three people; their blood was on her hands, both figuratively and literally.

She finally got a look at her surroundings after tearing her eyes away from the people she murdered. Many children laid on the green grass with red around their bodies. The boy from Four charged at her with a sword. He had caught her off guard, but the girl from Ten was quick to think. The whip in her left hand had ahold of his wrist. The whip in her right hand lashed out at the boy. Its leathery material wrapped around the boy's wrist. A shrill of a scream escaped his lips as Wren yanked her arm. His wrist was separated from his body. The sword in his other hand had the end of her other whip latched onto it. Milliseconds later the boy's sword was tossed a few feet away. His scream was deafening to the girl, but she silenced him. She walked past the boy's now headless body and to the Cornucopia. Left and right more dead bodies began staining the grass red.

To her horror, she saw two small bodies on the ground that made the girl want to throw up the apple and granola bar from this morning. Evelyn and Edwin both laid on the ground with wounds that were fatal. A stab wound to the stomach resulted in them bleeding out. Wren only hoped that their deaths were quick. She reached the other side of the Cornucopia and saw the Careers. Glimmer was stabbing another child, Marvel had his spear in hand, Clove had her knives ready to pounce, and the others were wiping blood from their faces. Cato wiped the red sticky liquid off of his sword.

Out of the corner of Wren's eye, she saw the District Twelve boy (not Peeta) run at Glimmer. Wren hesitated in a debate on letting the boy strike her, but she didn't. The whip in her right palm had wrapped around the boy's throat like a python. His face was turning blue and the Careers quickly noticed. Their attention was on the girl with the weapon and the boy on his knees. Within a second the body fell to the floor with his head following soon after. Glimmer turned around bow at the ready and released an arrow in the direction of the whip.

The arrow nicked Wren's calf. She glanced down, only a scratch. She mentally thanked Glimmer for being a bad shot. Cato held his hands up telling them to put down their weapons.

"What the fuck Glimmer!" Wren shouted at the blonde from One. "I just saved your life and you repay me by shooting a damn arrow at me?" The archer shrugged.

Cato took off in a sprint for the brunette. As he reached her he pulled her into a hug and whispered, "Thank God you're okay." The girl chuckled as the whips automatically rolled themselves back up with a button. Marvel ruined their moment. "Guys! I think we better move for the hovercrafts to get the bodies."

The Careers and Wren both walked towards the tree line. Ivory and Glimmer were both glaring at the girl but remembered the deal they struck with Cato. Wren glanced nervously at the two blondes.

"So why haven't they killed me yet? I mean, besides the one arrow." Wren asked, her eyes darting to Glimmer who was looking at Marvel. Wren's face twisted into one of confusion as she watched the blonde girl look at her District partner. Clove twirled a knife before putting it in her vest. Her own hazel eye met Wren's before speaking.