The Girl With The Shimmering Smile

The Feast #2

It's a short chapter but I'm super busy (the og chapter wasn't that long either but shhh). HOW ARE WE FEELING BEFORE THE FINALY!? I can't believe it's almost over???? Thank you all so so much for the support. Let's say our goodbyes next chapter perhaps?

The light from the moon didn't reach us where we were laying under a big oak. It was pitch black and the fire had since long died out. Someone was supposed to watch out for threats but we were all so exhausted. I crawled closer to the sleeping girl beside me. Her deep breaths were calming and I felt a strong urge to be as close to her as possible. It was cold tonight so I could always blame it on that if she woke up. I put an arm around her and laid my cheek on her shoulder. We were laying so close together I could feel her heartbeat pump through my body, like we were one person.

The girl started to move after some time and I pretended to be asleep. It was hard to pretend when she only snuggled closer to me. I was scared she might feel my heartbeat pound twice as fast as usual. She hid her face in my neck and I had to use every willpower in my body to not kiss her. Glimmer sighed deeply, but it soon turned into a choked sob. I froze as I realised she was crying. "What's wrong?" I whispered as I moved even closer to her. There wasn't any room between us anymore. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm sorry" she almost sobbed back. My stomach dropped as I realised she was feeling guilty over waking me up and showing this side of herself. I couldn't think of any other way of comforting her than kissing her forehead. "It's okay Glim, really. Now tell me what's wrong" I said while stroking her soft hair. She didn't say anything for a while. I patiently continued stroking her hair while she was collecting herself. I could hear her opening and closing her mouth several times before telling me how much she missed Marvel. A sting of sadness hit me as she mentioned his name. I missed him too. I thought of the person killing him and a new rush of rage filled my body. "I will slice that bitch Katniss's throat with my own knife, mark my words. She's going to die a slow and painful death" I said. She will pay for killing him and for hurting the most kind hearted person I've ever met. The rage quickly disappeared though as I felt fingers tracing my face. They stopped and disappeared when they found my lips. Instead her lips soon found mine. The kiss was slow and sweet. We broke apart as Glimmer whispered "Go to sleep sunshine. We have a big day tomorrow". I scoffed at the nickname since it was clearly very misplaced but I did as she said and went back to sleep.

The morning came quickly and we packed our bags before the sun even had started to rise. It was important to get to the cornucopia before everyone else. We had gone through the plan last night and I was ready for this to be over. Cato was supposed to scout the area in the woods around the cornucopia. The other tributes would most likely hide somewhere around it and our best bet was Cato. I volunteered to keep an eye on the opening since the other tributes would run there to get their bags. Glimmer didn't like my plan but I couldn't let her risk her life like that. It was risky to stand in the open and I would have a much better shot with my throwing knives than she had with her mace anyway. I asked her to keep an eye on the back instead. She had eventually agreed to it which was very revealing.

We had been almost an hour away from the cornucopia. My stomach was full after the big meal we had before we packed everything. We went through the plan once again before saying goodbye, perhaps for the last time. I hated hugs, but my heart felt empty as Glimmer let go of me. Cato gave my shoulder a light punch as a form of goodbye. I hit back a little harder before we separated and I ran up to the cornucopia. It was so lonely since I constantly had been surrounded by people since I got here. I knew Glimmer was only a few hundred feet away but I was still worrying sick something would happen to her.

The sweat was dripping from me. I swear some idiot changed the temperature these last few days. The heat was almost unbearable and I wondered how long my water would last. As I was looking for my water bottle a redhead girl sprinted away from the cornucopia with a bag in her hand. No way I didn't see her coming. I spun around as I realised she must have been hiding IN the cornucopia over the night. I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the water. I emptied it with two sips and threw it on the ground, mad that I didn't think of filling it before we headed here.

Steps were heard and I quickly grabbed a knife. Dark eyes met mine and the rage from the night before quickly came back. I threw one of my knives at the girl who killed Marvel. It hit her across the forehead and she fell to the ground. It was almost like the first time we met. I sprinted towards her as she tried to shoot me with one of the arrows she stole from Glimmer. I had to jump to the side in order to not get hit. The girl in front of me was panicking which only motivated me more. She tried to shoot me with one more arrow but missed as I threw myself over her body. The girl on fire once again fell to the ground and I could almost hear her head hitting the ground. She pushed me off and we fought some time before I was finally able to climb on top of her and grab the big knife I had been saving just for her. I tried to stab her multiple times, but she was strong. I'll give her that. We continued to fight for our lives before I was able to hold her arms down with my knees and pointing the knife to her throat. She stopped fighting and a smile creeped on my face. This is the moment I've been waiting for.

"Where's Lover boy?" I asked her with a grin. She tried to escape but I only pushed the knife closer to her throat. "Oh I see. You were gonna help him, right?" I said. I wanted her to hurt just like she had hurt us. The girl's eyes darkened and I knew it hit close to him. "Oh well that's sweet. He's not with us anymore. It's too bad you couldn't help your little friend either" I said, referring to the little girl Marvel had killed. I could physically see Katniss hurting at the mention of the girl, so I decided to push it even more before the real torture started. "That little girl, what was her name again? Rue?". The girl under me started fighting again but the blade against her throat soon made her calm down again. "Yeah, we killed her. And now... We're gonna kill you" I said while grabbing one of the smaller knives. Maybe I could make her smile before she died. Or... maybe we could make her scream for her life. Carving away her lips would make it look like she was screaming even when she couldn't anymore.

Before I was able to make her pay for everything she made us go through someone stopped me. A strong hand grabbed my arm and jacked me off the ground. I was in total shock. The giant from 11th named Thresh slammed me against the warm metal of the cornucopia. "You killed her?" he asked me as he held me with one hand. "No" was the only thing I managed to say. I had never been so scared in my whole life. "I heard you" he said. "GLIMMER, CATO" I screamed desperately for them to save me. "You said her name!" he screamed at me as he picked up a large stone from the ground. I could see Glimmer sprinting and screaming but Thresh only had eyes on me. He raised the stone and everything went black.

I could hear steps running away from me and other steps sprinting towards me. My body refused to listen when I tried to get up. I couldn't feel anything and I was just about to give up when a voice stopped me. "Clove stay with me, please. I can't do this without you". I couldn't do anything. I couldn't save her. She had a higher chance to win with me gone anyway. My parents would be disappointed no matter what. There was no point in winning. Once again I was about to drift off to a better place when she opened her mouth. "I love you" she whispered in my ear. The pain from the stone was nothing compared to the sadness in the voice. I couldn't let anyone hurt her. I had to stay to protect her. I had to stay...