the girl who played with knives || clato ✔️

12

Cato

The Training Center is exactly like the Remake Center. The ground floor is like a stable, and each floor above that belongs to one of the districts. I find my way easily to my quarters, which are in the exact same place as they were in the Remake Center.

Once I'm alone in my room I strip off the rest of my costume: the chest plate, the skirt-like thing, the sash, the boots, and the cuff. I take the locket from inside the chest plate and lie it on a small table beside my bed, wanting badly to look at the pictures inside, but deciding against it for fear of a mental breakdown.

Instead, I take a shower, which is actually surprisingly difficult. There's a panel with more than a hundred options you can choose regulating water temperature, pressure, soaps, shampoos, scents, oils, and massaging sponges. After I've stepped out and onto a mat where heaters come on and blow dry my body, I almost pass out from the overpowering scent of lavender. I'd accidentally pressed a button that had sprayed me with a light foam that smelled like the stuff.

After I've programmed the closet for an outfit to my taste; a light blue shirt and tight black pants, I make my way back to the main bedroom and sit on the plush bed, glancing occasionally at the locket, but never picking it up. After a while of this, The Maggot calls me to dinner and I decide I might as well go.

When I get there, I regret the decision. The Maggot sits at the head of the table with Freya and Clove's stylist, whose name is Spencer, with Lav and Mortar at the other end. The sight of Mortar makes my breath catch in my throat. It's true he never actually did me wrong, but after last night's dream, I can never look at him the same. Images of him pinning Clove to the ground, smashing in her skull with a brick, dance in my head. I sit as far away from him as I can, which means I'm stuck next to Freya, but I don't mind. Anything is better than sitting near Mortar. Which I guess is a bad thing, since he's my mentor.

I glance at The Maggot. In the dream, Mortar had morphed into her, still killing Clove. The Maggot's presence doesn't bother me though, I guess because I know she's entirely incapable, but Mortar is.

"Where's Clove? I called her to supper at least ten minutes ago!" The Maggot says as an Avox, a mute servant that has betrayed the Capitol in some way, earning their new role, sets a huge platter of food I'm front of us.

"I'll go find her," I say before anyone else can offer. I rise from my chair and head in the direction of her room. I'm not necessarily worried; I couldn't blame her if she just didn't want to be around everyone.

"Clove?" I say quietly, knocking on her door. When there's no answer, I open the door quickly and rush inside. She's not here. "Clove!?" I make my way to the bathroom and find it empty as well. There's no sign that Clove's even been here.

Panic blooms inside me as I rush from the room, trying to recall where she could be. I can't focus though, my mind is chaos, and I can't think straight. Only one thought registers; I must find her. I must protect her.

"Clove!" I yell down the hallway. "Cl-" I am cut off by a shuffle at the end of the hall.

"Cato?" It's Clove, hidden in the shadows.

"Clove!" I rush over to her and she places a hand over my mouth.

"Be quiet, Cato, I don't know if we're supposed to be here." After a moment she drops her hand from my mouth and reaches instead for my hand. She pulls me into a doorway I didn't notice was there before. She pulls me up a set of stairs that seems endless, and I'm about to ask where we're going when I see a flash of light about a flight above us. We continue climbing the stairs until we reach another door, with a small window in it: the source of the light. Clove reaches for the handle and pulls it open, blasting us with a cold wind.

"Where are we, Clove?" I ask, shielding my face from the frigid breeze.

In response, she pulls me the rest of the way through the doorway, then releases my hand and pushes me forward, and I realize we must be on the roof. It's a huge expanse of tile, with a garden off to one side. Hundreds of tinkling wind chimes hang from branches in the trees planted there. A small gasp escapes my lips.

"How did you find it?" I ask, turning to Clove. She's still wearing her Tribute Parade costume, and the lights from the city around us reflect off the gold metal, making it look like she's glowing. She is as radiant as the sun amongst the eternal darkness that has become our lives.

"I was exploring before dinner and found it, but that doesn't matter. What matters is rightnow. This moment," she says. I stare at her quizzically, then a smile starts to tug at my lips. "What?" She asks.

"Nothing," I say, reaching for her hand.

"Liar," she says, pulling away and jogging backwards towards the edge of the roof. She's smiling though. She's just teasing me.

"Be careful!" I yell as she reaches the edge. She leans back on the railing and smiles at me. I smile back, walking slowly towards her. When I get close enough, she says, "What?" again.

"You're glowing," I say. She looks down at her armor and realizes she is. She starts to laugh. A beautiful laugh that makes even the Hunger Games seem far away.

I move forward and close the space between us, pulling her into my arms. She stops laughing. Her hands find their way to my chest, my neck, my cheeks, my hair. I pull her closer and press my lips to her cheek, stopping just short of what I really want.

"Cato," she says, just a whisper of breath against my ear, and I sense her fear. I pull away slightly so I can see her face. My eyes lock on hers and the rest of the world fades away. There is just me and Clove. Clove and me. There is no Hunger Games. There is no Capitol. There is no Panem. There is no world. There is just us: alone in the universe.

Clove

I stare into Cato's eyes, reflecting the lights of the Capitol, and I begin to see the world in a different way. Before, there was everything. Everything in the world was on my mind. Now, there is nothing but Cato. He is all I see, all I will ever see; nothing else matters. I am him and he is me. We are one. Two bodies but one soul. And right now, this moment, is all that matters and will ever matter. This moment where we are alone in the universe, with no worries, no troubles, nothing but each other and our love: it is all I have ever lived for.