the girl who played with knives || clato ✔️

33

Cato

I rush in the direction I know she last went, thinking where is she where is she where is she?

"Clove, are you here?! Clove!" I shout.

Oh, Clove... where are you?

There haven't been any cannons today, so she's not dead... thank god. But she could be soon. So I have to find her. I have to protect her. My mind goes blank.

I wander the woods all night. I'm still searching and scanning for clues of Clove when I reach a patch of grass beside a steep drop off. And there's a little blood on the ground... is it hers?! Oh my god... this can't be happening. We were so close! So close to being able to go home!

"CLOVE!" I scream desperately. No, no, no, no, no.

Clove

I reach the Cornucopia a little before dawn and sit there thinking, and I begin to doubt myself a little.

Is this really a good idea? Attending this call to all the tributes is basically a call to fight all the others. I mean, maybe not Fynch, since she seems to be more on the down low, especially since we met. But what about the other tributes?

Katniss? Will she be here? Surely Peeta won't. I mean, I'm surprised he's not dead yet. Is Katniss taking care of him, nursing him back to health? Maybe the thing they desperately need is medicine for Peeta.

I'm honestly not sure if Thresh will be there. He seems to stay out of people's ways, but if he really needed something... will he be here? I really hope not... I can't seem to get that menacing face, piercing eyes, raw and pure strength radiating from him... I can't get it out of my head.

I sit in the undergrowth by the Cornucopia clearing waiting. When dawn comes and the backpacks come up, I can run and grab Cato and I's...

Speaking of Cato, shouldn't he be here?

I don't get to think about this for too long because there's a commotion by the Cornucopia. The ground before the mouth of the golden horn splits in two, and up comes a round table donned with a snow-white sheet. There are four backpacks on the table; two large black ones, one with an 11 patched on it and the other with a 2. That's ours, I think.

The other two backpacks are a medium-sized green one with a 5 on it and a tiny orange one so small you can't even see the number, which surely must be a 12.

I'm about to run out to the table when I see a flash of brilliant orange... it's Fynch! And she's grabbing the green backpack, slinging it over her shoulder... then she's gone. It's such a clever idea! To hide in the Cornucopia and have such a head start on the rest of us. She's genius, that one... if Cato and I don't win I'd want her to... no, no Cato and I will win. I can't doubt that.

Fynch's outburst must've awoken everyone's senses, 'cause next I spot Katniss sprinting for the table.

I hear Cato's voice in my head. I have to kill her to get us home. I sling a knife at Katniss, but she deflects it with that bow... Glimmer's bow.

You know, as much as I hated Glimmer, I'd much rather her have the bow and it be useless than Katniss have it and it be deadly. Speaking of which...

I barely turn to avoid a fatal hit, but her zooming arrow still makes contact in my upper right arm. And oh my god, that hurts.

"Ngh!" I grunt, slowing for a moment to remove the arrow. Pain sears through my whole right side. Damn, she packs quite a punch. But two can play at this game. I take a knife in my left hand and mentally reassure myself that I can throw just as well with this one. I have to.

Katniss reaches the table and is just slipping her tiny pack over her arm when my next knife hits her straight in the forehead, slipping off to the side, leaving a trail of blood on Katniss' olive skin. She shoots another arrow at me, but, blinded by the blood sliding into her eyes, it misses terribly.

I get close and make a leap, soaring at her and tackling her to the ground. I get her flat on her back and pin her shoulders down with my knees. And I can see the pain and I feel guilty for just a second but it passes. She's pretty much the only thing keeping me from a peaceful life with Cato. I have to get rid of her. I have to save him. Adrenaline pumps through me, alongside pain and a fervid passion.

"Where's your boyfriend, District Twelve? Still hanging on?" I ask, throwing that menacing smirk on my face.

"He's out there now. Hunting Cato," Katniss shoots back.

I scoff. Yeah, right. Like he's strong enough to take on Cato... still, it worries me. I hope it doesn't show...

"PEETA!" Katniss screams at the top of her lungs.

I jam my fist into her windpipe, and her voice is reduced to a mere pained squeak. Shut up, shut up... but is he coming?

No, it doesn't appear to be so.

"Liar," I say with a grin. "He's nearly dead. Cato knows where he cut him," I say smartly, welling up with a little pride. "You've probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going."

I glance down at the glinting orange bag.

"What's in the pretty little backpack?" I ask with mock curiosity. "That medicine for Lover Boy? Too bad he'll never get it." He'll never get it. I'll kill her, I'll kill her, I'll save us.

I take a little knife with a curved blade out from the selection in my jacket.

Now, time for some improv... I rack my brain for something to say.

"I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd give the audience a good show," I say, sneering. I really hope my family isn't watching this back in 2. It really isn't like me... but I have to get back to them, and killing Katniss gets me one step closer to that.

Katniss struggles under me, but I've got her pinned too good.

"Forget it, District Twelve. We're going to kill you. Just like we did your pathetic little ally." It pains me to say it, but I can see this is getting to her head. Striking fear in her heart. I've got this battle won and she knows it.

"What was her name?" I inquire. "The one who hopped around in the trees? Rue? Well, first Rue, then you, and then I think we'll just let nature take care of Lover Boy. How does that sound?" I smile down at Katniss and truth be told as I say this next line I'm probably more scared than she is.

"Now, where to start?" I ask as I brush away the blood covering her face with my jacket sleeve. I tilt her face from side to side, examining it, buying myself as much time as I can before I have to do the unthinkable.

Katniss attempts to bite my hand, but I grasp her hair and wrench her head back to the ground.

"I think..." I say blissfully. But no no no, I can't do this. "I think we'll start with your mouth."

I teasingly trace the outline of her lips with my knife. Katniss flares up at me, her eyes angry slits. But she's frozen by my blade against her skin.

"Yes, I don't think you'll have much use for your lips anymore," Just keep talking. "Want to blow Lover Boy one last kiss?" Katniss then spits a mixture of blood and saliva into my face. "All right then," I say, flushing with rage and embarrassment. "Let's get started."

And my knife is just slipping under the skin at her lip when something lifts me off her and up into the air.