Yours [Prim/Cato]

Chapter 21 - Day Six

I woke up strapped to a tree, rope tied tightly around my hands, feet, neck, and stomach. There was pain shooting through my bruised ribs from being punched so much by Peeta and Cherche, and there was a strong burning in my throat. I opened and closed my mouth, and my cheek screamed in agony. Gosh, I am in so much pain.

I searched for anyone that could tell me what was going on. Mostly I looked around for Cato, waiting for him to jump from behind a tree and untie me. Every time I pulled at the rope on my wrists, it felt like knives were being stabbed into them. They bit deep into my already sensitive skin. I screamed out in pain and stopped pulling immediately.

"Cato?" I called out into the open forest. Falling asleep on his lap in the cave was the last thing I remember, and now I was strapped here. He must be around somewhere. I decided to call out for him again.

"Cato?" my voice carries through the trees. Still, I don't get an answer from him. Where on earth could he be? And why didn't I wake up while I was being trapped here?

"He's not here." Peeta emerged from the trees behind me, wielding an axe in his left hand and a machete in the next. Once I take a closer look, I notice something... those are Cato's weapons. My heart beat quickens at a dangerously rapid pace. Not hours ago, he was trying to kill me because of Cato..

Oh no. What if he killed Cato? I know Cato is strong, but sometimes not even the strongest candidate can survive the Games.

"Where is he?" I ask Peeta. He smirks at me and lets out a maniacal laugh. I frown at him and pull at the rope again. Bad idea.

"He's not here!" Peeta yells, pointing the knife to my stomach. "Now shut up, and let me finish what I started!"

My eyes widen. Finish what he started?

And then I know what he means. He's going to finish me off. I shake my head at him way too fast. "Peeta, you don't have to do this. Just let me go, please," I plead to him, to the Peeta I used to know.

Peeta shakes his head and steps closer than before. "No, I'm doing what I have to do, for me and for Cherche," he claims.

All too soon, I feel the machete slip deep into my skin and my body reacts to the pain, causing a blood curdling scream to reach my throat. Peeta laughs, and pulls the machete out slowly, only to replace it into another spot my belly.

"This is for choosing him over me!" Peeta booms over my piercing cries and screams. Every stab come with more force than the last, and every scream I make is louder than before.

He continues to stab me over and over, leaving no mercy no matter whether I call for my mother, Katniss, or Cato. When I do call for Cato, he stabs me with even more force and plunges the machete even deeper into my being. My family is watching me be murdered mercilessly. It's all I can think about: their expressions, cries, pleas for him to stop. But he doesn't. He continues.

I feel my body shaking as I scream, louder and louder with every stab and drop of blood I feel run away from me. I'm being drained.

"You should have chosen me!" Peeta yells with every stab. My screams turn into sobs, horrible sobs as I imagine my family watching him take the life right out of me. I feel myself slipping away, away from the earth. My breaths becomes short and quick as I try to hold onto life for any sort of moments longer, but it's hard to try and stay alive.

"Rose!" There's a voice yelling for me as I slip away. I realize it's Cato, but he's too late. I feel my last breath coming soon. I want it to be for Cato, not Peeta.

"Rose, wake up!" My body is shaking once again as Cato tells me to.. Wake up?

"Come on, Kitten, wake up. It's just a nightmare," Cato pleads again. It is Cato. I don't see him anywhere though. All I see is Peeta. All I see is his knife, his face, and his anger.