Our Love Could Be Lethal Act I Re-Write

Act I: Betrayal of the Fittest

Abruptly, Augustus pushes out from his seat in a huff. "If you guys are just going to whine, I'm going to go."

I'm too tired to resist the urge to roll my eyes. He begins to storm out of the room and Finnick calls after him. "Oh, wait, Augustus. Maybe they'll start killing each other again so you can actually enjoy yourself and feel something?"

Not to anyone's surprise, the sarcastic comment doesn't seem to make Augustus feel any better. Once he's out of earshot I turn to Finnick, "That guy is weird. And that's coming from me."

The night continues to tick on, and no matter how much Finnick and I continue to try and chat to keep each other awake, I find my eyelids growing heavier and heavier...

I instinctively wake up to the sound of a knife being unsheathed. The adrenaline courses through my system as I reach for a weapon, but find none. Within a few seconds I come to the realization of where I am and I look around the room first to see that Finnick and I have been re-joined by Augustus. There's no threat here, but the sound of the knife unsheathing was unmistakable. I then turn my attention to the screen and I see that Magenta has pulled out a knife and is heading towards a sleeping boy. Percy.

I start to fumble with the controls, trying to send a care package to wake him up from the pre-approved selection of sponsor gifts. Magenta's silently creeping closer and closer, and I'm still fumbling at the controls. In all likelihood, the Gamemakers will add a time delay to the package, but I have to try something. I manage to fill out the form for a gift and I don't even know what it is. But as soon as I hit send, Magenta slits Percy's throat.

His eyes flit open in panic as blood spills from his neck. I see that he tries to scream, but his vocal cords have been too badly damaged for him to squeak out more than a sad whine. Knowing she's finished the job, Magenta gathers the supplies she's managed to steal from the pack and slinks into the forest. The blood sputters out of Percy's mouth in a fit of tiny coughs and I watch on as the light and the panic slowly disappear off of his face, giving way to the cold nothingness.

Boom.

A few seconds later, an automatic notice comes on my screen, telling me that my gift was cancelled and a short explanation that reads, Reason: Tribute Deceased.

I don't know what or how to feel. I know I want to be sad, I want to cry, but for some reason, I just can't. I can't feel anything. I think Finnick is speaking to me, but I'm not really sure what he's saying. I push out of my chair and immediately go off in search of the one place I know that no one is going to try and talk to me or talk about Percy: Haymitch's bar.

I begin to walk on autopilot to the small, victor-only hole-in-the-wall that Haymitch introduced Finnick and I to a few days prior until I collide with a wall. I look up to see that it was indeed not a wall, and in my shocked stupor, ran right into my former mentor, Brutus.

My ears ring for a moment before they're pulled back into focus and I hear Brutus say, "I'm sorry about Percy."

I try to move around him. "I really don't want to talk about it."

He scoffs, causing me to turn whip back around to face him. What right does he have to scoff at me? I think to myself.

"You can't be angry with her Octavia. She simply did what you did. Followed in your footsteps. I told her to do what she needed to do to win. Just like I'm sure you told Percy. I didn't think that would be taking out Percy like that, but these things never turn out—"

My eyes narrow. "You told her to do that?"

Brutus crosses his arms defensively. "Look, they both knew the risk of going in there, just like you—"