It was a prank. It had to be.
"Ha ha, very funny!" She called towards the camera bolted to the ceiling. "Now let us out!"
Cato's eyes drifted over the stuck elevator. "Yeah, I don't think this is part of the show, smartass."
Eve jammed her thumb into the help button over and over again, only to be met with silence. "Don't they know you could be killing me in here?"
"And give away winning the games?" He laughed. "I don't think so."
"How silly of me." She rolled her eyes. "I should've known you're only sometimes a homicidal maniac."
Her back slid down the wall until she felt the cold tile below her. "God, you're already stinking this place up."
"Oh, we both know I smell great." He sat down beside her and she didn't need to look to see the grin on his face.
She rolled her eyes. Not because he was wrong, but because he was right. Even after sweating all day he smelled good. Not in the way his expensive cologne smelled, but in the way his body smelled. It was more intoxicating than anything man made ever could be and it made her sick.
He sat close, with only a hand length between them. Two of her hands, one of his.
"Don't worry sweetheart, you smell good too." He said, leaning close to make a show of taking it in.
His breath fanned over her neck and she could feel goosebumps rising on her skin.
She brought up her hand and quickly rubbing them out before he noticed. "Don't call me sweetheart."
"Relax." He laughed. "I was giving you a compliment."
She shook her head. "This isn't what I'm supposed to smell like."
The synthetic rose and vanilla in her shampoo was strong enough to give her a headache, much like everything else in the capital.
He relaxed against the wall behind him. "Then what are you supposed to smell like, sweetheart?"
She ignored his dig.
"Like home." She said as she rested her head on the wall.
"Like fish?" He laughed.
She rolled her eyes. "No Cato. Not like fish."
He laughed again. "Yeah right."
If he wanted to mess with her, fine. But she could do it right back. "How about we go take a shower and see if I'm lying."
He groaned as his head rolled up to the ceiling. "God, I wish you were serious right now."
"Maybe I am." She said softly, making his eyes dart to hers.
His voice dropped an octave as he looked at her like she was his next meal. "Don't mess with me."
"But you make it so easy." She laughed.
Cato scoffed as he leaned back against the wall. "Now that was just cruel."
"I never thought the day would come for a career to call me cruel." Eve laughed.
"Anything's possible." He grinned. "Now tell me what you smell like."
"Fish."
His laugh was soft coming out of his pink lips. "I'm serious."
She smiled. She hadn't been able to just talk and laugh with someone in what felt like forever. She
hadn't expected it to be Cato who was giving her a break from the fear of death hanging heavily over her head.
She looked up at the artificial lights coming from the ceiling. "Like the sun."
She missed the sun warming her skin in the late afternoon.
"And the flowers that grow in the sand grass." She smiled when she thought about the sweet smelling red and yellow flowers.
The silence in the elevator was thick and when Eve tilted her head to the side she noticed Cato's blue gaze fixed on her.
His eyes reminded her so much of the ocean.
"What about you?" Her voice was soft. Far softer than she had intended it to be.
"Pine." His deep voice rumbled in his chest. "There's a lot of that back home."
"And my cologne I guess." He shrugged.
Eve didn't have perfume. It wasn't common in her district.
The differences between the districts were strange to her. A single cookie costed as much as a month's worth of food. The only people who could possibly afford luxury items were the victors.
"You got a boyfriend back in four?" Cato's question pulled another soft laugh from Eve's chest.
"No." She shook her head, turning to look at him. "Why?"
She knew why.
A cocky grin spread over his face as he looked down at her. "When it gets cold in that arena I'd hate for him to be jealous when I'm the one warming you up."
"Oh I'm sure." She laughed, shaking her head at him.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" She wasn't sure why she asked. Or why she even cared.
"Nah." He shook his head. "But I will once I win this."
Eve felt a chill run down her spine at the insinuation behind his words. "You know that means I'll be dead, right?"
"It's just part of the game." He shrugged.
As morbid as it sounded, she could understand him not caring if she lived or died. They barely knew each other. "What about Clove? It seems like you care about her."
"I know her from the academy." He shrugged. "But she's the one who chose to compete the same year as me. That's her mistake."
"And what about the people who didn't choose to be here?" She asked.
"Oh well."
"The boy I came here with is 12." Her fists clenched at her sides. "Twelve years old and he's going to die for sport and all you can say is oh well."
"The games are about honor." Cato's voice was getting louder in the tight space. "He should be happy to be here."
Eve whipped around to face the man. "Do you even hear what you're saying?"
"Yeah." His eyes were dilated as he leered over her, placing his hand on the wall beside her shoulder.
"Now hear this." His voice was eerily calm. "I'd kill every last person in that arena for the crown. Don't think I won't hesitate to slit your throat."
As she looked into his eyes she felt pity over her fear for the young man.
Ethan was right.
"You're lost." She said. "You're lost and someday you're gonna realize it. Whether that's before or after you kill me, who knows. But someday you'll understand."
He laughed off her words with a shake of his head. "Aren't you a poetic little thing."
Eve pushed herself to her feet and furiously pressed the help button. She needed to get away from him. She couldn't take it anymore.
As she looked up in defeat she noticed the hatch on the ceiling.
She stepped below it, staring up at the wheel that turned to freedom.
She jumped up, catching the metal wheel.
Cato laughed as he watched her dangle more than three feet off the ground. "Need some help?"
"Nope." She said, swinging her hips.
Her momentum spun the wheel until she heard a click from inside the mechanism.
With one more swing of her legs she pushed the hatch open and dropped back to the ground.
Cato crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm impressed."
"Getting nervous for the arena?" She teased.
He shook his head and pressed his tongue to his cheek to hide his smile. "I didn't say that."
He stepped towards the open hatch. "Let me go through first."
"I doubt your big ass head could even fit through there." She said, stepping in front of him.
"Probably not." He said through the shit eating grin on his face. "But don't worry. I'll make it fit."
"Are we still talking about the elevator?"
"Nope." He said as he towered over her. "But I'll be gentle."
He cocked his head to the side. "At first."
One look at the man in front of her told her that he probably would need to work to make it fit. Hell, she could fit both of her feet in one of his shoes.
She thought about his hands on her hips as he drove into her. The sheet of sweat shining on his skin and the concentration on his face as his fingers dug possessively into her sides.
"Get out of my way." She said, ignoring the warm feeling spreading across her body.
The last thing she wanted to think about was him getting to touch her. He didn't deserve it.
She jumped up again as she used all of her strength to pull her elbows over the ledge.
"You need any help?" Cato asked as he dodged her swinging legs.
"Nope!" She called down to him while she straightened her arms.
The second her hips hit the metal ceiling the elevator began to screech. It jolted against its cables and Eve felt her heart stop as she watched it snap.
The next thing she knew she was being thrown down into the falling elevator. As her body fell through the air everything around her slowed down.
She was going to die before she even made it into the arena. Her hands reached for something, anything to save her from her impending doom.
Cato was fast when he moved forward to catch her as she fell through the hatch. She wrapped her arms around him without a second thought.
She was scared, that he was sure of. He could feel her heart racing against his chest as she clung to him.
"Easy." He said softly. "You're safe. It was just the emergency break kicking in."
Her eyes were squeezed shut, but opened at the sound of his voice. She looked around the elevator and sighed.
Her shaking hands moved to cover her face. "Jeez, I thought we were about to plummet to our deaths."
"There's still time." He laughed.
He set her down and she felt her face grow hot. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry." He grinned. "I like it when you grab me like that."
"Is everybody alive in there?" The voice of a peacekeeper came from the other side of the closed door.
"Yeah." Cato called back.
The doors creaked as they were pried open from the outside, revealing a group of workers on the other side. The elevator car was stuck between two levels, leaving only a few feet of clearance to make it out.
Once the doors were opened Cato didn't hesitate to crawl out.
"Come on." He said, holding his hand through the opening for her to take.
"I'll wait." She said, sitting down on the cold tile. "I don't want to get chopped in half."
"Suit yourself." He shrugged before disappearing from view.
Eve's heart didn't stop racing when the elevator was moved into place. Nor when she was safely outside. Nor when she was sitting in front of a pile of steaming food.
When she fell she thought she was going to die. It left a sick feeling in her stomach. In a few days she would be dead and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She pushed herself to her feet, leaving her full plate behind her.
"Finnick." She found him in one of the many living rooms with a glass of whiskey in his hand. "I need your help with close combat."
He shook his head as he swirled the caramel colored liquid. "I'm not allowed."
"If you don't I'm going to die." She spoke quickly to mask the fear in her voice.
He set down his half empty glass and ran his hands through his hair. "I know."
He pushed himself to his feet and headed for a bathroom.
"Then help me!" She called after him.
She was startled when he ripped the towel rack straight from the wall.
He tossed it to her and she held it against her palms. It was surprisingly close in both weight and length to the spears in the training center.
There was a smaller rack above the first and Finnick didn't hesitate to pull it from the wall.
"The most important thing you can do is know your weapon." He said as he led her back to the living room.
"Tell me, what's different about a spear?" He quizzed.
She looked down at the stainless steel bar in her hand. "It's longer."
He nodded. "Unlike a sword or axe, you have two very useful sides to your weapon."
He extended his hand and she placed the makeshift spear into it.
"When you block a shot," Finnick slapped the bar against the smaller one in her hand.
"Look where the other end is."
She did as told, looking down at the butt of the spear resting inches from her leg.
"Just finish the movement." He said, swinging through and knocking her legs out from under her.
She landed with a grunt on the floor. "Thanks."
He spun the weapon in his hand. "Anytime."
She caught it when he tossed it her way. "Your turn."
She readied her feet as she waited for him to begin.
The sword came at her fast and she stumbled backwards.
"Come on." He said. "Nobody's gonna go easy on you."
He was right. The people she would be fighting wanted her dead. She didn't have time to train easy.
When he swung again she blocked it, but was still unable to get the motion down to sweep his leg.
"Pathetic." He scoffed. "What would your parents say?"
Her muscles tensed. "What did you just say to me?"
"Your dad would've had me on my ass ten minutes ago." He laughed. "You're an embarrassment."
His eyes narrowed and his head tilted to the side. "But then again, you're putting up a better fight now than he did against those peacekeepers."
She felt tears sting her eyes at the mention of the man she loved so dearly. "Shut your fucking mouth."
"Maybe you should make me." He grinned. "Do something useful for once."
With a raged yell she swung the broken bar at his head and he ducked out of the way.
His elbow connected with her nose and she stumbled backwards.
Through her watering eyes she watched the bar slice towards her. She held up her spear, blocking the shot and continuing on to sweep his legs.
He landed in a heap on the ground and Eve held the metal bar inches from his neck.
"Good job." He said, pushing the jagged metal to the side as he stood up.
Taking down Finnick seemed like a minuscule accomplishment in that moment.
"You knew my dad."
"He was a good man." He nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss."
She furrowed her eyebrows. It didn't make sense. "You live in victors' village. How could you have possibly known my father?"
"We had a few," his voice trailed off as he decided on his next words carefully. "Common interests."
She shook her head. "But-"
He cut her off. "I'll explain everything when you make it out of the arena."
"I'm not gonna make it out!" She laughed. It was a pitiful sound that echoed dryly off the cold walls.
"You're better than you think." He said. "The careers are cocky. Let them think you're an easy target and you can catch them off guard."
"Well that shouldn't be too hard." She scoffed. "They already want me dead."
"Please, Finnick." She begged. "Don't let me die wondering."
"I can't tell you." He shook his head. "Not here. Not now."
"But-"
"That's final." The tone of his sharp voice kept Eve's mouth shut. "Go get some sleep. You need it for your last day of training."
Ugh I'm trying to figure out if I wanna kill her and Cato off at the end or not... decisions decisions