How to Regret

Chapter Three

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    "What are you doing?" Leila demanded, folding her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

    "Crap..." Cato muttered under his breath, adjusting the bag he had just slung over his shoulder.

    It had been a week since he had decided he was going to help the rebels with their little plan - whatever it was, and in that week, he had contacted District Thirteen and had gotten himself an escort to the supposedly destroyed district.

    Presently, he was attempting to slip away unnoticed, leaving practically all of his belongings behind except for a few changes of clothes, and some of his favorite swords. Of course, there was always a hitch with his plans when he wanted something to go smoothly. Always.

    Leila, who had decided to stop by his house at the exact moment he was leaving his house, was bored. However, excitement and curiosity spiked in her chest as she saw her older friend trying to sneak away in the midst of the chilly fall night.

    Cato cleared his throat and pressed his lips together, trying to come up with an excuse. He didn't need Leila worrying over him or telling him how completely ignorant his idea was. "I'm just...night hunting, " he declared, feeling a pang of hurt in his chest.

    The simple statement brought back a flood of memories, when he and Clove had rained on a couple's parade, killing them both. It was fun, of course. Just not for the dead couple. "Oh..." Leila said. "Can I come?"

    Cato laughed. "No. You're too young and I want to do this alone."

    Leila scoffed. "Fine, then." And with that, she walked away.

    Cato raised an eyebrow in half amusement and half suspicion. Leila usually didn't give up that easily. However, he decided not to let it get to him, and he went on his way, careful to stay out of the way of street lights, and the drunk gangs that roamed the alleys.

    An uneasy feeling turned his stomach into a jumble of knots. He wasn't exactly scared...just nervous. With a touch of excitement.

    He ducked behind an old, tattered wooden house at the end of the street, and jumped over the fence that bordered the whole district. The Peacekeepers kept the electricity turned off on their fence because no one ever wanted to leave District Two.

    Hearing a twig snap behind him, he whirled around narrowing his eyes that were already adjusting to the darkness of the woods. Nothing was there. Nothing that he could see, anyway. He shrugged and continued on his way, though gripping one of his swords tightly at his side. He couldn't risk anything, could he?

    Cato continued trudging through the dense forest until he came to a small clearing, and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, of course he'd never really been in the woods before - except for a few times to go night hunting...and when he had been in the arena.

    Suddenly, a large unknown thing shimmered in the middle of the clearing and became visible. Cato took a step back, his eyes wide, before he let out a sight of relief on upon realizing that the thing he had been slightly scared of only seconds before, was, in fact, the hovercraft that would be taking him to District Thirteen.

    Cato took a few cautious steps forward, before a ramp expanded from the side from the hovercraft and a large door opened up, revealing a large man who descended the ramp, making his way towards Cato, who stood stiffly with an eyebrow raised.

    The man extended one beefy-looking arm towards Cato. "Plutarch Heavensbee, " he said simply, then turned on his heel and gestured for Cato to follow him.

   Cato cast another cautious glance around before boarding the hovercraft with Plutarch Heavensbee.

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    "Yes, I'm sure, " Cato said, nodding briskly.

    For the past hour and a half, he and Heavensbee had been discussing rebellion tactics, and in Cato's opinion, it was quite boring. Everything Plutarch Heavensbee had suggested had been either too boring or too safe. Cato didn't want that - he wanted something where he could go in and storm the Capitol - killing every weak, stupid citizen in his way.

    "But by doing that, " Plutarch explained, "you're no different than the Capitol."

    Cato bit his lip, thinking over their whole conversation. "We'll talk about this later." he finally said, then stood up from the little round table the two had sat down at, and walked down a narrow hallway, stopping at a door and unlocking it with a key he fished out from his pocket.

    He opened the door and slipped into the small bunker, shutting the door behind him and flipping on the light switch. His eyes widened with surprise. "What are you doing here?!" he hissed, his voice in a tight whisper.

    A/N: Okay hey guys. Sorry it took so long. I'm lazy haha. Happy Early-Valentine's Day! Do y'all have a valentine?