Highway to hell

09. The Knife

Mara's POV:

Today is the second day of training, I wake up, put on my training suit, do my hair and get out my bedroom door, I go to the living room and eat breakfast with Cato, Enobaria, Brutus and Cyra. She takes to the training center by a short elevator ride.

Today I decide I'll try something new, an axe maybe. I head to the axe station and take one of the many metal weapons. I try a few of them till I find one that has the perfect weight for me. I head to a circle of manikins and start 'fighting' them, one by one, till every one of them is either headless or with a gash on its stomach.

I go to the shooting range, with my axe still in hand and try some axe shooting. It really isn't that different from knife shooting, but I don't hit bullseye once, but quite close to it. I consider it a win,considering the fact that I've practically haven't touched an axe in years. I shoot a few more times and I finally hit bullseye, twice.

I head for the next stop on my list, the swordsman station, I suck at swords, I have absolutely, positively no fucking idea. Better for me, there is a trainer who can help me out, we are a few minutes into training, with no success, when I decide to give up, I'll have to take something else from the Cornucopia.

I go towards a bench to catch my breath when I see, on the bench next to mine, Cato, leaving a knife with a towel next to it. And suddenly, I have an idea.

Third Person POV:

Mara takes Cato's knife and stocks it in her belt. She runs to the monkey bars above the benches and waits for his reaction. She stays laying there, with the knife on her hand, playing with it. Jason, the boy from six, takes an energy bar and puts it in his pocket, casually he's standing right next to where Cato's knife was. Cato comes where he left his things, noticing his knife isn't there he looks at Jason.

"Where's my knife?" He asks, clearly trying to keep it together.

"I don't know where your knife is." Responds Jason. Not knowing what he's talking about.

"Where's my knife?" He asks again, this time more aggressively.

"I told you I don't know where your knife is." Insists Cormac, getting frustrated.

"Where is my knife? You took my knife!" Yells Cato. The boy is mad at Jason for supposedly taking his knife. There in the monkey bars, lays Mara, laughing at the scene.

The rest of the tributes watch the boys fight until Foxface notices the girl with the knife, she alerts the other tributes and starts pointing at her discreetly meanwhile Cato pushes Jason and they start fighting. Minutes later, peacekeepers come and separate the two boys.

Cato's POV:

As the peacekeepers separate us from the fight, I yell at the boy "You know what, I'll wait for the arena, you'll be the first one I get so watch your back!"

I catch a glimpse of Mara, a big grin on her face. The peacekeeper lets me go and I make my way to Mara. "Give me the knife Mara." I say as calm as possible. She's like a bird, I can't scare her or she'll run away. With my knife.

She plays a bit more with the knife turning on the climbing frame, she now lays on her back, I see her fall from the bars, hanging on her legs from them. She's still got my knife, facing me, I can see concentration on her face, she throws the knife at me. I prepare for the piercing pain that's about to follow, but it never comes.

I look at Mara, she doesn't have my knife anymore so I look at the floor, there it is, right next to my left foot. I look back at her, she's getting down the bars. Of course, she likes attention, so she does a backflip to get down, she lands it perfectly, she then turns around to face me. She still has that unmistakable grin on her face, when she goes past me, hitting her shoulder against mine, she yells.

"Knives are my thing, sweetheart!" Stupid accent. She then hops off to the dining hall, to the Careers' table. Sitting with Marvel and Glimmer. I make my way next to them and sit with my food.

Hours later, we head back to our floor, Mara and I head to our corresponding rooms to go to sleep. Despite my tiredness, I can't get myself to sleep, after what seem hours, I hear a noise coming from Mara's bedroom, I look at the clock: 02:35. What could she be doing at this time of the night? I wonder.

I get up from bed, and knock on Mara's door. Nothing. I knock again. No answer. I suppose she's either sleeping or she's not even in the room. I remember that over the tribute building there is a large roof where I cloud go spend the night, contemplating the city.

I take the lift and hit the last button. In less than a minute I'm stepping out the elevator door, being greeted by a cold breeze of air. I hear a grunt and a hit, then a little laugh. "Bullseye." I immediately recognize the accent, Mara.

I lean on the wall and watch her shoot, she's actually quite impressive, now that I'm watching her. Since it's the middle of the night, she can't see me, until my cough betrays me. I hear a frightened gasp, a knife pierces my jacket and I hear her voice again.

"What is wrong with you?" She asks. I just shrug, since I'll admit it's quite creepy the way I was looking at her. She takes the knife back and puts it her belt.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"It doesn't seem you're training at all." I say sarcastically. She gives me a cold look that sends shivers down my spine. Her dark hair creates waves as the cold air hits her face and I notice the belt, filled with knives, tightly wrapped around her waist. She pulls out a knife, I recognize that knife, it's the knife she always wears on her. She sits on the low wall and starts playing with her knife.

"Don't you feel stressed?" She asks, as if she were worried about something.

"Yes, it's a lot of pressure, if that's what you mean." I answer. To be honest I haven't really thought about it, I've always wanted to be here, and now that I am, I just don't know what to think.

"That's not what I mean." She says, this takes me by surprise to be honest. In response I ask her what she means. "It's just, in two days half of us will be dead, and it's quite likely that one of us will be of them." She adds.

"C'mon Mara, don't let your thoughts get to you. We're Careers, remember?" I assure her.

Suddenly her expression changes, from sad and concerned to cold and angry. "I don't know what I'm doing talking to you." She spats.

"Yeah, what are you doing talking to me?" I say, she looks up at me, standing quite close to me, I smell her mint perfume, and she does the thing I least expected her to do, she gets on her toes and leans over, her lips inches from mine. Our breaths mix, breathing each other.

My eyes scan every inch of her face, landing on her lips. She moves slowly to my ear and whispers. "I'm going to bed." She laughs as she walks to the elevator door. "Shit, my knives." She says. Mara walks to where she was shooting and pulls out all the knives from the bullseye. Her cold look lands on me. "Good night sweetheart." She says, I hear a hint of sarcasm on her voice.

Her cocky response leaves me wondering if I should ally with her or not, I just don't want to get attached. And if I want to go home, I can't let that happen.

.