𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 | Finnick Odair

𝐱𝐱𝐢. you had to kill me, but it killed you just the same

Caspian had taken overnight watch duties as Genevieve slept, he was joined by Seraphina who had looked less than pleased at the idea of giving up her sleep to guard the others. It wasn't up for debate, Rex and Marla had taken the first half of the night without complaint so it was only fair they played their part. Within a matter of minutes, however, Seraphina was sleeping like a log. Caspian didn't bother trying to wake her when he was probably safer without her icy glare to distract him. He patrolled their camp for a while, unsure of what else he could possibly be doing as the stars shone down from above.

The temperature had dropped rapidly during the night and he longed to crawl back into his tent for warmth but he persevered.

The first sign that something was amiss was the rustling. Caspian foolishly dismissed it, he had incorrectly assumed that Seraphina had finally woken up. He made his way back to where she had been sleeping to report back his nonexistent findings and hopefully start someone else's shift so he could get some rest. Seraphina, however, was still sound asleep, curled in on herself to stay warm and dry in the cool night wind. He stopped confused. Turning he faced the tents to check if anyone had emerged from their slumber.

That was when he saw the shadow. It was Haile, the gangly-looking boy from District Twelve, who hadn't noticed Caspian's presence and was quietly rooting through a discarded pack looking for any supplies. Caspian had foolishly left his weapons next to Seraphina's sleeping form and was not going to turn his back on their newfound thief to find them.

He shuffled forward with slow lumbering steps, making as little noise as possible, like a beast stalking his prey.

Unfortunately for Haile, he turned at just the wrong moment and met Caspian's gaze. His mouth opened almost comically wide but nothing came out and in the split second he was left gaping Caspian pounced. Both of them were unarmed so it was relatively easy for Caspian to manoeuvre the boy onto his back and straddle his chest.

Haile's hand's clawed at anything he could find, scratching at his face and chest while Caspian wrapped his around the frightened boy's throat. His bright blue eyes seemed to bug out at this as his face lost colour alarmingly fast. Within just under a minute Haile lost consciousness but Caspian didn't stop.

He knew from lessons at the academy that there was a big difference between strangling someone so they blacked out and strangling someone to kill. He would have to continuously apply pressure for the next few minutes to ensure the boy's death. It was a calculated kill. Bloodthirsty and unnecessary. It was drawn out for far too long considering the victim was rendered unconscious for the most part.

Eventually, a cannon fired. For a few seconds, he kept his hands where they were, clutching rabidly at the cold dead skin underneath.

Coming to his senses Caspian let go and hauled the body into his arms. There was no point leaving it there and having to move everyone else out when the drones arrived to collect it. He dragged it out past the tree line until he was a sufficient distance from camp and dumped it there ready to be collected.

As he made his way back he felt strange. He didn't have any remorse for what he'd just done and yet he couldn't seem to shake the boy's harrowed face from his mind.

Caspian tried to distract himself from his memories by scrubbing his own blood off his face, where nails had raked down painfully only minutes earlier and washed his hands with water they'd collected earlier to remove a harbouring feeling of guilt. Genevieve and the others would be pleased, he reckoned sitting next to where Seraphina rested seemingly undisturbed by what had just happened, another body to add to their ever-growing kill count.

How many was that now? The district nine, five, eleven, six, and twelve boy tributes along with the girls from eight, twelve, and three. That was eight total leaving sixteen total tributes left. If he played his cards right by the end of the games, fifteen more would succumb to injuries or illnesses and he would remain victorious.

As he gloated silently Genevieve emerged fresh-faced from her tent.

"What are you doing that could possibly warrant that much noise?" She hissed, her cheeks still rosy from sleep.

"Finishing the job." He gestured to where the boy's body lay as a drone descended from above.

She squinted seemingly unfazed although Caspian noted how her hands trembled slightly as she moved a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Who is that?"

"Boy from twelve. Caught him going through the packs. Little thief was trying to steal our supplies."

Genevieve stared at the body carefully as it was illuminated by the lights of the descending machine. "Where did you stab him?"

"I didn't. Left my weapons behind, stupid I know." He interjected before she could lecture him.

"Did you snap his neck?" She asked, glancing at Seraphina who was still sleeping soundly.

"No, I strangled him and he passed out relatively quickly." He shrugged, skipping the gory details. She made a noise of surprise as a hand snaked towards the pearl on her necklace to fidget nervously with it.

"That's good, one less person," Genevieve concluded. "Get some sleep I'll keep watch since it seems like she's not going to be any help." She declared icily looking at the sleeping girl with a wild sort of stare. Caspian nodded, not planning to argue with some much-needed rest and made his way back into a tent.

Strangely for the first few hours, he struggled to sleep at all and when he finally succumbed to his exhaustion his dreams seemed to feature the young boy's face wherever he turned. Caspian didn't know what to make of them. He'd killed people before and nothing had affected him as this had, he groaned annoyed at himself for being so sentimental.