𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐞 ☦︎ 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐧

𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 ☦︎ 3

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the victor's of the seventy fourth Hunger Games, Sage Everdeen and Cato Hadley!"

The doors to Eleven's Justice Building are thrown open, revealing Cato and I to all of Eleven. Effie stands behind us, but she offers little to no comfort.

"Smile, smile, smile, smile, smile!" She hisses, grinning.

I am frozen in fear. Because I don't know what I will do if I cannot convince them.

I do not smile as Cato and I walk the small distance from the doorway to the microphone at the front of the stage. I don't want to. I wouldn't be right.

And then, when we get to the microphone, I look around and all the air leaves my lungs.

The crowd is fine. They do not look happy, but why would they? They stand there, peacekeepers watching their every move whilst they watch our's. I don't really care for them.

But what I do care for are the massive projections up the back. The one on the left shows Thresh's face, and below it stand his family. Given he almost killed me in the arena, I cannot find much compassion when looking at his picture. However, when I look down at the one man standing below it, presumably his father, a small spike impales my heart.

But the one on the right is Rue. And below it is her family; a single mother and five little siblings. Emotion clouds my throat, my eyes, my entire body, and I almost stumble.

"Thank you," Cato's voice filling my ears snaps me back to life, and I quickly avert my eyes. He looks down at the cards with those blue eyes and then back up. "We're honoured to be here with you today. And to be with the families of your fallen tributes."

Maybe not Thresh. Definitely Rue.

Cato pauses for a second, looking out at the audience. I do the same, and when I do, I am filled with fear. There is not one single face in the crowd that looks convinced.

Then Cato does the only thing that could possibly make this worse. He puts down the cards that Effie gave him, now talking completely from the heart.

"Though they fought with honour and dignity until the end, both Thresh and Rue were so young."

I look down, because yes, that is true, but also, Thresh tried to kill both Cato and I. He wasn't too young for that.

"But our lives aren't just measured in years," then he goes completely off the rails. "They're measured in the lives of the people we touch around us. For myself, for Sage," he looks at me, and fuck, those blue eyes. I can't think straight. "And for Rue and Thresh. So, in recognition of that, knowing that it in no way can make up for your loss, we would like to donate one month of our winnings to the families of the tributes, every year, for the rest of our lives."

All the air that was in my chest prior to that moment now leaves it.

Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit shit shit shit. If Snow wasn't happy with me before, he's going to actively hate me now.

There is clapping from the audience after this, and even some smiles, but I in no way am relieved. What the fuck did he just do?

"Thank you," Cato nods, holding his hand out to me and beginning to walk backwards.

But then I notice something.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot what I presume to be the eldest of all of Rue's siblings, a young girl that looks alarmingly like her, staring at me. Her brows are knitted and her eyes are disapproving.

I am confused. I may have just fucked up my entire life and the entire world, but Cato just promised her a shit tonne of money. Why is she-?

The answer hits me in a flash. It's because I haven't thanked her.