Broken Promises

chapter 10

Jason regains his breathe after a few heavy pants and grabs the backpack and sword. Athena grabs her axe and they pursue the now muffled shrieks. They jog into an unfamiliar part of the forest to find a young boy trying to hold his intestines inside of himself. He must be on the verge of starting puberty, Athena thinks to herself. She shakes the thought from her head before kneeling down next to the boy and caressing his smooth, pale face.

“What’s your name?” She asks with politeness dripping off her words. Athena attempts to be as nice to this child as possible because not even the Capitol’s medicine and doctors can fix the damage done to his stomach.

“Phillip,” He chokes out; blood splattering onto the front of his chest.

“I’m from 3.” She genuinely feels bad for the poor lad. She glances up at Jason and it’s as if a mutual understanding passes between them. They both know that this kid is not going to make it. They might as well take him out of his misery as quickly as possible.

“Do you think you could help me?” He asks shyly. Athena shakes her head and confusion then fear registers on his expression. Before he has time to try to escape, she lodges her axe into his chest. Poor kid, he never saw it coming. The canon, announcing his death, blares as she straightens herself up just as Jason turns her around to face him.

“You look so hot when you’re killing people.” He pulls her by the ends of her jacket over to him. He presses his body onto hers and the close proximity allows her to feel the curves of muscles on his abdomen. She glances down at the ground to distract herself from the feeling of having his body pressed up against hers but he quickly pulls her chin up to face him.

“Why don’t you look me in the eyes when we talk?” He questions with furrowed eyebrows.

“Your eyes are just so green and I can’t look into them for very long,” Her words are cut short as Jason’s lips crash onto hers. This kiss is different from the ones she’s received from Tyler. It feels more demanding and possessive. She pushes on his chest lightly to catch her breath. He nearly swallowed her whole.

“I’m sorry.” He breathes huskily; his face a flush of reds.

“I couldn’t control myself.” She nods understandably. The only good thing from that kiss is that Tyler will surely get a kick out of it.

“Let’s go see if there is anyone else in the forest.” She suggests after a few awkwardly silent moments. He nods his head distractedly and before she can react, he lifts her off the ground and throws her onto his shoulder.

“I found this psycho killer girl in the forest.” He laughs a laugh with such bass and humor that she feels an unconscious smile forming on hers.

“Jason put me down.” Athena demands sternly.  She pounds her tiny fists on his back. She flails her legs until she eventually gives up due to Jason ignoring her for 25 minutes of their trip.  After about an hour of being carried and killing only three stray squirrels and the girl from 11, they head back to the tree. Jason finally sets her down but not before stealing a quick kiss. She punches him in the chest and he throws his hands up in surrender. She takes the squirrels from him and then begins skinning them. Jason starts a small fire as Athena roasts the animals until they’re crispy. So, he does know how to make a fire. What other skills has he been hiding from her? She nudges him gently with her shoulder as they’re both devouring their squirrels.

“What?” He smiles amusedly.

“So, you do know how to make a fire?” She ponders him openly.  He glances at her and wipes the smile off of his face.