Loose Ends

Chapter 17

!!TRIGGER WARNING!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THE TOPIC OF SUICIDE

         Haymitch and I immediately turn our back to each other as we take turns, attempting to aim correctly. Obviously, we miss miserably each time, if Katniss were here, Celestia would already be dead, but she knows that Gale did all the hard work got her. All of a sudden, knives start flying in our direction, and both Haymitch and I freak out. Agility has never been my thing, it's more about strength for me. As the knives fly at us, we try to dodge as many as we can. Unfortunately, I end up with one stuck in my knee and Haymitch, with one stuck in his shoulder.

With every missed knife, Celestia groans, and with every knife that hits us, she laughs in pride.

-"You two don't stand a chance against me! You can't even aim if your life depended on it!"

I ignore Celestia remark, and continue to aim while Haymitch throws himself onto the floor to gather all the missed knives that had fallen. He attempts to aim but the alcoholic stands no shot against Celestia, who id younger and fit. We continue to aim and I am close to giving up, with three knives in my body and 4 in Haymitch's. All of a sudden, I look down for a second to tiredly add another arrow to Katniss' bow, but before I have time to react, I notice Haymitch running, throwing himself at Celestia, stabbing her in the stomach, as she yelps out in pain. I yell at him to stop but before I can reach him, Celestia strikes his head with her knife.

Celestia smirks at me, as I realize that I am the only one standing between her and her complete victory. I know for a fact she doesn't care about Gale's death, and wasn't planning on keeping him around anyways.

Haymitch's death ignites a fire in me, and all of a sudden, I am filled with ideas. Celestia will not win against three victors from the games. I refuse to make that a reality.

I start pulling the knives out of my sweaty body, and look around for weapon choices. Then it hits me: Katniss' advice, heavy lifting, trees that have fallen from the explosion. I give myself a look, the same look I gave Haymitch so long ago, after I announced Katniss was pregnant. Now, I give it to Haymitch's dead body, but I know that somehow, somewhere, he's raising his glass and toasting to my idea.

I observe the look of shock on Celestia's face, as I lift a tree. As she completely freezes, I hurl it at her, hitting her in the head, killing her immediately from the impact. I walk over to her body and stab her with her own knife to make sure that the deed is finished.

!!LAST TRIGGER WARNING!!

That afternoon, I take Katniss and Haymitch's body to a beautiful cliff, a cliff that looks past a beautiful ocean, which leads to god knows where. Some people call it the Atlantic, no one really knows what's there. I bury their bodies at the top of this cliff, and make myself a picnic with lamb stew. Look at their beautiful graves, I feel empty, useless. I slowly gulp down the lamb stew, which remind me of Katniss' kisses while we were in a cave in the first games. This creates a knot in my stomach as i reminisce in my late wife's favorite dish. As I get up to leave, I take one final look at the ocean beneath the cliff, close my eyes, and jump.