Vindictive | Chapter 7

I look down at my shaking hands, disbelieving the fact that these same pair had taken yet another innocent life. I made a pact to myself that no matter what happens; I won’t let my hallucinations and temper overtake my system. Tonight, however, is a total wreck. I was right all along that something unpalatable would happen. There was that feeling in my gut when I was pumping myself up for tonight’s agenda. I just didn’t know that this was it. I didn’t know the night would end unintentionally in tragic.

“Cato…” Rue mumbles from beside me, watching as I glance down at my vibrating hands.

I’m not in my normal state to even distinguish wonderland from the harsh reality; to whether face the truth that I killed a good friend of mine or try and be a fugitive for the rest of my life, running away from my wrongdoing that scarred my still healing life as soon as I watch it take place. I don’t know what’s happening to me at the moment. Somehow, for a couple of seconds, I forget where I am, completely lost with the whole situation.

I feel someone grabbing my arm and I jerk it away. I turn to face Rue and as soon as I lay eyes on her, I feel like I’m looking at a completely different person. A sliver part of me knows that she’s Rue but the larger area tells me otherwise.

Slowly her features distort, widen, narrow, elongate. Her black hair grows longer and straightens into a bright blonde. She blinks rapidly, each time her eyes turning into a breathtaking emerald green, and her small lips puckering a little more. It takes me a while to realize whom I’m seeing. When the reforming surceases, my heart drops to the floor.

Glimmer.

She stands fully in front of me. Her expression resembles something of pain, betrayal, and a slight trace of bitterness and a pinch of sympathy. I can’t fathom how she’s putting up a one-person pity party for me when I basically killed her. How can she feel such emotion towards someone who took her life when clearly, it isn’t her time yet?

Glimmer extends her arm and gestures for me to take her hand. I grab a hold of it and for a second, I feel strange as a tingling sensation shoots right up the arm she touched. She notices my reaction and yields me a small smile.

“Cato, what have you done?” Her smile falters and her voice tells me she’s on the verge of crying.

It’s that question again. I feel like I’ve been asked the same concept over and over that I find myself interrogating even my own being.

“Glimmer…” I call her. “H-how? I…I’m—”

“Cato.” She interrupts, carefully squeezing my hand as if it’s porcelain.

“I’m so sorry.” I drop to my knees, apologizing. “I—I don’t know what I was thinking. I…I was hallucinating and I…” I sigh, seeing that I’m at loss for words. “I’m really sorry.”

In the end, it is only what I can say.

“What have you done?” She repeats.

“I’m really sorry.”

“What have you done?”

All of a sudden, the same question is all that comes out of Glimmer's mouth. She’s almost sounding like a broken record and the repetitiveness irritates my hearing that I have to cover my ears with my quivering hands.

I don’t know when my eyelids shut but once I open them, the blonde hair and emerald eyes are long gone and Rue's familiar features appear solidly in front of me. She speaks of something but I hear no sound, nothing but complete silence. Mum, yet deafening.

Her intense gaze leaves mine as another matter steals her attention. I watch carefully as she reaches for her own portable radio link and listens to probably what Thresh or anyone from our team is trying to say. She gives the speaker a response before pocketing the radio again. Rue grabs both my shoulders and shakes me violently, as if to take me out of whatever trance I’m in.

Bit by bit, I can now comprehend what Rue's trying to notify me. With each passing second, her voice gets clearer. I still don’t have the slightest clue about what she’s saying though I can make out a few words. I try to keep my full attention on her and try to listen intently to see if that tactic will work out.

Rue shakes me, this time more ferociously. “Cato, we gotta go!” Finally, I can hear her loud and clear. “Thresh says the film’s almost over and the security cameras are going to be live again!”

I scan the vicinity the same time Rue does and I notice how cameras surround us. Taking the duffel bag with me, I grab Rue's arm and take off running. We both know we don’t want anything to do with the dead body, although it sounds so irresponsible on my side. I’ll just trust wholly on my instincts and assume Glimmer's lifeless figure is on the cameras’ blind spots.

* * *

“Quick, drive!” I order immediately as soon as Rue and I load the car. We don’t even bother putting our seatbelts first for we are so eager to be out of that residential area as soon as possible.

To both our reliefs, Thresh did not object and hit the gas pedal the second we tell him to. I’m in a very frantic mood and am not been able to calm down even with Rue and Fox's solacing words. Only when Thresh puts his blinker on to turn right to our street, do I manage to slow my heartbeat down until it beats its natural pace.

“What exactly happened back there?” Thresh asks once he parks the van on his humongous driveway.

I send an uneasy glance at Rue and see she’s doing the same. We’re both sitting at the back end of the van, and she shakes her head ever so slightly not even Fox – who’s sitting on the row in front of us – can notice it.

“We didn’t know they have a caretaker so when we were inside the combat room, we kind of left the doors open and she might’ve seen us.” I mentally salute myself for coming up with a realistic excuse.

“What?” Almost the whole team screeches in surprise.

“But,” Rue quickly adds, “I punched her straight in the face so she’s unconscious.” She pretends her fist hurts to further emphasize her point.

“Still!” Thresh scolds. “When she wakes up, all this will come running back up to her head and she’ll notify the police eventually.”

“Well, I guess we just have to make sure the police won’t know it was us.” I answer. “Besides, Rue and I left no trace.”

As I say this, I can’t help but feel guilty. I killed a very innocent person and didn’t even do anything about it. I just took off, never looking back. I guess this is the life I’m destined to have: always running away from my fault, the way a person escapes from his or her landlord because their payment is long overdue. The tightening knot in my stomach is not helping either. It just serves as a constant reminder of what I’ve done and what I have failed to do.

“I’ll trust you both on that.” Thresh says with such finality letting us know the conversation is closed. Although there is something else, something more in the older boy’s tone, I allow it to pass just for today.

Thresh and the rest of the team unload the van and I am left alone with Rue. As soon as the doors shut, I turn to her.

“What the hell were you thinking?” I ask her, shouting.

“I was just trying to help you!” The thirteen-year-old replies.

“Well, you could’ve done something other than that!” I tell her. “What if Thresh finds out the truth?”

“I promise, he won’t.”

I shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose as I feel a headache coming. “We never know, Rue. One little slip can do so much damage.”

“Let’s just keep our mouths shut.” She suggests. “We are getting out of this van and we won’t speak of this anymore. Agree?”

I’m a bit hesitant about our whole scheme of never bringing this topic any further. I mean, once somebody finds Glimmer's corpse, the police will sooner or later get involved and I’m pretty sure the “snoopers” will be itching to get their hands on the case and investigate. And if we really are that unfortunate – heaven forbid let this be false – the investigators find a piece of evidence that can be used against me and I’ll be free to call jail as my home.

“Agree.” I say.

With that agreement in mind, we get out of the van and decide to join the others inside.

* * *

The following morning is no better. The moment my eyelids fly open up to the point where I step in the shower, the events of last night is still dwelling in my mind. I stand under the cold running water, arbitrating whether I should inform Thresh's about the whole truth or just take this for a run and pocket all these burden that’s only weighing me down. I opt for the bottommost.

Once I’m done, I put on any active wear I can find in the depths of my closet. I head downstairs, completely ignoring breakfast (which is unusual for me) and Rue's snarky remarks about my chosen ensemble.

I expect a wave of morning heat to welcome me, but instead, surprised with the uncommon dewy atmosphere. I take off running, trying to remember the route Rue had taken me to last week. Ever since the traumatizing hallucination last night, the feeling of being followed made its reappearance and I can’t help but have the same notion. In every five steps I take, I crane my neck to see if someone is following behind, and each time I see no one, I sigh in relief.

Just thinking about the previous night’s unfortunate happening, makes my heart sink and the knot in my stomach to tighten. It pains me to soak in the oppressive truth that this world lost a very humble lady. And the worst of it all, I was the cause. Someone out there lost a daughter, a friend, because of me. All of this wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Brutus.

Suddenly, everything just relates back to him. All fingers point back to him.

If he had been a kindhearted man in the first place, none of my parents would be dead by now; Ryan and Savannah Liv wouldn’t even be gone as well; this vindictive desire won’t be taking over every vein in my body; Glimmer would still be young and breathing.

I will stick to my word that by the time I come face-to-face with Brutus, I’ll make sure to apprise him about the tragedy he has brought into my life; how he made my life a living pandemonium, and that I won’t back down without a fight.

That bastard is mine, and only mine, to destroy.

My phone abruptly rings and I stop to check whom my caller is. The second I see that it’s Marvel, I resolve that it’s just one of his calls where he’ll try to take me away from Katniss for the chemistry project. Truth is, I won’t work with either of them. I prefer to do the job alone.

Declining the call, I resume running. It is after three blocks that I recognize where I am. Rue and I had come across this certain area during our run the previous week. Straight ahead is the park and on my right leads to a very familiar neighborhood. It seems like something took over my brain because before I know it, I turn right heading to the direction of Glimmer's house.

* * *

As the blonde’s abode comes into view, I notice a swarm of police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck. The paramedics step out of the house carrying a stretcher that can only contain Glimmer's body. Seeing her white cloth covered corpse, a familiar feeling comes tugging down at my gut again. My whole body tingles; heart dropping and the knot that seems like it found its permanent home inside my stomach tautens.

Eyeing Marvel from afar, I know I have to play innocent. He may be irksome but with his lamentable condition that sends off a dismal ambiance, I know all he needs is a friend. Even if that friend is the beast himself.

I jog towards him; the same time a red convertible pulls up and the rest of my friends come running alongside me. All of them are athirst to get to Marvel to console him. We’re all aware of the blossoming romance between the two that is why he’s the mostly affected one among us.

“Marvel, what happened?” Peeta asks, luculent about his dread of what the brunet’s answer may be.

“She’s gone.” Marvel speaks so quietly, it won’t even be considered as a mumble. “Glimmer's gone…dead.” He repeats, choking on the latter word.

“B-but…h-how?” Standing beside me, totally overwhelm with shock, Clove stutters.

“I don’t know.” Marvel sniffs. “I just found her dead inside her combat room.”

“Where’s Mr. Belvill?” Annie inquires, trying to sneak a peek from the open French doors.

The tall brunet hooks his thumb over his broad shoulder. “He’s inside talking to the cops and some investigators.” He answers, still as gloomy.

“Are we allowed to go inside?” I ask.

Katniss shakes her head. “I don’t know if we’re permitted to enter yet. The whole crime scene is still under investigation.” She responds.

All of a sudden, a tall man with salt and pepper hair and glasses, who I can only assume is Mr. Belvill comes storming out with a few cops in tow. He stops, turns to face the officers and flashes a small smile. “Thank you so much for all your help.” He says.

The officers nod in reply. “It’s a pleasure, sir.” With that being said, they march off, leaving Mr. Belvill with the rest of us.

“Mr. Belvill.” Madge says, calling the attention of the elderly.

He spins on his heels and the moment he lays his eyes on us, we all know that his daughter is the first thing that came to his mind. We very much reminds him of his deceased loved one, his only jewel.

“We’re really sorry about your loss.” Madge is quick to add, lowering her head in the process.

Mr. Belvill only manages to nod, still unable to form words. Out of shock, obviously. He probably didn’t even bother his daughter before he left the house early for work thinking she’s peacefully sleeping in her room and then an hour or a two after, gets a call saying she has been found dead. It must be hard. For someone like me, a friend, who’s already feeling worse because of the taunting guilt, what more if it’s Mr. Belvill, a father? I can’t imagine how painful it is and how much suffering he’s in.

Still, it’s all because of me.

“So…” I say to break the uncomfortable silence building up among us. “What did the cops say? Did they discover how she died?” It feels foreign on my tongue to say that word in front of him.

“It was a homicide and robbery.” Mr. Belvill answers plainly. “The investigators are trying to find any piece of evidence in the crime scene in order to detect who did all this to my daughter.”

I tense from where I stand. Once again, all these possible scenarios come rushing back to my head. What if Rue and I weren’t really as careful as we thought we did last night and left a tiny piece of indication that it was we? I can’t risk sending her to jail. I won’t be able to forgive myself if that happens, and I’m pretty sure Thresh won’t either. I need to go inside and see the crime scene myself. I need to double check, and I won’t be leaving this place until I do so.

“Mr. Belvill,” calls Katniss. “Is it okay if we come inside now?”

Glimmer's father shakes his head. “The investigators are still there. I don’t think it’s a good idea to come in and intervene with their work.” He explains.

“You’re right.” Katniss replies disappointingly. “But we’re allowed to visit anytime right? We all want to remember Glimmer as a great and loving friend and I know, she wants all of us to look after you.”

Mr. Belvill smiles at Katniss's words. He knows it’s what Glimmer wants for him as well that’s why he won’t push us away. He’s willing to open his door for us. “Thank you, Katniss. I may need some company once in a while, anyway.”

It’s probably not the right time but we find ourselves laughing. Although it’s not the usual unfeigned laugh, it’s a heavyhearted one. We all know the moment will be better if only Glimmer is there. Sadly though, the bubbly blonde isn’t there with us, and will forever never be.

In the end, all fingers will be pointing at me for the death of Glimmer while I stand here, all alone, pointing my own finger at Brutus who I believe is still the main cause of this all.

* * *

We say our final goodbyes and condolences to Mr. Belvill before carrying on with our lives for that day. It is the weekend so I guess any plans that the group has will be cancelled due to the tragic end of our dear friend, Glimmer.

Everything will not be the same without her. She’s the glue that sticks us together; the icebreaker when the group is involved in an awkward silence; the cheery one when everyone’s gloomy; the survivor in that intensely horrifying movie when everybody is already dead. (Isn’t it ironic when I said that she’s the survivor in the movie, and yet in the film where reality is the main theme, she’s the first victim?) Basically, for the short time I’ve been with Glimmer, I learned well enough that she’s the life of the group.

We turn our backs the same time Mr. Belvill enters his mansion with no daughter to come home to. The rest of the group loads the convertible but Peeta and I notice Katniss still standing in her same spot, with her head tilting upwards to get a good full look of the mansion. She may have thought that no one will be able to see it, but I can tell she’s keeping her head straight whilst her eyes move around, as if she’s looking for something.

“Come on, Katniss! Let’s go!” Peeta calls out for he’s already in the driver’s seat.

I take a few steps towards the brunette and stands beside her, tilting my head as well. “You want to go inside, do you?” I whisper, though I know nobody from the group will hear us.

Katniss nods, averting her eyes from the mansion to look at me. “I’ve decided to take criminology for college and I guess I have this feeling that this is an opportunity for a practice, you know?” She answers.

Licking my lips, I agree with her.

We hear another honk and we both turn to look at an almost impatient Peeta. “Katniss, we gotta go!” He yells.

She turns to me with dissatisfying eyes as if she never wants to leave until she gets to do what she’s wanted to do. “You guys can go! I’ll just have Cato take me home.” The second she says her last phrase, her brown eyes meet her boyfriend’s and I know she’s trying to send an apology. Maybe they have a date to go to and Katniss decides that investigating is far more interesting for her at the moment.

Peeta nodded disappointingly before flashing me a friendly smile. “Keep her safe.” He reminds me and I nod.

Peeta and Katniss just became an official couple two days ago. As we spend time together as friends, the two had been wooing each other behind our backs. We never had any clue that these two were having secret dates outside of town so no one would recognize or see them together.

The engine roar back to life and in just a matter of five seconds, they are out of the driveway and already cruising on the main road. Katniss and I laugh after seeing all our friends with their arms raised and waving us goodbye.

“So, what’s your plan?” I question once the convertible is out of our sight.

Katniss shrugs. “Mr. Belvill says we can’t interfere until all the investigators are done. It’s at least almost an hour since they’d been here, so I’m guessing we can go.” She smiles up at me and I return it notwithstanding my hesitancy.

I’m not completely a hundred percent sure about her estimation. I won’t admit it but I’m slowly getting petrified about entering that house again. I feel like once I step in, I will see Glimmer standing there with her long blonde hair and emerald eyes, asking me about what I’ve done to her. I can’t withstand seeing another hallucination that may result into further affliction. I can’t venture myself de novo. I’ve done it twice before, and I won’t be doing it for the third time. Three times the charm they say, and I won’t dare find out what that ‘charm’ will be.

“Are you coming?” Katniss interrogates, taking me out of my trance.

I notice she’s already a few feet ahead of me, so I catch up to her. “Yeah, I want to see your magic in investigating.”

The brunette scoffs, playfully hitting me on my arm. “You’re a suck-up. Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

Mr. Belvill towers over the crime scene, observing the investigators who I can tell haven’t found any substantiation yet. He notices both of us coming and he uncrosses his arms, meeting Katniss and I halfway.

“What did I tell you?” He questions.

“We know you said that we’re not allowed to intervene in any work but—” One of the investigators unintentionally interrupts Katniss.

“Excuse me, sir. Can we have a word with you for a moment?” A short man in a navy blue polo shirt and khaki pants glances from Mr. Belvill to Katniss and I, aware that he has interrupted a conversation.

The elder man nods in agreement before leaving us alone in the scene of the crime. Katniss, of course, takes this as an opportunity to give her deserving antsy hands its satisfaction. She orders me to keep watch incase Mr. Belvill and the investigator returns and catches her in action.

As I watch Katniss crouching down and her hands hovering over everything and touching anything she suspects can be a piece of evidence, I can’t help but notice a dubious glimmer somewhere near where the yellow police lines are. My hands immediately find its way to my neck and my eyes widen when I realize I’m not wearing my tag. I feel my pockets hoping that maybe I place it there for safekeeping, since the clasp is a little loose and it may unlock while I run. But it isn’t there.

“What is that?” I hear Katniss whisper to herself.

I follow her gaze and I know, at that moment, exactly what she is talking about—my tag.

The brunette stands up and marches towards the glinting object that catches her eyes. I trail closely behind, trying to conjure up anything that can distract the girl from getting there. I need to reach that area first before she does or she’ll see my tag and will instantaneously have an answer to the mystery of Glimmer's murder. They’ll cuff me right there, send me to prison and Thresh will never forgive me for the rest of my life.

By the time we reach the location of my necklace, I grab Katniss by her arm and turn her a little forcefully to face me. She smiles though she’s a little confused about my unanticipated action. I steal a quick glance at my alleged tag to see if it really is mine. We never know, but I may only be one assuming person.

“Cato—”

“I think I heard them coming.” I whisper.

Katniss's eyes briskly look over her shoulder to inspect the door that leads to the hallway outside the combat room. I know she won’t be gazing in that direction for a long time so with all my strength, I kick the tag away from her. Unfortunately, it is a worthless attempt and Katniss witnesses my doing.

“What was that?” She interrogates me.

“I’m pretty sure it’s nothing. Come on, I’ll take you home.” I say still holding on to her arm.

“No.” Katniss protests. “I saw you kick something and I want to know what that is.”

“Katniss, it’s nothing. Trust me.”

“How can I trust you? What if it’s something important? What if it’s the one thing Mr. Belvill needs to be able to identify Glimmer's killer?” She grills me with all these queries when a sudden flash of emotion shows onto her features, but it fades away as quickly as it appeared. “Do you not want to know who did this to our friend?”

I shake my head, trying to imply Katniss that she’s misinterpreted my words. “That’s not what I meant.” I answer.

“Then what?”

I close my eyes as my fists form and my knuckles whitening. Katniss being stubborn and won’t listen when I say that it’s nothing (even though it really is something), is enough to take me to my limit, to my highest peak. The outcome of it all is I screaming at a flabbergasted brunette who suddenly looks so fragile and almost like a little girl. She is someone who likes to appear tough but when times like this comes, she is just as soft and delicate as an infant.

Her lower lip quivers and her eyes water a tad, but she fights them all in order to not disclose her feebleness and sensitivity in such small matter. In that occasion, I regret my cruel words toward her and just want to envelope her tiny frame in my arms. But I know I’m not able to do that, as I manifestly scared the girl.

“Go.” She mouths.

“What?”

“Go.” She repeats, this time louder. “Just leave me alone, Cato.”

“But I promised Peeta I’ll take you home.”

“I’ll just call someone to come and pick me up.” She says this, all the while attempting to not meet my gaze.

“But Peeta—”

“He won’t know any of this. I promise.”

My emotions are wavering both inside my head and my heart. A massive part of me don’t want to leave Katniss alone as I promised her lover that I’ll be the one to take her home, and me being me, I stick to my promises. Howbeit the better side of my conscience is winning, that adverse portion (the one that concluded I should take revenge) encourages me to leave her, but secretly snatch the suspicious tag away so she won’t have a lead.

I start walking, nodding as I hear Katniss muttering a soft farewell. Once I reach the combat room’s door, I turn to my heels and see the girl crouching down to promptly remove the silver tag from its spot on the floor. She inspects it, turning and squinting as she assays to comprehend the cramped message on the underside of the jewelry.

Katniss finishes and her brown eyes snap towards my direction, her eyebrows furrowing into what I can interpret as suspicion. She does a double take on the tag in her small hand before giving me another doubtful stare. My heart flips before doubling over.

One thing is for sure when I leave the Belvill household: Katniss has grown suspicious and will sooner be considering me as one of the suspects.

* * *

I burst into Thresh's living room and up the stairs to Rue's bedroom. I bang my fists on the door convulsively, not caring about the series of amalgamated swearing and complaints coming from the thirteen-year-old inside.

Rue opens the door as harsh as I knocked and gives me a hard glare. “What?” Her voice is cold like ice.

“We have a problem.” Stating that, I enter her room.

She ignores my trespassing and closes the door behind her. “What is it now?”

“I went for a run a while ago and somehow, I got this vibe telling me that I should go and check Glimmer's house. When I got there, I saw that it’s already swarming with cops and paramedics and all my friends are there. Obviously, someone found Glimmer's body. So, this one friend of mine is being stubborn and insisted that we go and investigate the crime scene ourselves. And you won’t believe what I found.”

“What?” Rue strides across the room and sits beside me on the bed. I can tell she’s growing nervous as I am in that moment.

“I dropped my tag in Glimmer's combat room. I left my necklace and fortunately for us, the investigators haven’t found it yet but…my friend did.” I explain.

“And…what did she say?”

“She didn’t say anything but I know she’s already suspicious of me.”

Rue slaps her forehead and massages her temple. “Cato, this is bad. Like, bullshit bad.” With her eyes still close, she leans forward and rests her elbows on her knees.

“We have to do something about this.” I suggest.

“Well, duh.” She rolls her eyes, which she closes almost immediately.

I let out a heavy sigh; already dreading what is about to come out of my mouth next. I know Rue will disagree of this but if we really want to erase our tracks, then we are in desperate need of help. And by help, I mean Thresh. Scratch that, I need my whole team.

“Rue, we have to tell Thresh about this.” I venture.

“No, we won’t!”

I rise to my feet. “Why are you so being secretive about this? Did something happen back there that you don’t want anyone to know?”

Her head snap up and her deep blue eyes meet mine. “You want to know why? Fine! I don’t want to tell anyone because if the team finds out that we killed somebody,” she says that sentence in a hush voice, “Thresh will realize how much of a failure I am and will evict me from this team.”

“Rue…”

The girl grabs both my arms and clings to it as if her legs will fail her anytime soon and she needs someone for support. My heart softens when I realize she’s already in tears. “I like what you guys are doing. It’s like…like one of those you see in the movies—secret agents, spies and stuff like that. And I want to be a part of that.”

“I’m sure Thresh won’t remove you from the team. You’re his sister and I know he won’t dare do a thing that he knows will hurt you.” I try to somehow comfort her with the words I think will do the job. Hopefully, it’ll work.

“How about we make a deal?” She offers, wiping her tears away with her shirt’s sleeve.

“I’m all ears.” I utter. I wait for her to enlighten me with her offer as I head to the lavender plush chair she has in her room. I sigh in content as I feel the softness under my aching back. Sooner or later, I really have to bribe someone into giving me a massage. I already know who my first victim will be.

“Okay, we’re going to tell someone about what we – you – did last night.” Before I can open my mouth, she interferes. “But, we won’t be telling Thresh about this. We can tell anyone except for Thresh…and the cops of course.”

“Deal.”

*  * *

“Finnick? Can I come in?”

Standing outside the man’s apartment, I open the door just a bit and poke my head inside the room, looking for that certain person I want to talk to at the moment. Glancing around, I see no sign of the bronze haired boy. I allow myself into the room and closed the door behind me.

“Finnick?” I call out. “Are you here? I’m sorry I walked in. Your door was unlocked so I figured that—”

Finnick's head suddenly pops out from under his worktable sweat dripping from his forehead. His breathing is ragged which leads me to the conclusion that he may appreciate some assistance with whatever he’s doing.

“Cato, hey. How did you get in here?” He asks.

I hook my thumb over my shoulder. “Your door was open so I thought that I can just come in.” I reply. “But I did knock.”

He nods. “Yeah, I heard. Sorry I wasn’t able to answer you.”

“It’s fine.” I say before heading towards his worktable and checking out what he’s been doing under it. I notice a few tangled wires and disassembled computer parts. He notices my confusion so he explains that his computer is being a bitch and as he doesn’t really want to deal with all the costs he will be charged just for calling up a repairman, he decides to figure out the fault by himself.

“Any luck?” I squat down so I’m in his level. I take a random part and inspect it myself, trying to test my knowledge about computer parts. Of course, I’m aware of them but I just don’t know how I’m going to fix them if ever something wrong happened.

Finnick breathes out in defeat. “None.”

I place the tiny chip back on the hardwood floor and decide to bring up the topic I came here for. “Finnick…” I start.

“Hmm?” He hums in response as he continuously searches for the fault in his computer.

“I don’t really know how to say this but…Rue and I did something horrible…last night.”

This catches his attention. He stops screwing the motherboard back on the CPU and turns to glance at me, nodding, informing me that he’s already aware of this fact as he was there when it happened. “I know. You guys robbed your friend’s house and the caretaker caught you in act.”

I shake my head. Clearly, my statement is equivocal that it leads him to the wrong idea. “No, you’re not understanding it.”

“I completely understand you, Cato.”

“No you don’t, because the whole team knows that we robbed Glimmer's house and a caretaker saw us, but that’s not the whole truth!”

“W-what do you mean?” He asks, standing up on his feet when I rise on mine as well.

“I killed somebody. I killed Glimmer.” I voice out almost in a whisper afraid that if I say it too loud, Thresh will be able to hear and he is the one person Rue and I promised not to notify about this.

“What?” Finnick bellows. “Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“I know, I know. I know I should’ve taken control over my emotions that night and thought twice before firing that gun and…” I pause to engulf in a big air, like the entire situation is removing all the oxygen I have in my body. “I went to her house this morning and one of my friends found my silver tag inside the combat room. She has it in her hands as we speak. She doesn’t know yet that it’s mine but…she’s suspecting.”

I flinch when Finnick slams his fist on his worktable before facing his back on me, probably he doesn’t want to see my face any longer because of my accidental slip. It occurs to me that, if Finnick is already this frustrated, what more if Thresh finds out about this? I bet my life I’ll be back in the slums, living on leftovers and mediocre shelters; begging for even just a dime, spending day and night alone.

“Finnick…” I say his name, hoping that my trace amount of luck will get him to turn around.

He doesn’t though, but at least he still converses with me.

“How valuable is that tag of yours?” He asks.

I crane my neck to the side and furrow my eyebrows. “I say it’s worth as much as my life. It’s my parents’ last birthday gift for me.” I reply anyway despite my confusion.

I see him nodding in approval. “Do you think it’ll still be valuable if say, we made an exact replica of it even if it’s half its worth?” He asks me again only resulting into me being bamboozled.

I shrug even though he won’t see me. “It’s not going to be the same knowing that you’re wearing only a replica. But if you ask me, I’d still prefer the original.”

His built stature twirls around to face me. “It’s worth a try. Come on, I’ll introduce you to someone.” He grabs his car keys from his small glass bowl motioning for me to follow him.

I don’t know where he’s going to take me but, like he said, it’s worth a try.

* * *

The car engine dies down as Finnick pulls up in front of a small jewelry store. The mood of the building gives me the idea that it’s some kind of a family legacy, or maybe someone put up a small starting business and hopes to become big one day. Either way, it’s still a small buy-and-sell business.

“What are we doing here?” I ask Finnick with a strong disbelief. “Don’t tell me we came here to find a tag that looks exactly just the same as mine. With the messages and all.”

Finnick smirks at me. “Trust me, we will.”

We enter the store and a bell jingles from above us, signaling the clerk that a new customer has arrived. Expecting an old white-haired man behind the counter, it surprises me to see a girl the same age as I am sitting on a stool bored as ever. Her dark hair is tied up in a high ponytail and her eyes are like chocolate. Her jaw line is what stands out the most the first time I saw her. Well, maybe not because the high ponytail is really hard to ignore.

She and James engage in a hug and ask each other how they are doing. From what I’m able to make out from the two’s rather hush conversation, it has been a year since they’d last seen each other. Apparently, the girl visited her relatives in District 7 and wasn’t able to remain in contact with her friend.

“Anyway, I want you to meet someone.” Finnick suddenly speaks in his normal volume, gesturing between the girl and I. “Cato, this is Johanna. Johanna, meet Cato.”

“Hi.” Most of the time I become unwieldy when meeting new people so my tone has a slight shy component in it. She smiles and nods back in reply.

“We came here because we’re experiencing a bit of a trouble. We both know how amazing you are with replicating anything, right? Is it okay if you do a teeny-tiny favor for my friend?”

“Sure, anything.” She smiles. “What is it?”

“He has a dog tag and he kind of lost it. It’s a very important part of him and he cannot be seen without it.” Johanna chews on her lips, nodding as Finnick feeds her with details. “If you talk to Cato, he’ll tell you the rest.”

Johanna stalks over to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder, as if she's done it tons of times before. The vibe that she radiates throughout my body is making me feel like we’ve known each other for a long time. I guess this is what most people say when they become instant best friends with someone they just met.

“So Cato, tell me, what does your tag look like?”