"If someone hurt

someone you love...

How far would you go...

to hurt them back?"

~ The Last House On The Left

Chapter 12: "Superman"

August 2, 2022
12:35p.m.

I didn't know how long I just lied there, lost in my thoughts and almost completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Days had become blended together and I wasn't sure what time or even what date it was anymore. I didn't know if it was the weekend or midweek. I didn't care. I had spent a very long time shutting out the outside world. Have you ever done that? I'm sure you have. It almost made me feel like a thief; as if I knew I wasn't supposed to ignore all this pain. As if deep inside I thought I should face it, stare it down. Confront it. But I'd been through that before when my dad died. It felt nice to be able to just sweep it under the rug. Not completely, because it still hurt like hell. But on the other hand, it was just that and me. Just my pain. I didn't have to console anyone else. This time I was the one who was being comforted. It felt nice...

... at least while it lasted.

"Clove, Johanna's here," I heard Gale's voice from the other room, but I stayed put. I didn't even move an inch. I just lied there on my side with my knees up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. I stared at the wall in front of me, trying to find the slightest bit of motivation to do something, anything else with my time. I have been staying at Gale's ever since the funeral. His mom was more than fine with it since I've always been a part of the Hawthrones family. I just couldn't bear the thought of going back to my aunt's and having to deal with her drunk, crazy self every day. I needed peace and quiet. I needed support. I needed for someone to care enough to try and get me to eat and to be there when I'd wake up crying at night. Gale was all that. Supportive and caring. That's what he's always been.

Johanna walked into the living room and as her eyes landed on my weak, tiny body her eyes grew bigger. But thankfully, she chose not to ask me how many pounds I had lost. "Hey girl," she greeted me softly, something I didn't hear often. "How you doin'?"

I scratched the back of my head, as I slowly pulled myself up into a sitting position so she could sit next to me. "I'm fine," I told her, avoiding her piercing, worried stare.

"Clove, you know you don't have to pretend, right? You are not fine," she stated, continuing to watch me with that concerned look on her face that really didn't suit her. "I'm going through the same thing as you. You're not fine. We are not fine. It's okay to say that."

"Right," I replied in a dry voice, playing with my fingers to give myself something to do.

"I know you don't really feel up to company these days. I didn't come here to bother you, just wanted to check and see how you've been holding up. And to let you know I'm here if you need me. We all are."

"I know," I whispered, but it didn't come out sounding as convincing as I hoped it would.

"When was the last time Cato stopped by? I think you both need each other right now, maybe you should ask him to-"

"We're not together anymore," I cut her off and she blinked fast, her face even more shocked than when she had first come in. It took her so long to say anything that I decided to at last look her in the eyes.

"You broke up with him?" she asked, disbelief replacing the expression of shock. "Why?"

I didn't answer. It wasn't any of her business, anyway. I didn't feel like I had to explain myself to her.

"Because of Finn?" she pressed on, sounding like she was fairly certain that was the reason. "Clove," she whispered and the tone of her voice scared me. I had never heard her sound so … distraught before. "You know that was not his fault. I know you do."

"He put us there," I argued, feeling sick to my stomach as the memory of Finnick's unconscious face shot through my head like a burning arrow. "This whole thing was his idea-"

"An idea we all agreed to," Johanna reminded me, piercing me down with her intense brown eyes. "Clove, you're not a child. You know that each one of us could have said 'no'. Each one of us could have walked away at any time. We all knew what we were signing up for. Finnick knew he was risking his life when he agreed to Cato's plan. He helped him talk people into it-"

"Cato was still the one who came up with it," I insisted, tears of fatigue and heartache began gathering in my tired eyes once more. "If it hadn't been for him, Finnick would be alive today-"

"You have no way of knowing that," Johanna interrupted me, her voice soaked with venom this time, as she glared me half-heartedly. "People die every day, Clove. And in the times we live in, millions die every year because of the Purge. Cato's idea was a way to express our protest against that. An idea to emphasize and avenge the lives of other people's Finnicks. To give their deaths meaning."

"He took a bullet for me, Jo," I murmured as if I didn't hear a word from what she just tried to get through to me. She stared at me in confusion before letting out a tired sigh.

"Tell me," she said, placing her elbows on her knees and leaning forward slightly. "Is there something I'm missing here?" she asked, watching me carefully like she was ready to catch any and every little trace of dishonesty next time I opened my mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

"Was there something going between you guys?" she cleared up and I almost gasped. How dared she suggest that?

"You're asking me if we had an affair?" I snapped at her. "Why in the world would you think that?"

"Because he wasn't just your friend, Clove, and it seems to me that you're completely oblivious to the fact that I knew him much longer than you and Cato literally spent his entire life with the guy. Yet somehow, it is you that's trying to show everyone how you are the one who is hurt the most."

"I'm not trying-"

"We all loved him," she interrupted me, apparently not really giving a damn about what I had to say in my defense. "We all are devastated by his loss. You have to start acknowledging other people's pain, Clove. It's not just you."

I looked away from her glare, trying to swallow all those bitter words she just fed me. Deep inside, I knew everything she just said made sense. She was right about it all. But my head was all over the place, it was almost like she was speaking a different dialect, making everything much more difficult for me to comprehend. I knew that sleep deprivation and complete loss of appetite had quite a lot to do with the state of my mind.

"Look," Jo sighed, her voice sounding softer again. "I know you're grieving. I know you're going through a rough time. But so are we," she tried to convince me, looking me dead in the eye as she was about to say something I was not ready for: "So is Cato… I know he really needs you right now and I think you need him too. Just go see him, Clove, you-"

"No," I cut her off harshly, squeezing my tears eyes shut. "It's done, Johanna. I don't want to see him. We're done."

I couldn't return her stare but I didn't have to do that in order to know how glaring and despising her eyes were while observing me from where she sat on the other side of the couch. I could almost sense how much she hated what I said and what I had become; it was in the air and in the way my skin crawled once she spoke again:

"I need you to look me in the eyes and listen to me carefully because what I'm about to say, I really mean it,"

I didn't want to. That was the last thing I felt up to. But I obeyed; I glanced at her, almost fearing the expression her face would hold. And I was right to be scared because Johanna looked like she was ready to cut me.

"I love you and I'll always be your friend," she declared and I swallowed the huge lump in my throat that had been there for months now. "But for now, I need to be away from you."

I gaped at her, at a loss for words. What was there to be said? I understood why she had chosen to stay away from me. I really did. But that didn't make it sting any less. "Jo-"

"Bye, Clove," she spoke in a cold voice before leaving me alone in the room with nothing but the walls to stare at.

March 22, 2023
03:15a.m.

Time remaining: 00:03:44:32

"Well! Welcome to my house!"

I couldn't believe that right there in front of me was the boy I hated so much. Tall and skinny. Brown hair. Eyes full of venom.

Marvel.

As the Purger behind me pushed me forward, I looked over my shoulder with a glare. "Don't touch me." I hissed and God, I wished I could stare him down. But the coward wouldn't take that mask off; no, he seemed to believe that as long as no one knew who he really was, his sins wouldn't matter. I followed the rest at gunpoint, ignoring Marvel's wicked smile as I passed him by. I walked inside and saw two more guys from school whose faces I was familiar with enough. It hit me how I didn't even know their names. They were going to kill me and my friends and I had no idea what their names were.

"Have a seat, have a seat!" a high, perked-up voice cut through the cold silence and I wasn't even surprised to see Marvel's beloved co-Purger in the form of Glimmer; the most horrible human being I've ever met. "Make yourselves comfortable while you can!" she sang, excited as ever. "Clove, dear!" she purred when she saw me. "So glad to see you!"

"That makes one of us." I snapped without even looking her in the eye. I saw one of the nameless boys push Johanna, as well as Gale down on the couch, who hissed in pain when he landed on his gun shot wound. "Leave him alone!" I yelled, lunging forward and pushing the guy back as hard as I was able to. Immediately, I felt something hard digging into my back. I froze.

"Give me another reason and I'll gladly pull the trigger right now." I heard Marvel's hateful voice behind me.

"If you so much as touch her," Cato hissed, making everyone look at him. I glanced his way too and saw him standing in the corner with the other guy who had his rifle pointed at his head. "I'm gonna make the life bleed out of you as slowly as humanly possible,"

"Whoa!" Marvel semi-laughed and was followed by Glimmer who giggled along. "Well aren't you Mr Tough? That's surprising, cause I thought you guys had broken up a long time ago over your dead best friend."

Cato's eyes turned darker than I'd ever seen them and he took a step forward, jaw clenched and fists clenched, but stopped as soon as I felt a cold blade make contact with my neck. Gale tried to get up but Johanna grabbed his healthy arm and shook her head firmly.

"Like I said," Marvel whispered darkly. "Give me another reason. I can't wait as it is."

"You said she'd be my kill." Glimmer cut in with a glare.

"I changed my mind. You can have these two instead." Marvel told her nodding towards Jo and Gale. Glimmer glanced at them and let out a sigh as if they were the next best thing. "This one's all mine." Marvel added and I felt the pressure of the blade on my skin become sharper.

"Get your hands off of her or I'll come do it for you." Cato spat through gritted teeth, staring Marvel down with vicious eyes.

"Look, buddy." Marvel sighed, letting go of me but still keeping me at gun point. "I admire your heroism and how confident you seem to think you are." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But it just so happens that I'm the one with all the guns." he stated with a smirk. "And even if I weren't, you don't scare me, Peters. I'm just as strong as you are. And I'm definitely just as crazy."

Silence filled the room during which I tried to stop my heart from escaping my chest. I was panicked. I was frozen.

"That right?" Cato snapped, glaring at the other guy. "But are you even one tenth as pissed off as I am?"

Marvel's smirk slightly faded as I'm sure he finally noticed what I'd been aware of all along; Cato looked unstoppable. And his next words only confirmed that; "From what I've observed, you couldn't give any less shits about the lives of those who are here Purging with you tonight. I know you wouldn't turn around to help any of them if their lives were at stake."

I saw Glimmer throw a glance at Marvel who wasn't brave enough to look at her; he probably knew she'd see right through him if he did. Because Cato was right. He would leave her pathetic ass behind if it came to saving his own skin.

"You're too much of a coward, aren't you?" Cato continued, knowing he'd hit home. "You don't know what it's like to have that someone for whom you'd burn everything around you down to the ground. You have no idea what it's like to love someone so much you'll rip everyone on your way to bloody pieces just to get to her. You don't have a clue what someone feeling that kind of rage is capable of. You have no idea about any of that, do you?"

It seemed as though his words had stopped everything for the time being. Everyone just continued to gape at him and I could see that what he just said had gotten to them. For a moment at least.

"Well I do." Cato carried on. "And unlucky for you, she happens to be that person for me. So if you touch her, if you hurt her, I'm going to make sure you'll regret you were ever born. Now step the fuck away from her."

"I'm sorry, are you mental?" Marvel hissed with a deliberate glare my way. "Don't you realize how bad things can get if you continue to run your trap?"

"Whatever you have in mind, trust me," Cato snapped, clenching his fists. "my ideas are far worse than yours will ever be."

Glimmer's eyes widened and she stared at Marvel in hopes he'd come up with a scary enough answer. But Marvel was simply not that bright. I've seen him around during those past couple of years at school enough to know that. Yet, he was still standing super close to me with a gun pointed at me and a knife in his other hand that I knew he would love to use. On me, especially. I knew he wanted to make Cato watch me die. His twisted brain couldn't wait to make me bleed, I could tell that much from the way he was gazing at me. He'd never been fond of our group; he seemed to hate Cato the most for reasons that probably only he understood. But it also seemed as if there was something personal going on when it came to me. I had no idea why he disliked me so much. I didn't have a clue why he had requested me as his personal Purge tonight.

"How about we get this thing started then?" Marvel proposed with a smirk, his eyes shining with hunger as he glanced at me one more time. I felt a lump growing in the back of my throat, as fear began consuming me. I knew I had to stay calm and reserved for as long as possible, but that knife looked so sharp. So painful. "All you've done so far is talk. So how about we see how brave you truly are, shall we?" he sang, lifting his knife yet again and stepping closer to me. I heard Gale's heavy breathing behind me and couldn't help but look over my shoulder at him. His face was white and I couldn't tell whether it was from blood loss or was he simply terrified that he was about to watch me suffer.

I swallowed hard and landed my eyes on Johanna next. She looked relatively calm but I knew her better than that; she was possibly desperately trying to come up with some sort of a plan. But it was futile. I could see it in Marvel's eyes and the way they were filled with pure excitement.

I was dead already.

September 1, 2022
12:15p.m.

I walked inside the cafeteria, not knowing what to expect; it was the first day of school after the nightmare of a summer I experienced after last Purge. Gale was sick so I was sort of left alone to deal with the consequences of what we had left behind when we buried Finnick and never looked back. Now, it was time to face the reality again and no one was going to ask us if we felt like it. Our Purging group had remained a mystery, so no one else in school really knew what happened to Finnick Odair. And we didn't plan on telling anyone. Everyone simply assumed someone had broken into his apartment and killed him. I remembered all the questions people were throwing my way when I returned to school in April; I never answered any of them. It was none of their business.

Gale had insisted in the morning that he was going to go to school, but I told him to stay at home, since he could barely stand straight and his forehead was hot as lava. But as I stood in the cafeteria, watching all the people eat their lunch with smiles on their faces, I regretted my decision, even though it was the best one I could have made for Gale's sake. I noticed Johanna sitting at one of the tables by herself, looking pissed with everything and everyone around her. I carried out a long debate with my inner voice whether it was a good time for me to try and talk to her since we haven't talked since that last time she stopped by at Gale's and scolded me for the vendetta I was holding upon Cato.

Clenching my fists, I decided to risk it. And so a minute or two later I stopped right in front of her and murmured a quiet greeting: "Hey,"

She wasn't really surprised to see me when she glanced up, but she looked far from happy. "Hi," she said in a dry voice, before engaging in eating her lunch again. I swallowed hard, feeling rather awkward, but sat down anyway.

"Are you still angry with me?" I asked her carefully, setting my lunch tray down. Johanna let out a rather sarcastic laugh, before looking at me again, her eyes weirdly blank.

"Are you still under the impression your pain is the most severe? And that your feelings are the only ones that matter?"

Ouch. I tried to pretend her bitter words didn't impact me too much, but I guess I was doing a rather lousy job with that, because her eyes only grew colder. "I'm sorry," I whispered an apology, knowing that was all I could do. "I was in a dark place, but I'm out now and I really am sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" she asked, confused. "I got by just fine without your support. It's not me you should be saying this to, but then again, it doesn't seem like you catch on fast, so it doesn't surprise me you're here talking to me instead,"

"Jo-" I tried again, although I did already have a feeling it was a futile attempt.

"If you don't mind, Clove, I'd rather have my lunch with a friend," she snapped, before grabbing her lunch tray and walking away to the other end of cafeteria where all alone, there sat Cato. Johanna made herself comfortable at his table, throwing him a comforting smile as she did. He looked much more awake as soon as she showed up and smiled back, almost gratefully, making my stomach swirl unpleasantly. The worst part was that I knew I would give a lot to have the courage to walk over there and try and make things right. But wasn't it too late? It rather seemed to me that it was. Even though Johanna had declared not too long ago that she was always going to be my friend. But can one even make that promise? I didn't think so. We should not ever make such promises. So often we aren't even capable of keeping much simpler ones.

I decided I was no longer hungry. I decided I wasn't even going to attend the afternoon classes. So with another sorrow-filled look at my former friends who meant so much to me, I got up and began heading to my locker. I was done with this day. I just wanted to go back to Gale's and help him get better. Nobody needed or wanted me here anyway. And no, I wasn't pitying myself. That was simply the truth.

March 22, 2023
03:21a.m.

Time remaining: 00:03:38:14

Glimmer and the rest were all trying to make sure that nobody would interfere by having their weapons pointed at my friends. I glanced to Cato and saw the guy beside him press the barrel of his gun to his head so that he wouldn't move. He clenched his jaw tight, panting as his eyes met mine and softened immediately. I could see all the love and affection in them that he had for me. I had no doubt in that moment that despite everything we'd been through, Cato Peters never stopped loving me. And I knew I'd always love him, too.

"You should have said yes when I asked you out, Clove." Marvel taunted me with the knife, waving it in front of my face, looking as if he was debating where to cut me first. "If you had, I would at least consider letting you live,". As soon as he said that I realized that this was why he must have hated me and Cato so much. Marvel wasn't exactly a sane person as it turned out. This must have been reason enough to want to use us to Purge on.

"You had the hots for her?"

If I hadn't seen her lips moving, I'd have never believed that it was Johanna who asked him that question in such a hateful voice. She slowly got to her feet, well aware there was a gun pointed at her head. "What is it with you all?" Jo snapped, apparently furious with something. Her eyes were shooting daggers at me and my killer-to-be. "What is so great about her that makes you all fall for her skinny ass?"

I stared at her with wide eyes, unsure how to act. What was her problem all of a sudden? Was that the plan she came up with just now? Was she trying to win me some more time for whatever reason? We both knew there was no way out. We were all going to die here tonight. So what was this about?

"I just don't get it." Johanna carried on and Marvel curiously watched her take a few steps towards us, knife at the ready. "First Cato, then Gale. Now you, too?" she hissed, before landing her glare on me. "Haven't you had enough? Do you really have to have every guy I ever liked fall for you?"

"What-" I choked on my own words, completely taken off guard. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend that you don't know." Jo barked, glancing at Cato. "We had a thing going on between us," she said to him before landing her hateful eyes back on me. "But then your ass showed up out of nowhere and suddenly he couldn't care less about me. Out of the blue, you were all he constantly talked about, you were the only one he wanted to spend time with. He was my friend first. What gave you the right to take him away?"

"I didn't take him away!" I argued, gaping at her with confusion.

"Well!" Marvel laughed, crossing arms over his chest. "This is gonna be good."

"You did!" Johanna snapped, shaking with anger. I'd never ever seen her this angry before. "I didn't care at first because thanks to you I met Gale. And we were so good together until one day, without a reason, he went and broke things off. And do you want to know why? Cause I sure figured it out."

"Jo-" Gale started but she cut him off.

"Because of you!" Jo exclaimed, basically getting in my face. "As soon as Finn died and you ditched Cato, he told me he 'wasn't ready for a relationship'. But he must be stupid if he thought I didn't know the real reason. He thought it was his chance to get you back. That's why he left me. He left me to try it on with you since Cato was no longer in the picture,"

"Johanna, that's enough," Cato told her sternly and I heard a warning in his voice.

"Of course you're gonna defend her!" she yelled, throwing her arms up furiously. "Nothing new there."

"What is your problem?" I asked her, hoping she'd give me some kind of sign to let me know she didn't actually mean all those things. "I thought we were friends."

"Friends?" she mocked with a sinister laugh that gave me chills. I didn't know that girl. The person in front of me was no longer the same girl I'd been hanging out with for years now. "If I had a knife, I'd show you just how much I appreciate you as my friend."

I almost took a step back. She might have as well just stabbed me; that's how much hearing that hurt me. "Where is this coming from?" I said, my voice soft and wounded.

"Oh, it's been piling up, girlfriend," Jo told me and she couldn't sound more bitter. "But tonight's the last straw. Here we are, about to get slaughtered, but somehow you still just happen to be the center of attention. Somehow, it's all about you yet again."

"Seems like you hate her guts," Marvel commented, throwing a smirk my way. I glared at him in response. "Tell you what," he carried on glancing back to Johanna. "I'll let you cleanse yourself." And just like that he offered his knife to Jo. "Go ahead." he encouraged her with a sick smile.

I gaped at Johanna and to my horror, she actually looked like she might take him up on that offer. In that moment I decided that I was done with her bullshit. I was not going down as this betrayed, helpless girl. And that was exactly what made the next few words come out of my mouth: "You won't do shit." I murmured with venom in my voice. "You don't have the balls."

Next thing I knew I felt a prickling pain in my cheek; the force of Jo's slap had slammed my head to the side and I was now face to face with Marvel who laughed shamelessly. "You sure about that?" Johanna mocked me with raised eyebrows.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cato exclaimed moving a step forward but was stopped when Marvel lifted his rifle and pointed it at his heart.

"You better stay right there, Superman."

Cato had no choice but to obey. He wasn't going to help anyone if he got shot anyway. He knew better than that. As of in that moment, he had to stay where he was. I didn't want him to think that I felt defeated though. And so with a freezing look at Johanna, I said: "Planning on doing that again?" I snapped. "If you are, at least make it hurt."

And damn me, she did. Next time her hand connected with my face, it was curled into a fist. I felt it cut my lip open as the power of it brought me down to the floor.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Johanna?!" Cato yelled once more. I tasted blood and lifted my head, fixing my stare upon my former boyfriend and I saw just how helpless and enraged he looked. His eyes softened when he caught mine and he looked ready to cut Johanna to pieces if she dared to hurt me one more time.

There's a lot you can expect when you get stuck outside during the Purge. But having your supposed friend beat the shit out of you before you get killed...

... isn't one of them.

October 17, 2022
5:34 p.m.

I was late. As usual. But this day has been particularly unpleasant. And as I ran down the street, to top it all off, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket for the eleventh time at least. Frustrated, I took it out of my pocket and I didn't even care to check whose name it had on the screen before I answered it with an angry snap: "What!?"

"Clove?"

I slowed down immediately, as soon as I heard the tone of her voice. "Jo? What's up, are you okay?"

"No," she whispered before sniffing, letting me know she'd been crying. But Johanna never cried. "Can you come to mine? Please."

"I, uh," I stuttered. I was really late for work, but did I really have a choice? She sounded terribly upset. Johanna never asked. She was not the "please" and "thank you" type. Something was really wrong. So after another, short moment of hesitation: "Sure, I'll be there soon."

Half an hour later I was already in front of her door, knocking like crazy. "Jo! It's Clove!"

It took her another minute or so to open it and I was glad enough because my knuckles were starting to hurt. As soon as I laid my eyes on her, my hand froze in the air. She looked absolutely horrible. Her face was pale, her eyes red and puffy. She didn't look like herself at all.

"My God, what's wrong?" I asked, placing my hands on her shoulders gently. She stepped away from me and walked to her room without a word. I figured she didn't want to have that conversation in the doorway where all her neighbors and roommates could hear.

"Jo," I whispered, following her into her room and closing the door behind me. "You're scaring me."

"Have you talked to Gale today?" she asked in a cold voice and I frowned.

"Yeah, this morning," I told her and watched her face fall even more. "Why? What is this about?"

"He broke up with me last night," Jo confessed and I froze once more. I really did not see that coming. I actually felt as confused as ever. Why did he not tell me?

"I had no idea," I said, hoping she'd believe me because I was indeed telling the truth. But she just looked at me blankly. As if she didn't care either way.

"You can go now."

I stood there, staring at her wide-eyed. "What?" I choked out, incredibly confused. "Jo, I did not know he was going to-"

"Yeah, I know," she replied dryly and she looked anything but convinced. "I just want to be alone,"

Completely dumbfounded, I left her without another word, extremely anxious about the aftermath of Gale's decision. I had just patched things up with Johanna. Something was telling me this could really affect our friendship.

I was almost sure it would.

March 22, 2023
03:35a.m.

Time remaining: 00:03:24:07

I wasn't sure if I could actually feel any pain. I knew that I was caught off guard and downright exhausted. I also was in shock; I could not really grasp what had just happened until Marvel's mischevious voice shed more light on our hopeless situation:

"I didn't realize this would be so much fun!" Marvel exclaimed, as excited as one can be and looking down on me. I was still on the floor with a swollen, bleeding lip and a red cheek. "On your feet," he ordered, pointing his gun at me once more.

I swallowed hard and choked back some upcoming tears, deciding that all I could do was stand tall and not give any of them satisfaction. I would not cry, or at least I would try not to for as long as I manage. Shaking slightly, I slowly got myself up, feeling Gale's and Cato's eyes on me.

"Ready to cut, killer?" Marvel turned to Johanna, offering his knife to Johanna again with a smirk. "Just please make it a good show, we have lots of time so don't rush."

She actually smirked back and took the blade from him without any hesitation. "I've cut people before, I know what to do."

Oh, she sure does.

Time seemed to be mocking us, going by painfully slow. I just wanted to get this over with. If I really was going to die tonight, I wanted it to happen as fast as possible. Why drag it out? Johanna looked me in the eyes and that's when I saw it; that reassuring look that crossed her face for a split second and I realized she hadn't gone crazy. She wasn't ruthless and she didn't hate me.

She was stalling them.

That was her plan? She may have bought me a couple of minutes, but what next? She had to start doing something or else Marvel would realize she was full of it and do the job himself. Trying to carry on with her plan, she turned to Cato and put on the most wicked smile she was capable of: "I can't wait to pay your girl back for how she pushed us apart."

"You're sick." Cato hissed, his eyes narrowed, his fists clenched in rage. "Don't you dare touch her."

"You are in no position to threaten me, dear." Jo sighed. "I think I'll start with her pretty face. We'll see how much you'll like her then."

"Don't," he barked dangerously. "I'm warning you, Johanna. If you hurt her, I will kill you."

I studied his face for a moment, trying to decide whether he was aware of Jo's plan and was just really good at acting, or did he really think she was about to cut me. I wasn't sure. "We are all gonna die tonight, Cato." she snapped back at him. "I don't care who's going to kill me as long as I get the chance to make her pay."

"As much as I'm loving all this," Marvel spoke with a tired sigh. "I'd prefer a little more action; all this talking is making me yawn."

I saw Johanna's hand squeeze the handle of the knife she was given and I knew she had no clue what to do next. If she tried hurting Marvel, she'd get shot right away. If she tried to make it look like she wanted to hurt me, Cato would try to help and would get shot. Basically, anything she would do next would get someone injured. She tried to keep that confident, hateful expression on her face but was slowly losing her grip.

As if on cue, right before Marvel managed to get sick of waiting for Jo to make a move, we heard a familiar sound of a truck approach the house. Marvel and Glimmer both frowned, clearly startled. But I knew the four of us definitely recognized that sound. And we were more than convinced what was about to happen.

One of the guys, whose names I couldn't remember, approached the window and was probably about to take a peek, even though the entire house was well secured for the Purge. But before he was able to hear or see anything more, the sound of multiple guns getting loaded reached our ears,

"Get down!" Cato yelled and I threw myself down on the floor seconds before the gun fire started. The house was closed down and secured... but whatever weapons they had easily begun cutting through the protection that had been installed on the windows and I almost laughed. Most rich people, unlike Marvel's family, had bought security systems that would not let bullets go through that easily, if at all. But this was the thing about some rich bastards these days: they were also cheap. They were convinced no one would try invading the richer parts of town due to how good of security systems those usually have.

I covered my head with my hands trying to press myself as flatly to the floor as I could; the noise from all the gunshots filled my ears and I wanted to scream. This went on for another while before they had to reload and I heard Cato's scream:

"DOOR!" he roared and I felt myself being lifted up by someone. I looked up and saw Gale in front of me, pulling me away from the rest. Cato stood by the body of the guy who had previously had his automatic gun pointed at him. He was now the one with the gun and was firing blindly at the window simply to prevent the people outside from starting to shoot too quickly again. "Door, door, door!" he yelled again and I let Gale rush me out of the room. Johanna was already waiting for us to catch up in the hallway.

"Wait," I gasped, as more gunshots cut through the silence. "What about Cato!?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Johanna egged us on as I tried to turn around, but Gale wouldn't let me. He was too strong and I couldn't fight him off so I ended up being pulled down the hallway while panicking.

"No, wait!" I cried out, terrified and confused. "What about Cato!? We can't leave him behind!"

Gale was practically carrying me as I screamed and kicked to try and go back for Cato. But the two of them were having none of that. We made it all the way to the end of the hallway and Johanna stormed through the door in front of us in a hurry. Gale made me follow her inside and we realized we may have been just lucky enough because right there in front of us was a car. We were in Marvel's garage.

"Find the keys!" Gale called to Jo, still refusing to let me go. My face was wet with tears at that point. Johanna looked around frantically and noticed a nice, shiny set of car keys hanging on the wall beside us.

"Well that's stupid," she snorted, snatching them and unlocking the car. "let's get the garage door open, quick!"

Gale's hands finally let me be and I watched him approach the security panel behind us. "Shit, I don't know the code!"

"I do."

I almost collapsed with relief as soon as I heard his voice. He stood in the doorway, holding Marvel by the collar of his shirt, blood seeping from his nose. "Get it open," Cato ordered, pushing him towards Gale and aiming the gun at his head. "Now!"

Marvel sent one pathetic look my way before punching in the code. The garage door began lifting and when it was halfway up, Cato grabbed Marvel by the neck and glared into his fear-filled eyes: "If only I had more time, I'd make you suffer tremendously for every single time you thought of hurting her and my friends. Consider yourself motherfucking lucky," Cato spat out at him before knocking the guy out cold by hitting him with the machine gun hard across the head. "Get in the car," he told us, somehow capable of staying calm. "Hurry."

Johanna jumped behind the wheel, while I helped Gale in the backseat; his arm had started bleeding quite heavily again. Cato sat in the front seat.

"Shit, Johanna, why'd you have to hit me so hard?" I moaned, wiping my hand across my swollen lip.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as she started the car with an apologizing glance at me in the rear-view mirror.

"Go, go!" Cato screamed when the garage door was already all the way up. Jo put the car in reverse and backed out of the garage as fast as she could. We were in the back of the house, it turned out, so to get away we had to drive by the truck.

"Heads down!" she yelled, pushing the gas pedal all the way down and heading for the street where the truck was.

As we expected, as soon as the soldiers realized we were trying to get away, they began firing at us. We heard multiple bullets hit the trunk and broke the rear window into pieces. I felt some of the glass fall all over me and when Johanna turned right while at full speed, I hit the car door painfully. She carried on speeding down the street and after another moment sounds of the gunshots died down and I decided it was safe to lift my head.

Cato let out a heavy breath he seemed to have been holding for quite a while. "Shit," he murmured and I knew he was close to losing it. I wasn't very wrong. "God damn it!" he cursed, hitting the dashboard in front of him a good couple of times out of rage. He then sat back for another minute, panting and swearing some more under his breath. At last, he finally calmed down enough to speak again: "Everyone alright? Anyone hurt?"

"I'm good." Johanna was the first one to answer. Gale whispered a quite 'yeah', as well. I stayed quiet.

Cato turned around in his seat, his eyes soft and filled with fear. "Come here," he whispered to me and I sat up and moved closer so he could reach my face. He checked me for any gunshot wounds first then rubbed his thumb across my red cheek. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"No," I whispered back, sending him a tearful look. "I'm okay. Are you?"

He ignored my question. Letting out a sigh of relief, he kissed me softly, his hands on either side of my head before pressing his forehead against mine. I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but I could swear I could feel his hands shaking slightly as he held onto me for another short while, before he let go and turned back around, facing the street. "Thank you." he then said to Johanna with a look of genuine gratitude and I knew exactly what he was thanking for. She might have saved my life; even if she did punch me twice along the way, but I was willing to forgive her anything.

Jo just nodded her head, choosing to focus on the road and throwing quick glances at the rear-view mirror, probably making sure we weren't being followed. I looked over my shoulder myself before landing my eyes on Gale. "You gonna be okay?" I asked, placing my hand on his shoulder. He glanced at me with so much warmness in his gaze that I almost found it unbearable.

"Don't worry about me," he nodded, pulling me into an uncomfortable hug, as we both were slightly bouncing due to the fast speed of the car. "We're all gonna make it," he almost promised as he let go of me and rested his forehead on mine.

I didn't have to look to know that we were being watched by the other two who probably had no clue what to make of it. They weren't the only ones.

I didn't either.

October 18, 2022
08:13a.m.

He was sitting in front of my building, on the bench, waiting for me. It was a rather windy and chilly morning so I bundled up tighter with my coat and stormed straight towards him before hitting him across his head. Hard.

"OW!" he yelped with a shocked glance up at me. "What was that!?"

"Why did you do that?" I asked, my voice accusing.

"Dude, that hurt," he gasped, rubbing the back of his head. "What is your problem?"

"MY problem?" I glared at him. "Why did you not tell me you were going to break up with her?"

Gale's face relaxed instantly, as he realized what I had made all this fuss about. I waited for a moment before sitting down next to him, staring at his profile. He looked quite upset. "It's supposed to be my private business, Clove,"

"Private business?" I snickered. "Since when do you not tell me absolutely everything?"

"Since it's too hard to choke out," he shot back with a glare of his own. "I really don't wanna talk about this right now,"

The wind had my hair flying all over the place and he just stared at me as if he just saw me for the very first time, his glare softening more and more the longer he gazed straight into my eyes. I dug deep into my mind to find something, anything that would help me understand; but it was futile. I had nothing.

"Why now?" I asked carefully, as he continued to watch me with something in his eyes I found hard to define. "Things were great with you two as of lately. Why now?"

He swallowed hard, but never looked away. "One day... maybe I'll tell you,"

And that was his only response. He would say nothing more. I didn't realize I'd have to wait a good couple of months to figure this out. To receive some answers as to why everything had got so crazily fucked up.

Little did I know - the truth would not be what I had expected.

March 22, 2023
04:32a.m.

Time remaining: 00:02:26:17

Twenty minutes, maybe half an hour had passed since we'd escaped Marvel's house. As I watched all the people we were passing by on our way, I felt something squeeze my throat and push onto my chest until it was hard for me to breathe. Some of those people were crying, others were covered in blood. And I knew, deep inside, there was really nothing we could do to help. We simply could not risk stopping the car. We would get killed. And we sure had not just got away from a certain death to die so easily.

I glanced away from the window because I could not take the sights behind it anymore. I glanced at Gale and sent him a small smile, thanking God that none of us had been injured very seriously. I moved closer to him and made sure his dressing was still holding and stopping the bleeding. Thankfully - it was. "How you feelin'?" I asked, stroking his shoulder gently. He smiled back.

"I'm good," he responded, although his face was rather pale and his forehead was covered in sweat. "You?"

I ignored his question. "How much time left?"

"2 and a half hours," Johanna said, glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. "We've got a full tank, though. I think we can just try and wait out the rest of this fucked up night, just drive around-"

"You can do that," Cato spoke suddenly for the second time since we first got away. I stared at his profile and an unpleasant feeling squeezed my insides. "You" can do that? Something was not right. "I need you to drop me off somewhere, Jo,"

"What?" she gasped in response, throwing him a confused look, her eyebrows furrowed in anger. "Did you hit your head when I wasn't lookin'? I'm not letting you get off this car. You're talking crazy, Cato,"

"This isn't a request," he responded in a freezing voice to let us know he was not screwing around. "I need you to slightly turn around and get me as close to downtown as you can without putting the rest of you in any more danger. This night ain't over for me yet. There are things I need to do-"

"What things?" I cut him off, trying to breathe steadily with my heart beating wildly in my chest. He could not just leave me. I just knew I would never see him again if he did.

"Clove-" he sighed, his voice begging me to stop. But I wasn't having it.

"WHAT things?" I asked again, getting angry, worried and upset all at the same time. I could see his shoulders moving up and down slowly as he tried to calm his breathing. I could tell he wasn't very happy about his own idea, but he looked determined.

After another long minute of silence, he turned around and looked me in the eyes with so much love I felt like bursting into tears right then and there. "I need you to trust me, ok?" he begged, "I know I fucked everything up in the past, but I do not have a choice here. There are things I need to take care of. For him,"

I froze. He may have as well just slapped me. Those two words changed everything. I saw Johanna's face relaxing as well as her eyes showed signs of tearing up.

Finnick.

I bit my bottom lip hard to stop it from shaking as I glanced down, unable to think of a single thing to say. Forever passed before I finally looked up and into his beautiful, blue eyes. And I knew what to say now, "I'm coming with you."

Gale's glare landed on me and Johanna involuntarily slowed the car down. Cato looked like he almost wanted to smile. He didn't, though. "That's ridiculous, Clove," he said, shaking his head. "No way,"

"Yes way," I insisted, my eyes darkening. "I am coming. I am not letting you go by yourself. Whatever it is you have to do, we will do it together."

"Clove-"

"You agree to take me or I'll jump right out of this car as we speak," I threatened and I was quite certain I meant it. Cato's eyes widened and a ghost of fear crossed his face. And I knew he was imagining me keeping this promise of mine.

"If she goes, I go," Gale declared and Johanna nodded.

"Looks like it's the four of us," she smirked.

"No, that's fucking crazy, guys!" Cato declined, throwing his hands up in the air. "Gale's hurt, he does not need any more people trying to kill him,"

I frowned. Was he worried about Gale now? What the hell happened to their silent pack of mutual hatred?

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm not lettin' Clove out of my sight, I'm fine," Gale argued, pinning him down with his intense glare.

"I will take care of her," Cato promised, not bothering to glare back. "You cannot come, Gale. You've never been trained. You're injured and it shows. No offense, but as of right now, you're an easy target. And you might put us in danger as well,"

"What the h-"

"Ok, enough!" I cut Gale's yell off before an unnecessary fight revolved. "I'm sorry, Gale, but he's right. You should stay with Johanna."

He sent me a betrayed look and I responded with a pleading one of my own, "Please," I whispered, tears slowly filling my eyes. "Please, don't fight me on this."

I guessed the combination of what Cato had said about putting us in danger and the look on my face eventually got through to him and very reluctantly, he nodded. I let out a sigh of relief and pulled him in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed as if afraid this was the last time. As I pulled back, he tried to avoid my eyes but I placed my hands on either side of his face to make him look at me. "I'm gonna be fine, ok? I promise, Gale."

He tried to smile, but all he ended up showing was some sort of a grimace before I moved away from him and glanced at Cato.

"It'll be fine," I said, more to convince myself than any of them. Because I was not sure of that at all. How could I be? I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn't even know what I had just volunteered myself for. But it didn't matter. I was not going to back out. So with a stern look on my face and trying to make my sound voice stronger than I actually felt, I said:

"Let's do this."

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long to update. I hope some of you are still interested in where this is going and I predict there are about 2-3 more chapters left in this story. Please review. Thank you for reading!