9:39 [GB]

[sbeeg]

Oh god, it was working! HA! This girl was a genius! She had to give herself credit for this one. Look at him! She reduced this cannibalistic, mad man to tears! Damn, was she good! She kept her face still, attempting to leave no trace of the pleasure that welled up inside her at her own performance. One problem, actually multiple problems: he was on top of her and the knife was still in her arm- not to mention he was crying! She had to keep this up. She mustn't break character or otherwise risk her life.

She was breathing again, his fingers laying limply on her chest. Come on, you can do this. Go down the paths you know are safe What did she know? His name was Bear Keeni and he was insane. He had killed and eaten a girl named Cassandra that evidentially meant a lot to him. If she meant a lot why did he eat her? Maybe she tasted really good.

Snapping her thoughts back to a plan, Vicky slid her hand down his arm, wrapping his fingers up in hers. Something she used to do with Nikko, of course he would giggle not cry. By some miracle her hand was steady despite the lunatic on top of her and blade in her arm. Leaving that blade in there for so long can't be good... blood loss?

"H-how do you know my name...?"

Now that she had control of one of his hands, without taking her gaze from his, she lifted to to her lips and kissed his knuckles. At first it seemed like a stupid idea, but as her chapped lips met his skin it felt... good? God she was going crazy, that's what happens when you live with a crazy man and his damn bunny for 5 years.

Why did she keep going off topic? Her head felt a little light, maybe it was the cold... or the lack of oxygen. Vicky pulled his hand away just a few inches, just enough to speak.

"I know you, Bear Keeni," She kissed his hand again and for the first time since she stepped into the square, Vicky Barci thought she might get out alive.

[semper]

Before I can really comprehend what's happening, she takes my hand and gently kisses it. It's.... it's really her, isn't it? She's alive and well.... except for what I had done to her. But still, this all seemed physically impossible. I had slit her throat, stabbed her so many times... her bloodstains are still on my bed. All those nights alone together come back and flood my mind, overwhelming me to the point where I want to mourn. The human body can endure hell itself and come out of it alive, so what's the difference in this situation? Cassandra was back, alive and well.

Of course Cassandra -- this girl -- knew me. I had been with her for a long time before... before I killed her, and I told her everything about me aside from my cannibalistic nature. We had fun, her and I; I really did love it. The tears continued to trail down my cheeks as I examined her face. Damn, she was so beautiful after everything I had done. There weren't any scars, everything was in place; there was no reminders of the torment I put her through. So I did what any other guy would've done: I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers, kissing with the passion of a fellow who had found his lost/presumed dead lover.

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[sbeeg]

Well... that sure was a surprise.

Well there were signs of what was to come if you looked hard enough. The way he was looking at her, how she tempted him. It was inevitable yet it still surprised Vicky. To be honest, this Bear Keeni wasn't that hard on the eyes, his teeth were a bit crooked and had the usual male "unkempt" look but other than the insaneness he was rather attractive. Vicky could take the crazy, apparently she was a magnet for crazy guys all over the world.

Vicky tried to decide how she felt about Bear Keeni's lips being on hers. It was gross, seeing as he had eaten people and now that was touching her, but then there was that sense of danger that lit a fire in her middle that made her kiss back. How could she lot? Bear came at her full force, and that stupid, crazy part of her made her lips move with his.

And, oh boy, did she like it. She never got this treatment from Nikko. The Vea boy may have been crazy, but he wasn't sexy crazy. So that was it, Vicky Barci liked sadistic men. Oh god she really was insane.

Whilst enjoying the treatment of Bear, she ran her hand up his arm again, only this time moved farther so that her fingers were intertwined with his hair. Even if she did kind of, sort of like it, her motives were still driven by fear and survival. Lie to live and if lying involved screwing with this man's head- so be it.

[semper]

I never thought I would miss Cassandra this much. I still couldn't figure out how she had come back, but what was the point in wondering? She was alive, after all the hell I put her through. I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to murder me for what I had done, but right now, I just wanted to make it up to her; let her know that I really and truly missed her. People are right when they tell you that you don't ever forget your first love.

When I had to break away so I didn't suffocate, I looked right into her eyes with a questioning expression. "How did you do it...?" I asked breathlessly, tempted to continue kissing her, but I needed answers first; the uncertainty was just brutally nagging at my mind. "You were dead... how did you come back?" I wasn't aware that my hand was still holding onto my knife, which was still in her arm; I had pretty much forgotten all my burning desire to write her name with her own blood on the snow, tear her limb from limb, stab her in the neck and sever her jugular. No, I was too confused right now to relieve her of the pain. I was quickly realizing, though, that I wasn't going to kill her... again. Not unless something catastrophic happened, which I doubted would occur.

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[sbeeg]

When worried about Nikko's sound of mind, Vicky had asked a doctor for help. It wasn't a real medicine doctor, more like the men who make you lay down on the couch and ask about how you feel. She went to him for answers and came away with a little piece of advice. Crazy people don't know that they're crazy

Following that rule, Vicky was perfectly sane when she frowned because Bear had ended the kiss. She was rational when her fingers gripped his shirt, wanting his lips touching hers, moving with hers. She was normal when she realized she wanted Bear Keeni.

Vicky knew she was crazy, which means she was sane which made this frolic in the snow with a stranger okay... right? Well it wasn't as much as a frolic as she'd like it to be, there was still a knife in her arm and a cut on her cheek that was stinging in the chill air. It was still a dangerous situation, convincing your attacker that you're some dead chick he ate doesn't give you immunity forever. However, so far it was working pretty damn well.

"How did you do it... You were dead... how did you come back?"

Oh god, how did she raise up from the dead? Vicky kept her cool, loving gaze on him while she franticly searched for something to say. It was harder to think with pain shooting up your arm few seconds. The only thing Vicky could come up with was so over the top melodramatic that she doubted it would work, but looking into his eyes there was a slim chance. His words had lost the vigor and hiss they had held before, now he was just in awe of her existence. Flattering, but creepy. So, Vicky moved her hand from his shirt collar to his cheek, caressing it with her frozen, red palm.

"Death cannot stop love," She said, filling her eyes with fake emotion. Damn, she really should have been an actress. As for the line, it was from some cheap romance novel she had gotten from the library. The characters always talked like they were in a soap opera. Vicky thought it was suiting since she felt she was in a horror movie.

[semper]

Death cannot stop love. That's such a cliche line that I want to gag, but here again, it doesn't give me any answers. She didn't tell me how she had escaped my backyard, how there was no scars on her skin, how she was even alive. I was becoming frustrated, but it didn't show on my face as much as it usually does. I simply furrowed my brows together as I looked down at her, scrutinizing her face. Something seemed off.... maybe it was her hair, but I remember Cassandra had a lighter brown shade of hair. Here eyes were different, too. Cassandra's were green and this girl's weren't....

"You're not Cassandra." I muttered, the guttural growl returning to my voice. Fucking hell, I'd been played like a fool. A fucking Ripred damned fool. Why had I believed her in the first place? No one can come back from the dead no matter how badly you want them to. I narrowed my eyes onto her, ripping my knife from her arm and holding it tightly. "I can't believe I fell for your shitty lies. No one can come back from the dead!" I snarled, taking my free hand and jerking her hand away from my face. She had played me like a fiddle, and now I was going to return the favor. I raised the serrated knife, bringing it swiftly down at her in a stabbing fashion.

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[sbeeg]

Damn you cheesy romance novels! Vicky cursed herself for reading such things. She had been doing so well! Vicky had this mad man right where she wanted him, to bad he had a brain. Well, she had to give the kid some credit, it was a cheesy line.

He'd been looking at her, adoring her she presumed when the line came that took the whole situation in a completely different direction.

"You're not Cassandra."
Shit.

Vicky's faced morphed from cool and caring to a deer in headlights. Bear ripped his knife out of her arm making her scream out in pain. Her body twitched underneath him but Vicky could do nothing to console the pain that was filling her brain. She was going to drown in it. The agony would just pile up blocking out everything else and consuming her. "I can't believe I fell for your shitty lies. No one can come back from the dead!" Vicky looked up at him, saw the knife raised and knew what her fate would be. She was trapped, his body had pinned her down and her left arm was just about useless. Bear started to bring the blade down and without thinking about it, Vicky's right arm reached out and slapped it away, forcing the knife over so that it lodged itself in the snow an inch away from her ear.

Keep it going.

After looking at the blade neatly engraved with the words 'Bear Keeni" that was to close for comfort, Vicky looked back at Bear, trying to stay calm when she was everything but. Her hands were trembling and her arm was stinging like she had been stung with a million Tracker Jackers in one spot.

"Cassandra was right about you!" Vicky hissed at him. She didn't know what that meant or how she was going to use it but maybe since it confused her, the words would confuse him too.

[semper]

Fucking. Hell. Why do I keep missing this girl with my knife? Why, just... why? Was I too blinded by my rage? Quite possibly. I was madder than hell at her for pretending to be someone that meant so much to me. Why? What kind of sick trick was she trying to play with my mind? I was not amused by this. If only my knife had gone a few inches over, I would've stabbed her in the eye.

I glared icily down at her, wanting more than anything to just either gouge out her eyes or carve something into her face. Maybe I could carve my name... that would be morbidly beautiful. That way, whenever she looked in the mirror, she'd see my name and remember the damn mind game she put me through.

"You didn't know Cassandra!" I bellowed furiously, feeling my face reddening out of frustrating anger. Instead of trying to stab her again, I lunged towards her with my head, biting at her neck like some rabid animal. If my knife wouldn't work, then I'd sure as hell get her with my teeth.

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[sbeeg]

"You didn't know Cassandra!" Oh, it was too late, he'd figured out all her tricks. No more aces up her sleeve; Vicky had nothing. She couldn't exactly use physical force on someone twice her size, and the whole screwing-with-his-mind thing has been used up. She really did have nothing. No weapon, no words. Nothing. He was looking at her again, examining her face, leaving Vicky wishing that she could read minds. What would his mind be like? This chick needs to die! or would it be more of a monkey clapping symbols together in a large void? She doubted the later.

He's right. Bear Keeni, the mad man that ate some poor girl, was right. She didn't know Cassandra. That girl is probably up there looking down, smiting Vicky for lying. Could Cassandra really blame her? No! The person to blame is Bear- he ate Cassandra and he's going to kill Vicky. It is all his-

Oh dear god he bit her. He just leaned forward, sort like when he kissed her before but faster and more violent but went right past her lips. His teeth- they shouldn't have been that sharp. It was like those mutts in the Games, just ripped right through her skin. She did more than just gasp in surprise, she screamed, she yelled, she thrashed around, grabbing at his hair trying to pull him off her. She felt sick for liking the kiss earlier now that he was eating her flesh. Vicky couldn't decide what hurt more, her arm or his teeth tearing her throat open. Tears spilled over, running down into her hair since she was lying down. Her screams died down quickly, and all was left were whimpers.

Turning her head away from the ravaging of her throat, trying to come to terms with dying in a snow drift at the hands of this monster, Vicky saw the gift. Said monster had let go of his knife. It was just jutting out of the snow for the taking. One problem, it was on her left side. Could she even move her left arm? Vicky had to try- that or end up like Cassandra.

Taking a deep breath, she started to bend her arm slowly. Gritting her teeth she moved it, trying to reach up to grab the hilt of the knife. More tears spilled out, and she just threw her arm back real fast, trying to get the pain over with. Excruciating isn't a strong enough word to describe the agony Vicky felt at that moment. Shrieking, her fingertips brushed the knife's handle. She couldn't do it, it hurt to much. She wasn't made to withstand this much torment all at once. She was going to die. Maybe she'd meet Cassandra; then she'd actually know her.

No. Everything happens for a reason! That blade was there because she was supposed to get it. Crying out like a warrior going into battle, Vicky finally bent her arm far enough to wrap her fingers around the hilt. With it her control, she didn't pause. Vicky pulled it around, screaming from the torture that was bombarding her from all sides, and brought it down on Bear.

[semper]

I felt her blood fill my mouth as my teeth sunk into her skin. The coppery, usually bitter liquid tasted almost sweet at the moment and whenever my mouth would fill up with it I would swallow. I tried digging my teeth further into her neck, but she was screaming right in my ear; the shrill noise made me want to hurt her more, so I did just that by grinding my teeth against her skin, gnawing and trying to take off the piece of skin by pulling back with my jaws.

Eventually she stopped screaming, though, which was a good thing aside from the ringing in my ears. What blood I couldn't swallow was dripping down my chin, staining the snow with red dots. It tasted so good... her skin was as tough as nails, though. With as much as I was pulling on it with my teeth, I couldn't seem to tear off any -- that I could see, anyways. Who knows if I actually did rip of some skin.

The girl suddenly let out a shriek and there was a sudden stabbing, burning pain that erupted in my side. I was forced to let go of her neck so I could yelp, growling and grinding my teeth against it. I knew I had to move, but I needed to keep the girl down..... my hand went to my side where I felt my knife handle protruding; blood was already pouring from the wound and soaking my clothes. Fucking hell, it hurt a lot.

Growling against the searing pain, I slid off of her and fell onto my uninjured side, wincing and yelping as I grabbed onto the knife, jerking it out of my side. Ripred dammit, that hurt. It was probably a bad idea to take the blade out, but I still had unfinished business here. Shakily holding my dark red-covered knife, I weakly thrashed my arm out at her, trying to gash her one last time. My own blood was gushing out between my fingers of the hand I had clamped over the stab wound at such a rate that I should've been worried, but I wasn't. I was more furious than anything, narrowing my dark eyes onto her and still wanting to take her down, but I couldn't exactly move too fast. The snow underneath me, already stained red with both her blood and my blood, was making me shiver uncontrollably. Or maybe that was because of how much blood I had lost already.... I wasn't really sure.

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[sbeeg]

For the first time,Vicky fully appreciated how quick a person's body can respond to a situation. As soon as that knife slid into his side, Bear yelped and rolled off of her and as quick as a flash her working muscles got her up. She had one hand against her neck, trying to cover it from the wintry air, and her left arm was cradled against her body. Bear slashed out with his knife, landing his blade on the skin of her right shin. She screamed, stumbling backwards and falling into the snow.

She was crying again, thin tears making paths on her face flushed with pain. Sucking in air that scratched the sides of her throat, she scooted further away. Her hair was sticking to the paths the tears left on her cheeks and Vicky's hand clawed at the snow trying to propel herself away.

Flopping into the snow, drugged from blood loss, Vicky could only shake with sobs. Everything hurt, everything stung. She looked at the snow she was laying on which wasn't white anymore. Pink snow. White tinted with blood. Vicky thought she knew crazy, but Nikko was nothing compared to this.

Blood was everywhere, on her hands, on her clothes- it seemed to be everywhere but where it was supposed to be. She wasn't going to make it out of the square alive. Vicky need a rescue.

"Help!" yelling as loud as her lungs could take. "Hel- HELP!"

Why could no one hear her? District Six was well populated and yet no one heard her screams. A new wave of weeping came, fat tears falling straight into the snow accompanied by her wails for help.

She crawled more, delaying her inevitable death. Vicky's limbs were numb from the cold, but that didn't stop the pain from twitching her body around. She pulled her feet underneath her and took a few shaky seconds to stand up. Vicky didn't dart off though, she didn't stumble away to go bleed to death in some back alley. Drained of everything- ideas, emotion, her limitation of pain, she turned around. Eyes dead, she stared at him, probably giving him what he wanted in the first place.

"Kill me," a little whisper that barely escaped her lips. As she repeated it, Vicky stumbled forward her voice growing louder. "Kill me! KILL ME! KILL ME GODDAMN IT!"

[semper]

I clamped my hand harder onto my side, trying to stop the bleeding or at least just keep it in my body. Maybe I was to die here and just bleed out, but no, I had places to be and things to do. A stab wound was just a flesh wound; I'd be fine, really.

Putting my knife-wielding hand against the ground, I weakly pushed myself up off the ground, standing on very wobbly legs. The world around me was spinning uncontrollably, black spots showing up in my field of vision as I tried to take a step towards the screaming girl, but as soon as I shifted my weight I fell over, landing on the side with the wound. A sharp cry sounded from me as I quickly turned over onto my other side, groaning and grinding my teeth, eyes shut tightly. My body curled up on the snow-covered ground, bloody hand still covering the wound, trying to soothe the pain.

Fucking hell, did this girl ever stop screaming? It was hurting my ears the way her shrill voice was just overpowering my hearing, leaving me wishing she was mute. Not only that, but she looked back at me after crawling away, and actually told me to kill her -- no, she yelled at me to kill her.

"I'm not going to kill you!" I bellowed, instantly becoming breathless as soon as I stopped yelling. I was pretty much gasping for air as I continued. "Ever since... you... pulled that damn.... stunt and.... stabbed me...... I can't.... I can't even stand.... what makes you... think.... think that I could kill.... you... now...?" If I didn't die of blood loss, I was certainly going to die from lack of oxygen. Even though my ribcage was expanding as much as it could, it still felt as though I couldn't breathe right. Swells of pain rose in my side, forcing me to wince and try to suppress a yelp, but it didn't work out too well. I was laying helplessly on the ground, gripping my knife's handle with a white-knuckle hold. I couldn't kill this damn girl even if I wanted to; she had stabbed me in just the right spot to where I couldn't even move without being assaulted by a white hot pain.

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[sbeeg]

"I'm not going to kill you!"

...What? Vicky ceased her screams and just stared at him, watching the pool of blood grow larger around the boy. what makes you... think.... think that I could kill.... you... now...?"

Can't even stand. Vicky stared dumbfounded. Was it really this easy? Just walk off and leave him there? He'd die for sure. Even now, watching him cringe in pain, Vicky started to fill with guilt. Why was she guilty? She didn't go around eating people! Vicky was not the bad guy here- that creature was! She was not going to feel bad about killing this monster. Oh god. If she left him she would have killed him. She'd be a murderer! Biting her lip, woozy from blood loss, Vicky stared at him and the large gash in his side. She swallowed hard, cursing herself.

All thoughts of how she should have been reaped for the Games disappeared. I can't believe I'm doing this.

"Damn... damn it. Damn it. Damn it!" Vicky continued with her chant as she slowly walked towards Bear, finally collapsing next to him. Should have stopped sooner, he has knife! He'll attack me. She was thinking, but after seeing the wound close up she decided he wouldn't be doing anything. Cringing as she moved, Vicky ripped at the hem of her coat, tearing of the bottom into a long strip. She'd sewn that jacket together to, spent hours on it. Sighing, she held up the material and after glancing at Bear's face, started to place it over the wound.

Damn him. Damn him straight to hell! Making her feel guilty for a piece of shit like him then making her come back to do first aid which she had absolutely no knowledge of. Right now she was going off of things she had seen in the Games, and frankly that wasn't much.

"Damn."

[semper]

I just laid there, shivering in the red-stained snow, knowing that sooner or later I would have to get up. Hypothermia was bound to set in sometime soon, sure to turn the ends of my fingers to a grotesque purplish black. Maybe then I would have to gnaw the tips of them off or cut them with my knife. Either way, I knew it would be excruciatingly painful.

I watch as the girl was walking away -- or in place, I couldn't tell -- and she was cursing and sort of pacing. I growled at her, noticing that she was coming over to me. What the hell was she doing? Maybe she was going to finish off things, you know; just kill me while I was down. I was fine with it, really. I would do the same things to other people if I attacked them. She came up to me and damn, did I feel vulnerable. My eyes narrowed onto her and watched her every move, but she was just tearing off strips of her shirt and putting them o--

"FUCKING HELL!" I yelped, wincing and cringing away from the pain of the pressure on the wound that wasn't my hand. My teeth were grinding and I shut my eyes tightly, groaning and grumbling curses. I didn't stop her, either; sure, it hurt, but the little bits of cloth were better than just my hand. "Damn you, whatever your name is." I snarled, trembling and trying to suppress the pain by breathing hard and growl/moaning.

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[sbeeg]

The second the cloth made contact with the wound, Bear withered and screamed obscenities. Vicky bit down on her lip while trying to covering the wound. This wans't going to work. He needed a doctor- no he needed to be dead. However, he was a human being barely and Vicky did like being the "bigger person." She compared the pros and cons of this situation. Con, he FUCKING BIT HER NECK and tried to kill her numerous times. Pros... uh... damn.

She was surprised that he didn't slash at her with his knife, or slap her away. He just laid int he snow, growling in pain. Vicky had never met someone who "growled" in pain. Frustrated, she threw her hands into her lap. It was too late to leave, she'd reached the point of no return, but she didn't know what to do now. Vicky ran her eyes over all the stores in the square, locked up and useless every single one of them. Sighing, Vicky scooted over so that she was sitting closer to Bear's head. She reached out to check his forehead for fever (Vicky really didn't have a clue what to do, might as well check everything she knew about) when he spoke something that wasn't a curse. "Damn you, whatever your name is."

After thinking about it for a second, Vicky decided to reveal her name. If he gave her trouble she could always just leave him here to die.

"Vicky. My name is Vicky," her voice was quiet, dry and drained. Her left arm still held against her middle, Vicky reached out with her good arm and flicked the hair out of his face, placing the back of her hand on his forehead.