𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 | hunger games ✓

chapter 31

━━･❪ 🌸 ❫ ･━━

Daphne awoke to a terrible headache, even worse than the time she'd tumbled from the roof of the family barn one night playing hide and seek with Aedon.

"Daphne?" A voice pierced the fog in her mind. "Daphne- oh thank goodness. You've been passed out for hours. I swear, every day is going to be like this: one of us clocks out for some reason or another."

A hand was squeezing hers, she realized. As her vision stabilized, the blurry blob leaning over her morphed slowly into Caelum's face, twin sparks of green gazing down at her with a mixture of relief and concern. His cheeks were damp and flushed as if he'd been crying.

"Caelum- what happened?" Daphne winced as she sat up against the wall, her head pounding. Sunlight filtered in through the window, looking like late afternoon. "One moment, this thing slammed me against the side of the house and was reaching for my face, then now I'm here."

Caelum's brows furrowed. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

"No- why, what did I do?"

"I think the Gamemakers sent Cortex mutts after us." Caelum said. "I remember reading about them once. They can possess people to do their bidding, hence the name 'Cortex' after the part of the brain that they hijack."

Daphne blinked. This was not helping her headache. "I was possessed?"

"Did you attack me on your free will?"

"I attacked you??"

"Just try not to think about it," Caelum quickly jumped in. "Think about this instead: the Cortexes weren't just random mutts. The Gamemakers took the corpses of Theron and Azalea and reanimated them in a way, turning them into Cortexes. They were the ones who attacked us. Azalea possessed you."

Panic momentarily cleared Daphne's head. "Theron and Azalea are alive? Where are they?"

"Don't worry, I killed them." Caelum said, handing Daphne the water bottle from the supply bag to drink. "They're gone now. No need to be concerned about the undead creeping around to possess us."

Daphne's mind was reeling. The Gamemakers had brought Theron and Azalea back to life, and sent them to attack Daphne and Caelum. Was that even possible? And Azalea had possessed Daphne? Made her nearly kill Caelum?

Daphne blinked at him. There was a tear in his vest and shirt by his collar, revealing a thin red cut. He had long scratch marks across his cheek, looking as if they'd been made by claws. Purple bruises dotted his face, paired with scabbed skin here and there. It was obvious he had taken a beating. Had she put those bruises there?

"Caelum, I'm so sorry-"

"No," Caelum's voice was thick. He shook his head fiercely. "No, I'm sorry. It's my fault, it's all my fault."

Daphne's headache was slowly beginning to recede as she sipped water from the bottle, swishing it around in her mouth. She tilted her head in confusion. "How is the Cortex attack your fault?"

"No, not that." Caelum's eyes were fixed on her. They weren't fleeting, darting like startled minnows as they'd used to every time he was around her. His face was twisted with unreadable emotion. "I'm sorry, for everything."

Daphne felt it then; that thing that she'd sensed earlier. The feeling of something being held back, kept like a fragile lake in a dam made of the strongest stone. That dam was cracking now, the stable foundation so carefully crafted finally beginning to weaken. Daphne sensed it, sensed it as a distressed Caelum dragged his hands through his rumpled hair. If he'd been standing, he'd be pacing the soles of his boots off by how upset he seemed.