𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄.

A Fate Worse Than Death.

"Do you think I have a chance?" Jacqueline, with her wide, brown eyes, looked up at Rosie. She was clearly seeking comfort, but Rosie couldn't promise that—she didn't want to tell her it'd all be okay, but she also couldn't bear the thought of letting her know she'd die in one of the cruellest of ways.

Jacqueline was sitting off the bed, Rosie was sitting on the edge, braiding her hair. It was slightly more complicated than braiding her own due to the difference in texture, but so far it was going well. Today was the day she would have to say goodbye to the little girl—Rosie couldn't help but feel bad that she had separated herself from growing a deep emotional connection with the girl, but she knew it was the only way she'd be okay when all was said and done. When the scores came out and Jacqueline earned a three Rosie knew the gig was up, she was a completely hopeless cause.

"You don't think so, do you?" The little girl asked, emotion thick in her voice as she turned to look at the older girl. "What am I supposed to do, Rosie?"

Rosie vividly remembered when Toby admitted his plan to her, the plan of jumping off the platform before the timer ticked down. The more she'd thought of it over the years, the more she realised that may have been the kindest option, one that Toby deserved more than how he actually died—at the hands of Rosie.

"Stand up," Rosie decided, the girl followed suit. A stark reminder of her age was apparent when the girl didn't meet Rosie's shoulders. The young woman laced her fingers with the girl and walked her into the en suite of Jacqueline's bedroom. The little girl stood in confusion as Rosie turned on the tap as fast as it would go, and then did the same with both the shower and the bath. The teenager knelt down beside the girl not yet a teenager and cupped a hand around the back of her ear to conceal what she was about to say. "I think... I think before the timer finished you should jump off the platform–"

"That'll kill me," Jacqueline whispered as she pulled away, looking at Rosie's face, taking in the sad smile.

Rosie's mind was at war. Her plan was just as good as Kit's, to kill yourself before someone else got the opportunity to do it in a less pleasant way, and that made her awfully guilty. She was supposed to be a Mentor, an aid for Tributes to become Victors, but at what point do you accept someone's fate and try to minimise the anguish? Jacqueline didn't deserve any of what was happening to her, so, Rosie wanted it to be painless and quick. 

The selfish part of Rosie screamed at her, telling the girl who so clearly, blindly trusted Rosie, to kill herself just added yet another kill to Rosie's count. It was growing.

"I know. If I could do it all again, that's what I would do," Rosie admitted, rubbing her palms up and down the little girl's arms. "You don't have to, I can give you another plan; but if you want to know what I would do, that's what I would do."

A brave expression washed over the little girl's face. "It'll be quick?" She whispered.

Rosie nodded. "Once you step off you won't even know, it'll just be like going to sleep. No pain, nothing. Then you get to go to wherever is next and I promise you, Jacqueline, wherever next will be kind to you." She whipped away tears from the girl's caramel skin. "Just pick a number before you go up, close your eyes two numbers before and then, when the number comes, jump off."

"And that's what you'd do?" Her voice shook.

Rosie nodded, "That's what I would do if given the opportunity again."

Jacqueline swallowed, accepting her fate. "Then that's what I will do. Thank you, Rosie. You've been very nice to me, you're not like everyone says, you're good. I wish I could tell everyone," the little girl wrapped her thin arms around Rosie, who held back the urge to cry—it wasn't her time to cry, not when she had just given Jacqueline a plan of certain death.