Splintered

Chapter Sixty-Three: Fireside Confessions

Rowan sat up straighter, waiting for her to continue, toe tapping.

Hazel sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself.

"You can't tell a soul," she said, probing her brother's eyes for any signs he wouldn't keep her secrets.

"I won't. I swear," Rowan urged. "Heart crossed and hope to die."

Hazel grimaced, half considering backing out.

"Ugh, don't say that."

Rowan held up his hands, "Sorry, now spill."

Hazel exhaled a long and harrowing breath. "Do you remember a few months ago, when the two Capitol doctors came to check on me?"

"Of course."

"It's because I saw something in the woods."

Rowan perked up, "What?"

"Ro, I saw...." Hazel rubbed her eyes, "I thought I saw...Dahlia."

Rowan quieted, his brows crumpled. That was probably the last thing he anticipated she was going to say. Dahlia was certainly the last thing she'd thought she'd see that day, either.

"You saw my mom?"

Hazel ran a palm over her temple, "Not exactly, but I thought I did. Ran after her and everything, but she just disappeared. Sable didn't see a thing. That's when the hallucinations started."

Rowan's face had grown distant and mournful.

"I should've told you sooner," Hazel mumbled.

"You said that's when they started?" Rowan asked carefully.

"I see them all, Ro." Hazel studied the corkscrewing spirals of heat coming off the fireplace. "Used to be just the nightmares, you know, just Cedar mostly. Usually around the Reaping or the Games. Then after..." She thumbed her bandage, "Mine, I started to see more. Silus, but not just him. All of the other tributes, too. Now, my dreams mix with my reality."

"You know, I see her once in a while, my mother. I think I recognize her face in the forest, or she's just walking down the street, and she's in my dreams sometimes. No shame in it, you know."

Hazel leaned against him, voice softening, "Do you see...him?"

Rowan tilted his head, "No, but sometimes I wish I did."

"Sometimes I wish I didn't."

Rowan hummed, and they each dropped into contemplation for a while before Hazel continued, "Ro, there's more."

Her brother kept his eyes fixated ahead. The flames were dimming, as was the heat.

"About the Senator?"

Hazel's heart sped up a fraction, and nausea boiled in her gut.

"Actually, yes."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"But I do, I really do."

"You're dating him."

Hazel sputtered, "What? We're...No, that was not what I... What?"

"Come on, Haze." Rowan groaned, "How could you possibly want to be with..." His face soured. "How could you be with a...Gamemaker?"

Hazel sat up straighter, "It's not real."

His face remained stoic, unconvinced.

"I mean it. None of it is real. It's a show. It was Coriolanus's idea. He fabricated the whole thing from almost the beginning. It's all a game, Ro. A game where he gains popularity in the Districts through our relationship, and where the prize is the presidency. At first, I went along with it because I didn't really know why he was doing it, and I figured..." she stammered. "I figured the attention could help me bring Silus home."