Ark Kingdom: The Magic Within (Bellarke)

Chapter 20

I follow Bellamy out of the cave. He is running so fast that he’s kneeling next to the person on the ground before I can even see who it is. Of course, I have a pretty good idea of who it will be so when I see Atom writhing in pain I’m not surprised. A young girl is next to him with Bellamy on the other side.

“He’s one of my closest friends.” He whispers.

I kneel next to Bellamy and put a hand to his back, to try and take away some of his pain. Bellamy has his dagger out and is looking between it and the boy who is now just whimpering.

“Bellamy, you have to help him.” The young girl says with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t think I can, Charlotte.” Bellamy touches Atom’s hand, lightly making sure to touch a spot that isn’t covered with blisters. None of us speaks for a minute; we just continue to listen to Atom's ragged breathing.

“Bellamy!” Octavia’s voice interrupts our silence. “Clarke!”

“We can’t let her see him. It will break her heart.” Bellamy says without looking towards his sister’s voice.

“You go stop her and I will see if I can help him.” I give his arm a reassuring squeeze and then look to Charlotte. “Can you go get me some rags and water, please?”

“Yes.” Charlotte says and rushes off towards camp. Bellamy stands slower than her.

“Bellamy, who is that? What happened?” Octavia asks as he wraps his arm around her shoulders trying to lead her to the cave.

“It’s nothing, O. Just come with me. What happened after Clarke left you?” Bellamy  steps too far away for me to hear him any longer.

“Alright, Atom can you hear me?” I ask the shaking boy. “Can you speak?”

“Yes.” His voice is so quiet that if there were a breeze I wouldn’t have heard him.

“Okay, I’m going to try and help you. This might hurt. Ready?”

“It can’t…be worse…” His voice trails off.

I place my hands on him. I can’t hold back the scream when his pain hits me. I am sent back to when he was in the fog. I feel every blister as it forms. I know that there are tears rushing down my face and that I am shaking. I try to pull away from him, but his blister-ravaged hand grabs mine holding me there.

“Please, help me.” He whimpers.

His hand makes the pain worse but it also brings me back to the moment. I try again to pull away, but now my energy is flowing between us too strongly. The connection pulls me back into his mind.

I see him watching Octavia. She is dancing around in a field. I know I’m back in Ark Kingdom. There are animals all around her that seem to be dancing with her. The sun hits her hair and I can feel how much Atom cares for her. He loves her, and not just for her beauty. I flash to another time when he saw her with a bird. The bird’s wing is broken. She is crying as she holds it close. Then she wipes her eyes, rips a piece of her dress off, grabs a small stick, and makes a sling for it.

“Clarke. You need to stop. Clarke!” A voice keeps buzzing at the edge of my consciousness. I try and swat the annoyance away but my hands don’t move. I look down and I’m back with Atom. Bellamy is next to me and is pulling my hands away from the boy. He doesn’t look any better.

“I’m sorry. I’m not strong enough. He’s too far gone.” I say without looking either of them in the eye.

“Clarke, I got the water.” Charlotte sits a bowl and rags next to me.

“Thank you. Now, Charlotte I need you to go.” Bellamy tells the girl.

“But, I want to help.”

“You can’t. Not right now. Can you make sure everyone else is okay?”

“Yes.” The girl doesn’t sound happy to leave, but finally she gets up.

“Bellamy, please just finish it. I can’t…” Atom says in a voice that is fading.

Bellamy grips his dagger and looks at Atom’s neck. I can tell that he knows there is only one choice of how to save his friend. He touches the knife to his friend’s neck and then stops. He pulls his hand back. I look up at him and see the tears that are barely being held back. I gently take the dagger from his hand and scoot closer to Atom’s neck.

I start to hum the song that my parents used to sing to put me to sleep. I rub my other hand across Atom’s forehead to soothe him. His eyes close as my hand moves to his hair. That’s when I push the dagger letting it pierce his skin. Blood gushes out when I pull the dagger out of his neck. I hear Bellamy let out a breath. When I look at him I see a single tear sliding down his cheek.

Before my brain has registered what I’m doing I reach up to wipe the tear from his cheek. As soon as we touch I see a spark in his eyes; a fire. I lean forward letting my hand slide down to his neck. I’m staring into his warm eyes and I can feel his breath on my lips. We are less than a butterfly’s wing apart. Just as I feel a whisper of his lips upon mine we are interrupted.