Daylight |Bellamy Blake

Fourteen

Another whip lands on the grounder, eliciting another grunt of pain. Even with my back turned to the gruesome scene, the sounds paint a harrowing picture in my mind. I've finally found the page in my book about natural poisons and antidotes. My eyes scan the information quickly as I attempt to correlate the effects and symptoms with what Finn has been experiencing.

"Enough!" Octavia's scream resonates after yet another grunt of pain, and mercifully, the torment stops.

"Clarke! He's getting worse!" Raven's frantic voice reaches my ears, and I hear the rustling of movement behind me.

"We're running out of time. Which one? Which one is it? If you tell us, they'll stop! Please, tell us which is the antidote, and they'll end this!" Clarke's desperate plea interrupts my reading of this particular poison. But as the words slowly register, I recognize that this is the one. I quickly find the antidote in the text and breathe a sigh of relief. The antidote for this poison is described as a thick, clear liquid, so there must be a corresponding vial.

"If that doesn't work, maybe this will," Bellamy says, and the sound of metal clanking echoes through the dropship.

"Stop!" I cry out before he can take further action. I rush forward and drop down beside the vials, frantically rummaging through them. My actions are frenzied, and Clarke stands beside me, her worried eyes on my every move.

"What?" Clarke asks in confusion.

"The antidote is a clear liquid; it has to be one of these," I explain, my heart swelling with hope as my hand lands on a vial that matches my description. Relief washes over me as I hold it up triumphantly. "Here!" I say euphorically, holding it up for everyone to see. But my elation is short-lived as Clarke holds another vial in her hand, its contents nearly identical. "Shit," I mutter in frustration. I snatch it from her hand and confront the grounder with both vials. "Which of the two is it?!" I nearly roar in his face, my anger boiling over.

Yet, he still doesn't respond, and Bellamy gently places his hand on my arm guiding me away from the grounder. I look at him as he has an almost sympathetic expression on his face, mixed with frustration. I place the vials back on the ground before standing and marching angrily to the side, Bellamy watching me go. Clarke follows me, rubbing my arm in an attempt to offer comfort, but it doesn't help. My frustration and helplessness in this situation are overwhelming.

Bellamy positions himself in front of the grounder again, this time holding a metal spike in his hand, and it's clear that things are about to get even bloodier. "Clarke, Ivy, you don't have to be here for this," he tells us, turning toward us. His eyes linger on my face as I give him a small softer look.

"I'm not leaving until I get that antidote," Clarke asserts, and I nod in agreement. We aren't going anywhere, not now.

"Last chance," Bellamy warns the grounder, raising the stakes and tightening the noose around this tense situation. All eyes are on the silent, unyielding figure tied up before us, as we hold our breath, waiting for what comes next.

Even as Bellamy thrusts the spike into the grounder's hand, causing him to cry out in pain, the scene is too brutal for us to watch. I close my eyes, unable to bear the sight of another human being subjected to such torment. My mind is plagued with the tormenting question of whether we've gone too far, or crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed, but our desperate situation leaves us with few alternatives. The agonising cries of the grounder echo in my ears, a stark reminder of the severity of our predicament.

Raven's arrival shatters the uneasy silence, her frustrated voice cutting through the tension. She questions why it's taking us so long, not realizing the gravity of the situation we face. However, we're at an impasse, unable to force the grounder to reveal the antidote, no matter how far we're willing to go.