Not All Fun and Games

Chapter 59

Once again, I wake up to the sound of the loud horn. Dinner. I'm squished against the back of the couch, with Bellamy lying next to me. I prop myself up on my elbows.
"Time to get up," I say, nudging a sleepy Bellamy. He replies with a tired groan. "Come on, dinner isn't going to eat itself," I insist.
His eyes open at the word 'dinner'. "Well, I am pretty hungry."
The two of us head out, joining the rest of the people heading towards the tower.
We sit at our usual table, and dig in as soon as the food is served. Octavia doesn't show, just like she hasn't the last few meals. I guess she eats at Lincoln's now. I'm happy she has him. She was devastated after Atom was killed, so I'm glad she found another guy. She seems to really like Lincoln.
We were supposed to choose our jobs tonight, but after the Murphy incident, Tuscany made the decision to postpone it until tomorrow.
When I'm about to take another bite of rabbit stew, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see Zuko.
"Tuscany would like to speak with you," he tells me.
I nod. "I'll be right back," I tell Bellamy and the others. I follow Zuko out of the eating room and up five more flights of stairs. He stops to knock at a door.
"Sente." That must be 'come in' in Trigedasleng, because he immediately opens the door and gestures for me to enter.
"Hi," I greet Tuscany, who is standing at the centre of the room. It's big, and there's a large chair made of branches at the back of it. There's a balcony behind it. Tuscany dismisses Zuko and walks onto the balcony. I follow.
"Thanks for meeting me," she says in a neutral voice, turning to face me. "How are you feeling?"
It takes me a second to realize that she's talking about this afternoon, when I passed out. Either she saw it happen or someone told her about it, I guess.
"I'm fine," I reply, wondering if that's what she asked me up here to say.
"Good." She looks out over the village, her expression calm. "I wanted to ask you about you and your people. Is everyone content with their new way of living?"
"Of course!" I reply immediately. "We're all so thankful that you took us in."
She smiles. "I'm glad you like it here."
"Also, the food is great," I add and she laughs. Her laugh is sweet and happy, unlike anything that could ever have come out of Sonthia. It surprises me that such a powerful person can be so gentle and kind, especially a grounder.
Suddenly, her smile vanishes, and is replaced by a worried frown.
"What's wrong?" I ask, surprised by her sudden change of expression.
"You smell like acidflower," she says, taking a step closer to me and taking a deep breath in through her nose.
"Acidflower?" I ask. What the hell is that, and why does Tuscany seem so distressed by it?
"It's a poisonous plant. The flower is harmless, but its seed can kill people."
"Then maybe we should get out of here," I suggest, starting to walk away. Tuscany doesn't move.
"I am immune to it. It only works on 50% of the Earth's population."
"Works?"
"People use it as a weapon. If you are not immune to it and you breathe it in, you die within the next few hours. You must be immune too. It's on your jacket." She points to my shoulder. I look down to see a light yellow powder.
"Are you sure it's acidflower? I've been around other people all day and it hasn't hurt anyone."
Tuscany nods. "That's because it only works writhing a minute after the seed is open, and the powder is exposed to the air. Someone must have crushed the seeds onto your jacket at some point. Even though you are immune to the poison, it caused your energy to drop and that's why you passed out today."
I try to take in all this information. It's a lot to process. Right now, I'm just glad that I happen to be part of the lucky 50% of the population that is immune to the poison. But if Tuscany is right, and this is acidflower poison, that means that someone is trying to kill me.
A terrible thought strikes me. If someone was trying to kill me, they'd do it when we were alone. And the only person I've been alone with today is Bellamy.

A/N
Please don't kill me😊
So my book is slowly coming to an end. I'm thinking I'll probably write around 3-5 more chapters.
I'd love if you guys gave me suggestions of what to write about next. I need some inspiration.
P.s. The photo above is of what Tuscany is supposed to look like, but without all the makeup (:
(It's Naya Rivera)
-Haley💕