𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

21. relief

I felt my stomach churn with every impact the seat belt made on the Grounders' skin. He winced in pain with each strike but still refused to tell us which one was the antidote. Octavia stood beside me, her head slightly turned downwards towards her shoulder in attempts to shield her vision.

Clarke dropped to her knees in front of our prisoner once again, spilling the contents onto the ground, "Please, just tell me which one is the antidote and they'll stop this!"

The Grounder ignored her, his eyes flickering over to Octavia who had now looked up, her eyes full of tears.

I flinched as Bellamy whipped the seat belt off of his hand and across the drop ship, shaking his head in frustration. "If that won't work, maybe this will." he said, holding up a metal spike. My eyes grew wide as he turned to look back at us, "Girls, you don't have to be here."

Clarke shook her head, "I'm not leaving until I get that antidote."

Bellamy nodded at her before moving his eyes to look at Octavia and I. I locked my eyes with him, not saying anything, but letting him know I wasn't leaving. He let out a deep breath before turning back towards the Grounder, holding the spike firmly in his hand.

I turned around, putting my face into my hands trying to block out what was happening. I heard the sound of the metal spike driving through flesh as the Grounder let out a grunt of pain. I let out a few breaths, trying to remind myself we were doing this so my brother could live.

The room fell into silence, the only sound being the Grounder's uneven breathing as he tried to cope with the pain. I turned around, my eyes landing on the bloody spike that was protruding through the Grounder's hand.

"What's taking so long?" Raven's voice called as the sound of her mounting the ladder filled the air. "He stopped breathing." she announced, pulling herself into the room with us.

I rushed towards her, "What?" I demanded.

Raven put her hands on my shoulders to stop me, "He started again, but I'm not sure he will next time."

Bellamy looked up at me from where he had sat down, his eyes full of sympathy. My body felt as if it were buzzing as Clarke responded to Raven's earlier question, "He won't tell us anything."

Raven locked her jaw as she took in the scene around us, her eyes landing on something as she made her way towards the Grounder. "Wanna bet?" she huffed, grabbing a hold of two large wires and pulling them from the wall causing sparks to fly.

Bellamy shot up from his seat, "What are you doing?" he questioned in shock.

Raven ran one wire over the other, causing more sparks to fly as the sound of electricity filled my ears, "Showing him something new."

I felt my stomach drop as the Grounder began letting out grunts of fear, trying to move his body away from Raven.

"Raven—" Before I had a chance to say anything else, she drove the wires into his body, the smell of burnt flesh instantly filling the air.

My hand flew up to my mouth as the lights flickered on and off. All the power that had been running through them was now running into the Grounder's body.

"Which one is it?" Raven screamed, "Come on!" she drove the wires into his body once again, his cries of pain getting louder. "He's all I have!" she screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

I stood frozen in place, somehow feeling like I was a horrible sister, a horrible person. Finn was dying, and here I was feeling sorry for the person who had put him in that situation. 

"No more!" Octavia yelled, all of our eyes turning to her.

Raven turned to her with an angry look, "He's letting Finn die!" 

Octavia didn't say anything in response but instead held up the knife, dragging it across her skin.

"Octavia, no!" Bellamy gasped as blood began dripping from her arm.

"He won't let me die." she explained, her eyes locking on the Grounder's who were now filled not with pain, but sadness.

Bellamy and I rushed to Octavia's side, Bellamy reaching out for his sister, "Octavia what the hell did you do?"

Octavia ignored him, pushing past the two of us to kneel in front of the antidotes. She used the knife to point at each vial, "This one?" she asked.

The Grounder didn't respond and I felt my heart drop, maybe Octavia was wrong about him trying to save her before. I let out a sigh of frustration, "Oh God."I dropped my head into my hands. I was about to lose my brother and my best friend.

"Come on." Octavia pleaded, her hopeful eyes looking up to the Grounder. 

I looked up just in time to see the Grounder nod his head towards one of the vials in which Octavia instantly picked up, "This one?" she asked.

In what could only be an act of compassion towards Octavia, the Grounder nodded his head. I let out a large sigh of relief as Octavia thrusted the vial into Clarke's hand. The blonde and Raven instantly rushed down the ladder towards Finn.

"Tavia," I muttered, crouching down beside my best friend, "You didn't have to do that." I acknowledged her act of bravery, knowing that if she didn't get the Grounder to tell her which one it was her and Finn would both be dead.

Octavia gave me a slight smile as she nodded her head, "Yes I did. Now go be with Finn."

I smiled at her before turning towards the ladder. Before I went down to be with Finn, I looked over to Bellamy, giving him a smile as well, "Thank you" I mouthed. I didn't necessarily agree with everything he did to get the Grounder to talk but I know he was doing it for Finn.

He nodded, acknowledging my thanks. I didn't waste anymore time, I quickly went down the ladder, rushing over to Finn's bedside where Clarke was pouring some of the antidote into his mouth, being sure to leave enough for Octavia.

"How will we know if it worked?" Raven asked, her hand holding onto Finn's.

Clarke put the lid on the vial, looking over to her, "We'll know when he wakes up."

"Any idea when that will be?" I questioned, grabbing a hold of Finn's other hand, giving it a quick squeeze to let him know I was there and that he wasn't alone.

Clarke gave a small shrug, letting out a sigh as she brushed a a piece of stray hair from his face, "Hopefully soon." she paused for a moment, her demeanour slightly changing, "He'll need water when he does, do you mind?" she asked, turning to Raven who nodded, instantly turning and leaving to go get some water.

I noticed the look on Clarke's face and could tell she wanted to be alone with Finn. I lightly let go of my brother's hand, giving Clarke a knowing smile, "I'll be back in a bit."

Clarke looked up at me in surprise, "No, Avery you can—"

I cut her off, "It's okay, I'm gonna go try and get some rest. Will you call me if anything changes?"

Clarke nodded, "Of course."

I gave her another smile before making my way across the drop ship to find a place to sit down and rest. The past days on Earth had been the most taxing experience of my life and I had a feeling it was going to get even crazier.

hey guys, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! hold onto your seats because this book is about to get even crazier ;)

if you enjoyed please leave a vote and a comment, it lets me know that people are actually reading and liking this story haha

-maddy xo