Of the Night: A Story From the 100

{9} Escaping the Enemy

I took a shaky breath as the horse stopped and the Grounder behind me dismounted. I looked over my shoulder and saw we were in a small village. My eyes widened and I was pulled back down to my feet.

"Sorry, Natblida," he apologized to me. "We had to make sure you wouldn't run away." He took off the rope around my wrists and ankles with a knife.

I just stood there anxiously as Grounders surrounded me.

"It's true," I heard one mutter. They were all staring at the dried black blood on my hand. I self-consciously pulled it behind me.

"Layla," Anya approached me slowly. She gave me a hint of a friendly smile. "Welcome to Trikru."

I couldn't say anything as I heavily breathed.

"No need to be afraid, sky person," Anya said and stepped towards me. She put her hand on my shoulder. "I don't know how you ended up on that ship but you are one of us. One of the descendants of Pramheda. You are a Natblida, a Nightblood."

"I don't understand," I whispered.

She smirked. "You will." She turned to a shorter woman standing near her. "Lexa, please escort Layla to her friend please."

Lexa nodded and lightly grabbed my arm. She pulled me away from Anya and the others and towards a cage looking door towards the back of the village. She opened it and gestured for me to walk inside. 

I was about to run away when a weak and familiar voice came from the bottom of the hole. "Layla?"

"Murphy!" I exclaimed and Lexa nodded for me to approach him. 

I stepped down into the hole and Lexa shut the door behind me and locked it before leaving. I ran over to Murphy and threw my arms around him. He grunted from the impact.

"I'm so glad to see you," I murmured in relief and then pulled back to inspect the red stains on his clothes. "You're hurt."

"Layla, you've got to escape," Murphy said quietly, his bound hands gripping my left forearm. "They are going to torture you like they did to me. They will kill you!"

"I don't think they will," I told him before looking behind me. No one was watching from the outside. I focused back on him. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "I kept praying that an angel would come and take me away from this shit." He let out a chuckle at the awful pickup line he was about to say. "I didn't expect them to send you."

"Murphy..." I whispered as the light showed different stages of bruising on his face.

"I'm fine," he assured me. "How did you get here?"

I sat next to him against the back wall. "I was with Clarke trying to make an agreement for peace and they snatched me up and fled the scene."

Murphy scoffed. "Sounds terrifying."

"It was," I admitted. "They keep trying to tell me that I am one of them."

"Just ignore them," Murphy advised. "They are probably just using you as bait to send Bellamy and his gang dashing in here for a fight."

I met his gaze. "I don't know. They are right about one thing. I have their blood."

"What?"

I swallowed and showed him my palm. "They called me a Nightblood."

Murphy's eyes darted from my palm to my face. "Layla Celina, you are officially a weirdo." 

I smirked and lightly laughed. "I missed you, Jonathan."