Word Count: 3,877
Rating: T+
AN: The prompt for this was "Bellarke + "main gang" + car breaking down + old castle"; It turned way longer than I expected it to be. The scary part is at the end so no worries ;D 5 more days to go of the Halloween week and 7 more bellarke prompts; I promise - not all of them are scary, lol!
In your dreams
"Oh, man, this was the best night ever!" Jasper exclaimed from the back seat of the van.
Monty cheered along and Octavia, who was sitting between the two of them, reached to smack them both.
Monty's "Hey!" was ignored in favour of Octavia saying "The rave was loud enough without you yelling in my ears!"
Jasper pouted, Octavia huffed and Raven was smiling from the seat in front of them while Finn was full on laughing.
Bellamy changed gear to slow down the car before the turn of the road and shared an amused glance with Clarke, who was sitting next to him.
She shook her head playfully.
"Kids."
Five voices protested that statement making her grin even wider.
"Listen to your mom." Bellamy piped up and received a poke in the ribs courtesy of an annoyed Clarke.
He had the nerve to make a joke like that after all the times he had protested Octavia's 'yes, dad'. At least they could be a couple – but only in Clarke's dreams it seemed.
More snickering came from the back seats.
Clarke shared an exasperated look with Raven via the rear-view mirror. Seriously, kids.
Just as she was about to suggest they play a game, the car jerked to the side and Bellamy hit the brake with few very colourful expletives.
The seatbelt across Clarke's chest bit into her skin as her body swayed forward and then slammed back against the car seat. Her head banged against the side window and she swore loudly.
The car came to a sudden stop, Bellamy's hands white from gripping the steering-wheel too hard, chest rising from the sudden rush of panic and adrenaline.
Clarke carefully checked the bump on her head and winced when her fingers applied too much pressure. Making sure that Bellamy was okay, she turned around to check on the others.
"Is everybody all right?"
Monty was rubbing his chest where the seatbelt was, Octavia and Jasper seemed fine, Raven was massaging her elbow and Finn had a hand over his face.
"What was that?" Raven unclasped her seatbelt and opened the sliding door.
Octavia was the first to climb out of the van, Bellamy not far behind her.
He went around the front of the van – his audible "Fuck!" was enough explanation for everyone else in the car to know that things weren't looking good.
"Did we hit something?" Finn made it out of the car, helping Raven along.
Clarke looked around – they were in the middle of nowhere, on a lone road in the woods, it was little after three in the morning and – she checked her phone – they had no signal.
Great, just fucking fantastic.
"No, we have a flat tire." Came Bellamy's voice from where he was kneeling down in front of the car lights. "Two flat tires to be exact."
"Two?"
Clarke bit her lip and forced her legs to move and get out of the car, leaving the door open.
They had only one spare tire in the boot; Jasper voiced her thoughts.
Bellamy didn't pay them any attention. Clarke could see the lines of frustration and anger on his face and in the tension in his shoulders. He was mad and was probably blaming himself for the incident. He opened the trunk and started taking the luggage out of it until he cleared enough space to open the compartment underneath and take out the spare tire.
The guys were fast to help him, bringing the rest of the instruments along and trying to replace one of the flat tires.
"You do realize that we have only one good tire, right?" Raven, the ever logical one, decided to point out the obvious.
Bellamy glared at her as Finn pried the wheel cover and Jasper passed the wrench to Monty so that he could loosen the lug nuts.
"And what do you want me to do? It's not like a tow truck will come pick us up at this time of the night."
Clarke used the opportunity to add in her two cents. "There's no signal."
Raven frowned and continued watching them change the tire.
Clarke looked at the van – one of the tires was in worse condition than the other. They were changing the completely unsalvageable one. Clarke poked at the other. It wasn't as hard as it was supposed to be and she could hear the nearly silent hiss of the air escaping the tire. She frowned and ran her fingers along the outer edge of the tire until her fingers found the tear in the tire. She couldn't see it in the dark but it didn't feel to be too big.
"Hey, Raven." The girl turned to her. "Come here."
Clarke turned the flashlight app on her phone and pointed it towards the car. Grabbing Raven's hand, she directed her towards the small hole in the tire.
"Do you think we can, I don't know, glue it together or something?"
Raven shook her head.
"We don't have the equipment and a lighter won't cut it."
Clarke sighed. There went that idea.
"Hey, guys." Octavia drew their attention away from their current problem. "Maybe we can ask for help?" With that, the younger Blake pointed towards the trees.
There, when the leaves moved with the wind, a small light was visible. And there another and another, one over other, as if they were stacked on top of each other; almost like windows in a house.
Clark felt uneasy; she hadn't spotted any light when she first made her sweep of their current location. But it was completely possible she had missed it because of the dense forest.
But still...
Bellamy wiped some of the grease off his hands on his jeans and got up, moving to stand next to his sister. Then he glanced back to the van where Finn, Jasper and Monty were almost done with the tire.
"We should probably go and check." Bellamy snagged his jacket from inside the car. "Jasper and Raven with me, the rest stay here and wait."
The wind blew stronger and Clarke burst in somewhat controlled hysteria.
"No, no, no. No way." Raven jumped next to her, not expecting the vehemently rejection of the idea. Clarke just barrelled on. "I have seen enough horror movies to know where this is going. We're not splitting. No."
Bellamy rolled his eyes at her. "Don't be ridiculous, princess. The night won't eat you, you're too skinny; if something, Monty will be the first to go."
"What? No!" The aforementioned person complained and Octavia smiled despite the unpleasant atmosphere.
"A bunch of young people, getting stranded in the middle of the night in foreign woods and seeking help from a house among the trees. Sounds familiar?" Raven crossed her arms under her chest.
Finn raised his hands before an argument could break out.
"Okay, okay, we all go; happy?"
The others nodded reluctantly and Clarke frowned; she was not happy. It was Halloween for fuck's sake, this was bizarre as hell. Nonetheless, she helped the others to get their things back inside the van, lock it and then used her phone as a flashlight inside the forest.
Jasper and Monty were trying to lighten up the group but their jokes and antics fell flat. Clarke's words had everyone thinking about it and the group was fidgety and easily spooked by the forest's night sounds.
Clarke was walking few steps behind them, keeping an eye less someone strayed away from the group, but being last in the line set her on an edge and the ever-present darkness around her was depressing and seriously scaring her on moments.
At some point, Bellamy, who was leading the way with Finn, slowed down until he fell in step with her. She looked at him gratefully but he was still scowling and she pressed her lips together, holding back the words that wanted to make themselves known. Right now he wasn't in the mood to appreciate her concern.
The closer they got to the yellow glowing lights, the clearer their path was. The twigs tugging at Clarke's hair and clothes disappeared and for that she felt grateful; one almost had poked her in the eye. Her boots were sinking in the moss covered ground but that was bearable; especially when she had Bellamy to help her not trip.
When they reached the house the group stopped staggered, mouths dropped open in surprise.
It wasn't a house.
It was a full-blown castle.
Over three stories high, with two towers on both sides of the entrance. The main door was actually one big gate, a mash of wood and iron forming a beautiful sculpture of a deer on the run. Five of the sixteen windows – Clarke counted them – were alight though there was no apparent movement behind them.
There was no doorbell but instead a door knocker shaped like a wolf.
Jasper hesitated for a moment and Octavia pushed him to the side, grasping the round metal part of the knocker and letting it drop against the wolf's teeth three times. The sound was unnaturally loud and it didn't seem to belong to the forest.
Clarke shifted closer to Bellamy and he moved closer to the rest of the group.
For a moment nothing happened and just as Octavia was about to knock again, the door opened noiselessly.
She hastily moved back and Clarke could see why – the man who had opened the door was in his seventies, dressed in a black tuxedo with a white undershirt and a butterfly-necktie, holding a candle in his shaking wrinkled right arm.
"Yes?" His voice was low and hoarse, and it had a rasping undertone.
Add his poker face and beady black eyes and Clarke classified him as creepy.
Really, she should stop watching scary movies.
"Hi, sorry for disturbing you so late at night." Raven flashed her trademark charming smile. "But we're having car problems and we were wondering if you could help us."
Bless the girl for being unfazed by weird people.
The butler assessed them with his disturbingly blank gaze and Clarke wasn't the only one who moved in discomfort. Then, he inclined his head and opened the heavy door wider.
They murmured their thanks as they passed him and ended in a dark lobby, with high ceilings and two grand staircases on both sides. Everything was made of marble and shone beautifully under the butler's candle.
Clarke forced herself to smile. "If we could use your phone we would be very grateful."
The black eyes caressed her from her toes to her head and Clarke instinctively shrank back in Bellamy's body, his strong hand on her back helping ease some of her unpleasantness.
"We have no power at the moment." The butler pushed the candle closer to her face and Clarke could feel the heat. "It should be fixed by the morning."
The group shared uneasy looks – uh-huh.
"Master will be happy to host you for the night." With that, the old man started climbing one side of the staircases.
Master?
Bellamy held Clarke back as the rest of their friends followed the butler up the stairs.
"Now do you believe me?" She nearly hissed in her attempt to keep her voice down.
His hand tightened around her waist. "Stay close and don't go anywhere alone. I don't like this place."
She rolled her eyes and was this close to blurting out 'told you so' but that wasn't going to help with their situation.
God, she really hoped this was just a bad dream and she wasn't really taking a part of what seemed a badly written horror movie.
If she died here she was going to come back and haunt the fuck out of these people.
Not that she planned on dying, you know, just- just in case.
Bellamy squeezed her fingers as if reading her mind and disagreeing with her thoughts and then lead her to the others.
The phone in her hand was useless and she turned the flashlight off; she might need the battery for later.
In the dark she could barely see what was around them but she did spot quite a few candles in the other rooms – probably the ones they had seen from the road. Still, she was too far away to actually take a good look at what the rooms were used for. And maybe that way it was better – curiosity was deadly in the movies.
"Clarke?" Bellamy's whisper brought her out of her thoughts.
Stop thinking about bloody movies, Clarke, she shook her head to get rid of the useless trivial facts and turned her full attention to her companion.
He made a little motion with his chin forward – and what a biteable jaw line that was – and Clarke followed his line of sight to see the rest of the group had come to a stop in front of two big doors. They gleamed red under the merry flame of the candle and the wood was carved in the shapes of different forest animals. It was a theme here – forest animals and the sort. Clarke was just glad there hadn't been any stuffed animals; she was strongly against the taxidermy of any living and breathing being.
"Ladies go this way." The butler pointed at the right door. "The gentleman – here." He opened the left one. After that the butler left, just like that, blending in the shadows even with the candle in his hand.
From her position Clarke couldn't see much but judging from Jasper and Monty's obvious enthusiasm and Finn's wide smile it looked good. Raven produced two candles from somewhere and lit the wicks with Octavia's lighter.
With one last glance at Bellamy and his guarded expression begging her to be careful, Clarke joined the girls in exploring the room they were given.
It was...magnificent.
Richly decorated with heavy fabrics in purple and mauve, with gold accents and feminine lace, big wooden cabinets and an oval mirror, accompanied by three queen-sized beds and a soft fluffy carpet in white - it was a room fit for a real queen.
"Well," Octavia spun around, wide smile stretching her lips. "Now we're talking."
Raven ruffled her hair and Octavia threw herself on one of the beds, sinking in the softness of the covers with a little pleased sigh.
"This is heaven." Her voice was muffled and she buried her face deeper among the pillows.
Clarke smiled fondly and did a quick inspection of the room – except incredibly beautiful (and probably hella expensive) everything else seemed in order.
"Off to bed, ladies." She teased them with a smile, finally allowing herself to relax. "I want to be out of here first thing in the morning."
She shed her jacket and took off her boots, she debated on the jeans but comfort won over fear and she got rid of them as well.
Laying on the bed Clarke had to admit that this was one of the most comfortable beds she had ever slept on. It wasn't too soft but it wasn't too firm either. The pillows were just the right height and the covers warmed her body instantly. It was nothing short of perfect.
They were too tired to chat and fell asleep almost instantly.
Well, Raven and Octavia did; Clarke, despite the comfort of the bed, couldn't find a position she liked. And it was extremely frustrating. On top of that she needed to pee.
She rolled around for another five minutes before giving up – her bladder was about to burst.
Pushing back the covers, Clarke slipped on her boots and carefully opened the door. The hinges creaked more than she would have liked but Octavia just rolled on her other side and went back to sleep, Raven didn't even stir.
She was just closing the door when the presence of another person behind her had her nearly jumping in the air.
Bellamy scowled at her in the dark.
"Bellamy! You scared the crap out of me."
"What did I say about going off on your own?"
Clarke tried to calm her racing heart. "I just need to use the toilet."
One of his eyebrows went up and he put one of his arms on his waist in perfect imitation of Clarke's lecturing pose. "Need I remind you who was going on about bad scenarios?"
She broke the staring contest she was having with his well-defined chest – that white t-shirt was stretched deliciously across his torso; it wasn't her fault, really – and groaned.
"Fine, come with me, oh dashing knight in silver armour."
As if to continue the illusion, he offered her his elbow and she placed her palm in the crook.
"I'll let you know," He teasingly brushed his knuckles against her ribs, "that I'm a king, not a prince."
"Oh, really?" She bit her lip to stifle her giggles. "Keep dreaming, Bellamy."
He just smiled and Clarke leaned closer to him when a draft of chilly air reached them, suddenly aware of her exposed legs, and she blushed – she had totally forgotten that she was in her underwear and here was Bellamy with jeans and a shirt (that were serving only to show off his amazing muscles and pert butt even more), so unfair.
"Do you know where we're going?"
"Yeah, I went there before I slipped in the bed."
Speaking of that – "Couldn't sleep?"
He shrugged, his shoulder pushing against hers. "It's just something doesn't feel...right."
Clarke squeezed his forearm in agreement.
"Here." He stopped in front of an ordinary looking door that she was about to completely bypass.
"Be right back."
To be fair, Clarke couldn't remember a time when she had taken a faster toilet break than that night. Inside, the toilet was even darker than the hallway and the only window was smudged with something dark that Clarke had no intention of investigating, ever. It was cold and spooky and the water rattled along the pipes. Her speed managed to surprise even Bellamy.
"Already?"
"Oh, shut up." She pushed against his shoulder and he huffed in amusement.
Their walk back was faster and Clarke found herself reluctant to go back to her room. As if sensing her dilemma, Bellamy pulled her closer.
"It's apparent that I have to keep a close eye on you; can't have you wandering alone in this big castle."
Was he really offering?
"You can always join me on my exploration."
He tugged her towards his room. "I prefer to sleep, no offence."
She couldn't see anything of the decor but the setting was similar to the girls' room. Bellamy's bed was the one closest to the windows and had a nice view of the forest.
He pushed the covers back.
"Which side?" There was more than one question in his words and his earnest expression only made her want to caress his face.
And she did.
He leaned into her hand and her heart swelled with something warm and filling, something that spilled inside her whole body and made her feel as if she was floating.
"The one you don't sleep on."
He kissed the centre of her palm and gently pulled her down to the bed, giving her time to change her mind. Then, he laid with his back to the window, pulling her in his embrace, her back to his chest, one of his arms under her head, the other over her waist holding her close, his warm breath tickling the fine hairs on her neck. She snuggled back until she felt comfortable and closed her eyes with a content smile.
Everything was perfect.
Until Octavia's scream woke them up in the morning.
The morning sun disoriented her for a moment and then she nearly pushed Bellamy off the bed in her haste to get away from the flea-filled blanket that was covering her.
Raven's yell followed right after and Jasper and Monty rolled off their falling-apart mattresses. Finn almost fell through the hole in the middle of the room when he backed away from his own broken bed.
Bellamy yanked Clarke away from the blanket and backed her against one of the still standing supporting beams.
Clarke looked around – the once lavish room was now nothing more than a ruin, a mere shadow of its once upon a time brilliance, a broken relic, covered in dust, grime and mud. The windows were broken; the stones were covered in ivy and weeds, some even sprouting inside the castle. Cobwebs boxed off half of the room.
Still unable to comprehend what she was seeing, she let Bellamy guide her out of the room, yanking the door with enough force to make the old wood splinter. The girl's room wasn't better – Octavia was on the verge of a panic attack and Raven was desperately trying to calm her down while she herself was scared out of her mind. Clarke felt nauseous when she spotted her bed or what was actually left of it which was a muddy mushroom bed, with a sickening green tint to it.
"Everybody out!" Bellamy's voice was enough to take them out of their stupor for the few minutes they needed to get back t their van. His hand was shaking in hers as he glanced at every turn behind his shoulder looking at the broken looming old castle.
Their car was exactly where they had left it and when Finn unlocked it, almost all of them climbed inside of it, hearts wild with panic and fear, dread and unable to accept the unthinkable.
Bellamy checked the tires and froze.
"What? What!" Octavia's hysterical tone made him look up.
He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing. "The tire is completely fine."
"What?" Clarke climbed out of the car and went to check for herself. Instead of having gone down, the tire was looking completely normal. Clarke bit back a sob and desperately tried to find the hole she knew was there from last night. There was nothing – no tear, no sound of leaking air, nothing.
And that scared her more than anything.
"Clarke? Clarke!" Bellamy grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Look at me." She moved her gaze to him, seeing the same fear she was feeling inside his eyes. "We're going home. I need you to stay with me, can you do that?"
His body was trembling and his fingers were holding her tight enough to leave bruises behind. This – his terror – was enough to pull her back from the insanity of the situation and gave her the needed strength to nod at his request. He needed her right now and she would do everything to help him pull through this, the same way he was doing it for her now.
The rest of the ride back home was taken at the highest possible speed, silent and depressed.
Nobody spoke of the happening.
Nobody spoke of the second tire in the trunk.
The possibility of that tire being completely fine as well was too much for them to handle.
They were better off thinking this was all just a dream.
A very bad one.
Bellamy didn't let go of her hand the whole time.
And she had squeezed back just as tightly.
And then some more.
Feedback is greatly appreiated.
- M.