Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one!
Clarke POV
The guard who had accompanied Shumway came for me when the sun was still low in the sky, golden and bright, piercing through the little window in my cell. The post-storm day was gorgeous.
The guard, not so much.
I was woken by the sound of the door being pushed open and I was still groggy when he appeared in the doorway. There was panic in his eyes, panic that hadn't been present the last time that I had seen him. He marched into the cell and wrenched me to my feet. When he noticed that I had managed to free my feet and my mouth (after much difficulty using my feet), he backhanded me hard across the face.
I staggered, my head wringing and my eyes watering and for a moment any formulated plans I may have had for this very situation evaporated.
"Bitch." He hissed, his eyes cold and his mouth twisted cruelly.
He wrapped his fingers around my upper arm and yanked me out of the cell, his fingers so tight around my skin that I could almost feel the bruises forming. I ran my tongue along my lower lip, feeling the swell from being hit yesterday and tasting the blood from today.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, trying to pull away from him, "Do you really think no one will notice that I'm gone?"
My voice was confident but I wasn't. Bellamy and the rest thought that I had been taken to my mother and my mother thought that I had gone back to camp, who knew how long it would be before they realized any different. Perhaps they wouldn't even come back to the Ark, they figured that I was safe with my mother and why put themselves in unnecessary danger?
He clenched his jaw and twisted my arm so sharply that I gasped in pain, my shoulder burning, and in one smooth movement pushed me hard against the wall so that my head cracked against the metal painfully, my vision going momentarily fuzzy.
He let go of my arm and twisted his fingers in the collar of my shirt, moving his face so close to mine that I could see the sheen of sweat across his nose and the individual hairs in his eyebrows.
"Speak again," He hissed, his breath hot on my skin, his fingers pressing against my windpipe, "And I will break your pretty little nose."
Bellamy POV
Abby Griffin knew nothing about her daughter, she was barking mad, and was terrible that taking responsibility for anything. I'd learnt these three things within spending half an hour in said woman's company.
"What the hell is she doing?" Octavia asked as Abby yet again attempted to question the two guards who had been responsible for guarding me.
I shook my head, frustration boiling through me, we were getting nowhere. Who knew what could have happened to Clarke by the time her mother pulled her head out of her ass and did something useful in order to find her daughter. She was still 100% suspicious of all of us and looked as though she wanted to slap me across the face again every time she looked at me. But she couldn't do anything because we held vital information that would help her to find her daughter and she was the priority, not an escaped almost-murderer who had brought his sister and two other delinquents to stage another jail break in her camp.
I would have been extremely amused by it all if Clarke's life hadn't been in danger.
"Let's just start systematically searching," Raven growled, turning away from Abby and yanking her gun out of her waistband, "This is a waste of everyone's bloody time. I have no clue what Abby is doing."
"Abby doesn't know what Abby is doing." Finn muttered, staring at Clarke's mother in a way that could only be described as utter perplexity.
"I'm going." Octavia decided walking out of the med-bay and out into the morning sun, disappearing outside the doorway.
"Should someone tell Abby?" I asked as we all moved to follow Octavia, "She might burst a blood vessel when she—"
Octavia's scream cut through me like a knife to the lung. It was a sound I knew well enough. Up on the Ark she had to remain quiet as a mouse so when we landed on earth and she had first been attacked by the creature in the river the sound had become the scariest sound on Earth. I had heard it a few times since and it never failed to freeze my blood.
"O!" I yelled without a moment's hesitation, charging out of the med bay and into the clearing.
Octavia was wrapped up in an almost embrace with a dark haired guard who had her pressed to the ground, his knees either side of her and his forearm pressed against her throat.
I threw myself at him, my body slamming into his side and knocking him off my sister. We rolled and I smacked him hard into the ground, and it wasn't until I was on top of him, my knees on his chest and my knife at his throat that I recognized him.
"Shumway." I breathed a mixture of shock and fury battling for power within me.
His face was pale and there was a smear on blood on his lip, he smiled horribly at me before taking advantage of my momentary lapse in concentration, to slam his fist hard into my temple.
My grip on him loosened and he rolled, pushing me to the ground and punching me hard in the face. I groaned as the pain lashed through me and I could taste blood in the back of my throat, coppery and warm. I kicked my leg upward and he growled as it connected with the back of his knee, which unfortunately only caused him to drop more of his weight on top of me.
He wrapped his fingers around my throat and squeezed, his eyes manic, "You never should have survived the landing." He hissed, a bubble of blood on the corner of his lip.
I struggled to breathe, my hands flailing at my sides. Shumway opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off when something hard connected with the side of his head. He groaned, his eyes rolling up into his head before he dropped sideways off me, limp.
Raven stood above me, legs apart, rifle in hand.
"Thanks," I winced, rubbing my hand against my throat and accepting her hand up.
"No problem boss," She grinned, "It's always fun to knock someone unconscious."
I rolled my eyes but was cut off from answering when Octavia appeared in front of me, yanking me into a tight hug, "Are you alright?" She demanded, pulling away and wiping blood from the split in her lip.
Hot anger pulsed through me at the site of the blood and I dropped my hand onto her shoulder, "I'm fine, are you? It's all my fault that bastard attacked you."
"Why did my guard just attack you?" Abby demanded, marching toward us, her eyes wide and furious.
I inhaled deeply, spearing one hand through my hair.
"Just tell her Bell." Octavia said her hand finding mine.
"Tell her what?" Raven demanded, staring between Octavia and I.
I sighed turning to Abby, "He wanted to kill Octavia and I because he was afraid that I would tell you that he was the one who made the deal with me."
"What deal?" Abby demanded, although her eyes told me that she was already figuring it out.
"The deal to get me onto that drop ship if I killed Jaha." I said.
Clarke POV
I was finding it very difficult to keep my mouth shut. The guard was pulling me bodily through the Ark, threading through empty sections and dodging any signs of life – clearly not wanting to be seen. He was agitated and he kept using his free hand to adjust the radio on his breast, as if he was expecting an incoming call, or dreading one.
We were almost as the treeline behind one of the buildings when a scream cut through the air. It was high and female and terribly familiar.
The guard jumped, his eyes darting in the direction of the sound, the sweat beading across his brow.
He seemed at a loss for what to do and it immediately clicked that he wasn't the one in charge here. Shumway was and Shumway wasn't here. It seemed to occur to him that the scream probably meant that that Shumway was in trouble, otherwise the plan to kill Bellamy and Octavia would have been completed silently.
"Fuck." He swore yanking me in the direction of the scream, walking briskly back through the buildings, this time not caring who saw us.
He came to a stop just on the edge of a building I recognized as the med bay and pushed me against the wall, peering around the corner, and keeping one palm pressed against my neck to keep me in place. He swore again under his breath, his hand shaking. Seeming to come to some decision he reached into his pocket and grabbed his knife, pushing me against a wall, the cold edge of the knife pressed against the curve of my neck, "Don't make a sound or I will not hesitate to slice your neck open."
A shiver made its way down my spine, beginning at the cool metal. I nodded.
"Good girl." He said before hooking his arm through mine and yanking me around the corner, keeping the knife pressed against my neck.
My heart leapt into my throat when my gaze zeroed in on a group clustered around a limp form on the ground.
"Abby Griffin!" The guard called, his voice loud and unsteady, the knife biting into my skin, "I am here to offer you a ransom."
The group spun around to face us and a jolt of relief flooded through me when I recognized Bellamy and Octavia who apart from being slightly battered, both appeared to be okay. Bellamy's eyes locked with mine and I couldn't shove the part of me that so badly wanted run into his arms, into safety and warmth. His eyes searched mine before skating over my body, searching for any signs of injury and hardening when they took in the bruises I assumed were on my face. His fists clenched and he moved to take a step forward but was stopped by Octavia's hand on his arm.
"Brandt?" My mother replied, her voice incredulous and shocked, "What is going on?"
"What's going on," The guard, Brandt, having gained some sort of confidence, replied, "Is that you are going to give me all the supplies and technology I need to make it safely to Mt Weather, without your interference or I will open your little daughter's pretty throat."
Bellamy POV
…or I will open your little daughter's pretty throat.
If it wasn't for Octavia's gentle hand on my arm I would have attempted to rip the head off the man who had a knife to Clarke's neck.
There was a patchwork of bruises across her cheek and around one of her eyes and her lip was swollen and split, not to mention the fact that both her arms were bent around behind her and tied together. I felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt at the site of her. This was entirely my fault. I shoved my hand through my hair, gripping a handful and clenching my jaw. I was so angry at myself and at Shumway and Jaha and every decision I'd made to get to this point.
Clarke seemed calm but there was fear in her eyes and knowing that I was both responsible for that glimmer of fear and helpless to assist tore at me. Not to mention the hot anger that boiled through me at the thought of someone causing those bruises on her skin.
Abby was trying to remain composed but her voice was icy, "Is that what Shumway offered you to help achieve his little murder plot?"
The corner of Brandt's mouth twisted up in cruel half-grin, "That and more, we didn't act alone chancellor," he glanced toward Shumway's motionless form, "Is he dead?"
"Unconscious," I replied, shaking Octavia's hand off me and stepping up beside Abby, "Let Clarke go or I will kill you."
He laughed, a harsh cold sound, "Look at that, the murderer himself. Or should I say the failed murderer. Your threats don't scare me Blake, we've already seen evidence enough that you are not capable of killing anybody. You are a coward."
I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my palms, "I don't have a knife pressed against the throat of an innocent girl, begging her mother to help me. Your words are a bit ironic, don't you think?"
It was the wrong thing to say, "Shut up," He spat, yanking Clarke's neck back and pressing the sharp point to the soft underside of her throat, "Remember, I am in control here. Do you really want to be responsible for her death?"
My throat closed up and panic lanced through me, intermingling with my anger and guilt, creating a cocktail of deadly emotions.
"Brandt, stop." Abby's voice was authorative and steady, and for once I was thankful for it, "We will give you everything that you need, just let my daughter go."
"Get the stuff now," Brandt replied, gesturing with his elbow and moving the knife back down to Clarke's neck, "Once I have everything and am safely away from the camp, I will let her go."
Raven pressed her fingers gently to the inside of my elbow and I glanced sideways to meet her eyes. Slowly she nodded her head before piping up, "Abby, I can go and organize the packs, I studied this sort of thing with you, I know what is required."
Abby opened her mouth, her eyes momentarily confused, before she seemed to realize what Raven was saying, "Yes, thank you Raven."
"Tell the girl to hurry up." Brandt snapped, his fingers tight on the handle of the knife.
I couldn't take my eyes of the blade pressed against Clarke's neck, it had cut slightly into her pale skin and a line of scarlet was visible even from where I was standing.
Yes, hurry up Raven.
"Tell me why Brandt," Kane said, speaking up from his spot beside Abby for the first time, "Why all this?"
Brandt shrugged, his eyes darting between us all, "Things needed to change, the authority is flawed. We believe in a different kind of structure, one that we believe Mt Weather will offer us. Chancellor Jaha was an unfair ruler and one who deserved to die."
"What do you mean we?" Kane replied carefully. I was impressed with his ability to remain so level-headed but it wasn't his daughter or friend with a knife to their throat.
Brandt sneered, "I'm not stupid councilman."
Clarke POV
I was beginning to get anxious and impatient. Brandt was getting steadily more unsteady and even if it was unintentional, the knife was digging into my skin, and I was worried that in his haste he would slip up and slice my throat open.
However calm Kane might be, Brandt was the complete opposite, all chaotic energy.
Raven had ducked off to 'grab supplies', but knowing Raven she had come up with some sort of plan, so I was trying to remain calm. Bellamy looked like a coiled lion, all bunched muscles, ready to pounce at the first opportunity. His eyes were burning dangerously, and I knew that suspenseful situations like these weren't his strong point. If this were a fist fight he would have knocked Brandt to the ground within seconds. Octavia was worrying at her lower lip but I could see her eyes taking in the situation, her mind mulling over different strategies.
"Where is she?" Brand suddenly demanded, startling me and cutting off his conversation with Kane unexpectedly, "If that little brunette bitch tries anything I will kill this one, I will!"
As if to emphasize his point he pressed the knife slightly harder against my neck and I felt a warm trickle of blood make its way along my skin. I felt my own fingers shaking and slowly I managed to tug my wrist out of the bonds I had been subtly twisting and tugging at ever since we'd been in the clearing.
Alarm flashed across Abby's face and Bellamy's entire face paled, his fingers opening and closing around his handgun. If it wasn't for the fact that my face was practically in front of Brandt's I didn't doubt that he would have already shot him through the head.
"Calm down Brandt," Kane said soothingly, holding his palms up in front of him, "Raven has gone to gather your supplies, nothing more."
"Then where isshe?" Brandt snapped, wrenching me sideways as he desperately surveyed the area around us.
Brandt's fingers were shaking and Abby was sending Kane a panicked look, "Brandt—"
"Shut up, just shut up!" He practically screamed, taking a step backwards and pulling me with him, his breath quickening, "Get my things now, or I'll do it!"
Bellamy took a step toward him, lifting his gun upwards, "Let her go now."
Brandt just laughed, a humourless manic sound and I acted.
I brought my hand up swiftly so that it was between his arm and me and wrapped my fingers around his wrist, yanking it hard away from my neck and simultaneously slamming my heel down hard on his foot. He groaned, his eyes widening in shock as he realized what I'd done. Since he'd thought that my hands were tied together he was entirely unprepared for any resistance on my end. His grip loosened on the knife, giving me enough time to slip out of his grip and twist around, keeping my fingers wrapped around his and slamming my knee upwards into his crotch.
He moaned, dropping the knife and doubling over.
I raised my hand to punch him again but another shape blurred past me and Bellamy was on him. He shoved him to the ground and dropped on top of him, not giving him a chance to blink before he smashed his fist hard into his Brandt's face. Blood spurted from his nose and I heard a loud crack as Bellamy's knuckles connected hard against his face again and again.
Bellamy POV
All I could see was red. Brandt was me and Shumway and my father and the guards who had slept with my mother.
"Bell." Her voice broke through the haze of anger and I felt her fingers wrap around my upper arm.
My fist was raised, ready to strike the face of the unconscious man beneath me, blood smeared across his pale skin, his nose skew.
"Bell." She repeated and I looked up to see her crouched beside me, the patchwork bruises a mess of purple and blue up close and a tiny centimetre cut in her neck.
I reached up and gently touched the bruise across his cheekbone with the tips of my fingers. Her eyes were wide and unafraid and searching mine, "I'm so sorry." I said quietly, unable to meet her eyes.
All my fault.
I pulled myself to my feet and turned away from the battered man on the ground, and away from the girl with the bruises that I may as well have put there myself.
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