Hey guys, so I was able to get this chapter finished on time but I will be out of town for the next 3 days, so I will be unable to update. I should be able to write while I'm away but I'll just have to see how it goes. Anyways, on to chapter Ten!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination.
Chapter Ten
I'm pulled from my peaceful slumber when the door to Bellamy's room flies open, a dark figure standing in the blinding light. My companion jerks up to a sitting position and throws an arm in front of me protectively, trying to block me from the intruder. The figure moves forward, revealing his identity.
Kane stands in the now brightly lit room, a pistol gripped tightly in his hands, glaring down at the two of us. Bellamy tenses at the sight of the weapon and growls.
"What the hell are you doing?!" A snarl escapes the older man and he takes one step closer.
"Did you really think you could beat ALIE? Did you actually believe that you could keep her from getting phase two of her programming?" My eyes widen as I realize the implications of his words, ALIE is still out there and, consequently, everyone is back under the influence of the chip. One look at my friend and I can tell that he's come to the same conclusion. He raises his hands slowly, eyeing Marcus with a wary look.
"Kane, you can fight this." The former chancellor shakes his head, tightening his grip on the gun.
"She can't be stopped! The City of Light is inevitable and you're only delaying what's to come." I instinctively reach out and latch onto Bellamy's arm, praying that so,show we can calm the quickly escalating situation. The boy next to me swallows thickly, gaze trained on the pistol aimed at him.
"We can stop her, we've done it before. You know what will happen if you let her control you again, she'll destroy everything!" The older man shouts in anger.
"Shut up! You almost cost us everything! I should've killed you when I had the chance in the throne room." An unknown expression overtakes his face, it's something that I've never seen before. My gut twists at the malice that shines through his gaze, a sadistic smile creeping onto his features.
"Better late than never." Without warning, Kane pulls the trigger twice, lodging two bullets into the chest of the boy next to me. I watch as red blood blossoms across the tan flesh of his torso, dripping down onto his stomach.
"No!" A strangled cry escapes me and I lunge forward to catch my friend as he begins to fall back on the bed, eyes wide. I gently lay him down on the pillows, immediately moving to cover the wounds with my palms to try and stem the bleeding. I glance up in search of his attacker, but Kane is nowhere to be found, so I shift my focus back to the man in front of me.
"Stay with me Bellamy!" His breath is coming in ragged gasps, but they're quickly growing shallow as blood seeps from his body. His eyes meet mine and I can see the life draining from him, each best of his heart bringing him closer to death. He tries to whisper something but I can't hear him and I lean towards him.
"It's ok,...you'll be ok." He chokes out the words and I shake my head in frustration.
"Stop that, you're gonna pull through." Tears well in my eyes as I feel the blood seeping through my fingers and pooling around my hands, staining my skin dark red. A small, sad smile graces his lips and he shakes his head weakly.
"Not this time...princess." With that, he lets out one last exhale and head settles limply against the bed, eyes closing. I choke back a sob, frantically trying to get him to wake up.
"Bellamy! Damn it, open your eyes!" Salty tears drip down my cheeks before falling into his clammy skin, mingling with the blood that's pooled there. My heart breaks, every fiber of my being crying out in agony. "Bellamy!" I bite my lip so hard it bleeds, blinking through the tears. "Bellamy!"
I wake up to the sound of someone saying my name, strong hands gripping my arms as I shoot up to a sitting position. I glance around the room wildly, trying to adjust to my surroundings. My eyes land on the dark haired boy sitting next to me in bed, concern evident in his gaze, and I shake my head in confusion.
"What?" I breathe the word out, slowly coming to terms with what happened; it was a dream. The events of my nightmare come crashing down on me and a sob escapes me, my arms immediately reaching out for my companion. Bellamy wraps his arms around my shaking form, trying to calm me down.
"You were dead...it was all my fault." My words come out in a breathless whisper, broken apart by sobs. My friend pulls me closer, rubbing my back gently as he does so.
"Clarke it's ok, I'm ok." His words do little to console me and I continue to cry into his shoulder, my nightmare replaying over and over in my head. Suddenly, he reaches out and grabs my hand and places it on his chest, right on top of his heart. I can feel it's steady beat beneath my fingers. "See? Still beating." I take a steadying breath and manage a slow nod. "I'm right here, nothing's going to happen to me." My sobs have begun to subside and I pull away from him slightly, just enough so I can look at his face.
"You promise?" I know that there are no guarantees in the life that we live, but I need some type of reassurances. Bellamy reaches up and puts his hand on my cheek, looking directly into my eyes.
"I promise. I'm not going anywhere." There's just something about the way he says it, he looks so sincere. Before I can stop myself, I lean forward and kiss him. The kiss starts off slow, both of us wanting to cherish the moment, but it quickly becomes passionate. Bellamy starts to pull me closer and I move into his lap so I'm straddling him, his back pressed against the headboard of the bed. His hands tangle in my blonde hair, weaving into the locks, and my palms rest on his chest. One of his hands leaves my hair and slides down my body, his featherlight touch causing me to sigh. He comes to a stop at my hip, his thumb caressing the delicate skin there. I wrap my arms around his neck and his fingers slip under the fabric of my shirt so they're resting on the small of my back, causing goosebumps to spread across my flesh.
I sigh into the kiss, moving down to kiss his neck. Bellamy inhales deeply and his hands wrap around the hem of my shirt, pulling it up ever so slightly. He pulls away from the kiss and looks at me, his eyes asking silently for permission. Adrenaline pumps through my veins and I nod slowly. He quickly pulls the tight shirt over my head, tossing it across the room, before capturing my lips again in a frenzy. His hands roam over my bare skin, his touch lighting my flesh on fire. Unable to control myself, I immediately grab the bottom of his gray T-shirt and jerk it over his head before tossing it to the side. My fingers run over his sculpted shoulders and back, feeling every muscle moving beneath my fingertips. His hand ghosts over the clasp on my bra, tentatively going to loosen it. When I don't stop him, he unhooks it and I quickly slide the straps from my shoulders and it joins my shirt on the floor.
Without warning, Bellamy rolls us to the side so we're laying down and he's on top of me. He smiles down at me for a moment and I catch sight of his chest, which had been partially covered until now. My eyes land on the crisscrossing map of jagged white scars littering his torso and my face falls slightly, my mind wandering to how they got there. He immediately notices what I'm looking at and moves to get off of me, shame gleaming in his gaze. Before he can leave, however, I grab his arm and shake my head.
"Bellamy, stop." He won't even look at me, positioning his arm so that it covers some of the injuries.
"I don't want you to see me like this." The statement is mumbled so low that I can barely hear him and it takes me a moment to realize what he said. My heart breaks at how ashamed he sounds, how he can't bear to seem vulnerable. I tighten my grip on his bicep and try to get him to look at me.
"Bell, there's nothing to be ashamed of. What happened, happened, there's nothing we can do to change that." I pause for a moment, trying to let me words sink in. "It's over now." My friend shakes his head, finally shifting his gaze so that he's looking at my face.
"I couldn't stop them, Clarke. ALIE, Jaha,...Kane, I couldn't stop them from hurting anyone." I place my hand on his cheek, sorrow seeping into my soul at his confession. It's just like Bellamy to find a reason to blame himself, to find some way to take the guilt from everyone else and let it settle on his own shoulders. He was tortured for trying to stop ALIE, and now he thinks he failed because people got hurt. I sigh sadly and shake my head.
"But you did." He looks at me skeptically, doubt clear in his eyes. "You kept ALIE from getting the passphrase, we were able to shut down the City of Light because she couldn't get phase two of her programming." I use my finger to trace over one of his scars. "This isn't a sign of weakness, they're reminders of your bravery. You never have to be ashamed of them...especially not with me." My words seem to have calmed him down slightly and he slowly moves his arm away from his chest, leaving every scar visible, and lays down next to me. Bellamy pulls me closer to him so my head is resting against his torso, the sound of his heart echoing in my ears.
He doesn't say anything, but I can tell that he's more at ease, that he's taking my words into consideration. Tonight was a small step in Bellamy's recovery, but we're making progress. It's a step in the right direction, that's all I can ask for.
It's early morning and Bellamy and I are sitting on the edge of the bed, both of us getting ready to head out for the day. My mother needs my help in the Medbay after a few hunters came back injured from a late night run and, as much as I want to avoid her, I know that she needs all the help she can get. With a sigh, I stand to my feet and run my hand through my companions thick hair.
"I'll talk to you later, come find me if you need anything." Bellamy scoffs and rolls his eyes playfully.
"Ok mom." I throw him a sideways glance and am about to answer, when there's a knock at the door. After a few moments, the door is pushed open and Kane appears in the entrance looking uneasy. A scowl automatically finds its way to my face and I cross my arms, preparing for a confrontation. Marcus puts his hands up in surrender.
"I just want to talk, I don't mean any harm." My hands clench into fists and I growl.
"Yeah well here lately that hasn't been the case." He flinches slightly at my tone and I can see the guilt in his eyes as he's reminded of what happened in Polis. Despite my accusation, he plows on.
"Please..." I cut him off before he can continue, not wanting to hear his excuses.
"I think you should leave." My blood boils at just the sight of him right now and my patience is quickly growing thin. Before I can kick him out, however, I feel a hand grasp my arm. I glance down to see Bellamy shaking his head, his body tense but determined.
"It's ok, Clarke." His response catches me off guard and I cock my head to the side in confusion.
"Are you sure?" He doesn't answer out loud, simply nodding his approval before motioning towards the door. I give him a skeptical look, not wanting to leave him alone with the man that caused him so much pain. A tight smile forms at the corner of his mouth and he urges me forward.
"I'll be ok, go help your mom." I can tell that arguing with him is pointless, he's already made up his mind. With a sigh, I slowly exit the bedroom and walk into the hall, giving Marcus a steely glare as I leave. My footsteps echo loudly as I trudge towards the Medbay, my thoughts refusing to leave the boy I left sitting on the bed and what might be going on. These thoughts continue to plague me even as I begin to tend to the wounds of the injured hunting party, settling into the back of my mind as I perform sutures and apply gauze, leaving my attention divided. After about an hour, I have to force myself to focus on what I'm doing rather than what Bellamy and Kane we're talking about. I'll just have to resign myself to asking him about when I see him later today, hopefully then I'll be able to get the answers I want.
Well that's it for chapter Ten! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I apologize for the delay on the upcoming chapters. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with this story, I appreciate the support. As usual, feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think.