DON'T LET ME GO ► BELLAMY BLAKE

06

Loxy was the first to emerge from the cave, breathing in the scent of the woods through her nose. No sign of anymore acid fog. "All clear," she hollered back to Bellamy and Charlotte, stepping out of the cave completely.

"Anybody out here?" Bellamy called, his wild eyes scanning the forest. "Jones!"

"We're over here!" Someone called back, and Loxy turned to see the rest of Bellamy's hunting patrol. Except for Atom.

Bellamy looked at Loxy, his expression unreadable, before he turned away and pushed through the ferns. Charlotte timidly grabbed Loxy's hand, and Loxy gave a tight squeeze in response. The two walked through the bushes together.

"Lost you in the stew," Bellamy grunted, approaching his patrol. "Where'd you go?"

"Went to a cave down there," Jones answered, pointing with his thumb. "What the hell was that?"

"Acid fog, my guess," Loxy replied, sudden grief tugging at her heart. "Where's Atom?" She could feel Charlotte's hand slipping away but ignored it.

"I don't know. Wasn't he with you guys?" Jones questioned, panic increasing in his expression.

"Yeah but he..." She trailed off, searching for the right words. "He got a little behind..."

Shrill screams crackled through the air, and Loxy immediately recognized it. "Charlotte!" She called, whirling around and racing in the direction of the scream. Bellamy was right by her side.

Loxy reached her first, placing a hand on her shoulder before seeing what Charlotte was staring at in horror. Atom was laying on the ground, countless of nasty burns with soothing puss on his body. "Bellamy..."

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, sliding down the hill to reach him. "Atom!"

Loxy whipped around and looked Charlotte in the eye. "Stay here," she said clearly before patting her shoulder again and joining Bellamy.

Pain swelled in her chest as she bent down on her knees next to Atom, across from Bellamy. His blue eyes, normally full of life, were now cloudy. The effect of the fog is making him go blind. "Kill me," he groaned in a barely audible voice over and over.

Bellamy glanced over at Loxy, agony deep in his eyes. The rest of the group had run over now, gazing at Atom in fear and despair. Charlotte approached them slowly, pulling something out of her pocket. The knife Bellamy had given her.

It gleamed under the sunlight as she passed it to him. "Don't be afraid," she reminded Bellamy, but it almost seemed like she was saying it to assure herself.

"Go back to camp," Bellamy ordered after a moment. "Charlotte, you too," After she walked away, Bellamy gazed at Loxy with an immense amount of an unfamiliar emotion. "Loxy—"

"I'm staying here. With you," she declared, bending over to run her fingers through Atom's hair. "Can you do it?"

Bellamy just sat there, gripping the knife tightly before loosening again. He repeated this over and over, his eyes darted around Atom's entire body. She could see it now. Bellamy was no murderer; he didn't want to do this.

Loxy took a deep breath before reaching out to take the knife from him, her fingers brushing over his palm. "I'm gonna help you," she said to Atom reassuringly. His clouded blue eyes were now focused only on her.

She began humming a soft tune that she couldn't remember where she learned it from. The song had stuck with her for as long as she could remember, and every time she hummed it it would always comfort her. Its spelled seemed to have the same effect on Atom, as his heavy breathing slowed down.