john murphy, WITCH

28 | Better Late Than Never

"You know," Winnie began as she sat with Finn, both tied to the wall with chains around their wrists, "When my father tried to bust me out of prison once all he had was one gun. We have one gun at camp and you didn't even bloody bring it."

The witch laughed just as she was beginning to believe the muscle memory was leaving her and it hurt. It hurt her so much that the laughs became chokes and blood spewed from her mouth and sprayed her already dirty clothes. Some ribs cut into her lungs as others made her skin contort in bumps that shouldn't be there.

"Enough." Anya motioned to Winnie and for once the witch listened.

"What makes you think I can save her?" Clarke answered.

"Lincoln and the witch would disagree with you, they say your the finest healer around. Now ours is gone that may just be true. I hope for his sake that it is."

Anya motioned to the others to follow her and her sight lingered the most on Viena until the other woman was clever enough to listen.

"What happened to her?" Clarke asked.

"She was on the bridge when the bomb went off; you did this." And with the final say all the grounders but one walked away and the people were left in silence.

Until Winnie broke it, "Seems like being banished means I miss a lot. So, who's responsible for the war, you or my brother? Who won dominance over the camp when that power void was left and which one of you was the hypocrite that took it?"

She was furious, Winnie had felt anger and resentment before but never the amount she did now. Because Clarke didn't have dried blood in her hair and Finn's cuts were healing on his face, she should have been angry at them for the the war. Everything she had wanted not to happen, had happened. Everything she preached for was lost to their ears and it must have cost countless lives already and all of them knew this could only be the beginning.

Yet that was only a small fraction of her resentment, no, they were the reason she was here. The reason she was tortured and became a Grounders play thing whilst they sat pretty in their own little world. She hated them more than ever and it was just as they had realised how much they needed Winnie.

Clarke tried to focus on the task in front of her but Winnie had to have the last say, "Tell me do I look like a witch now?"

Clarke chose to ignore her but the real reason being she couldn't even look at Winnie. Not at the pain she had endured. She shook it off.

"She's drowning in her own blood," Clarke spoke half aloud and half to the Grounder next to her, "I need tubing, about the size of my finger. Now!"

The Grounder looked around as if he had no idea what to do and when Finn looked knowingly down at his shackles, the man did exactly what he shouldn't have done. Finn was no longer constrained and Winnie could only laugh and watch on as Clarke attempted to save the young girl.

"Power in me, power in you, cast the shadows away I see before you." Winnie chanted in her slow and mindful way because despite her anger, she knew this would be the only way she was able to help.

It wouldn't help her though as Clarke plunged a scalpel into her lungs between her ribs and stuck in the tub. The two women came back into the room, enraged in what they believed had to be an attempt to kill the girl.

"I warned you!" Anya cried before Clarke had time to explain and instead of going to Finn for her revenge she turned towards Winnie, "Sorry, you do not get your precious ritual but I have a steady hand."

Before anyone knew what was happening, the knife had penetrated Winnie's skin. It didn't strike the cheekbone but as she pulled it across the skin downwards Winnie screamed along with Viena as the girl was given her scars in the most sacrilegious way possible.