Bittersweet ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝟬𝟮. once is enough

      They had nothing to say anyway, and even if they did, no one dared to do so. They only had one objective. Find someplace safe, away from the harmful fog.

     Soon enough, Elliot found their destination. They let the little girl inside the cave first before Elliot followed through. Bellamy stayed behind for a second when he heard his friend scream his name from somewhere in the forest. His heart clenched. He couldn't believe he just lost someone under his watch. Let alone, somebody that his sister obviously had taken a liking to.

     Elliot stood behind and watched him in silence, but she looked away as soon as he ran inside after them. She figured it wasn't the best time to talk, although it wasn't like she was going to start anyway. Besides she wasn't about to trust some random person that fell from the sky. She might be a little kind but definitely not stupid.

     Darkness encased the shallow cave as the night came to life. Silence engulfed the whole cavern, but Elliot didn't mind it. She'd always liked the silence better, and maybe that's why she became it. Less talking, fewer problems.

     The snowy-haired Grounder leaned against the rugged cave walls. Her back didn't hurt that much but her thigh felt like it was on fire. Elliot never took off the cloth over her face or the hood. No matter how uncomfortable it felt, she wasn't going to let herself be vulnerable in front of strangers.

     Trust doesn't come easy. Elliot kept herself wide awake in case one of them decided to murder her since she already saved them.

     Charlotte was in a deep slumber until she started to scream in her sleep, and that woke up the man beside her in the process. Meanwhile, Elliot simply remained unbothered in her seat on the ground, ceaselessly fiddling with her wound, and trying to, somewhat, ease the pain. She replaced the previous bandage with some cloth she ripped from her clothing under her hooded red coat.

     Elliot listened quietly as Bellamy started to comfort the young girl, almost like he'd already forgotten about her presence. She didn't know whether to be grateful or offended. Then again, she didn't care. It was just going to make her job easier which was getting the hell out of the cave and not forming any type of conversation with them.

     She felt calm in some way. His voice was a mixture of low and rough, but it gets softer and raspier whenever he talks in a gentle way. It was calming to hear. His words comforted the child, and for some odd reason, it comforted her, too. Even just a little bit. She hasn't felt that way in a very long time.

     "Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep," Bellamy told the child, and Elliot looked down at her feet from his words. "You can't afford to be weak."

     A ten-year-old girl, with hair almost as white as the snow, gripped a large sword in contrast to her small hands. They were shaking in nervousness, fear, and countless emotions all at once. She wanted to escape, but there was no escape. A very familiar woman was forced to kneel in front of her. Hair white as snowflakes, eyes blue━almost white like the ice they stood upon at this very moment.

     The child with strikingly similar features to the accused traitor stared at her with wide eyes and a racing heartbeat. Yet, the woman still smiled through heartbreak and fear. Feelings that were not for herself, but for the young girl who stood before her. Her baby. Her daughter.

      With bloodshot eyes, Eleanora let herself stare at her a little longer, as if she was trying to memorize her face and reminiscing the times when everything was fine. But that all came to an end when she made a mistake she could never take back.

     "Being weak is a disgrace," Queen Nia bellowed. "Do it, Elliot. Kill her."

     The child shivered. Not from the cold, but from her words. Although it was the same feeling.

     "Kill her. Do it or I'll do worse," She said through gritted teeth, stepping forward as a warning. Her sword clinked against her armor when she unsheathed it.

     The little girl was silent for a few seconds. Then she let out the loudest and the most desperate battle cry as she strongly swung her sword with her short arms. It felt heavy in her hands. Like the feeling in her chest. The woman with silver hair closed her eyes as she awaited her death.

     But the blade never came in contact with her.

     Time seemed to stop.

     Queen Nia was quick to deflect the sword with hers, and she grew furious at the sudden betrayal. Without even blinking, her own sword cut through the cold air and struck across the little girl's face. Red thick blood splattered on the ice-covered ground as the child fell over the ground with a quiet thud.

     "No! My daughter!" The woman wailed, about to rush forward, but with one throw of the Queen's sword━the blade embedded in her chest where her heart was. 

     Then she fell dead on the ice, her head tilted to the side where her daughter remained paralyzed, a lone tear slipping from her eyes before her heart stopped, and there she lay on the ground, lifeless.

     "Weak," Queen Nia spat at the mother and daughter.

     She decided to leave, but not before she assigned some of her warriors to take the child and do something about the horrid wound on her face. She could at least take advantage of the girl, knowing she had a lot of potential to be a killer despite this mistake. 

     Then she left the dead woman to rot, because weak is not what they are, and the Ice Nation does not accept weakness or hesitancy.

     "Down here, weakness is death, fear is death."

     And somehow, what he said was true for someone hard-headed and selfish like him. Well, at least from her observations. She wasn't a stalker. A close friend of hers had told her about them. And he talked a lot about them. The sky people. That's what he called them.

     Elliot didn't even realize he had stopped talking until he tilted his head and his hard gaze landed on her. She quickly turned her attention somewhere else. Bellamy simply bit his lower lip and turned away, staring at the dark wall in front of him as he dove into his complicated thoughts once more.

     The Grounder didn't wait for the sun to come up. As soon as she checked that the acid fog was gone━she hauled herself out of the cave and ran back to where she was supposed to be in the first place. Not with someone she barely knew and could possibly kill her at any moment. She couldn't take the risk. 

     That man had seen enough, and she was having doubts again. It was better to be alone than hurt someone else anyway. It gets tiring after a while.

     The moment Bellamy woke up, he became worried for a slight second when he found no sign of the girl in the red hood. He was sure it was a girl. At least that's one thing he had figured out. He shook his head inwardly and looked at the little girl beside him, sighing in relief when he saw that she was fine. Not a single scratch on her face.

     He'd forget about the strange Grounder eventually. Well, not if she shows up and miraculously saves his life. Again. It was the second time, he realized. He should probably start tallying now.

     Bellamy scoffed under his breath as he walked out of the cave, following behind Charlotte, who seemed to be a little different, chipper even, after his comforting words last night. He didn't speak a word and slowed his pace, letting the girl walk ahead first as he followed close behind with open ears and eyes.

     If guardian angels were real, that Grounder could be one. She might as well be from the number of times she saved his ass. But then again, she could be the devil in disguise. And if she was, Bellamy Blake might've just made an unspoken deal with the devil herself.