By the time I awoke the next morning, Greer was still sleeping soundly next to me. I had planned to move her to the couch when I went to bed, but she had refused to leave my side. She had slept cuddled against me, waking up every hour or so in tears. It was evident that she knew something was wrong, she just wasn't sure what.
Each time I awoke to soothe he back to sleep, the spot next to me where Bellamy should have been was empty. I thought that maybe he had decided to stay somewhere else to make Greer more comfortable. But surely he would have informed of those plans, right?
My chest was tight with worry as I got Greer ready for the day. I just needed to see Bellamy, I needed him more than ever right now.
"Am I going to see my daddy?" Greer wondered, her little voice breaking me from my trance. She turned to look at me as I braided her hair, her big blue eyes curious.
Clearing my throat, I forced a smile onto my face. "Not today, sweetie." I answered, turning her back around so I could finish what I was doing. "You're going to go to daycare today."
She let out a small sound of displeasure as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't like it there."
I let out a small laugh as I secured the braid in her hair. "Why not?"
She shrugged as she turned to look at me. "The kids are mean."
My face softened slightly as I looked down at her. "Don't listen to a thing they say." I advised, knowing things were only about to get worse for Greer. "And if they say anything, tell them they can come talk to me, yeah?"
Greer let out a quick giggle as she nodded, excited with the prospect of essentially telling those kids to "suck it."
Grinning down at the little girl, I took her hand and led her to the door. "Now, let's get you to school...and see if we can find Bellamy." I muttered the latter part of the sentence, still confused as to why I hadn't seen him.
As we entered the tavern, my eyes landed on one of the only occupied tables which contained Clarke and Murphy, but still no Bellamy.
I gave Clarke a small wave, one in which she returned with a big smile. Murphy, who was asleep against the table didn't stir at all.
Pointing down at Greer, I nodded toward the door. "Taking her to daycare." I explained to Clarke, who gave me a quick thumbs up.
Something still felt off as I turned to leave, Greer still attached to my hand. Bellamy wasn't here, and Murphy and Clarke were spending too much time together for my liking.
I was almost so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't realize Greer and I had arrived at the school. The indicator of our arrival was the fact that Greer had tightened her grip on my hand.
Letting out a small sigh, I knelt in front of her, doing my best to give her a smile. "You're going to be okay." I promised. "I'll be here to pick you up at the end of the day and then..." I trailed off, trying to think of something to cheer her up. "We can have ice cream for dinner."
Greer's eyes lit up at my words, and she gave a little jump. "Really!?"
I grinned, brushing back a piece that had fallen stray from her braid. "Really."
Letting out a squeal of excitement, Greer wrapped her little arms around me in a tight hug. I felt sadness wash over me, knowing that this little girl had now lost both of her parents, and life would never be as easy as just having ice cream for dinner.
"Okay." I whispered, trying to keep the sadness in my voice at bay, "Get in there before I get in trouble for making you late."
With the prospect of ice cream for dinner in her mind, Greer reluctantly pulled away from me and made her way into the classroom. The sight of her going caused my heart to clench slightly.
"Pull it together." I muttered to myself, knowing I needed to be strong right now.
"Aves!"
I spun at the calling of my name to see Raven, Emori and Echo making their way toward me, confused looks on all of their faces.
"Who's kid is that?" Echo demanded as they reached me, their eyes locked on the door that Greer had just disappeared through.
"Yeah, come on we weren't gone long enough for Bellamy to get you knocked up, were we?" Raven teased, her smile fading as she noted the look on my face.
So, with a shaky sigh I explained the whole story to them as we made our way back to the tavern. Emori wore a shocked expression, meanwhile Raven's face was written with sadness. Echo just looked slightly disinterested.
"I'm here to help, you know that, right?" Raven finally said as we neared the tavern.
I nodded, giving her a grateful smile as I reached for the door. "Thanks, Rave. Right now, we need to work on a way to get out of here. What'd you learn about the radiation shield?"
She let out a low sigh as she nodded in the direction of Clarke and Murphy, the latter of which had just been awoken. "Let's sit down and I'll explain."
Clarke gave us a tight smile as Murphy rubbed his face in a sleepy manner.
"Family meeting." Echo announced as the four of us joined them. "Where's Bellamy?"
I felt a pang in my heart. "I was hoping someone else would know." I admitted. "He didn't come home last night as far as I can tell. I was up half the night with Greer and didn't see him."
Clarke's eyes flitted to me for a moment, as Murphy wore a slightly concerned expression.
"Why?" Clarke wondered. "What's wrong?"
"Avery told us everything." Emori explained. "They're immortal?"
Murphy wore a dismissive look. "Collins has a way with the theatrics, I'm sure she made it sound worse than it really is."
I scoffed from across the table. "You do realize I'm sitting right here, right? And I didn't exaggerate a single thing. I told them exactly what happened."
Raven nodded. "They're murderers and body snatches. How much worse could it be? We're out of here."
"Woah, woah, woah." Murphy argued. "Just where are we going to go?"
"Murphy's right." Clarke oddly agreed. "The plan doesn't change. We stay and learn as much from them as we can so we ca build our own compound. Bellamy's out scouting a location as we speak."
My face morphed in confusion as Clarke looked over to me. "He just left without saying anything?" I demanded, not convinced that Bellamy would do so.
Clarke nodded as she rose her brows slightly. "He knew you were stressed out with the child, he didn't want to put any more on your plate."
"So he just didn't tell me?" I repeated.
"The whole body-snatching thing just really lit a fire." Clark answered. "He's out with a foraging party."
I scoffed, in complete disbelief. "And you just let him go alone?"
"Wait, back up." Raven ordered. "Clarke, you just expect us to play nice?"
Emori looked to Murphy for a moment before giving Raven a small tilt of her head. "We do still need Ryker to tell us how to bend the radiation field."
"No. I'll figure it out myself." Raven argued.
I nodded. "I can help."
Clarke still looked unbothered. "Raven, I know this is hard, but we've all done things that we're not proud of to survive."
Raven's face was set with anger. "I haven't." After another moment, she let out an angry sigh. "Fine. I'll try."
"I'll go with her." Emori announced as Raven marched away from the table. "Make sure she doesn't start a war."
I stood up, my chair scarping against the ground. "I'm going to find Bellamy."
"No." Clarke argued, her hand reaching out to latch onto my arm. I looked down at her hand, my brows knit in confusion.
When she noted the look on my face, she lightened her grip and gave me a sheepish smile. "You can't leave." she pointed out. "You have that little girl to worry about."
I sighed...she was right.
"I'll go." Echo offered, giving me a reassuring smile. "I'll find him and bring him back."
I gave her a grateful smile as I nodded. "Thank you." I breathed. "Tell him to come find me as soon as he's back." Turning, I gave a quick glare to Clarke. "I guess I'll go help Raven and Emori then."
Clarke gave me a fake salute. "I guess you will."
Something wasn't right with her...that was for sure.
---
Later that day, I found myself standing in Ryker's shop with Emori and Raven, the three of us watching as he detailed the plans for a radiation shield. "You'll need to channel the radiation through a spatial light modulator with a calculated phase variation."
Raven tried to act as if nothing was wrong, but it was evident she was uneasy being here, as was I. "And it follow a curved trajectory in free space." she concluded. "Cool. Got it."
Ryker wore a look of slight confusion as Raven turned to Emori and I. "We jury-rig the security pylons Eligius used for the prisoners to handle the radiation."
"We provide the reactor fuel." Ryker added.
"Yeah, out of the goodness of your own hearts, I'm sure." Raven muttered, looking over the plans in front of us.
Emori and I shared a quick look as Ryker let out a small sigh. "Did I miss something?"
"No." Raven argued. "I did."
I stepped in between the two of them, letting out an awkward laugh. "Okay. I think it's time to take a break."
Raven wore a determined look as Ryker spoke from behind me. "How long have you known?"
Pulling away from me, Raven grabbed the plans. "I don't need a break." she insisted. "I need to get this done as fast as I can so we can get the hell out of here."
Emori and I shared another look as Raven walked across the room, clearly trying to get away from Ryker. "Okay." I agreed. "Well, I have to go get Greer from school. I'll see you later."
"I'll come with you." Emori offered, evidently not wanting to be in the middle of the argument that was about to ensure.
Giving Ryker a forced smile, the two of us ducked out of his shop, making our way toward the school. "Do you think they're going to kill each other?" I wondered, slightly uneasy with leaving them alone.
Emori let out a low sigh as she shook her head. "Hopefully not."
I felt extra on edge as we made our way through Sanctum. Just knowing what these people were made pretending to be happy even harder. How many of these people had lost someone to the Primes?
"Avery!"
I was shaken from my thoughts as Greer came rushing toward me, a large smile on her face as she rushed away from the schoolhouse.
I grinned, bending down so I could catch her in a hug. "Hey, little bug." I mumbled. "How was your day?"
Greer smile as she pulled away to show the me painting in her hand. "I made this for you and Bellamy."
A warm smile fell on my lips as I took it from her hands, looking at the picture. On it was three figures labelled with our three names. But there was also another figure, off to the side. This one was painted in all black.
"Who's that one?" I wondered, my finger hovering over the unlabelled person.
Greer shrugged as if it were obvious. "It's my daddy."
A slightly sense of horror ran through me as I looked over at Emori, noting the shocked expression on her face. "Greer, this is my friend, Emori." I introduced, quickly trying to change the subject.
Emori stuck out her hand as she smiled at Greer. "It's very nice to meet you."
The little girl beamed up at her as she shook her hand. Letting out a sigh, I pushed myself onto my feet. "We're going to head over to your house for a bit and Emori is going to come with us. How does that sound?"
Greer nodded excitedly as Emori gave me a slightly uneasy look. The look I gave in return was just as unnerving. How did Greer know what was going on with her father?
---
Greer was bouncing around in excitement by the time we reached her house. On the list that David had given me, he had included their address, instructing me to take anything I needed from there. In fact, he had insisted that Bellamy and I move in, but there was no way I was doing that.
Pushing the door open, it gave an eery creak. Emori and I remained close as Greer bounded into the house, likely making for her bedroom.
"It's weird." I whispered as we entered. "It's left like he didn't know what he was about to do."
And it was true. There were dishes in the sink, unfolded laundry in baskets by the couch, a half-eaten piece of toast on the table.
"Maybe he didn't." Emori suggested, her eyes trailing across the living room. "When he knew you guys found out about what was happening, that must have triggered him."
I shrugged, my eyes falling on a wall that contained a series of picture frames. There were some of David and a woman, one who was evidently Greer's mother. She had the exact same eyes as Greer.
A wave of sadness washed over me as the photographs with the woman eventually ended. The last with her in it was when Greer was a baby, after that all the photos contained only Greer and David.
"Aves, look at this." Emori called, motioning me toward a desk in the back room.
She was looking down at a notebook, her finger carefully flipping the pages. "He was watching us." she whispered, picking up the book and passing it to me.
My brows knit together in confusion as I took it from her. Skimming the pages, I felt my heart drop slightly.
There were pages containing all of our names, not only that but our relationships with one another.
In big letters, David had scribbled- FRIENDS- around the group of us. Around mine and Bellamy's names, there were dark circles-ENGAGED
My name was the only one that was underlined and I had a feeling I knew why. "It's like he was scouting us." I mumbled. "Trying to find the best fit for Greer."
"So he always knew what he was going to do." Emori concluded, hovering over my shoulder.
I nodded. "He told me we were what he was waiting for. We were his opportunity."
My eyes went further down the page, noting Clarke's name. Next to it was Madi's, the words-MOTHER & DAUGHTER- printed next to them. But there was also a small star next to Clarke's.
"He knew she was a Nightblood."
I nodded as I flipped the page, and this time my heart dropped completely. The rest of the notebook was filled with the same words over and over again. Written in heavy, bolded letters.
DEATH TO PRIMES. DEATH TO PRIMES. DEATH TO PRIMES.
"Oh my God." I whispered, dropping the notebook back to where we had found it.
Emori looked shocked as she took a small step back. "He's insane." she declared.
I let out a stressed sigh as I ran a hand through my hair. "They killed his wife." I explained. "He's angry."
"Angry? Avery, he's psychotic."
"I would do the same thing." I argued. "If someone took Bellamy from me, it would be my mission to destroy them."
Emori's face softened slightly as she came to the realization that she would likely do the same thing. "Can we just get out of here."
I nodded, giving a final look to the notebook before turning toward Greer's bedroom. "I'm going to help her pack."
As I made my way down the hallway, I couldn't shake the overwhelming sense of unease. This place was more twisted than I thought.