Nova and Octavia helped bring me up the hatch to where the Grounder was being mutilated by Bellamy. Clarke stood watch, her wide eyes unsure of what emotion to show. In his tight grasp, Bellamy held onto a seat belt that he been pulled from the drop ship; at the end was the sharp metal buckle. He brought it back over his head and swung down hard against the Grounder’s tattooed stomach, leaving a gaping wound that began to seep with dark red blood.
“Bellamy!” I shouted, “Stop!”
“Get her out of here.” Bellamy said; I could hear the pain in his voice. He didn’t want to do this in front of me, but it wouldn’t stop him if I stayed.
I shoved one of Bellamy’s young henchmen aside, and he tripped over a risen part of the ship, falling backwards. Despite being surprised by my own strength, I didn’t stop to congratulate myself. There were more important matters at hand. Nova and Octavia were now on the level now and scanning the room. There was a darkness in Octavia’s eyes; full blown hatred towards her brother that I had never seen nor experienced before. I wondered if there was any coming back from this.
“You cannot torture him like some criminal.” I growled, “If that was how things worked, we should all be beaten to death.”
“He isn’t one of us.”
“Neither are you; you weren’t part of the hundred, you shouldn’t even be on Earth!”
My words singed him. “I’ve done more for this group than anyone.”
“Oh yeah, like taking off the wristbands for food?”
I could feel the silence in the room build up; everyone was listening to the harsh words that were passing between us. No one spoke, just listened. Bellamy’s glare bore underneath my skin and I wondered if this was it for us; it had been fun while it lasted, of course, but I couldn’t see Bellamy coming into my tent and wrapping his arms around me. Not after this.
“Either leave, or watch.” Bellamy concluded, crouching to the ground and grabbing something I hadn’t had enough time to see.
Swiftly, he walked up to the Grounder and stopped only to look at Clarke, who was knelt on the ground in front of a handful of vials. They presumed that one of them held the antidote to the poison that had been used on Finn. Why wouldn’t he tell us which one it was? Would he rather be tortured until his injuries killed him than to save one of us? Hadn’t he saved Octavia? My mind was spinning in confusion.
Bellamy, gripping a metal device, walked to the man and stabbed the object through his hand. The Grounder winced, gaping in pain, but held his tongue. Not a cry of pain nor a word of pleading came from his dark, blood stained lips.
Clarke moved fast, pointing at the first vial, “This one!?” She cried, clearly wanting the torture to stop, but she would never give up on saving Finn. The Grounder remained silent.
I was about to shout at Bellamy, but before any more could be exchanged, Raven came up through the hatch.
Her large eyes were wide with terror and anger.
Clarke was more alarmed than anyone. “Finn?”
“He’s stable, for now.” She said, “He stopped seizing.”
Her eyes fell on the Grounder and she studied him for a moment, looking at his wounds and then grimacing. The Grounder was the cause of her boyfriend lying nearly dead on a table; another hour and he would be. Raven rushed to the edge of the drop ship, ripping open a metal cover and yanking out some wires.
“What are you doing?” Clarke asked.
“Showing him something he’s never seen before.” She gripped the two large wires and rubbed them together, causing friction and sparks. The Grounder shuffled away, but was tied too tightly to evade this new form of torture. I had been shocked before, and it hurt in the time being, but was gone the moment the electricity was taken away from you. But the look in Raven’s eyes suggested that she wasn’t going to let this be a quick shock, but rather, a long electrocution.
The Grounder groaned in pure agony when the electricity ran through his entire body. Being tied up by metal wire and touching the metal floor didn’t help none; only increasing the strength of the power surging through him. I flinched as he went limp when Raven pulled back. Clarke pointed to the vials once again, but the Grounder didn’t budge. I wondered if they were all this stubborn.
A flash of movement behind me occurred, but I didn’t look because I was so entranced by this man. He was tougher than anyone I had ever met; he was going to die here all because he was too tough to cave in. Raven shocked him once again, “He’s all I have!” She cried in pure agony, the amount of pain in her voice the equivalent of the pain he was suffering.
Octavia stumbled ahead of Clarke, a dagger in her hand. The same dagger that had been in Finn’s ribs only hours ago. The poisoned dagger.
Bellamy looked at his sister, baffled, “O, what are you doing?”
“He won’t let me die.” Octavia said defiantly as she plunged the dagger into her flesh, dragging down slightly as she opened a large portion of her arm, blood pooling out.
The Grounder writhed in his shackles, trying to reach her, to stop her. It was then that I realized that Octavia was right about him; he cared about her.
Octavia dropped to the ground, dagger still in hand, and pointed to the middle vial, tapping in front of it. “This one?” she asked.
The Grounder leaned in his confindes and nodded to the one on the end. Octavia grabbed it, “This one?”
He nodded and Octavia rose to her feet, handing the vial to Clarke who eagerly climbed down the hatch. Raven followed and all who remained went silent. Hours of torture for nothing. All it took was one, selfless act and everything was going to go back to normal. Nova helped Octavia up when she shoved her brother away for trying the same stunt. She rose to her feet and glared at Bellamy.
“You’re dead to me.” I growled at Bellamy, climbing down the hatch and feeling more pain in my heart than my ankle.
Okay, so, I have some things that have been tying up all my time, and I hate to say that updates may slow down! I love posting daily, but I have only written up to chapter 31. I work 10-6 every day, sometimes later. I don't have time to write in the evenings, so I try to get up early and write in the mornings. I can write during one of my jobs, but I have had a lot of really busy days there and haven't been able to get much done.
On top of that, my little baby Opie (my car) has decided to stop working right. I cannot turn the key, so I have been spending a lot of time looking for a new car (and a way to fix Opie). Yesterday was my first day off in eleven days and I spent most of it standing in 35 degree heat checking out a car, which I bought!