Up in Flames » Bellamy Blake [Book Two]

04.

UP IN FLAMES

CHAPTER FOUR

Moans echoed throughout the chamber, hands trying to reach out past the bars. Cages upon cages with people locked inside, used for the benefits of those who inhabit Mount Weather. Stripped into nothing but thin clothes, freezing, starving, aching as their blood is drawn, taken from them. Their salvation all gone, no hope left. 

Down on the floor hang two bodies, one of a male, tubes stuffed into his skin, blood being poured out and pumped into the room on the other side of the wall. 

And beside him, a girl, eyelids sealed shut, arms dangling down, blood drawn out of her.

And there hung Olivia Ross.

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Liv slowly stirred in her sleep, struggling to peel her eyelids apart and open them. It felt as though someone had taken stitches and sewed them shut, making it nearly impossible to find the strength to wake up. Her body felt heavy, like large weights were tied down on them, holding her aching self against the metal floor she could feel from under her.

With a pained groan, Liv barely managed to slowly roll over, the ends of her eyelids feeling as though they were being ripped to shreds as she finally peeled them apart, slowly blinking away the fog that was in front of her.

The palms of her hands smacked against the metal floor from under her, Liv slowly raising her head and glancing in front of her to see the bars of a cage placed in front of her. Her slim fingers, seemingly smaller than before, wrapped around the bars weakly, Liv letting out a soft whimper as her eyes fixated on what was across from her; more and more cages stacked up on top of each other filled with people - grounders.

She was in a blood mine, and not on the winning side of it either.

Her head whipped to the side, a pain shooting down her neck as the aches and pains intensified. Something continued to pinch at the skin on her chest, Liv barely managing to squirm back and create enough room to tug her shirt forward to peer down. Once she finally managed to peel the thin fabric of the white tank top away from her sweat covered chest, her eyes widened when she noticed a patch of gauze on her chest, two large holes in her skin, opening for tubes. A cry escaped her lips, the sound having a crack in it since her throat was raw with dryness. Her hands trembled, unable to fathom the fact that they had connected a metal object to drain her of her blood into her. 

"You were the last one to be dried," a voice spoke, Liv turning her head slowly to be met with the sight of Anya in the cage beside her.

Liv felt her lips part slightly in confusion, her eyes wide as a hollowed out Anya sat in cage placed beside her. Her cheeks were sunken in, Liv still trying to wrap her head around Anya's words.

"What do you mean by dried?" Liv croaked, resting her back against the bars on the other side, facing Anya. She felt as though she was about to collapse, everything surrounding her hazy in her vision.Anya simply glanced toward the front of the scenery, Liv leaning forward to get a glimpse. There were two bodies hung upside down in front of her, blood flowing out of both of the tubes inside of them.

And it was then when Liv realized that they must have pumped someone else's blood into her as well.

She looked down at her trembling hands, tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't help but feel violated, not only did they cage her, strip her, connect a metal object to her, but they put her blood into someone else and someone else's in her. It honestly scared her shitless.

"Where the hell are we?" Liv murmured to herself, trying to keep herself together. She knew it was a matter of time until she inevitably lost it, scared out of her mind.Soon enough, though, Liv could hear footsteps padding down the hallway, a familiar figure walking past her crate.