𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

16. the chase

A shiver ran through my body as we made our way deeper into the forest in search of Octavia. The dense forest was dark and full of noises causing me to glance around nervously with every step I took. I knew there was a chance the Grounders were watching us, or that they had traps set up, traps in which we would accidentally walk into, but we were doing this for Octavia, my best friend. I had to do this.

A sudden cracking of a branch caused me to jump, subconsciously moving closer to my brother. "What was that?" I whispered, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest.

Finn looked over at me with a comforting look, "Probably just an animal." He responded, trying to calm my nerves. 

"Hey! Over here." Someone from the front of the group called.

Finn grabbed onto my arm, guiding me forward. "Come on."

We pushed through the branches to find the group stopped in front of a steep incline, their lights illuminating the brush down below.

"What is it?" Bellamy asked the boy who had called us over.

"Down there," he said, shining his light on a piece of fabric that was caught in a tree, "Is that Octavia's?"

I leaned over, trying to see through the darkness whether or not the item belong to my best friend. 

"Rope." Bellamy instantly demanded, causing someone to hand him the rope we had brought along with us.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked, making his way over to Bellamy, I followed suit, not wanting to be anywhere without my brother at this point.

"Need the rope to get back up." Bellamy explained before tossing the rope down the incline. "Flashlight." he ordered, then pocketing the flashlight he was handed. 

Before anyone could say anything else Bellamy was making his way down the hill. He stopped at the tree, examining the fabric, "It's her's!" he announced, causing everyone to begin mumbling about how it could have gotten there. "I'm going all the way down." he added.

Everyone looked around at each other, deciding if they wanted to follow Bellamy down there. Surprisingly, Jasper was the first one to grab a hold of the rope.

"Jasper," I said, stepping forward so I was beside him, "You don't have to do this. I mean, you're still healing and—"

"Avery, I'm okay, I promise." Jasper said, giving me a sincere look.

I let out a sigh as I stepped back, allowing Jasper to make his way down the hill and much to my awe he did it with quite ease. 

Finn then grabbed the rope, "I'm gonna go down and then you'll follow okay?" he instructed, the rope in one hand, a torch in the other.

I nodded, watching as he made it down easily. Once he had made it down to the bottom, he turned to look up at me. "Come on!"

I grabbed the rope and let out a sigh. It couldn't be that hard getting down there, I mean Finn did it with one hand.

I started my decent to the bottom of the hill, I was almost there when my foot caught on a rock causing me to basically roll down the rest of the hill.

"Avery!" Finn called, rushing to help me up.

"I'm okay!" I yelled, quickly pushing myself up from the ground.

Finn let out a small snort as I brushed the dirt off of my body, "Watch out for rocks!" I called to the group above who had for sure just seen me fall.

"Come look at this!" Bellamy called to the two of us, causing us to forget about my fall and make our way over to where Jasper and Bellamy were crouched down.