𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

22. the beyond

My back was pressed against the cool metal wall of the drop ship. My head in my hands as hot tears fell down my cheeks. Finn still hadn't woken up and it was getting to the point where I was worried he wouldn't.

"He'll be okay, Aves." Octavia slid down the wall so she was sitting beside me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder she gave me a soft smile.

"What if he won't Tavia? I can't lose him."

"I know," she whispered, pulling me into a hug, "But he'll be okay. The Collins are tough remember?"

I let out a small laugh as I wiped away my stray tears before speaking again, deciding to change the topic, "How is he?" I asked, nodding towards the ladder where the grounder was being kept.

Octavia sighed, "He'll be okay." she shrugged, her eyes wandering to the ladder. "I wanted to say thank you for trying to stop Bellamy earlier. I know you must want him dead because of what he did to Finn but—"

I cut her off, shaking my head, "We don't hurt people. That's not who we are and I know Finn wouldn't want that. You're right, he's not my favourite person in the world but he doesn't deserve that."

Octavia cracked a small smile, "You're too pure for this world Avery Collins."

I laughed, "What can I say? I guess being free for the first time in 18 years brings out the good side of people."

Octavia and I broke out into a fit of laughter, like the ones we used to have in our cells late at night as we talked about everything and anything. It was an odd time to be giggling like school girls but at that moment I felt at peace.

"Avery!" Clarke's yelling caused me to stop abruptly, any happiness that was inside my body instantly drained as I stood up as quickly as I could, rushing over to where Finn was.

"What? What's wrong?" I demanded, almost out of breath due to the panic that was rising in my chest.

"Why so serious?" I looked away from Clarke to see Finn looking up at me with a grin.

"Oh my God" I gasped, instantly bending over to wrap my arms tightly around my brother, "You idiot! Don't you ever scare me like that again." I whispered.

"Sorry Aves. won't let it happen again." he said with a smirk.

"Thank you." I said to Clarke, wrapping my arms around her.

She smiled, returning the embrace. "You're welcome."

"I should wake Raven." she added, looking over to where Raven was sleeping.

I nodded, glancing down at my bloody hands, "Yeah, I think I'm going to get cleaned up." I turned to Finn, "Don't die while I'm gone. I'm serious." I ordered sternly.

"Ay, Ay Captain." Finn mocked, gingerly raising his hand to his forehead to solute.

I rolled my eyes at him before sending a smile to Clarke, "I'll be back in a bit, alright?"

Clarke nodded as she moved back over to Finn's bedside, "Take your time."

I let out a sigh of bliss as I walked out into the fresh daylight air. The storm had passed, leaving the camp torn up, but somehow in a state of serenity at the same time. 

I walked through camp, ignoring the looks of sympathy everyone sent me. I was still coated in my brother's body, looking as dishevelled as ever. 

By the time I reached the front gates, I was interrupted. 

"What do you think you're doing?" A voice called. I glanced up to see one of the kids positioned as guard at the front gate starting at me.

"I just need to go clean up." I explained, lifting up my hands to show the blood that covered them.

"Bellamy said no one can leave camp, not until we figure out what to do about the Grounders." the boy replied.

I rolled my eyes, reaching out to pull at the gates again. "Bellamy is not in charge of me now is he?"

The boy looked taken aback, not expecting me to argue with him. "Bellamy!" he called, summoning Bellamy who was walking through camp.

I let out a groan, "Tattletale."

"Avery," Bellamy greeted me with a nod, "Hows your brother?"

I gave him a tight-lipped smile. "He's fine—good actually. He's awake."

"That's good to hear," he said, shooting me a genuine smile, "Now what's going on?"

"She wants to leave camp." the other boy explained.

Bellamy looked over to me with a confused look, "Why in the hell would you want to leave camp after what happened to your brother?"

"Bellamy, I just want to get out of camp for a bit, and get cleaned up. I'll be like two minutes away from camp, if anything happens I'll yell. I promise."

Bellamy crossed his arms against his chest as he thought about it, "You can go, but I'm coming with you."

I let out a laugh, "I'm not letting you come and watch me get cleaned up. I don't need a babysitter, Bellamy."

"Avery—"

"Bellamy, I'll be fine I promise. I just need a few minutes alone. Please." I begged, looking up at him with pleading eyes. 

Bellamy stared at me for a moment before finally nodding, "Fine. But I'm heading out with Clarke to gather some more supplies, which means you two," he said, turning to point at the two boys in guard, "are responsible for making she she comes back, got it?"

The two boys nodded and I let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you." I breathed, giving him a smile of gratitude.

I turned back towards the gate which was still closed. The boy was looking down at me in disbelief.

"Okay tattletale," I called, breaking the boy from his trance, "You can open the gate now."

A smile spread across my face as I walked the small distance to the creek that ran by our camp. I knew I should feel scared about walking outside of the safety of our walls but for once I felt safe. The Grounders had never come close to our camp before which made me feel secure about being alone in the forest which was still full of trees dripping raindrops from the storm.

After about ten minutes of walking I heard the running of the water. I had decided to go further than what I had told Bellamy, I needed to get further away from camp, let myself breath for a few minutes.

I let out a sigh of relief as I knelt beside the creek, dipping my hands into the cold water. I rubbed my hands together, trying to clean off my brother's blood. As the blood washed away, it felt like I was erasing the past fews hours of chaos. So much had gone on, I needed to start fresh. 

The sudden snapping of a twig somewhere in the trees behind me caused me to pause, my heart jumping slightly. I spun around,  heart beat speeding up, "Bellamy?" I asked, looking around hoping to see the older boy, about to chastise me for straying too far from camp.

No response came, and there was no sign of anyone in my near vicinity. Hesitantly, I dismissed it as nothing more than an animal, turning back to the creek. 

I had finally gotten all the blood and dirt from my hands when I heard the noise once again. I sat up straighter, turning around again. "Who's there?" I asked, standing up and looking around, prepared to make the rush back to camp. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance. It turns out I was wrong about a lot of things. I was especially wrong about leaving camp alone. 

Something hard came in contact with the back of my skull, seconds later everything went black.

uh oh this isnt good