That's why I..

Chapter Forty One

Clarke POV

Lexa sits up right in bed with her arm around my shoulder and I press my head to her chest to heart her heart beating. We sit and talk for a while and then we stop talking. Not because we have nothing to say but just because we would rather sit in a peaceful silence. It doesn't take long before Lexa's breathing becomes slower and more steady and I know she has fallen asleep. I am not angry at her for falling asleep when she said she would stay awake with me. I know she must be exhausted from all the worry. Perhaps sleep is what I need too but I can't bring myself to close my eyes. Everytime I do I am confronted with images of Pike and everything that has happened in the last three weeks. So instead I snuggle further into Lexa and she tightens her grip on me subconsciously. I keep myself awake by listening to her heart beat and watching the flickering on a candle I asked Lexa to leave on for the night. You never know what could be lurking in the dark.

Sometime just before dawn I get restless and decide to get up and stretch my legs. I get up slowly so I don't wake Lexa but when I am gone she squirms slightly without my presence. I place a kiss on her forehead to know that I am still here and I've just moved and she settles. I pull the furs up so she doesn't get cold and then take one from the other side of the bed for myself and go out to stand on the balcony.

The balcony looks out over all of Polis. The stars shine brightly down on the merchants her are already setting up their wares for the day. I watch the people who move slowly and silently down below and then watch the stars above, also moving slowly and silently.

Soon the sun starts to rise and the sky turns a beautiful shade of peach blended in with the blue from the night sky. I sit on the edge of the balcony, my legs hanging off the edge between the bars of the safely railing and watch the sun rise.

A little while later almost all of the night sky blue is gone and the whole sky is a mixture of colours from red to purple. Then I feel something warm pressed up against my back and two new legs appear on either side of mine. Someone is straddling me from behind

"Lexa?" I whisper. No response. Just a small kiss on my shoulder blade, right on top of one especially painful cut. I wince at the sting and say "Ow Lexa that stings. I love you but please.." I am cut off by a voice

"I love you too"

Hold on that's not Lexa's voice. That's a man's voice. I turn around where I sit and see a face that will haunt my soul for the rest of time. Pike. I thought Pike was dead. Lexa told me he died. She wouldn't have lied to me about something like this. Would she? Never mind that now I need to get rid of Pike. I try to fight him off me. I do not know if I will be strong enough to do that let alone kill him. Perhaps I could throw him off the balcony like Lexa does sometimes. No that wouldn't work because I'd have to lift him over the barrier. Wait! No I wouldn't. If I shove him hard enough he'll flip over it without me needing to do anything.

I try and fight him off me but I am too weak even with the extra boost of adrenaline. I do think I can keep him slightly at bay long enough for me to scream and wake Lexa up. So that's what I do. I scream as loud as I can to wake her up but she doesn't budge. I scream and I scream and I scream but she doesn't wake up. Maybe Pike drugged her. I hope she's okay.

My worry for Lexa's safety makes me stop fighting Pike for long enough for him to say something

"If you don't shut up right now, I'll shut you up myself. Perminantly" he says with a menacing tone. But I know that he wouldn't kill me, I'm his prize. When he wants to feel empowered he takes my life and sanity from me the only way he knows how. So I scream some more, hoping that someone will hear me.

It all happens so fast that I don't even register what happens until its too late to act. Pike picks me up and dumps me over the railing of the balcony so that I'm standing on the small section of balcony on the other side. Then he kicks my feet out from under me so now I am hanging off the edge of the balcony and the only thing keeping me up is my hands which are holding tightly onto the rails. Pike looks me dead in the eye and says "I'm finished with you. Now I have a better prize. The Queen of the Grounders herself. Your pathetic little girlfriend. You can either hang there and watch or let go and die. Either way you'll die eventually. You don't have the strength to hold yourself there for very long. Good luck"

With that he gives me a fake looking smile and strides away, towards my unconscious girlfriend.