Cass was strongly against the idea of Bellamy checking to see if the fog was clear, but he did it anyway. Charlotte and Cass hung back, waiting to see if anything were to happen. Luckily, he was still standing and breathing. "It's clear." He calls.

Charlotte and Cass step out from inside the cave, looking around at the area. It almost looked like nothing had happened, like there was no strange fog. Charlotte gave Cass a worried look, Cass passing that look on to Bellamy.he had no one to give the look to, so he turned and looked out at the woods instead. "Anyone out there?" He yells, his voice echoing from the dark cave behind them. "Jones!"

A faint "we're here!" could be heard east of them, the trio snapping their heads in that direction. Deciding they had no where else to go, Bellamy brushing against Cass's shoulder as he began making his way towards the rest of the hunting party, Charlotte following soon after Cass.

Luckily, the three of them ran into Jones and two others. So far, all lives were accounted for. All but Adam. The guilt was still unnerving in the brunette's chest. She should've saved him, she should be the one who's missing, not him. "Lost you in the stew," Bellamy said once they reunited with Jones, "where'd you go?"

"Made it to a cave down there," Jones replied, pointing behind him before looking back to Bellamy, "what the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Bellamy answered honestly, "where's Adam?"

Jones a look with the other two on his side, looking back at Bellamy. A sudden fear dawned on them both, and Cass watched it. Adam was missing, just as she had predicted.

The groups had spread out, everyone looking around for the lost boy. Cass has retraced her steps, looking around for a sign that Adam was nearby, or even still alive. She had been coming up on dry patches, no signs of him, before a shrill scream rose up from within the woods. Racing towards the scream, the Arsen girl gasped slightly as she came across the sight.

Adam was red all over, his mouth was bleeding and his skin was covered in, what looked like, a severe case of welts. Cass identified the scream, seeing Charlotte with a traumatized expression before grabbing the poor girl and pulling her into an embrace. She began to shush the girl with soft hushes, gently stroking her hair slowly before looking up at Bellamy as he made his way over. They both knew what had to be done: someone had to end Adam's suffering, and no way in hell was it going to be Cass.

"Son of a bitch," Bellamy whispered, racing to Adam's side, "Adam!"

Cass released Charlotte from the embrace, feeling the girl's shaking had stopped. She looked on as Bellamy knelt beside Adam, who was fighting for his life. "Bell, I don't think we can do anything for him." She says softly.

The look Bellamy gave her was enough to keep her silent. His eyes said that he was determined to save him, but Cass could read through it. He was scared, Adam was going to die either way. It looked like Adam was trying to say something, and Cass couldn't really make it out. But, she managed to faintly hear the dying boy's plead. Kill me.

As Bellamy stood from his previous position, Cass heard the footsteps of the others approaching. Charlotte tore herself from Cass's side, walking towards Bellamy as Cass mimicked the small girl's motions. Cass made it to Bellamy's other side to get a better look at the suffering boy, hearing his plead more audibly now. It made her sick, to say the least. The poor boy was suffering violently, and his pained gasps made Cass want to throw up. Looking over as she heard the sound of metal, the brunette caught the sight of Charlotte handing Bellamy her knife, which he took. "Don't be afraid." She said.

If Adam weren't dying, Cass probably would've laughed. An eight or ten year old was lecturing Bellamy not to be afraid. It was almost comical.

She watched Bellamy look between Adam and the blade, then back at the rest of the party. "Go back to camp," he instructs, looking at Cass as she refrained from moving, "you too, Cassie."

"I'm not letting you do this alone," she argues softly, "I'd rather be caught dead by the Grounders."

Although his eyes argued with hers, Cass tore away from their gaze as she looked at the dying boy, looking back at Charlotte. "You should go with them, though, Charlotte." She suggests.

Cass didn't want to sound prejudice, but Charlotte was so young. Who knows what exposing her to violence could do? She already suffers from enough nightmares already. Charlotte seemed reluctant, looking between Cass, Bellamy, and Adam before slowly making her way with the rest of the hunting party. Bellamy once again knelt down by Adam, Cass doing the same as she took his free hand in her own. She squeezed his hand in a comforting motion, surprised to feel that he returned it. Before he could end the suffering boy's life, she watched Bellamy turn his head, Cass doing the same to see Clarke standing behind them.

She stalked over to the two, Bellamy looking as Cass with a hard stare as she nodded. Clarke walked to Adam's other side, Cass sighing heavily. "He was left outside when the fog came." She explained as Clarke began looking Adam up and down.

"I heard screams-"

"Charlotte found him," Bellamy cut her off, "I sent her back to camp."

A silence fell among the three, the only sounds being Adam's gasps for air. Clarke continued to look Adam up and down, only to look back at the duo and shake her head. Cass looked over and saw Bellamy's head drop, his jaw clenched. Once again, she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before looking back at Adam. Cass didn't know Adam that well, so why the hell was she tearing up? She noticed Clarke exhale heavily, forcing a smile as she looked at Adam. "Okay," she breathes, "I'm gonna help you, alright?"

The only reply from Adam was a large gasp of air, Cass winding as he did so. Suddenly, Clarke began humming softly, running her hand through Adam's hair reassuringly. The brunette watched as Clarke took the blade from Bellamy's grasp, and Cass blinked out the few tears that had collected themselves in her eyes. She watched as the blonde inserted the knife into Adam's neck, the sickening sound of flesh cutting filling the air as she removed the knife. Her voice began cracking as she continued to softly hum, Adam's eyes slowly shutting.

Cass closed her eyes, tears streaming down her dirt covered cheeks before she bowed her head, feeling Bellamy finally return a comforting squeeze to her hand.

----------

Slowly, Cass followed Bellamy into camp, forcing a smile as people began cheering that they had returned. She gasped as she felt two different people, already identifying who they were.

"We were scared shitless!" Rowan exclaimed, Cass laughing softly before the two pulled away.

The brunette looked over and noticed Adrianna wiping the tears from her eyes, laughing softly. "Please don't do that again," she begged, "I don't know what I would do if I had lost my best friend."

Suddenly, she felt her eyes drag towards the oldest Blake sibling, a small smile forming on her own lips. "Yeah," she agrees, "me too."

She noticed Octavia storm past Bellamy, anger evident in her expression. Cass also noticed the confused look Rowan and Adrianna shared. "Adam was exposed to the fog," she admitted, her voice cracking as she looked down at her boot. "We had to end his suffering so-"

"It's fine, Cass," Rowan explains, placing his hand on her shoulder, "we get it."

Noticing Bellamy walk away, Cass excused herself from her friends and followed him. Adam's death seemed to have hit Bellamy hard, and she knew that he would need comfort. She looked over by one of the trees, seeing Bellamy sitting against it with his head hung low. Slowly Cass approached him and sat next to him, the two sitting in silence.

"I could've done something," Bellamy mumbled, "maybe if I didn't tell him to come on the hunting trip...he would still be alive."

Another silence hit them, and Cass sighed heavily. "You know, I read about this thing called the Butterfly Effect. It claimed that, if a butterfly flaps its wings, a tsunami hits Japan or something like that," she informs him, looking back at him. "Maybe being sent to the ground is why Adam got killed."

Cass notices as his chest falls, his dark eyes meeting her kind ones. "Or me."

"It wasn't your fault, Bell," Cass reassured him, comfortably fitting her hand into his own once again,"it never was."

Once again, they began to smile at each other, and time seemed to have stopped.

So the photo above is a Spotify playlist I made for Cass. Feel free to check it out!

How are you guys enjoying the story so far?