Look What You're Doing To Me-Chapter 1
Phoebe began her day like anyone else on the Ark. She headed down to the Mess Hall in search of her daily rations. She wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone particularly a guard, unless it was Cadet Blake. She could only trust him. For his mother had been the one to look after her after her parents' death. The best way she could repay her was knocking people off of her list. The male officers who abused her were served revenge from Phoebe. With her parents' deaths, Phoebe had gotten quite lonely and so she taught herself skills. Her dream as a girl was to go to Earth and become a Queen. Nowadays she knew she had been ridiculous. She was a cold-blooded killer, an assassin in her own right. Her worn black long-sleeved shirt helped her blend in with the crowd of people swarming around the mess to get their food to bring home to their families. Family was a tricky word. It didn't quite describe what she had lost. She had lost a place to stay and love, but not family. She refused to believe that.
The flow of the mess eventually established itself. She was swimming upstream, but it allowed her to pick-pocket without being noticed. No one paid attention to the 17 year old with a hood over her face. But today someone did. And that would be the end of her freedom.
Marcus Kane was not a particularly nice person, but not a mean one. Abby Griffin disagreed. He was always quick to make a brutal decision, one that would cost lives. Later that year it would be his idea to send Phoebe Johnson to the ground. To the man who knew almost everything that happened on the Ark, Phoebe had always blended in. She was the child who had seen her parents floated and not said a word. She floated through the daycare system until she disappeared without a trace. Her distinct white hair had always set her apart from the other children her age. It was a condition called vitiligo and it had only affected the pigment in her hair. With her wispy white hair she floated through the Ark like a fairy as a child. She was never particularly happy, but never the opposite as well. Marcus Kane thought he noticed something in the mess hall. Someone had just nicked a pack of cigarettes and two extra sets of rations and a watch for good measure. The figure floated away towards the residential area. He decided her would follow. His two personal guards were ordered to track down this pick-pocket. Marcus Kane had a strictly no-crime policy. And for the last four years a serial killer had gotten away with the murder of dozens of officers. Perhaps the pickpocket knew something. Never in a million dreams would he have guessed they were the same person.
Phoebe's pockets where comfortably full with the fruits of her labor. The watch would be a gift for Octavia, who had recently just turned sixteen. The rations were for herself and Octavia. She could have gotten more, but it was too risky. The cigarettes were for Bellamy and her to share later that night.
Mercury must have been in retrograde or something because she felt like someone was following her. In fact, three people were following her. She counted their steps and their pace. It was three men, maybe 150-200 pounds. She took a sharp left and climbed up into the vent where she had spent her childhood. Stuffed animals, dirty clothes riddled with holes, and empty ration packets littered her little hideout. Just as she was closing the grate she saw the three men approaching. She had made it in the nick of time. She watched them silently, none of them were particularly handsome, and she thought about why that had occurred to her. She had never been super interested in anyone's physical appearance before. She dismissed the thought. And removed her hoodie as the vents tended to get quite warm. She braided her hair messily and ran her hands through it. The braid was as good as it was gonna get. She placed a hand forward reaching for the screwdriver to seal the vent. Her hand fell and she collapsed through the grate. Shit. She made quite the commotion when she returned to the ground. Marcus Kane whipped around and saw the streak of white hair and knew it was her. Phoebe knew she was royally fucked. She got up to run and that she did. She could hear Kane and his guards in pursuit and she knew there was no way to outrun them, she would have to outsmart them.
She hadn't been sighted in years and was becoming quite the legend in the inner circle of the Ark's leaders. Some wondered if she had ever existed. And boy oh boy she knew they knew the truth now. She had been so careful, for her to get caught like this was the ultimate worst thing that could have happened. She knew she would be floated if she was caught. That thought was what fueled her to run raster. She was a whole hallway ahead of them when she saw the open door to the Blake's. She sprinted inside and shut the door and watched them run by pursuing a non-existent entity. A sigh of relief exited her mouth as she slid down the door. No one was home, except for Octavia who was thrilled to see her friend. Phoebe opened the door slot and helped Octavia up right as the door was broken down. Motherfucker. That was the only thing she had to say.
Kane knew she had to be in one of the houses. That was the only logical explanation. No human could run that fast, it would be a waste of oxygen. He was halfway through the hallway when he broke down the correct door. Finally. She looked like a deer in the headights when the guards pointed their guns towards her. Phoebe knew there was only one course of action to keep her and Octavia alive. She roughly shoved Octavia back down into the floor and slid across the room knocking through the guard's legs. She brought her fists against their kneecaps as she slid through the wide legs of Kane. She quickly got up when she went flying backwards. Someone had snatched her braid. Her mother had always told her that long hair was a hassle. Oh how she wished for her mother then. She felt the butt of a gun smack her in the back of the head and heard Octavia screaming in the distance. Her vision was fuzzy but this was not how she was going to go down. She pulled out her knife and began to fight the guard who had a hold of her hair. No one touched Grandma's hair. She slit his throat with relative ease. This shocked Kane and the last guard. She felt the butt of the gun fall down again and this time it was strong enough to knock her out. Shit was the last word that crossed her mind.
The room spun as she came to. Abby Griffin stood next to her monitoring vitals. Murmurs of a conversation came into being.
"Was that necessary Marcus?"
"She ran"
"You aren't exactly a welcoming person"
"Shut the fuck up"
"She's awake"
"How are you feeling Phoebe?"
"I feel like an asshole hit me in the head twice".
She realized as she attempted to punch Kane that she was chained to the bed. Fuck.
"Why am I restrained?"
"You killed a guard"
"Good"
"You also show no lack of remorse, you are sentenced to death"
"Whoops!"
"Take her away"
I was tossed in a dark damp cell in the "sky". It was a shitty situation. I had one window allowing me to see the beauty of space. It wasn't as pretty knowing I would be dying in a year. I had finally discovered that the bed was somewhat comfortable, so I journeyed over there. I had barely closed my eyes before Kane came storming in. I scrambled for the door to meet him. The top of my head met his eyes. But I wasn't scared.
"What do you want. I was just enjoying my new accommodations Kane."
"I know you did it"
"I am afraid I do not know what you're talking about"
"I think you do"
"Enlighten me"
"You're the one who's responsible for twenty three guards dying"
"No shit Sherlock"
"What does that mean?"
"It's a saying"
"It's a bad one"
"Is this banter, Kane?"
"See you tomorrow"
"What's tomorrow?"
"I'm sending you to the ground"
Okay, breathe Phoebe. I wasn't afraid necessarily but I wasn't fearless. I was going home. Well, to my real home. The Ark was no home of mine. I knew my chances of survival were low, but still there. If the radiation didn't kill me first, I would starve. There is no way of knowing whether or not there is edible food down there. I have spent my whole life on a mutated space station and tomorrow I die. Life is a little messed up at the moment. I should have tried to seduce Kane into letting me be floated. It would be less painful than radiation slowly killing me.
The morning came faster than Phoebe would have liked. Kane's two guards (one of them was new- oops!) escorted her to the dropship. A metal bracelet was inserted and she was the only one who didn't groan with the pain. Her seat was special. She was locked in. She turned to see Kane.
"So you don't die"
"You son of a-"
The dropship doors shut and all of a sudden they began their descent. Home.
