Was gonna wait to write the next chapter, but I thought of something so it's coming early! Hope you enjoy this part!
ten years ago.
There was something about the smell of Momma's cooking that had brought Bellamy running to the kitchen no matter what he was doing. Even if he was playing outside with his friends, if he smelt his mother's food, he would dash inside. But it wasn't just because he loved his mothers cooking, he loved how whenever she cooked she'd let him help out, or he would get to put Octavia on his back to help her reach the spices cabinet. She was always so short, she appeared to be much younger than six. As Bellamy helped his mother stir the stew he hadn't even noticed that she had taken a break to sit down. She was beautiful, her long brown hair tumbled down her back, her freckles were just like Bellamy's and her blue eyes were exquisite as a jewel. She was the most beautiful woman in the whole district, but also the most lonely.
"Momma, what's wrong?" Bellamy turned off the stove and ran to his mother, plopping himself on her lap, she wasn't one to cry, she always looked sad, but Bellamy never saw her cry.
"Oh baby, I just miss your dad." She admitted, even though he was only eight, she knew he was mature enough to be told the truth. Bellamy never knew his father, he didn't know why, he just hadn't ever come up.
"Why doesn't he ever come?" Bellamy asked her. His big eyes were so innocent, so unknowing of the dangers the reaping held for him, his fate and future had been so full of life and possibility, only to be suffocated by the capitol.
"He can't baby, he was taken away from us, that's why we can't trust the capitol, they ruin everyone, they can turn anyone into monsters." She had begun to frighten Bellamy when she spoke like that, but he learned to hide his fear. His mother realized she went over the line, her eyes were so tired, her youth was taken away from her having to raise two children on her own, "Go feed your sister." She finally said, cutting through the haunting silence.
Hopping off of her lap he ran into the other and only other room in the house that was much more like a hut, completely made of sticks and ready to collapse at any moment it seemed, it wasn't much, but to Bellamy it was home.
"Octavia I made carrot soup, your favorite." Bellamy said, sitting next to his little sister who played with the straw doll he'd made for her.
"Pick me up Bell!" She squealed in excitement, her eyes as large as the moon since she worshipped her big brother. He picked up the little girl and tossed her onto his back like a rag doll and ran around the house, as Bellamy laughed Octavia squealed in excitement.
"Look at me mommy! I'm flying!" Octavia said, her dark hair catching the breeze. For the first time that day their mother laughed a little, her cracked lips growing into a wide smile that would stop hearts.
"You silly bird, go eat." She said to Octavia as she read a paper. Bellamy poured the soup and gave it to Octavia, but couldn't keep his eye off of the paper his mother clung to.
"Momma, what's that?" She jumped at the sound of his voice, like she'd forgotten he was there at all.
"Nothing Bell, listen, you need to listen to me good you hear?" Bellamy nodded, for all he wanted was to please his mother, she put her worn fingers under his chin to make sure he looked her in the eye, "Something bad is going to happen, and you need to take care of your sister, no matter what, she's your responsibility Bellamy, you guard her with you life do you hear me?" She said, her delicate voice turning to iron.
"Yes momma, but why? What's gonna happen?" He asked. She stroked his hair, still no signs of crying.
"My boy, I did something stupid, and I should pay the price."
Little Bellamy had finally fallen asleep, he tucked in Octavia after telling her a fairytale about princes and knights, but he struggled to sleep after what his mother had warned him with. Just as he began to fade into a dream he heard a loud scream. He jumped up, his heart pounding in his ears, Octavia woke up too, she immediately grabbed his arm and clung on for dear life.
"Mommy what was that?" Bellamy asked, but when he turned to her side of the floor, she was gone.
"Momma?" Bellamy shouted louder and louder, his lip was quivering, he suddenly felt very scared he tried to tell himself to be brave, but even he didn't believe it. He got up and ran outside of their house. Octavia's little feet were trying to follow behind Bellamy. As he came outside the door the black night was light but by torches that five, maybe six men were holding. They all wore black, the perfect camouflage to make them almost invisible, except for their faces that were lit by the torches light. And then there was his mother in the middle of the chaos. She was on her knees, her head down, and her hands tied by ropes and held by two men who didn't have torches. Bellamy tried to scream, tried to move, but he was frozen, completely stuck, like something stopped him from moving, and like his mouth was glued shut.
"Hey – what's that?" One of the men with torches yelled. His voice was loud and low, it reminded Bellamy of a lion's roar.
"It's her kids." Said another, his voice almost the same. Octavia wrapped her arms around Bellamy's leg and hid behind him, he could hear her small whimpers. Then his mother looked up, he couldn't see her face, but he could hear her wailing both of their names, it sounded almost not like a human, Bellamy was shaking so fast, he'd never been this afraid.
"Mommy!" It was Octavia, Bellamy didn't know how to protect her from his, he was failing the one promise he made, the most important thing his life was for. One of the guards raised his hand to hit his mother, he wanted to run, but he couldn't move, Octavia's fingers dug into his skin.
"Hey, Criskon, not in front of those kids." Said another one. The Guard who was wavering, ready to hit, turned.
"They need to learn that they can't do what she did." Criskon said, and slapped his mother, the power of it throwing Bellamy's mother to the ground, but the ropes pulled her right back up.
"NO!" Bellamy had found his voice, he left Octavia at the house and ran up to the guard, punching him as hard as he could in the leg. The man turned around and grabbed Bellamy by the arm, twisting it, making Bellamy feel as if it would pop out.
"Von! Let the brat go." Criskon said, pulling out a knife, Octavia screamed at the top of her lungs, Bellamy's eyes were filled with tears, "They did nothing wrong, just this bitch did." Criskon kicked their mother in the stomach, her body practically leaped back from the impact.
"No! Stop it!" Bellamy screamed as the man let him go, giving him the feeling in his arm back, but not removing the fact that everything hurt. The man who twisted his arm got down on his knees to where Bellamy laid on the cold, dirt ground, "Close your eyes kids." He said, loud enough for Octavia to hear to. Bellamy wouldn't, but he needed Octavia to.
"Do what he says Octavia." He screamed at her, making sure she wouldn't remember or have nightmares, Bellamy was ready for the worst.
"Brave kid," Von said, "But don't ever do what she did."
With that Criskon bent over and raised his knife to their mother.
"Please! Please don't kill her I – I – I'll do anything!" Bellamy screamed in a complete fit of tears.
….
"Bellamy! Bellamy! Bell wake up!" Clarke screamed at him, grabbing his sweaty body and shaking it, trying to wake up the screaming boy. He woke up with a jolt, his whole body practically having a shock go through him.
"Mom!" He yelled, his eyes opening wide, sweat dripping everywhere, Clarke hadn't ever seen him like this, "Clarke.. what, what are you doing in here?" Bellamy asked, he was back, it was just a dream, he had this dream a lot, of the night he lost his mother to the capitol, the night his childhood was ripped from him.
"You were screaming, I came to check on you." She admitted, her face was lit only a little by the candle by his bed, her blue and green eyes practically dancing from the flames, "was it a nightmare about your mom?" She asked.
"Don't act like you care." He said, finding his voice again, deepening it to stop looking vulnerable, he used his sleeve to try to remove some sweat.
"Okay, look we don't have to do this Bell, not here." She said, he had pushed enough buttons in a matter of moments, she was done putting up walls, at least for right now, "I do care, I remember that night too, I remember when you came to my house, I remember that one time we actually connected Bellamy, cause whether you like it or not I do care about you and I always will do yes. So you don't get to tell me how I feel." She pushed back some of her blonde hair, she hated admitting that she cared, she didn't even know why she did, all they did was nicker. But maybe it was because they had a common goal, Octavia, they were kindred spirits, but that didn't mean either of them would admit it to each other.
"And Bellamy, no matter how hard I try I can't convince myself that I could kill you okay." She admitted, something about nighttime gave her honesty; she brought her knees to her chest, trying to close herself off now that she had completely opened up. She leaned her head on the headboard and looked up at the ceiling, anywhere but into Bellamy's eyes. But Bellamy was looking right at her, taking in everything she'd admitted. He knew her better than he'd admit, and he admired her more than he'd like to as well. She was beautiful and fearless, and the only person who knew everything about him.
"Thank you," He said, it was like nails on a chalkboard to him, giving any satisfaction to her, he usually enjoyed pissing her off and disclosing any feelings from her, "I don't think I could kill you either." He finally admitted, he couldn't stop looking at her, and she couldn't even look at him. He heard her take in a quick breath like his words surprised her they surprised him too though.
"We're both screwed then." She said quietly, her hands were shaking next to Bellamy's, she was scared, but far too proud to admit it, maybe that's why he liked her so much, she was brave and fearless, like his mother was.
"I guess so." He said, running his fingers through his hair, again Clarke took in a breath, this time he wasn't sure why.
"I should – I should go back to bed, tomorrow will be a long day." Clarke said Beginning to get off of the bed. Bellamy, without thinking it through followed his impulse and grabbed her hand, "Stay." He said, barely audible, hoping she wouldn't hear it, but by the fact that she was completely frozen he knew she did, "I think we're both terrified and uh – I wouldn't mind the company." He hated this vulnerability, he hated how easy it was to admit to Clarke that he needed her, but for some reason, he trusted her with all of himself. She looked at him, those eyes glowing in the darkness, he was amazed by how bright they were.
"Ok." She said. She stayed as far on the other side, turning away from him, but she was there, and Bellamy hadn't felt this peaceful in a long time.
"Night," Bellamy said, still facing her, but closing his eyes to try to fall asleep, and try to stop fearing the ghost of his mother, "Princess." He said.
Clarke smiled and kept her eyes shut, for once she liked how he called her that.
…..
Bellamy woke up to the sound of screeching wheels from the train, they were probably here, he just wanted to sleep more. He opened his eyes feeling dazed and saw blonde hair right in front of him. His arm was around Clarke as she slept, and they were quite close.
"Shit." He whispered to himself, he slowly moved his arm out from around her torso and sat up. He watched her as he slept and couldn't help but smile, her mouth was wide open, she was snoring, and yet she looked completely peaceful. But it was time to end the peace and begin chaos. He kicked her leg to wake her up, "Princess, time to go." He said. He got out of bed and watched Clarke's eyes open, for a moment she looked shocked, until she remembered why she was here.
"These beds are incredibly fancy." She said, she only slept on the floor or a stick made bed, never something like this.
"Yea were treated like kings, if I knew about this I would have signed myself up long ago." He said laughing at his own joke, Clarke just rolled her eyes, Bellamy noted her annoyance, "Sorry bad joke." He felt bad for pissing her off. Why did he care? Usually he enjoyed pushing her buttons.
"Well let's get going I guess." Clarke got up and threw her hair into a pony tail, she really didn't want to evaluate last night, they were both scared and vulnerable, so they talked civilly, that was all.
"You snore when you sleep," He said laughing, "Loudly." Clarke rolled her eyes again, wishing she could kill him now.
"Shut up Blake." She said as he opened the door to leave, she followed behind with a knot in her stomach.
…
Clarke and Bellamy walked into the main room of the train; Kane was waiting in the same couch in the same way.
"Were here." He said. He got up and smiled at both Bellamy and Clarke, he was so pleasant, but he killed people, and Clarke couldn't forget that.
"Don't talk to anyone, an Avox with meet up with us to take up to the hotel." He lead the way out of the train door.
"Avox?" Bellamy asked, being the first to follow Kane.
"Yea, servants of the Capitol, arrested for trying to rebel, tongues are cut off to be mute," Kane stopped as they all reached outside, the sky was a beautiful blue and the air smelt like flowers, Clarke hadn't ever seen anything like this place. A giant, beautiful building, concrete and strong, sculptures everywhere.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Kane said.
"That's one word for it." Bellamy said. Kane walked through the golden doors, and Clarke followed behind Bellamy. The inside was even more spectacular than the outside, more statues, these made of gold instead of concrete. Bellamy stood in just as much awe as Clarke. Kane didn't stop walking however; he seemed to be over the amazement of the central station.
"This way, the car is out here." Clarke struggled to keep up as she ran into many people with such weird hair, blue, pink, yellow, it was like a freak show and Clarke suddenly had a headache. They reached the door and went out into a clear street, the change of scenery from so many people to none was what Clarke needed. There was just a car there, ready to take them to the fancy hotel where there would be people , and where everything would begin, beginning of the end. Kane knocked on the window of the car and made a wave gesture with his hand to the driver. The car door opened and the woman stepped out, she had brown hair with blue pieces dangling here and there, here eyes were dark and her lips were cracked, she looked up at them, and her face was half covered in bandages, but not covered enough. Bellamy stumbled, he looked like he'd lost his balance completely, his face went pale and his eyes turned cold.
"Mom?"