Chapter 4. Show me your teeth
Life is impermanent, you know. People around, relationships and places – they are changing every day, but there are some constants, which are going to follow you even in your next life.
This new college was such a thing. Everything was repeating again - surprised and curious looks on the sly, a new list of books, a locker with a broken lock, and tangled system of offices location, is was so easy to get lost there without a map.
But it was not so bad at all. Clarke managed to get in time to class without getting lost mainly thanks to her funny neighbor next window. She followed his bicycle right to the building. And he even waved her at the crossroads as if they were the best buddies for eternity.
Everything was completely different in a small town. People seemed to know each other, greeting by name, there were only a couple of streets with rather big shopping malls and a lot of people were walking at the pier, mainly because of the good weather. So now Clarke was sitting at the last row during the lecture with a textbook in hands and could not concentrate on the subject. All her attention was drawn to the teenagers gathered together under a tree near building. They were discussing something enthusiastically and pulling a book from each other`s hands sitting with their feet on the bench. Wells was among them and her neighbor as well. Up from here they looked like some carefree children satisfied with the fact that the good weather is a sufficient reason for truancy.
"Miss Griffin?" - The teacher called her, and she shuddered, bringing herself back to the lecture. "Come to me after the lesson, I'll give you a list of the literature, but I suppose you should have had it at your college."
In general, the fact of a student transferring from one college to another was not something out of the ordinary. Ark was quite a small town. Only two hospitals, one public library, one school and one college, for those who didn`t want to leave their hometown, or could not. The Founders families could not.
All Griffins were in Seattle that day when her younger sister was killed. After that, her parents spent almost twenty years not leaving Ark; Clarke's father visited her sometimes. On a rare occasions, once a year, on her birthday day.
Clarke has always loved her father most. He was the one who taught her to ride a bike and swim, he read bedtime stories, and they even went hiking. And now after his death Clarke really didn`t know how to communicate with her mother. Abigail Griffin always kept herself to herself, and this fact didn't make life any easier.
The list of references was not really new, she had read almost all of the books earlier, and a couple of unknown ones could be found in the library.
There was only one lesson left in the schedule – Clarke chose Drawing as the additional subject – and then she was free to go shopping, especially since the weather was just perfect for a walk.
She went to her locker and pulled the lock. It didn`t open. Again. She had an uncontrollable urge to destroy this damn lock with a hammer for the whole morning.
"Oh, come on, really!" Clarke leaned to the side to grab the lock, and two books slipped down from the pile and fell down on the feet.
On men`s feet. Clarke stared at big men`s hiking boots and took a look at their owner. It happened to be her omnipresent neighbor.
"Now I do believe that you wanna kill me," - he smiled. He turned out to be rather handsome nearby, with absolutely stunning dark eyes, green with brown speckles, round face and his smile was a little bit crooked but sincere. He was radiating happiness.
"Oh, I`m sorry, I didn`t want to," - Clarke tried to straighten up, and then another book began to slide down quickly and landed on the same Finn`s foot.
"Yeah, I can see that." - He picked up the books, holding them in his hands. "Well, how`s your first day?" - He ran the hand through his hair, tousling it even more. He wanted her to like him obviously. Frankly speaking, Clarke was already into him, especially after his yesterday's fall, she always liked guys like him, open, funny and a bit awkward, but he was… too pushy? for a second day of their friendship.
Clarke pulled the lock once more, she definitely didn`t want to give up, because she had to leave all the books here and take some drawing stuff, but on the other hand this whole situation with a broken lock and a very attractive guy next to her was some kind of awkward.
"Well, the day is not over yet. So you can ask me later…"
"By the way, about the day... Wanna come to the bar on the pier? We hang up there after the studies, I'm sure you'll like it. "
"We – you mean your Circle, right?" What the hell was with that lock really, as if it wanted to mock her.
"Well, yeah, but I invite you. I work in a bar, so I can treat you today with something unusual. "
Clarke nodded, knowing that she would definitely be there. Somehow his bubbling happiness seemed to infect her as well. Maybe today was not such a bad day (if it were not for that stupid locker!), and a good company for the rest of it would be just great.
"And by the way," - Finn winked at her and narrowed his eyes on the lock; something clicked loudly, and now this lock easily opened when Clarke pulled it. "You can always count on me, if you need anything, Princess. I am always happy to save damsels in distress. "
Clarke grabbed her books from his hands and stuffed them into the locker:
"You wish, Spacewalker." - And shooed him away, before her classes started.
In general, by now everything could count as success.
Clarke loved to draw. As long as she could remember, her hands started drawing something on napkins, notebook pages, even in books when she wanted to free her mind from thoughts. Drawing was like pure inspiration, and often when some abstract patterns and swirls arised under a pencil or a brush, she could stare at them for eternity.
But now the picture was really different.
"Clarke. Clarke! Miss Griffin. "- Clarke woke up and felt somebody is touching her shoulder. "Is everything all right? " – girl looked at her teacher and saw concern in the eyes. "You`ve been sitting like that for a long time, are you OK?"
Clarke has already opened her mouth, but stopped, looking at her drawing standing in front of her.
Today, they were painting flowers. White and violet brunches of lilac in the glass, nothing really complicated. But there were no lilac or a glass at Clarke`s picture. The canvas was covered with a network of patterns, depicting the tangled branches of a tree, and there was some strange round talisman in the center, covered with symbols.
She did not remember for how long and why she was drawing that. Her memory was empty, as if it collapsed.
"Excuse me, I feel faint ..." - Clarke started taking her picture off the easel. "Can I finish it next time?"
"Yes, it`s because of the stuffiness, I suppose, it`s so hot today. You`re sure you`ll get home safely? "
"Yes, of course." - Clarke nodded absent-minded. This unusual tree with a talisman in the middle caught the whole attention. It seemed vaguely familiar. As if she had seen it somewhere before.
"What are you really? " – She whispered.
Clarke could not find any mention of the symbols on the talisman in the public library, but the hope to find something there has already been quite vague. The tree was similar to some depictions of trees in Celtic, Norse and even New Zealand mythology. Dead End. There was only one option. Ask Wells. He was a great fan of symbolic.
And that why Clarke drove her car to the pier with her picture and a pile of additional copies of these symbols.
There was a big chance that this picture meant nothing, just emotions mixed with a common fatigue, but so far she didn`t believe in it. She had never dropped out of reality, drawing something, and this situation worried her.
Clarke killed the engine and looked at herself in the rearview mirror. Fast jogging shopping did a good job for her appearance. Haste blush appeared on the cheeks, her hair curled like a golden cloud above the head, new turquoise top and dark jeans were a perfect match. And even if it could not be considered as a date, still she will definitely impress her neighbor.
"Excellent." - Clarke smoothed her hair for the last time and reached to open the car door, when the latch fell down suddenly, blocking the exits, and her practically brand new Chevrolet flamed up in the front.
The cabin filled with smoke, and Clarke started coughing pulling on the door with force, but could not get out.
"Hey!" - She knocked the glass in panic. "Somebody let me out!"
Flames ripped out from under the cowl, and it won`t take long till the car explode.
"Somebody!" – She could see nothing through thick smoke, and then somebody`s hands pressed to the glass from the outside, then tried to open stuck door. Clarke tried not to succumb to panic, but lost her courage completely. She imagined the flame on her clothing and yelled, realizing that she was going to faint.
The man behind the window pulled the door stronger, and now Clarke could see who it was. She tried not to look away from Finn`s very frightened dark eyes in order not to faint.
"Finn ..." - she coughed and pressed hands against the glass.
Bellamy Blake has always taken care of his sister throughout his life. Since Octavia`s birth he repeated the only one important rule in his life - my sister, my responsibility. His mother made him promise that he will always care about Octavia in the first place, and only then about himself. And so he did.
Octavia was a willful, capricious and stubborn, intractable girl with bad temper, sometimes Bellamy thought that Octavia was him, but in a girl`s body.
He spent many nights in that damn basement sitting near Octavia and describing all the places in Ark she would like to see. He told her about the sunsets and the feel of cold water behind the boat, about all the happiness when you fly on a bike on an empty road. He would definitely exchange places with her if it was possible. Octavia was bound to the basement. He was bound to her. And now, with a possible threat of the Hunters, his anxiety eventually turned into a panic, making him lose his head.
No matter how Aurora Blake cared about her children, she would never give him the Book of Shadows. It was useless to ask her. And he failed to steal that book last night, too.
So now he was standing on the pier in the shadow of the bar`s roof leaning against the wall and stared at the lake gloomily.
There was another Book of Shadows at Finn`s, or it was true to say that it belonged to Marcus Kane, but Finn had at least some chance to steal it. Jasper's father was the head of Ark`s police department, and their Book was definitely in a safe under five locks. Monty`s parents were both witches and often practiced witchcraft, so their Book was always at hand. As for Wells, this good boy would never think of stealing it.
They could not make spells without a Book. And without a spell he was completely unarmed to the impending threat. Another blind spot in his plan was a chaotic nightmare called Clarke Griffin. The same Clarke Griffin, whose dress he once set on fire in childhood. She was too smart and bossy for her five years, and she pissed him off.
Although he had not seen her for more than ten years, only briefly and from afar in the corridor of college today, he still could not overcome the feeling of approaching hatred for her. She was to blame for the fact that they had to hide Octavia in the basement for fifteen years. Well, technically, it was not her fault, but prophecy`s. This fucking prophecy also said that Clarke destined to become the strongest witch for a few hundred years, and bite him he would never give his throne to that Griffin girl.
He was strong. He practiced spells, but the elemental magic was his favorite one. Uncontrolled and fierce. As well as his temper. He could not fully control it until they make their full Circle. But it suited him. His had his throne and the position of leader in his Circle.
So he definitely hated Clarke Griffin.
When her car stopped near the bar, Bellamy was not that happy as Monty and Jasper standing next to him.
"Here is the sixth of our Circle at last, and imagine it`s a girl. We will have a girl in the Circle! "- Jasper said with admiration," What if she is stronger than Bellamy? "
Monty`s glance begged him to keep silence, but it was Bellamy who could not remain silent.
"Shut up, Jasper. This is nonsense. How can some girl be stronger than me? "
"Are you so afraid she will take your throne?"
"You better shut the fuck up!" - He said in a threatening voice. The whole fucking stuff accumulated, the fear for Octavia, small hassles with Finn about their plans, the fail with sneaking the Book, and now came Jasper, who impugned his position of a leader. It all stuck in the throat like a lump of hatred. Bellamy turned around searching for Finn`s presence, because Finn would never approve his actions, and narrowed his eyes, pulled a lighter from the pocket and lit it:
"Then let's see how strong she is."
As a rule witches use spells and potions. Sometimes they have to draw symbols on the floor, light the candles and even make sacrifices. But elemental magic did not work like that. It was not bound to some actions. Owner`s emotions could fuel it, increasing the capacity. And that was the very case.
Bellamy focused on lighter`s flame, transferring it to Griffin`s car mentally, and in a moment the car burst into flame.
"Whoa, whoa, Bellamy, what the hell are you doing?!" - Jasper twitched. Monty was no longer nearby; apparently he went to search for Finn. "Fuck, stop it, she will burn!"
"She's a witch. She will easily choke the fire if she`s that cool. "
Flames flared up under the cowl, the car was full of smoke, and they saw only a vague silhouette of a girl, who was trying to open the door.
"Stop it, Bellamy!" - Jasper grabbed his arm and shook like a madman.
Whirlwind swept past when Finn ran out of the bar with a towel on his shoulder. In a moment he was trying to get Clarke out of a burning car. At this time, all holiday-makers were on the other side of the pier or at the bar, so no one came to help.
Finn turned toward Bellamy and shouted:
"Stop it!" - Then again jerked the door, pounding on the glass, then stopped, and reached out his hand to the fire, whispering something.
Flame instantly extinguished, and Finn pulled already opened door and dragged coughing Clarke out.
Her blond hair flashed golden in the light of the sun, and the face was ashen. Finn led her to the bar, holding the girl's shoulders, overshadowing from Bellamy. The whole ocean of condemnation was in his eyes.
Jasper looked at Bellamy with the same expression on the face.
"What?" - Bellamy said irritably. "We wanted to know her strength."
Are we? It was you - Bellamy. And you`re a fucking moron. "- Jasper disappeared into the bar to comfort Clarke.
For a moment Bellamy felt something like remorse. Just for a moment. Damn. If these assholes were not going to help him, dancing around this girl as if she was some kind of a princess, then he was not going to participate in this shit.
Clarke was sitting at a bar stand, pressing a wet towel to the forehead, and looking at a big mug of iced tea in front of her. The tea was good, especially for her sore throat damaged by smoke. Finn brought it and a towel as well from the back room. And now he was examining her with a worried expression on his face.
Two guys were sitting on both sides of her stool, one was tall and very thin, and he was wearing scruffy hoodie with a red hood and Goggles on top of his head, the second lower, silent Asian wore something dark blue.
Clarke didn`t even wanted to look at his clothes. She had unbearable headache because of the smoke and couldn`t concentrate.
"That definitely was not an ordinary fire, huh?" - She looked at Finn; he opened his mouth, but said nothing. "So it was Bellamy. Bellamy, of course, how could I forget about him."- She breathed through the teeth. "You called me here just to see how he roasts me in my car?"
"No!" - Finn dropped a glass on the bar stand nervously, and all the visitors turned to them. "No, I didn`t want it to happen, I was in the bar ..."
The guy on the left nodded. Clarke recognized him, it was Jasper. The son of Zachary Jordan, the chief of Ark`s police. "I tried to stop Bellamy, but this moron gone nuts. Finn has nothing to do with him, honestly. "
"Yeah, what a relief."
Clarke didn`t even want to imagine what she looks like now. But obviously not the way she wanted to. She began combing hair with the fingers nervously.
"Where can I find Wells? I thought he would be here, with you."- When she calmed down, she could remember why she came here. Except for to the plan of showing off on front of Finn.
"He`s in our old house," - said Monty. "We hang out there sometimes. Headquarters and all that stuff. We can go there as soon as Finn closes the bar. "
"You want Bellamy to finish me off? I`d rather skip that part. "- Clarke finished her tea, feeling cool chill in the throat.
"No." - Finn said firmly and put down the glass, left the bar stand and started to close the bar. "I want him to apologize."
Clarke Griffin was not afraid of anyone in her life. And especially she would not be frightened of some Bellamy Blake. Who set her car on fire. Who screwed up her not_a_date.
She was not going to kill him. Or argue with him. She even did not like the idea of entering their Circle. But that was too much. Even for her.
"Fine. I`m with you."