Mother Earth // Bellamy Blake

Masquerade • 3

I stared at myself in the mirror as I finished putting my bright hair into a long braid. My mom came up behind me to hand me the masquerade mask I had spent all day making.

She moved my perfectly knotted hair to hang over my shoulder. "My beautiful girl,'' her voice soft, sweet as always. She always called me that, it never failed to bring the corners of my lips upward.

"When do I get to see?" My father interjected. He was waiting impatiently in his office chair, facing the other side of the room due to my mom's orders.

"One minute Arlo," my mom responded. She put the mask around my eyes and helped me tie the ribbon to secure it. I stood up from the stool once my look was complete.

"Ok now, dad," I announced. He spun from his chair and stood up next to my mom.

"She looks just like you Tessa... or maybe she looks like me? We can't tell with that mask on," he joked, making my mom's smile shine. I rolled my eyes at his dumb joke as I began towards the door.

"Be safe honey, have fun," my mom said as my parents waved me off. As much as my parents loved to spend time with me, they also cherished the time they had for themselves which is why they opted to stay home from the party tonight. I was also happy they chose to stay in, I never got much time away from them. I was constantly learning about each of their professions. They saw it extremely important for me to know these things since they always had faith we'd make it to Earth in our life time.

I was excited to be around people without them really seeing my face. Because I spent most of my time with education, I didn't have any real friends.

I made my way into the large room, it was already buzzing with a ton of people. I spotted a dark haired girl staring out the large window on the other side. She seemed to be glued to the view of the planet outside of it. I snuck up beside her, taking in the same sight.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I asked not expecting an answer. She jumped, letting out a small gasp at my voice.

She seemed really uneasy at my presence, looking slightly over her shoulder then back at me. I followed her quick gaze, realizing there was a younger guard watching us intently.

I gave her a small smile which seemed to calm her nerves a bit. We both turned to look back out the window.

"It really is," she replied, her voice practically a whisper. I could still feel the guard's gaze. I knew his face from Earth skills, but decided to not pay much attention to him.

I looked back to the girl, "Kota."

She looked back to me at my introduction, her expression timid. I liked her already, we were both pretty anti-social I could tell.

"Octavia," her voice going down in tone. I could sense she wanted to talk to me, but something was keeping her on edge.

I nudged my head slightly towards the guard whose name I knew as Bellamy Blake, "he your boyfriend? He keeps staring at us."

This made her let out a laugh before answering, "yeah, something like that." It clicked in my mind right then and there, that wasn't her boyfriend. Sure, she had a mask covering the top half of her face, but their similarities in features didn't fool me. I knew they were siblings, but of course I would never tell her that I knew.

I remembered my mom sitting me down when I was thirteen. She held my arms in her cool hands, her matching eyes softly glaring back to my hazel ones. 'Nobody is to know about this conversation,' she started. I had nodded my head back to her to assure that I got the message.

She told me, 'never tell someone about a crime anyone has committed if they do not deserve death for it.'

That was my first reality check and it stuck with me ever since. It stayed in my mind as I stood next to Octavia in silence. I hope she enjoyed my company, maybe in another life we could be friends. I couldn't help but wonder if she thought the same.

Our peace was quickly taken from us when there was an announcement that everyone's IDs were to be checked. We were told to remain calm and have our identification ready to show. I felt panic radiating off of her as she showed me her wide eyes briefly before turning away from me. I watched her as she weaved through people to get to, who I presumed to be, her brother.

I took my mask off as directed and pulled my ID out of my pocket without taking my gaze off her. Bellamy was wearing the same expression as her, it only solidified my theory of forbidden siblings.

A guard came up to me and I handed him my ID, he scanned it mindlessly. "Thank you miss Solace," he finished as he turned to check the next person's.

Bellamy pointed down the hallway as he tried to step away from his sister. She grabbed his arm, whispering something I couldn't decipher due to my distance from them. His face showed fear from her words.

I don't know why, but I felt connected to this girl. I felt like I needed to help. I sprinted towards the two, grabbing Octavia's arm.

"Let me help," I whispered with heavy breaths. Octavia looked to her brother and nodded. Bellamy seemed skeptical but he didn't really have another choice. He trotted off to cause a distraction, I'm not sure what he did because I took off with Octavia's hand in mine.

We searched through hallways, trying to find any unlocked door. The next corner we turned made my stomach drop. There was a guard coming our way, obviously suspicious of our running.

"Stop right there!" He yelled towards our small bodies. I tried to turn, but he caught up fast and grabbed a hold of my arm that was grasping onto Octavia. Next thing I knew, I laid the hardest punch I could into his nose. He stumbled backwards in shock as blood profusely poured from his nostrils.

"Shit," I gasped as I flicked my injured hand to the side of me. I don't know what got over me, I've never punched anything in my life.

"Nice shot," Octavia complemented me. I gave her a fast smile as we tried to continue in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, a bundle of guards accumulated in front of us. Then out of no where I felt electricity shoot in my body through my back. They've done the same to Octavia. We were busted.