1 + 2 | EMBERS TO FIRESTORM | THE 100 | JOHN MURPHY

NINETEEN

N I N E T E E N

The dark was thick as Bellamy and Althea ran through the forest. It clung to their skin, like a blanket, constricting and suffocating them slowly but surely. No matter how hard you tried to escape it, it latched on tighter with its sharpened talons.

She did not feel fear; only courage as she put one foot in front of the other, following closely behind Bellamy. Perhaps the absence of the fear was what drove her, forcing her on despite her continued terror in the face of death.

Even Murphy's reaction to her aiding Charlotte slipped her mind. Helping such a small girl, a child sent to the ground to die was prioritised.

The shouts, the screams from Murphy were lost in her mind as finally they found Charlotte. Bellamy takes a hold of her shoulders as she tries to run from him. "Let me go!" She cries, she begs her voice wavering and her eyes watering.

"Charlotte," Althea trails off, stepping forward and brushing a hand over her hair softly. She snaps her head away. Her hand retracts.

"We're trying to help you," Bellamy tries, his motions desperate.

But Charlotte was strong willed. "I'm not your sister, just stop helping me!" She exclaims, shocking Bellamy in his stance. He cared ever so strongly for his sister: was prepared to protect her with his life. Althea felt sympathetic for him as Charlotte struck his weakness, taking her chance to scream out to Murphy, "I'm over here!"

"Charlotte, he'll kill you," She whispers loudly, keeping her voice down in caution.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Bellamy hisses, frowning at the girl he so desperately wanted to help.

"Just go, okay? I'm the one they want." Admirably, she puts on a brave face. But it was all to familiar to Althea for her to believe it. Pressing her lips together, not having the words or the strength to pull her from her high horse. She found it saddening seeing such a youthful face contorted by the expression which was painted across her face. She knew what she had done was wrong, and now she was paying for it. Charlotte was beating herself up, tearing herself apart.

"Listen to me, I won't leave you," He tells her with a strength to his voice.

"Please, Bellamy." Her voice was so frail and fragile that Althea feared she was about to fall apart in Bellamy's arms. The determination to face up to her crime was too much, taking her chance again she attempts to run towards the sound of Murphy's furious voice. But Bellamy is quick, frantic even, as he lifts her with ease over his shoulder.

"Come on, we need to move," He says to Althea, taking the lead. But she didn't mind, she just didn't want anymore death. So she followed him deeper into the forest, delving into the darkness of the night with only one thing on the mind.

-

"Charlotte!" Murphy shouts again into the night, his torch illuminating his path to destruction.

"They're closing in, Bellamy," Althea tells him, panic rising into her throat and worsening as they reach the cliff's edge. It was their end.

Sick to her stomach as she looks over to Bellamy, breathing heavily. Meeting his eyes brought her misery. He was desperate, frantic even, to save Charlotte and now they're run out of time.

"Bellamy!" Murphy calls as he bursts into the clearing of the cliff edge. "You can't fight all of us, give her over." But then his eyes meet Altheas and his lips press together, shocked at the determination flickering in her eyes like a strengthened flame.

"This has gone to far!" Clarke exclaims as she too enters the clearing. Regret is clear on her expression. Her features which heavily reminded Althea of Abby, the woman who had killed her parents, intentionally or not, and had gotten her locked up. Swallowing her hate, she stands strong. "Just calm down, we'll talk about this."

Tearing his eyes away from Althea at her words, Murphy grabs Clarke viciously and pushes a knife to her throat. Too infuriated to make any rational decisions, her speaks through clenched teeth. "I'm sick of listening to you talk."

Althea did not let the tears fall, nor did she let them surface. Today she held them down, all cried out for the explosive boy she had found herself trusting. Now, she filled with regret as she watched him threaten Clarke as Finn took a step towards him, ever the peace keeper.

"No, please!" Charlotte cries out, stepping forwards towards the man who wanted her dead, the man who wanted to see her fragile body swinging from a tree. "Please don't hurt her." She reduces herself to begging to Murphy, striking Althea hard. He was not the man she thought he was. Not as gentle as he was with her when they were alone.

She shivered as she remembered how she had slept in his arms only last night, him comforting her when she was in her most vulnerable moments and the urge she had felt to press her lips to his. Now, her feeling were torn. The duty which burdened her soul burned into her, branding her the weak as she felt herself praying for the life of Charlotte to be preserved, but still wanting to pull Murphy away and hold him until he resolved into calm ocean waves.

"Don't hurt her? Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right no and I'll let her go," Murphy dares to deal. With his every word, Althea feels her heart being clawed from her chest as finally the tears over flow, seeping down her expression silently.

Bellamy sneaks a look to her at his side, her cheeks glistened in the dim light of the torches. Her eyes sparkled, not beautifully. Sadness like this was not romantic, it was tragic and destructive. She cared too much, but Murphy didn't see the tears.

"Don't do it, Charlotte!" Clarke cries out, showing no fear as the blade pressed against her neck. Tempting the anger of Murphy to its limits. Fearless in the face of death, everything Althea wished she was.

As Charlotte moves, taking her steps towards Murphy, Bellamy grabs her back. She tries to shake him off, begging him to let her go. "No, no I have to!" She shrieks, trying her hardest to pull herself away.

"Murphy this is not happening," Bellamy says, putting himself between Charlotte and Murphy. Protecting her like she was his own blood.

The trembling, small voice of Charlotte continues. "I can't let any of you get hurt anymore. Not because of me, not after what I did."

"No, Charlotte," Althea breathes, her voice cracking as she lunges for the girl. She's too late. Charlotte is gone, thrown herself to death over the edge of the cliff. "Charlotte!" Althea screams, falling to her knees. Staring into the watery grave that Charlotte had succumbed to. Too soon meeting her end, life not fully fulfilled.

"No!" Bellamy shouts, falling to Althea's side. Disbelief clear on his expression, his attempts to save such a young life thwarted by the reckless actions of another.

Sinking back from the edge, Althea looks into the sky. Again, she had failed and it was as if the crows knew it.

They circled above, she could see them as they shone in the moonlight parading their freedom to those trapped upon the ground.

They cawed at her, mocked her for her failure as the tears streamed down her face in the form of fast flowing rivers.

Now they did not sing their peaceful lullaby. Now they shouted and screamed at her, filling her mind and lungs with toxins that prevented her from breathing. "I couldn't save her," She whispers, closing her eyes tight and praying for the crows to take her away.

-

one more chapter and then that's the end of part one
[NOT EDITED]