THE FREE FALL ⇘ Bellamy Blake. [1]

| i. THE GIRL WHO CHEATED DEATH

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CHAPTER ONE:

THE GIRL WHO CHEATED DEATH.

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CRIMINAL. That was the first word that came to mind when used to describe Haven Grey Smith, and the pitiful excuse for why she spent the last five years of her life incarcerated behind the walls of a prison cell. She was left to rot with nothing other than the resounding hum of her thoughts, a steel-plated bedframe, and a forthcoming death sentence— one that was arranged for the day she turned twenty years old.

Growing up on the Ark, otherwise known as the single satellite that orbited throughout the boundless lengths of space, Haven never had much to live for. The fifteen years of 'freedom' she was given prior to her inprisonment were nothing but a sham; a concept of blissful facade. You would think the survivors of a nuclear war that raged ninety-seven years ago would be more conscious about the weight of their decisions, but merely even contemplating that thought would be an overstatement. Oblivion rooted itself in the minds of the Ark's people like a merciless weed. With this, there came two options: allow the tares to consume you as you're absorbed into compliance, or learn to weave yourself through the loops and tangles. She considered herself one of the lucky ones.

Though the day she would take her final breath of withering oxygen was less than twenty-four hours away, Haven found herself succumbing to an even deeper state of jadedness. Most people were floated on the day they turned eighteen, but she, on the otherhand, had managed to circumvent the system.

With the assistance of former guard Bellamy Blake, and the expertise of the Ark's Council member, Dr. Abigail Griffin, the duo had managed to wipe the data stored within Haven's citizen profile. Her death sentence was disregarded and instead set to two more years in the future, consequently. On the opposite side of the cell door that separated the pair, Haven remembered the mellifluous sound of Bellamy's laughter when he told her about the tech crew's bewilderment once they found out the data had disappeared. It was one of the only sentiments of comfort she had left.

Haven was never informed of the reason behind the duo's actions. Maybe the team in Medical wanted to keep her as a science experiment to poke and prod. Quite frankly, she believed the whole scenario was a ridiculously blinding suicide mission. Treason wasn't an action taken lightly. Though somewhere, hidden deep beneath the layers of doubt that resided within her, Haven trusted them; naively, yet voluntarily.

But, alas— those two years had come to a screeching halt. Execution day. Having the air ripped from her lungs and being sucked smack dab into the void of space wasn't the way Haven predicted her life would end, but she wasn't even the slightest bit alarmed. Fortunately for her, she wasn't one to fear death. Hell, she'd glared straight into the darkness of its sinister eyes more times than most could say.