Shoelaces (A Bellamy Blake Fanfiction)

2 ~ F a l l i n g

2 ~ F a l l i n g

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Sophia gasped and grabbed the hand rests of her chair. Her chest was moving quickly as she breathed in and out rapidly, fear fighting to consume her. She slipped her lip between her teeth, biting gently before releasing it and opening her eyes. The ship jolted and rocked and, whilst everyone around her was cheering and enjoying the ride, she was terrified beyond belief.

They were falling.

It was just like that feeling you get when you're trying to fall asleep. Where, just as you do, you jolt awake after feeling as if you nearly fell off a 20 story building. But even then, it didn't compare to the feeling of actually falling. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. How could she, when she lived her life on a spaceship? Some of it in a solitary confinement cell going mad with lack of human interaction. It felt like she had no control over her body, over life. In a way, she hadn't had control over her life in three years. But, falling through space was the scariest thing she had ever experienced.

A hand slipped around hers, squeezing tightly in comfort. Sophia looked up at the girl beside her, eyes wide and worried. The girl looked at her kindly, squeezing her hand in reassurance. She smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes. Maybe she was scared too.

The ship jolted to the side. Sophia dug her nails into her chair, yelping quietly as her mind whirled with images of their deaths. Fear burned in a tingling flurry at the base of her spine, roaring loudly in her chest and searing an ice cold bath down the back of her neck. What if they crashed? What if the ground was still uninhabitable to humans? What if they were all going to die?

Sophia closed her eyes again and began to count her breaths.

When she was younger, her Father had been caught in a sector he wasn't supposed to be in reading documents he wasn't supposed to have about something the ark's leaders didn't want anyone to know about. Sophia blamed it on his scientifically wired brain and proven disastorous thirst for knowledge. He'd been an amazing help to life on the ark. He'd done so much to help create vaccines for diseases they couldn't treat naturally and had saved so many lives. But that still hadn't managed to save his life when he was floated three days later. During that time, Sophia and her Mother had worried in their quarters, hoping that he would come back. To pass the time, and to calm her raging nerves, Sophia had sat on the floor in front of her bed and counted her breaths.

She had reached 369 when her Father's best friend came to tell them he'd been sentenced to death.

This time, she reached 210 when the ship seemed to straighten out. The ride began to feel smooth, like the ship had finally managed to gain its bearings. Sophia breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Maybe they wouldn't die today. She opened her eyes and looked around her. The majority of the kids were still in their seats. Some looked as nervous as she was, others had unclipped their belts and had launched into the air, floating in the zero gravity. Someone was shouting at them to get back in their seats, asking if they wanted to die. They were ignored, though, and the kids continued to float around, laughing and shouting in excitement.

Sophia turned beside her, her eyes catching those of the brunette girl. She'd taken her hand away now, resting it in her lap, tangled with the other.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" The girl said, wide eyes focused on Sophia's. She laughed a strange giddy, shaky sound that made the girl smirk in response. Now that it was over, Sophia was able to calm down. But the shaky ride had really unnerved her. She hoped it wouldn't happen again.

A screen towards the front of the ship flickered on and the chancellor of the ark's face came into focus. He began to speak to them all, telling them of a Mount Weather that would have all the supplies they would need once they landed. A picture of a map appeared, showing them where they were to land and the way to Mount Weather. It was their top priority. He then told them how important their survival was. This whole experiment would mean the citizens of the ark would be able to live longer, not having to worry about being floated for petty crimes that meant nothing.

The only question that was running through Sophia's mind was Why now? Why had they sent them down so soon? The had always been told that the planet had required 100 years to become habitable. So why were they being sent down three years before the due date? Why now?

The kids around Sophia were beginning to shout at the Chancellor on the screen. Some were even shouting at a dark skinned boy across from Sophia whom she immediately knew was his son. They had the same eyes, same general features. Yet, he didn't acknowledge the rowdy kids, just watched as one of them floated past him, doing a somersault in the air.

With a loud bang, the ship jolted every which way. Before she could close her mouth, Sophia screamed in surprise, her hands going back to the arm rests, clutching on for dear life. As the ship plunged onwards, Sophia jolted around in her seat. At some points, her feet were so unstable on the floor that they slipped up into the air. The girl beside her was biting her lip, eyes clenched shut. Sophia had no doubt that she was trying to ignore the rocking ship, the loud alarms that were blaring in time with flashing red lights.

All around her, people were shouting in fear. This was not what Sophia had expected when she'd been escorted onto the ship. Sure, she'd expected more fear than she'd ever known, but that was because they were going to the ground and their futures really could go in any direction. But this, being strapped to a chair whilst falling uncontrollably through space, was something far beyond her imagination. She wanted so badly to be back on the ark, walking through its familiar halls, listening to the clanking of her boots with each step. She wanted so badly to be back in her quarters with her Mum. She wanted more than anything in the universe, to just see her Mother one last time.

But then, the ground came hurtling towards them and the alarms seemed to get louder. The kids who were out of their seats were floating around uncontrollably, wishing that they'd listened when they had the chance.

Once again, the girl sitting beside her grabbed her hand. Instantly, Sophia clutched to it tightly, hoping that it wasn't the last thing she did. She couldn't bring herself to look up at the girl, but she could tell that she was afraid. Her hand was being squeezed just as hard.

When the ship crashed into the ground, Sophia screamed.

A/N: Edited 7/5/2018