THE 100 IMAGINES

[BB] Hollow.

It wasn't the same, and you doubted that it ever would be. For almost a week you had forced yourself to stay awake, because you didn't want to wake up one day and realise that you were still stuck in that place, that being rescued didn't happen, that you weren't back home and safe, but rather in the small cage that you began to rot in for almost two and a half months. A shallow and shaky breath escaped your dry and split lips as you laid on your back, above the blankets, on the bed. It was cold, the rain fell heavily with large hailstones, and the wind blew against the walls of your home loudly, howling and whistling in a high pitch. There was an uncomfortable stinging sensation from your eyes as you willed them to stay open. There was no doubt that they were bloodshot and bruised from the trauma that you were forced through.

     But dark circles were the least of your problems.

     The others in your clan grew worried as you shut yourself away from them, avoiding any confrontation. They knew that you stopped eating, fearing that they had done something to your food like the other people in that place did. Their haunting gas masks and heavy breathing was all that you could see and hear every time you stared down at a plate of food. The effects of sleep deprivation, and the hallucinations that followed, caused you to see the food deflate in the wooden bowl and ooze out a light grey colour that filled up the bowl and overflowed until you dropped it and rubbed at your eyes, only to see that, when you reopened your eyes, the freshly cooked meat, recently picked berries, and small potatoes, from the small garden, was knocked over on the ground, and covered in mud.

     They tried to help, they tried to get you to talk about it, but they only made matters worse. Every time you thought about it, it only resurfaced the old memories that you wanted to forget and keep hidden. They had to give up trying at some point, they knew it was only putting more stress on you, but they didn't want to let go of it completely because they knew that would be worse than making you talk about it straight away. It wasn't something that you could ignore forever, they wanted you to realise that, but for now, it wasn't time to open up and hold hands with everyone to tell them what happened.

     They had to give you space until you were ready.

     When you were rescued, you hadn't been rescued alone. One of the members of Skaikru, a group that you hadn't known about as you had been held prisoner during their crash landing, had been in a cage next to you. Bellamy tried, to the best of his abilities, to fill you in on what happened, but of course, there were some facts missing and he didn't know a lot about your clan. You weren't surprised, you knew that Ingranrona Kru didn't get involved in a lot of Coalition activities, preferring to stay to themselves. So, when you had been rescued, your people were quick to take you back to your village and keep you far away from any more possible dangers.

     But they might have been quick to judge.

     It was unavoidable that you would have grown close to Bellamy. He was the only person you had been around after being alone for over a month before he was brought in. You didn't even see the people who kept you prisoner for more than five minutes a day. So, when you were back home, you struggled to feel safe anywhere. Bellamy had often tried to get the people who held you both prisoners to leave you alone, risking his own life for yours, despite not knowing you. He kept telling you that everything was going to be okay, that you were going to be rescued, that you weren't going to die in a cage surrounded by dead rats and small bones. He even managed to get his arm through the gaps of the cages to get to you, holding your hand in his tightly, rubbing this thumb across your skin as he reminded you that you were going to get out of there, you both were.

     It wasn't until a month and a half later before his words became true.

     A soft knocking at your door caused you to blink, escaping your memories for even just a short moment. With furrowed eyebrows, you sat up, swinging your legs over the side of your bed before you lit a few small candles, heading towards your door. When you pulled the door open slightly, keeping your body close to it so it couldn't be opened more than a few inches, you saw Bellamy standing outside in the rain. The water caused his curly hair to fall straight, his clothes hung heavily and his teeth chattered while his body shivered. He opened his mouth, having to talk loudly, over the rain and the wind.