Raise Hell || The 100 [sequel to Hell and Back]

05 | Canvas

The bewildered look Jasper casted at me when the guards instructed I join them to Dante's office while they placed handcuffs on Clarke's wrists remained imprinted in my mind. Neither of us understood why I was being taken away when I was trying to stop Clarke from opening the doors instead of helping her. They simply nodded their heads in unison at me to follow alongside of them as they led us away from Maya and Jasper. The guards didn't even bother to place any handcuffs around my wrists, like they did to Clarke. Maya even shrugged her shoulders when I glanced at her out of confusion.

As we were led through the multiple hallways of the mountain, I picked up on major key differences between Clarke and I in that moment. The main difference was the fact that the guards did not treat me the way they treated Clarke. I was allowed to walk alongside the guard on my right freely, whereas, they each had a hand on Clarke's biceps, leading her in the correct direction. My wrists rested down by my sides, slightly swaying back and forth as I walked, not restrained by metal handcuffs, unlike Clarke.

The people of Mount Weather no longer saw me as a threat to them. However, Clarke was a different story.

A walkway was seen up ahead in the vast hallway. A second guard stood by the entrance, right next to the glass door, hard eyes narrowed into slits as he watched Clarke approach, unaffected by my own presence. The corner of my lip twitched at the new information that could prove to be beneficial for me. For a brief second, Clarke and I shared a look with each other out of habit until she remembered how annoyed she was at me and swiftly turned her head away.

Past the entrance, through the glass door, the lighting transformed into a darker mood, lit up with only a few lights attached to the walls. The guard by the door pulled it open with one hand, letting the four of us step inside of the office. Classical music played inside, greeting us. My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and noticed Dante standing with his back to the four of us, painting on a canvas.

Out of curiosity, my eyes wandered around the large room, noticing how one of the guards stood back by the door while the other remained planted by Clarke's side. Art supplies were scattered all around the office, along with beautiful paintings of the ground. I looked back to the canvas Dante was working on and saw another painting of the ground.

"Lose the handcuffs," Dante spoke with his back facing us.

Quietly, the guard worked to take the handcuffs off of Clarke's wrist without uttering a word.

Dante angled his body around to glance at the two of us, gesturing with the end of his paintbrush at a few blank canvas nearby. "There's some blank canvas if you'd like," he offered.

As the guard stepped back to stand by the other one, Clarke and I shared a second look, both intrigued to know why we were in the middle of Dante's office. Well, the reasoning for Clarke being here made more sense, considering she just attempted to open the door to the outside, nearly killing all of the people in Mount Weather, who couldn't handle the radiation.

"I used to paint the ground, too," Clarke calmly stated, eyeing the painting he was working on.

"It's not just the ground," Dante clarified, "It's a memory."

My eyebrows furrowed together at the center of my forehead at his explanation. "You've been outside? I thought you couldn't leave this place."

"Yes," he answered without turning around. "Fifty-six years ago, for five minutes."

Taken aback, I peeked at Clarke from my peripheral vision.

"I was seven when the first of what we call the Outsiders appeared. Before that, we thought we were all there was." Dante's tone turned a little bitter as he added, "Imagine our surprise."