Following the Stars

Chapter Six

There was something off about Clarke. I'd have to keep an eye on her.

Until something interesting happened, I supposed I'd have to settle for talking to Echo. By talking, I meant punching and kicking without weapons because Sanctum is a 'perfect peaceful society' and I couldn't ruin it.

Stupid peaceful society.

This is coming from the person who said a few days ago that she wanted peace. Well, I guessed peace got boring after a while.

I couldn't exactly make up my mind.

Clarke had walked to her mother, but stopped to talk to Murphy, weirdly. They seemed to be having a conversation that didn't involve hating each other and death threats.

This peace thing has really messed with Clarke's brain. Yeah, peace is good. But Murphy has betrayed us so many times that I couldn't believe that she could even talk to him.

She then walked towards the door, but was stopped by Echo, "Where's Bellamy?"

"He's on a gathering patrol," Clarke said.

Echo looked suspicious, but she decided to leave and follow him anyway.

I carefully followed Clarke to the palace, where she started talking to a guard, "I need to talk to dad."

As far as I was aware, her father, Jake Griffin, died on the Ark.

"Of course," the guard said, opening the door.

I slipped into the palace through an open window and continued to follow her. But then Clarke walked up to Russel and Simone and hugged them, "I know about the hosts. Can I be normal now?"

"Josie, you need to keep playing Clarke a little longer," Russel said, "Our survival depends on it. And be more careful. Anyone could've followed you."

Like me. But Josie? Who was she? 'Playing' Clarke?

"Fine," not-Clarke said, "So there are two hosts as far as I'm aware. They call them nightbloods. It's kinda cute," she twirled her hair around one finger, "Anyway, the kid, Madi, is one. And the other blonde, Sky, is the other."

"And?"

Not-Clarke shrugged, "Madi seems to be in charge, weirdly. They call her the Commander? Anyway, Madi is strong, but tiny. She won't be a problem. But Sky seems to think she can take on the entire guard. Said they're poorly trained and have never seen a proper fight."

"Can she?"

"Probably," not-Clarke said. Why thank you, weird person impersonating Clarke, "She's strong and fast. I haven't figured out what, but something happened to her around the age of seven that left her an orphan on her own in the woods for twelve years. Then she met the others. Her and Echo are probably the strongest, fastest, and smartest. They'll figure it out soon."

Russel frowned, "I hope you've taken measures to ensure that doesn't happen."

"Sky doesn't listen to anyone," Clarke said, "And she barely trusts anyone. Something about betrayal and all that. I don't know what to do about her, but Jade's tracking Echo in the woods outside the radiation shield. Bellamy already figured out, but I took care of him."

No.

If this girl killed him, I would abandon all sense of morals and murder her.

Or I'd kill someone very close to her just so she knew how it felt.

And then I'd kill her.

"Is he dead?" Russel asked.

"No," not-Clarke answered, "But if you want me to kill him-"

Russel cut off his 'daughter's' volunteering, "No. We don't kill any of them. It was bad enough that we killed Clarke."

"Fine," not-Clarke growled, "I'll find out what they meant about this doctor making hosts. Then, I want to sleep in my own bed and wear my own clothes," she looked down at the leather jacket she was wearing, "Bye, mom. Bye, dad."

"Be careful, Josie," Simone shouted after her.

Not-Clarke/Josie rolled her eyes, "I will."

"Josephine!" Russel shouted, "Watch the attitude."

I confronted her the moment she left the building, "You killed Clarke?"

"What are you talking about, I'm right here," not-Clarke/Josephine frowned.

"How many people have you killed to stay immortal?" I asked, "Do these people even know the hosts die?"

Josephine's face hardened, "What do you want?"

"Insurance that Bellamy won't be harmed," I held her steady gaze. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath to shout, but I cut her off, "The guards can't reach you before I kill you. I don't think you're very adept at hand to hand combat, and you've never faced anyone like me before. So I suggest you stay quiet, unless you want this to be your last host."

"You can't kill me," Josephine twirled her hair between her fingers.

I smiled, "See, that's where you're wrong. I am perfectly capable of killing, especially when someone hurts my friends. And as for that stupid mind drive in your head? I can tear it out quite easily. The guards still wouldn't get here in time to stop me from smashing it into a million little pieces."

"I guess you expect us to stop taking on new hosts? To die?" Josephine asked.

"Tell your stupid Primes that if they want a host, they can have me," I said, "But if they touch Madi, I will kill them all."

Josephine asked, "Why not just expose us?"

"I've seen how dangerous the truth can be," I whispered, "I don't want to tear Sanctum apart, especially if Rose and Delilah were the last hosts for the next fifty years. If hosts are that rare, I don't care."

"You're strange," Josephine said, "You're cunning as a fox, but you left out one detail."

I raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"I can kill Bellamy with the click of a button," she was a terrible liar, "And I'm the only one who knows where he is."

"Here's a trade," I said, "Tell me where he is, call off Jade, and I won't expose you to Sanctum."

Josephine nodded, "This way."

I silently followed her through Sanctum to an empty house at the far end. Only it wasn't empty. Josephine opened the door for me, and I walked through.

Bellamy was alive.

I twisted around to see Josephine holding a knife. My eyes narrowed to slits as I prepared for an attack.

The element of surprise allowed her to hit me square in the nose and several times across the face.

But when she punched again, I caught her fist.

Sure, Clarke's body was strong, but Josephine didn't know how to use that strength, nor would Clarke have been able to beat me normally.

I grinned.

Josephine lunged forwards, trying to sweep my feet out from under me. As I dodged that, her knife landed in my shoulder, then in my leg.

I bit down on a scream as I leaned on the wall for support.

She'd closed the door so I couldn't see her. But she knew exactly where I was.

A sharp pain stabbed at my neck as Josephine whispered, "Who's the fox now?" My head hit the floor with a thud, and the world was dark.