𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 | bellamy blake¹

↬ | chapter one

001.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

   Being stuck in a cell in the sky box got old, especially for someone who had been there for over three whole years. Every once in a while, the prisoners would be allowed a visit— Maggie Gray would always use this rare opportunity as a time to catch up with her best friend.

   Raven and her were still close as ever, despite the obvious obstacles they had faced. She couldn't betray her best friend after she was imprisoned, especially since she had helped Maggie with the plan to poison her mother and father that failed miserably. So their talks were short and limited, but at least they got a chance to do so every now and again.

   Magnolia never really had much to share with her in return— what was there to say when her life consisted of sitting in a dark, locked room alone twenty-four-seven?

   But for some inexplicable reason, her and all of the other juvenile criminals had taken an Earth skills class for the past two weeks. Now why would they need to know that? She had no idea. The absurd idea of them going to the ground seemed like a logical answer for that question, but that was far from possible. As far as she knew, the ground still wasn't livable. Jaha wouldn't send them down there to die when he could just float them instead. It was pointless. Now that would've been something interesting to discuss with Raven.

   The Gray girl did a whole lot of nothing in the cell. She had tried quite possibly, everything. Drawing or sketching was certainly not her forte, and neither was writing. She became athletic; exercising and teaching herself self defense without a fighting partner. Maggie was already great at defending herself— she experienced one form of beating or another every day. Her body had actually become healthier after getting arrested— she was given meals on the regular, even if they were skimpy.

   But one can only exercise so much on small rations, so other times she would just lay on the floor and think. As a seventeen-year-old, she would imagine a luxury lifestyle. It was truly sad, her ideal lifestyle being just experiencing a loving family and friends. Most people wouldn't consider that a dream life, simply because that seemed normal.

   All those years being alone was hard— arduous even. Maggie was independent to begin with, but she began to have the mindset that she didn't need anybody. She felt like a walking bomb, ruining everything she came into contact with. Her life's worth of trauma finally had time to catch up with her, now that she wasn't on the move anymore and was left with nothing but her thoughts. Before her imprisonment, she was often vulnerable; but now, that was all concealed. Well, for the most part.

   It didn't matter— in four days, she was going to be floated anyway.

   In fact, she had been keeping track with tally marks on the wall. There were over a thousand.

   "Prisoner eight, face the wall," a deep voice announced— that was enough to make her obey. There was no point in defying. She had tried that numerous times. More times than she could count on both hands. In fact, Maggie had even attacked a guard at one point. She put up a fantastic fight for someone her age and size. If the guards didn't mind boosting her ego, they might've even told her that she was, quite honestly— astounding. But they didn't put up with her bullshit act of defiance. Instead, they took the cowardly way out and would baton shock her. That's how the contumacious teen viewed it anyway.

   Maggie had the numerous scars to prove it.

   She huffed as she heard the clamor of metal from behind her, but it wasn't quite what she had anticipated. "We're starting this rodeo earlier these days, huh? No more 'Happy Eighteenth Birthday, time to get floated?"