TWO.   this haunting is architectural

Like she said before, Tatum's not afraid of dying. She thought about death a lot, being by herself, and over time, she slowly got used to the fact that she was going to die. Death was always around her. Her mom, her dad, Riley. Tatum thought it was pretty much inevitable. She didn't want to feel guilty for killing Riley anymore. She didn't want to live in constant pain. She just wanted it all to be over.

A killer headache is what woke her up. She opened her eyes and they strained to adjust to the light. She felt a searing panic for a total of five seconds until she saw that she wasn't floating in space. She wasn't dead. She was strapped to a seat surrounded by a ton of other people. Her breath quickened. She was on the Ark's drop ship.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She looked at the boy strapped to the seat across from her. She recognized him immediately. Wells Jaha, Chancellor Jaha's son. In the seat beside him was Clarke Griffin, Abby and Jake Griffin's daughter. "Wells? Clarke?" She spoke, feeling very confused.

Clarke held the same expression. "Tatum, is that you?"

"Aren't you the girl that killed her boyfriend?" Asked Wells without thinking.

Tatum glared at him viciously. "Aren't you the one who ratted out your best friend's dad and got him floated?"

Clarke looked between them, awkwardly not saying anything.

A sudden rumble shook the drop ship which caused everyone to squeal in fear. Tatum gripped the handles of the chair.

"What was that?" Voiced Clarke.

"That was the atmosphere." Wells answered.

"Tatum!" She heard someone call her name. Tatum looked around and her eyes spotted Jasper and Monty not too far away from her, both of them strapped to the wall. "Jasper? Monty?" She gasped.

"Tatum!" Shouted Monty again gleefully.

She made a move but remembered she was strapped in. Tears spilled from her eyes again. She hadn't seen her friends in a year and they were alive. Thriving to see her. She stopped jerking around when the screen inside the drop ship turned on. Chancellor Jaha's face appeared on the screen. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You've been given a second chance — and as your Chancellor, it is my hope you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us—"

"Selfish assholes." Tatum sneered.

"—indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is
waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would have sent others. We've sent you because, frankly, your crimes have made you expendable."

"Well, that's promising." A girl sitting in the seat beside her voiced with sarcasm.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" Someone shouted from the drop ship.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. The drop site has been chosen carefully," Jaha continued. "Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

"Spacewalker Bandit strikes again!"

"Go Finn!"

Tatum turned her attention away from the screen. She saw Finn Collins, her childhood friend, floating around the drop ship, unstrapped from his seat. He floated by Clarke and Wells with his arms crossed. "Check it out. Your dad floated me after all."

Neither of them found it funny. "You should strap in before the parachutes deploy." Wells insisted.

Tatum couldn't contain her excited smile. "Finn!" She called out his name, her happiness clear.

Finn turned his head and grew a wide smile. "Tater!" He said back, equally as joyful.

"There's my favorite spacewalker!"

He floated towards her. "I've missed you, Blue Eyes."

Tatum's known Finn Collins since they were both six years old. Their fathers were good friends. Them, along with Monty and Jasper, were the closest group of friends on the Ark — along with Finn's long term girlfriend, Raven Reyes.

Because of Finn's actions, another boy unbuckled himself from his seat. He started floating around, making the people around him laugh. "Hey, you two, stay put if you want to live." Clarke ordered them but was ignored.

"You must locate those supplies immediately." Jaha's
voice spoke in the background. Tatum almost forgot he was still talking.

Finn floated in front of Clarke and Wells again. "Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year." He said to her, wearing a flirtatious smile.

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows. "You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." She responded flatly.

Tatum smirked. "Ooh, Princess has some spice to her." She heard the girl in the seat beside her snicker. She recognized her from somewhere with her hair dark, almost black, and her eyes so light. "What's your name?"

"Octavia." The girl said with a pretty smile.

Her name sparked a moment of realization. "Octavia? Octavia Blake?" Tatum recognized her as soon as she heard her name. The girl hidden under the floor. Tatum knew all about her, the illegal second child, her name famous on the Ark.

Ocatvia's smile faltered and she almost seemed annoyed.

"Well, Octavia Blake, just in case we die in the next few minutes—" she stuck out her hand. "—I'm Tatum Adler."

Octavia eyed her hand and she recognized her name as well. "Tatum Adler? As in the girl who got locked up for killing her boyfriend?"

This time, Tatum's smile fell. Her hand slowly dropped.

"Nice to meet you."

She looked her way. Octavia smiled and held her own hand out. Tatum shook it with ease.

"But it was fun. I'm Finn." The spacewalker greeted himself while still floating, trying to look cool.

Clarke was still not impressed.

"You know him?" Octavia questioned her.

"Since I was six. We've been best friends forever." Tatum watched him continue to talk to Clarke, who was just growing more annoyed. "He's not the brightest crayon in the box, but, he's cute."

"Yes, very."

The faster they dropped through the sky, the more the drop ship started rattling heavily. The parachutes were released and it jerked Finn and the other boys that were floating forward and smacked them into the wall.

"Finn!" Shouted Tatum, her voice filled with worry.

Everyone started to panic. Sparks came down from the top of the drop ship and started to scream in panic. Tatum and Octavia reached for each other's hands on fear when they realized that the ship was going to crash. Tatum squeezed her eyes shut and prepared herself. A crashing sound made her quickly open them again and see that the ship had landed. The machine stopped and everyone went silent.

"Listen," Monty voiced through the silence. "No machine hum."

"Whoa, that's a first." Said Jasper.

The buckles on the straps unlocked and everyone started unbuckling themselves. Tatum swiftly jumped out of the seat. "Finn?" She called out and ran to him. She got on her knees and gently shook him. "Finn, are you okay?"

"Finn, is he alive?" Asked Clarke when she came and stood behind them.

Tatum looked to the side and saw the other boys were still on the floor, not moving and unresponsive. Clarke went checked their pulses. "They're dead."

She released a shaky sigh and helped Finn off the floor, keeping a hold on him so he wouldn't fall. She quickly hugged him. "I've missed you so much."

Still groggy, Finn managed to hug her back. "I missed you too, Tate."

"The outer doors on the lower level. Let's go!" One of the prisoners shouted.

"No, we can't just open the doors!" Clarke counteracted and quickly stood from the floor.

She was again ignored and the prisoners headed down to the lower level of the drop ship where the doors opened. Tatum looked around and tried to find Jasper or Monty, but the teens were shoving each other trying to get past. Finn kept her close to make sure she didn't get trampled.

"Hey, just back it up, guys!" A man in a guards uniform announced, his voice deep and husky.

Tatum climbed down the latter and landed on her feet. "They really sent a guard with us?" She muttered with a scoff.

The delinquents continued to shove each other to try and get to the door. The guard was about to open it but Clarke quickly made her way through the crowd of people and stopped him. "Stop! The air could be toxic." She shouted.

Tatum rolled her eyes. "If the air's toxic, we'll die anyway." She voiced, sounding bored and annoyed.

"Bellamy?" Octavia, who was on the other side of the crowd, spoke in a small, timid voice. She stepped off the ladder and pushed through the crowd.

The guard's expression changed at the sight of her. "My god, look how big you are." He exhaled with complete shock.

The two of them embraced and Tatum, along with everyone else, was confused. When they pulled away from the hug, Octavia looked him up and down. "What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship," Bellamy replied with a small smile. "Someone has gotta keep an eye on you."

They hugged again and Clarke stepped forward. "Where's your wristband?" She asked when she didn't see the wristband on the girl's wrist.

Octavia let go of him again and glared at her. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"Brother?" Tatum said with wide eyes at the same time someone shouted, "No one has a brother!"

"That's Octavia Blake! The girl they found hidden under the floor."

Murmurs started to already through the delinquents. With a harsh glare, Octavia charged forward but Bellamy quickly held her back. "Octavia, no! Let's give them something else to remember you by—"

"Yeah? Like what?" She said angrily.

He smirked. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

"Damn, that was good." Whispered Tatum, hearing Finn laugh.

Bellamy pulled down the lever connected to the door and a blast of pressurized air hit them in the face. A bright light hit them in the eyes. Green was the first thing that caught Tatum's attention. Octavia stood wide eyed and jaw slacked. She took a deep breath before walking to the edge of the ramp. The light wind blew through her hair that appeared to be a light brown in the bright light. Eyes watched her carefully as she walked down the ramp and her feet touched the grass for the first time. Tatum found herself holding her breath, waiting for her next move.

Octavia smiled widely and pumped her fist in the air. "We're back, bitches!" She screamed with a loud cheer.

All hell broke loose. Tatum let out a loud cheer and she dragged Finn by the hand down the ramp. The delinquents ran through every part of the forest, cheering, and they realized they got to live again. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she inhaled the clean air and spun around to see everything. It was so green. It almost didn't seem real. The breeze hit her skin in the most refreshing way. She shut her eyes and opened her mouth, breathing in the oxygen that she was deprived of for years. Everything was so beautiful.  She was no longer staring at the stars, but at the greenness of Earth. 

Friends hugged friends and tears spilled in people's eyes as they found their lost loves and friendships.

"TATUM!" Two people shouted and she felt arms wrapped around her waist and pick her up, making her squeal.

She realized it was Jasper and Monty. "JASPER!  MONTY!" She screamed. Jasper sat her down and she wasted no time jumping into his arms, her arms securing around his neck. "I've missed you both so much!"

"Hey, don't leave me out!"

Tatum let go of him and jumped onto Monty. "I can't believe y'all are here. I can't believe we're back." She voiced in complete happiness. Jasper joined in on the hug and she felt tears threatening to spill. "I love you guys so much. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Said Jasper.

"Are you kidding? We're back together." Monty added in with a big laugh. "So don't go crying on us or I'll start to cry."

"Then I'll start. It'll be an endless cycle."

Tatum laughed and wiped her teary eyes. She could breathe again. Possibly live again. Her past mistakes couldn't define her anymore.

Jasper and Monty went to explore the plants and trees while Tatum still circled around everything, taking it all in. "Tatum!" Octavia expressed and jumped her way. Her hands grasped her shoulders. "We're on the ground!"

"We're on the ground!" She shouted back and the two girls squealed.

Jasper and Monty came back and circled them. "Can you guys believe it? We're back." Monty said while still in disbelief.

"it's beautiful." Octavia agreed and smiled as she looked around. From the corner of her eye, she spotted her brother and said a quick goodbye to them before running over to him.

The three friends spotted Clarke and Wells standing by the drop ship, looking at what Tatum thought was a map. "Ah, cool, a map. They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer." Jasper flirted with Clarke while throwing his arm over Tatum.

She smiled at his joke but Wells didn't think it was funny. He pushed Jasper back. "Do you mind?" He snapped.

"Hey!" Tatum sneered and got in his face. "Keep your hands off of him."

"Hey, hey, hey, keep your hands off of him," said John Murphy as he made his way over to them with a group of boys following. "He's with us."

She rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Murphy."

He casted her a smirk. "Long time no see, Tatum."

She scowled.

"Relax, we're just trying to figure out where we are." Wells spoke, not wanting trouble.

"We're on the ground. That not good enough for you?" Said Bellamy from a few feet away where he stood with Octavia.

"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

Octavia got in his face. "Screw your father." She jeered. "What, you think you're in charge here?" She questioned and glanced at Clarke. "You and your little Princess?"

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke asked. "We need to get to Mount Weather. Not because the Chancellor said so but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be." She lectured and it went quiet. "How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek, okay? So if we wanna get there before dark, we need to leave. Now."

For what felt like the hundredth time, Tatum rolled her eyes.

"I got a better idea," said Bellamy. He looked between her and Wells. "You two go. Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

"Now that sounds like a great idea." She smirked and the other delinquents shouted, agreeing also.

Wells shook his head. "You're not listening. We all need to go—"

Suddenly, Murphy ran up behind him and shoved him. "Look at this everybody. The Chancellor of Earth." He announced bitterly.

Wells regained his balance and turned around, glaring at him. "You think that's funny?"

In response, Murphy kicked his leg and Wells fell to the ground. "No, but that was."

"Don't be such as dick, Murphy." Tatum scoffed at his smug attitude.

"What, you don't find me funny anymore, Tate?"

"It's a good thing you're not letting your skills get in the way of your ignorance."

Jasper and Monty laughed at her sarcasm.

As Wells and Murphy started circling each other, from the drop ship, Finn jumped down and made everyone go quiet. "Hey, leave her alone. And the kid's got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"

Murphy stood there glaring at him. Everyone stood there in silence, watching carefully. After a few seconds, he backed off, then looked at Tatum with another smirk. "See you later, Adler." He taunted and walked off with his boys.

At the mention of her last name, any of the delinquents gasped. "Tatum Adler?

"She's the girl who killed Riley Rvergreen."

"She killed her own boyfriend."

Tatum rolled her eyes and tried ignoring the way she felt seeing everyone's eyes on her.

"Hey, Spacewalker." Octavia walked up to Finn with a flirtatious smile. "Rescue me next."

Finn just smirked at her and walked away. Bellamy stormed up to her, looking disappointed. His sister shrugged. "What? He's cute."

"He's a criminal."

Tatum almost laughed. "Oh, please. They're all criminals."

Bellamy's eyes cut to her. He grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her away while lecturing her. Tatum rolled her eyes and went back to Jasper and Monty. "So, what herb should we find and cook up first?" She smirked and rubbed her hands together.

They looked at each other and grinned. "Hell yeah!"

"I just want to have fun, Bellamy."

She looked over and watched the Blake siblings argue with each other. Smirking, Tatum walked over to intervene and she threw her arm over Octavia's shoulder. "Well, if fun is what you're looking for, me and my boys are the right people."

"You're Tatum Adler." Stated Bellamy.

She smiled sarcastically. "That's my name, yes."

"You're the girl that killed Riley Evergreen."

The smile fell. "That appears to be true." She responded like it didn't bother her.

"Why'd you do it?"

Octavia's eyes went large. "Bellamy."

"That doesn't seem to be your business."

"It is if you're going to be hanging around my sister." Bellamy stated, growing hostile.

"I'm right here—"

Tatum interrupted her. "Octavia can handle herself.  She likes me and I like her. Besides, even if I wanted to tell anyone, I wouldn't. Especially not the fake guard who followed us down here." She asserted in a firm tone. She turned to Octavia. "Care to join me?"

She smiled. "Hell yeah."

Tatum gave Bellamy a judgmental glare once more before walking away with her.

Bellamy watched them with hard eyes and a clenched jaw. He heard about her through the other guards. Her crime was the most talked about crime on the Ark. They found Riley in her room, the one they shared, with stab wounds and he was covered in blood. There was so much blood.

And it scared him to think about his sister becoming friends with a murderer.