— CHAPTER FIVE,
the monsters inside of us.

NIGHT HAS SETTLED.

And Ruby is angry.

She's angry enough to push her sword through the heart of Charlie Pike and not look away from his eyes as the life fades from them.

She stands in front of the main gate, her sword over her shoulder and blades hidden on her person. Her eyes cut up from the dirt under her feet to the approaching people.

She, Lincoln, and Luca share a quick look as Bellamy, Pike, and several other approach up to them. Monroe and Harper stand with them.

"What're the guns for?" Harper asks Bellamy from where she stands beside Lincoln.

"There's an army out there. We need to hit them before they hit us," Bellamy tells her.

"An army sent to protect us." Lincoln states.

"Do we have a problem?" Pike questions.

"No." Bellamy tells Pike. He then looks back to the others. "I have always done what is best for us. I need you to trust the I am doing that now."

Ruby's fists clench in fury as Bellamy looks to Monroe. "Monroe." He says. Monroe quickly nods and walks off. His brown eyes then turn to Harper. "Harper."

"Sorry, guys." Harper mumbles sadly before she turns on her heel and leaves.

Now it's only Ruby, Lincoln, and Luca standing between an army of three hundred Grounders and a small group of revenge-seeking assholes.

"You guys too." Bellamy says, his eyes move across the small family that's formed over the past three months.

"You wanna prove your one of us, let us pass." Pike says to Lincoln and Luca. Then he looks to Ruby,"and if you want to regain your spot as one of our people, Ruby, move."

"I don't want to be your people." Ruby snarls, "we aren't moving."

"Get out of the way, Grounders!" One of the men growls. He quickly aims his gun at the trio. Lincoln is fast to grab the barrel of the gun and yank it towards him. Ruby watches as the butt of the gun connects with the man's face. Lincoln reaches out and grabs the man. He pulls him into his chest and presses his knife to the Sky Person's throat.

And so, Ruby and Luca pull their swords from their sheathes. The Sky People raise their guns at them. "Drop your guns!" Luca shouts.

"Do what he says." Pike looks at his people.

"So much for the good Grounder." Hannah murmurs, glaring at Lincoln.

"What'd you just say?" Ruby steps closer. Luca reaches out and grabs her arm, pulling her back towards himself and Lincoln. Bellamy's eyes dart to Luca's hand that remains on Ruby's arm for a moment longer that he likes. He then looks to Ruby, hatred in his eyes. When he looks at her face, she's already staring back at him with an even greater amount of hatred in her eyes.

"Quiet, Hannah." Pike tells her. He then aims his words at the trio. "Whose people are you three defending here?"

"Lincoln, put the down the knife. Ruby, Luca, put down the swords. No one has to get hurt here," Bellamy tells them cautiously.

"You're trying to start a war! We can't let you start this," Ruby says, her eyes darting between Pike and Bellamy.

"We're already at war." Pike shakes his head.

Before they can continue, an alarm blares over the PA system, followed by a voice, "all unstationed personnel report to the main gate. All unstationed personnel report to the main gate."

Ruby watches as three more people rush to their sides. Ryland comes to stand beside Ruby. There's a look in his eyes, daring Pike or Bellamy to raise a finger against his best friend. Amara approaches slowly, her sword in her hands. Octavia comes to stand beside Lincoln, glaring at her big brother.

"What's wrong with you?" Octavia asks Bellamy in disgust.

The sound of more people approaching hits Ruby's ears. She sees Abby and Marcus approaching the scene.

"Farm Station, guns on the ground!"

"Lincoln, it's alright. Let him go. Luca and Ruby, lower your swords." Marcus tells the three. They only listen to him. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Abby turns to Pike.

"What you didn't have the guts to." Pike responds.

"Guards, take them to lock down!" Abby orders. The guards obey, zip-tying the man's wrists together. "Everyone back to your quarters. It's over."

"Nothing is over! We are surrounded by warriors that want us dead." Pike speaks up.

"That's enough!" Marcus shouts.

"No, it isn't. Not even close. Why don't you show us all what you let the Grounders do to you yesterday? Come on, Kane. I think that the people who are about to vote for you have a right to know." Pike smirks.

Ruby watches as Marcus rolls up his sleeve to reveal the mark of the coalition. "It's the mark of the Commander's coalition. It means we are the thirteenth clan. It means we are in this together." He says to the man.

"No. It's what farmers used to do their livestock." Pike rolls his neck.

"Right before the slaughterhouse!" Hannah Green shoots.

"Pike for chancellor!" Someone in the crowd yells. This earns several shouts of agreement.

"He's a problem." Ryland lowers his voice, his words for her ears only.

"Pike!" Bellamy suddenly shouts. Ruby's eyes shoot over to him. "Pike! Pike!"

Bellamy's eyes lock with hers. She shakes her head, disappointed and furious.

As the guards lead Pike away, he grins to himself as he hears the crowd chanting his name.

"So we take him out." Ruby tells Ryland. Their eyes lock and then hers fly to Bellamy. Ryland follows her line of vision. "Both of them."

─────────

A day later, Ruby watches with her rage-filled, speckled eyes as Pike, Bellamy, and the others walk back into Arkadia. Blood stains their skin and their clothes.

Never in her entire life has she felt an anger like this. Not when her mother was floated, not when her father died, not when she found out the her father wasn't truly her father, not when she found out Murphy was her half-brother, not when he tried to he shot her and tried to hang Bellamy, not when River was murdered right in front of her eyes.

No.

What she feels now is enough for her to walk straight up Pike and his people and kill every single one of them. All of them. Bellamy included.

She's never felt such betrayal.

Luca, who stands beside Ruby, watches them all with fierce eyes. His reaches down and grabs Ruby's arm, making sure she stays close to him.

"Lock it up." Pike orders. Ruby stares at Pike with daggers in her eyes. She wants to kill him.

Then her eyes move to Bellamy who is also covered in blood of the Grounders that were here to protect them from Azgeda. Ice Nation.

Her eyes don't soften like they would have three months ago. No. Instead, they harden. She's dangerous now. Even more so than months before. She's ready to kill if she has to.

People start to gather around as Pike speaks up, "everybody, listen up! Twenty-four hours ago, you elected me your Chancellor. Every action I've taken since, and every action I will take will be to achieve one sacred goal. The creation of a self-sustaining, prosperous and safe Arkadia." The crowd around that's gathered cheers at Pike's words. "This morning, on a muddy field, our people paid tribute to those who have been taken from us by sending a message to the Grounders. This land is ours now!"

Ryland, Amara, and Lincoln approach Octavia, Luca, and Ruby. All equally angry about what's happened. All equally scared of what's to come.

"Resist and you will be met by force! Fight and you will be greeted by death!" Ruby watches as Pike's eyes sweep over her and her people. "Today is a new beginning! Mark it down, remember it just like the Grounders will remember it!"

He walks away as if he can't be touched.

But Ruby knows better. Pike is just man. He isn't untouchable. He can be killed.

And so can Bellamy Blake.

Across the way, Ruby meets her godfather's eyes. He can see the rage behind her eyes and she can see the worry behind his.

Pike is an enemy.

And the two see that.

Being inside the walls is now just as dangerous as being outside of them. If not more.

─────────

Ruby walks through the halls of Alpha Station, towards what was once her home. As she weld, her eyes constantly fleck her surroundings in case someone decides she is going to be a victim of murder. Just like the three hundred Grounders that were slaughtered.

Ruby Carson is not a victim.

She will not become one.

She rounds a corner. As she does, she slams directly into someone's chest. She gasps at the impact and backs up a step.

Her eyes fly from the ground to the face of the person she bumped into. Her back straightens and her jaw squares. Bellamy Blake stares back at her.

He waits for her to lash out at him. He waits for her fist to connect with his face. But neither of those things happen. She just shakes her head.

"How could you?" Her whisper rips through him. He's never heard her voice so hurt before. For a moment, he's reminded of the girl he once loved. But the woman standing in front of him now is someone totally different. She's cold.

"You slaughtered them." She starts. "All of them, Bellamy. They were sent here to protect you!" Bellamy flinches at her words. "What if I had been out there, or Amara, or Lincoln, or Luca?"

"I don't know Luca!" Bellamy thunders. "He's been here for a couple days. He was with you! For months, Ruby! Another man was with the woman I loved! How do you think that makes me feel? To know the woman I was in love with was with another man."

"Is that what you're turning this into!? You murdered three hundred people and you're worried about a man being near me!?" She screams. She takes a deep breath. "It wasn't like that, Bellamy. It never was. He helped me when I was a Reaper. When I was a monster! While I was trying to kill myself, you were here. With another woman. You were the one that betrayed me, you did that. Not me."

"Don't mention her." Bellamy snarls. He takes a step closer o her threateningly. She doesn't back down through.

"Did you even look for me?" She asks, shaking her head.

"I did." He says, lowering his voice as unwelcome tears gather in his eyes. "For two months, Ruby. Two months I searched for you. I didn't know if you were dead or alive. You turned yourself over to Cage—"

"He was going to kill Marcus." She informs Bellamy. "How could I have let that happen? He's the only family I have left now."

Bellamy stares down at her, "he took you. Ruby. . . Cage took you and I didn't know what happened to you. But then you show up, three months later. And I'm hit with all of this information. You were at the bunker the entire time. You were so close the whole time. You were injected with the Reaper drug. An amplified Reaper drug! One that's permanently damaged you, Ruby."

His words slam into her heart. She feels it crack in her chest. Whatever they once had is now gone. This isn't the same Bellamy she loved. This man is a murderer.

"I'm not damaged." Ruby snarls. "You're the damaged one! You killed the Grounders sent to protect you!"

"I was doing it to protect you!" He tells.

"Protect me!? They were my people!" She screams at him.

Bellamy freezes. Just like his words hurt Ruby, her words hurt him. "I thought we were your people." He whispered.

"My people are Luca, Lincoln, Octavia, Ryland, Marcus, Abby, Clarke, Raven, Monty, Jasper, Harper, Indra, Nyko. The Grounders." Ruby hisses.

"I'm not your people?" He asks softly.

"No," she shakes head head. "You lost that title the day you walked away from me in the forest." Her lips start to quiver as tears blur in her eyes. "Bellamy, you're the one who looked me in the eyes and walked away. You turned your back on me. I didn't turn my back on you. I would have never walked away from you!"

Bellamy stares down at her, his jaw slack with shock. Bellamy once loved her. He isn't sure if he does now. But to look at her now and see this new woman, his heart breaks. The girl he once knew is dead. This new woman is cold and cruel. She has fourteen scarred kill marks across her back. She has two new, bright red kill marks on her back.

He watches she scoffs. She walks past him, purposefully bumping their shoulders together.

Ruby is no longer Ruby Rowan Carson.

She is simply Ruby.

She doesn't belong to anyone but the monster inside of her.

_______________________________

word count: 2,202
episode: watch the thrones & hakeldama

oh, shit, guys.

this just got real. shit is about to go down. y'all, ruby, and everyone else are not prepared for the shit that's about to happen. especially poor ruby, that girl is about to go through it.

yeah, rellamy is dead (for now). bellamy is fr so messy and petty. ruby was yelling at him about slaughtering three hundred people and he was all like "luca 🤬🤬🤬" like boy, sit down. all luca has to do is jump at you and you'll shit your pants, pussy boy. ugh, bellamy makes me so mad in this act. like shut the fuck up.

speaking of the slaughter, that scene is so sad. the grounders were sent to protect them from azgeda and ended up killed by the people they were meant to protect. it breaks mt heart how ruby reacted. they were her people and the man she once loved help murder them.

ruby 🤝 luca, marcus, and ryland. they all know that shit has to be handled and it has to be handled soon. they're such icons.

anyway, guys, i'm out for christmas break!!! which means i'll hopefully be rewriting and publishing chapters a lot quicker. but it also means i'll be working on crooked heart and the sky brings death, a lot as well.