WHAT A LOVELY WAY TO BURN.

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LOST IN FIRE (book three).
°•        CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE        •°

"        I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME!       "

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They bury Shaw outside of the radiation shield. It doesn't feel right, not to Harley, to bury a person the same spot they died in but it wasn't as if they've been given much more of a choice. They couldn't drag a dead man and let that weight slow them down, as awful as it sounds. The mission was too important. All they can do is hold a small funeral for the deceased and pretend they were alright by cutting their loss. By now, they should surely be experts. But Harley was the farthest from okay. She didn't know Shaw well, not like Raven did, but he was good. He was kind. He was smart. And now he was gone. So why did it have to be him? If he wasn't leading them to the beacon, it wouldn't have been. She felt blame settle in until it was aching with a brutal heavyweight that makes every step she takes a struggle.

The rest of the night was restless, especially when they had to sleep next to the cross at Shaw's burial spot. Harley doesn't close her eyes all night because every time she does, she sees the pilot, radiation burns painting every inch of his exposed skin, and pleading with them to let Raven know she deserves happiness. Harley is far from being amazed at the hills they come across, covered with colorful fields of red and orange plants that gather together to make up shapes. Her eyes are bloodshot and burning with tiredness and the hike they started when the sun rose isn't helping. Harley doesn't even pause to stare in awe.

"What kind of people have a radiation fence?" Emori wondered out loud, breaking the heavy silence in the group.

"The kind of people that want to keep something out," Clarke admonishes. Harley glances at the back of the blonde's head when she spoke gravely. She and Shaw gave her a hard time at the fire the night before. They wouldn't forgive her when she asked for it and bit back when she apologized. They were cruel when Clarke looked so overcome with guilt that the emotion took over her eyes, and she still risked her life without thinking twice about it. Harley felt worse the more she thought about it. She vowed to do better in Monty's memory and was letting the way she couldn't let go of things get in the way of that.

Bellamy is holding Shaw's tool this time. He takes a quick look at it before tucking it in his pocket again. "Beacon should be right up ahead," he announced. That's what Shaw thought.

Clarke looked to the man in the lead and sighed. "What are we gonna tell Raven?" She asked. Harley can hear the frown clear in her voice.

It's quiet again before Bellamy made the first suggestion. "He died a hero," he says simply. If only it was that easy. Harley can't picture the look on her friend's face when they have to tell her Shaw is gone on the very first day they landed. She spares a second to look at the sky. Raven's in the stars thinking he's safe. It was like they all failed her.

"Look," Murphy spoke up. Harley feels her stomach twist at the sound of his voice as if a flare of anger is sparking. She hates that she doesn't understand why other than the sound of her brother's voice is too familiar like he's speaking the words no one else dares to. "I do hate to make this about us, but - "

"Then don't," Clarke cut him off sharply. Harley can sense she's still on edge from last night. "Shaw saved your life, Murphy."

"I'm aware. I'm also aware that we just lost our pilot." Murphy grew quiet until he makes a jab at Clarke. Harley can hear the smirk in his voice. "Madi's still up there. You're not worried you're never gonna see her again?"

Suddenly, Clarke spun around and delivered the heaviest push to Murphy's chest she could muster with her face pinched in fury. Harley doesn't step in although she stops in her tracks. She only watches silently as Miller planted himself between the pair with the intention of peace. "Woah, woah, woah, easy! Easy, ignore him," he said calmly.

Murphy doesn't stop there even if he should. He's in too deep now, satisfied if the curled grin on his lips say anything. "Yeah. Your Red Queen is still up there, too, Miller," he commented before taunting smugly. "Who you gonna follow now?"

It's Miller's turn to whirl towards Murphy and grab him by the collar of his shirt with curled, gloved fingers. Harley's boots remained planted in the soil with her lips pressed together as she waits for him to strike, only for Bellamy to pull them apart. "Hey, hey! Miller!" He called, prying the attacker off of his target. "Harley - you wanna get on in this?"

Harley's eyes roll. "Like he doesn't have it coming." Murphy got himself into it because he couldn't keep his trap shut.

There's a second that where Bellamy was startled by Harley's declaration. But he wipes it away once he puts distance between Miller and Murphy. "As therapeutic as it is to beat up on Murphy, Emori can fly," he suggested with a gesture to the girl.

Emori's eyelids fly open in surprise as she shifts. "Sure. Yeah," she agreed slowly as her voice drips with sarcasm after every word. "I've had one successful landing in a ship I trained in for six years." She huffs nervously. "No problem."

A part of Harley wants to roll her eyes again until they reach the back of her skull and insist Emori's exaggerating but the other half wonders why. She gets a twitch in her neck that she has to crane to get rid of. Harley doesn't know what's her problem. She can't piece it together as they return to their walk after being set back from the banters. She would have been the first to defend Murphy, to shove Clarke in the same manner, or tell Miller to cool it. She and Emori had their differences but Harley wouldn't have been cruel to her. She was barely able to hold the words back and the feeling of anger was beginning to spread like an electric spark to her fingertips. She tries to cover it by claiming that she's still grieving over her lost friends and home planet.

"Guys!" Echo exclaimed as they pass a bush so large it looks like a tree. She delivers a warning in one word. "Stairs."

Bellamy rushes to catch up with her. "Easy. We approach slow, no hostile movements," he commands the rest of them.

The stairs Harley approaches were made of bricks and a dark red. But she only takes a few steps up them before she has to stop suddenly and stare with an open jaw. She's even more shocked by the sight than she was when they first landed. The only way to describe the building she sees is to compare it to castles that she's only read about in fairytales. It's gorgeous, painted in so many colors it could have put a rainbow to shame. Even the glass windows are made of different colors and it's decorated with banners she can't make out yet from the distance. Harley can't begin to imagine what the inside looks like but it must be equally as beautiful.

"They have a castle," Murphy breathed out in amazement.

The closer Harley becomes, she can map out the area better. The castle is the main spot. It's circled with little shelters that make up what Harley guesses are towns. She tries to prepare herself for anything as they approach the doors and give them a few soft knocks, wandering around the area in an attempt to find any living being. Harley tries to come off as unthreatening as possible and opts to leave her sword with the blade stuck in the ground even if she doesn't want to. Monty wouldn't want her to strike first.

"Hey!" Emori calls from where she had stopped in front of what looked like a table for toddlers so she could stare up at one of the red banners laced in gold. Echo, Bellamy, Clarke, and Harley are drawn in to see the triangles hanging from the draping string are colored darkly but are sewn with a picture of two red suns, one of them holding the infinity sign. "ALIE?" Emori guessed.

"What the hell would they be doing with ALIE?" Harley wondered out loud. ALIE terrorized the human race on Earth so what could that computer possibly have use for here?

"I..." Clarke's at a loss of words, shaking her head. It takes a second for her to guess. "Becca did the tech for Eligius."

Bellamy lets out a quiet scoff. "Right. Destroy the world, two-hundred years later, they put you on a flag." He looked at Clarke. "See? Hope for us yet," he joked. But Harley doesn't laugh. She thinks the image of ALIE's infinity sign is starting to burrow under her skin.

She tries to ignore the way it makes her blood pump until she feels her skin warming under the sun's rays. Harley's sure the paleness is slowly becoming flush but she brushes it off as becoming hotter than normal because they're currently under two suns. Earth was bad enough with one because The Ark and The Ring were freezing.

By far, Murphy is the loudest of them all on their search for whoever lived there. "Hello?!" He shouts as he pounded on another door with his fist. "Invaders from Earth, can we come in?"

"John," Emori hissed his name. "Keep it down."

Murphy yanked away from the building in annoyance. "I don't know why we're knocking. Gone door to door, and no one's here."

Echo shook her head. "We don't know that yet."

"These are people's homes. We're not breaking in like thieves," Bellamy reminded them.

"Bellamy's right," Clarke agreed. "If we want to do better here, we can't be just - "

She has no choice but to stop mid-sentence when Murphy had moved on to another building and sends a harsh kick that brings the glass doors flinging open instead of shattering. He makes a satisfying hum before looking over his shoulder. "Well, look at that. This one's unlocked," he deadpanned, jutting his thumb over his shoulder. Murphy's boots thud against the wooden floor as he's the first to enter.

Harley has to pause and shut her eyes before she enters. She's never described herself as having a short temper because... Well, she's never had one. She only toughened out after six years in space. But the noise Murphy is making, with how loud she's being, is getting on her last nerve. And the point is, Harley knows she should be used to it by now. He's never been any different.

"Hey," a careful voice brings Harley's eyes open. She turns her head in time to see Echo put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

The touch made Harley jerk away. "I'm fine," she answers firmly, ignoring Echo's confused stare as she walks inside.

She's just in time to see Clarke pick up a bowl in front of what looked to be a shrine. There are spots of a red liquid inside that they all recognize immediately. "... Blood," Clarke gasps before she sets the glass bowl down like it suddenly burned her fingers.

Harley decided there that she's done. Plus, Murphy was crouched in front of a glass container with dead bugs inside that he tapped at before moving on to something with speakers on it while Bellamy orders him to behave. She doesn't pay any further attention to her brother. Harley's becoming frustrated and he's only distracting her from what's the task.

The locks to the empty castle aren't even rusted so it's nearly impossible to break into. Harley can feel her annoyance growing bigger and bigger with every step on the long staircase it takes to get closer until it almost becomes a headache. She peers through what she guesses is the lock, the opening strangely shaped like a sun. Harley's mind whirs in thought, wondering why these people had the shape of the sun everywhere. She figures her sword would be no help and reaches for the knife Echo gave her on her belt instead. Her fingers flick around the handle in a talented spin so she could point the tip of the blade towards the lock.

Harley barely jammed the silver blade into the lock so she can pick it before she hears Murphy's voice. He was hesitant, using his knees to crouch as he watched his sister try and break inside after she nearly let him be pummeled by Clarke and Miller because he deserved it. "Are you okay?" He questions.

"What?" Harley asked incredulously. What about her facade seemed not okay? "God, why is everyone asking that? I'm fine, just tired." She's glad for her short hair as she flicks it over her shoulder with another twitch. "And hot. This 'two sun' bull sucks."

Emori huffed from where she had pressed the flat of her back against the door but it sounds like a noise of agreement. "Tell me about it."

"I don't think it's too bad," Murphy mused. He shrugged before making an offer. "Want me to give it a shot?"

Harley bites her lower lip before sharp words can make their way out and she attempts not to let her focus stray from her work. Emori doesn't notice and gives him a small laugh. "Stay in your lane, John. Echo taught your sister everything she knows."

The sister doesn't even notice the proud smile twitching on the brother's lips as he brings his gaze to the little device he swiped. "Okay. I actually know a lot of these songs from when Jaha locked me in the lighthouse bunker." Harley feels her teeth grind as there's a pain in her gut like someone punched her there. Right, that time you abandoned me, she thinks with more bitterness than her tastebuds can handle. The words are too sour to spew out and are so, so unlike her. The twins moved past that. It was a mistake, just a mistake -

"... Oh, wait. You'll both like this," Murphy announced when he came across his chosen song.

It starts to blare from the speakers, some bouncy tune that Harley wouldn't normally mind, but her skull starts vibrating at the sound. "John," she sneered without turning away from the lock. "I'm trying to concentrate here - "

The words go completely ignored as Murphy gives a high pitched "Whoo-hoo!" In tune with the beat before he speaks. "Fine, Harley, be the party pooper. Emori will dance with me. Come on - " He reached his hand out and seized Emori's to spin her. "Come on! Dance!" She only wrenched her limb away and pushed his chest, hard.

With Emori uninterested, Murphy moves on to the short fuse that is Harley. "These things you keep, you better throw them all away!" He sang, much too close to her ear. It's not loud, in fact, he's trying to be soft. But Harley gives him a death glare for a second so she doesn't lose her attention on the lock. "You wanna turn your back on your soulless days!"

Murphy wandered to the edge of the deck so he can lean over the railing with his arms spread, shouting his song to the sky now. "Once you were tethered, and now you are free! That was the river, this is the sea..."

The tune becomes harder and harder to block out. Harley can feel her curled grip on the knife's handle tightening until her knuckles are white, stretched over her skin. Her eyes flicker from the movement of the blade embedded into the lock to her brother who had started to make his way down the stairs with some odd, shimmying dance.

And then it happens.

Harley stops her action as Murphy's feet hit the gravel so he can spin more easily without falling and she wonders what would happen if she shoved the knife in his neck.

Surely he'd shut up for once. And surely he'd bleed a ton. Harley thinks of all the crimson red that would spurt from the wound and stain her hands, splatter against her skin. The pictures play in her head so fast that it's like a movie. She'd watch her beloved twin brother choke on his blood, betrayal in his eyes. Better yet, let it be his heart, Harley's brain reasoned. Let her plunge the blade so he can literally feel the organ break as he stares into the eyes of his murderous sister, dying with the knowledge it was her that took his life.

The thoughts Harley's having should terrify her.

They don't.

She knows who Murphy is. She knows him better than anyone standing there. Harley's nostrils are flaring as she degrades her brother further, too deep in her raging thoughts to stop or worry. Her anger is skyrocketing higher than any radiation level ever has. Murphy's just a manipulative little cockroach who would say or do anything to keep himself breathing. He's a psycho. He held people hostage, gave others up, turned everyone against him just to save his own skin. He wasn't worth another waste of air. Harley's chest felt as if it was on fire as she wondered why they ever kept him breathing this long.

Murphy had no value to them. It was only a matter of time before he betrayed them or makes some deal to keep himself alive because that's what he does. He's a coward. He has as much worth as the dirt stuck in the soles of their shoes, and even that was a reach. Murphy's existence was truly nothing but a mistake. And she can't risk the lives of her family keeping him alive.

Something had snapped in Harley. Something bad. And it wasn't just dark. It was something ugly. It was burning red. It was so hot that it felt like smoke was burning in her lungs. It had been boiling since they landed on this stupid planet, grew when they were attacked, and now it was on fire. It exploded. And she can no longer keep it contained. Harley ripped the knife away from the lock and studied the glimmering blade with eyes growing darker. She realized she can kill the root of the problem, what was keeping them all in danger. What would kill them all unless she could stop it.

Echo always told her there was a fire inside of her. So Harley uses it.

A loud rumbling roar is sent across the sky as Harley ignores Emori and goes to skip down the stairs so fast that her legs have to pump to keep up with her brain. If she tripped, she'd surely tumble and break a limb. But Harley doesn't think about that. She only thinks about the knife, clutched like a promise of death in her hand as she keeps her sight straight on the back of her brother's head. She can faintly hear Miller shout something about their ship but it falls deaf on her ears. She doesn't give a damn anymore and the second her boots meet stone, Harley is charging at her target with the blade pointed forward.

A rageful scream rips from her throat and Murphy spun away from the sky at the sound of, "I won't let you kill me!" Murphy threw his arms up to avoid the first swipe Harley makes but he's a second too late. The blade slices the fabric of his jacket but it's not enough. She doesn't stop there.

She swipes again, and again, but because Murphy dodges each one, she hasn't been able to make a direct gash. Harley jabs the knife forward as hard as she can, aiming for a kill spot, but it only plunges into Murphy's shoulder. He screams as she tore the knife out, blood dripping from the tip, and tumbles to the ground. Harley knows her time has run out, and the rest are shouting her name. So she doesn't waste the last minute she has and throws herself on top of her brother, pinning her opponent's hips down with her knees. Just like Echo taught her.

"Stop!" Murphy pleaded each time Harley brings the knife down to stab him. He's squirming too much under her weight, and she's fighting blindly without a plan, only with wrath. "Harley, what are you doing?!" Harley only grunts with each missing attack, gritting her teeth before she can let loose another scream. She narrowly misses his face when he flips his head to the side and she plunges the knife into the red dirt instead.

He tries pushing her off, but the girl is too strong, too full of rage for him to handle. "Harley, stop!" Murphy begs, his voice cracking with betrayal at his sister's sudden attack on him.

One last attempt on Murphy's life comes when Harley has the blade positioned to dig into his heart. He crosses his arms in front of him before she can make the final kill. She lets out a snarl that sounds more like an animal and pushes with as much strength as she has. "You'll die instead of us," she spits, colder than ice. The sharp tip barely grazes his chest before she feels hands on her arms, tugging her away.

"Harley, you're gonna kill him!"

That's the idea.

Miller's too strong no matter how much Harley struggles in his grip. He's able to wrestle her off of Murphy and Echo is soon by his side, grasping her other arm and twisting her wrist until she releases the bloody knife. "Let me go!" She shouts until her throat is hoarse as she watched Clarke, Bellamy, and Jackson tended to Murphy. They were coddling the pathetic was of oxygen.

"Harley, calm down," Echo demanded.

Harley doesn't stop. She kicks, attempts to yank her arms free from their clutches even if it means ripping them out of the sockets, does anything in her power to gain her freedom and finish her task. "He'll do it to you too," Harley snarled. She sounds as deranged as she looks, her hair draped over her face like a curtain and her skin reddening with how much fire is pulsing through her, setting her aflame.

"Clarke! Listen to me!" Harley screams again in her fit of violent rage to force Clarke to look at her. "He'll do it to you too!" Her limbs start thrashing again as Clarke pulls away from Murphy so she could look through some stupid book. They don't let go. It somehow makes Harley even more angry, angry enough to keep screaming wildly. "Let me go!"

Clarke takes one look at the sun and the book slips from her hands when the realization hits her. She lets out on whisper barely audible over Harley. "It's in the air."

Eyes bulging, skin redder than a sunburn, hair sticking to the thin sheet of sweat, a chest full of steam from a bonfire, and throat so scratchy she tastes blood, Harley's knees hit the dirt and she gives one last fatal, curdling scream that reverberates through the planet and could have shaken the trees, or even set them on fire with the power of anger it takes.

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author's note:

once again, harley has no chill.

thanks @ red sun.

no but this really contributes to her story in the future which is why i used emori's place - plus, the angst coming from the fact she nearly killed her brother? boy oh boy.

i'm not sure how well i portrayed the influence under the red sun considering we didn't get a lot on that storyline and i really wish we did because i liked it. lots of murder. fun times.

anyway, thank you for reading! i've updated two stories in two days that i hadn't touched in months. who even am i.

- koda