( ONE : PRISONER 517 )

TODAY, SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT. In the seven-hundred and twenty-one days that she'd been locked in here, nothing ever changed—there had always been a routine, a system, that her life revolved around, that kept her sane.

After all, some would go crazy staring at the same four walls. They were a constant reminder that she would never be free, that this was now her home, until the very end. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes after the lights went out, she felt as if the walls were moving, constricting around her, the space around her shrinking, getting tighter, the air getting thicker until she could no longer breath.

Often the silence was so profound, so deep, that all she could hear was the never-ending ringing in her ears. Sometimes, if she stilled her movements and kept her breathing shallow, it felt like she was not in the room at all, that she'd simply evaporated into thin air. The only thing keeping her there was her awareness. She would hum to herself, to break the endless void, to remind herself that she was still there, breathing and alive—that she hadn't turned into a ghost within these walls.

She didn't know if it was any consolation when she found that she was still breathing.

Time was something she had plenty of. Every minute, every second seemed to drag on for an eternity, while at the same time all blurring into one. She kept to her routine every day, to keep the boredom at bay, to keep track of the days, as a way to stay sane because it was all too easy for one to lose their mind in the Skybox.

In the beginning, she had days where all she could do was cry, wishing things went back to the way they'd been before—before things had turned so very, very wrong. She now knew it was childish to wish of such things. For the longest time she had so many regrets, but now, with such little time left, she had to let go of her regrets and live what life she had left.

She would be here until she turned eighteen—the day that she would be old enough to be executed for her crimes. It wasn't so far away now, she would be eighteen in one week, and then her time as a prison would be over, she would be free.

She was one of the many prisoners on the Ark, and due to her crime, she and the others were to be taken out of their cells at the age of eighteen, escorted to a restricted area on the Ark and Floated. She had to admit, being Floated was probably the quickest and cleanest way to die. She wasn't dreading her death, she'd had over seven-hundred days to come to terms with her fate. When she committed her crime, she knew exactly what she was doing, even bared a nasty scar and she needed to be punished for her crimes.

It was the freedom she looked forward to the most. That soon she would no longer have to spend her days in this cell. She only prayed that the Council would allow her to see Jupiter one last time before they floated her. The thought gave her hope, it kept her going, gave her the energy to continue her day-in and day-out routine. Nothing would change.

But today, from the moment she woke up, she knew something had changed. She could feel it. Something inside her was telling her that something was different. The air in the Skybox nearly hummed with tension that hadn't been there when she fell asleep. It set her teeth on edge, and made every hair on her body stand on end, like someone had ran cold wet fingers down her spine.

It felt as though the entire prison was holding its breath, shoulders hunched, waiting for the other boot to drop.

So, as she lay on her bed, with an arm folded behind her head, she played with the single possession from her old life she was permitted to keep—her mother's tarnished silver heart shaped necklace—she waited. And she wasn't exactly sure what she was waiting for, what could change?

As she stared up through the skylight in the ceiling, mystified by the massive cloud-covered blue orb in the distance—Earth—she jumped, startled, when the silence was pierced by a single panicked shout, the sound echoing from deep within the prison.

Heart lurched in her throat, Elissa Bardot-Gray, pushed herself up onto her elbows at the unexpected sound. As she sat up, she strained to hear what was happening on the other side of the metal door that separated her from the rest of the Ark, pushing long brown hair behind her ears in the effort to do so. For a long moment, there was just the return of agonizing silence, the one she was accustomed to listening to for days on end.

When another cry sounded, this one much closer, and distinctly more feminine than the first, she fully sat up, staring at the door. Swinging her sock clad feet off the bed and onto the cool metal floor, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and rubbed her palms over her face tiredly. Hearing her stomach grumble, she frowned deeply, hoping that whatever the hell was going on out there, they'd hurry up and at some point they'd bring around their midday meal. She was starving. Her stomach had started complaining hours ago, not too long after their morning rations.

When no other strange commotion happened for a few minutes, Elissa felt herself beginning to relax, the tension slowly draining from her shoulders. Maybe there wasn't anything to worry about after all. Pushing herself off the bed, she tucked her hair behind her ears, stepping forward to try and peer through the small slit of a window at the top of the door. But before she even had a chance to take more than a couple steps, the door to her cell clicked and swung open. Startled by the sudden movement, she took a few steps back, toward the back of the cell, shoulders tensing again as two guards walked in. One held a stun baton securely at his side, the other held a small metal box with a handgun holstered on her thigh.

The guard cleared his throat as he shifted his weight from side to side. "Prisoner number five-one-seven, face the wall." He was younger than she'd expected, and his uniform hung loosely from his lanky frame, betraying his status as a recent recruit. A few months of military rations weren't enough to banish the specter of malnutrition that haunted the outer parts of the Ark.

The woman guard placed the metal box on the small table against the wall and flipped the lid back. She glanced between them in mild fear, she knew this procedure. This only happened when you were about to be Floated. It honestly shouldn't have come as a surprise. According to their laws, adults were executed immediately upon conviction, and minors were locked up until they turned eighteen and then given one final chance to make their case. But lately, people were being executed within hours of their retrial for crimes that, a few years ago, would have been pardoned.

"What is this?"

"Quiet." The woman guard ordered in a monotonous voice. Still facing the front, Elissa watched as the woman stuck her hand in the metal box and retrieved a thick metal bracelet. "Hold out your right arm."

"What? No, no!" Elissa shouted, pure unadulterated panic covered her features. She hated the pleading tone her voice took. "I don't turn eighteen for another week. It's not my time."

"We're not here to kill you. Hold out your arm." The women repeated, raising her baton.

Elissa felt her chest tighten, and she forced herself to breathe. The woman was lying. It was cruel and twisted, but it'd all be over soon. She knew that this was coming, she'd been preparing for it the past two years. She knew she was going to die. She extended her hand toward her and she shivered. "Don't worry. This isn't going to hurt."

Elissa closed her eyes.

She remembered the anguished look her father had given her as the guards were escorting her out of the Council chambers. While the anger that had threatened to consume her during the trial had long since burned out, thinking about him sent a new wave of heat pulsing through her body, like a dying star emitting one final flash of light before it faded into nothingness.

Her mother was dead, and it was all his fault.

The guard grasped her arm and winced when she felt the cold metal snap around her right wrist an electrical surge accompanying it. Elissa's eyes snapped open. She looked down and saw a metal bracelet clasped to her arm. She ran her finger along it. She bit down on the inside of her cheek from the pain of the wristband—felt like a dozen tiny needles pressed into her skin—but as soon as the pain came it had gone.

"I don't understand. What is this?" she asked frantically, pulling away from the guard.

The guards lunged forward, as Elissa continued to stare at the wristband, and grasped her upper arms. The steel door opened again and they pulled her out into the corridor for the first time in over seven-hundred days. A lifetime. Her eyes widened in shock, but not because she was finally out of her cell but because all around her were people her own age. The other prisoners.

On every level of the prison, guards were holding onto other prisoners, most were being shoved against walls or onto the ground, fighting the guards. It was happening everywhere she looked. It was complete and utter chaos. The sight made her heels dig into the ground to try and stop them from dragging her any further. It was obvious what was happening—all of the prisoners were going to be Floated so that the others could survive just a bit longer.

Elissa frantically looked around for someone—anyone she may have known. Then something struck her. Jupiter. He's a member of the Guard, which meant he'd be helping with the prisoners. If she was going to die, she wanted to see him one last time. More panic surged through her and she hauled herself out of the guards' grasp and without thinking, she whirled around and blindly swung. Pain shot up her arm as her fist connected with the lanky guard's jaw and the shocking force behind it sent him to the ground. The surrounding guards called out after her as she turned and ran down the corridor.

She shoved her way passed everyone, trying to work her way through the crowd while still keep an eye out for Jupiter. She'd been nearing the end of the corridor—nearing the doors—when she collided roughly with someone. The harsh impact sent them both tumbling to the ground. Elissa quickly gathered herself and got back on her feet, looking down at the person she clashed with. The person lying at her feet was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"Jupiter?" Elissa whispered completely stuck dumb.

"Hey, El." Jupiter responded softly in return, looking at her sadly as he pulled himself onto his feet. He quickly captured her in his arms, engulfing her small frame in a tight hug. "It's been too long."

"Seven-hundred and twenty-one days too long." She breathed out, tears welling in her eyes. "Jupiter, what's happening? What is this? They're killing us all, aren't they. Does Dad know anything about this? Where is he?" She questioned in a frenzy as she held onto his biceps for life.

Jupiter opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Elissa spotted a familiar figure appear behind him. Titus Bardot was standing right behind Jupiter. She was sure it was a hallucination. The chance of her losing her mind in solitary was infinitely higher than the chance of the Chancellor's closest friend would actually come and say goodbye to his criminal daughter. For a moment, seeing him standing their, an old instinct gave her the urge to run over and jump into her father's arms. But something much heavier than the gravity itself kept her feet rooted to the floor. Because of him, she'd watched her mother be dragged off to the execution chamber. He deserved her hatred.

From a distant and up-close, no one would ever assume that Elissa and Titus were even remotely related, let alone father and daughter. He was tall with blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin; she was short with black hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. But, when they opened their mouths in an argument, no one could deny that they were bound by blood. Jupiter—from what her mother told her—was a spitting image of what Titus looked like when he was Jupiter's age.

When Elissa was younger, she'd been jealous of Jupiter because—unlike her—he resembled their father. He walked into a room and everyone knows exactly who sired him, but not Elissa, they shared the same father but she looked nothing like him. Titus had gotten Elissa's mother, Aiyana Gray, pregnant a few months before knocking up Jupiter's mother. They were half-siblings and because their mothers still only had one child, no one got Floated.

Elissa peered around Jupiter's shoulder. "Why the hell are you here, Titus?" She kept her voice cold and level, letting him know his presence was unwanted.

"Hello to you too, daughter." Titus said softly, stepping closer to his two children.

She shook her head, anger momentarily shifted to another topic. "You-You never visited. Not even once. You never came here to see your own daughter."

At that, her father at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"Elissa, I'm not here to fight. Not today." He raised a hand, trying to show he was there peacefully. His other hand rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, and it was then she noticed how weary he looked. There were dark bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. She was faintly surprised to see that his previously lively blonde hair was now dull and peppered with grey.

"Then why are you here, Dad?" She demanded more softly, crossing her arms in front of her, not noticing that they were the only ones left and that the guards were waiting for them to finish up before taking her away.

He gave her a sad look. "I'm here to say goodbye."

The silence that followed his statement could have been cut with a knife. She felt as if a bucket of freezing cold water had been poured onto her body, as if all the air had been forcefully pushed from her lungs. Her arms fell to her sides. I was right after all, they're going to kill all of us.

"What?" She breathed out, staring at him and Jupiter in shock. "But-But he said...I have another week..." the energy seemed to evaporate from her body as she sagged against the metal railing in defeat, staring down at her hands blankly. She was going to die today.

Seeing her defeat, Titus Bardot and Jupiter stepped forward, crouching in front of her. "Eli—Elissa, look at me. Look at me." At Titus' insistence, she looked up. "You aren't being executed. You're being sent to the ground, all one-hundred of you."

She shook her head. "What? But it's not safe. No. No. We get reviewed at eighteen, not sent to the ground."

"The rules have changed. This gives you a chance to live and if Earth is survivable, we'll all be going to the ground." Titus assured and she glanced between her father and half-brother. "Elissa, you need to be careful. Jupiter and I can't lose you."

"We love you so much, Elissa." Jupiter said, placing a kiss on her forehead.

And with that, a pair of strong arms grabbed her waist and hauled her back. "No! I don't want to go! Please, Dad! Jupiter, don't let them take me!" She screamed as she kicked and fought as hard as she could against the guard pulling her away from Titus and Jupiter. She could see that tears were welling in their eyes when a needle sunk into the side of her neck.

Elissa blinked wearily, trying to fight against the sedative but failed as it took over and her eyes fell shut.

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not edited

ive watched season one of the 100, like, five times this week. oops.