b e f o r e

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B E F O R E

LILLIAN KANE COULD BE FOUND collapsed to her knees of the floor of the near empty Engineering Station upon the Ark

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LILLIAN KANE COULD BE FOUND collapsed to her knees of the floor of the near empty Engineering Station upon the Ark. Near empty, meaning she'd been alone with one of her mentors, Austin Roberts. The latter was on the ground, still spitting up blood. He'd be dead soon, and Lilly had no problem with that. At least, not while she stared wide eyed at the warm crimson substance caking her pale fingers. The screwdriver she'd used to stab Austin was still in her hands and she quickly dropped it in horror. The reality of the situation was slowly occurring to her. Her usually calm and smiling face was etched with fear, shame, dried tears, and blood spatter. Still looking down at her hands, Lilly gasped when she noticed the stain that stood out on her dark grey shirt. She scurried backwards from the body in front of her, tears beginning to fall again as it finally registered in her brain what she'd done.

Lilly's breaths quickened as she curled herself up in a corner, sobbing harder as she remembered why she'd just murdered this man. She hadn't had a choice. Right?

The sound of blaring alarms sounding around her brought her out of the panic she felt, replaced with pure adrenaline. I can't let him see me like this, Lilly decided when she figured out her father would arrive soon. He wouldn't understand, he wouldn't believe me. So she stood and ran.

She ran because she thought there was a chance she could get away. Away from the body. Away from the blood. Away from the prospect of being floated in three months when she would turn eighteen. Lilly's dark hair flew wildly behind her as she pushed herself forward, away from the Engineering Station.

"You there!" A man shouted behind her. "Stop!" She didn't stop.

She soon reached an area of the Ark where there were more people roaming around. Lilly didn't even bother apologizing as she pushed through the crowd. She stumbled several times as she pushed on, the adrenaline quickly disappearing. As it did, she began to come to her senses and realize there was no running from this. She would be found eventually and sent to the SkyBox before being floated. She should just give up and let it happen instead of fighting the inevitable. Ahead of her she noticed guards running in her direction to cut her off. Lilly stopped running and looked behind her. Through the crowd of angry dwellers, she saw more guards. It's useless, she thought as she collapsed to her knees, raising her hands in surrender.

"You under arrest for murder," announced the first guard to catch up with her. Lilly didn't respond. The guard whips out his taser and presses it into her shoulder blade, immobilizing her. She falls to the group, twitching and crying out for him to stop. He does, but plunges it into her side almost immediately after. "Since you are under the age of eighteen-," The speech that the guard was about to give about sending her to the SkyBox is interrupted when her father runs onto the scene.

the scent of air and darkness x b. blakeWhere stories live. Discover now