OUT OF MIND² ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝐈𝐕: Lyra, Monty, & the Dying Boy

     "What?"

     Her chest pummels the thin jacket she's borrowed from Raven ━━ in the three months she'd been gone, most of her clothes had been redistributed. But now she's staring at Kane, stunned beyond belief. From what she's gathered, Bellamy had been the heart of the guard in her absence, especially since he was the one with the most combative and weaponry training on Earth. He'd always seen himself as the protector. . . so why would he quit the guard?

     Noah looks just as shocked as Lyra. "And you just let him?"

     "It's not as if he gave me a choice," says Kane. "Just walked up to me and handed in the jacket. He blames himself for Mount Weather."

"Yeah," says Noah lowly, casting a glance at Lyra. "There's a lot of that going around."

"Whatever it is, it needs to leave. We don't have time for this right now. Especially not with the Chancellor election tomorrow. . . " Kane trails off haggardly, and Lyra realizes for the first time how much older he looks now than he had on the Ark. Earth has taken its toll on him. "Listen, I won't pretend to understand what's going on between you and Bellamy, but I do know this — he listens to you."

"You want me to talk to him?" Lyra guesses, and he nods. She shifts uneasily. "I don't know. I was gone for three months. . . "

"If you can't talk some sense into him, no one can," Kane insists.

"That's true. Bellamy does care about you a lot. . . " begins Noah, trailing off, looking lost in thought. "Wait, that's so weird. If I didn't know any better, I'd think — "

"Jasper! Jasper!"

Whirling around, Lyra sees Monty hurrying towards Jasper This is the first time she's seen either of them since Mount Weather. Starting to jog over, she's grinning. At least, she's grinning until she sees Jasper shove Monty away from him.

     "Get away from me!"

     "Hey!" Octavia comes sprinting from the other side of the yard, skidding to a halt on the beaten dirt path that extends past the gate. "Jasper, what's wrong?"

     "He's not going to the memorial," Monty snaps frustratedly.

     Jasper gives him an almost cold expression. "It's a little late for a Mount Weather memorial, don't you think?"

Lyra frowns. Some thing about Jasper seems. . . different now. He looks quite pale, almost unnaturally so, as if simply standing around them all is making him sick. His face is sullen and downcast. His eyes shift in the bright light, dark and haunted, as if pained with something that the rest of them cannot see.

"Jasper," says Lyra softly, eyes wide. "Are you OK?"

     He gives her such a nasty glare that she actually takes a step back from him in surprise.

But before anyone can say anything else, an alarm chimes and a robotically feminine voice calls over the PA: "All Arkadia security personnel, report to the main gate."

"What now?" Octavia demands as guards from all directions come forward, including Noah striding towards the front gates where Costa is currently arguing with an exhausted group of straggling people. "Nyko!"