Chapter Text
Clarke
+++ A year ago things started to change in my life, there were always things in my life I would have liked to have changed but sadly those weren’t the things that changed. Some of the changes were worse than others but all the changes over the last year were big and the all started one seemingly ordinary afternoon. +++
One year ago
Clarke did not like the weeks in any given month where she had to go stay under her stepdad Marcus’s roof which was where her mum was living now. Thankfully though the house was a reasonable size so Clarke was able to disappear into certain rooms on her own most of the time, like now with how she was sitting in the small tv room at the front of the house on her own. Clarke knew it was anti-social to do this but just sitting like she was now sketching in one of her sketch books was something she found relaxing and besides Bellamy and Octavia her stepsiblings didn’t want to spend time with her anymore than she did with them.
This was Clarke’s mum’s second marriage but apparently it was Marcus’s third, as Clarke understood it he had been married once when he was young but had gotten divorced after a year and then a few years after that there had been Bellamy’s and Octavia’s mum. She’d already had kids so when she died Marcus had been left with Bellamy and Octavia but that hadn’t stopped him so now here he was on marriage number three married to her mum and calling her daughter. Clarke tried to be nice but Marcus had married her mum just a year after her parents had gotten divorced and now he was calling her daughter and calling Bellamy and Octavia her brother and sister so it was a challenge to be nice.
As Clarke was thinking about this and also drawing part of a tower on the castle she was drawing in her sketch book she heard a loud yell come from above her head which was loud enough that she stopped for a moment and looked upwards. Bellamy’s bedroom was right above her and currently he and one of his friends Miller where up there playing some shooter type game so Clarke would guess that one of them had just got hit or something, looking up at the sealing Clarke hoped it was Bellamy.
Clarke and her still in her mind new stepsiblings had always been going to the same school but Octavia was a few years younger than her so they had never really known each other before, Bellamy on the other had was only a year older than her so they had known each other. Clarke would say she knew Bellamy Blake quite well in fact, so she was able to say quite safely that her step brother was a complete ass who delighted in teasing her and generally making her life difficult. That was before they became step siblings as well, if anything things had gotten worse since then.
Still looking up at the sealing Clarke mentally crossed her fingers that the bully that was her stepbrother was losing whatever game he and his buddy were playing and then turned her attention back to her drawing. Things weren’t much better when it came to Bellamy’s sister Octavia either, when everything had started happening between there parents Clarke had tried being nice to Octavia in the hopes of maybe being friends but Octavia had made it clear she wasn’t interested. Clarke wasn’t totally sure what Octavia’s problem was but she suspected that it was probably as simple as she didn’t like her mum so she didn’t like Clarke by extension or something a long those lines.
With that in mind Clarke stopped drawing again and slipped her phone out of her pocket to see if her dad had texted her with an update in terms of when he was expecting to be here. Which as it turned out he had, apparently Clarke’s dad was only like ten minutes or so away, reading this text Clarke looked up from her text and over at her bag that she had placed across from her and let out a sigh of relief, she was soon going to be able to get out of here for a week.
After her parents had gotten divorced her dad had ended up leaving town but in spite of him living more than a state away now Clarke’s dad still made the time to come back to see her which was something Clarke really appreciated. Staying with her dad in whatever space he ended up staying in while he was in town was more or less Clarke’s favourite part of any given month, it wasn’t like her dad spoiled her or anything either it was just that she was free from certain people when she went to stay with her dad.
Thinking about the person she was most going to enjoy avoiding in the coming week Clarke looked up at the sealing again and smiled brightly, being free of Bellamy was always such a relief. In fact if Clarke had her way she would live with her dad most of the time in stead of living with her mum the way she did which she knew was an idea Bellamy for his part had pushed as well but all the so called adults in there lives had shot that down so they were forced to live with each other. Thankfully though there would only be two more years of this and then it would be over with Bellamy going off to college, he didn’t like her any more than she liked him so to Clarke’s relief Bellamy had made it clear he would be going far away as soon as he could.
Until then though Clarke would have to settle for just having these small breaks away from Bellamy with her dad when she got them, having considered all this Clarke was about to start sketching again but before she could there was something of a tentative knock at the front door of the house. Clarke was more or less right next to the front door so she was up right away, moving under the assumption it was her dad she moved into the narrow corridor that ran through the house and just as she saw her mum appear coming down the stairs Clarke reached the door. However as she reached it and opened Clarke did not find her dad waiting there ready to save her from this place if just for a week as she was expecting but instead she saw a rather formidable looking black woman standing there with a kind of grave expression on her face.
‘Errr,’ Clarke began not sure what else to say just yet seeing the woman standing there, ‘can I help you,’ she asked finally, choosing to go with the simple option.
‘My names Indra,’ the woman began offering Clarke a polite smile as she spoke ‘I’m with social services, does a Marcus Kane live here?’
‘Yeah, he’s my step dad,’ Clarke nodded answering the woman’s who was apparently named Indra question right away seeing no point in not being truthful.
‘What’s this about,’ Clarke’s mum asked reaching the door now having no doubt heard what had already been said and speaking in something of an accusing manner ‘what do you want with my husband?’
‘Well right now I just want to talk to him,’ Indra said showing no sign of being fazed by Clarke’s mums tone of voice ‘I have some information to give him of the bad and good variety.’
Knowing her mum as she did Clarke was sure she would have continued to push this social worker Indra until she gave more than that up but as it was she didn’t get a chance because just then Marcus appeared. ‘Did I hear someone talking about me,’ he asked being polite in a controlling kind of way as always, moving into the space just in front of the door.
‘Marcus Kane,’ Indra ventured turning her attention to Marcus now who nodded as she did so signalling she had found who she was looking for. ‘Can I come in,’ Indra asked now gesturing with one arm moving on having gotten her confirmation now ‘I need to tell you some things that might be hard to hear.’
‘Whatever it is you might as well just come out with it,’ Marcus shrugged being blunt with the woman Clarke was beginning to think might actually have something big to tell him and by extension all of them.
‘Fine,’ Indra said shrugging herself, apparently she wasn’t one to beat around the bush either ‘did you ever know a woman named Helen Tanner Mr Kane?’ Marcus didn’t answer this question however the awkward expression that right away spread across his face was apparently enough for Indra because seeing that she kept going ‘well,’ she continued ‘Helen died recently and she left behind a daughter that I believe is yours.’
+++ I used to have a dream of what my life would be, a dream where I didn’t feel trapped in something that I couldn’t escape and I had a life free of so many things. Freedom was the dream I used to have and everything that went along with that but that was a dream, this is my reality. +++
Present day
Sitting in the back of her mums car as they all drove towards the place that was going to be there home now Clarke mostly just looked out the window at various bits of scenery they passed by as they drove along a country road. To begin with Clarke had tried drawing some of the stuff they passed by but it had been a long journey so she had since given all that up however she still looked at stuff like trees as they passed by enjoying the spectacle of it all.
‘What you looking at Clarke,’ a voice that after near enough to a year now was familiar asked to her side drawing Clarkes attention away from what was outside the car to the small brunet girl sitting next to her in the back of her mums car.
‘Just trees, and stuff Madi,’ Clarke said making herself smile as she turned to look over at the eleven year old who was now looking up at her away from the iPad she had been playing with for the last hour almost ‘I like to look at that kind of thing.’
‘But why,’ Madi asked frowning slightly making it clear she was confused ‘why do you like to look at trees Clarke or things like trees? Hearing that Clarke had to right away supress a giggle, since Madi had become part of there so called family Clarke had learned she could be quite a blunt girl like she had just been with asking such a question but it was rather endearing actually.
‘It’s an art thing,’ Clarke said having to take a deep breath in as she spoke to stop herself from laughing answering Madi’s question as best she could ‘art is about looking at stuff and thinking if you like how it looks.’ That was a very simplistic way to put it but it was the easiest way Clarke had to explain it all and besides Madi knew Clarke was into art and that kind of thing so she hoped that would be enough of an explanation for the small girl.
‘Ok,’ Madi nodded apparently excepting this but she apparently wasn’t done talking either ‘so you really never visited this place before,’ Madi asked changing the subject to where they were all heading right now.
‘No, Madi,’ Clarke sighed shaking head wishing she wasn’t about to be pulled into talking about all this again but knowing she was about to talk about it all the same. ‘My dad owned this place,’ Clarke continued explaining this eyeing her mum who was driving right now as she mentioned her actual dad ‘but because it was so far away it wasn’t some place where I could just come and easily visit.’
That was leaving things out Clarke knew, like the fact that her dad had moved back here which was his family home after his wife her mum had left him for another man, however that man was as it had turned out Madi’s dad so there was no need to go there with the small child. When Madi’s mum had died in that car crash everyone including Marcus had been surprised to learn of the small girls existence but the tests had been done and as it turned out she was a member of there so called family so after various evaluations Madi had come to live with them. That wasn’t something Clarke considered a bad thing, Madi was a sweet girl after all but that day when Indra had first knocked on her door at been the start of a very tuff year which had included her dad’s death.
‘And now we are all going to come live here,’ Madi remarked scepticism in her voice now which was a mindset Clarke honestly shared.
‘That’s a good question,’ Clarke nodded as way of a response looking at Madi briefly and then at the back of her mum’s head in front of her in the driver’s seat.
Unfortunately her dad had died suddenly and that had meant no will, without a will normally that would have meant that everything would come to Clarke but sadly her mum and Marcus had been able to take advantage of her age. Before Clarke had really known what was happening everything apart from the house they were heading to now and what was inside that belonged to her dad had been sold off and the money from the sale along with the house had been placed in a trust. Again normally that wouldn’t have been a bad thing for Clarke because the trust did have her name on it however her mum and Marcus had managed to see to it that she couldn’t access her trust in any meaningful way without there approval until she was 25. So in spite of the fact Clarke technically owned the house they were all going to be living in now she had been given no say when it came to them moving into it to live in from now on which was something she had fought.
‘A fresh start will be good for the family Clarke,’ her mum said from the front responding to Clarke’s statement which had been directed at her somewhat. ‘As for the whole never being there Madi,’ she continued addressing the other point ‘think of it like an adventure, this is an adventure into the unknown for the family.’
Not really wanting to listen to her mum go on about this again Clarke looked away from her mum first looking out the front of the car at the back of Marcus’s car which he, Bellamy and Octavia were in but then she looked out the side window again just in time to see the sign. Welcome to Arkadia the sign read in bold old fashioned letters signalling to Clarke they were now entering the apparently historic town her dad had grown up in and she would now be living in until she could find a way out.
Clarke hadn’t cared to read up much about Arkadia her dad had always said he disliked it so she hadn’t seen the point but Bellamy was a fan of history so he had and therefore she now knew the town had existed in some form since before the revolutionary war. Looking out the window as they drove through part of the town Clarke definitely got a sense of this, a lot of the buildings looked old with stone work or with wooden styling, she might not be into history but Clarke did like art so she did notice stuff like that. There were clearly modern buildings Clarke could see as they drove by but looking at everything as they passed by Clarke was left with no doubt that this town was indeed a place that had been around for a good long time.
As it was Griffin house which was apparently the name of the place her dad had grown up in and she now in a way owned was on the outskirts of the other side of the town close to the sea so they had to get through the town first before they could get to it. Having done that though they all got on to something of a country road that at the end of it led the two cars they were all traveling in to what was something of a breath taking sight.
Now Clarke had always known she came from money, her dad had been an engineer and her mum was a surgeon so growing up she hadn’t wanted for much. Clarke even knew that there was some generational stuff to it, on her mums side her grandfather had been a surgeon as well so there was that and her dad had always been clear about the fact he had family money. However even with all of that Clarke still wasn’t quite prepared for what she saw when she got out the car after her mum had parked up the car along side Marcus’s in front of Griffin house and it wasn’t like she had never seen pictures either.
For three floors from the looks of it Griffin house seemingly stretched outwards to each side of where Clarke now stood with ten windows on just the first floor at only the front of the house providing an indicator of the size of the place. Griffin house wasn’t a super mansion Clarke knew but calling it a house did not feel right to her as she took in the size of the place and its sprawling mass of shapes suggesting parts had been added over time. It wasn’t just the main house either, around the small courtyard they were now in there was what Clarke took to be a garage and a barn as well as other outbuildings so Griffin house was definitely not an ordinary house to be sure.
Feeling rather shocked Clarke walked a few steps forward towards the house trying to take it all in but a sudden familiar mocking voice coming from behind soon distracted her. ‘Guess you really are a princess, hay princess,’ Bellamy called having gotten out as well like always not missing an opportunity to mock her for some perceived slight.
‘Your going to be living here too you know,’ Clarke remarked turning around to face the tall, dark haired, dark skinned boy that was now standing right behind her ‘so what exactly does that make you?’
‘Your, captive,’ Bellamy said right away apparently ready for that counter, grinning an annoyingly pleased grin as he spoke ‘I’m your captive princess.’
‘I’m not keeping you here,’ Clarke shrugged trying to be casual ‘feel free to leave,’ she added gesturing at the road they had just come from ‘I won’t stop you, in fact I’d be ecstatic if you did run off.’
Marcus worked in private security so he had money and therefore since Bellamy had been living with him Bellamy had been ok in that department but that hadn’t always been the case. Clarke didn’t know all of the details but she did know money had been tight for Bellamy when he was younger back when it was just him and his mum so Bellamy did know what it was to go without which Clarke didn’t. Sadly that was something that seemed to piss Bellamy off about her as well as she was guessing other things so the mocking name calling was a rather big thing between the two of them.
Bellamy opened his mouth ready to no doubt continue trading words with Clarke however before he could, a tall pale man with a beard Marcus a few steps away from them called at him to stop. ‘This is a big day Bellamy,’ Marcus shouted as he moved forward towards the house taking it all in himself ‘don’t be mean to your sister ok.’
‘Stepsister,’ Bellamy and Clarke said in unison the moment Marcus said that turning away from each other to face the man as a slim brunette girl Octavia walked past playing on her phone noticeably rolling her eyes at them. Clarke didn’t have much common ground with Bellamy but one thing that they did share was how much they hated it when people especially their parents in some way referred to them as brother and sister. One it just wasn’t true there was no blood relation between the two of them and second and most importantly at least for Clarke it denied the truth of her farther which was something Clarke did not like people doing.
‘Whatever,’ Clarke’s mum sighed cutting in on this now as she walked forward hand in had with Madi who seemed to be oblivious to everyone staring up with child like wonder at Griffin house. ‘Just stop ok,’ she continued giving both Clarke and Bellamy a meaningful look as she spoke ‘whatever either of you might think this could be a fresh start for all of us so it would be nice if you both at least give it a try.’
Clarke did not want to be here and she resented her mum for so many reasons but seeing her mums annoyed but also pleading face she did actually feel a little guilty. Last year had been bad for everyone not just her, Madi coming into there lives and her dad dying were just two reasons last year had been tuff, there had been other reasons to make things complicated for everyone not just her. Clarke did resent her mum for various things but that didn’t change the fact that she had actually suffered too so she had to admit she could at least put a brave face on it, at least for today.
‘Fine,’ Clarke sighed letting out a frustrated sigh as she spoke making something of an effort to smile as well ‘I’ll try mum.’ Bellamy didn’t say anything in response to her mum on this point but he did make something of a grunting sound which to Clarke at least suggested that he was on board for as her mum had said giving it a try.
To Clarkes relief the front door of the house opened here providing a place were she could direct her attention meaning she could ovoid for the moment at least talking anymore with Bellamy or for that matter anyone else. Turning Clarke saw the man she knew as her currently no where to be found ant’s x husband Jacapo Sinclair or Sinclair as he like to be called who because he lived in the town was the one who had been helping making sure things were ready for them.
‘High guys,’ he began smiling welcoming them all as he stepped out to meet them ‘you just missed the movers,’ Sinclair remarked standing in front of them all now ‘you guys are going to have a lot of boxes to sort through.’ Having made this observation Clarke watched as Sinclair looked all of them over saying hello to her individually before coming to Madi ‘you must be Madi,’ he said apparently making an effort to be nice to the child ‘we haven’t met before.’
‘No we haven’t,’ Madi said shaking her head matter of factly giving Sinclair a taste of the blunt honesty she was known for ‘but it’s nice to meet you though.’
Clearly a bit taken aback by Madi’s brashness Sinclair looked over at Clarke probably for some signal from her in terms of how he should respond however Clarke for her part just shrugged because there really wasn’t anything to say there. Madi really wasn’t one to beat around the bush as it were so when talking with her it was best to take things at face value so shrugging really was the right choice of response Clarke reasoned.
Clarke’s mum on the other had responded differently ‘she’s happy to meet you,’ she said quickly side stepping Madi and moving in front of her to face Sinclair directly acting all embarrassed by what had really been a rather innocent comment. ‘It was really nice have you to stay here to meet up with us,’ she continued moving on to talking about the house now ‘I really appreciate this Sinclair it was really kind of you to do this.’
‘Jake would have wanted me too,’ Sinclair said in something of a cold tone looking at Clarke’s mum directly now, his demeanour was polite but there was a hint of disapproval Clarke was sure she could see there as well. Clarke’s dad and Sinclair had used to be family after all and had stayed friends afterwards so she was sure he knew about certain aspects of the divorce the same as she did possibly more Clarke guessed if her dad had been a bit more free with details with her one time uncle than he had been with her. ‘Shall we go inside then,’ Sinclair continued after a moments pause where he looked everyone over backing away from Clarke’s mum as he spoke gesturing for them all to walk a head towards the front door which he had left open.
With that invitation everyone walked forward heading towards the front door, Clarke moved forward as well but she hung back slightly as she moved taking in the front of Griffin house as she did so one more time before she headed in. Clarke had heard stories about this place and what it had been for her family through the years but she had never been here and when she had asked about it her dad had just said it was complicated or something to that effect never going in to detail. Clarke had been curious of course but honestly she had never paid it much attention though just taking her dad at face value when it came to this place however now that she was here Clarke couldn’t help but wonder why her dad had never told her more about this place.
With this in mind as everyone was filing through the front door Clarke looked around the front of the house again and the muddy fields Griffin house sat in thinking that she might some how spot something that gave her some kind of answer. She didn’t really expect to see anything but Clarke did it all the same and as she looked around the strangest thing she spotted was the fact that the fields around the house seemed to have several wells in them which was strange but wasn’t exactly earth shattering either.
Staring at the closest well which was a mass of old looking stone Clarke let out a frustrated sigh, there was no answer for her to some how spot out here and there probably wouldn’t be in side her new home either. Clarke wanted to understand what had been going on with her dad so much but she knew she probably never would and that fact depressed her so trying to put this out of her mind Clarke made to follow the others in side the house. As she turned away from looking at the well and followed after the others though Clarke did think she saw a green flash come from inside the well if just for a moment but she chose to dismiss it as a trick of the light, it wasn’t though, that green light had been very real which was something she would soon learn.