|Thirty-Nine| Cold Blooded Murderer

                                    

                                          
Alyssa stepped on a shirt as she pulled the sleeve, the threadbare fabric ripping smoothly. She stood inside a tent with Clarke who was sobbing on the makeshift bed. Alyssa drowned the newly ripped cloth in a bucket of cloudy water, watching as Finn's dried blood on her hands came off. She scrubbed her hands, her face pale but blank. "You killed him. You killed him. You killed him." Clarke whispered and sobbed like a mantra. Alyssa sniffled, glancing at the blonde who had just lost the man she loved.
                          
She continuously considered biting back with a simple, "he was bound to die anyway," or "I put him out of his misery", or "suck it up, I'm a murder, people die, get over it." But she stayed silent, allowing the silence to envelop completely, her own thoughts clouding judgments and making her feel like an animal on alert.
                          
That's probably why she whipped around at the sound of footsteps approaching the tent. When she noticed it was Abby and her father, she simply turned back to the bucket and scrubbed where blood once was but was now gone. Abby approached her daughter, gingerly placing her hand on hers as she crouched before her. "They were going to torture him... right? We couldn't have-- have gotten h-him, right?" She sobbed. 
                          
Kane tentatively walked further into the tent, observing his daughter's every move. She was standing tall, her back straight, feet square. Her jet black hair pulled back into braids. She looked like a Grounder. And with her acting like killing her best friend wasn't destroying her, well, it made her a Grounder. "She killed him." Clarke sobbed as Abby hugged her. Footsteps approached the tent again, heavy and loud. Alyssa whipped around, her green eyes blazing as her friend fell apart beside her.
                          
A Grounder entered, a scowl on his face. "The Commander is ready to talk." He told her, glancing to Clarke. Alyssa threw aside the cloth and shrugged. Clarke was in no place to negotiate. 
                          
"She's just getting me." Everyone inside the tent, including the Grounder were shocked at how stone-cold her voice was. The Commander walked in, her head high as Abby helped Clarke to her shaky feet and ushered her out. Alyssa turned, facing the Commander with unsure eyes as she took a seat on the throne like chair. It reminded Alyssa of the annoying history books Finn swiped from the library on the Ark, where it showed the throne for kings way, way back when.
                          
"Blood has answered blood. Some of my people say that is not enough. They want the murderer to suffer as our tradition demands. But they do not know that your suffering will be worse." She spoke coldly, her eyes matching her tone. The observant Grounder didn't fail to notice how Alyssa's bright eyes were distracted, momentarily darting away at the mention of her suffering. She noticed Alyssa's cold demeanor and rigid stance. She knew her pain, and she knew it'd get worse. "What you did tonight will haunt you until the end of your days. Still, there will be restitution. The body will be given to the people of Tondc. Murder and murdered joined by fire." Alyssa swallowed thickly, placing her hands on her hips. "Only then shall we have peace."
                          
"No. No, we've done enough. The boy should be buried by his own people." Marcus spoke up, trying to reason. Alyssa scoffed and looked down as Indra began to speak, her eyes dark.
                          
"Enough? We were owed eighteen deaths. We were owed out righteous kill. My people deserve justice." She spat. Abby, who was standing just outside with Clarke stepped inside beside Marcus.
                          
"You don't want justice. You want vengence." Abby growled lowly.
                          
"You have not see my vengeance."
                          
"Enough." Alyssa spoke loudly, her dark eyes shooting looks of anger toward her father and Abby. "We will do it. But when we do, when it's over, we need to talk about how to get our people out of Mount Weather. All of our people." She told the Commander, her chest rising and falling at an uneven rate.