Roped In

“Raven. Raven. Raven!” Clarke shakes Raven awake, holding two toaster waffles in her hand.

“Wha–?” Raven sits up, rubbing her eyes. When she sees Clarke she jumps up. “What are you doing? You should be resting!” Clarke rolls her eyes.

“Relax, I’m keeping my weight off of my leg. I just wanted to get breakfast going so that we can leave as soon as possible.” Clarke shoves a waffle into Raven’s hand and disappears into Raven’s bedroom. “I’ve already packed for you.” She emerges with a large duffle bag.

“How did you know where all my stuff was?” Raven asks through a bite of waffle.

Clarke laughs. “I lived with you for four years. I know your habits.” She throws a bundle of clothes at Raven. “Now get dressed. We’re leaving in ten.” Raven catches the clothes and disappears into the bathroom. Clarke sighs and sits down on the couch, the pain she was hiding from Raven showing on her face. She checks her knee, glad to see that her stitches haven’t ripped. She’s about to turn on the television for distraction when she hears the doorbell. She gets up, wary of who’s on the other side. Approaching the dark blue door slowly, Clarke looks through the small peephole. Her heart stops when she sees who’s on the other side.

“Shit.” Clarke mutters, checking the locks and taking a step back.

“Raven? Raven, I know you’re in there.” Anya calls. “I hope Clarke isn’t still with you, because that will make things a lot harder for you. But easier for me.” Clarke is frozen in fear, frantically thinking of a way to escape the apartment without Anya seeing. She looks to the fire escape, but it’s too late.

“I’m going to count to three. If the door doesn’t open, I will open it myself and Lexa doesn’t want to pay for a new door, again.” Anya says louder this time. Clarke shakes her head; she doesn’t want to upset Anya. She knows all too well what that looks like.

Clarke knows that Raven can take a long time to get ready, so she goes to the door and unlocks the dead bolt. She opens the door slowly, ready to look into Anya’s eyes defiantly, but she lowers her head when she sees Anya’s smug face. Clarke doesn’t miss the gun in her back pocket as Anya strides into the apartment like she owns the place.

“Well, fancy seeing you here.” Anya smiles as Clarke closes the door softly. “Where’s Raven?”

“She’s not home.” Clarke lies quickly, inching towards the kitchen where she knows there are knives. Anya laughs.

“The Grounders have 24 hour surveillance on this apartment. I would know if she wasn’t here.”

Clarke is in the kitchen now. She silently opens a drawer and grips a large knife tightly. Before she can pull it out, she hears the click of a gun loading. She looks up to see Anya pointing it at her.

“Put the knife down, Clarke.” Anya growls. “You know I’m not afraid to use this.” Clarke considers throwing the knife, but she knows that her aim is not good enough to save her. She puts the knife down, raising her hands.

“Good girl.” Anya gestures to the couch with the gun. “Now sit.” Clarke moves to the couch and sits down, glaring at Anya, who is twirling the gun in her hand.

“Why are you doing this?” Clarke asks, clenching her fists at her side in anger.

“How about we ask Raven.” Anya says right as Raven walks in, tying her hair in a ponytail.

“Hey, so I was thinking we could–” Raven stops when she sees what is happening in her living room.

“Raven, how nice of you to join us.” Anya drawls. “Why don’t you come take a seat?” Raven moves towards the couch, but instead of sitting down she steps in front of Clarke protectively.

“What do you want, Anya?” Raven snaps.

“I heard that the two of you were going on a trip, and I didn’t want to miss out.” Anya says, smiling. Raven rolls her eyes.

“Ha. Ha. I’m serious.” Clarke is impressed with Raven’s courage.

“You know I can’t let you leave.” Anya says, shaking her head. Clarke stands up angrily.

“This is what I don’t understand! You tricked Raven into depending on you, but you won’t let her do anything to pay you back! That makes no sense!” Clarke huffs when she finishes her outburst.

“Clarke…” Raven begins, her voice trailing off.

“Do you want to tell her, or should I?” Anya directs the question at Raven.

“Tell me what?” Clarke looks between Raven and Anya. Raven sighs, sitting down and gesturing to Clarke to do the same.

“I’m going to tell you about my father.” Raven says. Clarke nods, knowing this is a big deal. Raven has never spoken about her family before.

“My father, Titus Woods, began importing and selling heroin and other drugs thirty years ago.” Raven begins slowly, gaging Clarke’s reaction before continuing. “He cheated on his wife with one of his buyers, Anita Reyes. Titus kept us well hidden for a while, but when his wife, Beca, learned about his other family, she came after us. I hid under the stairs of our apartment and watched my mother get stabbed to death. Titus fled, thinking about only himself. For a few months I convinced my school and everyone else that my life was normal. That is until Beca came back. She had been waiting for me to let my guard down. We fought in my living room. She had a knife, the same one that killed my mother. I had my baseball bat. Somehow I got the upper hand, and I hit Beca in the back of the head. I didn’t mean to kill her. When I realized what I had done, I fled. I lived on the streets for a few weeks, begging and stealing. After my father left, Beca was in charge of the business. When I killed her, her daughter stepped up to the position. She came after me, and that’s when I met–“

“Lexa.” Clarke breathes. “Lexa is your sister.”

“Half sister.” Raven clarifies quickly.

“So why aren’t you dead?” Clarke asks shamelessly. Raven nods.

“Well, that was the plan, but Lexa said that I deserved worse than death. So they got me addicted and left me on the streets, delivering a new batch every week. Then you found me. You saved my life. They couldn’t touch me when I was with you. When I moved out they found me again. They’ve been trying to get in touch with Titus. They’re using me, hoping that if he knows what’s happened to me, he’ll return. I think they’re wasting their time.” Raven directs this last sentence at Anya. “He doesn’t care about me or Lexa.”

“I’m so sorry Raven.” Clarke looks as if she’s about to cry. “I had no idea.” Before she can comfort her best friend any more, Anya interrupts.

“Speaking of Lexa, she wants to see you.” Clarke stands up with Raven, but Anya shakes her head. “Not you, Clarke, you’re staying here.” Clarke looks at Raven, who nods.

“It’s okay, Clarke. I’ll be okay.” Clarke smiles sadly. Suddenly Anya claps her hands together.

“Oh! I almost forgot.” She walks over and grabs Clarke’s arm firmly.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Raven asks frantically. Anya pulls Clarke over to the radiator in the corner of the living room. She pulls out a pair of handcuffs, attaching one cuff to Clarke’s wrist and the other to the radiator.

“Sorry.” Anya shrugs unapologetically. “We can’t let you get away. You know too much, and killing you would make us lose our best bargaining chip.” She smiles at Raven. “Let’s go.”

Clarke watches Raven and Anya leave the apartment. She closes her eyes in frustration, not even realizing that she’s falling asleep.