♡ Dark Paradise ♡ ; newtmas fanfic.

t e n t

{ A U T H O R S N O T E // Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while, so to apoligize, I give you this long chapter! Thank you all for reading, I love you guys! 12k reads! Whaat?! That is INSANE! }

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I should've known. WICKED never goes away. When you finally feel free, they come back. You're never allowed to leave their grasp. Once you are property of WICKED, you belong to them.

All of the Gladers, even some of Group B who had arrived at the Afterlife, had called a meeting to talk about the news Teresa just shared with us about WICKED.

The meeting was held in Alby's home. Having Alby as our leader once again gave me a sense of comfort.

"So, I guess all of you know why we've been called here." Alby shouts, hushing the crowd. "Teresa here says she overheard two of the guards of the Afterlife talkin' about WICKED." He gestures at Teresa, who is standing at the back of the room with her back leaning against the wall.

"Now, we don't even know if this means jack. We should keep our eyes peeled, and stay aware of suspicious events. This isn't any reason to overreact."

The whole crowd is silent, but Gally scoffs.

Newt and I smirk at each other, ready to hear whatever klunk Gally is going to feed us next.

"No reason to overreact, you say?" Gally starts. "You really believe that? Alby, this is WICKED we're talking about! They're insane! We have to . . We have to go somewhere safe."

"This place seems pretty buggin' safe to me!" Alby snaps. Gally had just arrived here, and is already doing a good job of getting on Alby's nerves.

"Listen, I know we're all a little shocked, or scared - whatever. But okay, just say we were going to escape somewhere. Where would we go? This is the safest place we've encountered so far. I don't think we'd want to risk it. Honestly, no. This place isn't run by WICKED. I strongly believe that. It's shuckin' heaven, for gods sake! They can't control that, can they?!"

"Actually . ." Newt speaks up. This is the first time I've heard him express his opinions about this matter all day. "I'm not choosing sides or anything, but I'm just saying, this place is a little buggy. I mean, it's apparently heaven, yet we are able to get injured, and I know that there is lots of weapons and bad people up here. Why would heaven allow that?"

"I'm not God, for crying out loud! I don't know, Newt! Why don't you ask God himself?" Alby answers, frustrated.

Newt just rolls his eyes.

"All I want to add is that this isn't a bad place." Alby reassures him. "No need to worry, all right? Even if WICKED was here, I think they're finally giving us a break."

"A break?!" Newt snaps.

Oh no. Here it comes.

"A bloody break? Are you kidding me? Are you oblivious of everything that has happened? You know WICKED will never give us a break, Alby! You know it!"

With a snort, Alby walks out of the room. "Meeting closed!" He calls.

-

We try not to think about it. We all try to go back to the way things were. Happy and free.

But it's the thought floating in the back of everyones mind; the image we can't erase. WICKED. And all of the terrible things they've done.

I know that Alby had a point about the Afterlife being the safest place we've encountered so far, although I would never tell Newt that I think Alby is right. We have nowhere to go from here, which brings me to the terrible and confusing thought of: where even are we?