Him || The Scorch Trials

Twenty

The first time her eyes opened her eyes she stood back in the Glade, peering through the closing doors at a boy blubbering with fear.

She was watching Ben's Banishment.

Other Gladers watched on but she had turned away, nuzzling her face into Thomas' shoulder, who stood to her left. The ring of grinding stone blasted through the air until the Doors came together, leaving the boy to the wrath of the Maze.

Then came the moment Mara had been expecting; a needle penetrating her flesh, hanging from her right arm.

Her attention turned to the needle, which had already begun to numb her body. Again, she felt her body crash against the cold floor, no pain flowing through her other than the numbing substance which chortled at her fighting body.

She felt her eyes blur with the oncoming unconsciousness, but before dozing into the daze of oblivion something emerged from the distortion.

A face hovered over her, his sickening smirk twisting and morphing into a colossal grin. Mara hardly felt the extraction of the needle in her arm, but she knew that the face belonged to the boy who had betrayed her. The boy who had tried to kill her.

The second time her eyelids were open her distorted vision was cast upon the halls of the Maze, lit by the setting of the sun. Her body was still paralysed, yet she was moving at the same time.

Her body was crumpled into a jagged shape, a strange feeling beneath the bottom of her back and knees.

Everything she could see was still blurred; the Maze walls colliding to hide their twists and turns. But- to Mara's confusion- they were getting closer. Despite her corrupted vision, she could knew that she was moving further into the room, but her she was not the one controlling her movement.

Slowly, her head swivelled backwards, looking up at the strong boy carrying her through the night. He had a mop of brown hair, but that was about all Mara could make out.

"Mara, Mara, Mara." The boy tutted, and Mara could almost picture the smile on his unknown face. "What are you? Not a Crank, but not Immune, either. Just... so different."

She knew his voice. He was so familiar to her, but she couldn't pin the voice to a name or face. Who was he?

"We can't have that. You're not right, you're just not right. The Grievers showed me the truth. It's just not right. What are you? Why are you doing this to me? Why did you make me have things in my head?"

His voice was raising and raising until he was practically screeching into Mara's ears. He was so loud, and he didn't make any sense, but Mara was losing his presence. She was slipping away again, but all she could hear was his distinct voice muttering over and over.

"Just not right. Just not right. Just not right."

Over and over, the same three words until, once again, the darkness took over and engulfed Mara whole.

The third time, she woke to the dim light of an illuminated torch shining down onto her pallid skin. It was bright at first, a blinding light blocking her ability to see, but as time slowly ticked by its light faded, becoming nothing but a meaningless speck in a dark room.

Her flesh was in contact with someone, their arms holding her into the owner's body. Mara's head was spinning with a whirlwind of dizziness, running in circles around her mind.

"M, are you okay?" A comforting voice lulled her into a sense of awareness, helping her to regain herself.

She looked up at the boy who held her, his face hardly lit in the poorly lit building.

"Where are we?" Mara croaked, trying to sit up in his lap. She attempted to push away the thought of the boy in the Glade so not to worry Newt, instead setting her cleared vision upon the area around her.

They weren't in the same room, instead they were in a long hallway, perched up against one of the walls. Figures were just visible along both sides to them, and Mara could only assume they were the other Gladers. Either that, or they were surrounded by Cranks.

"Underground, love." He replied, helping Mara sit up and swivel around to face him. "Jorge and another Crank are gonna help us get through the city, they got us food." Newt held up a tin can half full of beans and some sort of sausage. "There's one here for you, too."

Mara eagerly took the full tin from him, her beast in her stomach grinning at the sight. She scooped out a spoonful of beans, pouring the cold, stale food into her mouth. It was stale, but she didn't care- food was food.

"Mornin' sunshine," Minho's voice echoed down the hallway, getting closer. "You sleep well? Have any more dreams of Newt?"

"Maybe," Mara winked, taking another mouthful of beans after she spoke. She looked over to Newt, who was redder than a rose, blushing with embarrassment. "It was quite enjoyable." She lied, trying to divert them from finding out about her real dream- her memory.

"Shuck Mara, keep it to yourself, will ya? I don't wanna know what you get up to in your spare time." He chuckled, taking a seat in front of the two of them.

Mara laughed. "I don't quite believe that, but then again, I don't wanna know what you get up with in your spare time, so I'll drop it."

Minho pretended to act shocked, but soon dropped the act, leaving the conversation to fall flat and silent. Except, it wasn't awkward. In their time together, there had always been moments of pure silence and Mara had sort of gotten used to them. Sometimes, they were a perfect relaxation in such a crazy world.

The silence helped to stop the sounds of death. It tucked all of the sadness in the world behind closed doors, giving just a few blissful moments of not thinking about any of it.

All of a sudden, the silence was shredded just as quickly as it was formed.

A crash bounced across the walls, echoing down the hallway. Mara's head jolted towards the horrid sound to see a staircase at the end of the hall, the structure of it falling apart with a metallic ripping. Along with it came a thick cloud of dust, clogging the hallways with a sickly cover.

"Run!" A girl's voice flew through the air, a voice she didn't recognise.

Before she could pull herself up, an arm was clasped around her waist and throwing her onto her feet. And then they were running.

Sorry for the late update guys, its nearly been two weeks :/ but its up now, so that counts, right? 

So what do you think? Is something going to happen to some of the Gladers? And who do you think the boy in Mara's dreams is? 

Until the next chapter...

-Lows