Ashes to Ashes (Newt, Maze Runner)

8: Ingrid

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My chest ached. I couldn't watch the scene in front of me as the small boy fell to the ground, lifeless. Chuck. Oh, Chuck. So young, yet so innocent. Why did it have to end this way for him?

Pain racked through my body. Not from my deaf ear, or the nausea left in my stomach, but for the boy. How loveable he was, though I didn't even know him. Then I thought of how much worse it would be for those that knew him.

It was as if on cue that Thomas reacted.

His blank, shocked expression was wiped clean when something else replaced it. Something that I couldn't quite place.

He lunged. Straight for the kill into Gally's open figure. He threw bone-breaking punches into Gally's chest, his jaw, his nose... Punches I was sure could have been fatal. The expression - one of animosity, I realized. Grief and shock that drove the passion behind his attack.

I did all I could have thought of - I screamed, my throat ripping at the sound. I couldn't hear it, but I was sure it was deafening. I couldn't have Thomas - the instant leader, the irrational but brave one - become this violent beast. Not even if it was what Gally deserved.

Newt and Minho rushed to stop him, pulling him by either arm to stop the fight. Both were panting from the effort, while I was gasping for breath from the mere trauma.

Gally, his face twisted in pain, blood streaming from his nose so heavily that you couldn't see the black bruises already covering his face...

Someone forced their way into my vision. Newt. He looked at me, telling me everything will be OK. But I couldn't believe him, not when something nagged the back of my mind. Something was telling me it would be anything but OK.

There was a burst of light. Blazing, blinding light as the door was opened. People bustled in, a creepy demeanor about them, and black clothing that made me doubt their intentions. They weren't here to help us.

And that's why I did it.

I crushed my lips onto Newt's, letting my mind drift as we kissed in perfect sync. It was bliss, the fireworks that sprouted in my heart, the excitement that send my heart pelting.

Someone pulled me off him, roughly. A gloved hand grabbed my wrist, sending bullets of pain shooting through my arm. I screamed, only to tighten the grasp on my wrist.

Something was stuck into my arm. Small, sharp. But most definitely painful. A needle.

That was when a blanket of darkness clouded my vision, and the memories began... 

~*~

In a white room there sat a girl.

Her hair was a chestnut brown, her eyes a stunning blue. The blue of the ocean.

She had just done a test. Or an interview, of sorts. She wasn't exactly sure what to call it. What she was sure of, however, was that this was not something to take for granted. Her future depended on it.
She waited anxiously - not for the results, as the results would only be shown when the time came. When she wouldn't remember any of this. No, what she waited for was her sister - her look-alike, some people called her. The only difference between them was the height, and the silky, almost black hair that her sister inherited from their father. The only thing they had left of him.

Oh, how she loved her little sister.

'What if I get into the other group? What if I'm not with you?' She recalled her sister as she worried about the interview. Her sister was a worrier. Dependent. Perhaps it was because her older sister had always been the one to take charge, be protective. Even if it required being a little harsh to others, at times. But she never treated her sister with that harshness. She spoiled her, to be honest.

And now she sat, remembering the rest of the conversation.

'It won't matter if we're separated. Just remember how much I love you,' she had said. Her sister smiled.

'To the stars and back.'

She smiled as she remembered, and was ever more anxious to see the little girl. Her little girl.

"Ingrid!" The sound of a young girl's voice filled the room as he busted through the door. "What did they change your name to?"

That was all they had learned from the interview. What their names would be.

"Tell me yours first, Celeste," Ingrid smiled. Celeste pouted, but answered anyway.

"Natalie. I hate it," she moaned.

"Well," Ingrid smiled. "Have you heard of the boy from a few years ago? His name was going to be Newt. Not as bad as that, is it?"

Celeste let out a restrained laugh. Ingrid knew why. She was terrified, terrified of losing all the memories they shared. Terrified of losing each other.

"It'll be OK," she promised. "You know what my name will be? It's going to be Lois. Horrible, isn't it?"

"It's not," Celeste said. But at least he was smiling now.

"It's so... Boyish," Ingrid - or Lois - fake grimaced.

"That's what you say about Ingrid, too," Celeste nudged her.

Ingrid shook her head, "I'm OK with Ingrid, I guess. I wish I could keep it. It's just that your name is perfect - perfectly beautiful, just like you."

Celeste blushed madly, something Ingrid had always loved about her.

"But I wish I was like you," Celeste sighed. "So strong, and brave." Steady tears made their way down her face.

Ingrid sighed, wrapping her arm around the petite shoulders of her little sister.

"You're amazing. Just the way you are, as Celeste or Natalie. And promise me?"

Celeste looked into Ingrid's sharp blue eyes, identical to hers.

"Tell me you'll be strong," Ingrid looked at her seriously. She nodded, scared.

"Then you promise me something," Celeste said. "Promise me you'll still love me when we lose our memories, or when we don't recognize each other's names."

Ingrid nodded sincerely. Anything. She would do anything for Celeste. "Of course," she said. "Always."