A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 6

Cally's pov

I woke up with a hand pressed against my mouth. Panic started to take over until I saw who it was. It was Newt, one hand keeping my mouth shut and the other pressed against his lips in as a sign for me to be quiet.
     "You did make it hard to find ya, Greenbean. You really couldn't stay in your room, did ya?" He whispered, his hand still on my mouth. I glared at him, but when he didn't remove his hand, I did the next most logical thing a human being could. I licked it.
     Immediately, Newt pulled his hand away with a disgusted groan. "That's grose." He said while wiping his hand on his pants.
I smiled mischievously. "You should have removed your hand sooner, it was too easy. Why are you waking me up this early anyway?" It was still dark, and I really wanted to sleep some more.
"Gotta show ya somethin'." Newt got up from the ground without giving me any more information. Curious, I got up and followed.
Show me something? I thought, head still heavy with sleep. Why does he have to wake me this early? Couldn't it just wait?... O...My....God..... I'm still in the Glade. How am I still here? I should've woken up already. This is making no sense. I should be awake. At home. Eat breakfast with mom and Ezra and Darren. Getting ready for school. Never knew I would miss school.
     "You 'kay Greenbean?" And again, my mental crisis got interrupted. I looked up at Newt, he was standing by the wall and had brushed away some of the ivy to reveal some kind of window. But I didn't really care, I just stared at him. I was not okay. Not one bit. I wanted to go home, but I wasn't able to say that, but before I could come up with anything to say, weird lights shone through the window on Newt. Distracting the both of up.
     He was the first to look, gestured me to do the same. Not really knowing what to do, I just did as he said. As I looked through the window and saw what was shining with the lights, I almost fell back.
     It was hideous. It was a creature, looking like a big slug. I don't have anything against slugs, but this one was enormous. It had hair and metallic things sticking out of its body from different angels. The lights came out some of the metallic arms, while other arms were used for moving around.
     "That's a Griever. They always come out at night and sometimes durin' the day." Newt continued, but I didn't really hear it. I was too shocked by the thing, it was so big and it moved not natural, crawling, spinning.... it made me wanne vomit, but I managed to keep it in.
     "This is all real." I whispered, barely capable to believe it myself. "I'm not dreaming, am I? It's real. The Maze, the Grievers, the Beatle Blades... all of it is real."
     "Are ya 'kay, Cals?" Newt asked again, this time, I didn't keep quiet.
     "Am I okay?" I yelled at him, but I realized that the others were still sleeping, so I hushed my voice down to a whisper yell. "No! No, I'm not okay! Yesterday, I was just laying in bed, reading a book, and now I'm trapped in a fictional Maze with a group of fictional boys and fictional murder machines! Who can actually, physically kill everyone in here!" I spoke almost everything in one breath, so fast I wasn't aware if Newt could even understand what I was getting at.
     "Cally, calm down. It-."
     "Calm down! I'm not going to calm down! Nobody in the history of calming down has ever, ever, calmed down! Because someone told them to calm down!"
     Newt grabbed my arms and looked straight into my eyes, "it's going to be okay. Just take some deep breaths."
     "It's going to be okay?" I continued to whisper-yell in disbelief. "Are you even hearing yourself, Scamander? Yes! I said Scamander. From Newt Scamander! A fictional author, from a fictional tekst book, in a fictional magic school, in a fictional world from a fictional book! Just like you! This, the Maze, the Glade, everyone in it. It's not real! It's fictional! How the hell is this even happening?"
     Newt didn't seem to pay attention to any of my panicked words. Instead, he put one hand on my cheek and moved my head to look at him. "Cally, breath, just breath for a moment, okay? Breath." He started to breathe in and out, deep and rhythmic. I started to copy his breathing without thinking about it. I didn't know why, but that actually helped. After some time, my heart started pounding slower, and my brain went back to rationalizing. This was a dream. It must be. Maybe it was one of those dreams where you think you woke up, but you're actually still inside another dream. Yes, that's it. I just needed to wake myself up.
     I pulled out my knife, Newt backed away a little, thinking I was going to attack him. But I wasn't. I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt and slowly pressed the cold iron from the knife against my skin, slicing a small cut in my arm. It stung as the warm blood started dripping out of the wound. But I felt it and didn't wake up. It didn't feel like the dull pressure you normally feel when you pinch yourself inside a dream, this actually hurt.
     Newt grabbed my arms, "what are you doing?" There was distress in his voice as he tried to take the knife from me. I didn't protest, still too confused.
     "It stung... it actually hurt. So that's it... I'm awake. I'm truly, really, wide awake. This isn't a dream. But... how did I get here? How's it even possible? No, wait, how do I get back home?" I said all of that to myself in a low whisper, not thinking about what Newt could hear.
     "Com'n Cals, we've gotta get ya a bandage." Newt sounded calm now he held the knife, as if this wasn't a big deal. Part of me wanted him to freak out, too, realize how awful all of this was. But the other part of me was glad he didn't.
     "I...I've got a bandage myself." I said, still sounding far away while I opened my bag- that I hadn't taken off once since I got here- pulled out a bandage and put it over the cut. 
     "You see? No big deal. Just a cut." Newt still looked worried at me, which made me realize I had freaked out in front of him. He had probably seen and heard everything I had said and done. What if he tells Alby? What if they think I'm crazy? Will they throw me in the Slammer, or even worse, Banish me for it?
     "Maybe it's better if ya wait with workin' for a few days... to calm down a bid. Take it all in a little better." That wasn't the reaction I was expecting, but better. I thought about his words, but I realized I wanted to work, do something useful to take my mind off of my existential crisis.
     "No, no, thank you. I... I want to do something. Make myself useful and take my mind off things, ya know?"
     Newt nodded, "Just keep it down. No screaming, no freaking out and no cutting yourself. Good that?"
     "Um, yeah... Good that." I still don't really understand what all the words they use mean. But since I had to get used to it anyway, I decided to do my best.
     My reaction seemed to satisfy the boy, because he finally let go of my arm. "Okay, let's go get some breakfast." He changed the subject. "Then I'll drop ya off by Frypan. When I'm back from the Maze, we're gonna talk."
     "Talk about what?"
     "Things. Now com'n, ya're gonna need your energy." He didn't let anything else slip about what we would talk about. Which made me nervous, but I wasn't brave enough to bother him about it.
     We ate together, Minho and some other Runners were also in the kitchen. They had to be ready the earliest from everyone so they also ate earlier. We didn't really talk, Minho asked if I had slept well, I answered with that I had slept fine and then they all went to the doors and I was left with Frypan and the other Cooks.