Thomas things are going to get really bad for you. You have to trust me.
Things are going to get really bad for you. You have to trust me.
You have to trust me.
Trust me.
The words bounced around his head in her voice. The last thing she said to him and it made him physically sick. They got louder and louder the more his situation truly sunk in. He was alone. After everything they had done, everything he'd gone through to make sure his friends were safe, He was right back where he'd started, leaving him wishing he would have pushed the damn button when he had the chance, killing them all in one easy explosion. It would have been better than this.
His room was blinding, the walls, the floors, even his clothes were stark white. He'd been thrown in this room hours ago. Nobody told him why nobody even looked at him. Thomas had walked around the room feeling the walls for any sign of an escape route, but even the door had no handle. When he finally gave up he sank to the floor and curled around himself. There was no way he could tell how much time passed, even if he was certain it had been almost a day there was no confirming or denying it. He knew there had to be more to this unless they wanted to starve him to death. Which made the whole mess of his life seem pretty worthless. He tried a couple times to count the seconds but eventually, his mind would wander and he'd lose track and mess up the entire system. There was nothing for him to do but think.
He had no idea where his friends were. Thomas knew they got Minho, he saw them knock him out shortly before they got him. He didn't see if newt got away though and that was the part that worried him. Minho was strong and determined. He spent every day alone in the maze for years before Thomas started to run with him. If anyone could handle this it was him. No, Thomas found himself more worried about newt. Newt who always looked after everyone else but never cares enough to look out for himself. Newt alone scared the shit out of Thomas, the last time he was alone, Thomas almost lost him before he even knew him.
Thomas lost track of how long he'd been sitting there, drowned in thoughts of Minho and Newt and everyone else he'd failed. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't move when the door across from him opened. He only looked up when he could hear a voice above him.
"Thomas! So glad you're here, I thought you and I could have a little chat." rage filled Thomas and before he could think logically he threw himself at the other man who stood there looking as smug as ever. He could feel the crunch of bones beneath his fist when it connected with Jansons' nose. He pulled his fist back to hit him again but before he could land it more men came through the door and grabbed Thomas by his arms and pulled him backward.
"You're really going to wish you hadn't done that." Janson spit, staining the perfectly white floor with blood. Thomas continued to glare at the older man. Thomas didn't say anything and he didn't fight the men holding him, he knew there'd be no point even though the still open door did tempt him. "As I was saying, Tomorrow starts the third trial. I have a feeling you are not going to like this one." Janson nodded to one of the men holding him back. He felt the all too familiar sting of a needle in the back of his neck and grunted from the pain of it. Whatever they were injecting him with burned like fire. It also worked fast making his eyelids instantly heavy.
"Enjoy your night Thomas, Things are going to get really bad for you but remember, WICKED is good" Thomas flinched at the words that sounded just like her. The warning she gave him. He sagged against one of the men holding him. His vision blurred gray and he fought to stay awake but in the end, it was useless. He was out before the guards dropped him on the floor.
Everything was dark, but it was more than that. This was the kind of inky blackness that your eyes never adjusted to, it almost felt alive, like it was pulsating around him, pushing in on him from every angle and then retreating backward. Like living shadows. He pushed himself up and slowly turned taking in the void he'd woken up in.
"Tommy," Thomas whirled around, searching for the face that belonged to the voice he knew so well. "Tommy" he turned again, slower, searching but he still couldn't see the boy calling for him with a name only he used.
"Newt!" he yelled into the blackness.
"Tommy help me!" Newts voice ripped through the space around him loud enough to have Thomas flinching backward, the words of his friend reverberating in his ears.
"Where are you?" he gasped trying to suck air into his lungs in an attempt to keep the panic at bay.
"Tommy." newts voice was getting quieter.
"Where are you!" Thomas yelled as loud as he could but the space around him only swallowed his words.
"Tommy."Newts voice was barely audible now but Thomas could still hear the sadness behind it. He sank back to the floor, tears threatening to spill over.
"Where are you." he cried into his hands.
"Please. Tommy please." the voice was louder this time but Thomas feared how broken it sounded.
"Please what? Newt what can I do?" he whispered into his hands.
"Find me." Thomas's head snapped up and he forced himself to stand on shaking knees. There was still nothing but blackness around him, regardless Thomas began to run, he couldn't see anything in front of him but still, he ran. He called out for Newt but he stopped responding and Thomas tried not to think about the fear eating away at him.
Find me, Thomas, Find me. But that wasn't Newt. it was hers and it was in his head. He clamped his hands over his ears and screamed.
Thomas knew before he opened his eyes that something was different. For one, he was put in a chair while he was passed out. His legs and arms were tied down, he could feel whatever they used to tie him cutting into his skin. Thomas knew this wasn't going to be good.
"Welcome to the Third Trial, this is phase one." Thomas opened his eyes to glare at Janson, but he wasn't there. It was just his voice. He looked around for a speaker system but just saw his same room from the day before, Jansons blood and all, the only difference being the shuck chair he was tied to.
Thomas stopped looking around when he heard a quiet noise, like gears being turned, he looked back in front of him and realized the wall was actually moving, revealing a window into another room exactly like his, complete with a chair in the middle, facing him. Thomas had a very bad feeling deep in his stomach.
He saw someone curled in on themselves and Thomas knew who it was, without even seeing his face he knew. He pulled violently on his restraints wanting desperately to go to him, to hug him and tell him everything was okay, to get him out of this hell.
"Now Thomas, it's important you pay attention over the next few days, it'll help you in later phases of this trial. Oh and remember when you hit me?" cold sweat broke out all over Thomas and he listened to the silence stretching on after Jansons voice cut out.
In the room in front of him, he could see the doors fly open and the boy in the corner looked up, Thomas couldn't bear the fear in those eyes. The boy jumped up and tried to get away from the men running towards him, but before he could get very far one of the men punched him square in the nose. "I did say you would regret that didn't I?"
"No" Thomas shouted pulling against his restraints again. Not caring that he could feel the ropes digging into his wrists. Thomas could feel the tears threatening to spill over as newt continued to be kicked in the stomach and ribs. The worst part of watching it happen was that newt didn't fight back. Thomas wanted to scream at him to get up to fight back. One of the men pulled newt by his arm into the chair in front of Thomas.
"Where's Tommy?" newt rasped while they tied him down to the chair. Thomas felt sick. Nobody answered him as they finished off tying newt down and left. Newt could hardly sit up straight on his own, his nose was bleeding horribly and Thomas's heart ached.
Thomas knew he didn't like where this was headed. Newts door opened again and Thomas tore his gaze away from newt long enough to see who was there. He didn't know what he expected, nothing good, but what never crossed his mind was Teresa standing in the doorway of newts room. Seeing her felt like a gunshot through his heart.
Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. Her voice filled his head again. Thomas looks away.
Thomas watched her making her way towards newt who looked shocked, and almost hopeful.
"Teresa, what are you doing here? You've got to get out of here" he said trying to look at her. "Is Tommy here? Did they get him to? If they did you have to get him out of here." newt was pleading with her and Thomas was crying because he knew, he just knew this wasn't going to end well. Thomas was screaming at her to leave him alone, not only out loud but in his head too. Trying to make the connection, trying to beg her not to touch newt.
"Hush now newt its okay, its all going to be okay." she smiled at Newt and it was that same smile she used to give him, it was a smile that meant something horrible was about to happen.
Teresa don't! He screamed so loud he could feel the connection being made and he could feel her flinch away from his voice. But it wasn't enough. She slid something out of her sleeve and brought it down on newts bad leg.
"WICKED is good newt" newts eyes went wide. And then he started to scream and Thomas screamed with him. He screamed as loud as he could part of himself trying to drown out the sound of his best friend in pain. The other part of anger at the girl who sat there and smiled at them.
She screamed. She could hear others screaming in her head, boys. She could hear the pain in their screams and so she screamed with them. The sound of the three of them mixing together and ringing in her ears.