ACT III SCENE IV
LIBATION BEARERS

CASSANDRA STARED BACK in mute horror as the blonde woman looked down at her. The doctor looked exactly the same as she had remembered her from her vivid memories. Her hair seemed more platinum than before though, but her crystal blue eyes still held that mercilessly cruel glint in them. The girl grabbed hold of the edge of the box behind her and hauled herself up to her feet. She took several deep breaths in a vain attempt to control the blaze of anger in her chest that threatened to consume her better senses.

"What the hell do you want from me?" she hissed at the woman.

"Oh, you were always my favourite, Cassie," Clark told her mockingly.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped back. "Only Minho calls me that, so shut up!"

Clark simply chuckled at her and shook her head in amusement. Then her face smoothed back into an impenetrable mask as she considered Cassandra in front of her, malicious eyes taking in every bit of observable detail from the girl.

"So aren't you even a little bit curious?" she finally asked, glancing at the tablet that was still in Cassandra's hand.

"No," the girl responded in a hard voice.

"Really?" Clark raised a neatly trimmed eyebrow. "Not even about Nick? Helenus? I'm sure you must be curious about what happened to him."

"Rachel said he died, what else is there to say?" Cassandra questioned through gritted teeth.

"Then the Trials perhaps?" the woman went on irregardless. "Aren't you wondering whether what Nick had seen was right? That maybe the feelings between you and Minho were simply... our doing?"

"That's a shucking lie and you're the biggest liar in the whole of WICKED!" Cassandra shot back but she could feel her entire body tremble furiously.

Clark chuckled again, red lips curving to the side. "Are you really sure about that? After finding out that you were meant to be the Attachment Variable to our Trials?"

"Just shut up."

"It's true. We did manipulate your feelings for each other."

Cassandra yelled out as she threw the tablet across the room. Clark swerved her body at an angle in order to avoid it and the electronic device shattered against the opposite wall. It fell to the cold tiled floor, lines webbing across its broken glass surface.

"I'm going to kill you, I swear to God!" she shouted, taking a step forwards to lunge at the woman.

Clark slipped a hand into her pocket and in the next moment, Cassandra felt an invisible force yank hard at her neck. She collapsed to the floor on her knees, her own hands flying towards her throat as she tried to crush her own windpipe. Choked grunts filled the room as she desperately tried to fight against herself, her heartbeat drumming wildly against her chest. Her face flushed with blood, heat immediately flooding her cheeks. The pain was excruciating and panic seared through her receptors as her eyes widened in fear. Then suddenly it stopped, and she let out a sharp gasp for air as she slumped forwards.

She looked up at Clark who held a small black remote control in her hand, a single button that controlled her very consciousness with a simple press of a finger. Her hands balled into tight fists at the realisation and her chest heaved with heated emotion.

"You... you bitch," she hissed venomously.

Clark simply laughed at her. "Did I hit a nerve earlier?"

"I remember the past. Minho and I cared for each other long before you found us. It's real," Cassandra asserted, glaring daggers coated with poison.

"Unfortunately, our technology is still limited and we can only alter so much," Clark admitted. "I have to say though, I thought your past affiliation with the boy would have hindered our results but I think it only ended up enhancing them. I suppose everything works out the way it's supposed to, don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Cassandra grounded out. "Like how I'm going to shucking kill you."

"Oh, Cassandra, Cassandra, Cassandra," Clark shook her head as she walked around the girl in a circle. "You really have no clue what's going on, do you? You poor, poor girl."

She wanted to murder the woman in a hundred and seventy different ways, then personally send her all the way down to hell where she belonged. Clark folded her arms again and stood in front of her with her hip cocked to the side. She was the embodiment of everything that WICKED stood for, and the focus of Cassandra's deep resentment for the organisation. They could tell her over and over again that everything they did was for the greater good, but she would never believe a single word of it. Especially not after everything that she and the others had gone through.

"Go to hell," she spat back.

Clark sighed in disappointment. "How could you be so ignorant? Very well, I suppose you just need a little reminder."

The blonde walked towards the door again and pressed her palm against the scanner on its side. Cassandra felt her mouth go dry with dread and anticipation as the opaque glass door opened with a gentle automatic swish. It remained open as Clark peered out into the corridor, her eyes as hard as glaciers.

"Come on, don't be shy," she waved a hand before feigning her trademark sickly sweet smile.

Soft footsteps started to approach the room, and Cassandra detected a hint of metal chains clinking against each other. She frowned in bewilderment- another prisoner of WICKED perhaps?

Clark moved to the side to allow the newcomer to walk in. It was a boy, around her age or younger. He wore the customary blank white uniform with the word 'WICKED' stitched in black bold font on the breast of his shirt. His feet were bare, the ankles linked together with cold metal chains along with his hands. The boy had thick brown hair on his head, almost shaggy if it was allowed to grow another inch or two. His eyes were blindfolded and a surgical mask obscured the rest of his face. Cassandra thought he looked sickly, as if he hadn't been able to swallow anything down for a few days.

He stood in front of the threshold, directly opposite her as Clark started to unchain him. What were the restraints even for? It seemed absolutely ridiculous, as if some half starved teenager could possibly do any harm when there were guards with launchers walking around the entire compound. The chains fell heavily to the cold tiled floor and the boy shuffled uneasily. When his hands were free, he immediately rubbed the chafed area around his thin wrists.

"I know it's been a while since you've seen each other..." Clark began. "But do try to reign in the enthusiasm."

She chuckled again as she reached up to remove the mask from the boy's face, then the blindfold. Cassandra felt her mouth drop open before she was even aware of it, shuddering high pitched cries falling from her lips like a torrential downpour. Hazy green eyes stared back at her, so deep in a mire of despair and agony that she could feel her heart breaking at the mere sight of them. Her hands shook desperately as she pressed them against her lips to mask the sobs that quivered from her throat. Tears tumbled down her cheeks to cloud her vision as the boy's expression changed to shock when he finally saw her.

This couldn't be real. It had to be a sick joke that WICKED was playing at.

"I hope you have a lovely reunion," Clark said as she stepped out of the room.

The door closed after her departure and it was just the two of them now. Cassandra pushed her trembling body off the floor, standing on her feet so that she could close the distance between them. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed as she felt him reciprocate the same.

They had been comrades in arms, friends who suffered together through thick and thin.

WICKED always lied, and they had lied about him too.

"Helenus," she whispered. "I can't believe you're actually alive."

"Cassandra," he responded, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I never thought I'd ever see you again. Or anyone."

Suddenly, he pushed her away and grabbed onto both her arms imperatively. His eyes shone with panic and fear that sent her heart thudding painfully against her chest. Cassandra knew instantly that she wasn't going to like what he was going to say next.

"I need to tell you everything," he breathed out quickly. "Before I lose it again."

"What do you mean?" she frowned.

"I'm the walking dead, Cassandra," he told her. "I'm a Crank."

[ AUTHOR'S NOTE ]

ooommmmggggg i can't believe it's been so long since i last updated this but i am back, i have not abandoned cassie and minho! to make up for it, i'm gonna concentrate on this now to make up for lost time aaahh...!

but helenus guys! my poor smol child holy crap

k one more intro chapter before we finally dig into the real events of the death cure book!