New Discoveries

Hearing a metallic, rumbling noise underneath his bed wasn't what Thomas thought he'd hear that night. He thought that he'd lay in bed, barely get any sleep, and just have to wait the night out. But no, it seemed that the world had bigger plans for him. More important plans. Similarly, after suddenly hearing that noise underneath him and then leaning over his bed to actually see where the noise was coming from, Thomas really did not expect to see a strange boy climbing out of a vent. The boy was the one those other boys pointed out to be the longest occupant of the compound, and although Thomas didn't know him, Thomas was curious. Too curious for his own good. Therefore, Thomas did climb into the vent when that boy told him to follow him. Yep, our Thomas did that. Though, in the end, that decision would pay off.

"Stay here, boy," Thomas consoled the loyal dog after his keen ears had heard the stranger's entrance. With his legs underneath his bed, ready to enter the vent, Thomas lifted his hand to pat Hugo's head. "I'm gonna be back soon, okay? Look after them for me."

"Mph…" Hugo grumbled, but stayed nevertheless. "Ruff."

"I know, I know," Thomas smiled, "I'll be safe."

The rumbling continued as the unknown boy led Thomas through that vent. It was quite claustrophobic at times, but it was nothing that Thomas couldn't handle. Plus, the other boy seemed to know exactly where he was going, so the trek didn't take that long. However, when the boy eventually did stop, he was overlooking an opening on the floor of the vent. And once Thomas had crawled up to kneel beside the boy, he saw a normal-looking hallway beyond and below the metal grate. There wasn't anything weird about it until… Click, click, click, a woman's heels were heard. They clicked against the ground with each step, getting louder the closer she got. But then, when she walked past the grate above her (wearing a lab coat), something was following behind her. Something that looked a lot like a human body covered in a white sheet lying on a rolling medial bed. The scene made Thomas' eyes widen like saucers, especially when the doctor opened up a door, had two nurses roll the medical bed into that room, and out of the boys' sights. There was even a second bed, where it looked like a human body covered in a white blanket as well.

"What…" Thomas finally let himself breathe after the doctor, the nurses, and the beds were out of his sight. "What the heck was that?"

"They bring in new ones every night like clockwork," the boy whispered, causing Thomas' expression to turn even grimmer.

"You know what they do with 'em?"

"I don't know. This is as far as I've ever gotten. The vents don't even go into that section. But once they go through that door, they don't come back out… I don't think anybody ever really leaves this place."

Thomas' gut feeling was proven to be correct, and the teenager didn't know how he felt about it. On one hand, Thomas was glad that he found out about this before any of his friends got hurt; but, on the other hand, Thomas was sad that he'd have to tell his friends about this. About how this "luxurious" new life could have been just another lie. Moreover, Thomas worried about Hope and Teresa. What were those guys doing to them? Were they really all right or… did someone hurt them? That thought made Thomas' blood boil, and he wanted to do everything in his power to figure out the truth. He had to regardless of the consequences.

"...Come on," the boy spoke up after a short pause. "We gotta go before somebody notices we're gone."

But right when the boy moved to scurry back down the vent, Thomas popped a question. "Why did you show me this?"

"Because, maybe, the others will listen to you," the boy said hopefully. "There's something weird going on here. And I know you think so too."

"Hey, wait." Once more, Thomas stopped the boy from crawling away. "What's your name?"

"Aris," the boy answered simply and then disappeared into a vent, leaving Thomas to digest the worrisome information alone.

The grimmer the world, the harder it was to wake up every day. Hope wanted to wake up, but she was also scared of what she'd find in the big, vast world. That grim, grim world that had hurt her so deeply. Hope didn't know if she'd rather live in her pained memories or live in a world of lies. In two nights, Hope had slowly and painfully started to remember her past; the dreams started from the beginning, then the middle, then the end. And the end was scary. It was lonely. It was so… ugly. Hope's entire body hurt as she re-lived her past experiences, wanting nothing more than to escape them. Still, if she did escape them, Hope would wake up to an even crueler world full of lies and equal pain. Again, the grimmer the word, the harder it was to wake up. However, the scarier the dreams, the harder it was to stay asleep.

Hope was torn between two lives: the past and the present. The dark thoughts were the only things she could focus on. So, if Hope was truly going to choose to be awake or asleep, then someone would have to either pull her out… or push her back in.

The next afternoon, Thomas found himself in the exact same place as yesterday: the cafeteria. And, exactly like yesterday, Janson was calling off names from his clipboard. Alice… Barry… Walt… Edgar… Samantha… All of those names were called, which were followed by cheers and sighs of disappointment. Thomas stared at Janson with a viciousness in his eyes, never allowing himself to look anywhere but that man. It was almost like Thomas was trying to read Janson's mind: he wanted to know every single ounce of information Janson had. But telepathy or not, Thomas would find out the truth. He wouldn't give up until all of his questions were answered.

"I wanna know what's through that door," Thomas muttered to himself.

"Now, we've been over this," Newt muttered back to his friend sitting beside him. "You said they were covered up, so you don't know what you saw. It could've been anythin' under there."

"I know exactly what I saw," Thomas argued. "They were bodies. Aris said they bring in a new batch every night."

"Who the heck is 'Aris'?" Minho asked immediately after hearing that name. However, when Thomas pointed over to the boy, who was currently playing with his food, Minho slowly looked back over at Thomas with an eyebrow raised. "Well, I'm sold."

"...And last but not least: David!" Janson's voice called out the last name of the day. "Thank you for your attention! Enjoy the rest of your evening!"

Thomas noticed something. There was a door that Janson led the called-on teenagers into, but to actually get through that door, you'd need a keycard. And one of the guards from yesterday had one. He had the key.

"Okay, until we know anything for certain, we should just keep our heads down," Newt proposed. "We should also not try to draw any attention to ourselves, alright?"

Bang! Oh, but Thomas was about to do the exact opposite of that proposal. He just couldn't sit still any longer. Hence, Thomas banged his hands against the metal table, stood up, and then started stomping over toward the door that the called-on teenagers were leaving from. There was such confidence and anger in his step that, instead of making his friends proud, Thomas merely made them exasperated.

"What is he doing?" Newt questioned, prompting Frypan to sigh.

"I think he's drawing attention to himself."

"You're joking," Chuck scoffed. "He's not actually about to-" But when Chuck saw Thomas get stopped by a guard, Chuck let out an even angrier, tired scoff. "He did."

In another setting, Thomas was stopped by the guard right before he could enter just like the other teenagers. With the guard's strong hand pushing him back, the guard spoke with a strong tone. "Hang on. You weren't called."

"I know," Thomas said. "I'm just gonna be a second."

"This is a restricted area, kid," the same guard growled when Thomas, once again, tried to push past him. "You can't go in there."

"I just wanna see my friend," Thomas protested. "Can't you let me through?"

"Get your ass," the guard pushed Thomas back, "back in that chair."

Knowing that he was beaten, Thomas nodded and turned around. However, despite him knowing that fact, it didn't mean that Thomas knew when to give up. And that last fact was equally a good personality trait and a personality flaw. Furthermore, the latter was particularly a flaw when it came to the people who cared about him, because what Thomas did next, almost gave those friends of his a heart attack. Seriously, a full-blown, full-scale heart attack, because in the next moment, Thomas turned right back around and sprinted back toward the door. Though, of course, instead of getting through those doors, Thomas was blocked by the guard and violently pushed back.

"Back off!" the guard boomed, making Thomas immediately glare back.

"What's your problem, man?!"

"I said, back off!"

"Don't touch me!" Thomas barked, but wasn't able to continue to fight back for long, since his friends ran up to make him back off. Frypan, Minho, Newt, and Winston each pulled Thomas away, while Chuck and Hugo stood in between the guard and Thomas. Either or, Thomas still wouldn't shut up. "Why won't you let me see them, huh?! Why not?!"

"...What's happening here?!" Janson interjected at the perfect time. He pushed past the guard and walked right up to Thomas. "Thomas? I thought we could trust each other! …You know we're all on the same team here."

With Janson's hand on his shoulder, Thomas looked the main straight in his eyes. "Are we?"

"Hm," Jason grunted, and Thomas could see the man's perfect smile twitch. There was an anger on the man's face, irritation also swimming within his sharp blue eyes. Thomas knew he had hit a nerve, particularly when Jasnon spoke up next. "Get them to their bunks… Now."

"Grr…" Below them, Thomas heard Hugo let out a deep, mad growl. And upon hearing that simple sound, Thomas had his definitive answer: this place wasn't what it seemed.

"Get your asses in there!" a guard shouted as he ushered the boys into their room. "All of you! Hurry up!"

Bam, click! Once the six boys and one dog had run into their bunks, the same guard slammed the door and locked it shut. More so, almost instantly, Thomas' friends turned toward him in blasphemy and exasperation. They wanted answers from the crazy shank.

"What the heck was that about?" Minho asked, prompting Chuck to speak up as well.

"Yeah, are you out of your mind?!"

"Exactly." Even Newt agreed. "You didn't really think that they were just gonna let you through?"

"Nah, of course I didn't," Thomas stated and then pulled something out from his pocket. It was the guard's freaking keycard. "I'm gonna find what's on the other side of that door."

"Oh…" Newt huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Right."

"Newt, they're hiding something, okay?" Thomas tried to reason with Newt and his friends. "These people are not who they say they are!"

"No, Thomas, you don't know that!" Newt argued, and it seemed that the other boys were on his side. They were all glaring daggers at Thomas. "The only thing we do know… is that they helped rescue us from WICKED! They gave us new clothes! They gave us food! They gave us a proper bed! And some of us haven't had that in a long time!"

"Yeah, but-"

"Some of us a lot longer than others," Newt said the second Thomas tried to argue back. And yeah, that made Thomas shut up. That made him feel guilty, sad, and made all those other dark emotions he had been feeling the past few days bubble up inside him once more. That simple, single sentence coming from his best friends' mouth made Thomas' heart stop. But the worst part was, the saddest notion of them all, was that Thomas knew he couldn't stop. He didn't want the world to take from his friends more than it already had, but if he didn't figure out the truth, then they could lose way more. More than anything else, Thomas wanted his friends to have new clothes, good food, and a proper bed, but… But, to figure out the truth, Thomas would have to take that away from them. Again. And yeah, that notion did hurt Thomas, but he couldn't stop. He needed to figure out the truth. All those "nice things" didn't matter if the hard truth could save his friends' lives.

Boom, bang! Just then, the vent's door from underneath Thomas' bed bursted open. And with it came Thomas' new friend: Aris.

"Hey, Thomas," Aris greeted, crawling out from underneath Thomas' bed. "And… Hey, everyone else."

"What the…" Frypan mumbled in surprise. "The heck did he come from?"

"Woof, woof!" Upon seeing Aris' entrance, Hugo walked up to him with his tail wagging happily. They had actually become friends the night before when Aris first came through the vent, and after that, Aris would give some of his food or attention to the curious, friendly dog whenever he'd paw his way over. The quiet Aris liked the companion. "Woof!"

"Haha, hey, buddy," Aris chuckled when Hugo liked his face. Then, that smile left and Aris gave Thomas a serious look. "You got it, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Let's go." But while Thomas climbed into the vent after Aris, Thomas spoke in an earnest tone. "All right, look, maybe you guys are right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid." Then, once Thomas had sat down, ready to enter the vent, Thomas showed his friends an equally earnest look. "But I gotta find out for sure. Just cover for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Thus, Thomas slid into the vent, leaving his friends to give each other a knowing yet unknowing look. They might have not fully agreed with his methods, but they also knew that Thomas was right. And if he could figure out the truth, then they would stand by that truth, even if it meant that they'd lose their newfound security.

Beep… Beep… Beep… As Hope slept, she could hear the beeping on a monitor. She felt softness underneath her and a warm blanket over her. Around her chest, Hope felt bandages tightly wrapped there, keeping her bullet wound protected. Hope took a deep breath in… then out. In then out. In… then… out. In then… out. But although her lungs were taking in air, her body was snug, and her heart was beating, Hope felt numb. She felt this overwhelming yet underwhelming numbness washing over her. It wasn't necessarily peaceful, either. After taking a gunshot to the chest, you would think that numbness would be better. That feeling nothing would make you feel better. But no, this numbness wasn't caused by a physical injury, nor was it caused by medicine. It was caused by Hope's mind. As her mind slowly decayed upon remembering her past, Hope's heart rotted with it. The girl may have survived by some miracle, yet Hope felt like… A part of her wished that…

Hope just wanted to sleep forever. She didn't wake up to a cruel world. A world where no one loved her or cared about her. She didn't know what to do. All she knew for certain was what she felt, and what she felt was numbness caused by fear and loneliness and pain. So much pain. There was nothing. Nothing but a world that didn't love Hope. Not the woman who raised her, not the girl who depended on her, not her own brother, not the kids like her, not even random strangers. There was no one who cared, because no one had ever told Hope the opposite. Well, except for-

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." All of a sudden, someone entered Hope's room. And with that entrance came someone that made the numbness… turn into fear. "I won yet again, Hope. I won, and you lost."

Hope tried to open her eyes, but her mind didn't want to see. Her mind was so scared - so traumatized - that it didn't even want to take a glimpse at the person now in Hope's room. When children were scared, their first instinct was to close their eyes. And that was what Hope did. She may have been awake, but that voice didn't pull her from the darkness. That voice only pushed her back in.

"Though, of course, I understand," the voice of silk and pride exclaimed. The voice roamed around Hope's body, testing to see if she'd open up her eyes. "I understand why you never tried to leave that maze, Hope. You were just being who you've always been. A sad, sad girl who can't even look at me." Those last few words made Hope almost jump. "But, again, I understand why you did what you did in there. You always wanted to be surrounded by those boys, because all your life you've been rejected by them. All you've ever wanted was to be loved by them, so who cared if they were stuck in that prison for the rest of their lives? If you had them and their love, then that was enough for you. And you felt more at home in that prison than with me, didn't you? Oh, what a feeble little mind you have, Hope. Such a sad, lonely little girl you are."

There was no way that Hope couldn't have known that voice. Even with her eyes closed, her memories freshly remembered, Hope knew exactly who had entered her room. It was Mara. It was Mara, and she was… she was never wrong. Mara had always been right when it came to Hope, so everything that that girl said next, Hope took straight to heart. Hope knew no better. When it came to Mara, Mara was the only thing in Hope's body, mind, and soul. Mara had a power over Hope that no one else did. She had Hope in a chokehold, and it had never left. It probably never would, either.

"Well, if you truly think that those friends of yours love you, then you're more deluded than I thought," Mara continued, slowly clicking her boots closer to Hope's stiff body. "Because who's still going to love you after you tell them the truth, huh? Who's going to love you after you remind them of how much they hated you back then? Do you remember that, Hope? Do you remember when they hated you at first glance?" Mara let out a low chuckle. "Heh, after they learn who you truly are, they will never look at you the same again. They will hate you as much as they did back then."

But then, Hope felt Mara… sit on the edge of her bed. Even worse, Hope felt Mara place her hand onto Hope's shoulder. "But, Hope, I just want you to know that I will still love you. I still love you. I love you for your ugliness and your… blemishes. So when your friends do reject you, I will be right there. I will be here to love you in the way that they cannot." Suddenly, Hope felt Mara lean in closer. And when Mara spoke next, Hope felt her hot breath on her ear. "So please, for your friends' sake and mine, tell them the truth. And if you don't tell them who you truly are, then… then you are more selfish than I thought. And don't you remember what happens to selfish people? They get thrown away, because they are nothing but trash… Oh," Mara's dark tone suddenly made a total one-eighty, "and say 'hi' to Aris for me, 'kay?"

Hope felt Mara stand up. Click, click, click… Hope heard Mara's boots walk away. Bang! Hope heard Mara walk out and slam the door behind her. However, the instant that Hope's mind realized that Mara was gone, her arms picked up the nearest trash can and her mouth threw up into it. A disgusting sound echoed through the room while Hope cleared out her stomach, but since Hope hadn't really eaten anything in the past few days, nothing much came up. Still, the acidic taste in her mouth and the sight of grossly-colored liquid made Hope throw up one more time. It was safe to say that Hope felt disgusting. She felt revolted. Hope sat in that room, on top of her medical bed, and breathed heavily, her face contorted in repugnance. Not for Mara, but for herself. Hope felt hatred… toward herself.

"You were made for better things."

"I'm sorry."

"I'd like you to meet someone, Hope."

Hope placed her hands against her ears.

"Y-You're my toy!"

"We'll be together forever."

"I wish you'd just disappear!"

Hope started shaking her head.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Please, have patience."

"You're lucky."

Hope's heartbeat started to quicken.

"It's easy to hate those who hate us."

"I love you, Belle, Stephen."

"I love you."

Hope screamed.

Hope screamed, and not a single person heard her.

A/N: Holy crap, we're at chapter forty! Also, once more, I gotta thank everyone for the support I've gotten for this story . You all are so sweet. 3