GOOD GOD DID I STRUGGLE TRYING TO POST THIS
I don't remember this being so damn hard to do. Am I just getting old? Don't answer that... also Hi.
Rated Mature I have decided to board the smut train, just not yet. They aren't ready.
Disclaimer I just had a baby. I should really probably not be writing fanfiction anymore but its the only thing that I can do when writers block kicks my ass on my own book.
Chapter 26: The Aftermath
-Henry-
It wasn't long before Aaron snapped out of her trance. Her green eyes blinked slowly at first, then rapidly as she tried to bring much needed moisture to her dry eyes. For a split second she just looked confused, like a child who woke from a nap… almost innocent; until it all came back to her. It was heart breaking… watching her curl into herself with such anguish. Once dry eyes over filled with tears and a sorrowful scream filled the Glade.
Pain, unlike any of us had experience, reverberated in our walls. Shaking every one of us to our core… and it made me angry. That kind of pain didn't just come from a few idiots taking advantage of a girl in a bad position… no, someone else did something so much worse to her and she just remembered it.
I glanced to our leaders that sat next to me, both frozen in horror, tears brimming and jaws clenched. Neither of them were equipped to handle something like this. Sighing, I gently slapped my knees and forced myself to my feet. "Looks like I'm up."
Approaching this scene should not have felt as familiar as it did. It was almost like I'd done it so much that muscle memory took over and I was pulling my long sleeve shirt off as I hesitantly made my way to her. At the first sound of my footsteps closing in on her, Aaron curled into a protective ball, wrapping her arms around her legs and shooting a hateful glare in my direction. I don't think she recognized me at first, but as I got closer I could see her shoulders relax and her tearful gaze dropped to the ground.
"Hands up." I gently instructed while kneeling in front of her and preparing to pull my shirt over her head. It was big enough to be a dress on her. "Alright, let's get that cut taken care of now."
I could see the déjà vu in her eyes as she looked up at me, arms still held up in the air so that I could pick her up easier. When I first saw the Maze Girl, I'd never imagined she'd ever feel this small or soft in my arms. She relaxed in my embrace as I carried her across the glade to the Med Hut, digging her face into my bare neck and taking quiet deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating. She'd done this before… no, we've done this before.
Aaron had never been so malleable… There were a couple of times that I actually thought she'd slipped back into her comatose state, dissociating back to her torment, but every time I looked up from cleaning her wound, she was crying at the ceiling.
It didn't take long to tend her wounds. While the clumsy idiots did manage to cut her up, the cuts weren't so deep they'd need a stitch. When I was done, I pulled my shirt back on her and she curled up next to me in sick bed with her head in my lap. Almost reflexively I ran my fingers through her hair, gently rubbing her scalp. I'd done this before… when she first was caught and at the time, I had no idea how to explain why I did that… but now…
"Knock knock." Newt hummed from the doorway, peeking in cautiously to see if she was decent.
"She's out cold." I informed, pulling my hands from Aaron's hair and sliding out from under her. "Cuts weren't very deep, but I'd like to leave her here since she's already asleep."
"Good that." Alby nodded easily. "Keepers are out of the slammer and the sloppers are in it… we're deciding what to do with them in the morning."
I just nodded, unsure of why he was bothering to tell me as Newt carefully draped a blanket over Aaron's curled up body. A deep frown etched in his face as she flinched away from his touch when he attempted to move a strand of hair from her face. "What do we do with her?"
"You're asking me?" I chuckled humorlessly, crossing my arms, and leaning against the counter. "-can't do anything with her… just take care of her when she breaks."
-Aaron-
I could have stayed in that dream forever. It was fuzzy and muffled like a forgettable memory stored so long in the back of my mind that it got too dusty to see through. But I could remember a cat. Soft orange fur and loud purrs. It wasn't much but it was heaven. When my green eyes fluttered open, I groaned.
"Damn it." I muttered to myself as I sat up in the lumpy med bed. My body ached; phantom pains from my memories of torture but more than that… my hip stung as if my wound were still fresh. I didn't want to look at it. I'd gone this far without noticing what he'd left me with, but I knew the pain wouldn't subside until I saw that it was healed. Hopping off the bed, I gathered the large shirt up just above my waist so that I could see my left hip. "That mother fucker."
It had faded; just an old pale memory that didn't hurt anymore… but that little pale heart shaped scar pissed me the fuck off. I guess I wasn't the same scared little lamb anymore, but it helped that I was also an amnesiac. Unlucky for me that he was the memory that had resurfaced… I wasn't eager to pry more on the container my memories were locked in. I had an itching feeling that I didn't want to remember most of them.
Dropping the shirt, it landed just above my knees… I could make it to Gally's in it without too much trouble… if I could find my way there that is. I'd managed to wake up before any other glader and it made navigating to Gally's hut surprisingly easy. For a second, I was worried about waking him up but it turns out the guy sleeps like a log. I quickly changed into a pair of high waist leggings and a tank top with sports bra and laced on a pair of running shoes. Seeing as my boots were MIA I didn't have much of a choice. After all I had one more job to try out for… whether they wanted me to or not.
"Morning, boys." I greeted cheerfully as I approached the stretching runners. The walls had yet to open and while I had thought I was the first awake, apparently the runners wake up earlier.
The boys all shared a surprised look. It made sense considering the meltdown I'd had last night, but I wasn't entirely sure why they all looked to Henry who had yet to look up from tying his shoes. "I told you she'd bounce right back." He stated casually, switching to tying his other shoe and yawning.
"Mother knows best." Ben chuckled, shaking his head incredulously before turning his attention to me. "So what's on the agenda today, Miss Builder?"
Suddenly nervous, I wrung my hands behind my back and bounced up on my toes. "I want to run." I could feel the sudden shift in the air as Minho's shoulders tensed and his jaw clenched shut with an audible sharp sound. "Here we go." I muttered under my breath, sensing an oncoming confrontation… just when I thought we'd gotten over this. I mean, that's what the pancakes were about, right? A truce.
"No." He didn't even glance as me, slowly climbing to his feet and dusting his clothes off.
I could see Ben's head swiveling between the two of us in a panic as the air turned tense and nearly hostile between Minho and I. "Wait." He stammered, jumping up and holding his hands out to each of us as if I were about to leap at Minho's throat. "That's not fair, Min. She's more than proven that she can be a runner."
"I'm the fucking Maze Girl." I snapped irritably as my hands balled at my sides to keep my fury at bay.
"I wouldn't care if you were the shucking Queen of the Glade. You're not stepping foot in my maze." He snarled taking a threatening step towards me.
There was a silent moment between us as we glared each other down. If Ben wasn't between us I'd have attacked by now, and judging by the crazed look in Minho's eyes he'd have fought back. Suddenly the ground shook beneath my feet as the one thing I'd been waiting for happened. The maze roared to life, beginning the agonizingly slow separation of the doors.
"Don't you dare." Minho warned in futility.
A spiteful smirk appeared on my face just as the doors were open enough to fit my small frame through. "Just try and stop me, asshole." And with that I took off, disappearing into the maze as Minho shouted after me.
-Minho-
"I'm going to kill her." I ranted, pacing in front of the small opening to the maze. "When I catch her, I'm going to wrap my hands around her little neck and… Creators, have they always opened this shucking slow?"
Ben simply shrugged, turning his attention to the thin opening almost in disbelief. "I think she might actually be a cat." He concluded, clearly impressed with his friend.
Henry on the other hand, was a ball of anxiety… not that anyone could tell unless they knew him well. His arms hung limp at his sides and face relaxed into a bored stare giving nothing away of what he was truly feeling… but at his side, his fingers tapped against his thumbs as he counted. His eyes focused on the maze doors as if he was calculating the width in inches… just waiting for it to be wide enough for his lanky body to squeeze through… and when it was, he did.
I paused my pacing just long enough to watch Henry spring into action, darting straight through the doors despite his chest and back scraping against the rough surface. It was almost admirable the determination he had to pursue the Maze Girl… although I wasn't entirely sure why he would.
"Shuck, he might be a cat too." Ben muttered, sounding disappointed that he couldn't fit through yet to chase after the girl.
"Gonna kill her." I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and planting myself directly in front of the slowly growing opening. "Gonna do it with my bare hands."
"I don't see the big deal." Ben sighed from beside me.
I rolled my eyes. "And that's why you're not the keeper, slinthead." Really, there was no need for me to bite the poor shank's head off like I had, but Aaron was so shucking good at getting on my last nerve. I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Just… slim it for once, yah?"
Ben was normally rather passive. Nothing bothered him and when someone lashed out like I had he'd shrug it off as if it hadn't even happened. So, when Ben responded with a stern, "No." it took me by surprise. Ben's normally happy go lucky vibe had morphed to serious confrontation as he stood squared up to me. The sudden switch was so jarring I nearly stuttered.
"What?" I blurted dumbly, unsure how to react.
"I don't understand why you're acting like this. I need you to explain it to me." Ben replied quite calm and serious. It was like an alien had taken residence in his body… seeing him so stern… it wasn't right.
I groaned, loosing what steam I had left as I wiped my hands over my face. "We can't trust her, Ben. I know you two are as thick as thieves but she's one of them. She's bad."
Ben's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "They took her memory just like they took ours, Minho. They tossed her out. She is one of us."
"No they didn't… You don't understand me, shank. They're still protecting her. I saw it with my own eyes last night!"
There was a long pause as my quiet outburst echoed through the still silent glade. "What did you see?" Ben asked cautiously.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him. Shuck, I hadn't even told Alby yet… but someone needed to know. "A griever… on the top of the wall ready to shucking climb in and kill us all."
Ben's face went pale, his face going slack jawed in shock. "When?"
"Last night… when I was beating Boyle's face in… Alby pulled me off him and I saw it. Perched on the doors, right there." I pointed directly above us, not bothering to look. I'd seen it enough in my nightmares that I knew precisely where it had been. "They were coming to save their Maze Girl."
Ben was quiet for a few moments. "But so were you."
"That was before I knew." I scoffed, angry that I had fallen for her act. Of course, she was still working for them. She'd said it herself, she's the fucking Maze Girl.
Ben shook his head. "I trust her."
"Ben-" I began, but cut myself off as he raised a hand to signal me to let him finish.
"I trust her and I'll vouch for her… Let her run with me."
I was quiet… mulling over what he was proposing. "Can't keep her out of it anyway." I finally sighed, looking over to the walls to see they'd been fully open for most of our conversation. "Just find the slinthead."
I doubt any of you are even still here but HI if you are.
At this point I'm just posting this for my own personal enjoyment.
