Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader

Chapter 41-Spaghetti

As soon as I drifted off, I was in a desert wasteland, the Wraith stood a distance away, her back facing me. I walked towards her and stopped next to her. The Wraith turned her head to look at me.
“I was expecting you to come sooner,” I said, looking out at the barren landscape.
“I thought about it,” was all she said in reply.
“Why didn’t you come then?” I asked.
She was dangerously unpredictable. Everything she did had a motive.
“Well, now you’re back to yourself, I decided to spend time finalising my plan.”
“What plan?” I asked slowly, dread slowly building. Of course, I felt uneasy. This splinter of my consciousness had the ability and will to destroy anything that stood in her way.
“To topple Wicked and kill the Phoenix and Wolf,” she said casually, as if she was talking about the weather instead of the murder of hundreds of people.
“How do you plan on doing that? You know that we don’t have that kind of power,” I said, silently vowing I would do whatever I could to prevent her winning our inner battle.
“Yet,” the Wraith said vaguely. She continued staring off into the imaginary desert, looking rather smug.
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
She shrugged. The Wraith wouldn’t reveal her plans until the very last second so that I couldn’t stop it.
“I told you so, by the way,” she said, changing the subject. She sounded so smug. It made me feel sick.
“What do you mean?” I asked even though I knew what she meant.
“About you not wanting you don’t want to know what happened in that memory,” she said even though she knew I knew what she meant.
A dozen splinters of that memory flashed in my mind. Me, half carrying my little sister. My sister, coughing black blood. Lillian, when she lunged at me after she started to turn. What I did. I pushed them all away and felt tears trickle down my face. Pain throbbed in my heart. Almost enough to break me. Almost.
“You should tell him,” The Wraith advised. “You leave it, and the more upset he’ll be when he finds out.”
“No one has to know,” I insisted, I figured it easier to hide it than to admit it.
“Maybe, but can you handle the guilt?”
I stayed quiet for a moment and flittered my eyes over the sand dunes. I turned to say something to her but I was alone. The Wraith decided to leave me until she needed me for the next part of her plan.

Newt POV

A week after the fight with Wicked, the girl finally woke up. She had been sleeping on one of the makeshift stretchers when she jolted awake and rolled off it. People shouted in surprise, staring as the girl curled up in a ball on the ground.
Alex, Thomas, and I slowly approached her. Alex knelt down in front of her. She scrambled back, eyes flicking wildly over the people near her.
“Hi, you’re safe now. I’m Alex, that’s Newt and Thomas,” Alex pointed at us. The girl was trembling, silent tears slipped down her face.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she begged us, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
“We’re not going to hurt you. We’re the Right Arm. Can you tell us what you last remember?” Alex asked her softly.
“Janson wanted us to go and take the Right Arm, the Phoenix possessed me and I couldn’t fight her. When we were there, I felt someone get into my head. I-I just remember blinding pain and that’s it. How am I free?” The girl lifted her head to look between us.
“A friend managed to break the Phoenix’s hold on you,” Alex explained. Harriet came over slowly, followed by her friends.
“Who?” The girl asked.
“Not important. Can you tell me your name?”
“Skylar."
“Pretty name. I'm Harriet,” Harriet smiled at her and offered her a hand. Skylar slowly reached for it and clasped her hand. Harriet and Alex helped the girl to her feet.
“Are you hungry?” Alex asked her and she nodded.
“Set up camp. We’ll stay here for tonight,” Vince called out to the people. The rest of the Right Arm set down their stuff and helped unpack for dinner. Frypan left to go help the cooking people.
Alex met my eyes and titled his head as a sign to follow him. I quickly walked after him, Jorge watched us with curious eyes. Alex led me away from the group so we wouldn't be overheard.
“I was hoping the girl could tell us something about Y/n and Nikolai,” Alex confessed and I nodded. “I wish I knew what they were planning.”
“How far until Mexico City?” I asked him.
“A couple more days,” Alex answered. “We’ll have to camp outside the city and go in as a small group. It’s too dangerous to be there in large numbers.”
“Because of the Corrupt?” I asked, anxiously rubbing my hands together.
“Yes and the Cranks. There’s also a Wicked facility where we are hoping to find Archie,” Alex looked worried.
“We’ll get him back," I told him.
“Y/n and Nikolai will help us,” he grimaced suddenly. He tried to hide it but I noticed it.
I frowned at him, “What’s wrong?”
Alex sighed, something like guilt and worry crossing his face. “It’s probably nothing.”
He didn’t sound sure at all.
“Alex,” I folded my arms, “If it’s about Y/n, I need to know.”
Alex sighed and leaned against a rock. He fiddled with his sleeves for a moment, debating something. He finally met my eyes and turned to face me.
“I’m worried about Y/n,” he admitted, sliding his hands into his pockets and not meeting my gaze.
“Why?”
“The way an Enhanced becomes Corrupt is that they succumb to their power. So, the more powerful the Enhanced, the more likely they are to become Corrupt,” Alex explained, watching my reaction.
“What does that have to do with Y/n?” I asked.
“Y/n is far more powerful than I remember. She has the ability to steal power from Enhanced. Obviously, that makes her very powerful and a threat to Wicked but also leaves her at high risk of losing herself.”
“How do we stop that?” I asked, overcome with worry.
“We need to make sure she doesn’t take more power from Enhanced unless absolutely necessary.”
“Okay.”
“Everything okay?” Vince asked.
Alex stiffened almost imperceptibly.
“Everything’s fine. I was just thinking we should camp outside Mexico City and only a small group should go into the city,” Alex replied smoothly.
I was surprised at how steady his voice was when seconds ago, it had been full of worry.
“Good plan, now go help with something.”