Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader

Chapter 62-The Fall

Y/n POV
18 days after his death

I woke up with a stabbing headache and Nikolai’s name on the edge of my tongue, about to call out for him. The familiar numbness settled in quickly and I relaxed. I sighed and stood up, looking around at the camp we had quickly made last night. Vince and Alex were talking with a couple of the older Right Arm members and my friends. I joined them, attracting a couple of glares. I shifted uncomfortably and looked away.
“Nice of you to finally join us,” Vince rolled his eyes and went back to the conversation. I discovered they were talking about what to do and where to go next.
‘Kill them,’ the Wraith whispered to me.
“No,” I said aloud and everyone looked at me.
“What?” asked Vince.
“Sorry, nothing, never mind,” I mumbled and looked away.
“No, go on, tell us,” Vince insisted, I could hear the mocking edge to his voice.
“It’s nothing,” I repeated
“Useless girl,” Vince muttered and went back to the conversation.
The words stung and brought tears that I quickly blinked away. I half paid attention to what the rest of the conversation was and quickly got up and left.
I sat alone watching Aaliyah and Archie for several hours until I heard Ember yelling about something. Her and Alex were arguing loudly, so I got up to go see what was the matter.
“All you do is mope over your dead boyfriend! You should have to help as well!” Ember snapped.
“Boyfriend?” Vince frowned.
Alex paled.
“Seriously? How does he not know?” Ember practically yelled. “Vince is basically the only person who doesn’t know!”
“Doesn’t know what?” Vince asked, exasperated.
“Ember, don’t,” Alex said in a low voice.
“Nikolai and Alex were in love!” Ember glared at Alex.
Vince froze and slowly looked at Alex. “Is this true?”
Alex didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself.
“It’s disgusting!” Ember snapped. “They’re both boys. It’s unnatural.”
“Ember, if you don’t shut up—” I began but she cut me off.
She whirled on me as soon as I started speaking. “And you! How can we even trust you considering your sister is the Phoenix? How do we know you’re not loyal to her? She’s your family after all!”
“Family loyalty?” I asked and she nodded. “And what would Ratman’s daughter know about family loyalty?”
Everyone went quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Ember had gone white as a ghost. “How do you know who I am?”
“I’ve always known, but I know you are loyal to the Right Arm so I didn’t say anything,” I rolled my eyes and started to lead Alex away.
“I didn’t need your help,” he snapped at me and pulled his arm away
“Would you just talk to me! Please! I’m grieving too!”
“You let him die because you don’t want people knowing your secret!” Alex burst out. I stared at him in shock.
“That’s what you think?”
“Yes! And I’m probably next!”
“I didn’t want him to die. He was my brother, he was everything to me! Why would I want him to die?” I was struggling to keep my voice even. “All I wanted was to protect my friends because the Phoenix was about to kill them. I didn’t mean for him to get killed.”
“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself?” Vince asked and I stared at him.
“What?”
“It’s your fault!”
The words hit me hard and I staggered back. I fumbled for something to say. Tears brimmed my eyes.
“It’s all your fault!” Vince snapped again. I stared at him. How could he be so cruel?
“Dad,” Alex said, running at his face. “Stop.”
“Vince…” Newt said, trying to calm him down but it didn’t work.
“Nikolai’s dead because of you!” Vince glared at me.
“And so is Lillian,” Ember added, ignoring the death glare I sent her way. Vince looked at her.
“What are you talking about?” Vince said in a quiet voice.
“Y/n killed Lillian. Her brother blaming her for Lillian’s death was one of her fears,” Ember explained. She gave a triumphant smile as Vince turned around.
“I had to,” the numb feeling started to seep back in. “She was becoming a Crank. It was…mercy.”
“Mercy? You killed her!”
“I drained her off her energy so she didn’t die in pain.”
“Their deaths are both your fault,” Vince said coldly.
“Vince!” Newt stared at him.
“Too far, dad,” Alex said tiredly.
I walked off. I saw no point in continuing this. It would only hurt more.
While I waited for the night to sink in, I sat by myself outside of the camp. I was careful that no one knew where I was. Several scorching hot hours later and night had finally fallen. Inky darkness washed across the sky, stars sparkled distantly above. The full moon provided more than enough light to see. I didn’t notice the Wraith starting to take control until it was too late. I was powerless to fight her off.
The Wraith pulled me down and I fell.

Newt POV
Y/n returned a short while later, her face a careful blank mask. Alex stood up next to me, I followed him as he went to talk to her.
“Y/n, I—” Alex started.
“She wants you to know something,” Y/n interrupted. The dead look in her eyes made me uncomfortable. Who was she referring to?
“What?” Alex said uneasily.
Y/n’s face contorted in pain, tears glistened in her eyes. She exhaled a shaky breath. “I tried,” Y/n’s voice cracked, full with raw emotion. “I tried to stop her.”
Realisation dawned on Alex’s face and a second later he had a gun pointed at her head.
“Alex!” I moved to stop him but he shoved me back.
“Stay back!” he snapped at me and anyone else who tried to approach him and Y/n.
“Please, Alex,” tears slid down Y/n’s face. “I don’t want this.”
“I know,” Alex’s lip wobbled.
All emotion on Y/n’s face drained away. “Please, Alex,” she mocked herself and laughed.
“I’m so sorry, Y/n,” the gun trembled in Alex’s hand. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”
“She’s gone,” Y/n smirked again. “She can’t hear or see you.”
“Let her go,” Alex’s voice hardened.
“Or what? You’ll shoot me? It’s too late for that. You should have done it the second you realised,” Y/n laughed.
“What’s going on?” Vince demanded, looking between the both of them.
“Tell them Alex,” Y/n said, eyes shifting over the people who were watching. “Tell them.”
“Y/n—” Alex started.
“That’s not who I am,” Y/n smirked at him again. “You know who I am, say it.”
Alex didn’t answer.
“No? Fine,” Y/n looked bored. She reached out slowly and plucked the gun from his hand. “You were never going to do it, no matter your promise.”
Vince looked back and forth between them.“What promise?”
“When it happened, I would have to…” Alex’s face was miserable.
“When what happened?” I pressed.
“When she lost,” Alex said.
“Lost what?” Vince asked incredulously, “You’re not making any sense.”
“When Y/n lost the battle with me,” Y/n smirked. “I find it rather obvious who I am.”
“Alex, what is going on?” Vince asked.
“Well, I have places to be,” Y/n started walking backwards, “People to kill, Wicked to take down.”
She turned around and then paused, looking back at us, “I’m done being nice, stay out of my way, or I’ll kill you. I don’t care who you are.”
And then she was gone, an illusion wrapping around her.
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“Well, we’re doomed,” Alex said defeatedly.
Vince rolled his eyes, “She’s overdramatic. She’ll be back.”
“She won’t be,” Alex said, stopping him.
“Why not?” Vince asked.
“Because, she’s…different now. She won’t be back,” Alex stared at the spot Y/n had disappeared.
“What do you mean she’s different?” I asked. “Her personality?”
Alex scrambled for an answer, “Yes and no.”
“She’s alone. She’s got nowhere to go. Alone, she can’t defeat Wicked,” Vince said. “She’ll be back once she realises that.”
“She’s not alone. She has the Wraith,” Alex said. “And yes, she can defeat them.”
Vince frowned at that.“The Wraith isn’t on anyone's side.”
“Y/n will destroy Wicked and kill them down to the last soldier,” Alex said, slowly sinking to the ground. “Then, she’ll kill us.”
“Why would she kill us?” I asked.
“Because, she’s not Y/n anymore, or at least she won’t be for much longer.”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned at Alex. Nothing he was saying was making any sense.
Alex ran his hands through his hair. “We’ve pushed her over the edge,” he mumbled.
“She’s fine! She’ll be back,” Vince insisted, flicking a glance at where she had vanished.
“She’s Corrupt,” Alex confessed, the words ripping themselves from him.
Everyone went dead silent. The pieces started to fit together in my head.
“What?” Vince said in a small voice.
Horror filled me and I sat down. What was it Alex had told me so long ago?
“It’s usually easy to tell if someone is because they’re entire personality changes.”
I had completely missed the signs. She was changing because she couldn’t help it.
Vince and Alex argued more. Thomas knelt down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. His expression was devastated.
“We should go after her!” Vince argued. “She still has time left!”
He went to go after her but Alex stopped him. “She’s gone. She's been hearing voices for over a year and she’s had episodes where she’s lost full control for even longer,” Alex looked to Ember, “Like when she killed your brother. Even when she killed the Snake. That wasn’t her. It was the Corrupt side of her.”
Vince sat down hard on the ground, “What have we done?”

1650 words