I am not conscious of time during the Changing. I remember catching glimpses of Harriet going through the same process. I remember the screaming, protruding veins, the wild eyes, and the bubbled swollen skin. At the time I had imagined how much pain she must be in, not realizing you don't feel it. Watching it and experiencing it are very different phenomenons.
Images swirled through my brain. Almost like a slideshow. It was as if I was reading a photo album of my life.
I see a group lot of people all circled around a graph of some sort. They all are pressing buttons and sliding images, which somehow clicks in my brain. Just like that it is replaced by another memory.
I see myself standing in a small room next to Aris. His arms are wrapped around my hips, our bodies are close. It is as though I am watching it and experiencing it all at once. Though we are pressed together, it is not romantic or intimate, it is more protecting. He looks as though he is trying to guard me, and keep me close. I can't help but grin, till I see the red lines carved in our faces by tears. I do not understand why Aris and I are crying until I hear us. "Rachel, you don't have to die, we can go against WICKED, we can escape," he whispers. "We are in too deep Aris, I wish I had known sooner that the department was only sending me in as a puppet who is setting the stage for the end. I'm so stupid," I mutter emotionlessly. "But, my love, please, please try to survive, WICKED doesn't have to win," he cries. " It's too late stupid! Aris in a few minutes we won't remember any of this! We won't remember WICKED, or their intentions, or plans, or even each other! I won't even know I'm gonna die!" I shout.
"But, Rachel, I-I- cant lose you, I love you..." and the memories fade.
I am left laying in the white bed, yet again. The changing is over. My mind races as I grab a pen and begin to write everything I gathered on my blanket before it slips away.
I can't process emotions right now. I am numb. I am emotionless. I am blank. So many thoughts run through my brain, but I can't wrap my mind around any. I know why I am here though, and I really wish I didn't. I know I helped create the Maze. I know I was sent here to help the others escape, but die in the process. I was never intended to make it out.
I should feel despair or hoplessness, but instead I feel....determination.
Hot boiling determination. I have never been so motivated to do anything so strongly. I WILL get the others out of the maze, I WILL make it out of the hellhole, I WILL see the sky again, the real sky not the unnatural one that hovers over the Glade. I will.
One of the nurses walks in and seems surprised to see me sitting upright in my bed, with words drawn in black ink all over the white covers. I must look horrendous, but I honestly don't give a crap.
"Call in Harriet, Aris, Sonya, Izzy, and the Keepers. Tell them its a Gathering. Tell them......" I demand. "Tell them I know how to get us out of here. And I will even if its the bloody last thing I do."
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Side of the Maze
Fanfiction"Darkness fell over the stone walls. The moon cast its pale blue light on the cold stone, illuminating the tall walls and silhouetting her shaking form. Her stomach dropped. Against the black sky silver stars cast strange shadows on the earth around...
