To Die For (Newt//Maze Runner)

8) The Meadow

After another evening full of hearty laughs that made my stomach hurt, Frypan's stew and bad jokes by the fire, I head off to my room and get straight into bed. Someone has been in during the day to change the sheets, because fresh cotton is all I can smell. 

I sit for a while, twiddling a strand of hair between my forefinger and thumb, letting a million thoughts rush through my head as moonlight shines through the window. It gets to midnight before I remember that I'm mapping tomorrow, and that I need all the energy I can get. 

Laying down at last, it takes me what seems like years to fall asleep and - when I do - it feels as if I am phasing in and out of conciousness. When I fully awaken, it isn't sunlight streaming through the gap in the curtains that wakes me. It is a shout of terror that sends shivers up my spine. 

Groggily, I stumble out of my creaky bed and, nearly tripping on the uneven floorboards, make my way towards the door. I don't know who is shouting, but who ever it is sounds like they're in dire need of some help. Fighting my usual instinct to run away, I grasp the rusty door-handle and fling it open. I quickly rub my eyes, and step forwards.

Plunging straight into an abyss.

Flailing my arms, I look wildly around for something to hold onto, anything to stop my descent into darkness. My fingers reach out, finding nothing but thin air. Thunder rages above me, and soon I feel rain land on my face, rolling down my cheeks like tears. 

The chasm is so deep, I can't hear the downpour hit the bottom. If there even is a bottom. Spinning, my plunge isn't getting any slower or scarier. My clothes become completely drenched, and seconds later the thunder stops as quickly as it started. All I can hear is my panicked breathing.

Just as I begin to scramble my thoughts together and work out what I'm supposed to do next, I hear a sudden woosh of air. It is all the warning I get before I land, spread-eagled, upon cold metal floor. 

Wincing, I sit slowly forwards until I am upright and my hands are drawn to my throbbing spine. It feels like someone has thrown a bucket of warm water at me from behind, and drenched my back. I look down at them, and they are covered in black blood. I yell in shock, and the room starts to spin. 

My head tips backwards and I am facing the ceiling. But there is no ceiling. 

Instead, the brilliant blue of the sky shines down upon on me. My back has stopped throbbing and seemingly stopped bleeding too. I stand, the metal below me turning into a bed of flowers. I gaze around me at a gorgeous meadow that has materialised before my eyes.

The breeze ripples through the grass, sending waves of pollen billowing through the air. A family of blue-jays fly above me, a mother and father, followed by three smaller birds desperate to keep up with their parents. They loop in circles around my head before fluttering towards a huge oak tree where a nest is tucked between the branches. A faint sound of laughter comes from the distance, a soulful laugh that brings a smile to my lips.

Newt's laugh.

My minute of peace is stolen suddenly, as through the trunks of the trees I see a pair of grey eyes staring at me. It takes me a moment to recognise them, but soon I realise they are Sonya's.

"Hey!" I wave at her, but she stays still. "Hey, Sonya! It's me, Emmeline. You do remember me, right?" I jog towards her, but stop when I see her white-blonde hair spin and disappear into the shade.

Why is she running? I head towards where she went and, delving deeper into the forest. I come across a clearing. Peering through the trees, I see a group of girls huddled around, whisper-shouting to each other in some obscure language I don't quite understand.