"Hey, guys." I shivered, cool wind pattering touches on my skin. All the boys from our group, except for Aris who was having a heartwarming reunion with Sonya and Harriet, were gathered at the top of a rocky hill. They were sat in a close-knit bunch, reclined on the ground.
"Hey y/n."
"Hey."
"What's up?"
Victor and I ignored each other, sneaking glimpses every so often. I didn't want everyone to know what happened in the tent. I wanted it secret, for myself. So instead of sitting beside him or Chuck, I slid between Frypan and Minho.
Dusk was just starting to settle, a hazy rose color painted the sky, violet dragging the pigment down. Mary's coat bundled me up, the lining thick with warmth.
With all of us gathered there, I felt peace wash upon us. Calm finally found me, sinking into my skin. There was nothing more to run from. We had found community. We were safe.
But so many were not with us. Only their spirits were here, glowing beautifully beside our beaten bodies. I could feel them. I could feel him. His fingers traced my spinal cord, sending shocks down the vertebrae.
"I wish Alby could've have seen this." Newt bit back his expression, wind tousling his light hair. He had been close with Alby. I mean he had been second in command for God's sake. Alby was his friend. His grumpy friend.
"And Winston." Added Frypan, his thoughtfulness shining through.
"And Zart." I brought his name up, as well as a few others. "And Jack and Ben and Sid and Marcello and Freddie."
Gally was left out. For good reason too. The boys didn't know my stance on him quite yet. For now, I just wanted to pretend as if he'd never existed. It was easier that way. I decided that when I got the chance to be alone I'd try to sift through the trauma, but not now.
"And the list goes on and on and on." Minho drawled, allowing a mourning look to flash in his eyes. He pulled his arm around me, bringing me close to his side. Minho was never one to show his sadness. He always covered up any vulnerability with piles of snarky behavior. This was rare.
"Hey, Aris!" Frypan called down to the southern boy seated around a crackling campfire.
"Hey, guys!" Aris brightened up, waving back at us. He was with his people. Sonya and Harriet brought out his spark, they made him happy.
"I kind of like that kid." Beamed Frypan, cheeks rounding.
"Yeah." Narrowing his eyes, Minho joked. "I still don't trust him though."
"I still don't trust him, haha." I mocked his brooding voice, messing up Minho's hair.
"Hey!" He pushed away my hand, an eyebrow-raising playfully. "Careful with my mane, Shuck face."
The group snickered at his classic antics, smiles creeping up our lips.
"Hey, where's Teresa?" Thomas mentioned her absence, making us lose the lively energy we had created.
"She went up there." Newt threw a thumb over his shoulder, aiming toward another craggy mountain top. Sure enough, a feminine silhouette starkly stood out, her long tresses rippling in the wind.
"What's she doing?" I chuckled, tilting my chin at her image in the distance. "Hey, you know what, I'm gonna go see what she's up to."
"That sounds good," Thomas said, nodding curtly. "I'll join."
I didn't want him to. I could go by myself, Thomas wasn't needed. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to talk to her about the memory. We needed to wrap things up.
"Oh, that's alright." Protesting, I stood from the craggy rock I sat upon. "I need some time alone with her...uh girl to girl time."
"Alright." He shrugged, settling back to his seat. "Good luck with your girl time I guess."
"Thanks." I weaved through the boys, making my way down the hill. Navigating the grounds, I passed Aris, Sonya, and Harriet. The trio gave me lively smiles.
Finally, I braved the treacherous rocky slope, a few near slips almost took me out. Of course, she had to pick the most difficult one. Teresa was always an overachiever. It was her thing.
There she was, the back of her raven hair visible to me as she looked out into the distance. Teresa shifted around when she heard me stumbling my way up.
"Y/n." She called out my name, eyes wide at my appearance. She looked caught, closing her open mouth.
"Reeesaa!" I giggled, climbing up one last crumbly rock. Now I could stand and we'd be equal. "What are you doing up here?" Cheeks plumped up, I took a step toward her, brushing my hands off on my clothes.
"I was just- Just thinking," Teresa replied shortly, eyes glimmered over and reddish. She looked as if she'd been crying.
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"Oh, well are you alright? What's wrong?" My concern grew when she stepped back as I came toward her. "Teresa?" What could be troubling her? Was it Brenda? No, she'd barely interacted with her. Then it hit me.
"Are you sad about what you did to me?" Relief sunk into my skin. I was certain that I'd figured it out. Eagerly, I closed our gap. My arms threw themselves around her, clutching her close. "It's okay! I remembered and I forgive you Reesa! It's fine! We can start over, okay?"
"Y/n, no." Teresa was stiff around my hug.
"Just the two of us. We can be-"
"It's not that!" She cut me off roughly. My reassuring smile dissipated, falling to a frown. Her speech ping-ponged back to soft, quavery even. "It's about my mother."
"Your mother?" I repeated slowly, drawing back from her. She nodded, pink lips pursing. "What about your mother?"
"I remember her now." Confessed Teresa, hiding her hands away in her pockets. "She was a beautiful woman. Just as pretty as you." She couldn't meet my gaze. Instead, she chose to stare at the dirt as she spoke.
"Everybody loved her. And before Wicked, she was all I had." Her tone was unsettling as if her voice was on the verge of shattering. I tried hard to lean in and listen despite her strange way of acting. "When she got sick, I didn't know what to do. I just kept her locked up. Hidden."
"I'm- I'm sorry Teresa." I stammered out condolences. My head felt split open in thinking of solutions that could comfort her. "That must have been rough."
"I thought she'd get better." She managed to get out, ignoring me as if I hadn't spoken at all. "Every night, she'd make these awful sounds, like screaming." Teresa recounted trance-like, chin trembling. "And then one night, she just stopped." My heart boomed, blood roaring in my ears.
"It was finally quiet. I went down to her room." Teresa's eyes were empty, hollowed out from emotion. "And there was blood everywhere. But she was just sat there, calm. She said she was feeling better." I gulped, attempting to aid my dry mouth while forcing myself to keep listening.
"The visions were gone. She'd taken care of them." The pale girl in front of me laughed, grimacing directly afterward. "She took her eyes out, y/n."
"No." I fought the story's ending, throat lurching. "No." My insides felt filthy, rotten.
"There are millions of people suffering out there."
"No!"
"Millions of stories, just like mine."
"Teresa, stop." Voice feeling raw, my skin compressed against the flesh it was sown on.
"We can't turn our backs on them. I won't." Teresa challenged me, her ideas firm. They had come to fruition without a single person knowing. I couldn't intervene if I tried. She was too far gone.
"What. Did. You. Do?" Came from me in a startling voice, my vision blurring. A bad taste infiltrated my mouth, rancid from bile.
"Y/n..." It was her turn to near me now, hands reaching for me. "She loves you. You belong with-"
"Reesa, what. Did. You. Do?!" I dodged her grasp, the steps I took behind me causing the loose rock to crumble.
"Understand," Teresa begged, swallowing away her guilt.
"What?! What do I need to understand?! Tell me!"
"Why I did it."
Lights were born off in the desert, coming closer and closer along with the sounds of whirring helicopters. The same ones that had found us at the warehouse.
"Oh!" I gasped, nearly falling over. My legs became jelly, I clasped onto a hunk of the mountain that stuck out. My hand flew to cover my mouth as I whimpered. "No. No. No. No. No. Why?!" I shrieked.
What she'd done stabbed me like a knife to the heart, the blade twisting to inflict more agony. Everything we had. Everything we had built, was gone. Our love was paper-thin. She tore it all apart. She ruined it. She broke me, again.
"Y/n...please..."
"I hate you," I growled, vocal cords bleeding. My chin lifted, jutting out. "I hate you." Tears flourished from my eyes, painting themselves on my cheeks. "Do you hear me, I fucking hate you! I hate you!"
Teresa bit back tears of her own, appearing as though each of my spitting remarks were punches, slaps, and harsh kicks.
"Y/n..." She whispered.