TW ⚠️: Thoughts of death.
~
A few weeks after the incident, it indeed only got worse. Well, they weren't original with the comments, those stayed the same, but it also removed my appetite, and still sleep.
And now it was Greenie Day, again. My hopes for it to be a girl were too bad. I tried to convince myself the chance it would be a girl was very small, but it didn't help much. That's how desperate I was for a girl.
Once the alarm blared through the Glade, I rushed to get there first. Clint and Newt stood on both sides of me. Soon there was a whole crowd around the Box. Alby pushed through it with Glader slang leaving his mouth. Newt took it as a sign to help the leader open the Box the moment the alarm stopped. Full of anxiety I watched Alby jump in.
"What do you see?"
"I bet they klunked their pants!"
"No way back!"
I sighed and didn't listen to their usual comments. They weren't creative and used the same ones every time.
"Welcome to the Glade, Greenie." Alby climbed out of the Box and reached his hand out to the Greenie. I couldn't see him yet, everyone moved in front of me.
With a sound, the Greenie got dropped on the floor. I heard laughs and more screams as I tried to get a good look at the kid.
"Valerie?" An unfamiliar voice shouted. I froze right in my place, just like everyone else.
Someone gave me a push toward the Greenie, making the others move away. I stood there with my mouth half open, having no idea what was going on and why the Greenie called out my name.
His green eyes met mine. And for the first time that day, I saw his face. He had the exact same hair color as mine; orange. Muscles just as most of the boys covered his arms, with a strong chest. He was taller than me, like every other Glader.
I furrowed my eyebrows slowly. Something was familiar, yet I couldn't tell what it was. It lit my heart slightly up, it made me feel different.
Then Alby jumped in between the two of us, almost grabbing the Greenie by the shirt. "Who are you and how do you know her?"
His face broke. "She's my sister."
~
"So you're saying you sent yourself in the maze to see your sister..." Alby walked around the Med Hut frustratedly. Apparently, the Greenie had a wound from the Box, according to him telling us he fell, so he had to be treated. "Since she wasn't even supposed to be here?!"
I leaned my head on my hand and a wall, frowning too. I wished I remembered something about the kid too, but I couldn't. And it was strange... so strange. I wasn't supposed to be here?! In what context?
"Yes!" He almost threw his hands in the air. "Come on, Val. Tell me you remember me. Please."
"I..."
I had no idea what to say. I didn't want to hurt anyone by saying 'no'. And I did know a name. "Since the moment I came up in the Box, I remembered two names. Valerie and Luke. Now you show up and say you're my brother. Are you Luke?"
He remained silent for a few seconds, eyes turning softer. His tense shoulders dropped and his mouth opened slightly. "Yes," A long pause. Glances between Alby, Clint, Jeff, and Newt were shared. "I'm Luke."
Before I could reply, Newt cleared his throat. "The picture." The blonde spoke.
"What picture?" Alby tensed up, immediately desperate to know everything. His look could shoot daggers at anyone. "Hm?"
"In Val's locket. The necklace." Newt explained in a calm tone, though he looked quite confused. "The one you always wear."
I looked down at my own neck, finding the necklace. I already wore it when I came up in the Box. It was a simple gold one, with a thin thread and a round locket in the middle. In the locket was a faded picture. You could barely make out what it was, maybe the slight form of two figures in a hug position. I never took it off. It made me feel safe and it was the only thing I had from my past, excluding a brother, apparently.
"What if it's you and... the Greenie, your brother, Luke... whatever," Newt suggested. He gave Alby a triumphant stare.
"Guess you're not as similar to a lizard as I thought," Clint muttered to himself. It gifted him multiple offended glances and Newt's cheeks a slight blush. Alby told Clint to shut his mouth, which the Keeper soon did.
"Can I look? At the necklace?" Luke raised his eyebrows. It didn't take long for me to hand it to him, happy if he turned out to be my brother. But if I just remembered!
He inspected it for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "I gave this to you. Before they sent you in here."
"Hold up, hold up." Alby quickly interfered, making some hand movements. "This ain't makin' any sense. Ya sayin' she isn't supposed to be here, you sent yourself up here, gave her that necklace, and you're siblings? Ya remember everything? A way out, maybe?"
"Yes." Luke nodded. Everyone's face lit up. "But not a way out."
Everyone's face lit... down?
"I think by now they know I'm here. They've got cameras, you know? And my mind is starting to feel weird... like it's ripping apart. I'm already having a hard time remembering what I look like myself."
"Is it possible for them to make him lose memory now? Like right now?" Newt rubbed his chin.
I sighed deeply. "If it's possible for them to make a giant maze with walls that move, I think they can, yes."
"I don't believe a shuck thing of what you say, man." Alby shook his head wildly. "Siblings? Ya trynna hit on her or what?"
"No!" Luke now did throw his hands in the air. "I swear."
"Yeah, and they're both redheads so I think they're siblings," Jeff added.
"That's not very logic." Newt scoffed.
"Indeed." Alby agreed. "Or are Ben and Newt suddenly siblings? Triplets? Newt, Ben, and Zart?"
"What if Fry and I are family?" Jeff's face lit up.
"Or Alby and Fry."
"Mike and Minho."
"Newt and Clint."
"Valerie and Gally."
Clint's statement made all of us frown and stare at him. "What?" The boy shrugged. "We're all calling people that have similar things. Gally has these curved eyebrows and Valerie has curv-."
"Hey!" Newt and Luke yelled in unison before Clint had the chance to finish.
My cheeks grew red. "I'm not family with someone like Gally. But anyways, I did remember his, Luke's, name. Maybe it's us two on the necklace and maybe I just need time... hoping that I soon remember."
"What if we do like this ritual?" Jeff suggested. He straightened his back.
"What? You wanna do voodoo?" Newt spat out, scoffing again. "I'll make the doll."
"I'll search for some crystals."
"Shut your holes!" Alby cut them all off. "For Klunk's sake!"
"What about a salt bath?"
"Good luck trynna convince Fry to get that salt."
"I thought y'all were Gladers. Not wizards or some kind." Luke rubbed his forehead.
Alby spoke again. "Why is Valerie not supposed to be here according to you?"
I coughed. "Not supposed to be where exactly?"
Newt turned to me, eyebrows scrunching as always. "In the Glade. What else do ya think?"
I shrunk in my body. "Oh, I don't know."
"All I know is that-." Luke interrupted himself by frowning. His green eyes squeezed together closer. "I don't remember it, suddenly. Not exactly."
"Then hurry with explaining, you shank!" Alby raised his voice loud enough to be almost screaming.
"Two people. I don't remember their names! But they sent you here, so... so we would all be together?" At first Luke talked fast, but then slower, trying to remember everything well enough. "Then I sent myself here to see you and since I saw what happened the other day."
"We'll see if she remembers ya later," Alby said. His tone let us know we were done with talking, so slowly everyone wandered off.
I sighed long again, dropping my shoulders and rubbing my forehead that was scrunched three seconds ago. The bell for lunch went off, but my appetite was gone, so I decided not to go. It wouldn't end fun anyway.
Luke stared at me, a hopeful look on his face. I gave him a small smile, with one corner of my mouth up. "I believe you," I told him, not talking super loud. "And I hope I remember soon. But even if I don't, that doesn't make we can't make new memories."
Luke laughed as he sat down in front of me, running a hand through his ginger hair. "Indeed. But it's so strange though... my mind. Like, I remember what I just told you but before that... I barely remember what it looked like outside the maze. I remember white hallways and blue lights, but that's it."
"And that's okay, Luke," I confirmed once his foot started to tap on the floor repeatedly. "None of us remember anything and it doesn't all depend on you, luckily. I'm just happy to have someone else here that cares about me."
"Me too." He nodded. "Now, you wanna get lunch? I do certainly remember food and that bell."
Unease started to form in my stomach at the thought of going to the Builders. "Uh, yeah, sure."
Together we walked out of the Med Hut. I felt safe around Luke. He felt familiar, so I wasn't scared he would act like the Builders too during lunch... or that he was trying other stuff.
"Hey, Val. And the Greenie." Frypan smiled kindly at me, then turned to Luke. "Remember ya name yet, Newbie?"
"Yeah. It's Luke." The boy explained, a small smile on his face too. "And you are?"
"Frypan." He handed us two plates. "Call me Fry. Keeper of the Cooks."
Luke nodded. I could see there would probably be a great bond between the two. Maybe he even had a chance of becoming a Cook already. "Alright. Thanks, Fry."
I gave the Cook a nod too, then lead Luke the way. I refused to go sit with the Builders, who already gave us nasty glances. An uncomfortable and bad feeling filled me, making me shrink once again. My body tensed when I walked past them, wishing I could just disappear into the ground.
None of them said anything, probably because of Alby's warning and order for Gally to keep his Builders calm. Quickly I grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him over to a tree, sitting down against it, away from everyone else.
"Why are they lookin' at us like that?" My brother wondered. By the way, he talked I already noticed he started taking over the Gladers' habits of talking.
I breathed out for a long time before replying. "Because I'm the only girl. They don't like me, think I should work in the kitchen."
"So they're sexist?"
"Pretty much. But yeah. What can we do about it?" I shrugged, honestly not wanting to talk about it. It wasn't that big of a problem and it was just me who bothered it.
"Imma let them feel how-."
I shook my head heavily when Luke talked like that and got up from his place. Pulling him back, I forced him to sit down again.
"Don't worry about it. Fighting will only make it worse."
"You do get that if someone hurts my little sister I'll have to do something about it?"
"So I am the little sister?" I asked, changing the subject in the hope Luke wouldn't mind the Builders anymore.
"Yep." He popped the 'p'. "I'm about a year and a half older than you, from what I remember. And you're quite small too, so does it really surprise?"
I giggled slightly. It wasn't fake, but didn't feel real either. None of my last laughs felt real. "You don't have to point it out like that."
"Mhm." Luke smiled. He stared around the Glade for a while, until his eyes caught the giant Doors, aka gap in the maze walls. His face paled at that sight. "What's out there?"
"The maze," I muttered, not hesitating to explain. It felt nice to explain everything and not hide the whole thing from every Greenie as the others did. "It's enormous."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, it gives me goosebumps. I'd rather not go in there."
"I would," I admitted. "But it's dangerous, though. So indeed, don't go in there. It's a rule. Don't go beyond those walls."
"Don't expect me to."
A few hours later, after dinner, Luke and I had talked so much that my throat almost hurt. We shared memories of things that happened in the Glade or from what Luke remembered. It made me realize there was no way he wasn't my brother. He was so kind, and felt, once again, so familiar.
"So I have a hut, but the bed is too small for two people, yet I don't want you to be alone on your first night," I said.
We stood in the middle of the Glade. Twilight had fallen, the sky turning darker by the moment.
"You can sleep in the Homestead. It's quite warm in there, but I won't go in there. Stinks like boy sweat and everyone snores." I rubbed my forehead. "Some sleep outside, though. We could get some ivy and use it as a blanket, close to the walls?"
"Sounds good." Luke agreed. I started walking to a corner and he followed. "But won't you get a cold? I'm worried."
"Oh, I'll be fine." I gave him a convincing smile. "The Glade doesn't change much temperature. Otherwise, I'll have to crawl next to you."
Luke chuckled. "Do whatever."
We arrived in front of the corner. Thick ivy covered the walls, climbing up against it. The grass was soft enough to lay on. I crawled a bit closer to the ivy, in case it would get too cold and I wanted to cover myself with it.
Luke lay beside me. His eyes were already thick from a lack of sleep, so I told him good night and closed my own eyes, knowing it would take a long time for me to fall asleep.
I was lucky I didn't get bags around my eyes too fast, though I knew after two weeks of not sleeping well I would look bad at some point.
The feeling of being alone made me shudder and the comments of the Builders repeated in my head. I felt trapped, and not just in the walls. Trapped in my own body, thoughts... it made me want to do something about it. Go out in the maze, and find a way out for Luke and Newt.
How big would the chance be to survive a night? The random question just popped up in my mind. Soon I started to think about it deeply. Newt told me no one ever survived a night. Would it be easy to survive when you get stung? The next thought of how it was possible to die flooded in. Or squeezed between the walls?
I was disgusted by my own thoughts. Why would I even think about ways of death in the first place?
With another shiver, I got up to get a glass of water in the kitchen, but before I even stepped three feet away from Luke, a voice I didn't recognize right away interrupted.
"Well, hello there."
A hand got slammed on my mouth.