When I woke up, I found myself in completely new surroundings. I wasn't in the bathroom like I remembered. No, I was in a white, padded room strapped to a bed. The leather restrictions dug into my skin as I tried to break free, but my attempts all failed miserably. So I looked around more, maybe I could find something that would work to my advantage. However, all I could see was a metal door that had a small window with bars across the opening. The bed and I were literally the only things in this room.
"God dammit!" I cursed as I tried to free myself once again. But of coarse, I was trapped. Nothing I could do would get myself out of this situation. "God fucking dammit."
Anne? Anne, where are you?
This time I wasn't surprised when Teresa spoke to me in my head. Nothing at this point could surprise me, I've seen it all. Or so I thought.
I'm strapped to a bed in a room they use to keep crazy people in. Teresa, how did I get here? I asked.
I don't know, she replied. Minho told us you were in the shower, but you never came out. When we went to look for you, you were gone. No one would tell us where you went. All they would say was that you were a danger to yourself and others.
That would explain why I'm tied down. But I'm not really in the mood to to go stabbing everyone I see. So why am I really here?
Depends on where here is. We don't even know if you're in the same building as us. When we landed they moved us to a different dormitory and all we've been doing is sitting around. Anne, you've been missing for almost three weeks.
Three weeks? I couldn't have been asleep for that long. If I can't remember how I got here, then I must not remember what else happened to me either.
Has anyone else been taken? I asked Teresa.
Yeah, Thomas. I talked to him too.
Well what did he say?!
Not much, he wanted me to go away. But you could try to talk to him if you want.
So you two are connected? Can you talk to Aris too?
Yep. You probably can too.
Might as well try, I said. I'm not going anywhere at the moment.
Teresa went silent so I could concentrate on trying to contact Thomas. This whole thing seemed insane to me, but what other choice did I have? I was either going to be locked up in this room for who knows how long, or I was going to try to use my magical mind powers to find out what's going on.
Thomas? I called. Thomas are you there? I really need you to answer me so I don't feel like a total loony.
I laid there for awhile (not that I had much choice) and waited for a response. Nothing came, which made me feel more stupid then I already did.
Who is this?
Oh thank god.
It's Anne, I told him. You're probably surprised that I can do this, believe me, I am too. But right now I need you to suck it up and talk to me. I need to know what's going on.
He didn't say anything for a minute. He was most likely pondering if he should answer me or not. But eventually he did.
Okay, what do you want to know?
Well first off, I'll give you some background on my situation. It's not very complicated because I just woke up, but I'm in an unfamiliar room strapped to a bed. I don't know how or why I'm here. Teresa told me they took you away too, I just want to know what's going on with you.
I've been in the same room for three weeks. I've gotten the same meals everyday from someone, but that's the only interaction I've had. Other then that all I've been doing is trying to keep myself occupied so I don't go crazy.
Did they tell you why they brought you there?
Teresa told me they said the Flare was rooted too deep, and that I was becoming violent.
I think, I began. I think we might have something in common. I don't know what it is yet, but WICKED seems to have a particular interest in us. Out of all the people, they chose us for this white room treatment. It has to mean something.
You're right, Thomas agreed. Anne, we need to get out.
I know. But I'm kind of tied up now, literally.
He didn't respond for a long time, which led me to believe that something was happening. And it wasn't good.
Thomas?
Nothing.
Tommy, you better answer me or I swear I will-
Anne! he interrupted. It's Rat Man, he's here. I have to go.
I groaned before banging my head back on the mattress. Of coarse that man had to barge in right when we were having an important conversation. If he would have waited just a few minutes, Thomas and I could have came up with a plan. But now that wasn't possible. I was going to be stuck here.
Because I had nothing else to do, I wondered what the others were doing. I wondered if Harriet was keeping all of the girls under control like she always did. I wondered if Aris had finally found his way back into our group. I wondered if Minho was trying to find me, and if he was being his usual sass filled self in the process. Was anyone else worried about me besides Teresa?
All of a sudden the metal door swung open. In stepped the person famously known as Rat Man. He was dressed in his white suit and his grey hair was greasy, like he hasn't washed it in days. That made me wonder what my appearance was like considering I couldn't remember the past three weeks.
The man had a manila folder in his right hand with many papers that were thrown inside carelessly. He opened it up before glancing at a few sheets and closing it again.
He now stood a foot away from me without saying a single word.
"Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" I asked, my voice bitter. "Because if you don't I will get free and beat the living crap out of you."
I must have made him angry because his expression changed dramatically. "I will explain, everything."
I scoffed, "Oh sure. 'Cause you've told the truth so many times already. But go ahead, don't let me stop you, I'm all ears."
"I can tell that you're angry, but there's no value in keeping you in the dark," he began. "You are obviously well aware that we have a horrible disease eating the minds of humans worldwide. Everything we've done up to now has been for one purpose and one purpose only- to analyze your brain patterns and build a blueprint from them. The goal is to use the blueprint to develop a cure for the Flare. The lives lost, the pain and suffering- you knew the stakes when this began. We all did. It was all to ensure the survival of the human race. And we're very close. Very, very close."
"So I was helping you to find a cure? By hurting boys in the Maze?"
Rat Man nodded. "You came to WICKED after we began the tests, but the ideas you had were to good to pass up. So we changed up some things. Because of you we are extremely close to finding a cure, without you we would have been steps behind. You were very happy when some of your ideas worked out as planned. I would imagine you would feel the same right now."
My throat became dry when this thought came to my mind. "Do I really have the Flare then?"
"There are some of you who are immune. The virus lives in every molecule of your body, yet has no effect on you, nor will it ever."
"So I'm immune?"
Rat Man straightened out his back, but avoided eye contact. "No, Anne, you're not," he said. "You have the Flare."
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart. The tiny glimmer of hope I had for myself was now crushed. I was going to crazy like those people who killed Sonya, and there was nothing I could do about it.
"Can't you make the cure now? Save everyone?" I asked.
"We can't right now. It's not ready. I'm sorry, Anne."
I opened my eyes to glare at his ugly face. "You're not sorry. You probably get off on seeing us suffer."
"You think you're funny?"
"I think I'm adorable," I said with a fake smile.
"Are you done yet? Because if this continues I won't let you out of here," he threatened.
"Fine. I'll just be boring until I lose my mind."
Rat Man rolled his eyes before calling for someone to come in. A woman dressed in black, protective armor entered and made her way over to me. She undid the leather restrictions around my ankles first, then the ones around my wrists. She seemed cautious around me, like I was going to lash out on her. I didn't know how quickly the Flare took over, but it wasn't like it was going to right at this moment.
When I sat up and rubbed the indentations left on my skin from the bands, Rat Man motioned to the opening in the room. "Let's go find your friends."
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