Just as we finished up the meeting, Jeff came running into the room a bit breathless. "Jeff? What's up?" Clint asked, standing.
"Alby, he's up and he uh.." He paused and glanced nervously around the room. His eyes settled on Thomas and I for more than half a second.
"Well spit it out. What does he want?" Newt demanded.
"He wants to talk to somebody." Newt moved towards Jeff but Jeff shook his head. "Not.. Not you. He wants to see either Thomas.. Or Mallory."
"Why?" I questioned. "You're a Medjack too he.."
"He doesn't want to talk to you because you're a Medjack." Jeff interrupted. Panic bloomed inside my stomach.
"Because I'm a girl then?" I asked. Jeff shrugged. I glanced over at Thomas and then at Newt. He had his hands clenched into fists.
"Well we bloody better go then." Newt said glancing back at me and then motioning for Thomas to follow him. I moved slowly towards the two boys. What could Alby possibly have to say to me? I didn't know him personally during the training before the Glade and the Maze. He was background information. I was background information to him. Maybe he just remembered something specific about me.
The walk to the Homestead was a quiet one. Newt had said he wouldn't let us go in there alone. He was going to hear whatever Alby had to say to us. We entered the Homestead and walked up the stairs to Alby's room. When we got there though, Alby immediately began screaming at Newt to get out of the room.
"No way, whatever you have to tell this Greenie, you can tell me." Newt said fiercely.
"GET OUT. GET OUT." Alby screamed. Newt walked out but Alby made him close the door. Thomas and I worriedly turned to face the once strong leader of the Glade. He wasn't tied to the bed anymore which might have been a bad thing but I wasn't about to get any closer to him than I already was. I was really afraid about what he might say. "I know who you are." Alby hissed. There it was.
"Who we are?" I murmured.
"I know who you are." Alby repeated. Glaring at Thomas before training his eyes on me. "You're the worst of the three."
"Three?" Thomas questioned.
"You, Mallory, that other girl." Teresa. "It's your fault. All your fault." Alby murmured. Thomas swallowed hard next to me. "I remember our life before this." He murmured before scoffing. "Well, you can't call it much of a life. The Flare." He remembers the Flare.
"The Flare?" Thomas murmured.
"Alby, you're not making sense." I told him, trying to contribute to the conversation and pretend like I was just as confused as Thomas was.
"You.." But Alby was cut off by his own hands, choking him. W.I.C.K.E.D. They were interfering.
"NEWT!" I screamed, running to Alby as I tried to pry his hands away from his neck. The door was flung open and newt rushed in screaming at Thomas to hold Alby's legs down. It took a minute or two of shouting and struggling to finally get Alby to stop choking the life out of himself.
"I'm sorry." Alby murmured, slumping back onto the bed almost sleepily. "I can't control my body." He yawned. Newt looked back and forth between Thomas and I like we had caused this.
"You were trying to kill yourself." Newt stated.
"It wasn't me." Alby said slowly. His eyes were already closed. I glanced up at Newt and tried to look as confused as Thomas. Newt motioned for Thomas and I to follow him out of the room and as we were about to leave Alby said, "Watch out for that other girl and Newt." Newt looked back at his friend. "Protect the maps."
Newt got lunch with us. He wanted to talk to Thomas specifically and I just tagged along for the ride. Newt lightly explained how his duties with Minho would go after he got out of the Slammer. He said he expected Thomas to work his butt off. I felt a tinge of annoyance that Thomas was a Runner but I couldn't tell if it was because I wanted to be a Runner or because he would get to spend time with Minho.
"Now onto the subject that's been on all our minds." Thomas and I stared blankly at him. "Why are you two and that comatose girl so much bloody trouble." I shrugged a little and Newt rolled his eyes. "She's not even awake and the two of you combined haven't even been here for a week and you've already forced our hands into calling three gatherings in quick succession."
"That's not really our fault. It's more about circumstance." Newt rolled his eyes at me.
"Regardless, it's been said more than once now by several people. Ben, Gally, Alby all think the three of you shouldn't be trusted and you haven't given us much incentive to trust you."
"You guys haven't either." Newt actually laughed as I spoke. Thomas smiled next to me
"Fair enough." He paused. "Are you sure you two don't know each other or that other girl up there?" Newt demanded, pointing towards Teresa and the Homestead.
"Well.." Thomas began slowly. "I know that they both seem familiar." Thomas looked to me for confirmation and I nodded. "Like, when I saw her and heard her voice when I was in the Box, I calmed down a bit because it felt like.. I knew her." I nodded again.
"Yeah and t.. The other girl.." I paused again so it wouldn't look weird that I had paused when I almost said her name. "She just.. I don't know. I feel like I know a lot about her but I don't." A true statement. There was a lot I did know about Teresa and a lot I didn't. Newt sighed heavily and shook his head.
"Well from now on you two better be searching those empty minds of yours for even a shred of memory."
"Of course." I looked at Thomas who nodded with me.
"But first, you're both gonna have a good look at that bloody girl and see if any of you remembers something." Thomas looked nervous as Newt said this but nodded anyways. As soon as we had finished eating, we went right back to Homestead and up the stairs. Clint was in the room with Teresa then and stood up when we walked in.
"There you are, slacker." I rolled my eyes at him and punched his arm. Clint just laughed.
"How's she doing?" Newt questioned. Clint shrugged.
"More of the same. Muttering, sleeping."
"What is she saying?" Newt questioned. Clint picked up the notepad.
"Well, his name." Clint said without hesitation, pointing at Thomas. "Then stuff about The Flare and Creators." Thomas perked up at The Flare but Newt didn't catch it.
"Anything else?" Clint shrugged, putting the paper down.
"Just a lot of nonsense." Newt nodded.
"Well, Malls is here now, you can take a break if you like." Clint nodded and smiled before nudging me and walking out the door. I sat down on the empty bed across from Teresa as Newt and Thomas pulled up the chairs in the room. Then the three of us just stared at her. "Try to remember something. Look at her hard."
I tried not to sigh as I stared at her. I felt like I had spent most of my life just staring at her from across a room or the hall. She was a favorite of the Creators. I envied her. Thomas sat up suddenly and stared at Teresa, blinking rapidly. "Did you guys just say something?" He questioned worriedly. Newt arched an eyebrow at him.
"No." Thomas scratched his head.
"Did she say something then because I could have sworn.." He paused.
"Why what do you think you heard?" I questioned. Thomas paused.
"A name, Teresa."
"That must be here buggin name then Tommy! Keep looking at her." Newt encouraged. "Concentrate."
"I am. Shut up." Thomas muttered. Newt grinned at me and I gave him a half smile. A minute or so later, Thomas jumped up like he had been stabbed. He turned to us wildly. "Did you guys hear that?" He murmured.
"Hear what?" Newt questioned. Shit. The mind link.
"That voice its almost like..." He whipped of around to look at Teresa. "She's speaking to me!" He sounded crazy. Newt stood.
"She's not sayin a bloody thing. Just calm.."
"She's talking! I swear! It's.." He screamed and then he ran out of the room.
"Thomas!" Newt shouted. We took off after him. We emerged from the Homestead just in time to see Thomas disappear into the maze. Newt began cursing up a storm.
"Should we go after him?"
"He's shucking lost his mind!" Newt exclaimed. "Did you hear him? Yammering about voices." He paused. "You didn't hear anything did you?" I shook my head. Newt sighed. "We won't go after him."
"Newt.." I began. We couldn't leave him out there.
"He's a Runner. He'll find his way back."
"He's only ran the Maze once, with Minho's help."
"Well I ain't about to bloody go after him." I opened my mouth to reply. "And you aren't either." I glared at Newt. "He'll be fine." I shook my head at Newt. "Did you feel anything lookin at her?"
"Well I mean she's pretty but.." Newt scoffed.
"No, I meant did you remember anything Mallory." I laughed a little.
"No but.." He waited. "I have been having some weird dreams." He turned to face me fully. And I slowly recount the dreams I had, trying to be as vague as possible. "In one, Teresa I guess and I are in the same room, we're just across from each other, sitting on these beds."
"Go on." Newt says when I stop.
"Well that's about it. We're sitting there. And I don't know if it's a memory or if just seeing her placed her in my subconscious." I shrugged. "But in the other one, I'm sitting across from a guy.."
"From the Glade?" I shook my head.
"No, no one here."
"What do you mean. Are there other places?" Newt demanded.
"I don't know. I just know that the kid in my dream isn't here." Newt sighed, rubbing his temple, so I continued. "We're at a table and were just staring at each other. I think we're concentrating on doing something but I don't know what and then some lady comes in and takes me away. I know I'm in trouble, I feel it. And then I woke up." Newt pondered this for a minute.
"Well, that's all fine but it doesn't give us much." I shrugged. Newt sighed.
"Okay, fine. Go back to the Homestead." He said gesturing behind him. "Teresa is alone up there now."
"She's not going anywhere but okay." I replied with a shrug. As we were about to walk away, I touched his arm. He glanced back at me confused.
"You'll tell me when he comes back right?"
"What's with you and this obsession with boys. You want to know when Thosms will get back, if Minho's okay, what's up with Alby. What are you gonna do when I leave."
"Probably ask the same questions." Newt smirked and shrugged.
"Get back to work Greenie."