Clara's POV
I've never felt my nerve endings as I did now. Every single one felt like it was on fire. Excruciating pain filtered through my body making my skin crawl and my mind numb. I drifted in and out of consciousness well aware of the blond haired boy that never left my side. The boy who jumped up every time my hand moved, the boy who slept in the bed beside me with his arms wrapped tightly around me as if he was trying to squeeze my pain out of me, the boy who I heard cry softly every now and then when I was screaming in pain. The boy with the soft heart. The boy with the wonderful smile and beautiful laugh. The boy that was far too precious to be a part of this world. The boy with the honey colored eyes. Except for now, now they're nearly black. I could hear everyone murmuring around me but the memories took me over when something I wanted to hear was being said.
My hand held the curtain back just enough for me to look outside. Mother was outside pacing back and forth as the big white car pulled up.
"They're here for father." Chase whispered beside me.
I looked up at him, confused, before he continued.
"Clara, father is sick. You know that. They're here to take him away."
My eyes watered briefly before I turned back to the window. Chase grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me to his bedroom, shutting the door seconds before mother walked back inside. We pressed our ears against the door to try to hear what they were saying.
"He's in the advanced stages I'm afraid." A male voice stated. "Won't be long until he's past the gone."
Chase's breath hitched and he pulled me away from the door.
Mother walked in, looking at us suspiciously. "What are you two doing?"
Chase shook his head and smiled softly at mother. "Nothing mother. I was only explaining to Clara why we can't go outside."
"Clara, darling, don't worry yourself about that." She smiled sweetly at me before turning to Chase. "Stop filling her head with horror stories Chase!" She spat the last part before storming out of the room.
"You didn't have to do that." I told him, standing and going back to the door.
"It's okay. She doesn't like me anyway." He mumbled in response as he pressed his ear against the door again."
"...want to tell him goodbye?"
"No. No, it's too much for them. They're only seven so I want them to keep what's left of their innocence until they can't any longer." Mother replied. Her voice quivered like she was crying.
"And they're twins, right?" The same male voice asked.
I looked at Chase and he looked back at me with a concerned expression. Neither of us liked where the conversation was heading.
"Yes, why?"
"Ma'am, our organization is in the beginning stages of trying to develop a cure. We're using children to help us find the cure that can save millions of lives, much like your husband's. We would just test to see if your children are immune to the disease and we can offer them safety and protection they wouldn't get anywhere else."
"You mean you want to take my children from me? The same day you take my husband?!" Mother's voice had risen and she was now screaming at the man.
Chase grabbed my hand as my eyes started to water. I didn't want to go anywhere. I wanted to stay in my house with my mother and brother.
"I understand how you feel Mrs. Jackson but your children could save the world."
"Get out! Get out of my house!" She screamed shortly before a door slammed.
Chase pulled me back to the bed once more and we both looked at the door expectantly. I gasped when I heard mother sobbing.
"What do we do?" I whispered to him.
He shrugged and patted my hand before standing. "Let me see how she is before you come out." He walked out of the bedroom cautiously and I instantly ran to the door.
"Mother?"
"Go away Chase! Just go away!" She sobbed.
I pulled the door open a crack and peeked through. Chase was standing a little bit away from mother nervously playing with his hands. "Mother..."
Suddenly, she pulled him into her and hugged him tightly against her. She cried into him and his small arms wrapped around her. "I'm sick Chase. You and Clara won't be staying here much longer."
"No!" I screamed out, running out to join them.
Mother smiled softly at me as more tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry baby. You'll be okay though. I won't let them separate you two." She pulled me into her and hugged both of us tightly. "I love you both so much. Just remember that when I start going crazy."
The pain subsided slightly for a moment and I struggled hard to stay in the real world, away from my morbid past. Chase. I had a twin brother named Chase. How could I forget that when he was such a large part of my life before?
A hand grasped mine tightly and I clung to it hoping Newt could help me stay with him and not return to my dreams. It didn't work.
The music played softly, echoing in the small space of our living room. Chase and I each held one of mother's hands and danced with her as she had loved to do. There was a Beatles song playing while she sang and sobbed to it, struggling to keep her humanity. Things had gotten worse with mother, she was getting progressively sicker. It had only been a few months since father was taken and now she would be taken too. Then the doctors would come get us. We had been tested for the disease but mother refused to tell us the results.
She belted out the lyrics while holding me tightly in her arms, often crying into my soft hair. My hair was always down, she loved my curls. "You got them from your father" she'd say, smiling down at me. We would dance nearly every night and every night we'd sleep next to her in bed while she prayed that we didn't get the sickness everyone else had. She prayed that we were different, that we would be safe from it. She would stroke my hair and kiss Chase's head and ask God to leave us be.
A few weeks later she snapped.
I inhaled a sharp breath as the pain flooded through my body overpowering the memory. I focused on keeping my screams inside so the blond haired boy next to me wouldn't be so sad. I would do anything for him...
She clawed angrily at the door and I jumped back, terrified of what she'd do. "Mama stop it! You're scaring me!" She wailed like a mad person and after a while finally stopped fighting. Chase peeked in her room and she had passed out, blood ran down her arms and we had to assume she did that. She had gotten so bad in less than a month. Not even a month ago we were dancing to the Beatles every night and now we were waking up next to a screaming mother. Her face was splotchy and red and she scared me. She scared me more than the doctors that came and got us and took us to their big building, telling us that they were going to fix the world with kids like us. They introduced us to a large group of kids all around our age and all just as special as we were.
My eyes scanned the crowd and stopped when I saw the blond haired boy smiling at me. He walked over with that same smile and welcomed me into their group. His name was Newt.
I could hear several people around me talking. They weren't over me though, that much I knew. There was someone else here too, someone else that was hurt and screaming just like I had. Alby. I remember now. He had been stung by the griever...the events of that night flooded back to me and I gasped remembering why everything hurt so much. I had been stung too.
"Clara, they're taking me to the maze soon. We won't be apart long but they'll swipe our memories so I may not remember you." Newt brushed a curl from my forehead with a sad smile. I had tears streaming down my face as I nodded at him.
"We can do this, Newtie. We can do this." I kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly against me and his arms wrapped around me.
"I won't forget you. I love you, I can't forget you." He whispered to me.
I smiled against his cheek and kissed him again. "I love you." I whispered back, terrified to let him go.
A/N: It's super slow at work today so I will continue working on the next part! Hopefully I can get more posted otherwise...it'll be a while. :/