Secrets | TMR | One

1:2

It is almost four o'clock in the morning when Alby is awoken to the muffled sound of someone muttering in the room across from his.

He thinks nothing of it to begin with.

It'll just be one of the boys having a nightmare.

All the boys have them. It has become a standard practice in the Glade - to hear people talking to themselves during the night.

Nothing ever comes of them, of course. Most of the boys manage to wake themselves up before any major damage is caused.

So Alby turns over, dragging his pillow out from under his head and placing it firmly against his ear to block the noise. The boy smiles softly to himself, his eyelids gently closing while his brain starts to slowly shut down again.

But his eyes do not stay closed for long

The most terrifying scream erupts from the room, and in an instant, Alby is tumbling out of bed. His body goes into autopilot as he scrambles out of the room.

He stumbles into Gally just outside, noticing that, he too, has been awoken by the harsh sound.

The two boys pause for a moment, doing nothing but stare at each other wide eyed as the Homestead falls into silence.

Talking can be heard from the other side of the door, however, and both boys release a sigh of relieve knowing that whatever is going on in there is being dealt with accordingly.

Sending Gally a quick nod, the second-in-command turns his body around and slowly pads into his room again.

Gally does the same, tiredly spinning around and stifling a yawn as he opens the door to his own room.

But just as he steps over the threshold, another agonising scream vibrates through the walls.

Wasting no time, he lunges back out and slams his body into the door of the room in question. Flinging it open, he is met with the sight of Adeline, laying on her back, with Nick hovering over her.

Upon hearing the door smash against the wall, the leader turns his head around to face him quickly. "Gally!" he says, twisting his head back around and trying to grab onto Adeline's arms, "help me calm her down!"

Within seconds, the builder is by his side, but he freezes when he sees the girl. "What did she do?"

"No idea" Nick responds, still struggling to get a firm grip of her. "I woke up and she was screaming, and covered in blood!"

Adeline lays there, tossing and turning, scratching at a spot on her chest which is now beginning to pool with blood.

All Gally can do is stare. His body forgetting how to move as he watches Nick finally getting a hold of her wrists and pushing them down on the pillow on either side of her head.

"Addy, shh, you're okay" Nick mutters, lowering his head down to the girls ear as he attempts to calm her.

Gally turns his head, spotting Alby still stood by the door, as frozen as he was a few moments ago. The builder paces back towards the door, but swerves to the right just before he reaches it. Stepping right next to Adeline's bed, he squeezes his fingers into the gap between the wooden frame and the wall.

"Alby, help me move this" he commands, looking up to the boy.

Alby shakes his head slightly, trying to kick himself back into reality. "Why?" he questions, sending the builder a quizzical look.

"I need in that space so I can hold her wrist down. We need to wake her."

"Are you sure that's a good-"