Secrets | TMR | One

5:1

"I killed Tim."

Every head turns at that exact moment. All eyes widen with shock as each person in the room looks to the boy who spoke.

Winston stands on top of a chair, his face directed straight ahead, with not a hint of guilt, or remorse, or... anything in his eyes.

They are completely empty.

Void of all emotion.

Even his expression. Deadpanned.

Like he gives no care to the words he speaks, or the effect they will have.

The silence in the room is deafening.

Nobody knows what to say, do, or think.

Winston has killed someone.

Nick is the first to take initiative. He gently pulls Adeline - who until this point had been trying to launch herself towards Dan - back and sits her down, giving her shoulder a tight squeeze as he steps past her and into the middle of the room.

"Winston" the leader starts, timidly walking towards the boy, but being sure to keep well back, "what did-"

"I killed Tim" the keeper of the slicers repeats, not even flinching from his spot on top of the chair.

Gladers start glancing around, locking eyes and giving each other the same look of utter confusion before moving onto the next boy.

Nick opens his mouth to speak again, but is cut off when the slicer calmly steps down from the seat.

Avoiding all eye contact, he shifts the chair to the side and walks out of the hut, muttering "I killed Tim" to himself, over and over again, leaving the rest of the Gladers nothing short of bewildered at the boys confession - or confessions.

Silence engulfs the room for a moment, and Nick takes a few short steps backwards, his eyes still zoned in on the spot that Winston - and the chair - once occupied.

He stands back next to Adeline, his mouth opening, then closing a second later as his mind struggles to understand what is going on.

"What the fuck" the pair mutter in unison, both of them turning to look at the other with the same expression on their faces, but different thoughts on their mind.

Nick is not entirely convinced that the words Winston spoke are true.

The first few seconds after the revelation, the leader was - if he were being honest - slightly relieved. To hear that it was, in fact, another Glader who caused so much damage, rather than the creators.

But once he caught a glance of Winston's face, and the monotone sound of his voice ringing out, repeating the same thing over and over again...

Well, now, he is not too sure.

He decides at that point to follow the slicer, leaving Adeline in the capable hands of the Med-Jacks - the only boys he feels comfortable leaving her with - and praying to God that she does not attempt to start anymore fights.

Luckily for him, the girl is far to flabbergasted to even think about it.

She merely sits there, her eyes zoned out, but focused on a stray nail sticking out of the floor, with her brows furrowed and her tongue sticking out slightly as her mind whirls over the news.

Adeline was never close with either Tim or Winston, so it is entirely plausible - in her mind - that this could have happened.

Maybe they had a fight? Winston maybe took things too far, and in a moment of sheer panic decided to try and hide the body? The fact that Tim was found right behind the Bloodhouse, where Winston works, seems like it could be more than just a coincidence.