Afflicted↠ Newt [1]

Chapter 22.

Snowflakes dappled the ground, covering the grass in a thick blanket of whiteness. Coldness nipped at my bare skin, though for some reason, all I felt was warmth.
I had fallen asleep next to Newt, pressed against his chest for protection from the cool breeze that blew. We had escaped from the teasing remarks of the Gladers in the Deadheads, where we'd fallen asleep. Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but at that point in time, I didn't exactly care.
Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Two people were walking across the snow covered ground, hand in hand, dressed in winter attire. I immediately recognized Evelyn and Alexander, only they were older. Looked to be around fourteen or fifteen. They smiled and laughed as they talked.
"I can't believe some parts of the world weren't affected by the Sun Flares," Evelyn said as she looked around her. "I mean, look at this place."
"It was affected by the Flares, just not as bad as the places closer to the equator," Alexander replied. "Seattle's just gone back to its old climate in the past year."
Evelyn lightly slapped the boy's shoulder, rolling her eyes, "You may have been named after one of the smartest men to ever exist, but that doesn't mean you have to be a smart ass."
Alex shrugged, a smile spreading across his face, "Just saying."
Evelyn's smile disappeared, her face becoming somber, "It's really happening, isn't it?" she said quietly. "Tomorrow."
Alex pursed his lips, "Yeah, it is. But hey-" he stopped walking, turned so that he was looking at her. "We'll be together again."
"But we won't remember each other!" Evelyn cried, a single tear slipped from her eye.
Alex brought his hand up to her face, rested it on her cheek, "Ill always remember you."
Evelyn pulled him into a hug, burrying her face into his chest, "I don't want you to go."
He wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth, ran his hand through her hair, "I love you, and I always will."
Evelyn's voice was muffled as she spoke, "I love you too, Newt."
Newt.
The boy pulled away from her, pressed his lips against hers, "I'll always find you, Emily. Always."

My eyes shot open, my vision still blurry from sleep. Beside me, Newt was still sound asleep, his arm draped lazilly across my waist. My heart spun at the thought of my dream. Those kids were us. I couldn't believe it- I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that we knew each other before the Maze, that we were together. I didn't want to believe that I had to go through the pain of watching him being put into the Maze. Maybe it wasn't true. Perhaps it was only the man- whoever he was- messing with my head. Giving me false memories. That was the only answer. It couldn't be true.
Almost as if on cue, a voice appeared in the back of my mind. Though it wasn't the man's. It was the other boy's. The familiar, comforting voice of the boy I had first heard.
"You loved him before, Emily. And you still do."
The last words were faint- I barely heard them over the other voice speaking to me. The man's.
"Don't listen to him, Emily. Newt is nothing but trouble. You don't love him."
The voices overlapped each other, saying the same sentences over and over again. They screamed in my mind, causing my heard to start buzzing, spinning. I felt a wave of dizziness and confusion, and then my vision went black.

Once again, I was dreaming. I was in a lab, beeping sounds filled my ears. Four kids stood in front of a large window- the four kids. Though one was missing. Alex. Newt. I approached them, realizing for the first time that I was actually capable of moving. They took no notice of me- I assumed I was invisible to them- as I looked through the window. About six or seven men, all wearing lab coats, surrounded a large table. Each of their faces were covered in some type of mask, making it impossible to see their faces. They stood over something on the table, staring down at it as a machine buzzed. The thing on the table was a person. The thing was Newt.
A machine was hooked to his head, tubes entering his ears with a thick buzzing noise. His eyes were open, though glazed over. He was unconscious, or at least not aware of what was happening to him. He laid completely still, the faint rise and fall of his chest being the only thing showing that he was alive. Beside me, the younger version of me shook with sobs. She buried her face into her hands, her palms muffling her screams. Jackson rubbed her back comfortingly, glaring through the window at the men in the lab suits.
"Emily, you need to understand that he wanted to do this," Stephen- or whatever his new name was- spoke from beside her. "We all wanted to do this."
"It's still hard to watch, Thomas," Emily shot back, glaring at him through narrowed eyes. "You won't have to see Teresa being put through this."
"But I'll have to see you- my sister," Thomas said softly. Something about his voice seemed familiar, though I didn't know why. "It'll be bad enough."
Emily shook her head and turned her gaze back to the window, her eyebrows ceased. I focused back on the men in the lab coats, feeling as if my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Whether these memories were real or not, I did not know, but I did know that it hurt me.
The machine stopped moving with a hissing sound, then retracted itself from Newt's head. The boy was still unconscious, looking almost peaceful. One man pressed a few buttons on a machine before lowering a mask over Newt's mouth. The machine made a hissing noise, and I watched as a foggy gas was transported through a clear tube, and into his mouth. I watched as his chest slowly stopped moving, his hand twitched once and then lay still. I felt a rush of panic at the thought of him being dead, but then I remembered he couldn't be. He was in the Glade right now, very much alive.
The man removed the mask, turned the machine off, and turned to the other workers. He spoke a few muffled words- ones that I could not make out- before turning back to Newt. He began wheeling the table towards the door, the other workers following close behind, each writing on a clipboard.
I watched as Newt disappeared from the room, being taken to God knows where. Beside me, Teresa spoke, her voice low.
"WICKED is good, Emily."

"Emily."
My eyes shot open, a gasp escaping my mouth as I came face to face with Newt. His eyes bore into mine, his eyebrows ceased in confusion.
"Are you okay, love?"
Without even really thinking, I pulled him into a hug. Wrapped my arms around his neck, burrying my face into his shoulder. His arms immediately wrapped around me, pulling me closer to him.
"The dreams, Newt." I said quietly.
I felt Newt's lips press against my forehead, but only for a mere second before he pulled away, "They're just dreams, princess. You're safe here."
They're not just dreams, I said to myself. Though I didn't dare say it out loud. Not yet.
I opened my mouth to say something, though I had no idea what, but I was cut off as a scream echoed off the walls of the Glade. Newt and I looked at each other, stood up quickly as we heard another scream. It was a scream filled with pain, insanity. I've heard it before, and my heart twisted at the thought of yet another person going through whatever he went through. It was a scream that reminded me of Nick. And I knew, that whoever it was, they were going through the same thing Nick did- whatever it was.
Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. The rickety door to the Homestead burst open, Gally appearing from behind it, looking like a mad-man.
"No."
I didn't mean to say it out loud, but as a thought. Not Gally.
The Builder began running, letting out another scream that was sure to rip his vocal chords to shreds. Alby appeared behind him, Minho too. Both looking as if they had just seen a ghost. Though I was sure this was probably worse than some spirit.
Without thinking, I took off running towards Gally. The shuffling of feet behind me told me Newt was following closely behind. Gally was running straight for the closed Doors, yelling something that I could not understand. Newt and I caught up to Alby and Minho quickly, hard on Gally's tail.
"What's bloody wrong with him?" Newt asked over the screams.
"He just went mental. Sreaming something about WICKED, then took off running," Minho replied. Gally stopped in front of the Doors, looking around frantically as if looking for somewhere to hide. I pushed ahead of the boys, approaching Gally slowly. Newt grabbed my sleeve in attempt to hold me back, but I shook him off. I wasn't letting him hold me back this time. Not when I had the chance to help Gally.
"Gally, what's wrong?"
The boy turned to look at me, his eyes wide- wild. He shook his head, murmuring something inaudible as he began pacing in front of the Doors.
I took a step towards him, reached out for his shoulder, "Gally-"
The boy suddenly turned on me, grabbing my wrist with such force that I was sure it would leave a bruise.
"Don't. Say. Anything." His voice was low, almost like a growl. So unlike his usual self. There was definitely something wrong with him- someone controlling him. "You've done enough already. You're nothing but a murderer. This is all your fault!"
The rumbling sound of stone grinding against stone drowned out his voice. The Doors were opening. Who knows what Gally was planning as soon as they opened, and I knew I had to somehow stop him.
"Gally, we can help you," I said softly. "Just tell me what's wrong."
The doors were half way open now, enough for a person to slip through. Gally turned to look at the opening, breathing heavily. He turned back to me, his eyes full of insanity.
"You can't do anything," he growled. "WICKED is good."
He let out a long, maniacal scream before taking a step into the Maze. As soon as his foot hit the stone ground, he took off running at full speed. His screams echoed off the walls as he turned a corner, disappearing into the Maze.
"Gally!" I called after him, felt as if my heart had just been ripped out of my chest. I turned around to look at the boys behind me. Their eyes wide with shock, their mouths gaping. Newt stared at me, shook his head sadly.
"Newt, Minho-" Alby lifted his head, looked at the two Runners. "You need to go after him. Bring him back before he does something stupid."
Newt and Minho exchanged a glance between each other, then nodded. Minho pushed past me, patting my back in the process, before taking off into the Maze.
"Be careful," I said to Newt as he passed me. He stopped, took my hand in his, and kissed me softly.
"Always."
I watched as he took off running after Minho, felt as if my heart were falling into a black abyss as they turned a corner, disappearing from my sight. Something bad was going to happen, I just knew it.

+

A/N:
So we finally found out who those kids are! :O
But could they be real memories, or false ones?
Something bad is going to happen in the next few chapters, something REALLY bad. So so bad >:)
There's only a few chapters left in this book guys :( BUT DO NOT FEAR! For I am writing a sequel :3
The next book is gonna be called Abused, and it's gonna take place when Thomas comes to the Glade :3