𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝘔𝘈𝘡𝘌 𝘙𝘜𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘙

25 ~ 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚

Lottie

 I found myself back in Newt's bedroom, along with all of my friends, and this time, Alby joined us. Mitch got under the covers again, cuddling Bark as he tried to sleep. Julian sat at his feet, gripping a broom and glaring at the window, as if daring the Grievers to come after Mitch.

I joined Minho and Newt in a corner this time, taking no risks. I sat with my back to the wall, trying to relax, but it was hard to when I could hear Grievers clicking closer and closer.

"I think Lottie was right yesterday," Alby spoke up suddenly from near the door. He had been fumbling with a button he'd taken out of his pocket for the past fifteen minutes. "That the Grievers are sent here to be a punishment."

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" I said despairingly.

"Yeah. Especially since you've been attacked by Grievers the most."

"But those were coincidences!" Newt protested. "The first time, she was only attacked because she tried distracting it from us like a bloody idiot. The second time, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"But it does seem like the Grievers are specifically going after you." Minho piped up.

I nodded back at him. "WICKED is probably trying to take me away so I can't help you guys anymore with escaping," I said.

"But I thought you said that they wanted us to escape?" Alby reminded me.

"They do. But they put us in here to calculate our brain patterns, or something," I waved a hand vaguely. "They must have not gotten enough data. We're solving it too quickly."

"Well, we wouldn't be if it weren't for your memories." Newt said.

"Right. So that means that she's not expendable. Nothing can happen to her." Alby pushed himself away from the door and addressed the room. "It seems like she's our only hope." I smiled slightly with pride.

The Griever sounds were getting closer and closer, until I could tell that they had entered the Glade. No one in the Homestead spoke a word, and we extinguished all lights. We waited as the Grievers came closer to the place we were hiding.

Suddenly, I heard a thump and a familiar sound of wood splintering. Everyone in the room stood up. I was pushed deeper into the corner as Newt and Minho both positioned themselves protectively in front of me, taking Alby's orders seriously. I stood on my toes to see over their shoulders, and I saw that Julian had stood from the bed, pointing the broom. Mitch had woken up, and was scrambling under the bed, as he had done last night. Alby had shoved his button back into his pocket and stood in a fighting stance.

Something busted through the window, sending splinters flying through the room. I parted my lips to scream, but found Minho's hand over my mouth. He shook his head at me, silently telling me to stay quiet. I closed my mouth reluctantly. A metal Griever arm poked through the hole it had made and groped around, searching for a victim. We all pressed ourselves against the wall to avoid being caught.

The arm collided with the bed, and with a scraping noise, it was pushed across the floor, revealing Mitch hiding underneath it. He gave a squeak of fear when he was revealed, and that was enough. The arm thrust itself forward and snagged Mitch's shirt and began to pull him towards the window, leaving Bark behind.

Mitch couldn't hold his scream in anymore. "Help me!" he shrieked. Julian instantly darted forward with his broom, whacking the metal arm as he had done before. Newt and Minho must have known I would try to rush forward as well, because all it took was a quick glance at each other before Minho left our corner and Newt pinned my arms to my sides, holding me so that I wouldn't throw myself into danger.