Bad Dreams | Newt x Reader

Chapter 50-Memories and Rats

Warnings: mentions of nightmares, blood, pain, torture, trauma, fear, knives.
This one's a little much, oops.

Y/n POV

I opened my eyes and forced down the vivid images of the nightmares. I sat up and stretched. Newt sat a short distance away, seemingly lost in thought. I moved over next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder. He jumped slightly as he noticed me and gave me a smile but it seemed forced. I frowned at him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing, love, just…bad dreams,” he ran his hand through his hair.
“That makes the both of us,” I sighed and leaned deeper into his warmth.
He wrapped his arm around me. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while until my brother walked up to us.
“Do you want to talk to Brandon yet?” Nikolai asked.
He seemed like he was exhausted. I smirked anyway and took the hand he offered to help me up.
“Breakfast first, or I’ll pass out again,” I declared and helped Newt up.
Newt still looked troubled.
After breakfast, Nikolai led us over to where Brandon was tied to an old chair.
“What exactly do we want from him?” Newt asked me in a quiet voice.
“Information,” I replied. “Back at the Wicked building, I tried to use my hypnosis ability on him but it didn’t work. Brandon has found a way to prevent Enhanced from using their abilities on him.”
“Can you find how he’s doing it?” Vince asked and I smirked in response.
I closed my eyes so I could concentrate. I sensed the metal chip in his arm and I opened my eyes to see Brandon withering as I tried to get it to leave his arm. I pulled out a knife and walked forward. I forced his arm up and I slit a line over where it was. Brandon cried out and tried to get loose but I removed the metal chip from his arm and gestured to Alex to heal him. Alex did so and stepped back. I crushed the chip and let it fall to the ground. Brandon, now partially covered in blood, looked up at me.
“Where is Minho?” I demanded in a soft voice.
“Who?” Brandon asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Subject A7,” I said.
“I don’t know who you are talking about,” Brandon whimpered and I raised my eyebrows.
“Really?”
He tried to look away but I forced him to meet my eyes. I started to use my illusions on him and let him go.
“What was that?”  he demanded. I didn’t answer, instead I forced him to hallucinate rats crawling towards us. Brandon thrashed and then forced himself to stop. “I know they aren’t real.”
“Do you know that?” I asked as they reached his shoes and started climbing up his legs. “Can’t you feel them crawling on you?”
Brandon whimpered and then started trying to shake them off without success.
“I don’t know where he is!” Brandon yelled and thrashed again.
“Maybe I was being too specific. Where are they keeping the Immunes?” I demanded.
“I don’t know! I mind my own business! Wicked doesn’t want me to know where they are because they thought you might come after me!” Brandon sobbed as the rats reached his face. He turned his face up to get away from them. I looked at my brother. He moved forward and searched our uncle's memories. He shook his head and stepped back. I sighed and let the illusion fall. My uncle relaxed in relief.
“Should we kill him now?” Vince asked. “He betrayed your parents.”
“I don’t want to kill him just yet,” I decided. “I want him to suffer like how he made us suffer.”
I knelt down in front of Brandon. “Marcus said that you both betrayed her because your parents always favorited her. Is this true?”
“Partially, I was convinced to betray her because Wicked could offer us protection.”
“So could we.”
“It doesn’t matter how powerful everyone here is, the Phoenix and the Wolf will kill you all. You’re all going to die.”
“Maybe, who knows. Maybe the Wraith will kill them both before they have the chance,” I suggested.
“Maybe, I doubt I’ll be around to see it though,” Brandon looked at me.
“Back to my mother, it didn’t matter that she was the favourite. She was nothing but kind to you and Marcus and she loved the both of you, even if you both treated her awfully.”
I forced him to look at me again to use a combination of the hypnosis and illusions. I started to force him to hallucinate the day my parents died. Only him and I could see it. I also forced him to feel pain.
“Stop,” Brandon begged me, “I don’t want to see this.”
“What do you want to see then? Your brother?” I forced him to hallucinate Marcus and the Cranks. Brandon thrashed again.
“Stop! Please!”
I didn’t. I could feel the influence of the Wraith starting to seep in. I forced him to hallucinate my mother dying over and over while he begged me to stop. Finally, when I was satisfied I forced him to hallucinate who I was so that he knew. Risky but I wanted him to be more scared.
Brandon stared at me with horror, his face was a dirty mix of dirt, blood and tears. I smirked at him before my smile dropped and I stood up. I started to draw on his energy and he slumped dead in his bounds. I tore my eyes away from him and looked around the group. Newt was white with horror.
“A bit too far I think, sorry,” I grabbed my brother and forced him to walk with me. I could feel Newt’s eyes boring into the back of my head.
We reached an area on the edge of camp away from the people.
“How much of that was you?” Nikolai asked quietly.
“I don’t know, not all of it,” I sighed and brushed my hair out of my face.
“I might be biassed but I don’t think you went too far.”
I stayed silent for a moment and looked at my hands, “I’m scared of it. Of her.”
Nikolai gave me a sympathetic look and hugged me, “I know.”
“Y/n?” Newt asked from behind me and I turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk after you’re done talking with your brother?”
“We’re done, I think,” I looked at Nikolai and he nodded. Suspicion and regret bloomed in my heart as I walked off with Newt.
I knew what he wanted to talk about.

1100 words