Hidden Mysteries

Teresa

The room is small, the lights bright, the walls painted white. I'm handcuffed, and sat on a small stool in the far corner of the room. The man takes a seat across from me and opens the black box.

When he speaks, his voice is almost quieter than a whisper, and his words send a cold chill down my spine.

"Little Deedee. You've grown so much."

How can he know my name? Did he know me when I was younger. And I'm sure he can see it in my eyes because he says,

"Yes, I know you. Your father worked for us. Not willingly, of corse, but he did none the less. I saw you and your brother a couple times. But that's enough about that. I'm going to be asking you questions and you will describe them truthfully, or it will be extremely painful."

As he says the words, he pulls a small machine thing out of the box. It's a little bigger and quite a bit bulkier than a wrist watch. He straps it to my wrist. I'm not sure what it will do if I lie, but I honestly don't want to find out.

"Now. Tell me your full name, and age."

"Teresa Agnes. I used to be Deedee Agnes. I'm eighteen years old."

"What were your parent's names?"

"I don't remember." That was one thing that never came back to me. I remember my parents, but not their names.

The man stares at me, like he's waiting for something to happen, for me to scream in pain. But nothing happens. I'm telling the truth, and he's disappointed. He doesn't move, just stares, for another three minutes. And then, he finally speaks.

"How did you discover this place."

He can't know. I can't tell him about Trina's book.

"I found out about it." It's not a lie.

"And where, Ms. Agnes, did you find out about it?"

"I- I someone told me." Still the truth.

"Did they tell you directly, or did they leave something for you to discover?"

I feel a flutter of panic in my stomach. He knows. But how can he?

"I- They left something."

"Did they, by any chance, leave you a code in a book?"

"How do you know?" I demand. He smiles coldly.

"Oh, you see, I found the girl who wrote that. Her and two of her friends." As if sensing what I'm about to say, he says, "Oh, I killed her," as if he might say "I had a sandwich for lunch" or "it's raining." "Now, tell me everything. From the shooting of the darts."

And because I can't lie, I do. And I don't mean I can't lie because I'm too scared, but as an experiment I try. Not only does it send waves of searing pain down my spine, but it forces the truth out of me. It's impossible to keep the truth in. So I tell him.

I tell him how my village threw me out after I was somehow immune to the virus. Meeting Mark and Trina and Alec and Lana. Being taken by the infected. Traveling on the flat trans to WICKED. Meeting Thomas. Creating the maze. The maze itself.  The scorch. Being told the truth about the trials. Getting my memory back. The attempt to blow up WICKED. Almost dying. Going to to Trina's old village. Discovering Percy Jackson. Finding Thomas. And then coming here.

When I finish, all he does is nod at the guards and they escort me back to the room and tie me back to the chair, while others lead Thomas towards the room I just came from. We just exchange small nods.