Different (The Maze Runner)

Chapter 10

My eyes widen in fear and I drop the mirror. My hands start shaking, and panic floods through me.

Oh god, I think. I don't know how to fix this and if everyone finds out they'll either hate or banish me oh god oh god oh god.

I hear a small knock on the door. "You still up?" It's Chuck.

My eyes widen in fear. I take a deep breath and quietly say "yeah." I close my eyes and sit on my hands as the door opens and I hear Chuck walk in. I keep my mouth shut so he can't see my fangs, and since the only light is the flashlight I'm hoping he can't see the extra hair on my face.

He says "wasn't sure if you were still awake or not, almost everyone else is asleep by now."

"What time is it?"

"Um... A couple hours after dinner. Sorry, I don't know the exact time. Why are your eyes closed?"

I mentally curse myself. I should've just let him think I'm asleep. "Uh..."

"Why are you sitting on your hands? Are you alright?"

I nod and say "I'm fine."

"Then open your eyes."

I take a deep breath and open my eyes.

"You scared or something?"

I shake my head. "No I-I'm fine." I pick the mirror up again and quickly look into it. My eyes are still blue.

He either doesn't notice or he doesn't say anything. He says "sorry if you were trying to go to sleep or something, I just... didn't know what to do."

"You still scared?"

He nods a little. "Kinda, yeah."

I say "don't be scared."

"Easy for you to say, you've been here a month."

"Yeah, and you know what? I lost everything, I was the only girl in a field of guys, and I thought my name was an animal. You don't think I was scared? But I'm still here. Trust me, they were more likely to hurt me than they are to hurt you."

He nods a little. "You thought your name was an animal? You don't think so anymore?"

I shake my head. "No actually, I-I don't. Before you knocked on the door I remembered another name."

"Seriously? What is it?"

I look down and quietly say "Alyssa."

"Alyssa? That's a nice name."

"I-I don't even know what's happening to me anymore. I saw a couple things and I-I have a brother somewhere and I'm a little scared."

"You didn't only remember a name, did you?"

I shake my head. "Can you keep a secret?"

He nods. "Yeah, sure."

I look around and pick up the flashlight from the ground. "When I first met you earlier, what color were my eyes?"

"Well I thought they were brown but I guess now they're almost like an ice blue."

I nod slightly and say "they are brown." I shine the light on myself, and I show him my fangs.

He just stares at me for a minute, he doesn't really react.

"Are you not scared?"

"No, actually. It looks... I don't know, almost familiar. Like I've seen it before. I feel used to it."

I sigh in relief. Thank god, this kid doesn't think I'm a freak.

"Do you know how to change back?"

I shake my head and say "I literally woke up like this a minute before you knocked on the door."

"Do you know what you... are?"

I nod. "Werecoyote."

"So that's why you thought your name was Coyote."

I shrug and say "guess so."

"You should probably figure out how to change back."

"I don't know how!"

"You might wanna start with calming down a little."

I put my head in my hands and say "I don't know what I'm gonna do, Chuck."

"Just... I don't know, take a deep breath. Try not to focus on it. Did you remember anything else?"

I shake my head. "Nothing." A feel something warm and sticky fall onto my hand. I look at it and realize its blood. I cut myself with my claws. But there's something off about this blood... it's black. My eyes widen as I stare at my hand in horror.

He sees it and his eyes widen a little. "What've they done to you?"

I remember hearing someone say that in my dream. And... I think it might've been his voice. I pick up the mirror and the flashlight and look at my reflection. Then I look at his. We've both got brown hair and brown eyes. My hair is long and straight, while his is short and curly. But... is it possible?

This is just one of our Trials. First of many. You and your brother, you're very valuable to us. The words from my memory dream float into my mind. WICKED is good. I saw WICKED written on one of the walls in the Maze. WICKED put us here. They also must've been the ones to have that dog bite me. This is all because of them. And I guess I'm valuable because I'm part of their experiment. And I guess my brother is too. I look up at Chuck as the realization hits me. "Chuck..."

He looks up at me, a little concerned. "Yeah?"

"This is all a Trial..."

He looks a little confused. "A Trial?"

I nod. "Like, a test."

"So... this is all just a test? You remembered that?"

I shake my head. "I pieced it together. And, there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Chuck I... I think you're my brother."