Escape to the Hills // Newt x Reader

15

So many different images flew in your head at once. A memory from when you were a child stayed a few seconds to let you watch but quickly faded away. Scenes gathered and disappeared. Some faded, some seemed to be sucked far into the distance. You watched as many as you could, remembering all but forgetting what you had just seen seconds after it disappeared. Finally, when the images got too much and you felt as if you would throw up or cry, you sprung into a sitting position on the floor. Right where you fell asleep.

You squinted and looked around. Everything was just the way you left it. Still suspicious you roamed around the room and up the stairs trying to figure out what felt so wrong. Soon you were feeling like you were going insane. Nothing was out of place. Nothing seemed wrong. You stood on the stairs, staring out at the room in front of you. You took a seat next to the sleeping Frypan and shook him awake.

"Hey." You called. "I'll take watch."

Fry cracked an eye open, only to shut it again. He yawned with his arms far above his head. "Okay." He got up and headed down the stairs to and empty spot with a blanket. "What happened?"

"Nightmare."

"You wanna talk about it?"

You were silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain what you had just dreamt. "Just images. Memories flying around my head. It felt like... they were disappearing."

Frypan squinted in confusion. His concern displayed clear in his voice. "Disappearing?"

"Yeah. They'd come, they'd go, they'd fade or they'd shoot out into the distance."

"But you still remember?" Fry asked just to make sure.

"I can." You confirmed after a moment of thought.

"Oh, then it must be nothing."

"Guess so."

"Strange ass dream, though."

You chuckled at his comment. Fry was the guy to go to if you wanted someone to listen or just to get your feelings out. He would sit and listen and try his best to help even if he didn't understand what was happening or what you were saying. You always felt better after talking to him. That was another memory you thought WICKED was cruel for talking away. A moment of soft comfort and a friend.

One of the best parts is if you need him, even late at night, he wouldn't complain. Only if it was for something stupid.

Fry fell asleep pretty quickly. He snored lightly and you counted his soft breaths. It was something to calm you. To be honest, still remembering bothered you. It could mean several things, like WICKED was tampering with your minds again, or it could have been just some strange dream. You felt as if someone had been in your mind again. Like an unwanted presence. As if someone was right next to you, but they weren't actually there. Curling into a ball and steadying your breathing helped calming down. Nightmares weren't little things kids just imagined anymore. Nightmare meant something. But this didn't really feel like a nightmare. You felt more... curious. You rested your head on the wall at your back, closing your eyes while breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Suddenly, a voice was beside you. It was soft, calming. "Hey."

You almost jumped several feet into the air after realizing no one was actually there. You looked around for a source but nothing was there. You checked the hallway at the top of the stairs but still, no one. You decided you were just going insane again. Nothing major. Then it happened again. An image composed of mostly blue dots and thin lines shimmered into existence right next to you. You stared hard at the dots, concluding the shape they took on was a teenage boy. You could barely see his face but it was there.

Still staring, you pinched yourself hard on the arm. You grimaced when it hurt.

"Please, don't hurt yourself over this." The boy said again in that same sweet voice. You knew that voice.

You stayed silent, letting the situation get awkward on purpose. Maybe the boy would leave. You really didn't want to be seeing things or receiving secret holograms.

The boy coughed into his fist and the image twitched. "Okay. Sorry. I'm not here for a staring contest. I'm here to try and help you."

"Who are you?" You asked.

The hologram sighed and let his head loll forwards onto his chest. "Oh, thank god. Right person." He picked his head up and situated himself in a more comfortable position. "(Y/N), sorry to interrupt your gloomy moment but I just wanted to brighten your day and say it was me, so don't worry."

"Who are you?" You repeated more firmly.

"Sorry, sorry. No need to get angry. I'm Aris." The boy held a hand out, and when you didn't make a move to shake it, he seemed to realize his mistake. "Sorry."

"Oh, my god. Aris?" You grew more and more excited at the thought of another person from your past was with you.

"Oh, my god. You remember?"

"How could I forget?"

Aris shushed you. "You might want to keep it down, because if any of them wake up they'll think you're insane. They can't see me."

Your heart dropped. "Don't tell me I'm imagining you."

"No! Not at all! I'm just in your brain chip. I'm not... human... in a sense."

"What?"

"Well. They hooked me up to this machine before reviving me and now my conscious is living in a computer."

"What the hell?" You stated. "Can we help you?" You stalled in your sentences trying to understand.

"Not that I know of."

"This is sick." You stated. "How can grown people do such horrible things to us? Not just to us. To everyone. How can someone be so heartless."

"Honestly," Aris sighed. "I'll never be able to understand. But that's not what I'm here for."

Your eyebrows knitted together as you looked at him. All the bad possible reasons swirled through your head before he even started talking.

"I'm here because they're slowly breaking back into the systems River hacked. They'll be back to controlling us soon. They won't ever be able to control the Maze again because that virus that girl added it into the system."

You sighed. At least half of that was good news. Not a lot of that was heard anymore. "What are we supposed to do about it? We can't do anything from in here."

"Not you. Me." He looked at you with confidence in his eyes. "They might try to kill me but I could probably hold them off for a while. One thing they forgot was I had my own free will."

"Aris?" You asked, a sadness washing over you at the question that just formed in your mind. Aris hummed to tell you to continue. "Are you..." You really didn't want to know the answer to your own question. "Are you brain dead?"

Aris was silent for a minute, gaping at you. His mouth closed and opened like he wanted to say something but couldn't. Then he gave a little laugh through his nose. "I over heard them while they were hooking me up to this machine. They said that's what they wanted you to think."

"So you're not?"

"Not that I know of."

You let out a long breath. "Everything is so bad at the moment, I guess my mind just goes straight to the worst possible situation. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's natural in your situation."

You sat silently, thinking over the events of late and trying your hardest to find something like a light in all the thick black fog of everything.

Your ran a hand through your hair and fixed whatever hairstyle you had going on at the moment. Honestly half the time your hair looked like a rats nest so it doesn't matter but you still try.

You gave Aris a smile and rested your head against the wall again. "Well, this sucks."