Ineffable | Newt

1.

Light shone through the window, casting spotlights onto the wooden floor. The girl finally had enough rest, and her eyes reluctantly opened a bit. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, and panic immediately filled her as she tried to recall her last memory.

Nothing.

But that's not possible; she had to remember something—anything. A family? Friends? Her name? The girl's eyes widened as she realized she didn't even know her name. She bolted upright and took in the room she was in. A window rested on the wall to her left, a crate on the opposite wall, and a door in front of her. The bed she was in was small, with improvised sheets.Where was she?

"She should have woken up in the box," a voice from outside said."I have not slept for two bloody days!"

The sound of footsteps grew closer towards the door, making her heart pound. Her eyes were trained on the opening, waiting for a monster to appear. But no monster came; instead, two men opened the door. One was a tall boy with light skin, blonde hair, and a square jaw. The other was a more built one, barely older than the first, with dark skin and a softer look as he stared at the girl. They didn't look like monsters, but then again, she didn't know what a monster looked like.

"It looks like you're up." The man walked into the room and towards her. She looked around her, then back at the person who spoke.

Her voice was hoarse and refused to work, but even if it did, she didn't think that she would want to use it. The well-built man walked closer to her, making her scoot away from his hard look. He stopped as her mouth quivered involuntarily.

"I won't hurt you." He spoke calmly, but his tone contradicted his expression and did not reassure her.The girl coughed to clear her throat and try to speak, but a sense of dread engulfed her and forced her to keep quiet.

The man smiled softly at her and shook his head, his demeanour instantly changing the girl's perception of him.

"This is Newt's room." He jabbed his thumb at the blonde, who stayed in the doorway with his arms crossed. His eyes fixed on her, and under his gaze, she felt vulnerable. "This entire place is the Glade." The other person's voice made her break eye contact.

She stared at the man, her lips still. A debate ran through her mind as she decided if she wanted to speak or not, but the feeling of increasing anxiety that consumed her when she opened her mouth and thought about communicating kept her quiet. She decided speaking was bad now.

The man scratched the back of his neck and furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her open and close her mouth. He guessed that she wasn't going to talk.

"... Well, we really don't know why you're here," he said, answering the most common question that Greenbeans asked. "You're a kind of special package."

The girl's eyes widened in fear, and she grabbed hold of the sheets that surrounded her and pulled them closer around her. What does "special package" mean? What would they do to her?

"Do you recall your name?"The man changed the subject, and the girl hung her head in sudden and overwhelming shame. How could she forget her own name? Still looking down at the sheets in front of her, she shook her head.

Alby crouched down beside the bed she was in; his face held soft eyebrows and attentive eyes, and she knew he wouldn't hurt her now.

"Nothing?" He asked, and the girl shook her head again, her eyes still down.

The man nodded and said,

"'Kay."

and that made the girl's head shoot up. That sounded familiar. Kay. But it didn't sound like enough.

Her teeth pressed together, and her tongue moved to mimic the sounds of letters. She definitely knew how to speak; she just either didn't want to or couldn't. The girl's brain ran through the alphabet until she got to "T."

"Katie." The girl whispered to herself, then grew confused. It sounded right, but she couldn't be certain. The man leaned toward her to hear her better.

"What?" he asked.

She put her shoulders back and attempted to sit up a bit straighter, yet her eyes still wouldn't reach the boy in front of her.

"Katie." She said it smoothly and with confidence, unknown to her because her heart was beating too loudly in her ears. The boy in the doorway dropped his jaw. Never in his life had he heard such a beautiful sound; even the one in front of her was surprised.

"Katie," he nodded and turned to face the one addressed as Newt, who closed his mouth before turning back to her."Well, Katie, my name's Alby. "I'm the leader here."

She decided she could trust him for now; her fear subsided, which she took as a good thing. He pointed his finger towards the door, and her eyes followed back to the boy and his calculating eyes. Her short burst of confidence diminished as she looked at the boy, and she wrapped the sheets around her again.

"Shank, there's my second in command." Alby explained.

Newt gave a short nod towards her, but she looked back towards Alby.

Katie's finger moved toward her temple with a confused look on her face. Alby understood and shook his head apologetically as his jaw set. He hates when newbies ask questions, but it has to be done.

"The Creators take our memories; the only thing we have is our names." He said it simply, but it wasn't simple. Who were the creators? Why do they take our memories away? Who's 'our'?

Alby must have noticed the confused and hopeless look on Katie's face because he tried to reassure her.

"Newt'll explain everything to you." Alby told the scared girl. "I've got things to do."

She didn't want Alby to leave, but she understood that she couldn't keep him back, so she nodded slowly. Alby gestured goodbye to Katie before walking towards the door. Newt moved out of the way to let the boy pass before taking a couple steps inside and crossing his arms. Katie noticed he had a limp.

"Well?" Newt asked with an odd accent. Katie just stared at him before he nodded his head toward the door. "Come on then."

Katie understood that he wanted her to follow him, but did she want to? Alby obviously trusted him. Katie hesitantly tossed off her sheets, slipped out of bed, and walked towards Newt.Her first impression was that she was either really small or Newt was really tall, but she couldn't tell which. He was about a head and a bit taller than her. Newt turned on his heels and limped out the door and down the hall; it took Katie a second before she followed him.

"This is Homestead," Newt explained as he descended the stairs."This is where some of us sleep."

The two reached the ground floor, and Katie's eyes roamed. a hallway to the right of her and a door opposite. A table with a plant was the only decoration besides mothballs and garbage littering the floor. Newt stepped over the things on the floor as if he had done it his whole life. Katie followed him a bit clumsily, tripping on certain things and almost falling before she made it to the door.

"Reckon you can guess why you're special." "Newt," he says as Katie joins him outside. Her eyes adjust to the bright daylight and scan the terrain. Four large grey walls enclosed the grassy plain in a square. To the left of her, there were rows of crops being tended by some people. In front of her was a forest; she didn't notice anyone in there, and to the left of that were a couple buildings with animals. Boys scurried all around, working on various projects.

Katie furrowed her eyebrows as she studied the people. Their eyes widened as they realized what had happened.She looked down at herself, then back up at all the people, then up at Newt, who was smirking down at her.

She pointed at herself, her face filled with desperation.

"Only one, Greenie." He looks down at her as her jaw drops slightly.