The Silent Runner

17. the fault

I woke up in a cold room, the smell of blood lingered in my nose. My mouth felt dry and my head felt heavy. I tried moving my foot but both were restrained. As well as my arms. "Welcome back Doll." A familiar voice spoke.

"Janson, get to it."

"What did you tell them?" He spoke hoarsely. I tried looking up, my head hung low. Did he expect me to answer? With a handful of my hair, he pulled my head up, revealing I was facing a television screen. Everything I thought was showing up in green blotchy letters.

Where are they?

"I see," he said, releasing my hair. "You actually care for them. And you believe they care about you?"

I know they do.

"If that were true wouldn't they be here? They don't trust you! They left you!"

They don't know who you are. What you are. They think they're safe.

"As long as you cooperate, they are." He spoke menacingly. "Group A and B are ready to begin Phase Two of the trials. You are but an error. The variables of the two are now not the same, which is a problem." He paced back and forth in front of the screen. "Taking you away from them would change it even more so we've decided that you'll live and stay with them." He stopped, bending down to meet my eyes. "We don't know how you could talk to Thomas but we'll run a few tests on you and hopefully disable whatever it is. If you say anything to them, anything, we will know it." He paused. "Phase Two is about to begin," he snapped, standing back up. "If you fail to comply, remember we've got Tanner and she works for us." I looked him in the face, a confused spark in my eye. "You don't remember?" I shook my head no. "Remarkable. Simon, make a note, whilst erasing her memory, Angelina woke up and fought back. She didn't know what was going on but her instinct told her she was being threatened," he stared at me while he spoke. "It seems only long-term memory is gone- Simon, show her Sargent Tanner Westrose." He spoke to the microphones in the room. No one else stood by.

A picture of a girl flashed onto the screen. She looked so much like Thomas, dark hair, freckled skin, brown eyes. They were almost identical. It could only mean she was Thomas's sister. Maybe even his twin.

"This is Tanner Westrose, Miss. Angelina Westrose. Your older sister." They then continued to play back my memories with her, our dad making her join Wicked, her coming to see me in the Wicked Dorms for my birthday when I was still too young for the Maze Trials. They began to come back to me like I'd been sucking them straight from the screen as they faded away.

So, Thomas is my brother?  I thought without thinking. Janson snapped his neck towards me before rushing in front of me.

"He thinks you're siblings?" I nodded, almost smiling that I messed up their trial even more. He raised his fist, which already had my blood on it, and began to bring it down.

"Janson! Enough. There's no sense in leaving more marks. They'll ask." I looked all around me, and then straight into the two-way mirror to my left, glaring at it, knowing Ava stood behind it. "Hello, Miss. Westrose. I wish I could say it's nice to see you."

You're not dead. You should be dead!

Janson turned off the screen and walked to the door. He put in a code on a keypad, shielding it with his shoulder. As he left, a woman came in, a nurse. She had dark skin and short hair, a small nose, and an annoying smile. She was followed by a guard. He wore the same gear that the men from the Maze did. I hadn't recognized the uniform. It was new.

The nurse held a needle in her hand, a syringe with a light blue liquid. I began to shake and pull and sway, trying to free my arms and legs, not wanting her to inject me with whatever Wicked created. "Hold still or this will hurt," She said sternly but I refused to stop. "Alright, keep her still." The guard who accompanied her walked behind me, grabbing my neck and pulling my head back in a sort of chokehold. By cutting me off from the air it's all I could focus on, allowing her to stick the needle into a vein below my elbow. The pinch stung more than I felt it should've. "Woops. Missed the vein," she smiled before reinjecting me and pushing the blue liquid into my arm. I thought I could feel it traveling through my veins, breathing harder as the guard hadn't let go yet.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered in my ear as I slowly began to close my eyes, struggling to keep them open.

I woke up in a bunk bed in a small dark room. I swung my legs off and felt the cold metal floor underneath my toes. There was a bit of light coming from a small porthole window in a door. I slowly stood up, my legs aching, and walked to the door. I peeked through and only saw a hall with a mirroring door across from me. I tried to peek down the hall and only got scared, jumping back as someone's face popped into the window. They wore a gas mask and guard uniform. I fell down to the floor, hitting my back on a wall. The soldier ran off down the hall. That brought my attention to my ankle which was all healed. You couldn't tell it had ever been broken. Immediately, I stood up and lifted my shirt, checking for my bruise. It was gone as well. No pain. As if it never happened. It only made me wonder how long I'd been asleep for and how long I'd been away from my friends.

Slowly, I grabbed the door handle and tried opening it. I'd expected it to be locked. Part of me hoped it was so I didn't have to go explore and find my friends but it opened, revealing even more light. The hallway was full of doors exactly like the one I'd come out of. One at the end had no window so I approached it and slowly tried to open it. It was locked. Before I could think of what to do, the door burst open. I was now faced with a boy, he wore no armor. Only sweats and slippers, just like mine.

"Are you Angelina?" He asked, almost a country accent in his voice. He was panting like he'd been running. I only nodded, reminding myself I couldn't speak but only nodding because I didn't want to. I'd wondered if they restored my voice as well as my injuries.

What's going on? Not hearing my voice, I sighed. Upset I still couldn't speak.

I can hear you.  He looked into my eyes, searching to see if I could hear him. I only nodded.

"My name is Aris. I met your group. This is Wicked. It's always been Wicked and we're getting away from them. I have to get the door open so they can get out too. I told them I'd come to find you." Behind him were guards on the floor. Had he done that himself? "They're not dead," he said looking back. "But we have to go. Come on," he ran down the hall I'd just been in. Hesitant, I followed him. I'd never seen this boy before. Or at least not that I could remember. There was no telling whether or not he could be trusted.

We ran down the corridor and was met with another. After following him through a few doors we found a computer room with big monitors and towers. Aris went to the first one on the right, no hesitation. He led us there like he'd charted it all out for some time or knew where to go. He typed things in before standing back and nodding, as if satisfied.

"Turn around," He said, now facing me. I shot him a look and he sighed. "Just do it." I turned around and he lifted up my hair, running his thumb along the back of my neck. "You have one too. A tattoo. We all have em'. They gave us pet names." I tilted my head, wondering what I could be. "It says you're the fault." I pulled away, showing him I was confused. "As in error. You're a glitch."