𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑.
[ chapter ten ]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

TERESA READS THE PAPER NOTE IN HER HAND, her eyebrows creased in confusion, "She's the last one ever. What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure." Thomas shrugs, his legs dangling over the edge of the tower, "Ever since you came up, that box hasn't gone back down. You know, and I just think it's got everyone a little worried. Especially Gally."

He looks down at the boy in question, noticing Evelyn sat on a log beside him, pointlessly sharpening her knives but her eyes are staring back into Thomas', causing him to look away in a hurry.

"He thinks it's my fault." Teresa bites her lip.

"Are you sure you don't remember anything else?" Thomas questions, the wind blowing in both of their hair.

"I remember water. Feeling like I was drowning. These faces staring at me." She explains, "And this voice, this woman's voice saying the same thing over and over."

"Wicked is good." Thomas nods, remembering his nightmares a few nights ago.

Teresa's eyes widen in surprise, looking over at him to urge him to continue his sentence and give her an explanation.

"Ever since I've been here, I've had these dreams. Well, I thought they were dreams. You... You were there. You were there, and you told me that everything was gonna change." Thomas tells her.

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know. I just always get pieces."

"And the others don't remember anything?"

"No. I don't think so." Thomas replies, knowing that Evelyn gets nightmares - they could possibly be memories and she just doesn't know, "Why are we different?"

Teresa brings something out of her pocket, two vials of blue liquid swishing about inside. Slowly, she passes them to him, only letting go once he has a tight grip on them, "Those were in my pocket when I came up."

He inspects them closely, noticing the small lettering carved onto the side of them, "W. C. K. D." He reads, "Wicked is good."

"What if we were sent here for a reason?"

"Alby." He whispers, shooting up from his seated position and rushing down the watch tower and straight over to Evelyn, shoving the vials into her chest and not giving her enough to time to notice who just rudely barged into her.

"Do you mind?" She snaps, standing up and glaring at him, before staring down at the blue liquid in her hands, "What's this?"

"They came up with her." Thomas nods his head towards Teresa, who's just awkwardly stood behind him, looking Eve up and down.

"Okay?" The brunette eyes widen once she realises what he's thinking, "Alby."

He nods, thankful that it didn't take her a decade to grasp onto his idea. She grabs Newt's arm and drags him into the run down med jack hut, where Clint and Jeff are watching their leader with worried eyes.

"We don't even know what this stuff is." The blonde grumbles and shakes the vial in front of Thomas, while Alby wriggles in pain in front of them, a small growl leaving his lips every now and then, "We don't know who sent it or why it came up here with you. I mean, for all we know, this... thing could kill him."

Thomas tilts his head in disbelief, motioning roughly towards the boy on the wooden table, "He's already dying. Look at him." Newt does as his said and slowly bites his lips, "How could this possibly make it any worse?"

Newt hesitates, sucking in a large breath before giving a small nod, turning to Eve and holding out the vial, "Alright. Do it."

Quickly, she slips it out of his hands and rushes around him to Alby's left side, Teresa on the right and Thomas beside Eve. She glances down at the small bottle, working out how to use it before pressing a gentle hand to Alby's shoulder to keep him in place.

Evelyn lifts the syringe up over the injured boys chest and hovers for a second, her eyes running down the blue lines on his skin. Thomas' hand touches her lower back and she snaps out of it, licking her lips and raising a thumb to press the liquid into him.

Suddenly, Alby's painful eyes shoot open, revealing blackness and his hands shoot up, grabbing Evelyn tank top straps and roughly pulling her closer to his face.

"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here. Eve, go!" He repeats, his eyes not leaving hers.

Her eyebrows furrow and she stops her struggling and just stares at him in confusion, trying to work out what he means. Thomas jumps closer to her, grabbing one of Alby's wrists while Jeff holds the other, ripping him off Eve and pinning him to the table.

"Eve, are you okay?" Thomas questions, leaning down slightly to meet her eyes but she ignores him, holding up the syringe again, glaring into their leaders eyes.

He continues to struggle against them and tries to reach the girl, who'd swiftly moved on top of the table, straddling Alby's hips. Her jaw clenches when she stabs the syringe into his chest, immediately silencing and stopping his actions.

Evelyn sighs, running her hand through her straggly hair before slipping off the table while Newt barks orders at the med jacks. She tries to listen to him but the only thing she can hear is Alby's words.

Eve, go!

What did he mean? Was that a message just for her or would he have said it to anyone  el—

"Eve." Thomas stands in front of her, his eyebrows knitted together in worry, "I've been calling your name for the last minute."

She runs a hand over her sweaty face, swallowing hard, "Uh, sorry. I'm just tired. Keep zoning out."

"You seemed really calm while he was trying to kill you." He says, watching while her eyes go everywhere but near him.

She scoffs, shaking her head, "That's not what he was trying to do."

The hut's door flys open, banging on the wall and creating all of the Gladers to turn to the source, noticing Gally stood awkwardly, "Hey. Sundown, Greenie. Time to go."

Thomas and Evelyn follow him out, one at either side of him while he carries the torch, lighting their way across the dark glade. There's a long silence, the only noise being heard is Evelyn cracking her knuckles anxiously, Alby's words still in her mind.

"Could you stop?" Gally snarls, turning his head to glare at the girl, "It's annoying."

"Gall, everything you do is annoying." She snaps back, "Dick."

"I heard that."

She chuckles, her eyes still focused on the floor in front of her, "I wanted you to."

"Why are you even here?" He questions in his usual annoyed tone.

She smirks up at him, "Because Newt doesn't trust you with the greenie alone. I'm supervising."

Gally scoffs, rolling his eyes, "And he trusts you more than me? I don't think so, Eve. Last time you went to supervise you ended up nearly getting a Greenie killed."

She shrugs, shoving her hands into her deep pockets to stop her from fiddling, "It's not my fault he wasn't good at climbing trees. It's not difficult, all you have to do is move your hands and feet - somehow he got that wrong."

Thomas raises a hand to his mouth, pretending to itch it to cover his smirk and once he notices Gally glaring at him he sighs, dropping his hand back to his side, "What is your problem with me?"

"Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up. First Ben, then Alby, and now the girl." All three of them stop outside the pit, "Everybody saw she recognised you. And I'm betting you know who she is." He kneels down, unlatching the lock and lifting open the lid.

Evelyn's eyes float over to Thomas and she watches carefully while he clenches his jaw at the other boy's words - indicating to her that everything Gally said was somewhat true.  He lowers himself down into the hole, landing on the dirty floor and Gally shuts the door, quickly tying the rope to stop him from leaving.

"Gally." Thomas' hand grips onto one of the bars above his head, "You know we can't stay here forever, right?"

Without a word, the boy he's speaking to stands up and walks off, carrying the torch with him, not even caring about leaving Eve in the dark. Instead of heading after him, she sits on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest with her chin resting on top.

"He likes it here." She says, filling the silence, "He likes how safe it is... well was. He doesn't like change, and neither do I. But, there's something about you that makes this better. It's like I can trust you, without even knowing you and I hate it." She immediately clamps her mouth shut, realising how much she just released.

The dark haired boy in front of her smiles through the dark, "So you don't hate me. You hate that you trust me." She nods silently, huffing in annoyance at herself, causing him to chuckle, "You know, Evelyn, it's okay to show feelings."

"Maybe for you, not for me." She shrugs sadly, "But every single boy here thinks that I'm invincible and will murder them if they even look at me." She lifts her head off her knees to glance over at the homestead, "I'm not invincible- in the slightest. Out of all of us here, I've got injured the most, the slicers not included. And I won't murder them for just looking at me. They only think that because I accidentally stabbed a boy in the hand a year ago."

"Accidentally?" He raises an eyebrow, unsure of whether or not to believe her.

She looks away for a second, smiling slightly, "Okay, maybe not accidentally." She rolls her eyes at the memory, "He was touching me. What was I supposed to do, let him?" She scoffs, "No one believed me when I tried to tell them so Alby threw me into the pit for a week without food. Gall, Min, Newt and Fry were the only ones who believed me."

His face drops slightly at the thought of how much Evelyn had to deal with due to being the only girl in the Glade for three years, "I would've believed you."

She nods, "I don't doubt that for a second. Like I said, I trust you."

"I trust you too." He smiles gently, looking up at her eyes that are barely visible in the moon light, "And I don't hate that. It's nice to have someone to trust, even if you hate me."

She shakes her head, slipping her legs underneath and pushing up off the floor into a standing position, "Goodnight, Thomas. I know it's hard in there but try and get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow. Minho and I will come and get you."

His eyebrows furrow at her sudden change of emotion and he watches as she turns on her heels, trudging over to the homestead, "Goodnight, Eve!" He calls, causing her to peer over her shoulder, a small smile visible on her face.