ACT II SCENE XXVI
ALCESTIS

"Those whom the Gods wish to destroy,
they first make mad."

   EVERYTHING STARTED to blur together—her memories, dreams and reality. She couldn't tell them apart anymore and her body shivered uncontrollably as she was locked in a never-ending nightmare of screams and blood and atrophy. Cold empty eyes stared back at her, stained with misery. There was an instance where she could hear Teresa calling out to her, voice tinged with fear, like when Alby stepped away from the circle.

"Cass? Do you hear that?"

She heard the rush of roars and shrieks, the drumming of her heart in her chest as steel bit against steel in a rising crescendo, like a living chorus of malevolence inside her head. The tumultuous screams of boys that she knew—dying.

"Cass, wake up! There are people!"

There was a low drone and she thought she might have opened her eyes. She didn't understand what was happening when her body was pulled from the top bunk and carried away. Teresa called to her frantically but all she could think of was how Lee had been so close to escaping with them, if only she had been one second quicker.

It felt like she was passing through ice, then there was a bright light above her and she was sat down on a hard chair. Something heavy covered the top of her head a moment later and she felt a prick on her skin. Her dazed, fevered eyes slid to the side and there was a girl she didn't recognise talking to her.

"It's going to be okay," she said. "You'll feel better in the morning."

Then Teresa was yelling in her mind, through the haze that was quickly enveloping her and a pain shot through her skull just as something cold brushed against the insides of her ears.

"They're taking me away! What are they doing to you?!"

And then oblivion.

   It was like all the colour had drained out of her life, bleeding away into a dull monotonous grey. She was cocooned in something warm, but her insides were cold. Empty. There was a gaping hole in her chest that kept eroding with each passing minute and she was sure that she would be nothing more than dust soon. Remnants of a paltry, inconsequential existence whisked away by a vacuous zephyr.

Then someone called to her, a familiar voice that was gently soothing, wrapping around her like a bandage to keep her from falling apart. A warm hand smoothed away the hair from her face, stray tendrils tickling the tip of her nose and she stirred back to life. Her eyes opened a fraction and there was brightness on the other side. The voice continued to coax her to consciousness and she followed it like Ariadne's thread through the treacherous shadows.

Cassandra opened her eyes to a burst of colour that was so intense, it made her nerves tingle. Minho smiled back at her. "Hey," he whispered.

Then she heard chatter all around her and slowly pushed herself up. The Gladers had gathered into her room. Newt grinned at her from the side, his brown eyes sparkling light-heartedly under the fluorescent light.

"Mornin', Sleepin' Beauty," he greeted. "Bout time ya joined us in the real world."

"What the hell are you all doin' in here?" she asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey, she's speaking again," Thomas remarked. "Told you she just needed some rest."

"Huh?" She scrunched her face and looked at him in confusion.

"Uh..." The three boys exchanged wary glances, then he continued slowly, "You went into shock...after everything that happened yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" She blinked and there were more blank stares. "And where's Teresa?"

As if on cue, there was an audible click from the direction of the bathroom and Thomas quickly started forward in anticipation. The door was pulled wide open but instead of seeing their blue-eyed friend, a strange boy stepped out. He had short dark hair and tanned skin, wearing the same pyjamas that they'd all been given the night before. The world came to a complete standstill as Cassandra and the Gladers stared at the strange boy in shock.

Then Thomas exploded, "Who the hell are you?!"

"Who am I?" the boy asked indignantly. "Who are you?!"

Newt stepped forward to stand beside Thomas. "Don't bloody mess around. There are a lot more of us than there are of you."

The boy scowled and folded his arms. "Fine. I'm Aris. What else you wanna know?"

"Where was the other girl that was sleeping here last night? And how did you get here?" Thomas demanded.

"What other girl? I was the only one sleeping in this room." Aris shot him a weird look.

Cassandra raised her hand from the top bunk. "Um...I've been here the entire time, dude."

The boy took a double take. "W-what?"

"There's a sign outside that says Teresa Agnes. No mention of any shank named Aris." Thomas jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Now tell us how you got here."

"L-Look man, I have no idea what's going on." Aris held his hands up, all his previous bluster fading away. "I've been sleeping in that bottom bunk and got up to pee like five minutes ago. I've never heard of a Teresa Agnes in my life. Sorry."

Newt crossed his arms and eyed the boy warily. "Okay, whatever, how did you get here then?"

"I don't even know, man." Aris shook his head like he knew what he was about to say would sound ludicrous. "A bunch of people with guns rescued us, told us everything was going to be okay."

"Rescued you from what?" Thomas frowned apprehensively.

Aris slumped his shoulders and looked at the ground sadly. The change in his demeanour took them all by surprise. "From the Maze, man. From the Maze."

"What...the hell," Cassandra commented from her perch, echoing the sentiments of the rest of the Gladers in the room. She reached out with her mind for Teresa but there was nothing; just more blanks and questions. "Can you feel her?" she asked Thomas.

"No...it's like she got disconnected or something," he replied and her heart sank.

Minho turned to her then. "You were with Teresa, you didn't notice her switching places with this weird shank?"

"I..." she started hesitantly. "I don't remember anything."

"What do you mean?" Newt frowned. "Nothing, like when you came up the Box nothing?"

"I remember we were in the Maze...there were Grievers surrounding us. Then we came here...I said good night to Teresa and woke up." Her hands started to tremble and she closed them tightly to stop the tremors. "How did we get out of the Maze?"

Minho looked back at her with worry and squeezed her hand. "It's better that you don't know."

"Wait, did you just say you were surrounded by Grievers?" Aris asked in bewilderment.

"Let me guess," Thomas started. "You came from another Maze but instead, you were the only boy in a Maze full of girls. They built a community there, ran the Maze to find a way out. But then you came along and triggered the Ending."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Aris' eyes bugged out. "How do you know all this? How..."

Minho shook his head. "It's the same shuck experiment."

"Wait," Cassandra spoke up, "there wasn't another boy with you?"

"No, I was the only one. Why do you have two girls?" Aris asked.

Minho glanced at her with concern. "She's special. I guess."

"And were you..." Thomas began, "able to speak telepathically with one of the girls there?"

Aris turned to scrutinise him closely with narrowed eyes and Thomas stared back evenly. Then Cassandra could hear his voice prodding her mind and a channel opened up between them.

"Can you hear him too, Cass?" Thomas asked.

"They killed her," Aris told them. "They killed my best friend." Goosebumps raised over Cassandra's skin at the other boy's voice in her mind and she exchanged quick glances with Thomas.

"Why are the three of you looking at each other like a freakin' love triangle?" Newt asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Yo, back off, man." Minho placed his hands over Cassandra's ears as if it would block out the telepathy. "Don't talk in her head. Either of you!"

Thomas covered his face incredulously then turned back to Aris. "Who killed her? What happened?"

"Who killed who?" Minho demanded. "What did he say to you?"

"Her name was Rachel," Aris told them. "They made this girl, Beth...stab...her. She's dead, man. She's dead." He bent over and buried his face in both hands, like the grief was just too much for him to bear. "Thirty of us made it out. Then they brought us to this gym, fed us, cleaned us up. After that, they brought me here, saying that I should be separate 'cause I'm a guy. Then you sticks show up."

"Sticks?" Minho smirked in amusement.

"Hey," Frankie called out. "What's that on your neck? Something black, right below your collar."

Everyone's eyes swivelled in the direction he pointed and Cassandra could see what Frankie was talking about. It looked like a string of letters etched onto Aris' skin from his collarbone to his back.

"Let me have a look," Newt offered and walked over. Pulling down the collar of the boy's shirt, he cocked his head to the side with a quizzical expression. "It's a tattoo..."

"What's it say?" Minho asked curiously.

But Newt didn't answer, he just continued staring at the inked marking. Cassandra, Minho and Thomas stood up and went over to take a look for themselves. They couldn't believe their eyes. It read: Property of WICKED. Group B, Subject B1. The Partner.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Minho asked cautiously.

"What's it say?" Aris asked with a frown. "I swear it wasn't there last night! I've never had a tattoo!" He then ran towards the bathroom, presumably to check for himself.

"I don't believe a shuck word he says," Minho grumbled.

Thomas suddenly cried out and pointed at Cassandra. "W-Wait—you have it too! On your neck!"

Minho turned around to check her. "Property of WICKED. Subject C. The Tragedy."

She scratched her nose in a disgruntled manner. WICKED must think they were so clever with their references. The other Gladers had gotten up and came over to take a closer look, then there was a frenzy as everyone started to inspect one another. All the tattoos were similar; stating their individual numbers and titles, except some of the other boys didn't have a title.

Cassandra helped to check her friends as well. "A7. The Leader...And A5. The Glue."

"The Glue?" Newt raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe cause you're the glue that holds us all together," Thomas quipped. "Cass, what does mine say?"

She walked over to check his and her face fell with apprehension. "A2. To be killed by Group B."

Looking up with a concerned frown, she found Thomas staring back with consternation. "What the shuck? To be killed?" he questioned. Then a bell clanged loudly all around them.

Vote and comment for more secret telepathic conversations lmao jk.