⁰⁰     ▇ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 ... ❜

━━  ❛  the 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎. ❜  ‧˖˚. ☄︎ ͎۪۫ ◞⁺.
❪ part 01. location: the glade.
©kiiizones, all rights reserved ❫.

"𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑺𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑨𝑳𝑳," Alby stepped forwards, his arms folded. He nodded his head in Ed's direction. "I'd like to discuss that heck of a punch you gave Ed over here."

Emis swallowed. She glanced at the cut on Ed's lower lip, and dropped her gaze immediately to her feet. Her cheeks blazed with embarrassment. She heard Ed chuckle quietly.

"Now, as far as I'm aware, he's pretty damn okay." Alby let out a dry laugh. "In fact, he probably looked a lot uglier before that nasty cut on his lip."

"Hey!" Ed protested. There was a round of laughs, but Emis kept her lip in between her teeth. Laughing was the last thing she could think of doing.

"However." Alby said, and the silence fell again. It was as if the whole room was holding its breath. "You broke one of our most important rules. Never harm another Glader." There were a few murmurs of agreement. Alby uncrossed his arms.

"However," he said again, taking a step towards her. "You were aware of no such rule at the time. Which means there were, at the time, no rules in place for you to break. So, basically, you punched Ed before anyone could recognise that you'd be our new Greenie." He shrugged. "And that's why, I think it'd be a shuck waste o' time, tossing you in the Pit."

She swallowed. Her chest felt as if it was filling with light air; maybe this wasn't a lost cause. Alby was right. And as he said it, more murmurs of agreement filtered through the air.

"Alright, settle down." Said Newt. He was sat behind them, pencil and paper in his hands. "We're still yet to hear Ry's side of the argument. This ain't over yet."

Emis glanced over her shoulder, at the tall boy who glared daggers into the back of her head. She couldn't help but shoot him a confused look. What on earth could she have done?

"Thanks, Newt." Said Ryan, finally. He stepped towards Emis. "I'd just like to say, that I don't think we're looking at this in the right way at all." He broke eye contact as he shifted his gaze across the whole room. "This is the first girl we've seen. Ever. Doesn't that bother you?"

There were a few mutters in response. Emis felt her pulse quicken again.

"For all we know," Ryan continued, "she could be a spy. A weapon. I mean, did you see that punch?" He laughed sourly, "How many girls, realistically, do you think are gonna be able to punch like that?" No one spoke. Emis curled her hands into fists. Jerk, she thought. "Exactly," he finished, tilting his gaze lazily in her direction. "None."

"Stand down, Ryan." Ed snapped. "Look at her. She's terrified. It was just a reflex, it's not like she's been trained in combat —"

"Really?" Ryan interrupted. "Can you really know that for sure? How do we know this frightened thing isn't just a... a mask? A facade? How do we know that she's not going to wait till we're all fast asleep, before slitting each one of our throats? Huh?"

"Ryan," said Newt, "be bloody realistic."

Ryan ignored him. He took a few steps closer to Emis, and he was so close she could feel his hot breath fan across her face. "I'm not buying it." He said, directly to her. She raised an eyebrow in question. "This frightened-fairy bullshit. I think you're here to send us all to Hell."

Emis could feel her blood boiling in her veins. She tasted bile; and had the sudden urge to wrap her hands around his throat and cut him off until he turned purple. Instead, she folded her arms, and leaned an inch closer towards him. "Only if you get in my way." She whispered. His eyes twitched; she had a feeling she had just said exactly what he had wanted her to.

"Emis, shut it." Said Newt. "Ryan, you too. Get back. This isn't a playground argument. Stop behaving like bloody children."

Ryan slouched away, not releasing eye contact until he was standing next to Alby. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He's going to win, Emis thought. And he knows.

"Right," Newt stood up, tossing the notebook behind him. "Let's have a vote. All those in favour of chucking her in the Pit for the night?"

"Longer," Ryan cut in.

"Slim it." Newt replied. He breathed in.

Emis swallowed. There was a static-filled silence. Then, one by one, hands began to drift into the air. Nobody spoke as Newt counted. Emis could feel sweat beading on her forehead, the back of her neck. She couldn't tell if it was more than half or not.

Newt cleared his throat. She turned to glance at him, and was relieved to see that he was grinning right at her. "All those in favour of giving Emis a bloody break?"

It was instant. Alby had won. There were hands flying up into the air, Ed even had both of his up before Newt cleared his throat. She saw his hand was up too, and for some reason, it made her feel even giddier with relief.

"Well then. It's decided." Newt shrugged at Ryan. "Guess Emis is sleeping in her own hammock after all." There were a few cheers, a particularly loud one from Chuck.

Ryan ignored him. His smile had disappeared. He wasn't just glaring at Emis anymore. His face was contorted into a horrifying expression. His fury pushed his features out of proportion: his eyes bulged, eyebrows shot up into his forehead. His lips curled back to reveal his clenched teeth. He said nothing, but spat on the ground at Emis's feet, before shoving right past her and shouldering through the doors.

"He'll come around." Emis turned to see another tall boy, with a similar build to Ryan. His hair was trimmed down to just atop his head, but he was smiling. She recognised him as one of the boys who had voted for Ryan. She raised an eyebrow.

"This is Gally," said Newt. "He's our Keeper of the Builders."

She nodded hesitantly. "I doubt that." She finally replied.

"What?" Gally blinked. "What, you don't think that —"

"No." She said, "I doubt that Ryan's ever going to see differently. You agree with him; why are you being all friendly?"

He chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry. I, uh. Poor guy needs a bit of support, you know?"

"No," said Emis, "I don't."

Gally opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.

There was the sound of a huge, echoing crack in the distance. Like an enormous lock clicking into place. It made the ground shudder underneath her feet. She glanced up at Newt, but he seemed completely calm. He caught her panicked expression, and smiled.

"Go on." He said, "Have a look." He nodded towards the door.

It was as if her feet had heard him before even she had. She felt her body twist in the door's direction, and suddenly her surroundings melted into a blur. She felt like she was walking at a normal pace, but she reached the other side of the Glade in less than three seconds.

The dust was still falling onto the ground back at the Council Hall. There was a thick silence.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who just saw that." said Ed. He exchanged a glance with Newt, before chasing after her. The others weren't far behind.

From where she stood, Emis could hear more sounds. Sounds of chains being dragged over cogs, iron slotting into place. But she could also hear more. The drips of oil running down the metal work. The drag of the breeze as it curled around itself on the passage's damp floor. The towering gap in front of her was alive. And she could hear everything.

Suddenly, there was another loud crack. And then, slowly, the two separated walls began to move closer together, closing the gap. It was slimming, narrowing. Trapping her in.

Without thinking, she stumbled towards it. As she neared it, the sounds got louder. The grinding of metal over metal became a high-pitched wail. Stone sliding under concrete was a thick, rumbling sound that sent waves down her spine. The crunch of the grass beneath her feet was sharp as they dragged her towards the closing gap. And she couldn't just hear the passage, she could smell it.

It reeked of rot and mould, burnt gasoline and antiseptic. It was oddly familiar. And as the gap grew narrower, a damp gust of warm wind had picked up, swirling around her. It was sweaty, teeming with the foul smell that carried through the passageway. She coughed as it went up her nose, down into her lungs. The scent's familiarity was overwhelming; she felt herself going dizzy. The fear had been replaced by a burning urge to find out what was on the other side of the closing walls. It was as if a chord had tied itself around her waist, and was dragging her further into the darkened ingress.

She barely took another step, before a pair of heavy hands clamped down on her arms and yanked her back. The chord snapped, and with a loud, echoing slam, the wall closed. The sound ricocheted off the other walls, ringing through her ears.

She wrenched herself out of the grip easily, throwing whoever it was who had grabbed her to the floor. She raced to the wall, hands slapping against the warm concrete.

"No," she said, heart faltering as she tried to fit her fingers into the sealed gap. She shouldered into the stone. "No!" She yelled, fists banging on the walls, the bumps and dips in the concrete chipping away at the skin across her knuckles. She threw herself at the wall, screaming in frustration, nails dragging along the stone. It was so close — she could still smell it. The gasoline, the antiseptic, the rot and the mould. It was there, a link to her forgotten past, and she tasted it. But it had been ripped away. Now she was numb again.

Suddenly, she whirled. Ed was getting up, muttering to himself as he brushed the dust off his trousers and winced at the pain in his leg.

She felt remorseless. The only feeling, the only sensation, was the hot, molten anger flowing through her. She clenched her fists until the knuckles were white, gritting her teeth as he finally met her eyes.

He stumbled back. "Holy — Emis, are you —?"

She was on him in an instant. Despite his height, she towered over him, nails splintered and bloody as she dug them into his shoulders.

He cried out, trying to pry her wrists away, but his attempts were feeble. Her strength was unmatchable.

"You," she hissed through her teeth, "you did this!"

He shook his head frantically. "No, I —"

"OPEN IT!" She roared. He stared at her, shocked. His whole body shook involuntarily in her arms.

"I– I can't —"

"Emis!" Her head whipped around. Newt rushed towards her, Minho to Ed. But she had already let go, whirling on him instead. The force of her speed knocked him to the ground.

"You said you'd give me answers!" She shrieked. He backed up, crawling away on his elbows. "You're a liar! You only want to TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

A side of her had surfaced. The other Emis had drowned underneath it; its darkness overpowering. It wasn't her. It was someone else. Someone dangerous.

She couldn't think straight, mad with bubbling hatred and anger. Before he could react, she launched herself onto him.

The next few things happened blindingly fast.

As she raised her hand above her head to strike him, he reached upwards and clamped one hand around her wrist. Then, seizing his chance, he used his good leg to hoist her into the air, then, releasing her wrist, used both hands to slam her into the ground. He used his body weight to pin her against the floor, pressing a knee into her hip and keeping one hand pressed firmly into her shoulder. As she struggled under him, he curled his hand into a fist, then brought it down sharply to collide with her temple.

She fell limp underneath him, and he slid onto the grass, breathing heavily as he inched away from her.

A crowd had gathered around them, aghast.

And then it happened. Like someone had snapped their fingers, her back ripped itself from the ground, heavily arched, her eyes flew open, and her mouth detached itself.

The sound produced was not a scream. It couldn't have been. It was loud, louder than anything Newt had ever heard. And hollow, not sharp. It was guttural, flowing out from the back of her throat. And it was the nearly the most painful thing that he'd experienced.

Hands clapped over his ears, he watched as her neck spattered with red rash, like ink falling onto paper. The colour ran down her throat and across her collarbone, spreading like water.

And then she fell back. Her back smacked into the ground. Her arms lay limp beside her, and her eyes had closed. Newt uncovered his ears, crawling across the grass to her motionless body.

He went to reach for her pulse, but realised, startled, that she was still moving. Only slightly; tears were slipping out of her eyes, running down her cheeks and into her hair. His heart twinged in his chest.

She looked more shocked than any of them. Her uneven, sharp breathing had melted into silent whimpers.

"Emis?" He whispered. She flinched.

"What the hell was that?" It was Alby. He sounded terrified as he knelt down beside Newt. "What's that on her neck?"

Newt shook his head. "I've no clue. But I have a feeling she didn't have control over... losing control like that."

Alby raised his eyebrows. "What d'you mean?"

"As in," Newt shifted. "It was like something had possessed her."

"Whatever it was, it sure as hell scared the crap out of everyone."

"I think it scared her more than it scared us." Newt replied quietly, gesturing to the streaming tears. Alby swallowed.

"This is a problem, Newt." He said after a beat, solemn.

Newt nodded, but said nothing.

"Ed, you okay?" Alby straightened up as the latter approached them. "I didn't see what happened until after —"

Ed waved it down. "Never mind me. What the heck is that?" He pointed to her throat. "Geez. She's got a lot more to her than one would expect."

Alby nodded. "We may have to rethink our decision."

"Out of the way!" Jeff pushed through the crowd. "Come on, look, she's shivering. She's going to get sick if she stays here."

Newt nodded. "I'll help." He said.

Ed had stood up. "Alright everyone," he called. "Time for bed. Show's over."

Newt stood with Jeff's help. Luckily, he had managed to react before she'd inflicted much damage. He felt his back ache a little, but the worst was going to be a bruise.

They peeled her off the ground, and it as evident she couldn't stand on her own her knees buckled. They caught her before she fell. Newt scooped an arm around her back to support her.

He helped Jeff put one of her arms over his shoulder, then pulled the other one over his.

"Quick. Come on. She's burning up." Jeff said. The crowd parted easily to let them through. They stumbled across the grass, feet slipping as hers dragged over the ground. She was barely conscious.

They made their way into the Med-Hut as fast as possible, Clint stumbling behind them with a damp towel in his hands. They dragged her into the room she had before, setting her as gently as they could onto the bed.

Newt wiped his forehead, straightening up to make way for Clint. He placed the cold towel on her neck, but she wasn't conscious enough to notice. The rash was beginning to fade, the skin underneath fresh and healed.

Jeff shook his head. "Man." He said. "All girls like that?" He asked. Clint shrugged.

"We wouldn't know." He said offhandedly, moving the towel onto her burning forehead.

Newt didn't reply, his arms folded, hand skimming across his lips. No. He thought, Don't think all girls are like that at all.

     ⁰⁰ ❛ 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆 . . .☄︎ ⋆࿐໋ ˖

i seem to be making way too many dumb editing mistakes lmao. also am i rushing this? are u okay w the updates coming this fast or should i calm down lol. did u like the chapter?? emis is our freaky gal ;) seriously tho pls let me know if i'm going too fast... i love u all so much. thanks again for all ur support!!

love, 𝒓𝒊𝒓𝒊. *♡・.