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Cool Valentine's day poem inspired by Minho in The Scorch Trials:

Roses are red
The sky isn't blue
Something's sizzling in the air
Oh, I just got struck by lightning
And the sizzling is my hair

-✼-

My blood went ice cold in my veins. Aris had come from the Maze? In truth, there was no way he could be making it up. The look of complete and utter horror on his face told me enough.

"Maybe you should sit down," Thomas suggested gently, seeming to have warmed up to the kid of about fourteen. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

"What?" Aris questioned. He appeared to be genuinely surprised as to how we were taking the news. "Who are you guys? Where'd you come from?"

An ironic laugh slipped out from Thomas. "The Maze. The Grievers. W.I.C.K.E.D. You name it."

The mention of the Grievers sent a chill down my spine. I hugged my arms around my body- the room felt colder all of a sudden.

Theo flinched as well. I knew that the loss of his closest friend, Garret, had taken a huge toll on him. Especially because of the fact that Garret wasn't supposed to die - he had perished after rescuing Theo - and if I was right, I thought that he felt guilty because of it. The bags beneath his eyes I had noticed earlier were probably caused by how late he stayed up thinking about what had transpired during the day.

"You're lying," Aris accused, his voice dropped to a low whisper. His face went a shade paler.

"No, we're not," Newt replied patiently. "Tommy's right. We need to talk. Sounds like we've come from similar places."

"Who's that guy?"

I followed Aris' gaze to find Minho standing in the doorway with a full pack of Gladers crowded behind him. They all wore similar looks of disgust at the stench in the hallway, and didn't seem to notice the extra face with us.

"That's Minho," I introduced, still shaken from what Aris had revealed. "Um, Minho, meet Aris."

Minho was rendered speechless for one of the first times in his life.

"Look," Newt began, "let's take down this top bed and move some chairs around the room. Then we can all sit and figure out what's bloody going on." He turned his neck up to face me. "You'll have to get down from there, Dyl."

I started to uncross my legs, but Thomas held out a hand and shook his head. "No. First we need to find Teresa. She might be in some other room."

I rolled my eyes at his lack of faith in my word. "How many times do I have to tell you? She's not here."

Minho pointed to me. "She's right. There isn't another room."

Thomas looked puzzled. "What?"

"I just checked the whole place out. There's a big common area, our room, this room, and some seriously shucked doors that lead outside- where we came in from the bus yesterday. Locked and chained from the inside. Doesn't make any sense, but I don't see any other doors or exits."

Thomas shook his head as if trying to wrap his mind around everything that was going on. "But...what about last night? Where'd the food come from? Didn't anyone notice other rooms, a kitchen, anything?"

No one said a word.

"Maybe there's a hidden door," Newt proposed, which was probably one of the dumbest things he'd ever said. "Look, we can only do one thing at a time. We need to-"

"No!" Thomas shouted. "We've got all day to talk to this Aris guy."

I sighed with impatience. "Look, am I getting down from here or not?"

Thomas ignored me, growing red in the face again. "Teresa should be somewhere- we need to find her!"

I was done. The events that happened last night and this morning were enough to shorten my patience by a tenfold. It was like a dam had been withholding a rush of burning anger inside of me, and every event that transpired made a deep crack in it. I felt the dam burst and a surge of words poured from my mouth.

"You shucking idiot, she's not here!" I yelled, tears welling in my eyes without my permission. My voice cracked when I tried to continue, so I took a breath and started again. "These people came in last night. We both tried to fight them off, but it was four to two. They stuck a needle with some red stuff in her neck. She screamed; it was horrible. Then they knocked me out with something and I woke up in the hallway." I paused, desperately trying to push down the tears that were building up. "Thomas, I saw her get carried out. She was unconscious. There's no way they'd just leave her after what they'd done."

I hadn't spoken to my brother like that in a long while- or ever, now that I thought about it. Most of our conversations were civil or harmless banter. We never fought. Maybe it was because we never had time to with what was going on. One thing was for sure: since we had escaped the Maze, things were awakening inside of us, and I wasn't sure what they'd do.

He stared at me for a long while. The air was filled with palpable tension and thick silence that was nearly suffocating. No one knew what to say after I had shared my experience, one that had nearly made me cry as I recounted it. I was trying not to show it, but I was worried about Teresa as well. Sometimes I figured that Thomas forgot he wasn't the only one who cared for her.

My brother broke the stare and turned on his heel, heading toward the door. "We still have to try."

I threw my hands up in exasperation after he left. "Unbelievable."

A beat of silence lapsed again before Newt clapped his hands together, snapping everyone out of it. "Right. We're gonna renovate this place."

In the end, I was forced to get down from my bunk. The taller boys removed the ladder and detached the bed from its posts. Carefully and as gently as possible, they set it beside the other one so they were end-to-end. A few others had gone to find more chairs or carry in spare bunks. By the time we finished, there were enough seats for twenty-one Gladers and Aris to sit in a circle.

I was seated beside Newt with my legs crossed beneath me. My fingers tapped against the bedpost that I leaned against, boredly creating a random tune as Newt drew patterns onto my free hand with his thumb. The tips of his fingers were rough with calluses and cuts from our battle with the Grievers. I detected a certain type of sadness in him as his eyes trained on what he was doing. It was deeper than losing Chuck or Alby. The ill feeling seemed to be a bottomless void inside of him, and it instilled a sense of worry in me.

When Thomas entered and reported that he had found nothing - even though I told him he wouldn't - Minho shifted over and invited my brother to sit with him. I noticed that despite the fact we were long past the Glade, we still sat in our select groups. The Builders were with Builders, Runners with Runners, Slicers with Slicers. The rest of us that had no one left - Newt, Frypan, a Track-hoe named Xan, and I - sat with each other.

Newt brought the Gathering to order. "All right, let's get started on the bloody storytellin' so we can get to the real problem- finding something to eat."

I still wasn't hungry from last night's pizza dinner. I had stuffed myself full with the greasy, cheesy food until I was almost green in the face. Sure, it had caused a painful stomach ache, but it had been worth it in the long run. Stomach growls were long past me.

"Good that," Minho agreed with a single, sharp nod of approval. Despite the activity since we left the Glade, there was still a sense of authority that hung around him. I was drawn in to listen to what he had to say and felt compelled to do as he said. "Talk, Aris. Tell us everything."

I searched through the group to find him and immediately felt bad upon discovering that the two Gladers with him were scooted on the edges of the bed, as far away from him as they could get. Aris shook his head frantically. "No way. You guys go first."

"Yeah?" Minho retorted with a raise of an eyebrow. "How about we all just take turns beating the living klunk out of your shuck face? Then we'll ask you to talk again."

"Minho," Newt scolded with a frown. "There's no reason—"

Minho whipped out a pointing finger at Aris. "Please, dude. For all we know, this shank could be one of the Creators. Somebody from W.I.C.K.E.D, here to spy on us. He could've killed those people out there— he's the only one we don't know and the doors and windows are locked! I'm sick of him acting all snooty when we've got twenty guys and a girl to his one. He should talk first."

Minho was terrifying. I felt horrible admitting it, but he reminded me of myself. We both had a severely thin temper that constantly broke to unleash the spitfire inside of us. Both of us spoke our minds to defend ourselves or others, no matter the consequences. Maybe that was what caused the rift between us- for once, we each had different views, and we clashed.

Newt sighed and looked over at a weary Aris. "He's got a point. Just tell us what you meant about coming from the buggin' Maze. That's where we escaped from, and we obviously haven't met you."

Aris rubbed his eyes like he was tired of the situation already, then locked eyes with Newt. "Fine, listen. I was thrown into this gigantic maze made out of huge stone walls- but before that my memory was erased. I couldn't remember anything about my life from before. I just knew my name. I lived there with a bunch of girls. There must've been fifty of them, and I was the only boy. We escaped a few days ago - the people who helped us kept us in a big gym for a few days, then moved me here last night - but no one explained anything. What's this stuff about you being in a maze, too?"

My thoughts swirled in my head, muffling all the sounds of confusion from the other Gladers. Aris must've been the Teresa of that maze, meaning I was probably supposed to be the Thomas. I would've been set with an entirely different group of people. I wouldn't have known my brother. I wouldn't have known Newt or any of my other friends.

My life would have been completely different from how it was now.

"Wait a minute," Newt said, causing all of the commotion to lessen. "You lived in a big maze, on a farm, where walls closed every night? Just you and a few dozen girls? Were there creatures called Grievers? Where you the last one to arrive? And did everything go buggin' nuts when you did? Did you come in a coma? With a note that said you were the last one ever?"

"Woah, woah, woah," Aris muttered before Newt had even finished, squeezing his eyes shut tightly like he was being mind blown. "How did you know all this? How..."

"It's the same shuck experiment." Minho sounded calm now. "Or same... whatever. But they had all girls and one boy, we were meant to have all boys and one girl. W.I.C.K.E.D must've built two of those mazes, run two different tests!"

My head was starting to hurt from how much it was trying to process. I stared intently at my folded hands, not daring to look up at the others in fear that they'd somehow be able to read my thoughts.

"Did they call you the Trigger?" Thomas questioned. I assumed that Aris had nodded, because my brother continued, "And could you..." He paused. "Could you speak to one of those girls inside of your mind? Ya know, like telepathically?"

A streak of fear hit me and buzzed my nerves to life. What would Thomas say if Aris couldn't speak to him in his head? It'd be awfully embarrassing for both of them. But a long beat of silence lapsed between them, and I looked up to see Aris and Thomas staring intently at each other.

"What's going on?" Newt asked as he looked back and forth between the two. "Why're you guys looking at each other like you just fell in love?"

Minho snorted a laugh that surprised me. "Oh, you'd know what that looks like, wouldn't you, Newt?" He raised his eyebrows and lifted his hands to make a heart out of them. I felt my face heat up.

Thomas slapped the Keeper's hands down. "He can do it, too."

"Do what?" Frypan inquired.

"What do you think?" Minho barked. "He's a freak like Thomas. They can talk in each other's heads."

Maybe it was the sneer from Minho that I had yet to determine whether it was a joke or not, or maybe it was Newt's harsh glare toward Thomas, but something caused the mood to darken. There was a sharp tension that was on the edge of snapping. I could feel it filling my chest and applying pressure onto it, almost making it hard to breathe.

Newt narrowed his eyes at Thomas. "Serious?"

Thomas nodded and spat something out at the last second. "Who killed her? What happened?"

"Who killed who?" Minho asked with his eyebrows creased. "No more of your voodoo klunk while we're around."

My gaze shifted to Thomas, who had tears filling his eyes. My heart gave a jolt and I spoke for the first time since this meeting was called. "Thomas?"

"He had someone he could do this with, just like I did I mean...do. But he said they killed her. I want to know who they are."

Aris dropped his head like talking about it gave him pain. "I don't really know who they are. It's too confusing. I couldn't tell the bad guys from the good guys. But I think somehow they made this girl Beth... stab... my friend. Her name was Rachel. She's dead, man. She's dead."

An invisible hand squeezed my heart and caused me to inhale sharply. If the same exact thing had happened in Aris' maze, then how much of an accident was Chuck's death?

"Well, how'd you end up with us?" Newt asked. "Where are all these girls you keep talking about? How many of them escaped with you? Did they bring all of you here or just you?"

"Minho checked every inch of this place, remember?" I reminded Newt gently. "He would've found a ton of girls. Aris is the only one here."

Aris looked up and wiped a few stray tears from his face without any shame. I decided that I might be warming up to the kid.

"Look," he started in a slightly exasperated tone, "I'm just as confused as anyone else. About thirty of us survived, they took us to the gym, fed us, cleaned us up. Then they brought me to this place last night, saying I should be separated since I'm a guy. That's it. Then you sticks show up."

"Sticks?" Minho repeated incredulously with a raise of his eyebrows.

Aris shook his head as if he was embarrassed. "Never mind. I don't even know what it means. Just a word they used when I got there."

I half smiled at him. "It's alright, shank. No harm done."

He looked confused for about two seconds before he got the joke, and a halfhearted grin appeared on his own face.

"Hey, hermano," Theo said, sitting up straighter and squinting his brown eyes at Aris. "What's that on the side of your neck? Something black, right below your collar."

Aris tried to look at what Theo was talking about, but the mark was at such an angle that he couldn't bend to see it. "What?"

I unfolded my hands and swung my legs around so I was sitting forward. My eyes locked onto an inky line of black that appeared at Aris' neckline. It stretched all the way around his back and was broken up like lettering. My curiosity spiked and I found myself standing before I could realize it.

"I got it," Theo sighed and stood, quickly walking to the struggling Aris. He put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder as if asking permission. When Aris relaxed, Theo pulled his shirt down to better view the mark. "It's a tattoo."

"What's it say?" Minho asked. He got up and approached both of them to get his own look.

Theo didn't answer right away, only scanning it over and over again. I quickly joined the growing crowd around them, standing on my toes to see.

PROPERTY OF W.I.C.K.E.D.
GROUP B, SUBJECT B2.
THE PARTNER.

A chill went down my spine when I sunk back down to my normal height. I swallowed thickly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Minho asked irritably.

"What does it say?" Aris demanded impatiently, reaching back and patting the skin that was marked. "I swear it wasn't there last night!"

Newt, who had also joined us, repeated the tattoo then said, "Property of W.I.C.K.E.D? I thought we'd escaped him. And you'd escaped them, too. Whatever."

"And why would it call you the Partner?" Minho questioned, still staring at it.

Aris shook his head. "I don't have a clue. I swear. And there's no way that was there last night. I showered, looked in the mirror. I would've seen it. And someone would've noticed it back in the Maze for sure."

"You're telling me they tattooed you in the middle of the night?" Minho scoffed. "Without you noticing? Come on, dude."

"I swear!" Aris insisted intently, then went to the bathroom to look at the words himself.

Theo straightened up with a perplexed look on his face. My eyes widened when they caught sight of a black mark on his neck. It was pretty hard to see with the natural tanned color of his skin, but I noticed that it curled around his back in the exact same way that Aris' had.

"Theo," I started slowly, "you have one, too."

Panic and confusion struck him. His eyes went wide and his hand went back to touch his neck, rubbing the spot where the ink was. "What?"

I pushed the others aside and yanked down his collar, revealing heavily blocked letters on his tanned skin.

PROPERTY OF W.I.C.K.E.D.
GROUP A, SUBJECT A12
THE SUN

I mumbled the words beneath my breath as I read them, causing Theo to stiffen. "The sun? What, I'm a heavenly body, now?"

I shrugged and let go of his shirt. "Guess so."

He smirked. "Knew I was hot."

My lips pulled into a line and I found myself smacking him on the shoulder. A sheepish smile appeared on his face as he ducked away from me, playfully narrowing his eyes.

The entire room was bedlam as people read their tattoos to one another. Minho was Subject A7 and titled the Leader, which didn't surprise me in the least. Newt was Subject A5; they called him the Glue. It appeared that everyone except Aris was from Group A, which only made me even more anxious for what mine was going to say.

"Hey, what about Dylan?" Xan called above the noise. "What does hers say?"

I tensed as about five people rushed toward me at once like I was their prey. I instinctively knocked them back with my elbows. Newt came and pushed them aside, gently moving my hair over my shoulder and pulling my collar down so he could read the tattoo. His fingers brushed over the skin as he whispered incoherently beneath his breath, which didn't help the hammering of my heart or the sweating of my palms.

"Dude, spit it out already!" Minho demanded as he rubbed the back of his neck where his own mark was. "Quit gawkin' and tell us. Subject A-what?"

Newt traced his finger over the tattoo once more before announcing, "Subject A-nothing."

"What?" Thomas asked a bit harshly with a raise of his eyebrows, like he couldn't believe his ears.

Newt swallowed before continuing, "Subject B1. The Error."

gif is dylan when theo notices aris' tattoo

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this chapter is super long because i don't want to have ten thousand chapters like last time!! expect semi-larger chapters for that reason

but guYS. this story has been up for a week and a half with a prologue and just one chapter, and it's already almost at 1k. that's incredible! thank you so so so much!

questions:

-what do you think of aris?

-what do you think theo's tattoo means?

-were you expecting dylan's to be what it was?

-have you seen the scorch trials gag reel yet?

+dedication: radposey because i swear they read every single one of my stories and that makes me so happy you don't even know

-kristyn