Chapter 7: Ivory's POV

Ivory yawned and sat up, awake in time to see Mira walk into her room. Mira noticed her awake and grinned, leaning in the doorway.

"There's a new greenie. Girl this time."

Ivory yawned again. "Anything else?"

"I suggested we kill Eagle brow and blame it on the greenie, but Newt wasn't too fond of that idea."

Ivory smirked and stood up, stretching. "Nice. I'm going to go find something to eat. I'm famished!"

Ivory wandered out of the woods and to Frypan's kitchen, where she leaned against a wall and called his name. Frypan came hurrying out and his eyes slightly flashed with nervousness.

Ivory laughed. "I'm not gonna steal from you again. I just want some food, that's all. I decided to ask this time." She winked, and he sighed in relief.

"Come on in," he waved for her to follow him inside. He handed her a sandwich and she bit into it gratefully. Winston came inside, also seeking food. He gave Ivory a grin.

"I guess we had the same idea. Good nap?"

Ivory nodded. "The best. I just hope I sleep tonight."

Winston laughed and shoved part of the sandwich into his mouth, wiping a sleeve across his sweaty forehead. "Did Mira tell you about the new greenie?"

Ivory nodded. "Little surprising, huh?"

He shrugged. "I think we'd better get used to the idea of girls in the Glade."

Ivory winked. "Sure do." She was about to walk out of the kitchen when Minho popped in, glancing at all of them in turn.

"Thomas wants to check out the dead Griever. Figured you might like to join us."

Winston's eyebrows furrowed. "Seriously?" He met Ivory's eyes. "What about you?"

"Yes." Ivory grinned and stood beside Minho. When Frypan and Winston didn't move, she let out an exasperated sigh and dropped her arms. "Seriously you guys. It's a dead Griever. And no one will see us go in."

Winston and Frypan exchanged looks and reluctantly followed them. Ivory skipped to catch up with Minho's fast walk and grinned again. "So. What do you expect we'll find?"

He scoffed. "Uh, a squashed Griever."

Ivory rolled her eyes. "Like that's obvious. But what if there's more to the Griever's..."

Minho stopped for a second. "What do you mean?"

Ivory shook her head. "Never mind."

The six of them met behind the Runner hut in the forest, then from there entered the Maze. They jogged down corridors before they came to where Ivory had been not too long ago, saving the other boys' butts.

"That's disgusting," Zart commented once they arrived.

"There's something in there," Thomas said, peering in between the walls.

Frypan gaped at him. "You mean besides a Griever pancake?"

Minho and Thomas exchanged glances before Minho neared the wall. Zart took a nervous step backward.

"Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?"

Ivory crossed her arms and fixed him with a "seriously?" look. He flinched away from her and Minho reached into the wall. Something clicked and he blinked. Suddenly, the legs twitched toward Minho, startling all of them and making Minho skip backward.

"I thought you said that thing was dead!" Frypan accused, more and more scared.

"Maybe it was a reflex?" Zart suggested.

Winston scoffed. "You hope."

Thomas patted Minho's arm. "Okay," he said weakly, stepping forward and grabbing one of the Griever's legs. "Let's try and pull it out."

Ivory sighed and stood in between Thomas and Frypan, gripping the leg tightly. "On three. One, two, three!" With a grunt, they pulled and it came out with a squelch. Ivory groaned, her face twisted in disgust. Grievers were even more nasty than she'd imagined. Her vision suddenly flashed and pain passed through her skull in gentle waves. She blinked, her vision hazy as images began clearing in her brain. Ivory groaned and clutched her head with one hand. She saw a horse-like creature with scales and fangs attacking her as its red eyes pulsed and met her eyes. Ivory saw Mira and people she didn't know in a truck as it flipped over. "Ivory?"

Ivory shook her head, the memories fading. She looked up and noticed the others were all looking at her, concerned. Ivory flared her nostrils, the pain mostly subsiding but still lingering enough for her to get annoyed.

"Are you okay?" Minho asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Ivory decided not to tell them she was seeing things. "Yeah. The smell is really bad though."

Winston nodded. "Oh yes. It's making me queasy too." While Ivory had been regaining memories, she noticed that Minho had pulled something out of a piece of the Griever's flesh. She furrowed her eyebrows and reached her hand out.

"Can I see it?"

Minho handed it to her and she fingered it. There were four letters on the device, making it look like "wicked".

W.C.K.D... Her eyes widened slightly as more memories blurred into her vision. She shoved the device back into Minho's hand and grabbed her spear.

"Let's go," She said, jogging away. She knew Minho would take care of them. Right now, she had to get to Mira.

"You're sure they're memories?"

Mira and Ivory were sitting in hammocks in the village, discussing Ivory's experiences.

"Yes. You and I were both there. And it feels familiar. The scratch..." She pulled down her sleeve, revealing a pale scar on her forearm. "It matches with this."

Mira furrowed her eyebrows, eyes flashing in pain. "Wait..." she clutched her head. "I see it too..." Ivory leaned forward. "The truck. And those horse creatures. WICKED..."

Mira let out a whimper. "Yeah, I see it..." She opened her eyes and shook her head vigorously. "Good to know our amnesia isn't permanent."

Ivory nodded. "Yeah." She hesitated for a moment. "Should we tell the boys?"

Mira immediately shook her head. "No. That'd make them all more sus. Especially Gally."

"Good point."

That night was okay, in Ivory's opinion. Newt had done well doing the bonfire again. Most of the boys drank, ate, laughed, and forgot all memories of the strange things that happened recently. Even the fact that the "griever killer" was in the slammer.

Ivory was sitting next to Minho, who was leaning forward on his knees and rubbing his hands together.

"Do... Hm," Ivory had gotten his attention, so she pieced together what she was trying to say. "What kind of dreams do you have? And... Do you ever wonder if some of them could be memories?"

Minho thought about this for a while, his eyebrows furrowed. "A few times. Most of them are with Alby and Newt. We're younger... and in this dark room. But it's all fuzzy."

Ivory nodded. "Yeah."

Minho soon stood up to say hi to a few Gladers, but Ivory wasn't left alone for long. Mira soon turned up and sat beside her. She rubbed her hands together and smiled.

"I have this funny feeling that we've been like this before. Surrounded by boys and sitting in front of a fire."

Pictures flashed in Ivory's mind, and she saw a smiling face. This face got clearer and clearer the more Ivory struggled to see it. He. It was a he, and her mind whispered one name. The whisper became a confident voice.

Caleb.

Many things about him came back to her. She'd known him. Loved him. Another memory suddenly flashed in her mind, vivid and yet fuzzy. A gunshot, a body, yelling, blood, a flash.

Then it was all gone.

"Ivory?" Mira asked questioningly, a hand on her shoulder.

Ivory smiled sadly. "Yes?"

Mira noticed her mood and blinked. "Did you see something?"

Ivory nodded. "Yeah. I did." She looked up at Minho, and a thought occurred to her. Am I falling for him? I told him we were friends, but what if I'm starting to see him as more?

She immediately shook her head. Nah. That would never work and I don't want any weaknesses.

Ivory sighed and began singing to herself. Mira still heard and sang with her.

"You were the shadow to my light, did you feel us?" Ivory began, gently and barely audible.

Mira picked up with the next line. "Another star, you fade away."

The two sang together. "Afraid our aim is out of sight, wanna see us. Alight."

Ivory looked up and saw a few of the boy's eyes on her and realized that she and Mira had increased in volume.

"You sing well," one boy said, smiling. "Could you sing for all of us?"

Ivory blinked and noticed more and more boys were sitting down, eyes on them. She exchanged a look with Mira and smiled, shrugging. She picked up the next line, singing louder so all could hear.

"Where are you now?" her voice echoed slightly. "Where are you now?"

Mira sang the next lines. "Was it all in my fantasy?" Ivory sang again. "Where are you now?" Mira picked up again. "Were you only imaginary?" The two joined voices. "Where are you now? Atlantis, under the sea, under the sea-ea. Where are you now? Another dream. The monster's running wild inside of me. I'm faded! I'm faded!" The two smiled at the boys as their melody rang inside the Glade, their voices penetrating their hearts and minds and enchanting them with the haunting beauty of the words. "So lost, I'm faded!" They hummed in between the words. "I'm faded! So lost, I'm faded."

Mira sang the lyrics while Ivory sang the music. "These shallow waters never met, what I needed. I'm letting go, a deeper dive. Eternal silence of the sea, I'm breathing. Alive." The two girls joined voices again. "Where are you now?" As Ivory sang, she locked her eyes on Minho, smiling when he met her eyes. He smiled back, and she saw the emotions flooding in his eyes, even though they didn't show outside. She turned her gaze to Gally, who had his head down and was almost stone still. "Where are you now?"

Mira sang the music while Ivory took over the lyrics. "Under the bright, but faded lights, you set my heart on fire. Where are you now? Where are you now?" They both sang the music, swaying with it, then joined the lyrics. "Where are you now? Atlantis, under the sea, under the sea-ea. Where are you now? Another dream. The monster's running wild inside of me. I'm faded. I'm faded. So lost, I'm faded. I'm faded! So lost, I'm faded..." They ended the song, humming and gradually getting quieter until they hit the last note. Ivory and Mira looked up at the boys, letting the feeling of the song still linger in their minds.