*Reality*

"Hey, Rowan! Wake up!" Newt's words rang loud in my ears, jolting me from my sleep. "Rowan!" His voice sounded strained, and I could hear a murmuring about me.

"Huh?" The moan slipped from my mouth as my head tilted to the left. What was happening? My eyelids remained clamped shut over my eyes; a darkness settled about me, rippling like the surface of an inky pond.

"Rowan, please!" I groaned again, and someone began shaking my shoulders. Something hot and damp was clinging to my forehead, and my cheeks felt flushed with heat. "Rowan, wake up." His voice was laced with desperation, but still the darkness enveloped me.

Then my eyes blinked open, and I gasped and spluttered, as if I'd been drowning in my own mind. Sinking in that pool of darkness.

"Rowan!" Newt's contorted face appeared above me, his eyes wide with relief. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

Newt sighed sadly, his shoulders relaxing. "You don't remember?"

I shook my head, bewildered as to what was going on. Glancing over Newt's shoulders, I saw the maze walls looming over us, and the other gladers staring at me in panic and confusion.

What had I done?

"Newt, what's going on? Please, tell me what's going on!" I insisted, my voice high and strangled as I choked back a sob. "Did I hurt anyone?"

Newt shook his head, gently slipping a hand under my neck to help me sit up. A surge of dizziness blinded me with flashing spots, and I fell into Newt's chest. That's where I remained, and he rested his chin atop my head. As he spoke, the vibrations rolling from his tongue resonated through my temples, like a buzzing of words. But the words were not welcome ones.

"You ran into the Maze."

My breath hitched in my throat. "What?"

Newt gently ran his fingers through my tangled hair. "As soon as you woke up, you ran through. I tried to stop you, but you pushed me back."

No. No. No. It couldn't be. That was just a dream! That wasn't true.

"Minho caught you as he was running, and brought you back here. Well, I think 'dragged' would be a more appropriate term," he muttered, scowling at the runner who had just approached.

"She doesn't remember?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"No, I don't. But... it can't be true... I..."

Should I tell them about the dream? Or would that mean Newt wouldn't trust me anymore? I hastily debated on it in my mind, and settled with telling them.

"I do remember," I said quietly, and I felt Newt's shoulders tense against me. "When this was happening, I thought I was dreaming. I didn't think any of it was real."

"You thought you were dreaming? Do you remember why you were out there?"

I gulped nervously. "There was a voice in my head, telling me to keep running." My voice was shaky and high, and it was unsettling to realise it was my own. "I was running to the exit."

"There is no exit!" Minho growled, dropping onto his knees in front of me.

"But there is," I said, my voice a hoarse whisper. "I just don't know where it is. I remember.... I remember everything up to the point of my arrival at the exit. Yet I remember knowing I had reached it."

"But you can't have!" Minho insisted. Alby was pushing his way through the dispersing crowd now, along with Gally. Neither looked happy. "I found you in the middle of the Maze, just running. You weren't near any exit!"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "I don't know."

"What's going on here?" Alby demanded.

"She ran into the Maze, that's what happened! And then shucking passed out!" One of the gladers yelled as Jeff ordered them away. "She should be banished!"

"Agreed. That's a violation of the rules," Gally snarled. My eyes blinked open and I saw him smirking at me. God, I hated him.

"I'm sorry, Rowan," Newt murmured softly in my ear as he helped me onto my feet. "Gally is right; it is a violation of the rules. But a banishment is too harsh. I think she should stay in the Slammer for now."

Gally tensed his shoulders, but remained silent after a glare from Alby. "Agreed. Put her in the Slammer."

Newt nodded and pulled me away. "You'll be safer in there, okay?"

I nodded and allowed myself to be guided to the concrete structure.

"Thank you, Newt," I whispered as he led me through the door.

He smiled and quickly kissed my forehead, before stepping out and locking the door.

I slid down the wall and landed with a thump onto the ground below. Dust swirled about me in clumps, and I trace patterns into the settled dirt.

At least the others were safe; nothing bad would happen to them whilst I was in here, alone... right?