Here we go again! Thanks for reading, and please continue to vote and comment, it means a lot.

There's gonna be a lot of dialogue and such from the book, but that's just how it's gonna be for a bit, sorry!

Thank you to those loyal readers, who literally started reading Everbloom as soon as it was published! You're all amazing! x

Quick question: Who likes Teen Wolf???
If you do, you should definitely check out my Stiles fanfic on my page xx

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Newt had grabbed the handle carefully, as if it was precious porcelain that would smash at the lightest touch. Slowly, he turned the shining silver, but it didn't move.

Newt began to panic, tightening his grip, spinning and shaking the handle. Nothing worked.

He looked up from the handle, towards the room of Gladers. "Someone, get me that bloody fire extinguisher. Now!" He shouted across the room, so that it would reach everyone in earshot.

The teenagers, who were a bit afraid of Newt right now, searched for what the blond seek.

After a few minutes, a young boy came running towards Newt, extending his hands out, with the extinguisher in his hands.

Newt snatched the red cylinder from the boy's hands, turning to the door with a look of disgust and spite.

He slammed the end of the cylinder down on the handle. Again and again, he brought it down; and again and again, it refused to break.

The tall boy threw it down in frustration, and began to kick the door. He continued to kick it with force, until Minho came up behind him, and pulled him away from the door.

"She's in there!" Newt screamed. "Let me go! She's bloody well in there!"

Minho held his arms tight behind him, not paying attention, just holding him back so he could calm down. He was freaking out every other shank in the room.

"Are you sure?" Minho whispered in Newt's ear. He didn't want anyone else to hear them speaking, but Newt kind of let everyone in on what he was talking about before. The 'she' he was referring to was pretty obvious.

"Minho, her name is right there!" Newt nearly screamed in frustration, gesturing to the plaque beside the door.

Minho looked at it, shocked at what he was reading. "But she - she - " The Asian boy, stuttered, unsure of how to continue.

"I know what happened to her Minho! I'm not bloody stupid! But I'm telling you, that these buggin' scientists have to have a reason for putting her name on that bloody door!" He shouted, continuing to struggle against Minho's strong grip.

"I get what you're saying, man. I do. But we can't do anything if you don't calm the hell down." Minho hissed, trying to make the boy see sense.

Angry tears were spilling down Newt's cheeks, making him look even worse.

He begins taking deep breathes, slowing his breathing to a manageable pace.

"Now, I'm gonna let you go, and you're gonna stand down. You're gonna get out of the way, and I will break down that damn door if I have to. Okay?"

Newt nods, surprisingly shocked by how much Minho was trying to help him.

He truly is the Leader, he thought to himself.

Minho slowly lets go of Newt, giving the shank a second to move out of the way, before picking up the fire extinguisher.

After a few more hits, the door cracks open. Newt shoves past everyone in the way, slamming the door open.

The room is similar to all the others, a dresser, bunk beds, lots of different colours and such.

Newt hunts the whole room, searching for the girl with the fiery red hair. He looked for over half an hour, triple checking everything. Even though, as luck would have it, she was not there.

He felt hot tears tugging at his eyes as they began to slowly stream down his cheeks.

"But, but, her name. The door-" Newt spluttered as he fell to his knees. He jumped a bit, reacting to Minho's hand falling onto his shoulder.

"Sorry, man."

Newt didn't know what to say, how he was feeling right now, was nearly as bad as when he lost her the first time.

/\/\/\/\/\

Newt woke up on the floor. He sat up slowly looking around. He's in the room where he thought he would find her. Find Lori.

Little by little, he made his way to his feet, gripping onto the door frame so that he wouldn't lose his balance.

"There's no way out of this place," Newt whispered to the emptiness around him.

"Yep" Thomas says as he shows up beside him. "Do we even have any food?"

Newt scratches the back of his neck, letting out an audible sigh. "No. But I'm sure these people wouldn't go through all this trouble to bring us here, trick us or whatever they've done, just to let us buggin' starve to death. Something will happen. Reminds me of when they sent the first group of us to the Glader. The initial group of me and Alby and Minho and some others. The original Gladers" Newt spat with clear sarcasm.

God, it seemed as if the Glade had been the simplest thing in the world. Compared to this that is.

Thomas was giving him a strange look, "How does this remind you of that?"

Newt carried on looking at the brick wall outside the window, encasing them inside of this hell. "We all woke up in the middle of the day, lying on the ground around the doors to the Box. It was closed. Our memories had been wiped, just like yours when you came. You'd be surprised at how quickly we pulled ourselves together and quit panicking.

There were about thirty of us. Obviously, we had no bloody clue what had happened, how we'd got there, what we were supposed to do. And we were terrified, disoriented. But since we were all in the same crappy situation, we organised ourselves and figured out the place. Had the full farm running within days, everybody with their own job."

"Did the Creators have everything in place already? Crops, animals, all that?"

New simply nodded, still not bothering to look at the boy. "Yeah, but it took a ton of work to get it going nice and smooth. A lot of trial and error before we accomplished anything."

"Okay. So . . . how does this remind you of that?" Thomas persisted.

Newt finally turned, looking at the other boy. "I guess back then we all just had a sense that there was obviously a purpose to us having been sent there. If someone had wanted to kill us, why wouldn't they have just killed us? Why would they send us to a huge place with a house and a barn and animals? And because we had no other choice, we accepted it and started working and exploring."

"But we're already exploring here," Thomas opposed. "No animals, no food, no Maze."

"Yeah, but come on. It's the same concept. We're obviously here for a buggin' purpose. We'll figure it out eventually."

But Newt wasn't so sure. All he could do was hope that they discovered something soon. Sooner rather than later at least.

Thomas scoffs, "If we don't starve first."

Newt just points to the bathroom. "We've got plenty of water, so it'll be at least a few days before we drop dead. Something will happen."

Thomas wanted to agree, but there was something itching in the back of his mind, trying to piece it all together. "But what about all those dead people we saw? Maybe they rescued us for real, got killed, and now we're screwed. Maybe we were supposed to do something but now it's all been messed up and we've been left here to die."

Newt couldn't believe how bloody morbid the shank was being, chuckling to himself. "And I thought I was in a bad mood. You're one depressing piece of klunk, slinthead. Nah, with all those corpses magically disappearing and the brick walls, I'd say this is something more like the Maze. Weird and impossible to explain. The latest and greatest mystery. Maybe our next test, who knows. Whatever's going on, we'll have a chance, just like we did in the bloody Maze. I guarantee it."

Thomas agreed with the blond, but still wasn't entirely sure. All the 'what ifs' were running through his mind, trampling any chance of solidity towards what Newt had said to him.

"Hope you're right. As long as no Grievers suddenly show up, we'll be good."

Newt chuckled once more, "Please, man. Careful what you buggin' wish for. Maybe they'll send something worse."

"Who's the cheerful one now?" Thomas seems to push himself to say, unsure of whether he should have spoken his thoughts.

"You got me. But, to be honest, I don't think I was cheerful to begin with. Not much to be cheerful about." He sighed, "Guess I'll go and bug somebody else till the excitement begins, which better be bloody soon. I'm hungry."

"Be careful what you wish for."

"Good that."

Newt walks away, feeling an emptiness, like a hole, inside of him. Unfortunately, it wasn't the hunger.

Newt decided to try to get sleep, welcoming the darkness with open arms.

/\/\/\/\/\

The boy wakes up to a rustling noise outside of the room. He quickly pulls the blanket off, tip toeing into the common room.

The first thing he notices, is the smell. Tables lined up, stocked with food, trailing down the middle of the room.

But the strangest part of all, was what was going on the other side of the room.

A large, ancient looking, wooden desk. And a man seated before it, nose in a book.

Newt couldn't believe his eyes, how had he not heard any of this? How had none of it woke him up?

He slowly walked until he stood only a few feet away from the man, standing beside Minho.

"How . . . When . . . " Newt was unaware of which question he wanted to be answered first.

"I have no damn idea" the Asian boy mutters.

Newt turned his attention back to the man at the desk. "Hey, who the bloody hell are you?"

The man didn't answer, just continued to read.

"I call him Rat Man" Minho humours.

Newt looks the man in the chair up and down. Tall, thin black hair combed across a pale, bald head; a thin, yet wrinkled face; an elongated, crooked, rodent - like nose; beady brown eyes, jumping from side to side as the older man reads; and a white outfit. Literally, everything the man was wearing, was white. White shoes, white socks, white pants, which shirt, white tie, white jacket. The whole thing, just white, everywhere.

He could see the resemblance towards what Minho had compared him to. Newt walked away, going around informing people that there was now food for them out in the common room.

Once he got back, he heard the 'Rat Man', speaking to the boys. "How many times do I have to repeat this?" The man sighed, a nasally voice escaping his thin, dry lips. "We still have forty-seven minutes before I've been authorized to implement Phase Two of the Trials. Please show your patience and leave me alone. You've been given this time to eat and replenish yourselves, and I strongly suggest you take advantage of it, young man. Now, if you don't mind . . ."

The man returned to his book, leaning back and resting his feet on the wooden surface of the desk.

He walked over to Thomas, who rose his eyebrows, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the man.

Minho smirks, "You met our new friend? Real piece of work, this guy. I've gotta get one of those shuck suits. Fancy stuff."

Newt scoffed, before striding away, looking for something to quell his hunger.

About half an hour later, the boys gathered in front of the man and his magic protective wall. The boys found out the hard way, seeing as some were injured trying to reach the man.

They all sat silently, waiting for the man to speak. No one said anything though.

Minho broke the quietness within the room. "I think we've all gone psycho like those . . . what'd they call themselves again? Cranks. The Cranks at the windows. We're all sitting here waiting for a lecture from Rat Man like this is totally normal. Like we're at some kind of school. I can tell you this much - if he had anything good to say, he wouldn't need a freaking magic wall to protect him from us, now, would he?"

"Just slim it and listen," Newt says. "Maybe it's all gonna be over."

Minho turns over to the boy, "Yeah, right. And Frypan's gonna start having little babies, Winston'll get rid of his monster acne, and Thomas here'll actually smile for once."

Thomas puts on a fake smile, one which is very wide, and very over exaggerated. "There, you happy?"

Minho and Newt look at each other, holding back smiles. "Dude, you are one ugly shank" Minho shakes his head.

"If you say so."

After a few minutes, the boys all turned to the Rat Man, noticing that Thomas had been staring. The man is looking for something in his desk, no longer holding his book.

"Ah, here it is," he says with more calmness then Newt had ever seen. "Thank you for gathering in an orderly manner so I can tell you what I've been . . . instructed to tell you. Please listen carefully."

Minho shuffles in his seat, yelling at the man. "Why do you need that wall?"

Since Thomas was in between them, Newt had to lean behind him to whack Minho across the arm, telling him to shut up.

The Rat Man continued, as if the boys hadn't even spoken in the first place. "You're all still here because of an uncanny will to survive despite the odds, among . . . other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade. Well, your Glade, anyway. Another sixty in Group B, but for now we'll forget about them

"Out of all those people, only a fraction survived to be here today. I'm assuming you've figure this out by now, but many of the things that happen to you are solely for the purpose of judging and analysing your responses. And yet it's not really an experiment as much as it is . . . constructing a blueprint. Stimulating the killzone and collecting the resultant patterns. Putting them all together to achieve the greatest breakthrough in the history of science and medicine.

"These situations inflicted upon you are called the Variables, and each once has been meticulously thought out. I'll explain more soon. And though I can't tell you everything at this time, it's vital that you know this much: these trials you're going through are for a very important cause. Continue to respond well to the Variables, continue to survive, and you'll be rewarded with the knowledge that you've played a part in saving the human race. And yourselves, of course."

So much to take in in one go. Rat Man obviously understood this, considering he gave them a moment of silence. Some of the boys spoke between themselves, but Newt was still running it through many times over.

The man cleared his throat, before talking once more, "I represent a group called WICKED. I know it sounds menacing, but it stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. Nothing menacing about it, despite what you may think. We exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to save the world from catastrophe. You here in this room are a vital part of what we plan to do. We have resources never known to any group of any kind in the history of civilization. Nearly unlimited money, unlimited human capital and technology advanced beyond even the most clever man's wants and wishes.

"As you make your way through the Trials, you have seen will continue to see evidence of this technology and the resources behind it. If I can tell you anything today, it is that you should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter. This is why we did the demonstration with the hanging bodies and the bricked-up windows. All I can say is that sometimes what you see is not real, and sometimes what you do not see is real. We can manipulate your brains and nerve receptacles when necessary. I know this all sounds confusing and a little scary, perhaps."

A little scary? Is this dude serious? This whole situation is terrifying.

"The Maze was a part of the Trials. Not one Variable was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for our collection of the killzone pattern. Your escape was part of the Trials. Your battle against the Grievers. The sacrifice of the girl Lori. The murder of the boy Chuck. The supposed rescue and subsequent trip in the bus. All of it. Part of the Trials."

Newt had to use of the self-control he could muster, not to attempt to break through the damn force field and break the Rat Man's nose for bringing her up.

"All of it has been part of the Trials, you understand? Phase One, to be exact. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult."

Great, because it wasn't already difficult before.

Newt tuned out the silence, then tuned out the Rat Man who just kept talking. But something did catch his ear. The man, he said they had caught a virus.

"Now, now! No need to worry - the Flare takes a while to set in and show symptoms. But at the end of the Trials, the cure will be your reward, and you'll never see the . . . debilitating effects. Not many can afford the cure, you know."

The tension in the room had thickened, but Newt wasn't able to concentrate. He was just worried. Worried that maybe they wouldn't keep his promise. Maybe they couldn't trust them.

Maybe they'd all die because of this virus. The Flare.

/\/\/\/\/\

The Rat Man had left about twenty minutes later, leaving no trace he had even been there in the first place. All he left behind, was unanswered questions.

He had said that, in the morning, the boys and Clara must begin the 'Scorch Trials'. He said they had to find their way to some sort of paradise, which is north for one hundred miles. And they have to make it there withing two weeks to complete Phase Two or they won't receive the cure to the Flare.

Rat Man mentioned that to begin, they must walk through something he had called a Flat Trans. He also mentioned, that they either will pass the Trial, or die, so that's always a high note. The Flat Trans will arrive at six in the morning, and they will have five minutes to get everyone through. And if they refuse to go through, they die. Should be a calm morning.

New t had not wanted to speak to anyone, or listen to them all question what the Rat Man had said, so he had retreated to Lori's apparent room.

He was lying on a bed, trying to relax. He felt sleep tugging at his eyes, but when he rolled over, he felt something move beneath the pillow.

Slowly and carefully, Newt lifted the pillow up, revealing a slip of paper and a thin, gold chain necklace.

He sat down, before quickly pulling open the letter.

Newt,

They've got something planned for me, and I'm scared. I need to see you again, please. They said that they're sending me to some place called the Scorch.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I know that I can't do it without you. Or the others.

Please, I love you, you shank. Come find me. I'll be waiting.

P.S. Hold onto my necklace for me. For good luck or something I guess.

Lori.