~~~Third Person Pov~~~

The click, click of Karens heels announced her arrival to the Maze B Lab, long before she walked into the room.

"Can I help you, Karen?" The director of Maze B, Adam, greeted, "We don't see much of the Maze A crew, as of late. A lot is happening down there, no?"

"Enough is going on," Karen rolled her eyes at his tone. Yes, we get it your experiment is set to finish sooner than ours. Woohoo. Throw yourselves a happy little party.

"Plenty is happening here. Aris arrived last week and now our subjects are solving the puzzle to the maze," He boasted, making Karen's head hurt. 'You wanna know why nobody visits your lab? It's because of your cheery, prideful attitude,' Karen wanted to say.

"Good to hear," Karen took a deep breath, remembering why she had even come here in the first place, "I need your help. I'm looking for a subject in your experiment. A girl maybe?"

"Well, we have plenty of those here," He joked, but Karen didn't laugh, "What's going on? Did the Chancellor send you?"

"No, no, nothing wrong. I just need the girls file."

"What's the subject's name?"

"I have no idea what her old name is, or even what her new name is- I don't know if she's still alive or if she was ever sent here in the first place."

"Can you describe her to me? I know all of my subjects very well."

"Most likely a blonde, under the age of fifteen."

"Ah, that narrows it down to one of these five," He said, as he typed a few things into his computer," May I ask why you're looking?"

"Classified information. I need all of the files for the girls that fall into the category I just explained."

"Here they are," Adam said, as he opened a file cabinet, "You can take them if you like, but be sure to bring them back. We take our jobs seriously here-"

"Will do," And with that Karen left the annoying partner lab.

Karen flipped open one of the files, the girl on the front cover not looking in the slightest like the person she was searching for. Subject B-44. Jordan Camp.

She decided to skip that one and look at the second. Written across the front of this one was: Alexa Parks. Subject B-27. The Help.

She flipped it open, the girl on the front cover having loose blonde waves that cascaded over her shoulders.

"Found ya," Karen smiled to herself, as she walked back to the Maze A lab.

This was possibly the biggest secret Karen could have gotten her hands on.

~~~~~

"Janson, for your sake, I pray that you did not tamper with any of our subjects memories or dials or controls, recently," Karen sighed, rubbing her temple, her other hand grasping the files tightly.

Janson didn't respond, nor turn in his desk chair.

"You messed with Gally once, is it necessary for us to mess with him again?" Karen continued, ceasing her movements.

Janson turned around quickly, "I did what I had to do."

"Make Gally tell Brianne about Carly?" Karen asked, just wanting to solidify what she already assumed.

"Yes, he spoke the lovely truth that Newt so secretly hid from his wife-to-be."

"That wasn't your secret to tell," Karen shouted, sternly.

"It was bound to surface eventually," Janson rolled his eyes, "I'm just hurrying the inevitable."

"You and I both know how much that day hurt Newt. He was so innocent and young and you went and sent a camera in," Karen trailed off, not wanting to finish the story.

"He knew what he was doing. He killed her. Nobody does what he did innocently."

"His killzone was a wreck. And not to mention what Gally did to make things even."

"Brianne had to know the truth. Like I said: better now, than later."

"No, you had to ruin everything. For once Janson, can't you just let things be. I mean, I knew that you hated the idea of Brianne and Newt being engaged, but to hate it enough to try to sabotage it, that's a new low."

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Then why else would you dig up this long forgotten information?"

"Because Newt did something wrong and he has to live with the consequences."

"And you haven't done anything wrong?" Karen asked, her voice low, "I'd beg to differ."

"What does that mean?" Janson asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"It means, that I know more of your secrets than you think I do. And that, you should think before you speak so rudely to me."

"Should I now?"

"If you don't stop this, then you will have forced my hand to go to the Chancellor," Karen slid the subject from Maze B's file across the table, "with this."

Janson picked up the packet, his eyes barely glancing at the picture, much less the words written on it. He knew what Karen had found and he knew that he'd been caught in his lies.

The time for secrets was over.

Janson sucked his teeth, "What do you want me to say?" He put the folder down.

"Tell me who this girl is."

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"I'm done with the games, I suggest that you explain to me what's really going on before I-"

"Before you what? Have Ava fire me? Go ahead. Kill Newt? Kill Alexa? Even better. Nothing you do or say will ever hurt me," Janson said, standing from his chair, "There's only room for so much hurt in someone's heart, before its filled. You're about fifteen years late if you wanted to contribute."

Karen didn't know what to say as her coworker walked away. Was she to be angry? Or was she to be sad?

Angry for the way Janson had treated those closest to him.

Or sad for the fact that both sides of the party seemed to be miserable.

Karen's eyes flicked down to the file she'd taken from Maze B. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Her hands reached for the folder and she slid it under her arm, as she left the lab, planning to read the whole thing later.

~~~~~

~~~Newt's Pov~~~

One Year, Four Months, and Six Days Ago.

~~~~~

"Hey, I have to pee, I've been holding it for like an hour and we've been running and you know how that is," Gally laughed, taking his backpack off and throwing it to me.

"Don't be too long," Carly smiled as she kissed Gally. I internally threw up. Couples these days.

"Ew, enough of that, well, it's okay if we can do it too," Kat wrapped her arm around me.

Gally pulled away from Carly, "Don't have too much fun without me!" And with that he walked around a corner and he was out of our sight.

"So," I pulled out a paper from my backpack, just to check to make sure I was going the right way. Didn't need the sun going down and the walls closing on us out here in the maze.

"We aren't lost right?" Kat joked, as she took a sip of her water bottle.

"No, course not. I'm new at this whole running thing, but I'm not stupid," I chuckled, looking at the map. Since I didn't really have much experience running, I'd write down every turn I made, so that I could retrace my steps when I came back.

"It's so cool that you can bring us out here," Carly said, peeling an orange, "Nick doesn't mind?"

"Nick doesn't care about anything, these days," I answered, folding the map back up and shoving it into my bag once again.

"How long does it take to pee?" Kat shouted, speaking of Gally.

"Hey, what's that?" I heard Carly ask, from behind me.

I turned to face her, trying to figure out what she was referring to, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh yah," Kat awed, "What is that?"

"I don't even know what you two are looking at," I huffed, moving closer to them.

"Babe, right there in the ivy," Kat pulled me to where they were. She pointed at a metallic lizard like creature crawling up the maze wall.

"What the heck is that?" I asked, curiosity consuming me. I'd only been a runner for all of two weeks and I'd yet to see one of these buggers.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be able to answer that for me," Kat said, her eyes wide.

"It's not a griever, right?!" Carly shouted, moving behind Kat a little bit.

"No, but I have no clue what it could be? It's just stopped there, staring at us?"

"Think it's a camera?" Kat moved closer to it, "Should we kill it?"

"Or touch it? Is it dead? Or sleeping? It's stopped moving," Carly's hand reached out for the metallic creature.

"Wait! What if it's dangerous?" Kat asked, looking at me.

"Want me to take care of it?" I asked Carly.

"No, I can do it. I just want to poke it," She joked, her hand resting on the lizard robot's back, "I think, it might be asle-"

It was not.

With a shriek from both Carly and Kat, the creature jumped to life, all three of us moving away from the wall. But the little bug moved with us. I ran over to my stuff to grab a weapon. My hands digging through my bag for a knife.

Nothing.

A scream echoed off of the maze walls, making me whip my head around. The metal lizard had literally attacked Carly. She flailed her arm trying to get the thing off, but it bit into her skin anchoring itself to her flesh, causing another shriek.

"Do something, Newt!" Kat shouted, hysterically crying.

I turned back to my bag, my mind reeling a mile a minute.

What do I do?

"Gally!" I shouted, wondering what the heck was taking him so long to pee.

I had no weapons, so I ran over to Carly, who's arm was being bitten by this mysterious and hopefully not lethal creature.

I grabbed onto the metal bug, trying to pry its mouth from her arm, but it wouldn't budge.

"Newt!" Kat cried, pulling on me, trying to get my attention.

I looked at Carly, "Don't worry, I'm gonna get this thing off of you, just sit down."

"Newt!" Kat screamed again.

"What!" I shouted, panicking.

"There's another one!" She said, pointing to another creature, identical to the one on Carly's arm, coming right for, well, Carly.

I ran to it and stomped on it as hard as I could, sweat beads rolling down my face. I thought my weight would have killed it, but as soon as I moved my foot, it was just as alive as it'd been before. This one too jumped at Carly, who I'd stupidly told to sit on the ground. But this one didn't jump for her arm, it jumped at her neck.

She screamed, as it sunk its teeth into the side of her neck.

What the hell was happening!

"Oh my god!" Kat screamed, literally doing nothing at all to help me.

And where the bloody hell was Gally!

I turned my back to Carly, who was wailing in pain, "I just need something!" I looked at all of our stuff.

A weapon.

A weapon.

A weapon.

Gally's staff.

I grabbed the long wooden stick, planning on- I don't know what I was planning on doing. But my heart was racing and everyone was crying, and I felt like this was my fault.

When I turned around, I realized that the screams were no longer coming from Carly, she only sat quietly moaning.

I ran over, only to see that a large chunk of her arm was missing, as if the lizard had eaten it. A puddle of blood surrounded her.

I almost screamed just as loud as Kat was, "Carly, oh my god," I pulled at the bug again, but it didn't budge.

My eyes flew up to her neck which was now also gushing blood. I knew then that I had reacted too slowly, one of the main human veins is located in the neck and that creature had dug into it, it would only be a matter of time until she died.

She mumbled something to me, as I crouched next to her.

"Kat, shut up!" I shouted, but then turned back to Carly, "I'm gonna try to hit the thing off-"

She shook her head, gasping for breath, "Do it."

"I will!" I positioned the staff so that I could hit the lizard, "I'm gonna save you. It's gonna be okay. You're not gonna die."

"No," Her eyes met mine , a look of pure defeat in them, "Kill me."

"What, no! Carly, you're fine-" I started, tears in my eyes, "Kat, go get Gally!"

"Newt, I don't want to suffer anymore," Carly whispered, her eyes closing, "Do it quickly, please."

I sobbed, my breathing erratic, "I can't, I'm so sorry-" I stood, my heart thumping hard against my chest. I ran one of my hands through my hair, trying not to panic.

"It's okay. I already forgive you," She gave me a weak smile.

I whipped my head around, hoping that Gally and Kat would run around the corner, and stop me, stop this, but no one came.

And when I looked down at Carly, I knew what I had to do.

Her arm was half eaten, a bloody mess, same with her face and neck. I couldn't even think through what I was about to do.

"Newt, please."

So I didn't think.

In the heat of the moment, I swung the staff, my eyes closing. I heard a crack as the staff made contact with her head.

"What the shuck is going on?" I heard behind me.

I dropped the staff and slowly turned around to face the voice.

"Gally," I started, tears rolling down my cheeks.

He breathed heavily as he walked closer to me. I held my hands up, shaking my head, as Gally punched me in the face.

"How dare you! After all we've been through as friends, you kill my girlfriend!" He spat, running over to the now silent Carly.

My whole body was racking with sob, after sob, after sob.

What did I just do?

"I thought you wanted to help her Newt!" Kat shrieked, hands over her mouth.

"I- I tried," I stuttered, my eyes wide. I looked down at my shaking hands. I was absolutely disgusted with myself.

"You tried?! Like hell you did. I leave for two seconds and you kill Carly!"

"She told me to. She was getting eaten by the lizards," I cried, pointing at her, but the small metal creatures seemed to be long gone.

"Are you crazy?" Gally asked, giving me a disgusted look, "I don't see anything."

"Kat, tell him what happened," I mumbled, looking over at her.

"Newt's not lying. The bugs, they attacked her."

Gally just shook his head, through my tear blurred eyes I could barely make out what happened next. It happened so quickly. Almost as fast as lightning. A whirl of silver shot out and hit Gally's arm.

Both Kat and I gasped. Gally looked down at his arm, he pulled out a silver blade.

"What the heck is going on?" Kat asked, in a whimpering groan.

And Gally only needed to speak one word to make all three of us run, "Grievers."

~~~~~

~~Present Time~~

~~~Brianne's Pov~~~

~~~~~

"After Gally had gotten stung, we ran back to the Glade as fast as we could, leaving Carly's dead body behind," Newt explained, his voice not as weak as it had been before, "We didn't know what to say to anyone, when we came back without her. But with Gally going through the changing, it sickens me to say, that people forgot. I didn't."

"You must have had to tell someone something?" I asked.

"Once Gally woke up, he was never the same. Or maybe it was the fact that the person he'd loved died. But he wanted revenge," Newt looked down at his hands, "We all agreed, Gally, Kat, and I, that we would never say that I killed her. But after being stung, Gally turned on me. He called a council meeting with Nick and blamed everything that'd happened on Kat, my girlfriend at the time."

"And you let her take the blame?" I asked, not sure how I felt about that.

"Gally told me that we'd both die if I said anything. He literally held a knife to my throat and told me that if I spoke the truth, he'd kill me. I should have said something, because the next day, Kat was banished, for something she didn't do," Newt closed his eyes, "He got even with me. But that was never enough. He's hated me ever since and the feelings are now mutual."

"I'm sorry, Newt," I said, feeling as though Newt's had a rough time in the Glade.

"That's why I couldn't let you die, ya' know. After watching Kat die for something she was falsely accused for- I couldn't make the same mistake twice. I should have volunteered to take her place. But when it came down to it, I didn't love Kat enough. I cared about myself more than I ever cared about her."

"That makes a lot more sense now," I breathed.

"I'm so sorry, Brianne. I didn't want you to know what I did. It haunts me every night. Carly told me to kill her. And I just felt like I had to, for her, ya' know? But I would never do that again. And I would never expect anyone else to do it either."

My heart ached. I'd overreacted to the news about Newt killing someone. It just shocked me at first. But there was so much more to Newt's side of the story.

He continued, a darkness taking over his features, "I just, looked into her eyes and there was a certain death in them. It hurt me. I couldn't watch her suffer. There was nothing else I thought I could do."

"I understand," I said, and really meant it. Would I have killed someone if they'd asked me to? No. But Newt wasn't me and I accept that we are different people that have different ways of coping with pressure.

"You do?" He asked, raising his head to look at me.

I nodded, "You've changed, Newt. You aren't the same person you were a year ago. That being said, there's nothing you can do, and nothing you have done that could ever make me stop loving you," I took Newt's hand in mine, "But I think you need to do something."

"What's that?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Did you ever apologize to Gally?" I asked, knowing full well that he hadn't.

"Yah, I asked for his forgiveness multiple times. I even explained my story to him, but he didn't want to listen. Eventually, I just gave up trying, after Kat was banished."

"I think, you should apologize again. Nothing against you, but you killed the person he loved, its your job to make things right. He might never forgive you, but you can forgive yourself. Truly start over. It's awful what Carly made you do, but Gally doesn't understand that. He didn't look into her eyes, like you did. You saw firsthand what death looked like. He didn't. Please, promise me, you'll talk to him again?"

"Okay," He said, giving me a tight look, "You're always so right about everything."

"I try," I smiled, winking, but I can't really wink, so it looked like more of a 'there's something in my eye' type of thing, "Now talking along the lines of secrets, I feel so left out. Because you had this whole life before me. And I know absolutely nothing about who you were before we met. Other than your relationships. But I want to know more. I want to know who you were."

Newt took a deep breath, "Really?"

"Yah, I want to know everything about you. I want you to tell me your favorite nights. Your favorite meals. Your favorite day in the maze. I want everything."

For the next two hours, Newt and I sat on his bed, laughing, and even crying, at all of his hilarious, or awful, stories about his past two years in the glade. From pranks, to fights, to deaths, to newbies, to all-nighters, Newt told me everything. It took all of his energy to tell me the more emotional and heartbreaking secrets, but I believe he didn't hold back the truth.

I finally understood the boy I'd come to love. His ever-wearing mask seeming to once and for all be taken off.

"I don't talk about this to anyone, but," Newt paused, contemplating his words, "Oh, shuck it, I'm being completely honest. I hurt myself- but only twice though."

"Hurt yourself?" I asked, unfamiliar with what he was implying.

"Cut myself," He rephrased; I understanding what he meant now. The thought had never even occurred to me: that Newt could have cut himself. Other than when he tried to kill himself and I hadn't known how, then I thought maybe he dug into one of his veins, but I never made that assumption. It was kind of like how I never thought about the fact that since I could read, I'd probably gone to school at some point in my life. I hadn't made the connection until someone had pointed it out.

"With what?" I asked, the awful part of me wanting to run and hide all of his weapons of choice.

"My knife. The one I used while I ran," Newt answered, and I felt inclined to ask.

"Not trying to be disrespectful, but why'd you only do it twice?"

"Minho saw the cuts," Newt rolled up one of his his sleeves, his fingers gliding over the seemingly smooth skin, "They healed, thankfully, but Minho saw them and he told Alby and then the both of them had to have a long conversation with me. And I promised to not do it again, but I really didn't mean it. So I found another way to torture myself: running. I ran in the maze faster and farther than anyone else ever had, hence why I was promoted to Keeper. I just ran until my legs were numb from hitting the ground so many times. And until, I was practically dry heaving. It hurt so badly, but it was a way to drown out my pain."

A way to drown out my pain.

The ignorant part of me wanted to scold him for doing something that has probably had long lasting effects on his body, but I couldn't. I do the same thing and I mean, don't we all. Maybe not as destructive. But I still do everything I can to drown out my pain.

"What did Minho and Alby say to you?"

"They told me that I had to stop or they would write me down as mentally unstable. They didn't understand."

"No one does, at first," I comforted, noticing the slight disappointment on his face, "But I do, now."

"What about you?" Newt finally asked, after a few seconds of silence.

"You know everything about me," I giggled, but my heart sunk a little. Newt had this whole world before me, I had nothing.

"I do not," Newt said, throwing his pillow at me, "Tell me something you don't think I know."

So I sat and thought. And thought. And thought some more.

Newt knew everything.

My favorite color. I could already hear him saying, 'Blue, but not the blue in the sky. The deep blue, like how we both picture the ocean.'

My favorite food, 'Bread. All kinds. I'm shocked at how slim you are, compared to the amount you consume.'

What I miss the most, 'The you you were before the maze.'

My favorite day of the week, 'Sunday, because everyone works a little less.'

My favorite time of the day, 'Night, but not because you want to sleep, but because you love how people act.'

"Newt, you know everything there is to know about me," I huffed, feeling secure and insecure at the same time.

"There must be something I don't know about. Something you did that you never admitted to?"

"I almost gave up hope when you tried to kill yourself," I said, realizing that I hadn't told Newt much about how I'd reacted to his attempt.

"How so?"

"I didn't leave the room. I didn't eat. I didn't do my job. I didn't talk to anyone. People came to see how we were. And I felt so sure at first that you were gonna be okay, because everyone was there for you. But then Victoria told me why people were visiting, and it wasn't because of you. It was because of me. I was the only one who thought you had a chance. And that had concerned people."

"Why didn't you tell me how deeply effected you were?" Newt asked.

"Because you don't tell a suicidally depressed person that you're hurting because of them. I could never have looked at you when you woke up and said 'I hate you for doing this to me'."

"You hated me?" Newt asked, not upset, just questioning.

"For a few hours on the fourth night of your slumber, yes. I hated what you'd done to yourself and to me. I felt betrayed and alone and absolutely torn apart that you would simply leave like you had."

"I don't blame you."

"And the same, you," I repeated, letting go of any built up malice for what Newt had put me through that awful week, "Have you heard that story before? If you'd been even the slightest conscious, you would have known the whole story start to finish."

"I, uh," Newt said, giving me a quick glance, "actually wasn't necessarily out cold that whole time."

"What?"

"I couldn't move or speak, but I could hear at times. I could hear bits and pieces of fragments of conversations, but I hadn't known whether I'd been dreaming or actually hearing them."

"What'd you hear?"

"I don't remember a lot of it, because it was blabber to me, but I remember hearing you cry. I remember hearing you sob into me. Yelling about how I'd left you alone. How I'd abandoned you. I'd thought maybe it was just me imagining things, but now that you've told me how you felt, I'm assuming I indeed heard that?"

This angered me. Newt knew everything. He was always so aware of everything around him, and he made a point to make that known to me. But, I, on the other hand, wasn't as conscientious of my surroundings, making me feel almost inferior to him at times like this.

But I bit my tongue and held back my words. Newt knew the darkest of my sad tales.

"Never mind, never mind it all. You already know everything. The secrets are dead and gone," I huffed, feeling defeated.

"Does that upset you?" Newt questioned.

"It upsets me that I'm an open book to you. It causes me great distress to think that you could tell my own stories better than I ever could."

"That's not true."

"But it is. I'm just shallow," I sighed, not really meaning my words. Newt opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off, "Not shallow in the way of wanting exterior things, and not having much to me, but in the way of secrets. It's as if you are standing in my foot high crystal-clear water, you see everything that lies in my shallows. Whereas, with you, I feel as though I'm stranded in the deepest of oceans, using all of my strength to dive down into your depths, only to find that they extend deeper. I rise for air, only to be right back where I started, knowing nothing about you."

"I like to know things, that's why I pay extra close attention to everything you do. I thought, you liked that?" Newt asked, his eyes meeting mine.

"I like that you care, I just hate that I have nothing."

"You don't need secrets and a dark past. Thats one of the things that I like most about you, you haven't gone through what I've gone through."

And as if a light switch was flipped on, illuminating the dustiest of memories in my mind, the largest, most awful secret of all came to me, as I held Newt's intense gaze.

I remember sitting in the Deadheads with Newt the day that I'd ran away from Nick, during that fake Runner's test.

Newt had apparently been following me for a while.

I'd reached my arm out to pick the beetleblade up that had been staring at me, thinking that maybe it had been dead all along, when Newt had startled me and said, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

I'd whipped around, totally unaware that anyone was near me. My eyes fell on Newt, as he'd stepped out from behind a tree. What I'd thought to be a flirtatious smile back then, had actually been an anxious grimace.

The noises of the beetleblade scurrying away, had brought me back into reality.

"You made it run away!" I remember yelling, as I'd tried to chase after it. My loud voice had probably only caused it to move faster.

"Hey- I've been looking for ya' all night, I ain't letting you run off again," Newt had said, his hand wrapping around my forearm. To this moment, I can still feel the pulse of electricity his touch sent through me.

"Remove your hand from my arm before I kick you," I'd threatened. I laugh now at my reluctance to the fact that I was attracted to Newt.

"With your hurt leg? Okay, give it a go," Were the roles not reversed now, "I'm just playin' around."

"I'm not in the mood for games," I'd huffed, taking a step away from him, my arms crossing over my chest, "Wait, how long were you watching me?"

"Long enough," Newt had put simply.

I'd sighed, feeling like this had to be the worst possible day of my life, which wasn't saying a lot because at the time, I couldn't remember anything past a couple days, "Well leave. I'm pretty busy at the moment."

Newt had laughed at the cold shoulder I'd given him, "You do know that you can't possibly hide in here forever, right?"

"I'm not stupid," I'd been stupid.

"Never said you were," Newt had shifted on his feet awkwardly.

"Now why can't I touch the beetleblade thing?" I'd asked, wanting answers. If I'd only known then what I know now: Newt's experience with the beetleblades.

"Because it'll hurt," He'd had so much to hide. Reminiscing in these moments, made my heart ache.

"What? Why? It was sitting with me for a really long time and nothing happened."

"It just hurts, you don't want ta' mess with one," The irony in his words, it was practically dripping from his tongue.

"What do they do? Why are they here?"

"It's how they watch us." Newt had said, putting emphasis on the word 'they'.

"Who?" I'd obnoxiously and ignorantly asked.

"The creators. The people who sent us here. They have those little buggers all around the glade. Actin' like little cameras."

"Why would they need to watch us?"

"I have no idea," He'd known, he'd just not wanted to tell me.

I'd slumped down against a tree, pulling my knees up close to my chest, "How can you just not know?"

Newt shrugged his shoulders, as he'd sat down across from me, "Just the way things are."

"Things really suck," I'd exasperated.

"You're telling me," I feel awful for my lack of understanding, my lack of knowing. Newt had been so damaged, and I'd had no clue.

"I just don't get this place. We've all been imprisoned here, but we don't know why. People are watching our every move, but nobody knows exactly who's watching us. Doesn't that scare you?" Still terrifies me.

"Yah, but we're doin' all we bloody can," Newt had defended, "It's just taking a bit longer than we would have assumed."

"How long have you been here?"

"Two years," And the days are still ever growing larger in number, he should have added.

"Two whole years? I've barely survived two days," And if I could regret one question it would be this one, "But you're a runner, aren't you supposed to find an exit?"

"It takes a lot of hard work-"

"So you run everyday and still find nothing?" This one too. I cringe even now.

"We find stuff," Newt had sighed, "Just not an exit."

"Well that's a depressing bit of information," I'd mumbled. I remember not wanting to seem weak in front of Newt, so I'd held back the tears filling my eyes and blurring my vision.

"Yah. It's a buggin' nightmare," I'd looked up at Newt, only to realize that he wasn't focused on me anymore. He was looking off out at the trees around us.

Newt had been so sad and I hadn't even seen it.

"So this is it? You people, I mean gladers, have simply given up?" I should have shut up.

"No, not at all. You'll understand eventually," Newt's eyes had flicked back over to me. Their color sparkling in contrast to the darkness around us. I'd suddenly not been able to take my eyes off of him. A heavy sensation having taken over my mind. I'd blinked.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to hurt." The boy, Thomas, said leaning over so that he was in my line of vision. His fingers were tapping against his leg, the situation obviously equally unpleasant for the both of us. Thomas. He was in my vision.

"Don't be so nervous, we have to lie to make things work." Teresa mumbled to Thomas, before giving me a reassuring smile, "You're doing great, keep up the good work." Teresa? She looks a lot like the newbie? Why were they both here? And why do I know who 'Teresa' is? Why is her name in my memory?

I wanted to yell at them both. I wanted to slap them both. But with the machine covering my head and the restraints holding down my body, there wasn't much I could do.

A voice spoke over the intercom, "That's all for now, stage one of the swipe is completed, Tom, Teresa, you are all set to go."

Teresa walked out of the room quickly, but Thomas stuck around for a few seconds longer. He took a swift step forwards so that he leaned directly over me, his face appearing again through the window of the machine. He lowered himself down as close to me as he could get.

"Please, help Newt. He needs you now more than ever." Thomas mumbled quickly, before running out of the room, the door locking closed behind him.

"Brianne!" Newt had shouted, "Are you even listening to me?"

That was my biggest secret. Or Newt's biggest secret.

Our biggest secret.

I'd been sent into the maze to save him.

~~~~~~

~~~Author's Notes~~~

Instead of apologizing for not updating for like a month, I'm just going to say that I've been really busy, and this chapter took a lot of work.

I hope everyone likes it. I love the way To Love is coming together. And I've even started to work on To Live, which I'd like to publish around the new year, if all goes as planned.

Btw! Newt has a sister, and I'm gonna really play with that idea throughout the other books, so remember that! I'm also really liking the third person pov. I don't know why but I do.

QUESTION TIME: Has anyone read any of these books: If I Stay, Legend, Pride and Prejudice, or The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise?

I'm trying to choose my next book report book for school, haha.

ANYWAY, I LOVE YOU ALL AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL SEASON OF AUTUMN/FALL!

Ps. I see a playlist in the near future.