AN: This story is being continued by Delusional Distortions! I have given her permission to adopt this story, so please read this on her account and show her support! Thank you!

Chapter 1

"Terry!" I heard my name called as I walked down the hallways. I didn't even bother turning around to see who it was; I already knew by the voice. My friend, May, joined me, matching my stride. She was my dad's friend Minho Lee's daughter.

"Ready for history class?" she asked in an excited voice. Her long black hair bounced up and down in a ponytail.

"Why are you even excited?" I asked. "It's not like it's going to be any different from any other class."

May gasped. "Don't tell me you forgot! Your dad is teaching the class today!"

I dropped all of my books.Crap."What? That wastoday?!" I shrieked.

May gave me a strange look. "How did you forget? We're learning more about WICKED and the Flare today. And the Maze too, since your dad knows so much about that stuff."

I frowned. "I doubt he likes talking about that stuff. I think they're really bad memories for him, and talking about them is like re-living them."

May shrugged. "I'm excited," she said.

"You're always excited," I snapped.

We rounded the corner and stepped into the history classroom. My father, also known as Thomas O'Brien, sat at the teacher's desk. I groaned. He caught my eye and flashed a teasing grin at me. I smiled despite myself before settling down in a seat next to May.

Five minutes later, my dad made his way to the front of the classroom. He ran a hand through his sandy brown hair once before starting.

"Hey guys," he said. "My name's Thomas O'Brien, and I'll be your teacher for today."

Please don't mention me. Please don't mention me. Please don't mention me.

"For those of you wondering, yes, I am Terry's father. You can call me Mr. O'Brien."

Crap. He mentioned me. I let out a sigh.

My dad, sorry,Mr. O'Brien, winked at me before continuing. "I'll be teaching you about WICKED, the Flare, and the Maze today. Since I've been through the Maze and have been a Candidate for WICKED, apparently it's good for a veteran to teach kids about these things."

"It all started when the sun flares hit the Earth. The flares were massive, and when they hit Earth, they immediately destroyed all of our satellites. Thousands of people died instantly because of the heat. But that wasn't the worst. Then came the Flare."

"They don't start teaching you about the Flare until you're this age, because it's a horrible disease that would give kids nightmares if we teach them about it any earlier. The beginning symptoms of the Flare are slightly subtle. Your personality starts changing little by little, and you usually start to show more irritation. Some people get delusions in the first stage, making them paranoid. Others start craving human flesh when they catch the Flare. After the first few stages, the person will start to have animal instincts rather than human ones, and then they will completely lose their humanity. It makes them go crazy, takes over their brain. It is a horrible thing.Was."

"The people on this island are all immune to the Flare, so you don't need to worry about catching it."

My dad was still talking, but I zoned out for the rest of class. I already knew a lot about WICKED and the Maze, my father and mother told me all about it. I was impatient for my next class: Tech Ed. That's my favorite class. No, not because my mother teaches the class. It's just because I absolutely love technology and working with it. Heck, I don't even listen in class, I just do random complicated computer programming the entire time. I even know how to create a Flat Trans and link it to a different world. It's hard, but I know how.

Of course, my mother and father always scold me for not listening, but I couldn't care less. I already know the stuff anyway. And plus, it's their fault for using their own DNA to create me.

I would say my father is kind of like me. Maybe not as hotheaded, but still. We have the same stubbornness. Well, to put a positive spin on it, let's saydetermination. We have the same determination.

But I'm very blunt and honest, much to others' chagrin. I usually just say what I think. Unfortunately, this leads to other people being offended by what comes out of my mouth, but I truly don't mean to insult them. Of course, if I'm pissed off at somebody, I deliberately insult them. It's their fault though, not mine.

After history class, I walked to the Tech Ed room with my friend…well…acquaintance, Julian.

"Do you know what we're doing in Tech Ed?" I asked him. He frowned slightly. "I think a guest speaker is coming in and talking to us about Flat Trans," he said.

Ugh. Great. I glowered at the floor.

"That's it, I'm ditching the rest of school," I said. Julian stared at me in shock. "What? Terry, you can't just ditch school!" he exclaimed.

"I can do what I want to do. I already know about Flat Trans, and the rest of my classes today are boring anyways," I said stiffly.

Julian sighed. "I guess I can't stop you," he said before walking away.

I grinned. Yes! Now I can just disarm the school security system to get out of school without being caught, and then go to the gym. I walked quickly to the other end of the hall before turning a left. Left. Left. Right. Left. I maneuvered my way around the school until I arrived at a door labeled: Security. I knew that the security guys were out right now, so I pushed the heavy door open without caution.

I was faced with a large holographic computer screen that showed all of the views from the various security cameras placed around the school. In one fast motion, I seated myself on to the rolling chair and began to type on the keyboard. A screen for the password showed up, but I wasn't stumped. I knew the password, I had already hacked this computer before. My fingers found the right keys effortlessly, and within moments, I had hacked into the system and put the camera on a loop.

Then I pulled up another screen to deactivate the sensors. The advanced technology of this world provided the school with sensors that could detect if a person crossed the outside of the fence. The main sensor was attached on the school wall, and more sensors were planted underground to sense footsteps. The sensors could detect if the person was an intruder or not. If they detected that the person was an intruder (or in my case, a desperately bored student trying to ditch school), they could alert the security guys and have the person caught in a heartbeat. I shut off the sensors smoothly without any problem.

I glanced at my watch. The security guys should be back from their break by now. Hurriedly shutting down the computer, I ran out the door and into the hallways. I made my way to the recess doors, trying to look casual in case somebody caught me.

I pushed the heavy, metal-framed doors open and started to run to get to the fence, just in case one of the teachers happened to look out the window and see me trying to escape.

I loved to run, probably because of my father's genes inside of me. And I ran pretty fast, if I do say so myself. I did win the 5K race last year.

I jumped on to the fence, immediately starting to climb it. I used the holes between wires as handholds and footholds. I let out a hiss of air when I got to the top. I swung my legs over and leaped off. I hit the ground and started to run once more.

I smiled as I heard air whistling past my ears. I was free! I sprinted in the direction of the gym.

Time to practice hand-to-hand combat with Minho.