Hey! New kid here... I've had this idea in my mind FOREVER and I've always wanted to write a fanfic, so I decided to take my chances with this story. Please remember that I'm new at writing and that I'd LOVE some constructive criticism... Please enjoy and tell me if you want more! (Lord knows this fandom needs more love)

EDITED OCTOBER 2018: I suddenly got a huge motivation to read this story – that motivation being me finding my notebook that had my outline in it. I moved apartments last year and thought I lost it but upon moving out of my other apartment, I FOUND IT! Its definitely going onto my computer after that.

I've decided to rewrite the chapters – not too much, just adjusting grammar, descriptors and such. There have been a few added scenes in some chapters, but I'll tell you which. To fit my matured style of writing, some things are gonna be taken out, ya know, like POVs that come outta nowhere. If you guys like the old version better, just tell me, and I'll upload the old version as a new story.

I still would very much appreciate constructive criticism if there's something you see that you think I should change. I do, in fact, read all the comments, so thank you all for your well wishes! I'm fine, still in college (so how fine is college fine?) and now that I have my outline, I'm gonna actually be updating this story again!

I'll shut up now, ENJOY!

Prologue

She woke up with a gasp, lurching up from her position on the ground, head swiveling side to side to take in the roaring darkness.

Every second a red light flashed by her, telling her that she was moving upwards. Her world was trembling around her, so loud it had her ears ring.

What? Where am I? Who am I?

"Hello?" She yelled at the darkness, her voice cracking and seeming unused to such an action.

She frantically searched her brain for the scraps of memories she had, her breathing picking up in pace as she realized that her memories were unclear. All around her the roaring of the contraption she was in did not stop. She felt around her with her hands, feeling metal grate beneath her, touching a metal crate to her left, and a soft bag to her right. As she felt the bag, a barely audible crackle was heard. The girl's wide, frantic eyes fell on a crushed note tied to this bag.

The girl practically threw herself at the small piece of paper, hoping it was a clue to what was happening. She tilted towards the red light, reading the paper in its flashes.

'For her'

What? Who's her? Am I 'her'?

She shook her head, realizing that it was useless to ask questions because she was obviously alone. She picked up the bag - which she now realizes is a medium sized duffle bag - and threw the long strap over her head.

I need to check out what's in it as soon as I can... WHEN I can! How far up is the top? This crazy ass elevator is NOT slowing down!

She leaned forward, clutching at the metal grate beneath her, closing her eyes and desperately tried to calm down. The contraption shook and her head snapped upwards to look and the small light that seemed to be getting bigger.

Nononononononoo! I'm not ready to die!

Unwanted, hot tears made their way down her face as the light got so bright and big that it blinded her. She could only clench her eyes shut and hold her breath.

Then it all stopped.

She was glad she kept a firm grip on the metal grate because as soon as the ungodly elevator came to a stop, she almost went flying into the ceiling.

All was still. The roaring of the elevator stopped, the whistling in her ears quieted, and even her heartbeat seemed to have halted. Letting out a gush of air, she opened her eyes and took in the faint lines of light above her. She leaned back slowly, trying to regain her equilibrium, and backed herself into the corner of the cage-like elevator.

Suddenly, a groaning noise came from above her, and the faint light lines expanded into a light covering the whole ceiling. She could only squint as two doors opened up at the top of the cage. She hurriedly wiped at her eyes and tried to get used to the light, attempting to see what was above her.

Oh, how she wished those doors would not have opened.

Uh, can I go back down?

Above her, circling her elevator box was a good number of boys – borderline men – looking down at her like inquisitive beasts.

She didn't dare to move, hoping that their eyes wouldn't catch hold of her. Maybe if she was still they wouldn't see her, like lizards. Or was it dinosaurs?

Unfortunately, they weren't either.

"So? So? What's he look like?"

"Is it another kid, again? Or does he have actual muscle on him?"

"Wait a minute... that shank has really long hair..."

"No way! Is that a girl? How long has it been since we've seen a girl?"

"Is she hot? I bet they sent up a pretty one!"

"A girl? Yes! I'm calling dibs!"

"Eh? Shut it you piece of klunk! If anything I should get dibs!"

Oh no. This would not do at all.

They've never seen a girl? I need to get the fuck outta here. Like yesterday.

"Shut it, you shanks! And back up, we don't need to be suffocating her!" A bald, dark-skinned boy yelled out. He looked to be a tad older than the rest, with a killer scowl on his face.

"Well, she-greenie, don't worry about them, they're just surprised to see who we've got this month." A boy standing to his right kneeled down to the edge of the elevator box as he spoke, and sent the mystery girl a warm smile.

Who you got this month? What does that even mean? Who are you? Where am I!?

She so desperately wanted to ask her questions, but instead, she kept silent and her back pressed against the corner of the box, eyes scanning for an escape route. She may have been able to plaster a level-headed, blank look on her face, but she was screaming on the inside, needing to get out of this terribly vulnerable position.

You may seem nice enough, but I'm alone, horribly outnumbered, and can't remember a damn thing. I need to get out of here, and somewhere where I can get a grip on myself!

She watched the tousled-haired blonde leaning into the box with suspicious eyes, her hands clutching at the strap securing the bag to her body. She pressed herself even further into the corner when the boy reached his hand out, palm up, in an inviting gesture.

"I'm Newt, it's nice to meet you. Do you remember anything?" He said in a deep accent, smiling down at her.

She silently shook her head, eyeing his hand warily.

"Don't worry, it happens to all of us, you should get your name back within the next few days. Would you like to come out of the Box? It would be easier to explain everything if I weren't crouched like this." He said as he sent her another warm smile. The first dark-skinned boy and a few others were herding the other guys away from the box, yelling about getting back to work and something called a slammer.

The girl tentatively stood up, moving slowly and keeping an eye on 'Newt'. She moved closer to him, reaching out slowly to clasp his hand so he could help her out of the box that seemed much bigger now that she was standing. Her head didn't even come to the top of the Box.

He pulled her out without much trouble. His hand having a stronger grip than she anticipated since she noticed he was a little on the skinny side, with dark eyes and a strong favoring for his left leg.

Once the girl stood firmly on solid ground, she took a moment to analyze herself and her surroundings, ignoring the boy's curious gaze. She seemed to be standing in a square prairie-like area with four humongous concrete walls boxing them in, with a forest taking up a great chunk of the land. She was wearing a short sleeve loosely fitted green shirt and baggy pants that rode low on her hips, barely kept on by a worn belt. She was wearing one fingerless glove and bandages wrapped around the other hand. And also-

No shoes. Perfect.

As she marveled at the blessing of no shoes – seriously, she had a hunch that she didn't fancy shoes – 'Newt' followed her gaze down to her feet. As he opened his mouth to begin explaining to her that they may have shoes for her, her eyes caught sight of a huge opening in the middle of one of the four ginormous walls of concrete. As he pointed back to a large sized building with hammocks set up around it, her eyes darted around to all the boys and men watching her and verified the belief that there were no girls in this place.

As this idiot turned around to lead her to the building he said the shoes were in – and in the process, taking his eyes off her for half a second – she darted off like a bullet.

She felt the air ripping through her hair, smelled the fresh grass beneath her feet and the distinct smell of dude around her, and heard the frantic shouts of the boys behind her, telling her to stop no come back you don't know what's out there you'll get killed!-

She felt a hand reach her left shoulder and grab it. Out of pure instinct, she slowed and whirled to her left, bringing that arm up to dislodge the random boy's grip. She brought up her right hand, letting his momentum bring his face to her open palm, creating a loud smack! Before he reared back, yelped, and clutched his gushing nose.

The altercation seemed to last a minute but was only a second. Over the freshly injured, crazy-browed boy's shoulder, the girl caught sight of the others quickly closing it.

Oh, fuck no!

Her fight or flight mode kicked in. She spun on her heel and fled as quickly as possible. She clutched the strap of her bag with one hand as she ran away from the shouts, away from the eyes watching her-

And straight into the Maze.