Thomas' POV

"They bring in new ones every hour like clockwork," states the boy, his blue eyes stare at me, studying my face for clues as to what I think about the situation.

"Do you know what happen to them?" I question.

"I don't know. This is as far as I've ever gotten. The vents don't even go into that section. But once they go through that door… they don't come back out. I don't think anybody ever really leaves this place," explains the boy.

He pauses, waiting to see if I'm going to say something before beginning again.

"Come one. We gotta go before anyone notices we're gone." The boy starts back down the way we came.

"Why'd you show me this?" I ask, stopping him in his tracks.

"Cause maybe the others will listen to you. There's something weird going on here. And I know you think so too," responds the boy, turning back around to look at me before continuing on his journey out of the vents.

"Hey, wait. What's your name?" I inquire.

"Aris," replies the boy, before leaving through one of the tunnels of the air vents. I stay by the shaft, staring back down at the grey, metal hallway below me.

The hall is quiet and empty until the sound of a door closing fills the air. I tilt my head in the direction of the sound and see two, male guards escorting a girl with long, straight, black hair and bangs down the hallway.

The girl is wearing something completely different from the clothes they offer us here. She's wearing a black and white, striped shirt, blue, denim, skinny jeans with the part by the ankles folded into itself, black, studded, ankle boots and a black, double hook bracelet.

The guards hold the girl's arms so that she can't escape. The girl walks without resisting until, suddenly, she jumps, doing a flip and freeing herself from the guards' grips.

She does a roundhouse kick to the right guard's head before flipping the left guard when he comes at her. He lands with a thud and the girl breaks into a run in the direction the guards were taking her moments before an alarm sounds.

Red light flash and more footsteps echo through the hall from the left, stopping the girl in her tracks. She turns to run the other way but more footsteps come from that direction.

The girl spins around, looking in both directions for a way to go. The worry and fear are evident in her face. I can't just stand and watch this. I push open the shaft of the vents and the girl's head immediately shoots up at the sound.

"Take my hands," I order, reaching down from the vents. The girl looks around one more time, obviously not wanting to let me help her. Realizing there's no other way out she takes my hands and lets me pull her up into the air vents.

I close the hatch right before the hallway floods with guards. The girl lets out a breath of relief.

"Thanks," she sighs. She looks exhausted. There are faint bags under her eyes, her dark hair is tangled and there's dirt caking her arms and face. The girl rubs her cheek, brushing off the dust. "I'm Mia, by the way," she continues, extending her black, manicured hand for me to shake.

"Thomas," I say. "What just happened? What are you doing in the facility?"

"Look I would love to explain everything but not here. Do you have a room or something?" questions Mia.

"Yeah. I do," I answer.

"Can we go there so I can rest and I can explain everything in the morning?" asks Mia. I nod, slowly before starting back through the air vents in the direction of my room.

Mia's POV

Thomas leads me through the dark, air vents until we reach an exit. He holds his hands out for me and helps me climb out of the vents before closing the entrance.

I look around and see we're in a dark grey room with six bunk beds. Four are taken up by boys. One of the boys looks Asian with spiky, black hair that reminds me of Jax's Elvis hairstyle.

I smile at the thought. I miss my friends. I have no idea where they are or if they're okay. But none of that matters. I'm going to find them. I don't care what I have to do.

I let my gaze drift to the next boy. He has blonde hair and a cut on his cheek. Next is a boy with dark skin and an almost clean-shaven head of black hair. Lastly there's a boy with black hair and tan skin.

I don't know why but these boys kind of remind me of my friends. All of them do. I can't help but feel a pang of hopelessness in my heart.

These boys remind me of my friends and bring out that thought of never finding my friends. Never getting back home. I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Thomas snapping his fingers in my face.

"Mia, are you okay?" he inquires.

"I'm fine," I reply. "Your friends just remind me of mine and how I might never find them. I don't know if they're here or back at Iridium but I'm worried about them."

"Don't worry. If they're here I can probably help you find them. Just get some rest," suggests Thomas. I nod and smile at him.

"Thanks, Thomas," I say, before climbing the ladder of one of the empty bunk beds and taking the top bunk. The second my head hits the pillow I drift off into a deep sleep.

I'm woken up by a yelp. My eyes jerk open and I shoot up into a sitting position. It takes me a second to gather my bearings before the world comes into focus.

Thomas' friends are all standing and staring at me from the ground. I wave, awkwardly, noting the shocked looks on their faces.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Thomas getting up. He must've also been woken up by the yelp. I climb down from the bunk bed and onto the ground as Thomas comes to help me.

"Thomas, who is this girl?" questions the blonde boy.

"Guys, just calm down. This is Mia. Last night I took a bit of a trip and I saw here being taken somewhere by some of the guards. Mia escaped and I saved her from being captured again," clarifies Thomas.

"Are you crazy? She could be dangerous. Why do you think they would have her in captivity if she wasn't?!" points out the dark skinned boy.

"I'm just not sure we can trust these people," replies Thomas.

"If it's any consolation, I have no idea why they captured me, what this place is or what's going on," I add. "Although I might be able to shed some light on my situation. But I want to hear names first."

There's a silence as the boys consider if they should take my offer, exchanging looks. Finally, the Asian boy speaks up:

"I'm Minho."

"You can call me Winston," says the black-haired boy.

"Newt," mutters the blonde boy.

"And I'm Frypan," finishes the dark skinned boy. I nod.

"Now talk," demands Minho.

"All I know is that I went to sleep in my house and woke up strapped to a table here. A bunch of guards and scientists with the letters W-C-K-D stitched onto their uniforms surrounded me," I begin.

I notice all five boys stiffen at the mention of the letters but ignore it. "They kept saying that I'm a valuable asset in their plans and once 'she' tells 'them', 'he' will come running and 'they' will all do whatever the scientists say."

I do air quotes around she, them, he and they since I don't know whom the scientists were talking about. "I don't know who she, them, he and they are but I think they might be talking about my friends. Maybe they have them somewhere in the facility. I need to find them," I conclude.

I look at the five boys in anticipation, waiting for their reaction.

"W-C-K-D," murmurs Frypan. "WCKD."

"What? Do you know them?" I ask.

"The people in this facility rescued us from a maze. We were put in the maze, by WCKD. And now you're telling us that the people here work for WCKD. It's confusing," explains Thomas.

"Well if it is WCKD then why would they need you as leverage against someone if they're lying to all of us about who they work for?" questions Newt.

"It's also possible they know my secret," I offer.

"Which is…" pressures Thomas. I smirk. I was hoping they would ask that.

I do my kanay gesture before holding my arms out in front of me and blowing. A cold wind blows the five boys back. I do my kanay gesture again but this time stretch my right arm out towards the floor, letting lightning escape my hand.

I stop using my powers and look up at the boys. They all stare at me with shock and fear mixed into their eyes. I giggle.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you," I assure.

"How did you do that?" asks Winston.

"Simple. I'm not human," I answer.

"Then what are you?" questions Minho.

"I'm a kanay," I announce, pointing my arms at the ground and making my forearms face the boys. My golden kanay markings appear, lighting up the room.