Wonderland

Warning: There will be character deaths in this story. Proceed with caution.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Maze Runner fanfiction! So the concept of this story was meant to be an original story that I would write in the far future, but I felt like the Maze Runner characters really fits the story and I was inspired by the latest album from my favourite band Of Monsters and Men.

Each chapter would begin with a quote from a song (mostly from Of Monsters and Men, but there might be other depending on the chapter). The quote in this chapter is from the song Yellow Lights by Of Monsters and Men. The song fits nicely with this wonderland that I am going to introduce you and guide you through.

Please enjoy. (PS. The quotes in the middle of the chapters are linebreaks.(PPS Italics means thoughts))

"I'm looking for a place to start,

But everything feels so different now."

"Just grab a hold of my hand,

I will lead you through this wonderland."

-Yellow Lights, Of Monsters and Men.

Thomas felt drowsy, as if he just awoken from a nap. His brain was still tired and couldn't do much thinking, and so he lay there for a few seconds, feeling very comfortable.

When Thomas finally opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the blue sky. The beautiful blue canvas was dotted with white, fluffy clouds that made the scene that much more beautiful. From the edge of his vision, Thomas could see some green. A simple turn of his head confirmed that there were indeed trees and plant life surrounding the green clearing that he laid on.

Thomas conjured the energy and will to sit up and take a proper look at his surroundings. He found himself directly beside a sparkling, azure blue lake. The water was so clear that Thomas could see all the way to the floor of the lake. He was in a clearing surrounded by a misty forest.

With a sigh, Thomas lay back down and closed his eyes as he tried to get past the sleepiness that clouded his mind and to remember where he is and why was he there.

He searched his brain hard for a minute. Two. Three minutes pass and Thomas still could not kindle any memories. Panic gripped at Thomas' heart as he realized that he could not remember anything.

His eyes burst open and he quickly scrambled to his feet. In his panic, Thomas kicked a soft, cloth object. It was a sack with a string to hang over a person's shoulder, a bag, and underneath it was a sheathed sword. Thomas forced himself to calm down as he kneeled on front of the sack to search it. Inside, he found a pouch of coins, a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth, a water pouch, and a knife.

Thomas couldn't bring up any memories of the bag and its contents, and none of them looked familiar. Thomas figured that the coin would give him some clue of where he is, after all, each nation has their own respective currency.

Thomas paused for a while and tried to remember how he knew that. He tried to remember any coins or forms of currency to back up that statement. The statement felt so logical and obvious, but Thomas could not remember why.

After a few second, Thomas gave up and opened the pouch of coins. The coins were made of gold and had an image of a crowned man pressed onto it. Thomas could not recognize the man on the coin, but he knew that the man was someone important, if not they wouldn't put him on the coin.

Thomas searched through the different coins in the pouch, some were bigger than others, but all had the same man imprinted on them. He stared at the coins for a while, willing his mind to make some sort of connection between the coins, but, once again, his mind was blank.

Without thinking, Thomas strapped the pouch of coin to his belt as he bends down to pick up the sword that lay under the bag. He stopped mid-bend as he realized what he just did. It felt so natural to just tie the bag on his belt, but he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone do it, not even himself.

By now, Thomas knew that it was a waste of time to try and remember anything, but he couldn't help but be confused whenever something like that happens.

Thomas decided not to dwell on it and instead return his attention to the sword underneath the bag. He pushed the bag aside and lifted the sword on his right hand. The sword was heavy, but it felt very natural in his hand, like he has used it many times before. Although he could not remember ever learning how to use the sword, somewhere deep down, he knew that he could fight with the sword.

The feeling made him feel very frustrated as he could not remember how he learned to use the sword, but he knew how to fight with it.

Thomas fell onto his knees and let out a scream of frustration. Why couldn't he remember anything? He couldn't remember his mother, he couldn't remember his father or any other family he had. He couldn't even remember how it felt to be cared for, to be loved. I don't even know if I was loved.

The thoughts that came to into his mind scared him. What if nobody loved him? What if he never remembers his past?

As Thomas knelt on the ground, all concept of time was lost to him. He didn't know how long he stayed there; he just knelt and gathered his thoughts. The sound of rustling leaves and the wind gently blowing pass helped him to calm down after a while.

Looking up, he saw the glade, the small lake that sat in the middle, and a giant tree that looks to be over hundreds of years old. As Thomas stared at his surroundings, some sort of assurance built up in his chest, a sort of peace, like the glade was reassuring him that he was loved. It was calming, like a type of therapy. Thomas knew that this glade was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, even though he cannot remember ever seeing anything.

He took a deep breath and sat down properly in front of the bag. It was in that moment of peace that him realized he was hungry. He pulled the loaf of bread out of the bag and cut it into smaller slices using the knife he was given (by whom, he does not know. But the glade seems to reassure him that it was a gift).

After he ate a slice of the delicious, he took a sip of the water in the water pouch. The cold liquid was sweet in his mouth, which made him wonder when the last time he drank, or even ate, anything was.

When Thomas ate his fill (which was about a quarter of the bread), he refilled the pouch of water at the lake to find that the water in the lake was just as sweet in his mouth. He carefully kept the pouch of water in his bag before lying down on the soft grass to take a nap (all of his worrying tired him). With the wind and rustling leaves as a lullaby, he fell into blissful sleep.

"I'm looking for a place to start,"

Thomas was sitting, that much he knew, but everything else was a blur. The faces of the people he was talking to, the building he was in, the sound that he heard, they were all a blur that he could not focus on.

Suddenly everything was moving, in which direction he couldn't tell. Thomas could tell that everyone was screaming, he was screaming too, but the reasoning was lost to him, as everything was just as blurry, or even more so, than earlier.

And then it was over. Everything was black.

"But everything feels so different now."

Thomas stayed in the glade for about three days before he ran out of food. He did his best to eat as little as possible, but the loaf of bread wasn't big. For an entire day, Thomas tried to live off of water, but he quickly found himself getting hungrier. The recurring nightmares only made him feel worse.

There was a path that leads out into the foggy forest, but Thomas was scared to leave. He feared that he would never find the glade again and so he did everything within his power to stay behind.

On the fourth day, when Thomas awoke from his nightmare again, he felt the wind blowing strongly in the direction of the path that leads out into the woods, into the unknown. Thomas felt like the glade was telling him to leave.

He was scared, of course, but after looking around the glade one more time, Thomas felt the reassurance again. The glade seems to be telling him that he would be watched after even after leaving. He even felt the reassurance that he would find his way back when he needs to.

Thomas didn't want to leave, he really didn't, but he felt compelled to obey and leave the comfort of the glade. He could feel the internal struggle within him and he stood there for what felt like hours (but he realized that it couldn't have been hours since the sun hasn't move its position in the sky)

Ultimately, Thomas gave in and grabbed his bag. He strapped the water pouch, the money pouch, and the sword to his belt. The extra weight was heavy but he found comfort in what he sees as gifts from the glade.

He was going to leave the glade, the only comfort he knew. The forest was stark and ugly compared to the beauty of the glade, but Thomas was curious as to what lay beyond the thick and foggy maze of trees that led out.

As Thomas stood ready in front of the path that would lead him to his destiny, he could feel the wind blowing behind him in reassurance. Even though he is leaving the glade behind, the wind would always be there. Thomas took comfort in that fact as he turned to take one last look at the glade, which was reassuring as always.

Then he turned back to face the path that was covered by the thick fog. Thomas could feel fear rising up in him once again, but he pushed it aside as he took his first step out of the comfort of the glade, and into the dark foggy maze that is the forest.

"Just grab a hold of my hand, I will lead you through this wonderland."

Author's Note:

Just a quick notice, from the next chapter on, I would do my best to avoid writing an author's note at the beginning of the story unless absolutely necessary. This is because some people might find it annoying and would skip it anyway.

The name of the story, Chasing in the Dark (this is a line from the song We Sink by…you guessed it, Of Monsters and Men), would gain whole new meanings throughout the story, but for now, see it as Thomas chasing his memories (which would be a major theme in the story).

Other characters would be introduced in the next chapter, so do not fear that this story would only consist of Thomas.

Now if you like this story, please favourite and/or place it on alert to show support. I love reading reviews so please leave your thoughts on this story there. If you really like my writing, you can check out my profile to see the other story I'm working on called Assassin's Creed: Deliverance. It is a How to Train Your Dragons and Assassin's Creed crossover that I find quite dark.

I'm also working on a massive project called my Marvel Fanfiction Universe, which is a series of fanfictions of different fandoms that all take place in the same universe. It has a superhero theme and is inspired by the Marvel movies so check that out if you are a fan, it is in a separate profile (because it is so massive) called SirEmperorKhan.

(Fanfiction Sins: Shameless self-advertisement is shameless. Ding)

I usually give a sneak peak at the end of each chapter, so this story would be no different:

Thomas couldn't help but stare at her. There was something about her eyes that seemed so familiar, but Thomas couldn't place where he has seen it before.

So that's it, I have three on-going stories right now so update will be slow. So please be patient.

That's it, see you guys in the next chapter (or in another story if you decide to check them out).