I opened my eyes.

Still not dead, huh? Doesn't WICKED know how to kill me? And what was that dream? A flashback? Are my memories returning? Well I did just get a bunch of my memories zapped back into me. Ugh, that was painful. I feel okay now, though. I don't feel like I'm dying anymore either. I actually feel quite comfortable…I should move. Slowly, I pushed myself up and rested on my elbows to get a good look at wherever I was.

The room I was in now was different to the padded room I'd been in before. This one was an actual room with proper walls and beds and even a chest of drawers. The walls and ceiling were all brightly coloured and cheerful while the floor seemed to have a rainbow carpet. "Fabulous," I muttered before pushing myself into a full sitting position and swinging my legs over the edge. When I did, I noticed something weird. I couldn't really put my finger on what it was though, the world just felt…smaller somehow.

I'm probably just over analysing things.

There were four fluorescent lights shining softly from the ceiling, giving me a clear view of the room. There were four bunk beds in the room and I was sitting on the bottom bunk of one closest to the only door in the room. I got up and tried to open it, expecting it to be locked or to at least show some resistance but it swung open. WICKED isn't even putting up a fight anymore if they'd let me escape this easily…oh. It's a bathroom.

The door lead to a regular sized en suit bathroom with white tiles, a toilet, a shower, a sink, and a mirror; it was a regular bathroom. I checked that the taps and shower both ran water and that the toilet flushed. Everything was in good working condition. It even felt like I'd been the only person to ever touch this bathroom even though there were enough beds for eight people in the other room…what was going on? I went back into the main bedroom and opened the only chest of drawers. It was just full of spare bed sheets, pillow cases, and towels. I searched every inch of both rooms for anything particularly special but came up empty handed except for a single fire extinguisher that hung innocently from the wall. "Well thank goodness I have this, I'd hate to get caught in a fire," I muttered, settling back into my bed. "Of all the things I've faced, I don't think I've ever actually had to deal with fire." Except for the flames from the Sun Flares, but that was different. I was a kid then, so Mum and Dad took care of all that…

After waking up, my memories of the past became foggy, but clearer than they'd ever been before. I couldn't remember a lot, especially not about the time after I was taken into WICKED's custody as a child, but I remember quite a bit about my life before then now. I remember my parents, my brother, Philip, my toy Green Lion. I must've been such an imaginative child. I named a green lion toy 'Green Lion'. Really, Past-Me?

The only think I still couldn't remember was my full name. In all my memories no one ever says it, or I just can't hear it clearly. Is Claire even my real name?

No, I can't think about this now. I need to find my friends. The last thing I could remember was falling unconscious in the padded room after that Janson guy gassed me. I thought I was going to die! He certainly made it seem like that's what was going to happen.

"You're not going anywhere. This is where it ends for you."

Yup, that sounded pretty final to me. I guess he just wanted to scare me as his own personal revenge. Seriously, though, what am I doing here? How does this help WICKED? Don't they want to analyse my brain patterns and see how I cope with stuff? Well, whatever. There are no doors in this place other than the one leading to the bathroom, so I guess I'll just take a shower. There's not a lot I can do right now, is there? A door will appear eventually…or a window…who knows, maybe Newt will come and rescue me himself! I laughed at the idea of Newt breaking down one of these brightly coloured walls and charging in with Minho, Gally, and all the other Gladers.

"I'm here, Claire. We promised to never give up, even if we're separated. I'm here now and we're free. WICKED can't hurt us anymore. I'll protect you, so let's run away together."

And I'd swoon and say, "Oh, Newt, I love you now more than ever!"

"Shuck yeah, baby, let's roll."

And then the others would join together like a Transformer to form our chariot of love and carry us off into the forest where we'd live happily forever in the wild.

"Pfft, yeah right. That gas is making me crazy if I'm having fantasies like that. I should really have that shower."

Swatting away my over dramatic thoughts, I treated myself to a long, hot shower. It was probably the first time I'd had a hot shower in…years I guess. The water felt divine on my skin and I couldn't help but enjoy myself, despite my circumstances. For some reason I wasn't even a little concerned about my situation, it didn't even bother me that there was literally no foreseeable way out of these rooms. It was like how the Maze was, with no exit, and I seriously doubted that I'd get the chance to accidentally fall through an invisible hole to freedom again. I was just filled with this feeling that everything was going to be okay. I was in a bubble of peace. I was disconnected from the outside world. There was no Flare, no Cranks, no death, no Grievers, no WICKED (well…maybe a little WICKED), and no one else to bother me. It was like a tiny vacation.

Still in the bubble, I hopped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel. That's when I noticed it. Well…I guess I should say them. My breasts.

Somehow they'd grown….a lot. Just yesterday they were an A or a B cup in size, but now they were at least a C cup. Now that I was looking at myself I noticed that I'd matured in various ways, like I'd skipped through puberty overnight. I knew what that weird feeling had been now: I was taller. The world hadn't gotten smaller; I'd gotten bigger (in more ways than one). "What the hell?!" I yelled and also noticed that my voice sounded older too. It wasn't as high pitched as it had been. I'd been about thirteen or fourteen yesterday but now I was…what? Sixteen? Seventeen? Eighteen? I couldn't tell!

I ran over to the mirror and studied my face. Yup, I definitely looked different. My hair was longer too and a shade or two darker in places, though I still had streaks of bright blonde in various places. Natural highlights are weird. Now that I think about it…this is the first time I've actually looked at myself in a mirror. I had that picture from earlier and that's all I really have to know what I looked like, but now I'm totally different! I look…well, if I must say so myself, I look sexy as hell. No wonder Newt chose me for a girlfriend, even if I have a shucked up personality. I flicked my half dry hair for emphasis, but quickly chided myself and returned to seriousness. Really, how long was I asleep? I don't feel like I was out for long, though I do feel well rested. I feel stronger than I did before, more physically fit than I was in the Maze, and my mind is clear. Wouldn't I be weak and frail if I'd been in a coma for three or four YEARS?

I massaged my temples and sighed heavily. "Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Who knows what WICKED can do…?" Giving in, I glanced down to check that my clothes were still there. I'd woken up in clean light blue pyjamas with a button up shirt and it didn't seem like there were any other clothes to change into. I guess this'll be a pyjama day then…

I dried myself off completely, including my hair, and pulled on my clothes. When I entered the bedroom I saw that a meal was set out and waiting for me on top of the chest of drawers. There was a lot, more food than I'd seen for ages. I probably wouldn't have been able to recognize most of it if it weren't for my partially regained memories, but I was able to identify enough to know none of it was deadly. There were cheeseburgers, fries, pizza, pasta, potatoes, chicken, beef, fish; all these things I hadn't eaten in what felt like forever. "How does WICKED even get this stuff? Hasn't the world gone to shuck?" I muttered, gulping down as much food as I could. I wasn't exactly hungry, but I knew I mustn't have eaten solid food for a while if I'd been in a coma for three years. Plus, who knows when I'd next get a chance to eat? Anything could happen with WICKED. Tomorrow I might be running away from more Grievers or fighting my way out of here, you can never know.

Once I'd consumed everything on the chest of drawers, I returned to bed and this time I made sure to claim the top bunk. Sure, there was no competition for it, but I still felt happy about being able to sit up high. I liked high places.

"Only idiots like high places."

"Oh, shut up, Phil," I murmured, and curled up to go to sleep.