Okay, second chapter. Nobody reviewed which broke my fragile heart. :( Anyway, the actual chapter isn't quite 2,000 words like I hoped, but it's good enough.
Toothpaste: BecauseI'mTwisted owns nothing but the plot and OCs.
Retch: Read on.
Scribble: And please rate and review.

-read on-read on-read on-read on-

Every teenager in the Heart stared horrified at the white stone that stood tall before them. "They're gone. All of them." Owen murmured. In the silence, his words cut through the air like they were made of glass.

Zachary stood stiff, his face void of emotion. "We can't stand here and just give up. We've lost people before." Whispers spread through the crowd, nodding of heads, and sad acceptances.

Quietly, they continued on with their routine. The depressed group of fifty dragged their feet over to the dining pit.

Nobody spoke as they ate their rationed meals. All ears listened hard to the sounds of the Labyrinth, to the screeches of the nearby crushers.

One by one, they left to go to their own hammocks, only to fall asleep to the continued howls of the evil creatures on the other side of the cold, stainless stone.

-time skip-time skip-time skip-time skip-

When the doorways appeared once again, everyone went back to work, steering clear of the East wall.

The only girl left in the Heart grew curious. As Zachary struggled to recruit new runners, his female assistant slipped away unnoticed, and jogged over to that specific doorway.

In front of each wall grew a line of forest, so only the top half of them were visible.

Lotus sneaked through the bushes and when she reached the exit of the Heart, she let loose a scream that would of put a crusher to shame.

Where the passage split into two, was an enormous dead, rotten looking beast. Her high-pitched voice woke the sleeping survivors, and they all leaped up onto their feet in a state of horror, convinced another crusher was close. Leonardo grimaced and stumbled forward. Angel kept a hand on his shoulder so he didn't fall face-first onto the ground.

"You're alive." Lotus said in disbelief. "How is that possible?" Angel tightened her grip on Leo's shoulder and they gave each other a smile. "Because of the newbie here. He killed two crushers. Could anyone possibly be any more of a badass?" The African-American in the baseball hat laughed. Using the word shocked to describe Lotus would be a severe understatement.

More teenagers arrived, all gasping and vomiting at the sight of the crusher's body. Zachary stepped forward, addressing Leonardo. "Newbie, what happened?" The Asian teen responded, "First of all, it's Leo. Second, the monsters that attacked us are now dead. But, the people that left us are probably dead also."

Everyone was frozen in awe. Nobody had ever lasted a night in the Labyrinth. Not until now. Not until Leo arrived.

"Alright!" Zachary shouted. "Everybody get back to your jobs." Still full of surprise and wonder, excited chatter filled the Heart as people talked and laughed as they continued on with their tasks of farming, cooking, or nursing.

It was only the runners, Leo and Zachary left. Without a word, the leader of the Heart stepped into the giant maze to inspect the body. Leonardo followed him, the surviving runners stayed by the entrance to the Heart.

Leo bent down and inspected the crusher's stinger. A large robotic tail the ended with a thin, sharp metal rod, slightly shorter than a metre in length. Cautiously, he touched it, being extra weary of the dagger-like point. "Careful." Zachary told him. "One prick with that and you'll never be the same." Noticing the confused look on Leo's face, he continued, "Apparently, they give you your memories back. All at once, so that's about sixteen years for you. Sixteen years worth of memories shoved into your brain, all at once. You either die straight away, or go completely insane."

The blue-eyed boy nodded, but didn't remove his hand. A small skin pouch sat next to where the rod vanished into the metal. He assumed that that was where the poison/serum was stored. The rod looked dry. Gripping it firmly, Leo pulled. With a horrific squelching sound, the rod came out from the end of the scorpion-like machinery.

Nervously, the pressed it gently against his own paper-white skin. Blood welled at the pinprick on his finger, but no memories came to him.

"My God, it's like a sword." Angel said from behind him. He didn't hear her enter the Labyrinth. Leo smirked, "That's exactly what it is." He couldn't explain it, but he felt safer with it in his hand. He expertly twirled his new weapon, with Zachary watching him, his face as empty as ever.

But Leo's good mood didn't last. He froze, suddenly feeling like he was being observed, spied on, visually dissected. It was not a feeling he enjoyed. "Are we being watched?" He whispered, almost inaudibly. Only Angel heard him. She mumbled back, "Well, I'm watching you, so is Zachary and the other runners. Is that it?" But she could tell by the look on his handsome face that it wasn't.

Leo gazed around him, completely focused. He could no longer feel the soft wind, or hear the buzz of voices. The only sense that remained was his sight, that increased until he could see almost every crack and scratch that webbed across the surfaces of the two parallel walls. A small dent near the top of the wall, almost unnoticeable. Probably nothing, but there was no tracks or evidence that a crusher made it, or any confirmation that a human did it either, and deep scrapes like that don't happen naturally. Even though it was designed to look like it.

Curious, Leo quickly brainstormed an idea on how to reach the dent for a better look. He handed the rod to Angel, he didn't want something that sharp near him when he needed to climb that high up. Angel took it and didn't ask questions, unlike Zachary. "What are you doing?" He growled. Leonardo gave a knowing and obnoxious smirk. "Watch and learn, Zacky." Angel snorted behind him, which only made his smirk widen.

His cocky attitude was replaced by disgust as he pulled the crusher's fangs from its face. With the gooey pincers held tightly in his hands, he made his way to under the dent. Using the fang to push lightly against the wall, it sheathed itself inside the stone like it was made of butter. Above his head, he did the same with the other giant monster tooth.

Off he went. He settled into an easy rhythm. Leo's upper body strength made scaling the wall simple work. "What are you doing?" Zachary repeated from below. Leonardo ignored his question.

When he reached the dent, several long minutes later, Leo positioned himself so that his right foot rested on a secure fang, while his right hand held the other, so he didn't fall. He looked closer at the dent, and realized that it was deeper than he originally thought. Inside, a tiny, black box sat wedged in. It was about the size of an m & m. A camera.

He looked down, and was surprised at how he was. Strangely, he felt safe, comfortable. He had the curious feeling that he was usually higher. If anything, he felt closer to the ground. He shrugged it off for the moment. "Angel!" He shouted. "I need that sword." Leo held out his free hand, ready to catch. Beneath him, they all looked at him weirdly. "I'm not throwing a sharp-ass stick at you, you idiot!" Angel responded. Leo rolled his eyes, "I'll catch it, don't worry. Come on!" She hesitated, before throwing the rod up towards him. His brain didn't consciously interpret the moves. Leo's hand shot out, grabbed the weapon, twirled in swiftly in his fingers and stabbed the camera right through the middle.

Grinning like a maniac, he placed the rapier-like rod though a belt loop in his now-greyish pants, and began climbing down. He hissed gently as he landed, his spine still stung from the crusher's hit.

"What was that?" Zachary and Angel snapped together. "A camera. Whoever put us in here was watching us. There'll be loads more."

They all immediately felt uncomfortable, they looked up to the sky, in the search for more cameras.

Once again, Zachary broke the silence. "Alright, we have to have a meeting about this. Runners, go around and gather the others at the meeting hall. Leo, go check on the newbies you arrived with. If they're awake, bring them with you to the meeting." With their orders clear, the group split up.

Leonardo made his way around the cooking station to the rusty shed that served as a makeshift hospital.

Inside, five teenage boys, around sixteen, rested in low beds. The only conscious occupant was a familiar female with gorgeous dark brown hair, and stunning oak eyes. The soft padding of his grubby sneakers against the
concrete caught her attention. She looked up, and seemed both surprised and happy. "Hey. I didn't introduce myself earlier, I'm Lotus." She smiled a calm but untrustworthy grin. Leo smiled his own customized smirk, a mix of cheerfulness, shyness and a slight hint of dishonesty. "I'm Leo." He replied. She nodded and went back to whatever she was doing before he arrived.

The young Japanese male observed the other newcomers. An African American, an Indian, a Spanish boy, and two white teens, one with a tan, and the other almost as pale as Leonardo himself. Except for the Spanish one, the boys didn't look out of shape. The exception stood out as a weakling, thin everything.

As he stepped closer, they began to stir. In perfect sync, the five of them shot up in their beds like someone had gave them a poke with a cow-prod.

They looked around in horror, their mouths were open, but no sound was made. The African-American leaped out of bed and Leo noticed that he was also wearing the white sneakers, shirt and pants combo. They all were. "Where are we? What's going on?" He demanded. Lotus remained silent. "I'm new as well. I don't know how to explain it, but all of you, please calm down." Leo's tone was impossible to ignore. The five relaxed, but remained, as expected, confused as hell.

"We call it the Heart." Lotus decided to join the conversation. "It's a safe haven located in the middle of a massive labyrinth." The pale boy spoke up in a strong British accent. "Why are we here?" Lotus seemed to wilt. "We don't know. Every month we get supplies and newbies from an unknown supplier, delivered by a metal cage-like elevator in the West wall. Every month is different. Sometimes there's only one person, other times there's about ten. Mostly male. All of them are unconscious when we find them, they wake up on the second day without their memory." She explained, most of the information was new to Leonardo as well. "But I was awake when I arrived." He pointed out. "You're the only person who's ever done that, Leo. Just like you're the only person to ever kill two crushers, as well as survive the night. The system just doesn't work for you, does it?" Leo smirked. The others growing more confused by each passing second.

"Um... I'm still confused. Could you please tell us everything you know about this place?" The stick-like Spanish asked weakly. Lotus nodded. She and Leonardo sat down on nearby stools, the cobalt-eyed teenager hid his excitement easily, he was finally getting proper answers.

Lotus parted her thin blood-red lips to speak...

-end of chapter-end of chapter-end of chapter-end of chapter-

Well now. DUN DUN DUN! eh... I got nothing.
Make sure you review, or I'll kill off Leo's future love interest. DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!