Short chapter, here. Sorry if its close to the book. There's not much I can really do here, but things will change. :)
Think that it was bad enough? It got worse.
I stared in horror at the monstrous thing making its way down the long corridor of the Maze. Literally. My eyebrows were knitted together and my mouth was open. It was nasty.
It looked like an experiment gone terribly wrong—something from a nightmare. Part animal, part machine, the Griever rolled and clicked along the stone pathway. Its body resembled a gigantic slug, sparsely covered in hair and glistening with slime, grotesquely pulsating in and out as it breathed. It had no distinguishable head or tail, but front to end it was at least six feet long, four feet thick.
Every ten to fifteen seconds, sharp metal spikes popped through its bulbous flesh and the whole creature abruptly curled into a ball and spun forward. Then it would settle, seeming to gather its bearings, the spikes receding back through the moist skin with a sick slurping sound. It did this over and over, traveling just a few feet at a time.
But hair and spikes were not the only things protruding from the Griever's body. Several randomly placed mechanical arms stuck out here and there, each one with a different purpose. A few had bright lights attached to them. Others had long, menacing needles. One had a three-fingered claw that clasped and unclasped for no apparent reason. When the creature rolled, these arms folded and maneuvered to avoid being crushed. What could create such frightening, disgusting creatures?
The source of the sounds we'd been hearing made sense now. When the Griever rolled, it made the metallic whirring sound, like the spinning blade of a saw. The spikes and the arms explained the creepy clicking sounds, metal against stone. But nothing sent chills up and down my spine like the haunted, deathly moans that somehow escaped the creature when it sat still, like the sound of dying men on a battlefield. I shivered, even though I was sweating.
Seeing it all now - the beast matched with the sounds - I couldn't think of any nightmare that could equal this hideous thing coming toward Thomas and I - not that I could remember much. I watched Thomas fight the same fear I was; forcing my body to remain perfectly still, hanging there in the vines. We just had to avoid being noticed.
"Shuckin' beetle blade," I murmured, barely auditable. I hoped.
The Griever rolled and clicked its way closer, zigzagging back and forth, moaning and whirring. Every time it stopped, the metal arms unfolded and turned this way and that, like a roving robot on an alien planet looking for signs of life. The lights cast eerie shadows across the Maze.
A strong whiff of something burnt stung my nostrils; a sick mixture of overheated engines and charred flesh. I winced. Why'd people create something so horrible and send it after kids?
Thomas closed his eyes; I kept mine open, blinking often. But the Griever kept coming.
Whirr. Whirr.
Click. Click. Click.
The Griever was now paused at the Door that lead into the Glade. I started to breath quickly, not being able to help it. The tension was too thick; you could cut it with a knife.
"Please." I let the word barely escape my mouth.
The Griever's spikes popped out; its body rolled toward Thomas and I.
Whirr. Whirr.
Click. Click. Click.
It came to a stop, then rolled once more, right up to the wall.
I sucked in a breath. The Griever now sat directly below us. The deep aching in my bones wanted me to look down, take in the nasty look of the Griever. The beams of light from the creature shone all over the place, completely random, never settling in one spot.
Then, without warning, they went out.
The world turned instantly dark and silent. It was as if the creature had turned off. It didn't move, made no sound - even the haunting groans had stopped completely. And with no more lights, I couldn't see a single thing.
I was blind.
But that was when my vine broke.
The one wrapped around my wasted snapped in half. I let out a long, high-pitched scream on instinct, making Thomas shuffle under the vines. It echoed through the Maze's halls. The vine I had twisted around my wrist had broken from the wall, making me then fall to the ground until I was inches from face-planning onto the floor. My lungs were empty; the wind had been knocked out of me.
I was facing up, towards Thomas. He peeked his head out, fear written all over his face.
I let go of the ivy twisted in my hand and dropped to the floor, curling in a ball, kicking to the vines behind be so I would be hidden.
But seriously, the Griever was right in front of me. If anything, it had heard the yell and saw something.
Please.
No.
Go away.
Shuckshuckshuckshuckshuckshuck!
Leave us alone.
I closed my eyes even though it made no difference; it was so dark. It was too silence, as well, making my deep breath sound like another yell.
I was trying to breath through my nose, though, to be quieter. But my pumping heart needed oxygen desperately. Sweat drenched my hair, my hands, my clothes, everything. A fear I had never known filled me to the point of insanity.
Still, nothing. No movement, no light, no sound. The anticipation of trying to guess its next move was killing me.
Seconds passed. Minutes. What was the Griever doing? Just sitting there in the dark? Waiting for us to run?
Then, in a sudden burst of light and sound, the Griever came back to life, whirring and clicking.
And then it started to climb the wall.