CHAPTER 1

Black.

That is the first thing I see.

Just… black.

It encompasses me, devours me. Just… darkness. I'm afraid of the dark.

Wait… am I?

I feel scared, but I don't remember ever being scared of the dark before. I… don't really remember anything at all. All I remember is my name… Grace.

I don't remember my last name. I don't remember my parents.

Parents? Why did I think of that?

Oh yeah. Everyone has parents. So I have parents… don't I?

I'm Grace.

And I have parents, I think. But I don't know for sure.

All of a sudden I stop. I didn't even realize I was moving. I lurch in the darkness and fall on my side. I had been sitting before.

I cringe a little and shield my face when all of a sudden light pours on me.

My eyes take a while to adjust, but when they do I look up, toward the light. I suddenly become aware of whispers. The whispers come from a group of people. I look around and realize: they're all boys.

For a minute the whispers stop and everyone stares down at me. I stare back, looking from boy to boy.

I catch the eye of one who looks sort of familiar. He's not too tall or too short, lean, with messy black hair and he looks to be about sixteen years old.

'Thomas' I whisper, not loud enough to be heard.

A tall, skinny boy with short curly blond hair reaches for me. I grab his wrist and he pulls me up.

'Hi,' the blond boy says. 'I'm Newt. Welcome to the Glade.'

'The…' I start. 'The Glade.' I feel like I already knew that. But how could I? I don't remember anything else… and yet, that black haired boy… Thomas, I called him… he looks familiar.

'What's your name?' asks Newt gently.

'I… um, Grace." I stammer.

'Well, Grace, it's nice to meet you.' He doesn't look like it's that nice to meet me.

The whispers from the other boys resume and this time I catch a little of what they're saying.

'A girl… the first girl…'

'Don't let those shanks bother you,' Newt says, reading my face. I'm guessing I look a little frightened. 'They're just confused because all of a sudden a pretty girl showed up and now their testosterone levels are through the roof.' He grins.

Pretty girl? Did he just call me pretty? I laugh it off, trying not to overthink. He's not so bad looking himself…

Newt leads me to a little treehouse. I feel like I've been in one before but there's no way of knowing. He climbs up a ladder through a hole, and I follow him. When we both climb onto the floor, he gestures grandly at it and says, 'This is where you're going to be sleeping. You'll have it all to yourself. No boys allowed.' He winks. 'Unless of course, you invite one…' I roll my eyes and playfully punch him in the shoulder.

'You wish,' I laugh.

Newt laughs too. His laugh makes me feel warm and happy, and the treehouse suddenly seems so bright and full of air.

'I'll leave you alone now. It's pretty late, I'd guess almost 10 o'clock. Get some sleep. I'll give you the Tour tomorrow.' Newt waves goodbye before disappearing through the ladder hole.

I smile after him and lay down in a hammock. It's soft and fuzzy and when I lay in it the fabric engulfs me in a big, warm hug. I barely have time to get comfortable before I fall asleep.

The next morning Newt takes me for a walk to show me around the Glade. He's saying something but I'm not really listening. I keep hearing the boys' voices from when I was first pulled out of the Box (according to Newt, that's what the big thing that carried me here is called). 'The first girl…'

The first girl? Why? I feel like it shouldn't be a big deal. Like yeah, I'm a girl and they're all boys. But I feel like there's something more. Something I'm missing.

In the middle of my thoughts I feel an intense pounding in my head. "Ah!" I exclaim, and I fall to the ground. I hear Newt ask if I'm alright but before I can respond, everything goes black.

I open my eyes. I'm laying in a white room, on a white table, surrounded by people dressed in white lab coats. To my left I see a white wall with large black letters that spell out the word 'W.I.C.K.E.D.'

'W.I.C.K.E.D. is good.' I mumble.

'Yes, Grace.' A woman in a lab coat smiles at me. 'W.I.C.K.E.D. is good.'

I nod my head and close my eyes. W.I.C.K.E.D. is good.

I jerk awake, gasping. Newt places a hand on my shoulder.

'Hey,' he says in a soothing voice, wrapping an arm around me. 'You're okay. Don't bloody scare me like that again though.'

He looks at me for a moment and I can't help but notice the friendly sparkle in his dark brown eyes. I feel myself blush a little and look away.

'I'm sorry,' I say. 'I don't know what happened.'

Newt takes my hand and helps me up from the ground. I brush off my shirt and pants, which are both covered in a thin layer of dust from the ground.

'I heard you whisper something when you were unconscious. You said that something is good.' He scans my face, questioning me. 'I couldn't quite make out what you said before that…'

'I…' I pause, unsure of whether or not to tell him what I saw. It sounds crazy to say that I had a vision of a laboratory and a sign that read 'W.I.C.K.E.D'. 'I don't remember. If something comes back to me I'll let you know.' I offer him a small smile, trying to convince him that I mean it. I think he believes me, and if he doesn't, he doesn't ask any more questions. I try to relax. It was just a crazy dream. Just a dream.

'Okay, as long as you're okay.' Newt flashes a smile. For some reason my heart skips a beat. I barely know this guy. Why do I feel like this?

I'm not left to my thoughts for very long because the black haired boy from before, Thomas, runs up to me and Newt. He's panting.

'Bloody hell, Tommy.' Newt says. I was right about his name. 'What are you doing back from the Maze so soon?'

The Maze?

'A… a…' Thomas pants, his hands on his knees. He's obviously trying to catch his breath.

'A what?! Spit it out Tommy!'

'A Griever. A dead one. It's stuck between a couple walls.' Thomas straightens up.

'Which walls?' Newt asks quietly.

'Just to the East, the first right. Can't miss. It's gruesome.' Thomas sits on the grass, still out of breath.

'The Griever's between the walls?' Newt asks.

'Yeah. Smushed.' Thomas says.

A Griever? What the hell is a Griever? I'm about to ask but Newt runs off before I have the chance.

'Newt wait!' I yell. I run after him. He's running toward two tall stone walls with a large gap in between them. I didn't notice that yesterday, I must have been too confused and exhausted to look around. I stop running spin in a circle. That isn't the only wall. The Glade is fully surrounded by stone walls, at least 200 feet tall. Suddenly I feel claustrophobic. I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and continue to run after Newt, who is standing by the opening between the Walls.

By the time I get to Newt I'm out of breath. Between gasps I say, 'What's… a Griever?'

He looks at me, an almost pitiful expression on his face. 'You don't want to know.'

But I do want to know. Why is this so secretive? Thomas knows what a Griever is, Newt knows, so why can't I?

'I need you to promise me that you'll stay in the Glade. Don't go into the Maze, no matter what. Do you promise?'

I think for a moment. 'I promise.' He nods and runs off. I notice he's running with a slight limp. I turn away and begin to walk back to the treehouse, but I look over my shoulder and see Newt disappear behind a Wall. I can't help it. I check to see if anyone's watching, and when I don't see anyone I sprint after Newt.

I sprint for about one hundred yards and take the first right, at the place I saw Newt disappear. I hear a voice, Newt's, mutter, 'Bloody hell. Bloody hell.' over and over again. Preparing for the worst, I take a deep breath and walk slowly toward Newt's voice. I see him standing in front of something that takes my breath away.

A Griever. That's what it is. Part flesh, part metal, all absolutely horrifying. The creature is stuck between two Walls. Gray slime oozes between the cracks. All I can see is a mesh of limbs and metal rods with sharp needles all over them.

Newt turns and sees me staring.

'Grace! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?' He doesn't sound mad, just worried.

'I… I wanted answers.'

'Answers?' He laughs a humourless laugh. 'And you thought running into the Maze was the answer?'

'That's exactly what I mean!' I suddenly feel heat rising to my face. 'The Maze? What the hell is that? And I'm willing to bet that if I hadn't run in here you'd never tell me what a Griever is. So yeah, I came to see for myself. Is it because I'm a girl? Is that why you're not telling me anything? Because if that's what it is then I'll have you know, I'm not a weak little princess who can't handle this stuff. You can't just keep me in the dark like this!'

'Grace…' Newt starts, but I don't let him finish. I run back to the Glade and to my treehouse, past Thomas, past the other boys. I climb up the ladder, lay in my hammock, and start to cry.