The darkness was encroaching fast over the Glade. Scout moved her hands up to her mouth and began to chew on her fingernails. There was still a light glow from the fire down below her, but the voices of the boys had died down some.
As she saw some of the boys slowly make their way to the homestead, she wondered if they would really leave her up here all night. Alby had told her of the kind of things that could happen if you wandered alone at night. Scout had even seen it herself on occasion. Maybe this is how they were planning on getting rid of her. Chuck had she was such a problem. If she wouldn't come down they must just be waiting for her to just die up here. She had reckoned originally that whatever she would face in the maze was worse than anything in the Glade, but now she wasn't so sure.
Scout was just beginning to wonder if the Greevers could climb over the walls when she heard a soft rustle in the bushes below her. She felt herself freeze. She slowly moved her hands away from her mouth and reached for the knife in her pocket. She heard the rustle again, this time it was accompanied by a high-pitched moan. Scout lost all sense of calmness and let out a scream of her own, leaping from the tree and starting to sprint towards the Glade.
As she finally reached the fire she noticed that only Newt and Ben were still up. Running at full force she all but crashed into Newt from behind.
"What the hell?" she heard him exclaim, trying his best to turn around and face her while she was clawing to grab onto his chest.
"There's a monster in the woods!" Scout sobbed out as she pressed her face into Newt's stomach. She heard him let out a sigh like he didn't believe her. Ben stood up behind her.
"I'll go check it out" Ben announced and Scout sensed Newt nod. Right after Ben had left them alone Scout felt her arms being pulled off the older boy, much to her disappointment. She struggled slightly as he placed her to sit down on the log under him but stilled as she saw his expression. He said nothing, just stood over and pointed straight at her, daring her to move. Scout felt tears trickle down her face and this time, made no attempt to wipe them away.
Ben returned a minute later, leading a goat by a rope out of the forest and placing it back into its pen. Newt's face did not even twitch as Ben walked past, raising his eyebrows at Newt and shaking his head a little as he turned to head into the homestead.
Newt reacted with lightning fast reflexes, moving just as Ben had shut the door. Grabbing onto Scout he lifted her upwards, using an arm to press Scout into his leg then leaning down to swat at Scout's butt with the other hand.
Initially, Scout was stunned, but quickly sprang into action when she realized what was happening. She began to reach her hands behind her frantically, in an attempt to shield herself, but found that Newt would only quickly move them away again.
"No! NO! Don't!" Scout whined, not caring that she had begun to sob. Newt, on the other hand, showed no signs of stopping. One of Scout's fears crept back into her head at that moment and she felt unable to stop it from being blurted out.
"Don't send me away!" she whispered through her tears. Scout felt his hand still as her body was peeled away from his.
Newt took her squarely by the shoulders, "What did you just say?" he asked, although his voice was still laced with annoyance.
"Chuck said you were going to banish me cause I've been causin' so much trouble but…I'm…I'm sorry I didn't mean to!," Scout announced, shaking slightly. Newt scoffed, letting go of her shoulders and laughing to himself a little.
"Jesus Christ," Newt shook his head, "No one is getting banished. Unless you've decided to kill someone with that knife you took off Ben." He raised his eyebrows and held out his hand, where Scout reluctantly dropped the knife. Scout still felt confused.
"But Chuck said..." Newt cut her off angrily.
"Yeah well Chuck's a little slint head." He snapped. He rubbed his palm across his face warily in an attempt to calm himself down. "You can't keep running away Scout, you do and you're gonna get yourself killed." Scout suddenly slammed her fist against the log she sat on.
"Who cares?! People die here all the time! You'd probably like it too, then you wouldn't have to look after me all the time." She couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes as she said it. Newt paused and she heard his breath began to slow.
"You're special Scout, don't you know that?" she looked up at him, "You're the only girl they've ever sent up and you're younger than everyone in this place. Don't you know that that means something?" Newt asked her incredulously.
"What if I don't want to be special?" Scout whispered, standing up to face him. Newt placed a comforting hand on her back and pushed her towards the homestead.
"Go to bed Scout." Newt insisted, and she couldn't find it in herself to refuse.