IT STARTED WITH A MAZE - Newt x Reader (F)

- THE FIRST ANOMALY -

"Yeah," Minho answers. "And if you get stung by one, it's over." The Changing, he had called it. What led to Ben's banishment.

I shiver. Rain drips from my nose and chin, and my fingers clench involuntarily. "I wonder why its dead?" Alby asks, his tone low and cautious. "What killed it?"

"No idea," Minho replies. "There's no wound. Nothing obvious, anyway. Maybe it glitched or malfunctioned."

I crouch beside him, slowly reaching toward the rubbery surface of its shoulder. "Don't," Alby warns. But it's too late - my fingers brush against the flesh-metal hybrid, and it's cold. Unnaturally so.

That's when I realize: its body is still breathing. A barely perceptible twitch under its side. I rip my hand back. "Minho-"

"Yeah, I see it," he says, standing up fast. The glow in its eye intensifies. What was once a faint red pulse now burns bright like a flare.

"Back away," Alby says, rising. The Griever shudders. A horrible whirring sound fills the air, mechanical and alive all at once. Its limbs twitch.

Then move.

"Run," Minho breathes. But it's already too late. The Griever screams. A high-pitched, metallic roar that tears through the Maze, echoing off every stone and freezing the blood in my veins. And just like that - the thing is awake. "RUN!" He shouts, driving the urge home.

My legs don't move.

The sheer size of the thing - the speed, the impossible reality of it - roots me in place. The rain slicks my hair down my face, my breath catching in my throat. My heart slams against my ribs like it's trying to break free. "(Y/N)!" Alby grabs my arm and yanks me back just as a bladed limb slices through the air where my head had been.

I stumble, nearly fall, and finally - finally - my legs obey. The three of us scatter, boots pounding against wet stone as we tear down the corridor.

But it's not enough.

The Griever's faster than it should be - its bulk deceptive. It skitters along the wall like some demonic insect, mechanical limbs stabbing into stone with rhythmic, horrific clangs that grow louder and louder. Minho swerves around a corner first. I'm seconds behind. Alby follows. "I thought it was dead!" I yell between ragged breaths, overtaking Alby and almost Minho from my pumping adrenaline.

"So did I!" Minho snaps. "Next time, let's just believe it is! From a distance!" He says. That is when I hear a scream - Alby's.

I whirl around in time to see the Griever rear up, its tail driving down and sinking into Alby's side. "NO-!" I scream.

"ALBY!" Minho skids to a stop, slipping slightly on the wet stone as he turns.

Alby stumbles back, clutching his ribs. His fingers come away stained with something dark. Not blood. Not entirely. There's something else-blue - glowing faintly where the Griever's needle-like stinger pierced him. His face contorts in pain. And then it starts - his body convulses. "Minho!" I shout, panic ripping through me. "He's been stung!"

Minho doesn't hesitate.

He runs toward the Griever, grabs a chunk of debris from the ground - a broken piece of stone or metal - and hurls it. It slams into the Griever's face with a metallic thunk. The creature jerks back, snarling. Its eye flickers for a moment. "MOVE!" Minho roars.

I run to Alby's side, grabbing under his arm. "We have to get him out!" Alby is shaking violently now, his eyes unfocused, mouth moving but not forming words. His skin is already turning pale, lips grey.