Maze of My Heart

01

[p i p e r]

She failed! She screams, pointing at the screen. Her colleges kept quiet. It was a mistake to send in the test subjects in one by one- the first girl, Subject A17, ran into the maze upon arrival. "We have to send 30 or so at once." she instructs. 

I was shaken from the dream. It has been so many nights I had this dream. But I know it was not a memory. They- Creators- they are talking about it. They were talking about it. About me. Why I do not know. 

But I knew the sun was rising and I had to hide. Because it was only a matter of minutes before the couple of people "Runners" the Gladers called it, would explore the maze. And I always hid from them, even though they never scared me. It seemed pointless to join them or introduce myself- they had such an organised structure, all the rules- I would wreck havoc. 

I am Piper, and I am the original glader. The very first. According to the bits and pieces from my dreams- I was not meant to run into the maze. I was to establish rules for the other arrivals. But I ran. I ran. I took refuge in the maze. I found a place the Gladers never explored and set up camp there. I know the Creators know I am still alive- in their supplies each week there were clothes for me and food in a backpack, ready for me to sneak in at night, grab and run back into the maze. 

I watched from one of the walls as the doors opened and two runners- an Asian boy with strong arms and a blond, lanky boy, running mapping their way around the maze. I have been watching them for quite some time, and it was interesting how they tried to find their way out of a maze with no way out. Not that I know of. 

I knew little about the Gladers, only from the snippets of conversations I heard from some of them, and I knew some of them by name- they came by frequently. They shouted to each other periodically, and I could tell the Asian kid was "Minho", and the blond guy was "Newt".

They were rather facinating. 

They were rather good looking. 

-

"I'm bloody hungry." the one called Newt proclaimed. He cursed a lot. They sat down next to the wall I was sitting on, and had their lunch. I was rather jealous- they had pretty good cooked food, whereas I had to eat mostly cheeses and fruits- starting a fire would only alarm the Gladers. 

Minho handed him an apple. 

"Minho... it's kind of stupid but... do you ever feel like someone is watching us when we are in the maze?" Newt asked. 

I froze. Was I that obvious?

"Do you mean the couple of hungry grievers?" Minho laughed. He seemed really sacarstic.

"No.. I mean.... its like a human." Newt said.

"Dunno" Minho crunched on his apple..

I hope they never find out.

-

I was watching the boys again. Now they split up to explore diffferent parts of the maze. The one they call Newt- he looked different today. How did you describe him? Handsome was not the word. Insane.

He climbed up to one of the walls, hanging onto the vines. "There is no way out... there is no way out..." he muttered.

Time seemed to slow down when the boy jumped from the vines, slamming onto the maze floor.

His leg was bent at an awkward angle and he screamed. Minho came running over. I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure if I should.

"NEWT!" The one called Minho yelled. I saw tears in his eyes. "You shuck-faced shank, what are you doing?" He tried to help Newt up, but the weight of Newt was too much for him.

I decided to help them, leaping from the wall and landing a few metres away from them.

Minho was so taken aback he almost dropped Newt. "Who are you?"

"No time to ask questions." I helped Newt up and they both stared at me. It was probably not a good time to say this, but I had to look down and re- adjust my grip on Newt to hide my blush. I mean- Two good looking boys staring at me, how can you not...

"Well, lets go!" I muttered. It was the first time I touched a glader.

We half limped, half carried Newt. "Left." Minho instructed me.

"No, right is faster."

Minho wanted to argue. But I've lived in the maze for 2 years, and I knew more.

We finally reached the enterance to the glade. "You should follow us" Minho said, raising his eyebrow.

I was tempted to. To finally meet the gladers I watched for so long, the community I wanted to be part of for years. But I didn't want to wreck havoc in their society.

"This is where I leave you." I saw the other gladers approaching and I turned, running back into the maze.