"No!" A girl shouted as she was dragged down a hallway by two large men. "No, please! Thomas!"

She called after a brunette boy who stood next to a woman in a white pantsuit so clean that she could almost see her reflection. She called for him again after seeing his eyes glass over with tears. He was trying to hold back his emotions, she thought. So the girl just screamed for him louder, hoping that his wall would crash down and he would come to the rescue.

But he just stood there, wiping his eyes as the Woman In White watched her be taken away, a frown prominent on her face. The girl continued to squirm and cry for help, feeling terrified above the many other emotions at the moment.

The guards kept their tight grip on her biceps as they tugged her down another hallway. The farther they got from the brown-haired boy and the Woman In White, the more hope the girl could feel drain from her body. She knew this was going to happen. Why was she so scared?

Delaying the inevitable never works out in the end. It only causes suffering. Not only from you, but from the ones you love as well.

"Please!" She screamed louder than she had ever before, straining her voice, hoping that her screams would become too much for the guards to bear, and they would drop her. But they didn't. "Newt!"

Her cries echoed off of the white subway tiled walls and the white floor. Surely everyone in the building could hear her cry for help. Why was nobody coming to save her?

Fear and sadness enveloped her entire demeanor as the guards turned down another hall. Her screams suddenly stopped as she recognized how close she was to the place she had been dreading. Hyperventilating, she felt her cracking walls finally start to tumble down, knowing how her few friends felt when they were taken away. The Woman In White always said that she would see them soon. But she never did.

Her addams-apple bobbed up and down, feeling shell shocked at how close her fate laid. It was only a few steps away now. But for some reason, her limbs couldn't move any longer. She hadn't accepted the situation she was about to be put in, but why cause more trouble if it's going to happen anyway?

So, she went silent. Her screams finally stopped, and the only sound that could be heard in the long, menacing hallway was the sounds of her own voice as she tried to recall every memory that she's ever had in this dreadful building before it was drained from her like the blood they've taken so many times.

An image of her and her best friend popped into her mind, and she let it replay like a broken record. She wanted to feel something other than fear in her final moments. Even it was pure despair.

She saw them running down the hallway as young children. They were playing a game of some sort, it seemed like. Laughter echoed through the building as the small sandy-blonde haired boy taunted the girl, challenging her to run faster than him. For she had never beaten him in a race, yet she was determined. Determined to win. Suddenly, she remembered how she began to double over with coughs, not being able to run anymore. She remembered the feeling like someone was squeezing her lungs, trying to get her to give up.

She remembered the sandy-blonde haired boy as he stopped in his tracks, immediately rushing over to her side and telling her to put her arms above her head.

"In through your nose." He told her. "Out through your mouth." The little girl did as she was told and felt the air coming back into her lungs as she continued to attempt to steady her breathing. The boy looked at her with furrowed eyebrows and an almost guilty expression as the girl finally inhaled a deep breath without wheezing. She nodded and sighed towards the boy, who simply sent her a fake smile and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, saying,

"That's enough running for today." The girl snapped out of her flashback while finishing the words that her best friend told her.

With an exaggerated sigh from one of the guards, they lifted her up and onto a platform, finally pleased that she wasn't struggling anymore. They laid her down gently, being extra careful to her head as a girl about her age stood over her, wearing a blue surgical mask that hid her true emotions at the moment. But her eyes didn't.

Her eyes were blue. Really blue. They held back a sea of tears as she held a needle about the size of her pointer finger to the sky, flicking it so that the blue substance inside spit out as if she's testing whether the thing was filled.

The girl's heart started to beat faster inside of her chest, but she didn't let it show. No words were spoken between the two, only glances of pure guilt and sorrow. For some reason, it seemed as though the blue eyed girl felt sorry for the one laying down in front of her.

Many other people surrounded them, but it seemed as though they were all focused on other tasks to prepare for what they were about to do to the poor girl laying down. They'd done it so many times before, but for some reason this time felt different. The blue-eyed girl wearing a white lab coat sniffled and looked around, seeing how the other doctors finally nodded, still not looking at her but instead on the many machines around the room. She looked at the girl laying down, muttering a quick word under her breath before plunging the finger-length needle into the girl's skin.

She gasped, but not in pain. She couldn't feel anything but the feeling of pure exhaustion taking over every single sense in her body. Was she dying? Did they kill her? Or did they just put her to sleep? The harder she fought for her eyes to stay open, the more they weighed. She fought until she simply couldn't fight anymore, closing her eyes and lulling her head to the side, letting a deep sleep consume her entire body.

Suddenly my eyes snapped open, and I inhaled a long sharp breath, quickly turning onto my side and coughing like I've never coughed before. It felt as though my lungs were going to be regurgitated as I gasped again, trying to catch my breath as I laid back down. My eyes remained closed, not paying much attention to the cold metal underneath my arms.

But when I felt a sudden jolt came from the ground beneath me, they snapped open, and a small yelp released from my mouth. I sat myself up quickly, finally realizing that I didn't know where I was or what was happening.

"Hello?" I asked into the darkness. I lifted my hand in front of my face, trying to see how far my sight went. When I couldn't even see my fingers as they brushed against my forehead, I let out a quiet cry, backing up and hoping not to fall over anything in the process.

Everything was still. Quiet. The only sounds I could hear were the shaky breaths that left my lips as I moved my head from one side to another, waiting for any sign that told me that I wasn't here in this strange place alone, but that I was just dreaming and someone needed to wake me up. Maybe my friends. What are their names again?

At the realization that I didn't remember my friend's names, the floor underneath me began to screech. My hands flew up to my ears as I separated my legs from each other, trying to hold my standing position. When a cold breeze began to crawl across my neck, that's when I realized that I certainly was not dreaming, and this was not normal.

"Hello?" I called into the blackness once more, hoping to hear any other sound than the screeching metal that sounded from beneath my feet. "Is there anyone there?"

My heart started to beat faster, and that's when I felt it. The memories draining from my mind. My hand shot out to the wall that I was standing against, and one hand traveled to my head as I clamped my eyes shut, trying to hold onto anything.

The taste of food, my friends, the world, where I lived, my family...All if it was draining from my head as I felt the chill on the back of my neck become colder. Like someone was breathing on me.

My chest rose and fell quickly as I shut my eyes tighter, not focusing on the fact that I was losing my balance and the breeze on my neck started to grow. I shook my head vigorously, trying to grasp onto any memory that I had. Ones of the sky, how the sheets on my bed felt, being touched, feeling happiness...all of it went by like a slideshow, and as much as I tried to hold on and grab any of the small memories that probably meant nothing, they kept slipping. I was so close, and they kept draining. I was helpless.

"Help!" I screamed, feeling absolutely hopeless in the moment. My eyes snapped open once again, and the panic grew in my chest as I continued to feel everything in my head draining. I shakily moved my way across the wall, kicking something with my toe, and only slightly grunting at the pain.

The screeches of metal grew louder as I moved my way from one wall to another, now feeling a cold wind all over my body. Somehow I was moving. I screamed again as I moved my arm from the wall to the metal ceiling.

"Hey!" I yelled, banging my fist on the plate that was on the ceiling. I banged on it harder every time, feeling more panic surge through me as the seconds passed. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know why I was here in this...this metal cage.

Suddenly there was another jolt, and I stumbled back onto the floor, hitting my temple on the ground. I groaned at the throbbing that was now coursing through the veins of my head. I looked down and noticed the blackness that surrounded the small cage. I was moving up. But where the hell was I going? Stumbling onto my feet for what felt like the millionth time today, I kept my gaze on the abyss that sat under my feet. I stomped on the ground, feeling anger and fear consume every part of me. So, I snapped.

"Get me the hell out of here!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I turned around and began banging on the ceiling once more, not caring about the pain that I felt from my splitting knuckles. I just kept hitting the metal with all of my strength, shouting and screaming for someone to help me as I lost control of my actions. It seemed like the more punches I threw at the ceiling, the faster the cage moved upwards.

I kept screaming, wanting nothing more than to be out of this box and anywhere else. I wanted my memories back. I wanted to remember my friends. I wanted my parents. I wanted to go home. I never thought that this was going to be how I died. Losing all of my memories, and being ascended into the air until something probably killed me. Something was up there...if this box ever stopped moving. But I kept punching the ceiling, thinking that death was better than being stuck in here until I starved.

But when something in my head told me to stop, I obliged, finally seeing the end of the long upward tunnel that I had been traveling for the past ten minutes. With another gasp, I fell onto my back. My only option now was to stare at the oncoming metal wall that blocked the box from moving up any farther. Was I going to crash into it? Is this all just some crazy ride that I was on? Was I going to go falling to the ground, eventually dying from the impact?

I let out an ear-piercing scream, shuffling my body to the wall that was only a short distance away. When my back finally hit the cold surface, the screeching of the metal stopped, and the wind that had been cascading down my body like cold water suddenly left me in the silence, I shut my mouth and swallowed. I tried to take deep breaths, but the more I tried, the harder it seemed. I let out a small groan, looking around at the newly fluorescent red area. A loud bang sounded from the ceiling, and my head immediately jolted to it as I hyperventilated and ignored the squeezing feeling in my lungs.

Then, as quickly as the light had come, it was gone. I couldn't see in front of me, I couldn't even see my feet. Again, all I could hear was the sounds of my struggled breaths as I tried to let the air into my lungs, but it simply wasn't coming. I wheezed and coughed, my eyes going wide at the thought that something invisible was probably trying to strangle me. I moved my hands to feel around my neck, but when I felt nothing, my panic increased. Was I going to die from lack of oxygen? So many questions rolled through my mind as I tried to catch my breath. I could feel my heart beat a million miles an hour against my chest, all while I was hearing myself struggle for what seemed like life.

Another loud bang suddenly sounded from the ceiling, and I lifted my head towards it, immediately throwing my hand in front of my eyes to shield the blinding light from above me.

At least I'm not blind, I thought.

I coughed again, turning my head from the painful light and back onto the floor of the cage. This was all too much. I was struggling for air while everything seems like it's crashing down. I still didn't know where I was, why I was put here, or why I can't breathe.

"Oh shuck." I suddenly heard a deep voice from a few feet above. But I couldn't bother to look at who it came from. I felt like I was dying as my lungs squeezed. "Newt! Alby! Med-Jacks!"

I inhaled sharply again, closing my eyes and feeling my forehead touch the familiar cold metal of the floor. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. All I could do was try and breathe as panic continued to flood my mind, and the thought of me not remembering anything was just the cherry on top of my situation here.

I couldn't even tell that someone had jumped down here with me until he spoke. But this time, it wasn't a deep, brooding voice, but instead a soft one. "Hey."

I kept my eyes shut and on the floor as I tried to breathe. It should be the simplest task in the world. But right now, I felt as though I couldn't do it even if I tried with all of my might. The more breaths I took, the tighter my lungs squeezed, and the more I coughed.

"Woah." The soft voice spoke again. He had an accent. "Woah calm down, Greenie. Deep breaths, deep breaths."

You don't think I'm trying to do that?

Suddenly, I felt a gentle hand touch my back in an attempt to comfort me. He's probably thinking that I'm having a severe panic attack. Truth is, I didn't even know what was happening to me. I was literally dying. My head started to pound and my whole body began to throb. Was I going to die in front of this guy? That would probably be pretty traumatizing for him.

"Newt." Another male voice spoke, although it sounded like an echo in my ears. "She's having an asthma attack. Tell her to put her arms above her head. Get her to look at you."

I heard the soft voice hum in agreement before he gently tugged on my shoulder, moving my body from staring at the floor and to the eyes of the boy who was trying to help me. I stared at him as my body wheezed, hoping that he will somehow help me so that I didn't soon give into the throbbing all over my body. But there was something familiar about him. Maybe it was his brown orbs that stared right into mine or the way they glimmered so bright that I could almost see my reflection in his pupils. Maybe it was the sandy-blonde hair that covered his head or the way that he gently held my body upright.

"Okay." His voice cracked, almost coming out softer than a whisper. He looked into my eyes and raised his eyebrows, taking a deep breath as if he was showing me what to do. "Put your arms over your head."

I've heard his voice before. Where have I heard it, I thought as he removed his large hands from my shoulders, allowing me to do what he told me. Although right now, I would probably drink grease if it meant that I would be able to breathe again.

I looked into his eyes as I tried to slow my breaths down, feeling an overwhelming sense of calmness with his presence. He looked back at me with his eyebrows furrowed just enough so that I could see a small crease between them. Maybe it was because of anxiety, worry, maybe he was afraid. His thin lips were pressed into a line, and his nostrils flared with every shaky breath I took as if he was doing it with me. My eyes studied his face as I felt my breathing start to become controlled and slow.

"In through your nose." He spoke again. "Out through your mouth." I nodded, listening to him, and taking a deep breath through my nose, and only letting it out through my mouth when he gently nodded to me. From that breath, I could feel my lungs relax and unclench, and the shakiness of my body was left as only a tingle as I calmed down.

The boy in front of me rested his hands on his thighs and raised his eyebrows, letting a sharp breath escape from his lips.

"What is it, Newt?" A distant voice spoke up. My head shot up from the boy and to what used to be the ceiling. To my surprise, about fifty or sixty boys stood around the small opening, all looking down at me. I searched the crowd for another girl, preferably one my age, but at this point, I didn't care. I just wanted to see a female in the sea of masculinity.

"It's a girl." The British boy named Newt spoke up from beside me. I snapped my head towards him, feeling another wave of panic set in, but this time, it was less severe.

That's when the questions started.

"A girl?"

"Is she hot?"

"I call dibs!"

"What the shuck?"

"Slim it, shanks!" A much louder voice called from above. I searched the crowd again until I found the person who had stopped the questions. He was a muscular boy with dark skin and hardly any hair on his head. His arms were extended, shushing the crowd of boys immediately. He kept his gaze on me while clenching his jaw, seeming deep in thought.

"Pull her up." He suddenly spoke, cocking his head towards another boy who stood close to him. He did as he was told immediately and grabbed a rope from the ground, throwing it over the edge and into the cage that I had been in. Newt suddenly stood to his feet, holding a hand out for me to take. I looked up at him, feeling unsure. I blinked once before pulling myself up, not accepting his help.

He raised his eyebrows and lowered his hand, trying to play it off as an itch on the back of his neck. "N-Now." He cleared his throat. "Step into that hole and they'll pull you up."

I nodded, not meeting his eyes in fear that I would be given that strange wave of familiarity. How could I remember? All of that was drained from me on my eventful trip up here. But I did as I was told and slipped my foot through the hole, almost letting a sound escape my lips as they forcefully pulled me up and out of the cage.

"Shit." One of them cursed. "She's light." Before I knew it, I was met with a face full of dirt and grass. I groaned slightly at the impact, hearing the same British voice scold the boys who pulled me up.

"Be bloody gentle." He shook his head, disappointed at their behavior. I could feel all eyes on me as I slowly pulled myself up from the ground, finally taking in my surroundings.

The first thing I noticed was the walls. The four, massive grey concrete walls that surrounded the grassy field that we stood on. Ivy climbed up the edges, almost taunting us...challenging us to climb it. I turned around slowly, hoping to see anything other than a blockage from me looking out to the rest of the world. But the only thing I saw was the walls.