"Reyna"

"Wicked is good"

"Fight. Never stop fighting"

"You were trained for this"

Voices echoed in my head, a chant, a curse. Flashes lit behind my eyes - blue light, a lab, needles, drowning water.

Then another voice, soft, guilty:
"Rey, I'm sorry" a blurry boys face leaned close - and then-

I gasped awake.

Where the hell- ? Blackness swallowed everything.

Feel around. Found out where you are.

That voice. Familiar. Like it had lived in me for years.

I pressed my palms to cold metal. Walks, floor, ceiling - a box, a cage. My chest tightened.

"Pain"

"Cold"

"Blood"

"Repeat"

The words hit me like knives. My skull pulsed. Images stuttered through my mind - a different dark box, my fists slammed against the walls. Had I done this before?

Look for a weapon.

I obeyed. My fingers scraped across crates, sealed tight. One had a jagged piece of wood sticking out. I tore it free. Not much, but enough to swing.

Next question: who am I?

"What the hell is my name?" I whispered

The box groaned, rising faster and faster, until it slammed to a stop. Voices filtered through the ceiling. A flood of light blinded me. I retreated, clutching the wood like a lifeline.

I glanced down: my leg was wrapped in bandages, blood seeping through. I don't remember doing that.

Then boots thudded above, someone dropped into the box.

Voices echoed from above.
"Wheres the shank?"
"Bet he's a scared greenie"
"Hes probably klucking his pants!"

The boy moved a crate and froze when he saw me. His eyes went wide.

"Don't come any closer" I warned, holding the wood up.

The voices laughed above.
"Man, that boy sounds like a girl!"

"Newt, what's taking so long? Get him up here already!" Another voice barked.

"It's...it's a girl!" The boy said, staring at me like o was a ghost.

A stunned silence, then an eruption.
"A girl?!"
"Is she hot?"
"I call dibs!"
"Nah man, I saw her first she's mine!"
"You can't even see her, slinthead!"

The voices made my stomach turn. My grip on the wood tightened.

"Enough! Newt, get her out" a commanding voice cut through.

The boy- newt- tried to smile.
"Hello, love. Let's get you out of this box" he said

"Hell no. Considering what I just heard, I think I'll just die right here" I snapped, weapon raised.

"I won't let them hurt you. Just put the wood down, yeah?" he said gently

"You can promise that?" I asked, searching his face. He hesitated. That was all I needed to know.

"I'll come out, but I'm keeping the wood" I said

He nodded.

I climbed out, squinting in the sunlight - and froze. Boys. Dozen of them. Fifty maybe more. All staring, all talking at once.

"She's hot!"
"Why send a girl here? I have my idea"
"She's mine!"

My skin crawled.

One of them swaggered up.
"Hey there, beautiful-" he starts

The wood cracked across his head before he finished. He hit the dirt. I bolted.

I scanned around: grass, makeshift houses, four towering walls with openings at their centers. Too familiar.

The doors. Freedom.

I sprinted toward them, dropped the wood, pushed harder. Almost there-

A hand clamped my leg and dragged me down. Dirt scraped my arms. I jumped up, but the boy grabbed my arm.

"Get the hell off!" I shouted, thrashing.

"Listen! I'm trying to help! Those doors are about to close. Trust me- you don't want to be out there when they do" he said urgently, not mocking.

I ripped my arm free, glaring.
"Then tell your bastards to back off. And tell me where the hell I am" I snap

He glanced over his shoulders. Two older boys barked orders.
"Everyone back to work! Now!"

The crowd grumbled but dispersed.
"Well, greenie, welcome to the glade" the boy said

The word hit something in me. Grass. Walls. Wood. It all pushed like déjà vu.

A shriek tore from my throat before I knew it was mine. Pain split my skull. I dropped to my knees, clutching my head.

Ringing filled my ears.

"Wicked is good"

The memory slammed me- this same place, these same walls. Only empty. Only me.

And then, mercifully, darkness.