[EDITED ON 28. 07. 2019]
I changed the very last paragraph in this chapter.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Anne kept repeating the four words in her mind over and over again non stop, because she knew that if she stopped, she would most definitely start panicking and everything would get a lot worse than it already was.

She currently sat in a chair in one of the larger rooms of the Homestead that served as the Gathering room or the room where the Keeper's held Gatherings. The Keeper's all sat in a semi circle facing Nick and Alby who sat a few feet in front of them. Both had serious looks on their faces as they whispered back and forth between each other. Nick looked tired and Alby looked like he was about to explode. Anne just wanted to leave.

Anne had no idea why she was there in the first place. She had been helping the other MedJacks when Nick had asked her to come with him and then she was sitting there, feeling like she was going to go crazy from curiosity any second. She could feel the other boys looking over at her as well, probably just as curious about why she was there as she was.

Finally, Nick cleared his throat, clearly cutting Alby off midsentence. He stood up, not sparing a glance towards his second in command. They didn't seem to be getting along very well today.

"I declare this Gathering begun," Nick mumbled, then spoke louder. "A lot of you must be wondering why you're here, so I'll quickly get to that first. We're here because of what happened with Gally two days ago. It involved Anne which is why she is here."

Nick paused as though he knew exactly what would happen next. Whispers broke out as the boys started whispering back and forth between each other like a bunch of excited girls who had caught a whisp of the most exciting gossip in days. It was hillarious and annoying at the same time. Anne just ducked her head, wishing her hair wasn't up in a ponytail so she could hide behind it like a curtain.

"Apparently, he said that Anne over here is going to jump off the cliff to her death," Alby deadpanned. "We wanna hear your thoughts on this."

Winston was the first to speak up. "Gally was going through he changing, Alby. You can't really take this seriously?"

"I think we can," Alby said. "First point is that Anne is the only girl here. Maybe she was sent here for a reason. Gally got stung in the middle of the day, just outside the door. You don't think that's weird? And then he starts screaming about people jumping off cliffs."

"Sounds like a load of stuff that isn't even related, Alby," Minho muttered from the opposite side of the room from where Anne sat. He looked tired and downright bored like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Anne couldn't blame him. She wanted the excwt same thing. And honestly, he seemed right. What Alby was saying made no sense at all.

"Just think about it," Alby said. "Try to understand what I'm saying. Try to see the connections."

"Alby, what are you saying?" Minho asked tiredly. "Just say it."

"I think we should take her to the cliff, see if any bells ring or something."

The room was completely silent. Not even one sound was heard the ought he entire place. Anne felt her heart beating faster and faster wondering if she was thinking what Alby was thinking. Was he going to send her out into the maze?

Minho was the first to speak up. "Are you sure your okay over there? It all makes no shucking sense, Alby. And even if we did, taking her to the place where Gally said she'll die seems like a terrible idea."

A few people nodded and others just stayed quiet. Then Nick spoke up. "He's right. We should check."

"You don't really think there's a magical exit there or something, do you?" one of the boys asked, laughing a bit.

"There could be," Nick said, his face expressionless. "We need to make sure. We need to get out of here."

"So you're gonna make someone jump of the freaking cliff to see if there's an exit? Sound like a pile of klunk to me," another boy said, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly.

In the end, there was huge argument and Anne didn't know exact how it happened, but a decision was made. They decided not to send Anne into he maze with the deciding vote being Nick's. Alby didn't look even the slightest bit happy as he stormed out of the room.

×××

Guys. This is the chapter I've spent I don't know how many weeks writing. It's such a hard chapter to write for some reason and even though I've finished it now, I still hate it and it's super short. I just needed to get that part out of the way to continue the story. So, so sorry for the long wait.

Questions
What do you think is going to happen?

Are they going to find anything?

Is this just going to end up being a big fat opportunity for Anne and Minho to bond?

Why are things so tense between Nick and Alby?

Okay, that's it bye. Thanks for reading and thank you so much for not giving up on this story!