Chapter One: The Escape.
She hears her feet echo as they hit the wet pavement under her while she runs. It is late at night in Amity, and the moonlight illuminates the glistening ground but she pays no attention as she runs as fast as can. Adrenaline is surging through her veins as she ignores the ache in her legs and her stomach as she night is chilly and she isn't wearing a coat but she hardly feels the cool fall air biting at her skin. Her mind vaguely registers the fact that she is bleeding as those areas felt cold when the air hits them. The colorful leaves blurred on the ground and she gasps in air, trying desperately to keep herself going.
She runs faster when she sees the hospital come into view. Her vision is fading in and out now but she forces her legs to carry her faster to the front doors. She knows that is she stops before she gets there she will die. She grunts as she makes it to the doors and flings herself through them, not being able to feel her legs anymore.
The last thing she sees before the darkness takes over, are many pairs of feet heading in her direction and she blacks out before any of them can reach her.
When she wakes up she is in a hospital bed. Machines are beeping around her and she's attached to an IV. She doesn't dare move because there was already a sharp pain in her stomach, threatening to tear her apart from inside. She takes a few deep breaths and searches the bed for a button to call someone. Before she can find it she is greeted by a nurse. She has platinum blonde hair, baby blue eyes and a sweet smile. She can't be any more than eighteen years old.
"Take it easy," The nurse tells her softly as she swiftly moves to her side to check the machines next to her bed. "You were in pretty bad shape when we found you on the floor of the lobby. It's a good thing you made it here when you did." Her voice is soft and gentle. "What's your name?"
"Valerie," She answers, as she watches the young nurse look her over for any signs of trouble. When she talks she realizes how dry her mouth and throat are and she clears her throat.
"I'm Danielle, I'll be your nurse for the evening." She steps back and smiles at her patient. "I'm glad to see you awake. I'm going to go get your pain meds and inform the doctor that you are awake. I'll be back in a moment."
Valerie watches as the nurse leaves the room quickly, closing the light wooden door behind her. Valerie tries to ignore the searing pain in her stomach and takes this time to take in her surroundings. All the walls are white as expected in a hospital. She's in what she is guessing is a recovery room. She frowns to herself as she realizes she must have had emergency surgery, because that was the only time they took patients to recovery rooms. There was a big flat screen TV on the wall in front of her bed and there was a big window looking over the city to her left. Other than that the room was pretty bare, there was a couch and a chair for visitors and a sink to the right of her bed. She was covered up in white sheets and she was sitting halfway up on the bed with two pillows behind her back.
Closing her eyes, she tries to take deep breaths as memories fly to the front of her mind. She can still feel his hands on her. She has no idea how long she was unconscious. Tears forming in her eyes make them sting and she takes more deep breaths as her heart starts hammering in her chest, making her chest ache. She closes her eyes as her head starts throbbing and she can feel that her face was aching as well now.
The nurse enters the room again, still with a kind smile on her face. She has water and some pills on a tray, along with some ice-chips. She places the tray on the bed and presses a button on the bed that has Valerie sitting up a bit more. Valerie doesn't miss the way her stomach muscles protest to the motion.
"You don't want to eat right away. I brought you some ice-chips so that you could eat those. And here, take these, they'll help with the pain." She hands Valerie two pills and the water and she takes them as the nurse watches her. When she is done she hands the cup back and relaxes against the bed, trying to get her thoughts together. It's silent for a moment as the nurse works in the room. A few minutes later she appears on the side of the bed again with a clipboard with papers attached and a pen in hand.
She gives Valerie a sweet smile again before she speaks quietly, and softly. "The doctor will be in shortly. I need to ask you a few questions in the meantime." She looks at Valerie and she nods at her in response.
The questions start out simple enough. She asks things like Address and phone number and if Valerie has any insurance. Valerie isn't surprised by the next questions in the least, but she doesn't really want to answer. She grits her teeth when the nurse looks down at her paper and frowns.
"What happened to you?" She asks bluntly, and watches Valerie's face as she pauses to gather her thoughts. "Start from the beginning." Danielle presses gently and waits patiently.
"I came home from work early," Valerie starts. She looks down at her hands as she talks. She didn't even want to think about it, but she knows she has no choice. She had to get this over with. She was done protecting the person who hurt her so much. She was done with this life. "I walked in on my husband with another woman." Her voice is low and soft but it breaks with pain as she speaks. "He jumped off of her and she got dressed in a flash and ran off. I told him to get out and that we were over. He got angry and grabbed me. Long story short, he stabbed me. He was trying to kill me. I got away from him and ran out of the front door and all the way here."
She looked up to see Danielle frowning at her. "He was arrested. I didn't know you were involved until you gave me your information. He was detained, and he's not going anywhere." Relief flooded through Valerie as she watched Danielle writing on the form in front of her. When she was done, she stood up and moved her chair back against the wall.
"Are you feeling better?" She asks her before she leaves, making Valerie realize that she can't feel the searing pain in her stomach anymore. She did flinch though, thinking about Brandon's eyes as he stabbed her, so full of hate.
She's still in shock. She can't believe anything that had just happened was real. She was waiting for this nightmare to be over. Brandon was her best friend, she had thought. They had been together for almost six years, and she thought that they were close. She had been wrong about everything and it made her feel like she didn't know anything anymore. How could she have been so blind for so long. She bit her lip as tears threatened to fall again.
There was a quick tapping on the door and then it opened slowly. Her eyes flew to the door to see the doctor walking in. The print on her name tag read "Dr. Greene" and she was an older woman with salt and pepper hair pulled up into a bun behind her head. When she got closer Valerie saw that she had light green eyes, and she was very pretty for her age.
Dr. Greene stopped at the side of her bed and gave her a small smile. "Hello Valerie. I'm Doctor Greene, I have been taking care of you during your stay here with us."
Valerie manages to give her a small, un-enthusiastic smile and a nod. "How long have I been here?" She asks the older woman.
"About three days." She tells her softly and continues on without waiting for her reaction. "Luckily, your husband missed your vital organs. You will make a full recovery, but it was touch and go there for a while. It's a miracle that you were able to make it that far on foot in the condition you were in. It must have taken a lot of determination to live." She watches as amazement sparkles in the doctors eyes.
Valerie remains silent, watching the doctor as she grabs her file and looks through it while speaking again. "You almost bled to death. We had to take you into emergency surgery to stitch you up in some vital places. You did well, and you are out of the woods now. You will make a full recovery, but you need to take it easy for a couple of weeks. You will be able to leave tomorrow, I'll send you home with pain medication and some fresh bandages. The nurse will teach you how to change them, and you'll need to do that each night after a shower or before you go to bed." She watches as the doctor writes in her chart some more. "Now that you are awake though, Johanna will want to speak with you. I'll send her in once I leave here."
Valerie nods at the doctor, too tired to really respond. She feels like her world just got knocked out from underneath her feet and she doesn't know which way is up and which way is down.
The doctor leaves and she nibbles on ice chips while she waits for Johanna to arrive. It wasn't long before the door opens again and she strolls in. She smiles kindly at Valerie as she enters, and then stops at the end of her bed in front of her.
"I'm not going to ask you how you are feeling, I'm sure the answer is lousy," Johanna says softly, a hint of sadness lingering in her tone as she takes in the sight of Valerie beat up before her. Johanna was shocked that the son of one of her best friends David would put his hands on his wife, and stab her. This was Amity, violence was not common here. When it did happened it shocked everyone. No one could believe what Brandon had done to Valerie. Brandon and Valerie never caused trouble, they appeared to be the perfect couple. Both good looking and happy. Johanna had a heavy heart today. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. You're such a loving and kind young woman, Valerie. Don't let this break you." Johanna's voice was laced with sincerity and generosity that made her the perfect leader of the faction.
Valerie didn't respond to her, but watched her with kind eyes, showing her that she was listening. And nodding her head when she felt it appropriate. She just didn't really feel like speaking, or moving… or breathing.
"We do have a problem though. While Brandon is detained, I do not feel like it is safe for you to be here. I feel like it might be better for you to get away for a while. There is someone that I know can protect you. He is in Dauntless, and I think it might be good for you to go there for at least a while. You will be protected and you can learn how to defend yourself, in case you do come back and he does come back in the future. You don't have to stay in Dauntless permanently, if you don't want to. But while you are there you will be watched 24/7 and trained when you are feeling better." She watches Valerie's face for any kind of reaction. She frowns as she watches Valerie take in the information, pain evident on her face. Johanna knows her head must be spinning, her whole world changed in the matter of minutes.
Valerie nods suddenly, tears sparkling in her eyes. She wants to get away. She wants to get as far away from the memories as possible. "Okay." Is all she says, and then she waits for Johanna to respond to her. Johanna gives her a sad smile.
"Good. We will miss you, Valerie. We have enjoyed having you here with us, and we hope that you come back someday." She hands Valerie a piece of paper with information about where she is to go when she gets to Dauntless. "You'll be asking for Max when you arrive. The man who will be guarding you and training you during your stay is named Eric. He is grumpy, and a bit harsh but he is a good soldier and he will be able to protect you. And there is no one better to train you to defend yourself." She gives Valerie another small smile and then walks over to the side of the bed and wraps her arms around her gently, giving her a soft squeeze before letting go. Valerie returns her hug, she actually will miss Johanna. She had never met such a kind, giving woman in her life.
Johanna runs her hand gently down the side of Valerie's Auburn hair and then leaves the room quickly.
Valerie lets her head fall back and closes her eyes. It's not hard for her to stay calm, despite the dread, sadness, and fear running through her. Mostly she is just numb. He finally made her break. Her eyes started stinging again as she thinks of Brandon. He was all that she had. He was her whole world. She stayed faithful to him, never even as much as looked at other men. She never thought in a million years that he would cheat on her. She tried to push him out of her mind, knowing that he would just come back.
She honestly had no idea what happened. Pushing the thoughts away, she focuses on her breathing. Terror was slowly rising in her. She has no home anymore, she has no one.
Amity has been her home since she could remember. She loved it here. She fit in well, being born a compassionate and loving person. She thought that her life was perfect. All of her dreams had come true. She married the man she loved, and they shared a beautiful home together. She loved her job, working at the local bakery, helping old Mr. Peterson bake all kinds of sweets for desert that they would hand out after dinner and sell on the side. She loved cooking, it was a passion of hers, along with many other things.
None of that mattered to her now though. With the way she felt right now, she wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to enjoy anything ever again. Her world used to be bright, she saw beauty everywhere, but it was black now. She saw no colors, no beauty, she just felt the heaviness in her chest. She hoped time would heal the pain, but at the moment she didn't know how it would. She didn't know how anything could take this away. How would she ever trust anyone again? Had he ruined her forever? Probably. She didn't feel like the same kind and selfless person. She couldn't imagine giving herself away to anyone like that again, making herself vulnerable.
She had herself, and that was all that she needed. A new determination rose up inside her. She was going to go to Dauntless, she was going to become a fighter. And she was going to set his world on fire. Brandon would be sorry that he ever touched her. No one was going to do this to her ever again. That she was sure of.
Eric's POV
There was a loud knock on Eric's door as he was rushing to finish up his paperwork for the day. He was already irritated that he was stuck doing it, because an initiate decided to shoot himself in the foot. Eric couldn't believe that someone could be so stupid and careless. He was sick of putting his life on the line, training these kids who had no idea how to do pretty much anything!
He tried to hide his annoyance a bit as he could tell it was Max knocking, but he didn't want to be bothered right now. He just wanted to get some dinner and go for a run. Running cleared his head, it calmed him and made it so he didn't go to bed and dream about violently murdering every one of his initiates. He didn't know how much longer he could take being an instructor, one of those morons were going to kill him one day.
He called out for Max to enter, and sat up in his chair as the Dauntless leader entered his office. He nodded at him in greeting and got straight to the point. Eric always liked that about Max. No small talk, not beating around the bush and wasting his time. He just got the business out of the way.
"I have an assignment for you," Max told him. The tone of his voice made Eric groan internally. He could tell that he wasn't going to like this one. "There is a girl being transferred here tomorrow. She was stabbed by her husband and Johanna feels like it would do her some good to not only get away but she needs our protection."
Yep. Fuck today. Eric suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Why did he get stuck doing this? Was Four busy?
Max paid no attention to the scowl on the blonde leader's face. Eric was never really happy about anything.
"You are my best soldier." He tells Eric, answering his unspoken question. "You are the best fighter here. You can teach her how to protect herself."
"Who is this girl?" Eric grumbles. Why is she so special? Why do we need to protect her? He didn't ask these questions out loud, but he didn't get it. Why did Max care? Eric was growing suspicious that he and Johanna have something going on that is more than just a business relationship. He wants to question him but doesn't, knowing better than to question his superior.
"Her name is Valerie May. She's Twenty-four, from Amity. Works as a baker, and is currently in the hospital. Her husband stabbed her and she almost bled out. Ran on foot to the hospital, it was two miles away. She nearly died in the lobby, but she made it. Johanna called me, asking me if we could protect her and teach her to defend herself. If she does well here, it will be up to her if she wants to go back or not. But you will oversee everything she does. Train her, and don't take your eyes off of her. We don't know where this guy is mentally, he could try and find her. I know that you will do the best job. That's why I chose you." Eric notices that Max seems impressed with the girl. More than likely he sees potential in her, if there is one thing that Eric has learned about Max through the years, it's that he loves to see people fight to live, and this girl was obviously a fighter.
Eric sighs quietly as Max drops a folder on his desk. Eric opens the yellow folder and picks up the pictures that sit on top of a stack of papers. There is a picture of her on top of the stack. She is standing with another woman, who appears to be her mother from the looks of it. Both of the woman have long auburn hair, with matching brownish green eyes eyes and pale skin. They are smiling, with their arms around each other. They appear to be outside, at a park possibly. His first impression of her is that she is actually very beautiful, not that beauty was enough to impress him. Woman tended to stay away from him anyway, and none of them ever really held his interest. But he was a man, and he was alive, and he had to admit the she was good looking. The pictures underneath were of her injuries.
His eyes narrowed as he took in the images in his hand. Her husband definitely meant to kill her. There were bruises all over her body, she was bloody and messy when the pictures where taken and obviously close to death. Eric gritted his teeth. He was not the type to be compassionate, or sympathetic. He had killed many in cold blood, he had done horrible things. He didn't care either, he slept like a baby at night. He didn't care if people liked him, he didn't let anyone get close. Not much really bothered him, but for some reason, these pictures did. He finds himself wondering what kind of coward of a man would hurt a woman, a woman who couldn't defend herself. Eric finds himself wishing that the asshole would have picked a fight with him instead. If there was one thing that Eric did not respect, it was cowardly actions, and domestic violence was one of those.
He closes her file and nods at Max. "Yes sir. When will she be here?" His voice trails off as he realizes that he would need to watch her at all times, and that probably meant that she would be staying at his place. He curses inwardly. Why did it have to be him? He couldn't even work well with others during the day. Roommates? Ugh. "Where will she be staying Max?" He prays that Max has another solution.
"She'll be here tomorrow at noon, and she will be staying with you. Unless she is in the bathroom, there needs to be a camera on her at all times. I'll have Four set up cameras in your place, everywhere but your bedroom and bathroom. There will be a camera in hers though. If you need to leave her side, you get me. I'll be reporting back to Johanna. Let me know how it goes."
Eric gives Max a quick nod and watches as Max leaves, shutting the door behind him. Eric buries his head in his hands. He wonders how long she'll be staying with him. He hopes he can refrain from killing her himself. He feels a pang of guilt for that thought, but he quickly pushes it away.
As hard as it is for him to admit to himself, a part of him actually does feel sorry for this girl. He sighs and rubs his temples. He is going to hate every single second of this. He just hopes the girl has enough sense to stay out of his way.