Divergent a year later.
Less than a year ago, our society was turned upside down. We as a people are still struggling to figure out two questions, the first what the heck happened and the second where do we go from here? We thought dividing people into factions was the answer, basically what you valued would determine what faction you went to and how you lived. Every year the 16 year olds would go through the choosing ceremony and decide for themselves what faction they wanted to live in. This tradition is supposed to continue this year, however, instead of five factions, this year we will have six to choose from. The six factions are, Candor – honesty, Erudite –knowledge, Dauntless – bravery, Abnegation – selflessness, Erudite/dauntless (ED for short) – a combined faction of Erudite and dauntless, and my faction Amity – friendship.
A few months after the choosing ceremony last year the Erudite and the Dauntless attacked the Abnegation. Some said it was because the Abnegation were our government leaders and the Erudite wanted a say in the government. I don't think that's a bad thing but I think they went about it the wrong way. They drugged the dauntless soldiers and basically turned them into living, mindless robots. Allot of people died that night and we (Amity) ended up being neutral territory. We also gave refuge to some of the people who needed it. This is where the peace talks have been and continues to take place.
The peace talks are something else; all of the factions have sent two representatives. My Dad, Bill and My Uncle Trey are ours; Caleb and Marcus are Abnegation, Sue and Tony are Candor's, Erudite sent Alisha and Jeff, ED has Erik and Jeannine, and Dauntless sent Four and Tris.
Since the peace talks are taking place here, my father asked for volunteers to be the serving staff during the talks. So far I have been able to get out of them, no such luck this time. Sasha, another sixteen year old, and I are filling the water glasses and putting the muffins, that some of the Abnegation women baked, on the table.
Four, Tris and Caleb walk in talking, I was able to get to know them pretty well when they stayed with us.
"Dawn, how are you?" Tris says coming up to me.
"I'm good Tris, how are you?" I say.
"I see they finally sucked you into do being the water girl huh?" She says.
"Yeah, you knew it was bound to happen at some point." I say laughing, Four and Caleb join us by this point.
A tall, lanky guy with greasy black hair and multiply face piercings came into the room. He scans the room and his eyes land on our little group. He has a look of pure hatred in his eyes as he assed our little group. His eyes landed on me and I could feel them going all over my body, it gave me the chills. I've been told I'm beautiful, but I don't see it. I'm short like five foot short. I have an abundant chest, with red hair, green eyes and skin so pale that you would think I was albino.
He came over to our group. His eyes are still on me, the look he was giving me was of a predator that was looking at his prey.
"Four, Tris, aren't you going to introduce us?" He says. No greeting for them at all.
"No." Four replies.
"Well if you won't than I'll introduce myself." He says and then extends his hand to me "I'm Erik and you are?"
I shake his hand and respond. "Hi I'm Dawn."
As his hand curls around my mine it hits me. I realize who this is. This is the Erik the Dauntless leader who turned his faction into mindless killing machines. My hearts starts pounding in my chest and for the first time in my life I feel real fear. I drop his hand like it burned me. He starts laughing.
"I see you realize who I am." He says.
"Ye Yes Sir." I stammer out.
"I'll see you around Dawn." He says laughing.
Once he's out of ear shot.
"Tris, Should I be worried?" I say never taking my eyes off of him.
"No, you should be fine." She says, I think she's lying to make me feel better.
They all take their seats while Sasha and I get to sit against the wall waiting for someone to need something. Sasha leaves me alone to check on lunch preparations. I'm scanning the room and I notice Erik who is sitting between Jeanne and Sue and across from Four and Tris. He lifts his class to let me know he would like more water. I pick up the water pitcher and walk over to him.
I take his glass from him and fill it with ice water, I try and give it back to him but he doesn't take it so I lean over trying to set the glass on the table when I feel his cold hand on the back of my leg slowly sliding up to where it's under my skirt and on the back of my thigh. I jump and knock the water over.
"I'm so sorry; I'll get that cleaned up right away." I say to the room as I hurry to clean up the mess I just made.
Erik is smiling and chuckling. I guess he thinks it's funny.
"I guess this is a good time for a break, we can meet back here in 15 minute." My father says.
My father comes up to me, Erik is still near.
"Dawn, are you alright?" He asks.
"Yes father, I'm fine, just clumsy. " I say.
I can hear Erik strike up a conversation with my Father. "So Bill what do you think of talks so far?" Erik asks my father as they both walk out of the room and leave me to clean up the mess.
The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully. They decide that Amity will run the choosing ceremony this year. My father is pleased that he is chosen to lead the ceremony this year. All of the representatives will be back tomorrow; they are finally going to discuss how the government will be run. I hope they can finally put all this behind them. I stay to clean up the room. I'm wiping the table down when someone walks back into the room.
"You know you should really think about joining the new faction this year, this is your year right?" Erik says.
Startled, I turn around to see him standing in the doorway.
"Yes it is my choosing year, but I like my faction so I'll probably stay here." I say.
"That's because the only thing that you have every known is this place." He says, closing the gap between us.
"I think you would do well in my faction. As a matter of fact I can guarantee you will do well in my faction. And I want you." He says taking a strand of my hair and tucking it behind my ear.
"Do you always get what you?" I ask.
"Yes." He says looking at me like I was his prize.
"Well I guess this will be a first for you." I say.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"I mean Erik, that I have no intentions of leaving Amity, and if I did I wouldn't join your faction. I know what you did, I saw those people who took refuge here, I bandaged them, I cleaned their wounds and I helped find them something to eat and find clothing for them. I don't want to be part of anything that would and could cause that kind of pain on a peaceful people like Abnegation." I say with my voice quivering. I'm trying very hard not to let him know that he scares me.
He starts laughing. I think he's actually laughing at me.
"Oh Dawn, how naive you are, I take what I want, and I will have you, I was just trying to be nice and give you the choice of coming willingly." He says as he brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek.
"Hey did you see my pen?" Four asks coming through the door. "Whoa, Sorry am I interrupting something? "
"No. Is this it?" I ask walking towards him and the door. I hand Four the pen and walk out of the room. I don't stop until I get to my house and run up to my bedroom.
A while later there is a knock on my door.
"Come in." I say.
My Dad walks in carrying a tray of food. The smell of my mom's chicken noodle soup and fresh baked bread hits and my stomach starts to growl. I didn't realize how hungry I am.
"I'm guessing you were really tired when you got home today, you missed dinner, so I thought I would bring it up to you. " He says setting the tray down.
"Thank you Father, it smells yummy." I say standing up from my bed to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"I need you to do me a favor." He says.
He has a solemn look on his face.
"What is it Father? What can I do to help?" I ask.
"I need you to be at the talks again tomorrow, Erik requested it, and He said he wouldn't continue the talks unless you were there. I think he has his eye on you. "He says smiling.
I think he is pleased that a leader of another faction has found me interesting.
"Yes Father, if you think it's important I'll be there. " I say.
"Good, that will make him more agreeable. Good night, see you tomorrow." He says.
"Good night." I say.
The next morning I wake up and after breakfast I head back to the meeting place. I set everything up and wait. The meeting starts and 9 hours later they finally get the new government setup. Each faction will have two representatives, kind of like this meeting, and how they are selected is up to the individual factions. The representatives will elect a single person to preside over everything and basically be a tie breaker. All resources are going to be divided how the counsel sees fit, all factions will be represented equally.
Today is peacefully just the way I like it. Erick leaves me alone today only looking at me every so often. I'm cleaning up after the meeting. When Erik walks in and closes the door behind him.
"So did you think anymore about what I said yesterday?" Erik asks.
"No I told you yesterday I'm fine where I am." I say.
He comes closer to me, and takes the glasses out of my hands and sets them on the table.
"I much would have preferred it if you would come with me willingly." He says.
He pulls me close to him and his lips meet mine in a kiss. I try and pull away but he doesn't let me go. My heart starts pounding, I start sweating. I can feel my throat closing in fear as adrenaline pumps through my system.
"I told you I always get what I want." He says, leaning his head down to kiss me again.
I slap him across the face and instead of getting off of me it makes him more aggressive.
"My you do have fight in you, just the way I like it, come on hit me again." He taunts.
I slap him again so hard that the palm of my hand burns from the impact and he has my hand print on his face. He pushes me back toward the table. Grabs my wrists and holds them in one of his hands above my head. His other hand moves under my shirt searching for my breast, he moved my shirt up over my head so that he can help use it to help pin me down. He bends his head and kisses the valley between my breasts. I shiver from the contact. I don't want him touching me anymore. I manage to get one of my legs between his and I jerk my knee. He manages to dodge it.
"You are feisty; I'm going to have to take you with me. That way I can have you whenever I want. I like it when they fight back." He says.
He rips my bra off, and his hand moves to my leg and starts going under my skirt. He starts to rip my panties, I start moving as much as possible trying anything and everything I can to get him off of me. He finally punches me in the face. I cry out in pain. That only seems to excite him more.
I'm lying on the table.
"No please don't. Please stop. I don't want this. Please. " I cry
"Oh baby I can't stop now. You'll enjoy it. " He says.
"HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP! SOMEONE HELP ME.. PLEASE ANYONE!" I scream as loud as I can.
He punches me in the face again, and gets himself situated between my legs. I'm crying and begging him to stop, but he doesn't. The door bangs open and I try to see who it is, I've never seen him before. His skin is tan and he has dark hair and dark eyes and built.
"Help me please." I say to him.
"This doesn't concern you Uriah! Or you Zek." Erik says.
I noticed another boy about the same age as Erick and has similar features to Uriah enter the room. They don't ever say anything to Erik they just come over and remove him from me and take him out of the room. I have no idea where they take him and I don't care as long as I never see him again.
My shirt is ruined and I'm trying to cover myself as much as possible. Uriah walks back in handing me the shirt he just took off.
"Here." He says handing me his shirt.
"Thank you ." I say through the tears.
"Come on, I'll walk you home." He says.
I nod my head and let him take me home. I don't remember much after that.
After going through this, I've decided. I want to help protect people. I want to fight for what's good and right, and I will never, never be this weak again. I will stop Erik from doing this to someone else.