1
Tris' POV
I am doing my rounds making sure none of the night crawlers is making any kind of trouble. I don't get it. I've been doing this for four years now and they still seem to come from somewhere. I know that there is an entire world outside the fence with other cities that have survived the war, but they are struggling as much as we do. I'm surprised the Council never mentioned anything, but I guess they're trying to keep things in check. Good luck with that.
Tomorrow is the Choosing Ceremony and I'll have to choose a faction. My aptitude test result was inconclusive. The Dauntless woman, Tori I think her name is, said I'm Divergent and shouldn't tell anyone. Great. On top of all else I'm Divergent, whatever the fuck that means.
It was pretty emotional tonight after supper when mom and dad hugged both me and Caleb and told us they love us. They rarely do that, not because they don't, but because it's too selfish or something. I never got that. What surprised me where Caleb's words. When you choose tomorrow think of mom and dad, but also think of yourself. Does he suspect something? I doubt it. Although it isn't really a secret that I don't fit into Abnegation.
It's nearly one a.m. when I sneak back inside my room and sit down on my bed. I quickly undress and put my night gown on. Just as I slipped into bed I hear a soft knock on my door. I groan and get out of bed. I open my door and see mom standing there.
"Can I come in?" she asks. I nod and step aside allowing her to come in. "How was it?" she asks as she sits down.
"Good. No trouble tonight" I say and mom smiles.
"I didn't mean your patrol. I meant your test" she clarifies.
"Oh, that. It was… odd" I say.
"How come?"
"My test result was inconclusive" I say.
"Divergent" mom says.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your mind works in a million different ways. You see the world different. You can look upon a problem from different angles and determine the best solution. It's not a bad thing, but people don't understand it and therefore fear it" she explains.
"Okay. Sounds stupid, but then again we talk about the same people who live their lives ignoring hard evidence" I say scoffing.
"Beatrice, don't be too hard on them. They haven't seen what you have. They can't possibly imagine the horrors the world is filled with, but you can. You saved them plenty of times."
"Mom, please, if there's another speech coming about how I'm the chosen one and whatnot I'm seriously going to smash my head against the wall." Mom chuckles.
"What factions did you get?" she asks.
"Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless" I say.
"It doesn't surprise me. You probably have aptitude for Candor and Amity as well, but those traits aren't as defined as your selflessness, intelligence and bravery" mom says smiling.
"Yeah, maybe. You sure you are okay with me choosing Dauntless. We won't see each other so often anymore."
"Of course I am and eventually your father will come to terms too. You belong there. I've known this for years. You are selfless, but these strict rules here are just suffocating you. Besides as a Dauntless you can protect the city better."
"Unlike now when I'm lurking around the corners to wait for the monsters to come out and play" I say and mom laughs lightly.
"It'll be fine, baby" mom says hugging me.
She leaves my room and I finally go to bed. The moment my head hits the pillow I'm out like a light.
I wake early the next morning and start doing some sit-ups, followed by push-ups and a set of chin-ups. Thanks to my petite form and the Abnegation clothes no one ever saw how defined my body really is. I needed to keep it that way, otherwise people would have started asking questions why I needed to train to become stronger. If they would have known the truth they would have either (a) locked me up in the nut house or (b) freaked out and I would have been the cause of a city wide panic wave.
I go into the bathroom and take a hot shower soothing the pain in my body. When I'm done I let Caleb shower as well as I head downstairs to help mom with breakfast. We don't say anything. Everything was said yesterday. Besides dad could overhear us and I can't have that today.
Breakfast is as plain as always, but this will be the last time I will eat with my family so I enjoy it to the fullest. Dad and Caleb clean the kitchen as I go upstairs to say goodbye to my childhood bedroom.
Like everyone, my family and I ascend the stairs to the meeting room at the Hub where all the dependents will choose a faction to live in. As we enter the room I look to my left where a long table with five bowls, each representing one of the factions, are on display. The room is almost full and as we walk toward a few free seats Jeanine Matthews, one of Erudite's leaders greets us.
"Andrew, Natalie. Good to see you" she says in a sweet voice.
"Jeanine" my dad says and mom just nods.
"How is Marcus holding up? We need to find out who is behind these rumors" she says and I can see a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. I never liked her. She always acted way too friendly. She never saw me, but I saw her.
"I think we all know who is behind them" mom says and dad turns his head to look at her, trying hard to hide his grin. Mom's a feisty one.
"I can assure you, if it's someone from Erudite I will find it" she says and then looks at us. "These your children. I don't think I knew they were choosing today. What are your names?" she asks. Caleb immediately extends his hand to shake hers and says his name and when she lets go of his hand and looks at me, probably waiting for me to say my own Caleb jumps in and says "this is Beatrice". She then goes on about how important it is to know our own minds and whatnot and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. When she finally shuts up we sit down in the Abnegation section of the room and wait for Marcus, our leader, to start.
Marcus gives a small speech about how we won't be dependents anymore but full members of our society. He then starts calling names from Z to A and when he gets to Prior he calls Caleb first. My brother stands up and walks toward the center of the room where the bowls are. He picks up the knife and cuts his palm just enough to draw a few drops of blood. He holds his hand out and I'm convinced he will let his blood drop on the stones that represent Abnegation, but instead hit the water in the Erudite bowl. My brother chose Erudite and left our parents. Mom looks briefly at me and nods.
"Be brave" she whispers. I nod. We both know that I can't stay in Abnegation.
When Marcus calls my name I stand up and walk to the bowls. I pick up the knife and cut my palm like all the other dependents before me and hold my hand out. Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless: these are the factions I'm compatible with. But there's only one faction for me. I hold my hand over the Dauntless bowl and the moment the blood hits the heated coals a hissing sound is heard and then the Dauntless crowd erupts into loud cheers. I take my place with my new faction, avoiding eye contact with my parents.
The ceremony goes on until the last dependent chose and we are all dismissed. I join the Dauntless crowd and together we run out the building and head toward the train. This will be the first time I will board the train during daylight. It doesn't take long for the train to round the corner and the group gathered here starts running. I pace myself, not wanting to draw attention to me and try to get on among the last few. I clumsily hop on and bump into someone.
"Oh sorry" I say to a dark-skinned Candor girl.
"We made it" she says out of breath.
"Yeah."
"I'm Christina" she says extending her hand to me.
"Tris" I say. It's actually Beatrice, but one night during my rounds in the city I bumped into a faction less man. He was drunk but didn't seem dangerous. I helped him back to his shelter and because he was slurring he couldn't pronounce Beatrice so only Tris came out. It stuck with me. Besides I could be Beatrice during the day, the obedient Abnegation girl, while at night I became Tris, protector of the city.
I chat with Christina and I realize she is really nice, I mean for a Candor smartmouth. At some point a Dauntless woman tells us to get ready. I walk toward the door and watch as people jump out of the train and onto a rooftop. I take several steps back to get into a sprint and Christina follows my example.
"Together?" she asks and I nod. We run as fast as we can and when we reach the door we jump out as wide as we can. The landing is rough. I've done this plenty of times before but I need to keep a low profile for now.
We quickly pull ourselves together and head toward where a crowd has gathered. One of the leaders, a guy named Eric, tells us that we have to jump if we want to get into Dauntless.
"We just jumped. They want us to jump again?" Christina asks and I shrug.
"Well someone has to go first. Who's it gonna be?" Eric asks. There is silence, transfers and Dautless-born alike keep quiet, none wants to go first.
"Me" I say and all eyes are trained on me. I slowly make my way toward the edge of the building and look down. I'm too high up to see anything except the dark hole beneath. I get rid of my jacket and hear a boy say "Yeah, take it off, Stiff. Put it back on" followed by snickers. I don't look back. I climb the step and look down. Now or never.
"Today, initiate" Eric says bored. I breathe in and then take the leap. I feel myself fall, but don't close my eyes. I doubt they wanted to kill us this way. My back hits something and I realize it's a net. I start laughing lightly, mostly to myself, when I feel the net move. I turn my head to my left and see a handsome guy with the most amazing dark blue eyes I've ever seen. Damn, he's hot.
"What, you get pushed?" he asks in a deep, manly voice. Wait. What? What did he ask? Why would he assume I got pushed?
"No" I say. He extends his hands to me and helps me get out of the net. He easily lifts me up and sets me down before him.
"What's your name?" he asks and I find myself staring at his gorgeous face.
"It's Be…" I almost say Beatrice but then correct myself. I left her behind in Abnegation.
"Is it a hard one? You can pick a new one if you like, but make it good. You don't get to pick again" he says. I nod.
"It's Tris."
"First jumper, Tris" he announces loudly and the crowd cheers. He then turns to me smiling. "Welcome to Dauntless." I smile back but then feel someone approach me. I turn around and see someone guiding me down from the platform I'm currently standing on.
One by one all the initiates jump and are introduced. After the Dauntless-born are separated from us transfers the tall handsome guy introduces himself.
"I usually work in intelligence, but during initiation I'll be your instructor. My name is Four" he says. That's an odd name.
"Four? Like the number?" Christina asks amused.
"Exactly like the number" he says with a crooked smile, but I can tell he isn't please by her remark.
"What? One, two and three were taken?" she insists. Four takes a step toward her towering over her. She is taller than me, but Four is taller than both of us. He looks down on her with a murderous look on his face. Wouldn't I have seen scarier things I would have probably shit my pants.
"If you want to survive here you will learn to keep your mouth shut" he growls and Christina nods scared. He looks up and for a brief moment our eyes lock. I can't tell what it is about this guy, but he intrigues me. "Follow me" he says and we walk after him.
As we walk through the dimly lit halls I see some sort of tattoo peeking out of his shirt. I wonder how far down it goes and what it represents. I shake my head. This is neither the time nor the place to drool over my instructor. Four shows us around telling us where we can or can't go and then we reach the Pit. Mom already told me a few things about Dauntless, since she grew up here. After we finish there he takes us into the dorm, our home for the next ten weeks.
To my surprise the dorm is gender neutral, which means boys and girls alike sleep in the same large room. This isn't as bad as the bathroom that have no curtains whatsoever. Four leaves us and tells us to change into the Dauntless clothes the faction provided for us. I find a bunk bed and sit down. Next to me is Christina and on the bed above mine sleeps Al, a tall, bulky Candor guy. We all change into our new clothes and head out to get to the dining hall to eat. As we enter the loud room we look around to find a place to sit. Unfortunately, the only two places left are right next to Four. Christina sits down next to another Candor girl, I think Molly is her name, and I sit between Christina and Four. Across the table from us sits Al and another boy, who's name I don't remember. I look over the food and pick up a hamburger. I put it on my plate and serve myself some baked potatoes.
"Have you never seen a hamburger before?" Christina asks.
"No, I have seen one before, I just have never eaten one" I reply.
"Abnegation eat plant based food with the minimum of seasoning" Four says and we look at him. "You are all Dauntless now. Act accordingly" he adds and looks at us.
"Were you a transfer too? Or Dauntless-born?" I ask trying to make small talk. He looks at me a bit surprised but then smiles.
"What makes you think you can talk to me?" Douche.
"Must be because you are so approachable, like a bed of nails" I say and hear Christina next to me choke on her food. Four stares at me, obviously surprised by my answer. He turns away for a moment taking a sip from his mug and then looks back.
"Careful" he warns and stands up, having finished his meal.
"You, my friend, have a death wish" Christina says with a chuckle. I just shrug but think of what she said. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to piss of people around here. After all, I'm not a member yet.
"What's your name?" I ask the guy in front of me.
"I'm Will. Erudite" he says.
"And I'm Al. Candor" the bulky guy says.
"I'm Tris. Dauntless" I say and they laugh a little.
"Tris is right. We were Candor or Erudite or Abnegation. Now we're Dauntless" Christina says.
After we finish eating the faction leaders come into the cafeteria and address the new arrivals. Max talks about what Dauntless stands for and welcomes the transfers and whishes us all good luck. To all our surprise the crowd gathered here picks all the initiates up and cheers loudly, welcoming us into their midst.
Thankfully, the rest of the evening is for us to get to know the compound. We walk around the Pit familiarizing ourselves with the hallways and the paths. We make mental notes where what is, like the shortest way to the cafeteria, the infirmary, the training room. Four showed us all we needed to know, but I for one like to get a sense of the place.
When my eye catches someone familiar I gesture that person to meet me in a hallway away from the crowd in the Pit. I excuse myself from the others and tell them I need to tinkle. Christina wants to come with me at first but I manage to convince her that I'm shy around others when I have to pee. She accepts my explanation and I rush to the meeting point. At first I thought I took a wrong turn, but then someone grabs me by the collar and pulls me inside a dark room. I almost punch that person when I recognize who it is.
"Hana" I say excited to see my mom's best friend and my ally.
"Sweetheart, I'm so glad to see you. Welcome to Dauntless" she says.
"Thanks. It's so good that you are here. It's almost like mom is here too" I say a little sad. I do miss mom. And dad. And Caleb, come to think of it.
"Did you familiarize yourself with this place yet?" she asks.
"A little. You weren't kidding when you said it is like a fortress."
"How are you?"
"A bit nervous, actually. I need to keep a low profile as to not reveal my strength, at least not for now."
"But don't hold back too much. I heard all kinds of rumors going on here."
"Like?"
"It seems the leaders decided to allow only ten initiates to become members" she says surprising me.
"What? Why?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think they want to root out the bad ones."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It seems they only want the best of the best. Make sure you are one of those. That's what I told Uriah" she says. Uriah is her youngest son. She often talks about her sons, but I never met them.
"He is an initiate too?" I ask.
"Yes. His older brother Zeke is eighteen. He works in intelligence" Hana says.
"What does that mean?"
"Means he works in the control room. Tris, there are cameras all over this place. Make sure not to do anything compromising, you know" she says raising an eyebrow. I know.
"Wait. Four, my instructor works there too" I say, more to myself.
"Yes. He and Zeke were in the same initiate class. He is a good boy, a bit rough around the edges, keeps to himself, but a good boy nonetheless. I wish my own were a bit more like him" she says.
"You sound like you want to adopt him" I say with a chuckle.
"I kind of have. He is a sweet boy, despite appearances" she says smiling.
"Okay, enough about this guy. I need to know when and where my best window is" I say. I need to go out on patrol.
"Tris, I think it would be better if you would take a step back while initiation is still going on."
"What? Why?"
"I told you, there are cameras everywhere. But there's also a curfew. If you are out after curfew that's reason to punish you and even make you faction less. Also, as an initiate you aren't allowed to leave the compound without a member" she adds.
"Hana, I can't just abandon the city. You better than anyone know what I'm dealing with every night" I argue.
"I know, sweetheart, but if you want to make it in Dauntless you need to play by the rules."
"What about the city?"
"Your mom and I will look into that. Also, Liam promised to help" she says. I scoff. Liam is the worst choice. "Tris, you need to focus on initiation. I'll keep you in the loop, I promise."
"Okay" I reluctantly say. We part ways and I return to the others, but my mind is racing through the city. I imagine every place possible and wonder if some monster or dark fiend isn't lurking around, just waiting for an innocent to kill.