Disclaimer: Most rights go to Veronica Roth, but some of the characters I own. Otherwise, nothing else belongs to me. I also have used a lot of direct quotes and lines that were in the books Four and Divergent, so if you see a line that looks like one from those books, that is what they are and I don't own them. :)
PROLOGUE / ARABELLA POV
Breathe in. I suck in a sharp burst of stale air. Breathe out. A shaky gasp rattles from my lungs and out my mouth.
I lift my head up from one of the school books resting on my simple plywood desk. I hear the familiar sound of soft footsteps ascending the stairs and prodding down the narrow gray hallway. A soft knock on my bedroom door wakes me up from my daydream.
"Come in," I whisper, even though I know that he will come in anyway. A familiar face peers around the doorframe, the only face I've learned to trust these 12 years that I've been alive.
"Hi, Ella." My brother enters the room and wraps his arms around me, even though I am still seated at my desk. I stand up and wrap my arms around his waist.
"Hi, Tobias," I whisper into his shirt, against his chest. This is where I feel the most comfortable, here, wrapped in my brother's embrace. We stay like that for a while, before Tobias speaks.
"I need to go, otherwise Dad will hear us," Tobias murmurs, and slowly loosens his grip on my waist.
"Yeah. But we'll talk later, right?"
"Of course we will, when have we not?" I pick up his school bag that he dropped at the foot of my bed earlier and hand it to him. Tobias manages a small smile of thanks, and he walks over to the exit of my bedroom, jiggles the doorknob silently, and with a swish of his baggy, grey clothing, he is gone.
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"This is rank with self-indulgence!" Marcus's voice echoes through the wall that separates my brother's bedroom from mine. Oh, no. Oh my God. He found the trunk.
I bite my lip; I bite it so hard that I can taste a little blood. I shiver at that thought. Ugh, blood. I hate blood.
I think of what Tobias must be feeling. That was basically like our mother's passing gift to us. All of the objects locked away in that trunk mean the world to my brother, and I can't bear to think of what he must be feeling now.
"The Choosing Ceremony, Dad!" Tobias chokes on the words on their way out of his mouth, and I could hear the notes of fear in his voice.
I don't even know how my brother still manages to call him "dad", because how could that monster possibly be a father, to me, to us, to anyone? He'll always be Marcus to me, the person who couldn't provide me and my brother with even a semi-normal childhood.
My brother's muffled screams fill the house. I feel a fire of rage build inside of me, threatening to turn everything in my path to smoke and ash. I have to go help Tobias, I need to. I can't let Marcus beat him up anymore. He can hurt me, but not him.
I storm out of my room and burst into his bedroom. I see Tobias leaning against the dresser in the corner, his eyes spilling over with tears. I see Marcus with his belt, standing over my brother. He raises his belt once more, and I take that as my cue.
I sprint over in front of Tobias and shout, "NO!"
The belt hits my back and I scream in pain, but I remind myself that I can't let the belt hit my brother tonight. The fabric comes searing down on my back again, and I scream once more. Then Marcus punches me in the jaw, hard, and I fall to the ground, Tobias unprotected once more. I find the strength to haul myself off the floor, and I spread my arms and body over my brother's shaking figure.
"LEAVE!" I yell. Tobias wraps his arms around me and presses his face into the crook of my neck, and I can feel tears dripping onto my shirt.
"Please, just leave. You can punish me tomorrow. Just go."
Marcus looks astounded, and I feel a hint of pride deep within me, knowing that I put that expression on his face. The belt slams into my back one last time, just for good measure, and I cry out in pain. Then he storms out of the room, and he slams the door so hard that I thought for a second that it would fall of the hinges of the doorframe.
I turn and release a loud sob into my brother's shirt. I will never let Marcus see this side of me, the side that's hurting and broken, but I couldn't care less what Tobias sees inside of me. I know that he will always be there for me, and I will always be there for him, too.
"Why did you do that?" Tobias whispers. He uses the dresser to pull himself up using shaky legs, and then offers me his hand.
"Do what?" I accept his hand with trembling fingers and he pulls me to my feet. I wipe tears from my eyes. My jaw aches and my back stings.
"You know what I mean." Tobias looks at me with his beautiful blue eyes, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting kind of color.
"What, come in here and tell him to leave?"
"And take a beating for me!"
"We both know that they're has been worse punishments than that."
Tobias winces. He's probably thinking about being trapped in the closet for hours on end. One time, Marcus even left us in there overnight. At least Tobias and I were together.
He pulls me into another hug. This embrace brings tears to my eyes, just because the Choosing Ceremony is tomorrow, and I know that he is torn between leaving and staying, and I know what I am going to make him do.
"Thanks you," he whispers.
"This is what I'm here for," I reply.
He leads me into the small bathroom that we share that has two doors on either side, one that leads into my bedroom, and the door that we just came through leads into his. Tobias grabs a small towel and sticks it under the faucet. We don't do this for sanitary purposes, we do it because it numbs our backs, even if only for a little bit. While the towel is soaking, Tobias pulls off his shirt. I blush a little, but only because of this lifestyle that I have grown up living in. I have seen my brother shirtless multiple times.
"You first," he says.
"No," I insist. "You." He rolls his eyes playfully, but he knows that you can't argue with me once I've made up my mind.
He hands me the towel and kneels down, his back facing towards me. I drape the towel over his scarred back and he flinches. I hold his hand with one of my hands and with my other hand I slowly move the towel over his back, dripping cold water on the waistband of his pants. After his back is cleaned up as best as I could get, I wipe the water off with a dry towel.
"Thanks," he mumbles. I give him a small smile in response.
"Your turn," He says, after pulling his shirt back over his head.
A blush creeps into my face and spreads over my cheeks. It's not like my brother hasn't seen me without a shirt before, but I still get embarrassed whenever I have to undress.
I turn away from Tobias and kneel down. I tug my shirt off and over my head, and I pull my long, brown hair over my shoulder. Tobias's hand touches the middle of my back, where a clasp lays still. His fingers move against my back underneath the fabric, and when I don't protest he unclasps the pieces of fabric and lets the gray cloth slide off my shoulders and fall into my lap.
My peachy tinged face turns bright red, even though I have done this many times before. I guess it's just the fact that I'm 12 now, and I didn't care as much about what I looked like when I was younger. I have a small chest that will continue to grow over time, and what I look like doesn't matter in Abnegation anyway.
He rubs the cold cloth back and forth across the jagged stripes that lay patterned across my back, and when he is finished he dries off my back with the same towel that I used on him.
As I pull a pair of grey straps back over my shoulder, he clasps the fabric together once more across my back, and I lift my arms up to allow him to slide the sleeves of my giant shirt over my arms.
"Is your jaw okay? He hit you pretty hard."
"Yeah. It's fine." Tobias runs his thumb over the still-forming bruise, and I press the side of my face into the palm of his hand.
"See you in five?" I say.
"Of course," he says, and I smile.
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Five minutes later, Tobias and I are back in the bathroom, with the doors closed and the lights turned off. We have been meeting like this every night ever since our mother died, and we turn off the lights to avoid being discovered by Marcus, as he thinks that we are in bed, asleep. Sometimes we talk, but sometimes we just lean against each other, enjoying one another's company. Tonight, though, we need to talk.
"Tobias," I whisper, penetrating the darkness.
"Yes?" His hand finds mine, and he grasps it tightly. "What is it?"
"I need to talk to you about tomorrow." I lean my head against his shoulder, and together we lean back against the bathroom cabinets, our butts resting against the cold tile floor.
He is silent for a minute before speaking.
"Listen, I'm not going to leave you here, I just can't do that, Ella!"
"Yes Tobias, you can. If you stay here you're going to waste your life away! You are going to transfer factions to get away from Marcus, I am going to survive the next four years and then I'm going to come join you in whatever faction you choose, and I don't care what faction it is as long as you're in it!" Tobias is silent once more.
"My test results were Abnegation," he whispers. "I don't know if I can leave."
"Who cares about some stupid test? The test shouldn't tell you want to do. You should. Or in this case, I'm telling you what to do." I hear him laugh a little after the last sentence, and my spirits lift just a little.
"Are you sure about this, Ella? I don't want to leave you here."
"I'm positive," I say.
"You'd better be, because the choice that I make tomorrow is irreversible. Whatever I do tomorrow, you basically have to do, too. And I don't want to make you do anything that you don't want to do." The palm of his hand begins to sweat in mine and I adjust my grip.
We are both quiet, letting the faint whistle of the trains roaring down the tracks consume us. I nestle my head deeper into the crook of his neck, and he sighs.
"I love you. No matter what," I murmur.
"I love you too, Arabella. Be brave." He kisses my forehead and I kiss his cheek and then we part our separate ways.
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As I lay in bed that night staring at the ceiling that I cannot see, I think about the future. What if Tobias chooses a faction that he's not happy in? What if he fails initiation and becomes factionless? Then I will have nowhere to turn, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. And, the question that troubles me the most - what if Tobias was lying to me tonight and chooses Abnegation tomorrow instead of transferring?
The slight numbness of my back has faded and now all I feel is a dull, yet sharp pain traveling in waves throughout my body. I think that the pain is reminding me to be brave, like my brother said, and to remind me that I can survive these next four years, and that I will survive.
I roll over on my side, and even though my eyes are closed, my mind is open; wide awake and plagued with nightmares.
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I twirl a finger absentmindedly around a lock of hair. I cut it this morning, as today was hair-cutting day. Marcus cut my brother's hair, but since my mother is dead, I've had to do it by myself these past four years. Before, Marcus used to cut my hair, but as I've gotten older I've been doing it myself. I prefer not to rely on anyone, especially not him.
I keep my eyes on my brother, who is standing between an Abnegation boy and an Amity girl. I am very aware of Marcus's presence, sitting right next to me. I shift away from him, but I don't want other people to notice, so I do it a millimeter at a time.
A Dauntless man named Max is giving the speech this year at the Choosing, and I am partly grateful for that because then Tobias doesn't have to look at him when he transfers. But, when he doesn't give the speech that means that I have to sit with him. Is it selfish of me to have those thoughts? I'm not sure anymore.
"Eaton, Tobias."
I see my brother walk up to the aisle and positions himself in front of the bowls that will determine our lives. Max hands him a new knife, and he takes it and holds it out to cut his hand. I see him look over to the Dauntless section, and in that moment I think I know what choice he's going to make.
Tobias holds his hand out over the steaming hot coals, and I see a drop of blood drip from the palm of his hand, and the soft sizzle of the blood roasting on the coals fills the room.
He is free. And I am happy for him.
After the last person has chosen, the Dauntless get up to leave. I see Tobias look over at Marcus, who wears a stunned expression on his face. I see my brother smirk, and I smile a little. Then he looks over to me.
The moment our eyes meet is like a symphony exploding into song, beginning and ending all at once. His blue eyes meet my green ones, and I can feel the tears gathering, threatening to spill over.
"I love you," I mouth.
"I love you, too," he mouths back. I manage a small smile and wave a hand to send him on his way. He turns and runs to catch up with the other transfers, and I smile and leave my hand raised in the air until Marcus taps my shoulder and tells me that we are leaving. I know that when I get home, he will beat me because of Tobias transferring today. But I don't care.
Someday, I will leave this place and join my brother. Someday, I will come to realize that all of this violence has shaped me into the person that I was always meant to be.
Someday.
But for now, I wave in the direction of the Dauntless compound; a bittersweet goodbye, and an ode to the only person I have ever loved.
A/N: Hey guys! This is my new Divergent story, and it's about what I think would've happened if Tobias had a little sister, as I'm sure you can tell :)
Some info about this story:
- The chapters will all be 2,500 words or more as this chapter is over 3,000 words (about the chapter size of a novel and yes I did Google it haha)
- I will publish a chapter every time someone new follows or favorites this story or Blue's story The Sister's Glass, and/or if someone follows and favorites this account.
- If this story becomes popular and this account gains lots of followers, then I will probably start a posting schedule, but let's just see how far this story goes!
- This story is called Wayward's Children (obviously), and I named it that because the word "wayward" means difficult to control or predict because of unusual or perverse behavior. That reminded me of a Divergent in a way, so that's why that word is in the title!
- School literally just started for me today (smh) so if I post inconsistently then I am just stressed out from homework, or this account/story hasn't gained any publicity.
Aaaand that's all the info that I can think of at the moment! Also, please go check out the other story posted on this account, The Sister's Glass, which is written by my friend Blue with me being her beta.
Dang this is getting long, so sorry! The future author's notes won't be this long. I'll wrap it up.
Beta creds: Blue (other owner of freelikedobby) and Lyra (owner of lyrqmlfoy).
Thank you so much for reading! Ily all!
~ Faith :)