I had heard rumors, around Abnegation. I heard that there was a group of people who wanted training. A group of people that wanted to learn to fight for their lives. There had been increasingly more and more Abnegation turning Dauntless. I had wondered why? Abnegation and Dauntless were almost polar opposites. But now I know. The Abnegation has a secret foundation that they had created to teach one another how to survive in the real world, outside of the protection of pure Abnegation. I became curious about this clandestine organization ever since I had heard about it. And tonight was my night to find out what it was all about.
-Abnegation-
It was nearing the middle of the night. I had snuck out of my house quietly, not wanting to wake my parents or little brother. There was barely a year until I had to make the Choice that defined the rest of my life, and I wanted it to be a good one. I had gotten information about this order from a friend of a friend, and I was going there now. I knew I was almost there when I saw the only building for miles with even the slightest bit of light pouring from its windows. Suddenly, out of the shadows, a figure stepped out.
"Maria?" I asked. The figure nodded and took another stepped towards me. It was my informant. "This is the place?"
"Yes," she hissed. Then she knocked on the door, once, twice, three times. It was opened by a man, about my age, but much taller.
"Maria, come in. Your sister is here. And who is this?" he asked, gesturing to me.
"Elli Parks," I said. He welcomed me in and I went inside the structure. It was fairly large, and the floor and walls were well padded. There was an assortment of people around the area, punching each other, kicking, hitting. It was the Stiff Fight Club, it seemed. The boy who had greeted me left to get Maria and me an opponent each. He returned with two girls our same age.
"Good luck," he said. I smiled at my opponent.
"You thinking Dauntless?" I questioned, just to make small-talk as we headed for an open mat.
"Yeah," the girl said. Then she looked around quickly, and pulled up the sleeve on her gray shirt. She revealed to me a fair amount of skin, with a ring of fire tattooed on the pale flesh.
"I did it myself," she whispered. I widened my eyes.
"It's beautiful." I said. "I might want one, if you're offering." The girl grinned in reply, and took a swing at my face. I wasn't expecting it, so I got hit. I wasn't used to the physical contact and it swept me to the floor. She just looked at me.
"C'mon. I'll go easy," the girl said. She held out her hand and I accepted it to pull me up. She took another swipe to my face and I dodged it. I swung my fist to hit her own face and I heard the flesh-on-flesh sound that meant I had hit my target. She reacted, and hit my stomach. As I doubled over, I shot my foot up to smack the side of her body. She fell to the floor and I stood straight up. The girl popped back up, and hit my face, straight on. I felt my nose crack, and I felt the blood trickling down my face. I tasted the saltiness in my mouth and I wiped it away. To avenge myself, I smacked her across the face. My blow hit her cheek bone and I winced. It was probably going to bruise. But she retaliated and shot another couple punches to various places on my body. I fell down to the padded floor, thankful it was there. She set her foot on my stomach.
"You did good Stiff," she said with a smirk. "But you got a lot to learn." I just smiled to myself, feeling the blood pouring down my face, and the tenderness on my arms that were going to be bruises. But surprisingly, it felt good. And I had decided that this was what I wanted to be.