A/N: As everyone else, I had to write a story after seeing the movie and rereading the books. I really wanted to delve deep into Eric without turning things too OOC, so I hope you enjoy. I want to thank my amazing beta Bellum Gerere for her amazing ability to catch all of the things I miss. Please review and let me know what you think! The next chapter will be coming soon.


Ayriana ran to her designated room. Her tiny bare feet padded loudly against the frigid concrete steps and the sound echoed around her, beating down against her shoulders with each step. Inside, her little heart was beating too fast. Too hard. It hurt every time, hammering against her chest. There was nothing she could do to stop it. No matter how fast she tried running, the steps seemed to stretch out forever as she made turn after turn after turn around the stairwell.

Sharp, ragged breathing blocked her from hearing anything. A thump near the bottom of the stairs made the dark hairs on the back of her neck shoot up on end and she swirled around to see behind her.

Nothing.

Turning again, she sprinted down the halls, twisting and turning towards the final door.

They were coming for him. They were coming for all of them. Dauntless. The guns and lap dogs of the faction system, the most brutal and cruel, hunting down factionless like slaughterhouse pigs, murdering anyone they met along the way with a cold bullet to the head. Black-clad soldiers who held no remorse; they were terrorists for hire. They were the reason Ayriana was always moving with her father. They were the ones who gave her nightmares and choked her to tears at night.

They were here.

Ayriana cringed, sprinting through the labyrinth of hallways, using walls and corners to keep her from ramming into anything. She needed to be quick. Smart. She needed to be strong. Everything she wasn't…

Finally, she stumbled along the right door. It was different from the others. As soon as she flung open her door the loud roar of thunder boomed through the semi-decayed warehouse her family had deemed their home. The pounding quickened in her chest. She could barely breathe. Her baby brother's crib sat silently in the corner of the room.

A storm had been raging since dawn, darkening the room considerably. This was when they came. Never on sunny days. Never when the warmth of the day was there to comfort her. Only when the thunder and the pouring rain could hide her cries. Father had warned her, told her about people like them, of the awful things they did.

Quickly she searched around, panicked green eyes scanning the floors desperately for what she needed. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating everything around her for the barest of moments, but it was enough. Enough to catch the slight gloom in the corner of the room and the menacing shadow leaping out to grab her with an ear-splitting screech!

Jumping, Ayriana hastily shook her head, willing the images to go away. There wasn't time for fear. No time for panic. She had to focus.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the small round divot in the middle of one of the concrete squares. It was barely large enough for her hand to fit into, but if she tried, she could slip her fingers into the lip and find purchase to lift the trap door. Not wasting a second, she flew over to it, clawing desperately to get a strong enough grip. Her hands trembled. A chill crept down her back. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get it open. The sounds of the front door sliding open made her throat tighten.

Not much time.

Any noise would draw their attention. She wouldn't be able to go for help if they caught her now. Father was counting on her. He needed her. It was enough pressure to cause a cold sweat to break out across her chalky skin, sending her heart pounding out of her chest and her stomach and into her throat. When all else failed she had to be strong. He made her promise to take care of herself and her baby brother.

Planting her feet, she stood determinedly and tried using her whole body to lift up.

Several bangs erupted down stairs followed by voices, but the pounding rain beating against the windows was far louder. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, but she knew her father was down there. That they were fighting. Killing. Running. Tristan suddenly stirred, his blanket shifting and crinkling as his tiny arms reached towards the sky unseeing. Her throat tightened.

Run Ayriana! Don't let them find you. You and Tristan have to make it out. No matter what happens don't come back.

Her father's warning stirred something inside her she couldn't quite place. The rush growing inside her was getting louder and louder. Everything was so sharp. Cracks in the wall. Leaves blowing on trees outside. It felt like she could see everything, hear everything. It was crisp even in the dark skies.

The dark shadows between each blazing zap of lightning brought out the true terrors and monsters hiding in the dank crevices. Every deafening crack of thunder brought them closer. The skies were a barrier locking in all of the problems and pains. Usually it made her feel safer, as if she wouldn't be alone anymore. However, as she heard another bang; something over turning; a vase shattering, she knew she had never been more alone in her life.

Finally, with a grunt of pain she managed to lift the heavy concrete slab up and off to the side. Her back and arms burned. It revealed a small hole with a rusting metal latter leading down into the dark abyss below. It wasn't big but if she tried, she could squeeze down into the tunnel that ran under the building. Once she hit the bottom there would be a complete network of tunnels and caves connecting her to every single building in the city—the sewers, her mind supplied her. From there she would be able to run for help. Here they could never find her, not in time. There were too many dead ends and shortcuts.

There was another crash downstairs. A window? A door? The table? It sounded like a glass shattering over her head. But there shouldn't have been anything to break…

Tristan stated to cry from his crib over in the corner of the room. The noise was loud, crisp. It sliced through the air faster than she could breathe and stabbed into her like a knife, cutting into her heart. Panicking she swung her head around, staring at her baby brother. Not thinking Ayriana raced over to the crib, throwing herself wildly over the bars to smother the little mouth of the other side, but it was too late.

There was silence for a moment. It beat so loudly against her ears. Every shuffle felt like bombs dropping overhead. It was filled with the quickening pulse of her blood rushing from her face.

A scream—cold sweats broke down her back.

That was Father's voice.

A lone deep voice rose over the thundering roar of the raging storm. It was a voice smoother than silk and softer than anything she had ever heard. No one could mistake the promise in his voice when he said, "…kill him!"

It made her heart stop.

Hurriedly she cradled the crying baby into her tense arms before hurrying back towards the secret passage, barely taking the time to smooth the patch of vibrant red hairs on his head. He let out one last terrified wail that stopped her heart. She froze. The warehouse was quiet for a moment. So loud in her mind. Everything was so loud. Ayriana pressed Tristan's face gingerly into the crook of her neck to protect him, to hide him, but it was too late. Seconds after footsteps reverberated down the hall.

"Find the baby and get rid of it," the same man hissed.

His voice was closer, so much closer than before. How could he have already made it so far through the maze of hallways and rooms?

No time. Gasping for air, she shot for the hiding spot, crossing the large room in two bounding strides. Tristan's cries grew louder. The footsteps were getting closer. Thuds against the floor. Bangs from them throwing open the other doors. Close. Everything was so close.

Once she made it, Ayriana wasted no time climbing down into the dark, coddling Tristan in an awkward position with one arm. The dark welcomed her with loving arms, engulfing her in the mysteries and tragedies it held. Her fingers barely managed to pull the heavy slab back in place when her door slid open. She shut out the world.

It wasn't the frigid air or the gagging wretched smell floating over the water at the bottom of the latter that made her knees quiver and hands shake. Not even the haunted cries radiating from her little baby brother as he fought desperately against her grip. Before she knew it, her feet were moving under her, mechanically, stiffly. Yet all she could think about was her father.

They were killing him.


Shooting out of bed, I clutched at the burning in my chest. Gasping, I reached up for my throat to cut off the sudden burst of fire tearing through me. I curled up in a ball, my body hacking as tears threatened to burn down my face. I flinched back something flashed outside. Seconds later a mind-numbing explosion sent my heart battering against my chest.

Blinding white lightning flared through the dark sky again as the clap of thunder roared in the distance. Another crashed in time with the beating of my racing heart, continuing the angry dance of the perpetual flashes slicing through the coal-black clouds. Trees and bushes bowed down in the hash gusts of wind, ripping at the steel walls and glass windows. Shudders ran through the earth.

Another storm, I thought with a grateful sigh. It's only a storm.

Slowly I started to go through the process of meticulously burying my emotions again, fighting inch by inch to calm my heart and even my breaths. Emotions were weak. They made people vulnerable. Careless. I stared hard out at the window as my racing heart still pounded insistently against my ribs. Even still, the twitching itch in my muscles didn't start to go away, anticipating the next attacker. I had to be calm. Be Erudite.

But it was just another storm.

"Ayriana?" a voice whispered in the dark. I knew that voice. They'd spoke too quietly for me to place just where, but deep down inside I knew that voice. Perking, I looked around to try and find the speaker but no one was there.

The door suddenly slammed open, bouncing off the wall in an angry crash nearly making me jump out of my bed. My heart leapt straight up in my throat, my muscles tensing. Snapping my head over, I took a ragged breath as someone shot through the door and I caught a glint of blonde hair.

"This won't hurt a bit," a woman reassured. Lies. In her hand was a syringe. A clear liquid dripped form the tip of a long sterile needle. Her blonde hair was tucked carefully out of her face. "Hold still…"

Terror took over me. Blonde. It was happening. The pain. The torture. Panicking, I shoved myself back as fast as I could until my back slammed against the wall and even then I pushed further. A screamed ripped from my throat raw and choked.

Escape. Escape. Escape.

"What happened? What's wrong?" a terrified high pitched voice squeaked.

Slumping down against the wall, I let out a shaky breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding, my body deflating like a balloon. My hands visibly trembled and my body quivered, the nerves still jumping. "Holy shit," I breathed. Julie's head turned towards me and I could make out her wide brown eyes from across the room. "What in the world are you doing?" My voice was unsteady, weak to my own ears.

"What am I doing?" she scoffed.

She still stood all the way across the room, but I could only make out her posture when a flash of lightning lit everything for half a moment. In the second, I thought I saw something in her hands, but the next second it was gone. Shaking my head, I tried to pull myself together. This was my mother, not some killer.

Taking a quick glance around the room as if to reassure herself, Julie stepped closer to the bed. "You were screaming. Are you ok? I thought factionless had broken in and attacked you or something!"

Factionless were the unfortunate people who lived outside the cities five factions, those who weren't accepted and turned aside by society. As long as you belonged to one of the factions you had a family, a place to sleep, food to eat. Factionless… they had nothing. Reports had been coming in lately about their unrest; men and women spotted coming into faction territories. Last week there was an attack. Thankfully Dauntless members were close enough to stop everything before anyone was hurt. They would do almost anything to survive. Like animals.

I waited for the thrill of fear to shoot through me picturing factionless breaking into my room and attacking me in my sleep. It never came. My heart was still racing from the images, so crisp and clear in my head. For a moment, I almost thought I felt something hearing about the factionless, something deep inside me, but the second I tried identifying it, it was gone. I frowned, rubbing the back of my neck. I knew I should be afraid of the factionless. Everyone else always seemed to feel a tremor thinking about what could happen if they were caught alone by them, but no matter how hard I tried I just felt … blank. I'd never met one before. How was I supposed to fear someone I didn't know?

They wouldn't be here, though. Factionless never came far enough into the heart of the city to get to Erudite. Even if factionless members had been coming slightly inside faction boundaries they would never make it all the way to Erudite before they were taken out. Despite the logical part of my brain telling me Julie wasn't thinking straight, I choose not to say anything. Maybe I wasn't the only one scared tonight. Everyone had secrets in Erudite.

"Are you ok?"

I snapped out of my thoughts as Julie placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, drawing my gaze back to her. I realized I'd been absentmindedly rubbing my aching ankle; the rain always made it stiff. This close, I could make out the slight wrinkles on her forehead and the corners of her eyes. She looked hollow in the darkness, her too-wide eyes glinting like mirrors in the dark and the outline of her lips shifting. Normally, she was quite a handsome woman, all of her features delicately soft in all of the right places. Now she looked like a shell. An empty shell. I couldn't remember ever being so close to my mother in all my life.

"Yeah I'm fine," I murmur, shifting out of her grip and looking down at my hands in my lap. I could still feel the ghost of her fingers against me and my hands suddenly felt clammy. I couldn't stop the reaction. They were still trembling. I shrugged again, as nonchalantly as possible, despite my heart still pumping hard in my chest. I had to force the tension to ebb from my shoulders, slowly working its way out of my trembling hands. My mind stilled raced, my heartbeat fluttering. "Just a bad dream."

"Another one?"

Ever since I could remember I had always been haunted by these terrible dreams, dreams that made me feel like I was another person, someone fierce and scared for her life. Early on I consulted Julie about it. She had me taken in for tests, but there was nothing wrong. Night terrors they called them. Rare, but potent. They said it was the reason I couldn't remember hardly anything about my childhood; the first eleven years wiped from my head as if they were never there. They gave me a medicine that made they go away at first. It was supposed to help me remember. Supposed to help me forget. But then they came back.

I didn't want more medicine. Sucking on my lower lip, I stayed quiet, not meeting her gaze. She took my silence as confirmation. I hated that it had to be.

Julie's concerned face popped into view again as she sat down on the edge of my bed next to me. With the shift I leaned towards her until I could almost feel the heat of her hip against my leg. Subtly as possible I slid further away. My efforts were in vain as she reached out and placed a hand on mine, wrapping her fingers around the top one and giving what I knew was meant to be a reassuring squeeze.

Emotions were bad. Don't feel. Logic. I tried determinedly to embrace all of my teachings as bile threatened to choke me. With each breath I felt her leaning closer. Her breath was choking me. Digging into my skin. Logic. Logic. Think.

I wanted to open my mouth and say something, any excuse to get her to get further away, but my mind came up blank. It still felt like I couldn't think straight. My brain was scrambled. Exhausted. A coil built up in my throat starting to choke me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" For some unexplainable reason she'd taken a hard curiosity for my dreams. Erudite's always wanted to know everything. And I would always want to lie.

I shook my head silently.

There was silence for a moment between striking thunder. It beat so loudly against my ears. Every shuffle felt like bombs dropping overhead. It was filled with the quickening pulse of my blood slowly pulsating through my veins.

It was just a dream. It was just a dream, I repeated, tucking my knees to my chest, but I couldn't even tell which was making my heart race more: the dream or now. The movement forced Julie to drop my hands and the coil building eased a bit. I closed my eyes, repeating the words I knew would never comfort me, because it would never just be a dream. Dreams didn't chase people into their waking hours. They didn't hurt with an ache I felt deep in my very bones. I couldn't say any of that here though. Not now. With Julie here there was a pressure to close off, hide everything. So I did.

Fear was irrational.

Julie misinterpreted my movement. I could tell by the way she shifted forward. Now that my eyes were starting to adjust to the dark I could make out her eyebrows pinch in and lips pucker; it was her concerned face. Before she even moved I could feel what she was about to do.

Her hand rested on my knee, her thumb tracing small circles against my skin. It sent gooseflesh racing down my arms and legs, but I knew she wouldn't notice.

She was such a toucher.

For someone in Erudite, Julie never seemed to catch on to my aversion with contact. Ever sense I could remember I had never been able to stand being close to her—or anyone really—for any long period of time. Something about feeling her next to me made my skin crawl and my body revolt, but I could never place what it was. My body just acted like a deep rooted habit.

"Was it about your Aptitude Test?" she probed softly. Everything about Julie was soft and timid. Affectionate. Smothering. It was just like her touch.

Frowning, I pulled my knees closer to my chest. I'd forgotten tomorrow was the Aptitude Test for all people who had turned sixteen years of age since the last Choosing Ceremony. Tomorrow I would have to go to school and take the one test I could never study for and depending on my results the rest of my life will be planned out. Once I go in there I would find out which of the five factions making up society I belonged to: Erudite, Amity, Candor, Abnegation, or Dauntless. I'd find out what type of person I really was. Would I be smart, kind, honest, selfless, or brave?

I shuttered remembering my nightmare. Dauntless. They were coming for me. I didn't know how but I just knew.

It was just a dream.

Dauntless would never be after me. They were the protectors of the city. They were the brave soldiers sticking their necks out so the rest of us didn't have to. I was safe with them. I always would be.

It had been almost a year now since I had that nightmare. At least it looked like a nightmare. I'd had a handful of nightmares in my lifetime but none of them had ever felt like that one before. It was like I was really there running for my life, holding my baby brother and listening to my father die. Everything was always so sharp and precise, and the pain—oh, the pain—so excruciating. It just felt so real.

Yet, I didn't even have a baby brother. I only had Julie.

The last time I'd had that dream was the day I developed my irrational fear of touching Julie. Or anyone for that matter. One night it came out of nowhere and ever since I was never the same. Not that I ever told anyone.

Remembering Julie's question I nodded weakly. To sure would seem like a lie, too fast, too planned. Hesitation would make it seem like I didn't want to share, like I was revealing something. It would be easier if she thought I was just nervous for today. After all, what was nerve wracking about finding out if you never really belonged with your family all your life? No pressure.

Resting my head back against the wall again, I swallowed thickly. Another flash of lighting shot across the sky. Julie patted my knee reassuringly and I shuttered again. "You don't have anything to worry about, sweetie." I glanced at her, not moving. She was smiling. "No matter what happens tomorrow things will be fine. There's nothing you should worry about for a test you can't even prepare for."

If only.

"If you say so," I agreed easily. Lying came naturally to me for some reason. I didn't even feel the pitch of guilt for tricking her into believing I only had last minute jitters. "I think I'm going to try and go back to sleep."

"Great idea, sweetie."

I couldn't stop from tensing slightly as Julie leaned forward and placed a caring kiss right ton my forehead. Her lips were warm and slightly moist. I had to fight the urge to wipe my skin off with the back of my hand. Instead, I smiled at her, softening my eyes and tilting my chin up just slightly. The perfect lie.

"Night Mom."

"Goodnight."

I waited for the click of the door before I let my smile fade. Numbly I looked over at the window. Rain pelted against it in a furious rage that drowned out all other noise. Another flash shot across the sky. I hugged my legs tighter.

There was no way I would get back to sleep now.