Ghapter One
'Wait…what?' a wave of nausea washes over me. I gulp, swallowing the lump in my throat. Tobias is shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes searching my face as though I am hiding something. As though I am hiding something?
'I said it was me,' he says. His voice is barely audible, not even a whisper. I breathe out a long, shaky breath. And then anger builds up inside me, boiling over. I scream, kicking the wall behind him. Tears spring to my eyes, but I blink them away.
'Now you tell me?' I say, backing away. 'NOW?'
'It's not like you told me anything as serious – what about Will?! How long did that take you to tell me? And not even under your own will, under the truth serum!'
I snort.
'As though you understand. I could actually control what I was saying under that stuff,'
'Yeah because you're so amazing,' Tobias's voice was so thick with sarcasm it hit me like a bullet to the head.
'But this isn't a friend. This is family, Tobias,'
'It doesn't mean anything!'
'What did you say?' I spit, my voice riddled with hatred. I spoke quietly. Coldly. 'What did you say? It doesn't MEAN ANYTHING?!' I scream. I don't hold the tears in anymore; I can't.
'It's not like you were very close to him,'
I don't reply, regarding him with a look I hope is full of loathing. He shakes his head, and backs out of the room, banging the door shut behind him. I collapse onto my bed, sobbing until I have no tears left. Someone knocks gently on the door, and I tug the duvet over my head.
'Tris?' says a quiet voice. Christina. 'Tris, I'm sorry…but I have to come in. I have something to tell you,'
Her voice is calm but slightly urgent, and I throw the covers off me as the door opens and she walks in.
Christina's hair is clipped back at the side, a bit like the way Erudite girls do, except the expression on her face and the tattoo on her arm suggest otherwise. She sits on the end of my bed, her eyes sad and the corners of her mouth tugged down.
'I'm so sorry about…what happened,'
I try to smile, but end up grimacing instead. She reaches out and clasps one of my hands into hers. Looking around, she smiles faintly.
'I remember this room…some good memories…and some err…worse ones,'
I look at the ceiling, but my eyes seem to make a beeline for Edward's old bed. I try not to remember what happened to him during initiation. Christina follows my vision and looks at me quickly again, squeezing her eyes tight shut.
'If he ever came back into this room…' she mutters, and shakes her head as though ridding herself of the thoughts.
'What did you come in to say?' I ask, my voice slightly husky and low.
'It's just…well, I know it's been mad over the last week, especially for you and, well what I'm saying is that…I know who killed your brother, and it wasn't Four – sorry, I mean Tobias,'
'What?' I sit up, frowning.
'It's hard to explain. You need to come to the Erudite compound – now,'
I nod slowly.
'Okay,'
'Meet me in the canteen in ten minutes?'
'Sure,'
She leaves, and I reach over to the chest of drawers by my bed, pulling out a black top, a black hoody and a pair of dark jeans. Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I zip the hoody half way up and leave my hair tumbling over my shoulder. The top is low cut, revealing the three birds I have tattooed on my collarbone. I turn away and stride out of the room, turning two lefts and then a right to get to the canteen. Christina is sitting with Uriah and Zeke, who turns and beckons me over. I slump down beside him, looking over my shoulder at Tobias, who has his palm pressed to a small girl's forehead. A wave of hatred fills in my brain. His eyebrows are tugged together in a frown, and the girl looks very pale. I turn back to Christina, and lower my voice.
'When are we going?'
'We can go in about ten minutes,'
'What are you going to do?' asks Uriah, his eyes wide with curiosity.
'We're going to Amity,' says Christina.
'Why?'
'To visit…err…'
'An old friend,' I intervene, and Christina looks at me with grateful eyes. Uriah nods, losing interest.
'I need to go to the bathroom,' he says, standing up and walking out of the canteen. Zeke watches him walk away, and turns to us again.
'You really expected us to believe that?'
'Uriah did,' I say, pointedly.
'Yeah, but he doesn't count – he's Uriah,'
I can't help but laugh at that.
'So come on. Tell me. Where are you actually going?'
I sigh.
'To the Erudite,'
'Why? That place has been burned down,'
'I know,'
'So…'
'We just want to go,' Christina says, flatly. I nod, and take a cake crumb from her plate. She stuffs the rest of it in her mouth before I can take any more.
'Can I come?' he asks.
'Uh…'
'Okay,' says Christina. I shrug.
'I don't even know what we're actually doing there,' I admit, and Christina smiles sadly.
'You'll see.'
