Hello everyone! Yes, I am still alive and writing, but I've just been too busy with school to finish or publish any of my stories. Finally, I was hit with inspiration on Thursday and wrote this. Please let me know if I should continue or not!

Also, I do not own the Divergent series, Veronica Roth does (obviously. I wouldn't be here writing stories about it if I did).

I run down the empty street, my footsteps echoing softly.

I don't know why I'm here. I know who I am, but it's like something-or someone-erased my memories from the last hour.

Or half an hour.

Or five minutes.

I don't even know.

I hear a sound and turn.

It sounds like someone's voice.

A girl's voice.

Tris's voice.

I break into a sprint and run down the road, following the sound. As I get closer, I start to hear what she is saying.

She's screaming out something, over and over. A name…

My blood runs cold.

Will.

He must be under the simulation.

It comes back to me, slowly, as I run. Tris…my friend from Dauntless. Will, my…other friend from Dauntless. The serum.

I finally realized what Tris was trying to tell me all along when they gave us those shots. They weren't what the leaders told us. They were simulation serums.

Slowly, I also remember what happened to me. I was under the serum. I must have been.

But…I was aware of what was going on. I followed the rest of the Dauntless, did what they did…but I couldn't help it.

I saw Tris, and a few others, who were obviously not under the simulation. How, I don't know, but they were. Tris even tried to talk to me, to get my attention, but my body betrayed me and I did not respond-even though my brain wanted to.

All this information is running through my head as I skid around the corner and finally see them. Tris and a woman that looks familiar. It's her mother, I realize, as I remember seeing her on Visiting Day. Both of them are crouched behind a crumbling wall, staring out into the street at something. No, someone.

I freeze as I see Will. His normally bright eyes fix onto me with a blank stare. He has his gun in his hand, and he's slowly bringing it up from where it had been pointed at Tris and her mother. He's moving it towards me. I raise my own gun up with a shaking hand, pointing it at him.

But not at his head. Not at his chest. Not at any point that could be fatal.

Because I know that if I have to shoot him, I will not kill him.

I cannot kill him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tris's mom slump over, pressing her hands against her torso. She's been shot. I don't know how much blood she's lost, but it doesn't look good. Even from a distance, she looks pale, and I can tell that if we don't get her to a doctor soon…

I look back at Will and force my hand to be still as it keeps the gun pointed at him. His hand is perfectly steady as it holds the gun at my forehead. I look into his eyes, looking for something, anything to prove that he is there.

But there is nothing.

How is Tris not under the simulation? I think suddenly. Did she not get a shot? But then…how am I not under the simulation? I've been in control of my body this whole time…right?

Just then, a piercing sound reverberates through my skull, and I drop the gun as I put my hands to my head. After what feels like an eternity, it stops.

But then, everything goes dark.

Tris POV

I am at my mother's side, holding her against me as somebody holds Will at gunpoint. It's a girl, from Dauntless, but I can't tell who it is from this distance. My mom is deathly pale, and her face is contorted in pain.

"It's okay, mom. You're going to be alright" I say softly, but I feel like I'm comforting myself instead of her.

Seeing her like this makes me scared. My mom, usually so determined and strong, feels fragile and weak in my arms.

She turns her head towards me.

"Be-Tris, I need to tell you something" she murmurs. She struggles to sit up, wincing, and I carefully prop her up against the wall.

"Beatrice. Such a strong, brave girl. You don't know how proud I am of you. I was like you, once…"

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

She sighs.

"I didn't grow up in Abnegation."

I frown. "So where…?"

She smiles slightly.

"Where do you think?"

The realization hits me.

"You were born in Dauntless?"

"Well…no, but I was raised there." Her breaths are beginning to become labored, but she waves me away when I reach for her.

"How…what faction were you born in, then? And why did you switch to Dauntless?"

"I wasn't born in a faction. I wasn't born in Chicago." Her voice drops to a whisper. "I was born outside. There is a world out there, Beatrice. You've been in this bubble for your whole life, and you can't stay here forever."

I sit in shock as she speaks, trying to comprehend her words.

"Beware of the Bureau, Beatrice. They've been watching us, this whole time. They're still watching us now, sitting idly by as the Dauntless kill innocent people. They know, Tris. They know about us. They put us in here. Beatrice, you have to stop them, you have to-"

She stops talking as we hear a yell and the figure in black drops her gun, raising her hands to her head. I realize that my gun is already pointed at Will again, and I raise it from his torso to his head. His is pointing at me again, but he keeps glancing at the girl. I don't dare to follow his gaze-but if she's from Dauntless, why is she not under the simulation? Is she divergent too?

I suddenly notice that Will's eyes look different. They look less blank, and something, just a little sliver, is starting to show through. I risk a glance at the Dauntless girl, and my heart stops.

The girl has moved closer, much closer, and I can tell who it is. Her short, dark hair frames her emotionless face, and she has her gun up again-but it's pointed at me this time. I freeze…not because I'm at gunpoint, but because of who I see holding the gun before me.

"Christina" I breath.

Oooohhh it was so fun wrting that cliffhanger :p

Please tell me what you think!

~Divergent. Lunar. Shadowhunter.