Chapter One: Halloween

I groan hearing a knock on my door, rolling over under my blankets. It's been barely two months since the Choosing Ceremony and I've grown accustomed to living with the Dauntless. After making it through initiation, I chose an apartment a few hallways down from Tobias's, right in between Christina's and Will's. Anyway, we've settled into our apartments and jobs. I work with initiates for the most part. Tobias doesn't think that being a leader and Divergent is a good combination. Speaking of Tobias…

"Tris? Are you in there? Come on!" Tobias pounds on my door, unusually excited about something. I roll over and cover my head with the nearest pillow, attempting to block out my boyfriend's strange behavior. "Tris open up!"

"Fine!" I could be a little nicer, but does the guy even realize how early it is? There is silence on the other side of the door which can mean one of two things: He left, or he decided to shut up and be patient. I get up out of bed, sighing. My hair is probably a mess but who cares?

"Wow, you look horrible." Apparently my charming boyfriend does.

"What do you want, Four?" It comes out more as a growl but he just shakes is head, laughing. Before I can yell at him, he drags me by the arm down the hallway toward the Pit.

The Pit looks…different. Dauntless members are scattered everywhere putting up weird lanterns and streamers. There are paintings on the walls of ghosts and witches. What's weirder: Eric is laughing. He's LAUGHING. Not like his normal creepy, intimidating laugh. No, he actually looks like a person! Over towards the dining hall, Uriah waves to me with a pumpkin in his hands. Weird. Why would he be holding one of those things? I glance at Tobias, only to find him running over to Zeke who's holding glow-in-the-dark paint. Why is everyone so happy at seven in the morning?

"Is everyone high?" I turn around hearing Will. He's rubbing his eyes, looking half asleep. Christina's beside him, wide-eyed. She's obviously more of a morning person.

"Yeah what's going on?" Her head's whipping around so fast that her hair smacks Will in the face. He turns to glare at her making me laugh.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Four's acting like he's had too much cake." I look at Zeke and Tobias to see them throwing paint at each other. When I look back at Christina and Will, they look like they're torn between laughing and looking scared.

"Hey guys! Wanna make a Jack-O'-Lantern?!" Uriah thrusts a pumpkin into my hands. When did he come over? And what's a Jack-O'-Lantern?

"A what?" Will's more awake now, staring at the pumpkin confused. Instead of explaining, I get dragged to the table where Uriah was at before. Tori sits in one of the chairs, painting whiskers on a little girl's face. She's smiling and talking, but her eyes show the same concentration as when she gave me my tattoos.

Uriah sits us down and places a pumpkin in front of each of us, followed by a nice. Since when was mutilating a pumpkin a thing? He walks over to another pumpkin and turns it around to face us, showing a face carved into it that I'm assuming is supposed to be scary. I poke it, confused.

"What's the point of this?" I yawn, and Will yawns too, glaring at me. "What? I can't help it!" Uriah sighs, frustrated.

"Here," he cuts a hole into the top of my pumpkin and pulls it off by the stump. "Now, take out the filling and cut a face out!" He seems way too excited about this. At seven in the morning. Why?

"Uh, doesn't this seem morally wrong?" Christina pokes the pumpkin hesitantly. "I mean, aren't you, like, taking its brain out? And why is yours smiling after it just got massacred?"

"Just do it!" Uriah sighs, exasperated. "Come on! You're supposed to be Dauntless!"

"When did that have anything to do with killing pumpkin men?" Will looks as confused as I am.

"Stop questioning it!" he almost looks offended. I sigh, deciding to humor him. Maybe Tobias made one.

I cringe, taking the filling out. It feels slimy, and Christina's "brain" comment isn't helping at all. I look over seeing Will and Christina doing the same as me. I pick up the knife hesitantly. How is it that even though I've thrown knives a dozen times, yet I can't do this? It just seems weird using a weapon to carve a face into a pumpkin. I must take too long because Uriah yanks the knife from my hand.

"Let me help!" He makes a cut into the pumpkin, shaping it into an eye. I watch him carefully and take the knife from him, making another eye. Peter walks over and watches me, laughing hysterically when I'm done.

"What's the matter, Stiff? I thought you said you were good with a knife!" I glare at him, sinking in my chair as the others laugh too. I didn't think it was that bad.

"Shut up, Peter!" I dig the knife into the pumpkin shell again, suddenly determined to prove them wrong.

I'm not sure how long I work on it. I make slow, precise movements in order to copy Uriah's technique. When I pull back, I look at it satisfied. It's not scary, but it looks about as good as the others on display. Looking over, I see Will and Christina finishing up, laughing. Will looks at me and throws the pumpkin filling at me and I retaliate. By the time Uriah drags us away from the table, we're covered in pumpkin laughing our heads off.

"Where are we going now?" Christina whines, getting dragged across the Pit towards the clothing stores. Uriah rolls his eyes.

"To get you guys costumes, duh!" I blink at him. Costumes? Why?

"Uh, why do we need costumes?"

"For the party!" Uriah says impatiently. He's obviously annoyed. Gee, I wonder why.

Uriah leads us into a crowded store with strange-looking outfits. Some of them have wings, others look like animals, others just look plain weird. How is this related to jumping off of trains and defending the city? He walks over to a rack with a hand on his chin, the image of deep thought. He pulls off an outfit that consists of a short dress, wings, and antennae. Whatever it is, it's mythical. He hands it to Christina who eyes it suspiciously. He cuts her off before she can say anything. "I'll buy it. You just go find shoes and whatever girly makeup that fairies would wear." Fairies?

She shrugs walking off with it as Uriah turns to Will. His costume isn't so confusing: A soldier with camouflage. Not typical Dauntless gear, but understandable I guess. I've figured out that part of this party is, it involves dressing up as something or someone that you're not. I get uneasy as Uriah turns to me next. "I have the perfect one for you!" Why does that scare me?

I sit on Christina's bed, letting her do my makeup. I'm wearing a cape of some sort and am wearing all black. It definitely is not anything like the Abnegation would wear. Of course they wouldn't wear costumes or go to parties, period. I'm wearing a short black mini skirt and a tight shirt that shows my stomach. I shiver absentmindedly, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. "Uriah's dead."

"Sit still!" Christina glares at me as she does my makeup carefully. Her hair is even curlier than usually and her makeup is very girly and glittery. It's amazing how Uriah somehow got us both into these ridiculous outfits and got us to cake our faces in makeup. All I keep thinking is: Tobias will see me. Tobias will see me.

"What even is a vampire?" I ask, trying to be as still as possible. She tries to sound like a know-it-all.

"A vampress!"

"Well? What is a vampress?" I grin at her confused look.

"Well… I don't know! Uriah says to give you fangs and blood on your face. Oh, and to make you pale, which isn't hard." She laughs at me. "Sorry. But seriously, you look incredible! Go look!"

I shake my head, frustrated, and walk to the mirror across the room. I freeze, when I see myself. She's right. I usually feel self-conscious, but I actually feel pretty. Aside from the creepy fangs and blood, I actually look like one of those sluts who always flirt with Tobias. When I look back at her, she looks proud of her work.

"Come on, Tris. Let's go see everyone."

We met up with Uriah and Will who look great. Will has face paint and camouflage everywhere in addition to a fake gun on his back. Uriah has a creepy white mask and a black cape. We walk into the Pit and I'm blinded by the strobe lights and glowing paint everywhere. I've never seen a party where there aren't boring old people and Amity music as entertainment. There's punch colored like blood, and other various foods made to look like other creepy things like eyeballs or gore.

I hear screams and look toward a hall that has a drape covering the entrance. Uriah follows my gaze, grinning mischievously. "That's a haunted house! We should go if it's not too dauntless for you."

"Yeah, sure." I roll my eyes and keep walking, looking for Tobias. I look for him for hours with no luck. Finally, I get tired of Uriah's constant nagging about the "haunted house". "Alright! Fine! I'll go!"

"Yay! Let's go!" He drags me by the hand and I'm vaguely aware of the fact that Will and Christina are nowhere in sight. They probably bailed to go kiss somewhere.

Eric smirks at me at the entrance. "Pretty brave, Stiff." I ignore him and keep going. This place is nothing but a bunch of Dauntless kids playing pranks and scaring people. For the most part I'm right. There are creepy markings and strobe lights everywhere and the more that the hallway narrows, the more claustrophobic I get. Zeke jumps out at me, making me jump involuntarily. I glare at him as he laughs a little too hard. Great. This is fun.

I keep going, anxious to get this over with. I leave the brothers behind and walk around the corner. There's blood everywhere and I hope it's fake. There wouldn't be real blood..would there? No, Zeke wouldn't be laughing if there was. I'm just jumpy, that's all. I can hear the chasm the deeper that I go. I also don't hear anything else. There aren't any more strobe lights and the decorations are next to none. Did I take a wrong turn?

Hands grab me, covering my mouth and yanking me in a dark crevice. I let out a blood curdling scream, terrified. I only stop when I hear a familiar laugh. Tobias. I narrow my eyes and punch him in the jaw, hard.

"Ow! Tris!" His eyes widen, holding his jaw, obviously in pain. I almost feel guilty, but I'm too angry and hurt for that.

"What did you expect?! What even is this?!" I get quiet, feeling my eyes burn. "Why did you scare me like that?" He hugs me close.

"I'm so sorry, Tris! I thought someone told you! It's, uh, Halloween!"

"Huh?" I blink, my eyes still watery with tears.

"Halloween…" He laughs a little, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have known. I mean, I used to be new to all of this too. Halloween is where everyone eats candy and dresses up and tries to scare each other." He scratches his neck, looking away. "It's kind of a big deal around here. I guess I got carried away…"

I calm down as this sinks in. Halloween? Is it a holiday? Then I notice his costume: a black cape and suit with gloves and fake blood trickling from his mouth. A male version of me. So that's what Uriah meant when he already knew what costume I needed. I try not to smile and to keep my vulnerable look. Why not join in on the fun?

"You're-You're such a-a jerk!" I sniffle for dramatic affect. By the looks of it, he's buying my act. "I can't believe you would do something so-so horrible! You know how Peter grabbed me before!" I cry fake tears, trying hard not to laugh at his stricken face. He feels horrible.

"Tris, I-"

"Sh-Shut up! I hate you!" Okay, that may have been harsh. But he definitely looks scared.

"Tris please-" He stops when I start laughing, and looks heartbroken. "What are you laughing at?"

"Happy Halloween!" I grin, kissing him lightly. "Not fun getting scared, is it?"

"No, it isn't." His voice is low, like when he's angry. I would be scared if it weren't for the playful look in his eye. "No one scares the legendary Four!"

I scream, laughing and take off running as he chases me. Dauntless is definitely not what I expected. But maybe I can handle this "Halloween". Hopefully this is the only holiday that they celebrate.