Chapter Three
Liv thanked her lucky stars that her apartment was not located anywhere remotely close to Eric's in the morning as she made her way to breakfast. The last thing she needed after the terrible nights sleep she'd had was bumping into the cause of her bad sleeping. On queue, as if the cosmos had it out for her, Liv heard the deep, blunt voice of the cause of all her problems just outside the mess hall entrance. There was no avoiding him now, it was too late to turn back and her stomach growled from the need for food. With a deep breath, Liv kept her eyes fixed on the mess hall in a vain attempt to stay under Eric's radar. Her plan failed. As is voice called her name out she felt herself shudder, but she went over to where he was stood none the less.
"I hope you're heading out to train once you've eaten." Eric said matter-of-factly, dismissing the man stood beside him.
Liv had not been planning to do any training that day, in fact her plans involved slumping on the couch in her apartment for most of the day before heading down to the club for her shift, cleaning be damned. "I was going-"
"Meet me in the training room after you've eaten." He ordered, already walking away from a disgruntled Liv. "Do not make me wait Liv."
It was moments like this that made Liv question her choice to transfer to Dauntless; she could be sat at some desk in a warm building tapping away at a laptop had she chosen to stay in Erudite but no she had to be Dauntless, she had to be better.
"Someone looks the picture of happiness." Tori teased as Liv slumped into the seat opposite her. "I heard about the beating Four gave you, your face looks a damn mess."
"Oh great," With a whoop-dee-do twirl of her spoon Liv thundered on. "It's good to know that gossip still spreads quicky around this shit hole. I didn't want to be there, those fucking Initiates!" Her gaze snapped to an obvious group of Initiates sat only a few seats down from them. "Do you enjoy making everyone elses lives more difficult? Well? I'm talking to you Initiates." Liv knew she sounded a little mad and the baffled looks on the young faces confirmed just how crazy she really looked.
"Hey, you're the girl from training yesterday. You sure showed Peter, I've never seen someone turn that white before." One of the boys beamed enthusiastically at Liv, making her demenour soften significantly. "We all thought Eric was entirely unfair to you." Around him the heads of another boy and two girls nodded their agreeance.
"Well you'll be pleased to hear he won't be over seeing your training today," Although Liv was by no means looking forward to Eric's training the way the four Initiates faces lit with relief made her remember how her and the group she'd initiated with was always praying he wouldn't turn up. "You can thank me later."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Tori asked from across the table utterly confused at her friends blabbering. "What are you doing with Eric that's keeping him from playing with the new meat."
Liv didn't have the time or the energy to regurgitate what had happened between her and Eric and in truth there were elements she didn't even want to think about. A shortened version would have to surfice for now. "He noticed I'd let my training slip and was only too happy to point it out and offer his services of torture to get them back up." At Tori's sorry expression, Liv quickly finished up her porridge before hurrying along behind the Initiates towards the training room.
"Liv we were just talking about you." Eric drawled as Liv practically dragged herself to where he was talking to Four. He snorted as her face flushed pink, she obviosuly thought he'd spoke about what had happened in the dressing room. "Let's go, from the charade I witnessed yesterday we obviously have alot to cover."
Eric was already stalking out of the training room making Liv have to jog to keep up with him. "Fucking ass." She muttered to herself but when Eric suddenly stopped and spun at her a menacing glint in his eyes Liv knew he'd heard her.
"Do you want to repeat that Olivia?" His words were as deadly as the look in his eyes; no one spoke to him with such disrespect and he sure as hell wasn't about to let anyone start. With impressive force he yanked Liv's smaller body harshly forward before slamming her into the brick wall. Her eyes were wide with panic, she clearly hadn't been expecting him to hear her let alone act on it; those big eyes taunted him on a daily basis making him want her but telling him no all at once. He hated her for it. "I'm sorry I haven't heard your answer yet."
"I'm sorry," Dauntless didn't show fear but Liv couldn't help as it seeped through her outer ficade. "It's...I didn't sleep well. It makes me cranky."
A sly smirk tugged at the corners of Eric's mouth, he knew full well he was the reason she hadn't slept, he could read her like a book. Shifting his stance he leant closer into her soft body, successfully trapping her between him and the hard wall. Her scent was intoxicating to him, it was like a drug he couldn't get enough of, nuzzling closer to her neck her growled lowly in her ear. "Why couldn't you sleep Liv? Did I leave you all," He paused briefly to press his hips into hers. "Hot and bothered? You know where my apartment is, like I said you only have to ask."
She didn't know why she did it and as the words slipped from her lips, Liv immediately regretted it. "Fuck you." It was the first time she'd ever spoken to him in such a way and they both were stunned for a moment, but only a moment; Eric's signiture smirk was spread widely across his handsome face only seconds later making the colour drain from Liv's face.
"We don't have all day Liv." Pushing off of the wall Eric continued purposefully out of the Dauntless headquarters into the broken landscape of Chicago. He liked keeping people on their toes and punishing her then and there would be too predictable. Coming to a stop near a large column he flexed his knuckles lazily. "To the top of this pillar, if I beat you you'll be getting to the ground alot faster than you did the top."
Without hesitation, Eric was pulling him self up onto the pillar with such ease it looked as if he weighed nothing. Before Liv had even heaved herself onto the first shelf that jutted out, he was already a third of the way up the pillar leaving her struggling behind him.
"This is unfair!" Liv gasped once she had clambered onto the top of the pillar, the small platform barely big enough for the both of them. "You know this place inside out, you know exactly what way to go up." The knowing smirk on Eric's face onlt infuriated her further, she was sick of this little power game he was playing. "I'm done here." The scream ripped from her throat, bouncing loudly around the rubbled city, Liv felt the ground disappear from beneath her and what felt like hours passed before Eric grasped around her forearm preventing her from falling to the hard floor far below.
"You're done when I say you are. Dauntless never give up." Eric let the grip he had on her arm loosen slightly letting her slip a little. "What if I gave up right now Liv? Should I let you fall?"
"Eric! Stop this! Please!"
His face was a stoney, bored expression like holding her there was a chore to him. "Say that last part again." Eric flashed a toothy grin down at her helpless form, revelling in the anger that danced across her bruised face.
"Please!" The second the words poured from her lips Liv felt her body being hoisted with ease up onto the concrete platform and as her feet connected with solid ground her anger bubbled to new heights. "I am a fucking person Eric. A human being! If you acted like one for once in your life maybe you'd see why what you just did was not okay!"
"What the fuck did you just say?" He hisses lowly, the once bored expression now one of pure outrage. "I'll give you a two second head start."
Liv didn't need telling twice and quicker than she was sure she'd ever moved she was leaping from the platform onto the roof of the next building and sprinting away from Eric across the various rooftops. It didn't matter how long it had been since she'd trained being caught by Eric was possibly a worse outcome than falling to her death on the concrete below; with a quick fleeting glance over her shoulder she could see her pursuer wasn't far behind her at all, not by a long shot and cold fear twinged in her gut at the realisation that he would more than likely catch her very soon. Liv was faster than Eric was, her small body had always made her a fast runner but the stealth and precision he used to leap across the buildings closed the distance between them at an alarming pace.
Liv felt as though she'd been hit by the train that circled through the city; Eric barralled into her at such speed the air was knocked from her lungs so that when she tried to scream she was unable to. Then the ground had disappeared from beneath her again. She was sure she was going to die, he'd gone so mad with rage he'd decided to kill them both but when she peeled her eyes open Liv recognised the walls whizzing past her. The were using the back entrance. The net cushioned their hard landing, Liv fought to untangle her limbs from Eric's the anger now over taking her initial fear. "Do not!" She was so angry the words that formed in her head weren't coming out right. "FUCK YOU!" It may have been the phrase that had got her into the whole mess but in her current state it was the only sentance Liv could get out coherently. Slipping off the edge of the large net, Liv was ready to storm away and have a large drink after the near heart attack Eric had given her, but apparently he had other ideas; her body slammed down onto the hard cold floor as he grabbed her left ankle, her bones were still tender fro sparring with Four and they practically screamed at her in agony when her body connected with the ground.
Eric took no notice of the obvious pain she was in, his mind was too occupied on all the ways he'd rather be punishing her. He took a deep breath before yanking Liv unceremoniously back to her feet, his left hand tangled viciously in her short hair forcing her to hold eye contact with him. "The more you say that the more I'm thinking it's you asking me to." He dropped his hold on her fast as if she burnt him, his tone becoming colder. "Unfortunately I don't fuck whores."
All Liv could do was stare at his retreating back in indignation, he was gone before her brain could whir back to life and form a clever retort. The pounding was back in her temples but this time it wasn't from multiple punches to her skull, Eric was a migraine in human form and Liv would die happy if she never saw him again.
A/N/ I'm so surprised at how well this is going down so far. Thank you for another review NiNa5 and the other guest. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too :)
