So, I found time to post another chapter. I was shocked when I found out the story has gained over a 100 views in just three days! Yay, you guys are awesome :D R&R please, I'd love to hear your opinions, the good, the bad & the ugly :)


4. Something different

When I return from dropping Izzy off at the detention centre, Christina comes up to me.

"What was all that?" she asks with a frown.

"Just an accident really," I answer. "The girl saw a man hit his wife, so she decided to punish him." I think for a moment. "Well, she didn't decide to, actually," I correct myself. "I think she just acted before thinking it through."

Christina's frown deepens.

"The Chicago's usually never cause this kind of trouble. They're mostly too confused and overwhelmed by all the new impressions that they just seem, well, numbed really."

It's true, most of the Chicago's that came in just seemed scared and empty, as if they had lost track of the purpose of their lives. The girl, however, was different. She was scared; I had seen the fear in her eyes as she was holding the man down, but there was a fire burning in them I hadn't seen in a long time. I know the fire in me was gone; Christina only seemed to smolder at times, whereas she'd been a blazing force before. We had all grown colder by everything that had happened.

"She used to be an Erudite," I say, not knowing why. One of Christina's brows lifts up in surprise.

"Seriously? Never thought they were capable of defending the weak like that," she says weary, without being sarcastic.

A thought pops up in my head. She might be Divergent. I push it away. We are not in Chicago and the factions are gone anyway, so it doesn't matter what she is, or might have been. And besides, she could just as easily have been Dauntless or Abnegation, as she had never had her aptitude test.

"I'll file the incident-report first, then join you later to help out with the rest of the Chicago's," I say. Christina nods and we split up. As I walk to the Security Office, my thoughts wander of again, and Izzy's face appears in my mind. Eyes a pale shade of green, slightly angled and set in a narrow face. I hadn't even noticed the scarring when I first saw her, but it is her most striking feature. The ridge stood out, slightly darker colored than her skin, running sideways across her right-eye. I wondered what had happened to her. Marcus appears in my mind, holding the belt in his hand, looming over me. I tense. After the war, I did not have a hard time imagining such things occurring in Erudite as well.

I decide to visit Izzy tomorrow and have a word with her. God knows what would show up on the medical screening. I want to offer her a chance to get it off her mind before she will have to face that. I feel I owe it to her, as I know from experience what she may have been put through.

After I file the report, I do as I had promised Christina and join her to register the rest of the Chicago's. Small groups of grey-clad former Abnegation pass by, former Candors still dressed in their black and whites. Most wear mismatched combination from different factions. After a while, their faces start blending together. The work is simple and monotone, but I can get lost in it and I'm able to forget myself for a moment.

That night, I immediately fall asleep without needing to take the pills, exhausted by the long day. When I dream, the only thing I see is the glint of a knife, before it plunges into the darkness.


After Tobias had dropped me off at the detention centre, someone undid my straps and I was brought to a bathroom. It was wonderful to feel the hot water rain down my body again after all this time. I scrubbed myself from head to toe and put on the clothes they had given me. They then put me in a detention cell, which was essentially a small room containing a bed, a table and a chair. I couldn't have asked for more. I immediately flopped down in the bed and fell into a heavy sleep.

That had been yesterday, and right now I am wide-awake, lying on my back on the bed. The ceiling is a stark white, reminding me of the surgery room. I sit up and check if there are no guards near the door of my cell. I found out soon enough after my seclusion that the detention centre wasn't really a prison, but more like a time-out zone for first-time offenders like me, who had not done any big damage or committed serious crimes. A cool-off zone, really. Nevertheless, I shouldn't have let myself slip up the way I had, not if I wanted to blend in.

When I am sure no one is near, I lift the dark grey shirt I am wearing and inspect my stomach. The sides of my belly are covered in white puncture marks, like pigmentless freckles. I idly wonder if they will fade over time. I should know better by now, as it has looked like this since I was fifteen. As soon as they found out continually injecting my neck was eventually going to leave its marks, which might raise suspicion, they had moved to my stomach.

I hear a door open and instantly drop my shirt. I stand up from the bed and move to the centre of the room, standing still. Footsteps come closer, stopping at my door. It opens, and Tobias enters. I raise an eyebrow. I didn't expect to see him here. I look up at his tall frame standing in the door opening. I am not short at all, with my 5"8 I usually tower over most girls, yet I have to tilt my head upwards to look him in the eye. He is muscular, but his built is slender and he moves with a certain grace. A deadly grace, I remind myself as I think back at how he had overpowered me earlier in a heartbeat.

"Your medical screening will take place tomorrow," he announces, not wasting any time on niceties. I hope he doesn't notice my sharp inhale of breath. He leans against the doorframe.

"But I have a feeling you might want to tell me something before that happens."

I freeze. He couldn't know. How could he know? No, I was one of the best-hid secrets of the Erudite. Even with the war and everything going on, my records must have been destroyed so the experiments would never be uncovered.

"It might be easier for you to tell me now, as tomorrow we'll find out anyway, but you'll have to confess it to a larger group than just me."

My shoulders slump as the implications of his words weigh me down. I swallow, keeping my eyes on the ground. He moves to the table and sits on the edge, crossing his arms. Then I get it. He probably thinks I have something to hide because of the scar on my face. I almost snigger. The scar on my face was actually one the least important of the marks I carried.

I sit down on the bed and cross my arms, mimicking his movements.

"I do not have anything to tell you," I retort defiantly. He raises an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed by my hard words.

"I am offering you a chance here, you do understand that?"

Anger boils up in my chest.

"I don't need your help, okay? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I am pitiable and I need to be saved. I can take care of myself just fine, in a matter of fact, that's exactly what I've been doing for the past couple of months. I do not need help, especially not from you of all people, the one who actually put me in here." The words pour out before I am even aware exactly what I am saying. I shut up and look at him, unsure what to expect. The expression on his face is still as composed as it was minutes ago, although I swear I can see his jaw tense slightly.

He shoots me one last sinister look before he pushes himself of the table and walks to the door.

"Fine, your choice."

His words still hang in the air long after he left.

Fear suddenly seizes me.

Had I made the right decision to come here?