Author's Note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent.


Chapter Seven: Eric

I returned to the dorms after the encounter with Eric. Zeke escorted me there before leaving. I entered the room to see a crowd over a bloodied body, where Edward was in the center unconscious. Myra was by his side breaking apart.

"Could you believe it?" I heard some murmurs around me.

"Who would have done such a thing?" Another person whispered.

I watched as Pat and Michael treated Edward and the mess. I headed to my bed and tried and ignored the crowd. I already had my own problems to deal with.


I slept in with most of the initiates this morning.

"I can't believe it. I don't how I should feel about it." I heard Kate mumble.

"It's selfish, but I'm glad you're still here. That matters most." I heard Jean reply back.

I groggily yawned and sat up.

"Good morning Lea!" Kate greeted me.

"Hn." I replied.

Before they could say anything, I got up and headed to the showers. I took one last glance before closing the curtain. Almost everyone was still asleep, well the ones that were initiates now.

It was late by the time I got food, so I could only salvage myself a cup of orange juice and yogurt. Better than nothing. After my shower, I had been informed that Myra and Edward had left Dauntless, scared for Edward's safety. They were faction-less right now. In their stead, Kate and some other initiate from the dauntless-born had made it. I was glad for Kate, but somewhat sad about the couples' departure, even if I hadn't known them much.

"All initiates, report to the training room in 10 minutes." Max, a dauntless leader boomed.


"Alright initiates. You all made it this far, but there's no time to celebrate." Eric said. "As you know, that was only the first stage of training." He continued.

"I will be the one to administer you during the second stage of training." Four took over. "This stage consists of testing your mental capabilities. You have to get your fears before they get to you." He said.

"When does this training start?" Al asked.

"Tomorrow." Four replied.


"Tris." Four opened the white door.

Tris wiped her sweaty palms on her pants before leaving. The door shut closed behind them. I looked around the room. There were only a few initiates left. After Molly was dragged out of the room, the atmosphere became tenser. Just how bad was it? What were my fears?

"Apparently, you only get to experience one fear a day." Will spoke up. "Sometimes you don't even get to try facing all of your fears because you have so many. In stage two is where they lose more than half of the initiates." He finished.

Everyone stole a glance towards him. We were all anxious to see what our fears were.


It was raining and I was cold. Yet, I kept still under the dark of night. I was crying under the rain. I screamed, my cries being muffled by the rain hitting the ground. I screamed until I was drowning in my tears and the rain. Then I saw it. A streak of lightning.

I froze, paralyzed by my fear. Run! My thoughts screamed at me to move. I looked at my legs. They were trembling like my heart. RUN! I screamed at my legs. They were shaking from the cold, not my fear. I kept on trying to convince myself that the lightning would stop, only to see it move closer. It's closing in on me. I have to get shelter.

My body was seized with a certain adrenaline and I ran. I splashed my clothes and I ran. Finally recognizing my surroundings, it was Abnegation. I ran and ran until I got to a familiar place. The school. I ran to the doors, but they were locked. I turned around, ready to find another place to take shelter when a lightning struck someplace close to me. The next strike is going to be me. I thought. I was starting to freeze up again. Out of fear, I shut my eyes closed, willing for everything to go away.

Get your fears before they get you. Four's voice reminded me. My eyes snapped open, just in time to see a lightning strike me.


I woke up startled.

"Calm down, calm down." Four was holding me down.

My eyes scanned the room. I was in the examination room. I caught my breath and calmed down.

"Good job back there." Four said. "5 minutes and 28 seconds. Not bad for a beginner, but it only gets worst from here." He said.

I nodded, unable to find my voice.

"Can you get up by yourself? Or do you need help?" He asked.

I tried to get up, albeit pretty shakily but made my way out safely. I walked by everyone, with their intent stares on me. I didn't look at anyone.

I was in the training room, running laps. I saw Molly and another dauntless-born training too. Next time, my fears won't get me. I won't be paralyzed by it anymore. I thought to myself as I sprinted a few more laps.

I was drenched with sweat when dinnertime came around. I wasn't hungry yet, and it wasn't like we had anything else to do for the day, so I decided to kick a dummy around.

I punched and kicked it. I was upset with myself. I let one of my fears stop me. What were my other ones? I punched the dummy harder. I know I'm bound to see Jean in there sometime. I shoved the dummy aside with the most force that I could muster. Just as I was about to beat it some more, it swung to my face, knocking me down.

I lay on the mat for a few minutes. The sweat was burning my face and my chest was heaving up and down, trying to get some air.

"Need some help there?" Someone asked me. I twisted my face to look up, it was Uriah and Zeke. I stayed there, looking up at them for a few moments before sitting up.

"How were your fears?" Uriah asked me. I shrugged. I didn't have anything to say. He laughed.

"You know, I came here beating the crap out of dummies too after experiencing my first fear." Zeke said. "It gets better." He said.

Uriah smiled, his teeth were still dazzling. I smiled back.

"You eat yet?" Uriah asked. I shook my head.

"Let's go then." He said. I headed to the cafeteria with the boys.


Uriah had already eaten, but he was willing to stay with me, even though I was gross and smelly.

"Here!" Zeke waved his hand to a table. We headed there and sat with Zeke and his friends.

"Hey Uriah!" Some people greeted him and patted his back. "How's the initiation?" They asked. He shrugged and laughed.

I drank some water before I started on my meal.

"So you're Lea right?" A boy asked me. I nodded.

"Oh! You're the one who fainted right? Like during the ceremony." Another person asked.

"Yup, that's me." I said. They laughed.

"Well I'm Domenic, but you can call me Dom." He said. I smiled.

"I'm Connor." The second boy said. I smiled to him, popping a vegetable into my mouth.

"So, how do you like it here?" Connor asked.

"It's good." I said. "Even if it seems like everyone wants to kill the initiates or something." I said.

They laughed and I laughed with them.

"Yo! Eric, over here!" Zeke motioned for him to approach. I turned my head to see him gather a plate full of food and make his way over to the table. He sat down and started chewing on a piece of meat before looking at everyone on the table and seeing me.

"What's with everyone eating so late?" Dom asked.

"Training." I said at the same time as Eric. I looked over to him and saw that he was sweating too.

"You dauntless over-achievers. Stage one is over for you," Connor said to me, "and initiation is over for you." He said to Eric.

Eric shrugged before digging into the rest of his food.

The guys got into a conversation about some new project that was going to happen, but I was disinterested so I kept to myself.

"So, what are you thinking of doing later?" Uriah asked me.

"I don't know." I said. I was thinking of visiting my brother, but I couldn't just sneak out.

"Want to come with me to the tattoo parlor? I have to renew mine." He said.

"Sure." I said. Why not? Maybe I can pick out my tattoo also.


I headed to the dorms to shower before catching up with Uriah.

"Hey, Lea!" Someone called after me. I turned around to see Kate and Jean.

"Hi guys." I said.

"Where were you? We were worried." Kate said.

"I was training. Don't want to start getting rusty even after stage one is over, you know?" I said.

"Yeah. But how was your fear?" She asked.

"Okay." I replied.

"Did you know? Jean finished it in 3 minutes. He was one minute short from Tris' time!" She said enthusiastically. Surprised, I looked to Jean. He looked shy.

"Congrats!" I said.

"Yeah, thanks." He said.

"Well, I better get going; I'm meeting a friend at the tattoo parlor later." I said.

We departed and I went to meet Uriah.

"Hey!" Uriah said.

I sat at a nearby chair and watched as the tattooist re-inked Uriah's tattoo. He was shirtless and I could see his tattoo on his shoulder. His body was muscular and tanned.

"Like what you see?" He asked.

I blushed profusely before looking away. He chuckled. "So any ideas on your tattoo?" He asked.

"No, not yet." I said, still looking away.

"Well you've still got some time." He said. I smiled.

After he got his tattoo re-inked, we walked around the campus for a while. We chose to sit near the chasm for a while. It was quiet between us, with only the sound of rushing water.

"What happens after initiation?" I asked.

"We settle. We get a job protecting the factions and we serve the community." Uriah said.

It was quiet once again between us.

"My brother, he-" I tried saying, but I stopped myself.

"Your brother? What about him?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, it's nothing." I said.

"Do you know what divergents are?" I asked after a few more moments.

"Yeah. Erudites are searching them out." He said.

"Yeah, but what do you think about them?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing to think about. It's not real." He said with a certain edge in his voice.

It was quiet after that. But Uriah, sensing the tension, tried to make conversation.

"I like the new hair." He said.

He caressed my head a bit, my hair falling on my shoulders. "It suits you." He smiled.

I blushed and looked away, hearing him chuckle again.


I awoke that night from a nightmare. I was breathing heavily. I tried to calm myself down by taking some sleeping pills, but it didn't work.

"Hey… Lea. You alright?" Kate whispered, starting to sit up from her bed.

"Yea, I'm fine. Go back to sleep." I said. She didn't need to be told twice, her head hit the pillow immediately and she was sound asleep.

I walked back to the chasm, hoping to find some sort of calamity over my racing heart. I don't recall what my nightmare was about, but I was still shaking from it.

"GET HER!" Someone cried. Alarmed, I stood up, waiting from an attack, but none came.

"Stop! Help , help!" I heard a girl cry. I ran, trying to search for the source of the voice. I turned a corner from the chasm and saw three men dressed in black trying to pushed someone off the chasm.

"Stop!" I screamed, and ran to them. A boy turned on me, and pushed me aside. I got back up, only to be pushed back down. During my struggle, I could see the falling girl, it was Tris.

"TRIS!" I screamed, but she was distracted. She pulled a mask off the person's face, and saw a friend. It was Al.

I was about to scream some more when a hand clamped over my mouth. Struggling, I tried to scratch the person. I could feel my eyes start to tear up. I was going to die with Tris here. The attacker yanked my hair along with my head and smashed it on the ground. My vision was blurry, but I could see help coming for Tris.

Tris. I hope she was fine.

Then my vision blanked and I fell unconscious.


I woke up feeling sore. I sat up, my head pounding.

"Are you finally awake?" Someone asked.

"Yea…" I said, my eyes were still shut and I was massaging my temples.

When my headache started to calm, I opened my eyes to a still dark room and searched for the owner of it.

"Hello…?" I called out.

"I'm in here." The voice said. Eric came out of the washroom holding some damp towels.

"Put these over your head. They'll help." He said.

"Thanks." I said as I took them.

"So what happened over there?" He asked.

He approached me, and kneeled on the ground, making us almost at eye-level with one another. His face was close to mine. I could feel his breath on my face. I stared into his deep clear blue eyes and I had a feeling he already knew.

I remembered. Tris. I wondered if she was alright.

"I don't know." I gulped, worried that I was going to be caught in my lie.

There was a sharp glint in his eyes. "What were you doing at the chasm?" He asked.

"I heard someone call for help." I said.

He rose one of his eyebrows. "So when someone is calling for help, you go? You don't even bother trying to get help?" He asked.


Eric's POV

"I am the help." She replied. Surprised by her answer, I laughed manically.

"So, you think you're helpful?" I asked.

She seemed to have tensed up.

"Do you realize what you just said?" I said, a little more seriously.

"When you were busy playing hero, you didn't realize that there was a chance that you could die." I said, dead serious when she was quiet.

She stared at me. I stared into her grey eyes. There was an intense fire in them.

"I don't have any intention of standing and hear someone die knowing that I could've helped." She retorted.

Pissed off, I blew up at her.

"You didn't help anyone! Do you understand? YOU were the one who needed saving." I said.

"Well what did you expect me to do?" She screamed back at me.

"Survive." I said much more calmly.

She looked confused.

"If someone had died, you would have had one less of a competitor." I explained.

Angry, she turned away.

I chuckled. Distracted from this, Lea took her chance to seize me by surprise.

There was a slap across my face.

I put my hand over where she had slapped it. I looked up at her.

"I don't care if I had one less of a competitor. If I was brave, I'd know that I could make it even if there were ten more competitors!" She blurted.

I was astonished. "No, you're not being brave, you're being arrogant." I said. "You think this is some sort of game don't you?" I said. I leaned closer to her. "Now that they know your face and you know their's, they're not only after you, but they want to take you down along with their secret." I said.

"So what you're trying to tell me is to leave someone and watch them die? Just for the sake of surviving?" She asked.

"Yeah." I said.

Her stare was hardening, as if she was trying to keep herself from crying.

"Training for stage two is cancelled today, so stay here and rest up." I said as I walked to my closet.

I chose to wear a jacket over the tank that I had on. I yawned, feeling a little tired.

"Are you tired?" She asked, seeing me yawn.

"No." I said. I put on my jacket. "Stay here, I'll go get breakfast." I said.


Lea's POV

He left me in his room. I curled up against the pillows on the bed. I don't know what I was doing here or how I ended up here. I wanted to cry. I wanted to get out of here and go home. I wanted to see Ari and Carl again.

I had no idea how I had ended up here, or why Eric was being mean. I just tried to save someone. Why did he bring me here? Why not at the medical bay? Or leave me there to die? It would've been one less of a competitor if I were gone, non?

After a few moments, I looked up from my position and observed the room. It was plain. The bed was big. I passed my hand over the sheets. I gathered the blankets and covered myself in them. Had I slept here the entire night? Where did Eric sleep?

"Are you cold?" Eric asked. Startled by his appearance, I jumped. When did he get back? I didn't even hear the door open.

He gave me a questioning look after setting a bowl of soup on the bedside table.

Instead of answering, I shook my head.

"Did you see who it was?" He asked.

"No." I lied.

He stared at me as I ate.

"Did you eat yet?" I asked.

He nodded, and got up to get a sweater from his closet. He threw it to me.

It landed next to me. I picked it up after putting away the bowl of soup.

"But my clothes are fine." I said.

"It's cold." He said.

I shrugged. I wasn't going to ignore his act of kindness. Maybe this was his way of apologizing?

I put my arms through the sleeve holes and my head last. It was huge, but it was comfortable and gave me warmth immediately. I caught a whiff of his smell when I wore the hoodie.

I inhaled the smell of the hoodie. "Ah..." I said. It smelled nice.

Realizing that it was silent in the room, I stole a glance to Eric. He was giving me a weird look.

"I… uh… I… it smells nice." I stammered.

He looked at me weirdly before chuckling and heading into the bathroom. Not a few moments later, I heard the water from the shower head running.

Gosh, that was awkward. I got up and stretched. The hoodie reached my thighs and the sleeves were large. I smelled it again, it smelled clean and fresh. Eric probably had good hygiene.

I caught the sight of a newspaper on the table. Paddling across the room, I took it and read it through. I stopped after a moment.

Pulling the plug? The title read.

Jeanine Matthews, Erudite leader, insists on pulling the plug and ending Carl's life. Further information is disclosed. It read. It had no pictures. Upset, I tightened my grip on the paper. "Further information is disclosed." What the hell did they mean by that? They might as well not even publish this. What were they trying to do?

Caught up in my thoughts, I was unaware of Eric's presence behind me.

"Is he your brother?" He asked.

Surprised, I turned around and clenched the paper harder and hiding it behind my back.

He had already seen it.

"Yea." I said sadly, looking down.

Eric was drying his hair. And looking down at me.

It was silent for a while.

"Well, thanks for the stay, but I don't want to bother you anymore, so I guess I'll get going." I said, trying to leave.

He grabbed onto my arm and pulled me back. "Stay here. There's nothing to do today." He said.

I shook his arm away from me and headed for the door.

"I'm going to go train." I said.


"Don't you have anywhere to be right now?" I asked, annoyed.

"No." Eric replied.

I don't know why he insisted on coming to watch me train.

I went to the running track first. I stretched a little before jogging. He jogged right beside me the entire time.

When I was beginning to get tired, I willed myself to sprint the last 3 laps. Finally, for the cool down, I walked 5 laps. Eric was still with me.

Next I went for the knives. I held one up and flicked my wrist. Eric stood and watched me. I aimed and hit the spot. It was right-on, like always.

Suddenly, Eric went in my way and stood in front of the target. "Go ahead." He said.

I stared at him. He wasn't serious, was he? I looked around the room.

"Searching for any witnesses in case you murder me?" He asked.

"Exactly." I replied.

He smirked. "Well go ahead, what are you waiting for?" He demanded.

I took a knife and steadied me hand.

"What, afraid that you're gonna hit me?" He quirked.

I stared at his still figure, and flicked my wrist. It landed right under his hand.

"Close one." He said. He didn't even flinch.

Annoyed, I dropped the knives and headed to the punching bags.

He followed, without any further comments.

"HEY! Eric!" Zeke came around. I stopped to look at him.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." I smiled.

"Eric, they need you. What are you doing here?" Zeke switched his attention on me to Eric.

"I'm coming." He said.

Zeke left us. Eric watched me hit the punching bag for a while before leaving for good.


I headed to the infirmary when Eric was gone.

"Hi Michael." I said when I opened the door.

"Hey!" He said and came over. "What's up?" He asked.

"I'm looking for Tris." I said.

Confused, he looked at me. "What happened to her? Did something happen?" He asked.

Trying to cover my surprise, I shook my head. "Nevermind." I said.

I said my farewells, eager to leave. I needed to find Tris.

"Have you guys seen Tris?" I asked.

"No, she's been gone since yesterday." Christina said.

"But I think she's fine." Will said.

Did anyone know what happened?

Seeing my panic, the couple questioned me. "Did something happen to her?" they asked.

Before I could reply, I saw Al from the corner of my eye. I ran to him and slammed him against a wall. I grabbed his collar.

"TELL ME WHERE THE HELL SHE IS YOU LITTLE FREAKING - " I was pulled back.

"What the hell Lea? What the hell has gotten into you?" Christina asked.

I stared at Al, waiting for my answer.

"I don't know." He replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?" I asked.

"I mean, I don't know." Al said.

"WELL THEN WHO DOES HUH, AL? WHO KNOWS?" I screamed at him. Where the hell was Tris?

Sensing my frustration, Christina willed me to calm down by letting him leave.

"Don't!" But despite my protests of Al leaving, they didn't care.

We headed to the cafeteria in silence after that. No one asked about me.

It was quiet between the three of us. Then Kate and Jean joined us, and sensing the tense atmosphere, left.

Suddenly, Tris appeared next to me.

"Tris! You're here!" Christina said.

"Yeah." She smiled.

"You know, you would think we missed you, but Lea over here went crazy missing you." He said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Tris turned to me, ready to say something.

"Hey, Tris." Al appeared behind her.

Tris quickly swapped his hand away and stood up to face him.

"Don't ever touch me again. I don't ever want to see you again." Tris spat out.

Al, hurt, retracted his figure, apologized and left.

Tris burst into tears after Al left and fell onto Christina crying.


News of Al's suicide soon spread and made everyone wonder why. Hadn't he passed the first stage of initiation?

I couldn't find Tris anywhere after hearing the news. I would want to be alone too, if I were the cause of his death. I didn't try to find Tris after that, even though there was a feeling in me that told me that there was still two other people after her.

I decided to take a breather and headed to the roof.

It was empty when I arrived. I went to stand near the ledge and look over the lighted city. I breathed the night air and tried to calm down.

"You're not going to jump too, are you?" A voice asked.

What is it with everyone? I just wanted some time alone.

"No. But I might after initiation." I said.

The person chuckled.

"So do you come here now too? To think?" The voice questioned.

"Yeah, kind of." I turned to see Zeke.

We stared at the night sky.

"There's a shooting star there! Make a wish!" I said.

I shut my eyes tightly and put my hands together, as if I'm praying to a god.

After I was done, I opened my eyes and looked to Zeke. He was staring at me.

"So what did you wish for?" He asked.

I smiled. "If I tell, then it won't come true." I said.

"What are you kids doing up here? It's past your bedtime, initiate." Four said.

I turned around.

"See you later." I waved to Zeke as I left the roof.


I was heading to the dorms when I saw Tris heading there herself.

I was about to call for her when I saw that she turn an abrupt turn. She wasn't heading to the dorms?

I hid myself against the wall, ready to follow her, until I heard another voice behind me.

"What are you doing initiate?" I turned to see Eric.

"I was about to head to the dorms." I said.

He rose his eyebrow.

"To the dorms?" He inquired.

I nodded. Didn't he hear me the first time?

"No. You're coming with me." He said.


Author's Note: OUUUU. Things are finally starting to get moving. What happened while Lea was unconscious will be explained in the next chapter ;) so sorry for the OOCness. And the story is progressing kind of fast now ;)

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the long update (I know, it's been a whole month). But school is killing me :( WORRY NOT. There should be more breaks soon, and term 1 is going to end soon :) OH and then there's also the strike that is going to happen, so hopefully I can start catching up with writing.

Once again, this chapter (and the others) have not been betaED. I've reviewed this story twice, and hopefully there aren't too many mistakes. However, please let me know if there are any or if there needs to be more clarification on stuff!

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! Please Review. Criticism much appreciated!