Chapter 5
Jude was practically foaming at the mouth when we found him; hands clenched and a vein in his forehead pulsing noticeably. Behind him his younger brother Wayne was tugging on his coat, trying to stop him from attacking the blonde boy who'd been shoved into a corner.
"Do you hear me? I will not have you corrupting my little brother!" Jude growled, jabbing a finger into the boy's chest.
"Jude, chill, this wasn't even Felix's idea," Wayne defended. "I was the one who–"
"Shut up Wayne," Jude snapped, yanking his shoulder from his grip. "If something happened to you, do you know what that would've done to mom?"
"Nothing was going to happen, trust me."
"Yeah, what Wayne said, it was all carefully planned out. Perfectly safe," Felix interjected from his corner.
I swear, Jude seemed like he could've spontaneously combusted at any moment.
"Sage, Iris, thank god, can you please talk some sense into him," Wayne said in relief when he noticed us approaching. "He's totally overreacting."
Iris and I ran forward; her target, Felix, childhood best-friend and rumored sweet-heart, and mine Jude, the guy who looked ready to start shooting at anything that moved. Though I didn't have quite the same ability to calm him down the way Finn did, I knew him well enough to know how to diffuse the situation. I shouldered past him and planted myself so that I'd be in the way if he tried to strike.
"What's going on?" I asked. "What did Felix do this time?"
Jude tried to sidestep me, but I shifted and repeated my question.
"Nothing!" I head Felix protest behind me, then quietly he added, "… not this time anyway."
I looked over my shoulder and gave him a withering look, to which he mouthed back; sorry.
Felix was essentially mischievousness personified into the form of a living boy. He was always either pulling a prank, wagering a series of bets, or accomplishing some random dare his friends had challenged him with. I'd met him a few days after Iris and I had talked in the chasm. Though we'd never been especially close, I couldn't help but find the kid's antics endearing.
"What did he do?" Jude repeated irately. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to me; a bag labeled flash powder, and another that said sodium silicate. "They were going to make bombs!"
"Cherry bombs!" Felix pointed out not-so helpfully. Jude took a dangerous step forward, but I again blocked his advance. Felix really wasn't helping his own case.
"Well, that doesn't seem so bad," I said, almost retreating when Jude's glare flashed to me.
"I wasn't finished," he snapped. "They were going to make bombs and then set them off in the dauntless armory."
"Just to see how well those gas masks and bullet-proof vests work," Wayne interjected matter-of-factly; as if his admission would make the whole thing totally reasonable. "It was for scientific purposes. If anything, you should be thanking me."
Jude groaned loudly and rolled his eyes, but I could see he already seemed calmer.
"Jude, come one, they're just kids," I said. "Let it go. You caught them, nothing dangerous happened, they're safe. Breathe."
The space was quiet, and I could see Felix eyeing the nearest exit; probably planning ahead in case Jude decided not to take my advice. He didn't have anything to worry about though; I could see that most of the anger Jude had felt was gone. His scowl was just the usual one he normally carried.
"Yeah, yeah I guess so," he huffed. He turned to Wayne then and raised an eyebrow. "I expect better from you."
For a split second I saw Wayne's face fall, but then almost immediately he was smiling again; unworried. Though they shared many physical similarities, Wayne and Jude were polar opposites; where Jude was serious and seemed permanently on the verge of snapping at someone, Wayne was always silly and perpetually optimistic.
It was in their differences that they balanced each other out. Jude grounded Wayne, and Wayne lighted up Jude. As I watched the two brothers make up, I couldn't help but understand Jude's heightened protectiveness. In a matter of days, the Choosing Ceremony could either keep them together, or rip them apart.
"Let's go home, mom wants to spend more time with you," Jude said as he gave Wayne a playful punch on the arm.
"But I'm staying here, in dauntless," Wayne retorted.
Jude sighed, and for a moment his eyes seemed to sadden. "Wayne, don't be a pain. Just come home."
Wayne must've heard the same unhappy tone I had, because he didn't argue further. Together, the two brothers nodded a goodbye and then made their way down the opposite hallway.
"That wasn't really Wayne's idea, was it?" I heard Iris ask Felix in a tone that wasn't really a question but more of an accusation. "He just took the blame for you, didn't he?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Felix grinned, leaping out of the way when Iris attempted to punch him.
Though he and some of the other younger dauntless kids were normally rambunctious, I had a feeling that their sudden increase in recklessness these past few days had something to do with the Choosing Ceremony, which was just around the corner.
"So why exactly were you guys going to bomb the armory?" I asked; really only just so that I could get some sort of conformation on my earlier hypothesis.
"Celebrating, duh," Felix stated. "Though I'm almost absolutely sure I'm going to stay here, I still want to make sure I get to do everything I want to before it's too late. I mean, what if I get some horribly boring faction? Then what'll I blow up?" He didn't have time to move away this time as Iris slugged him.
"You don't seem worried. Neither of you actually," I noted, looking from Iris's face to Felix, and then back.
"I kind of just have a gut feeling," Felix grinned widely and shrugged. "I mean, didn't you sort of have an idea?"
I didn't answer. Suddenly, I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be interrogated. I didn't want to lie. Avoidance, that would be better than spinning some tale.
"Stay out of trouble, okay? Because I'm not always going to be around to bail you out. If you piss off Jude or anyone else, you're going to have to deal with it yourself."
Felix didn't seem worried. "I have Iris, she'll protect me."
I rolled my eyes and then turned to leave. I'd just turned a corner when I realized someone was following. I turned, expecting Felix, and was instead surprised to see Iris.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Fine, perfect, splendid," I said dryly. "Why?"
"I don't know. You've just seemed tense the whole day."
Before I could come up with a good lie to explain my mood swings, my mouth opened and my real thoughts spilled out.
"I haven't been sleeping well," I admitted.
I didn't have to say anything further. Iris, like myself, had suffered from repeated nightmares about her friend falling off of the chasm. However, unlike me, her dreams came infrequently. I was eternally plagued by mine; the moment my eyes closed, all I could see was Randi's ghostly face.
Iris smiled empathetically at me, and then patted my arm in a consoling manner.
"They'll pass," she said; though I could hear the edge of uncertainty in her voice.
"Sure," I lied back. "Of course they will."
Without further pause, I pulled away and continued to walk. It was dark, and I was beginning to get upset at the fact that my earlier buzz was already fading. I could feel the stab of guilt already slicing into my heart.
I thought about returning to the bar, but as I paused to peer at my watch I knew that wouldn't be possible.
Banks; my subconscious reminded sternly. He hates when you're late.
Already I could feel my stomach twist and knot in dread. Hopefully, tonight wouldn't be one of those times when he decided to try out different serums on me. Though it wasn't much better, I much preferred when he sent me out into the factionless part of the city to bring him back samples.
Tick, tick, tick.
I sighed, knowing I was wasting time for no reason, and then forced myself to follow the overly-familiar trail down to Banks's office.
Would it be a chore today? Or an experiment.
