**Characters and some story lines are owned by Veronica Roth**
TRIS – 1969
"I don't understand Beatrice," I hear Auntie say.
"Tris," I automatically correct her.
It has been almost 24 hours since I had found out that my father was actually an FBI agent and a crime syndicate had my family murdered because of it. I haven't slept, I haven't eaten, I haven't left my room. During this time I had screamed, cried, pitied, angered and even laughed, ignoring all attempts from my Auntie to come out of the room or at least eat something. By the time all of these emotions had passed there was only the one that remained, I wanted revenge and I could taste its bitterness.
At the age of 10 I had started a little habit of writing in a thoughts journal. The idea was given to me by my 5th grade teacher who seemed to think that I had an active mind and encouraged me to write my ideas and thoughts into a journal. Over the years I have filled almost 8 little hard covered books, each one containing everything from quotes that I had heard and thought noteworthy to my mother's secret recipe for banana bread to events or smells that I wanted remember to doodles and sketches. Robert and Caleb had always made fun of me, especially if we were in the middle of something and I pulled out the little book to eagerly scribble in it.
As soon as I had made the vow it was like a dam had burst and I had found myself flailing amongst the churning thoughts that had now consumed me. Rummaging through the unopened boxes in my room I had finally found my secret stash of journals and in between them was a shiny new book still wrapped in plastic wrap. Ripping away the packaging I opened it and started writing all the questions and a to do list. By the time the sun had risen and my Auntie was lightly knocking on my door encouraging me out for breakfast I was finally convinced that I had covered everything that I could think of for the moment.
This is where I find myself now, sitting at the kitchen table trying very hard to tick off the first item on my to do list. I wasn't stupid I knew that in order to accomplish what I wanted to I was going to need help and now it was just a matter of convincing my Aunt and Uncle to help me. I also needed to get my hands on my father's files to try and figure out my next step. Looking across my plate of scrambled eggs and bacon I watch for their reactions.
"I want to see my father's files from his office," I reply calmly reaching over for a sip of my milk and see them casting quick glances at each other over the rim.
"But why?" she asks.
Picking up my fork I casually scoop up some of my eggs, "because I want to finish what he started," I reply before placing the fluffy pile in my mouth.
"Beatrice….." she starts again a wrinkle creasing her brow.
"Tris," I correct again as I take a bite of my bacon.
"OK Tris, I understand how you are feeling right now with everything but I don't think you've thought this through. It's a federal case, they aren't just going to let you waltz in and start interfering in it. There are trained agents on the case," she replies leaning forward in her chair her eyes seeking me out.
"A federal case that has gone on for over 2 years now and they are still no closer in solving it. Uncle Harrison admitted as much yesterday, the closest they have ever gotten were the lower ranked nobodies," I sigh and place my fork down against my dish and address my next sentence to Uncle who has been suspiciously quiet. "You and I both know that no matter how long you remain undercover your hands are always going to be tied. By the law, by your superiors, by red tape. You need someone outside of these things to help. I can do it, I can finish it."
"Are you insane! Harrison talk to her, try to get her to see reason."
Ignoring my Aunties plea I continue to lock eyes with my Uncle. His face is void, not giving anything away.
"They have always been one step ahead right," I continue to him, "it's time to forget the rules and start playing by theirs and get them to start taking risks."
"She's right," he finally says and for a split second I can see something pass behind his steely glare.
"What!" Auntie shrieks jumping up from the table, her chair scraping across the floor, "Harrison….."
"Now Vee," he says holding up his hand to silence her, "there are going to be rules before we even consider going back to Chicago."
"I don't care Harrison! I won't allow it," she huffs angrily and turns back to me, "Beat…. Tris. What you are asking to do is illegal. You are interfering in a federal investigation, you will be placing your life deliberately in danger. What if you are recognised? And what exactly do you intend to do with them once you find them!"
"I don't want to kill them Auntie if that's what you're afraid of. No, I'm not a murderer. I just want them to pay. I want everything that means something to them taken away, the money, the power, their freedom and every time they fall asleep in their prison cots with scratchy blankets or have to eat their food off a metal tray I want them to think of me. I want them to spend the rest of their lives remembering my family. And as for interfering in a Federal investigation I will merely be acting as an informant and any information that I happen to stumble across will be passed on to them."
"You are both insane!" she cries and throwing her screwed up napkin onto her uneaten breakfast storming out of the kitchen leaving me alone with my Uncle.
"I came to you because I want your help Uncle," I say to him, "with or without it I will finish it."
"I know," he says, "don't worry about your Auntie, she'll come around. She may not approve but she won't leave you on your own either."
"Thank you. I love you both very much but I have to do this, for them."
"I understand. Now before we start I want to lay down some rules first."
"What kind of rules?"
"First, we are not going anywhere near Chicago until you have been trained."
"Trained?"
"Yes, I will give you 6 months to train and prove to me that you are able to look after yourself."
"You mean like self-defence?"
"Among other things. You need to be prepared both physically and mentally. These people are cold criminals Tris and won't hesitate to kill you. I want to make sure you are going in prepared and can handle any kind of situation that might come up. You also need to prepare yourself for things you might see, they aren't saints, this is the lowest part of human nature that you will be exposing yourself to. They deal with drugs, beatings, death and sex on a daily basis and if you can't handle that then this conversation ends now."
"I can do this Uncle. You know I can."
"6 months Tris, prove it," he looks down at his watch and starts to stand up, "I want you to meet some people first so go and get ready while I talk to Vee."
I feel a wave of relief rush over me as he leaves the room to talk to Auntie and I reach for my journal turning to the first page. Checking off the first item on my list and I can feel the tugging of a satisfied smirk on my face, 6 months to prove it to him, one way or another though it was going to happen. Standing up I start to clear the breakfast dishes as I hear the muffled voices coming from their room, my ears straining to hear the conversation unfortunately I don't hear much. Eventually when my Uncle returns to the kitchen the dishes have been cleaned and sit in the rack to dry.
"Ready Tris?" I hear my Uncle behind me.
Turning around I see his figure engulfing the door space, his face still not giving away anything as the row of piercing on his ear glimmers in the morning light.
"Yes," I nod walking past the table and picking up my journal I start following him through the house out to their car.
"Auntie isn't coming?" I ask as I click the seatbelt into place.
"No, she needs a little more time," he replies, flicking on a pair of mirrored sunglasses and starting the ignition.
Pulling out from the curb the interior of the vehicle is silent as we make our way through traffic. My mind slowly working through the rest of my list, as easy as the first one was I was under no illusion that the rest were going to prove problematic.
"Tris?" I hear my Uncles voice pulling me away from my thoughts.
"hmmm?" I ask seeing my reflection in the tiny mirrors covering his eyes.
"I said we're here."
Looking around I realised that we have pulled into a small parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. The old timber building had obviously seen better days and was in desperate need of a new paint job and the replacement of broken windows.
"Where are we?" I ask looking around and noticing a couple of other cars parked there also.
"You'll see."
Following his lead I open my car door, giving it an extra pop with my hip to close it and follow him up the old creaky stairs which safety standards I am seriously questioning. Walking in through the rusted metal door the first thing I notice are the sounds, the whipping of a skipping rope and soft thud of a punching bag echo through the space followed by a musky odour. Slowly as my eyes adjust to the dim light inside I notice the interior is a lot more updated than the outside. Off to the left there is a boxing ring and gym with several people in various stages of working out. Continuing to scan the large space I also see targets lining a wall, the surrounding timber worn and splintered and a little further past them is an obstacle course of rope, metal and rubber.
In the far corner of the gym I see a tall tanned girl with short black hair skipping with a jump rope. From here I can tell that she is focused leading each whip in a steady and strong form, her tall lean body moves with grace with each pass of the rope.
Not too far from her is another girl, or at least from here I'm fairly certain it's a girl, punching and kicking into a punching bag that is hung from one of the beams. Slightly shorter than the rope jumper her muscles are more prominent and she has a shaved head. Interesting.
Sitting at a weight station is a younger man, a messy mop of brown hair glistens sweat as he repeatedly raises the dumbbells.
In the corner is a cluster of tables with Uriah sitting at one, his long limbs stretched out in front of him as he talks to two other men. When he sees us he gives a casual wave and smiles at us, pointing to me as he says something to the other men who nod and look over to us.
At one of the other tables is another girl, her light brown hair pulled up tight into a braid. She is surrounded by books and has a pen tucked behind her ear, one laced through her braid and another poised above a pad of paper. Her forehead is furrowed in thought and I can see her eyes darting across the books pages behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses.
"Come on," my Uncle says and gently places his hand on my arm leading me over to them.
"Who are they?" I ask still looking around the old warehouse.
"They are people Uriah tracked down for us. Each of them victims from the same crime syndicate as you and with the help of your father they were relocated here," Harrison replies, keeping a light hold on my arm as we get closer to the tables.
"oooooo Uri, she's here!" I hear a girls voice off to the side say.
Turning towards the voice a girl with twinkling blue eyes gracefully skips towards me, a long gypsy skirt flowing around her tall legs and bare feet. With very long curly dirty blonde hair, each ringlet falls untamed around her. When she gets closer she opens her arms and without any hesitation I easily slip into her embrace.
Pulling away she lightly places her hands on my shoulders, her smile making her entire being glow, "and you are so beautiful Beatrice. No you don't like Beatrice now do you?"
"Tris," I reply wondering how she knew. Uncle probable had told them.
"She's the one Harrison. She's the one we have been waiting for," she smiles up towards my Uncle, "it's finally time isn't it?"
"Now Marlene….." my Uncle starts looking fondly at Marlene.
"They told me she was coming Harrison," she breaths looking at me again.
"They? You mean Uncle Harrison and Auntie Victoria?" I ask wondering what they were talking about.
"No not us," Uncle says clearing his throat and shifting on his feet.
"Your spirit guides Tris," Marlene finishes for him, "and your aura is so strong, powerful. Oh Uri can you see it! It just shimmers and glows all around her. She's the one!" she says releasing my shoulders and taking a step back, clasping her hands to her chest as her sparkling eyes dart around me.
Feeling a little like I had just stumbled into a psych ward I look to my Uncle to see if in actual fact he has finally had me committed. He just smiles and places a firm arm around my shoulders.
"Tris this is Marlene. She is a Psychic," Uriah says as he comes and lovingly wraps is arms around her waist placing a soft kiss on her shoulder where her top has slipped down.
"Psychic?" I have to ask feeling the small quirk in my eyebrow.
"Enough Uri. Tris will come to believe in time," she says reaching out and slipping her petite hands into mine, "she is doubting it right now but it won't take her long."
Opening my mouth to ask another question I feel my Uncle squeeze my shoulder, "soon Tris, I promise. Everyone is curious to meet you right now so come on and I'll introduce you around."
Suddenly I am aware of the silence in the warehouse as I am led across the floor closer to where the tables are. Looking back towards the gym they have all stopped their routines and watch me with steady curious eyes. The girl sitting at the table peers over the rim of her glasses chewing on the end of one of the pens as her eyes follow my every move. With a wave of his hand Uncle calls them all over to join us.
"Tris, this is Amar and George," he says stopping at the table where Uriah has sat moments ago with the two men.
"Amar," the first man says rising from his chair and extending his hand. He has long dark black hair is tied at the back in a slick pony tail and he has warm brown eyes. His hand is strong and calloused but warm when I shake it, "your father and I where trainees together," he offers as an explanation to me.
"George," the other man offers his hand also. There is something familiar about him and a fast picture flashes past my eyes. His brownish red hair is a lot shorter than Amars but it is still slicked back into a tiny pony tail too. His hands are softer but just as strong and warm when I shake it, "I'm Victoria's brother."
Of course, I remembered him now from when I had visited my Aunt and Uncle a few years ago. It was a brief visit because he was in the Navy and he was only on shore leave for 24 hours. It was often assumed that because I referred to Victoria and Harrison as my Aunt and Uncle we were related. In actual fact my Aunt Victoria had been my mother's best friend since they were 3 and always referred to themselves as sisters. They had shared everything together and even though Victoria had ended up moving to San Francisco when she had married Harrison they still remained close and had taken the role of being my Aunt and Uncle very seriously.
"And of course you met Uri yesterday," Uncle says as Uri smiles at me.
"This is Cara," he continues indicating to the girl with the tight braid and pens. She gives a polite nod while closing the book in front of her and tucking the third pen into a pocket, "and this is her brother Will," he points out the sweating man with the brown hair who had been on the weights.
"Hi," he says as he wipes his hand down the front of his sweats and offers a warm sticky handshake also as his green eyes curiously glare at me.
"Christina," he nods towards the rope jumper. She cocks her hip and crosses her arms over her chest, her soft brown eyes squint as if she is trying to decide something.
Finally she extends a hand "I prefer Chris," she says giving my hand three swift pumps before pulling away.
"And this is Lynn," he says to the shaved girl who was hitting the punching bag. She doesn't say a word and merely glares at me.
"Don't mind her Tris her aura is a really muddy red today," Marlene says stepping in front of the glare.
"Aura?" I ask and see Lynn roll her eyes behind Marlene back.
"Yes, her aura." Marlene offers but she must see me questioning it before she continues, "Your aura is the electromagnetic field of psychic energy that surrounds one's body Tris. You see we emit these tiny particles of energy and the colour depends on what we are drawing from the universe," Marlene offers as though it was a normal everyday topic of conversation.
"So what does muddy red mean?" I query
"Anger," she states.
"You mentioned my aura. What colour is it?" I ask purely out of curiosity.
"Oh Tris I love your aura. It is the purest Gold I have ever seen."
"And what does Gold signify?"
"It's the colour of enlightenment and divine protection. It means that you are being guided by your sense of goodness, wisdom and inner knowledge."
Not really thinking very much of Lynn at the moment but I certainly feel the urge to share her sentiment in rolling my eyes.
"OK," I answer.
"There is also Lynns sister Shauna but she is currently in Chicago at the moment," my Uncle says.
When my Uncle says this Lynn huffs and stalks away back to the punching bag throwing punches and kicks against the leather.
"It seems that Shauna has been held up and it doesn't look like she will be coming back to San Francisco in a hurry," Uriah offers as an explanation to Lynn's behaviour.
"Is everything OK? We were expecting her back this week," my Uncles asks, his face contorting in concern.
Uri waves his hand "everything is fine. It appears though my older brother has taken an interest in her."
"Really?" Uncle laughs, "so that explains Lynn."
"And she seems to have taken an interest in him."
"Seriously? Do they know?"
"No."
"And are they OK or do we need to look into protection for them?"
"At the moment she thinks that all is fine and they don't seem to be in any danger. Of course she is keeping a very close eye on him. I mean them," his grins as Amar and George chuckle behind him.
"Let her know the minute she suspects anything to tell us. And your other brother?"
"She hasn't seen much of him," Uri says and clears his throat as his eyes look at me as though he is suppressing a glint of humour "he is pining for someone else."
"AHHHH!" Marlene squeals, "is that why the number 4 is dancing around her."
"Not yet Marlene," Uri leans in to her ear.
"You're right. Their stars aren't quite aligned at the moment," she takes a step back and bites her bottom lip, "what does the number 4 mean to you Tris?"
"Nothing," I laugh.
"See, she doesn't recognise it yet but his energy is all around her too. Don't worry it will soon Tris," she winks at me.
"So Amar and George are going to help you with your training Tris," my Uncle says changing the conversation again, "you will start with the others from tomorrow."
I had almost forgotten about everyone else as I was talking to Marlene and glancing at them now I see that they are still staring at me and a distant thump continues from the punching bag in the gym by Lynn. Cara has taken to reading her book again but every now and then I see her eyes flick to me before glancing back down at the pages. Will offers a smile while Chris kicks her foot against the ground.
"OK 6 months right?" I confirm to him.
"At the end of the agreed 6 months if you can ring that bell we will go back to Chicago," he says.
"Bell?"
Uncle points to a single bell suspended by a rope from the ceiling in the middle of the obstacle course. Looking around I don't see any ladders or ropes to help get to it but surly it can't be that difficult.
"Is that all? I just have to ring that bell?" I ask looking closer at it.
"Chris, Will and I have been trying for months to ring that bell. You think you can?" Lynn scoffs behind me, the punching bag forgotten.
"Yes," I reply returning her stare, "but rest assured bell of no bell. At the end of 6 months I'm returning to Chicago to finish this."
Out of the corner of my eye I see Chris smile and she looks to Lynn and Will.
Marlene starts clapping her hands, "See! I told you," she glides over to Lynn and hooks her arm through hers, "she's the one Lynn."
SNEAK PEAK AT THE NEXT CHAPTER….
That's when I notice him. The same wiry red hair standing out like a beacon in the afternoon sun.
"Isn't that the same guy we saw with Peter and Eric that day?" I ask Zeke and give him a slight nudge of the elbow.
"Yes. Wonder what he's up to?"
"Let's follow him?"
Keeping our distance we follow him when finally he looks over his shoulder and enters a large red door.
"Zeke!" we hear a girls voice call.
"Shit, it's Shauna."