Chapter 10! Please tell me what you think in the review box at the bottom:) thank you x

Only moments later, I find myself being dragged under by the affects of the serum envenoming my blood. Everything's a little blurry at first and a wave of dysphoria washes over me but it's only seconds later when i feel like my old self again, except maybe a little more light-headed.

I suddenly hear a loud voice. Initially, it's a little hard to listen to due to the volume and my unaccustomed state. However, as it continues to speak, I realise it's quite pleasant and modulated. Soon enough, I find the set of lips of which the words are escaping.

"I will ask you a series of simple questions," he says. "So that you can grow accustomed to the serum as it takes full effect." All of a sudden, I realise exactly where I am and exactly why i'm here. "Now. What is your name?"

Anger rushes through me. I understand that the question is simple and requires a simple, factual answer, but I don't want to offer it. My body quivers and spasms slightly with the effort of holding back the words sitting on the tip of my tongue. I fail to stop myself speaking, so instead I modify my answer slightly, "Four".

"That's a nickname," says the man, whom I quickly recognise as Niles. "What's your real name?"

This time I don't have a chance to hold the words back, "Tobias".

"What are the names of your parents Tobias?"

No. I think to myself. My father is well known within the factions. I do not need the additional humiliation of them knowing exactly who I am and exactly where I come from.

My head starts to ache with the strain of trying to stop the answers passing my lips. I clench my fists firmly and manage to mutter; "why is this relevant?"

I hear a low muttering rise up around me. I don't have the time to wonder why before Nile's begins to speak once again. "Maybe it wasn't relevant before, Tobias. But it is now that you've resisted answeing the question. The names of your parents, please."

I feel myself weakening against the strength of the serum. I close my eyes in defeat, "Evelyn and Marcus Eaton."

The noise rises up around me, just as I had expected. They know who he is. And now, they know who I am too. I keep my eyes closed just a little longer until the chatter ceases slightly.

"So you are a faction transfer, are you not?"

"Yes."

"You transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless?"

My patience is rapidly running out... "Yes, isn't that obvious!?"

Niles doesn't react to the anger evident in my tone. His expression remains placid, his tone remains unperturbed . "One of the purposes of this interrogation is to determine your loyalties. So I must ask: why did you transfer?"

Bastard. I think to myself. I keep my mouth firmly closed in fear that the words will spill out unmercifully. Humiliation. I will be humilitated in front of a crowd of people. They will see me as weak and vulnerable. I must keep my mouth closed, with all my strength I must.

"I'll ask you again. It is important that we understand the extent of your loyalty to your chosen faction. So why did you transfer to Dauntless, Tobias?"

I buckle under the strength of the serum and with great shame, I let the words escape me. "To protect myself. I transferred to protect myself."

"To protect yourself from what?"

"From my father."

The room suddenly drops into silence. I let out a large breath of air and run my hands through my hair which is damp with cold sweat.

A couple of moments later Niles says something. I don't quite catch it at first but the audience watching begin to say it too. Some mumble it, some say it firmly and others don't say it at all. I catch it this time. "Thank you for your honesty."

Niles waits for the room to once again plunge into silence before he speaks; "is your allegiance with your current faction, Tobias?"

"My allegiance lies with anyone who does not support the attack on Abnegation," I reply firmly.

"Speaking of which, I think we should focus on what happened that day. What do you remember about being under the simulation?"

"I was not under the simulation at first," I say calmly. "It didn't work."

He laughs a little. "What do you mean it didn't work?"

The next words spill out with ease. I realise soon afterwards that it's because I'm speaking factually. I'm good with facts. I like facts. "One of the defining characteristics of the Divergent is that their minds are resistant to simulations," I say. "And I am Divergent. So no, it didn't work."

More muttering. But this time it doesn't die down by itself. I sit there helplessly as Niles raises his arms to silence them, "if you don't quiet down, you'll be asked to leave!"

They do. Eventually.

The next few questions require simple, factual answers which I respond to with ease. The audience remain quiet and I remain calm. That is until he asks of what happened in the control room. And for the first time since I've been put under the serum, I think of Tris.

"We've seen footage of what ultimately happened to you in the control room," Niles says. "But it is confusing. Please describe it to us."

I begin to recall what happened carefully... "Someone entered the room and I thought it was a Dauntless soldier, trying to stop me from destroying the simulation. I was fighting her and..." I begin to struggle with the memory of what happened. Tris. My stomach suddenly twists uncomfortably. "... and then she stopped. And I got confused. Even if I had been awake I would've been confused. Why would she surrender? Why didn't she just kill me?" I stop fighting the serum. "I still don't understand," I say softly, "how she knew that it would work."

Silence. All eyes are fixed on me.

"I think my conflicted emotions confused the simulation. And then I heard her voice. Somehow, that enabled me to fight the simulation... I recognized her finally. We went back into the control room and stopped the simulation."

"What is the name of this person?" Niles asks.

"Tris," I say. "Beatrice Prior, I mean."

"Did you know her before this happened?"

"Yes."

"How did you know her?"

"I was her instructor," I say quickly. "Now we're together."

"I have a final question," Niles begins. I hear nothing of the rest until he says; "Tobias Eaton, what are your deepest regrets?"

I scowl. I try to think of anything but the obvious. I try to think of another 'regret' I can recall, but my mind doesn't seem to be working. "I regret..." I tilt my head back and sigh, " I regret my choice."

"What choice?"

"Dauntless," I say. No longer seeing the point in holding anything back. "I was born for Abnegation. I was planning on leaving Dauntless, and becoming factionless. But then I met her and... I felt like maybe I could make something more of my decision."

I sigh deeply. I imagine my breath blowing away all of the lies and worries and regrets built up inside of me. I imagine my empty soul, clean and ready for many new lies and worries which would soon come by and consume me.

"Choosing Dauntless in order to escape my father was an act of cowardice. I regret that cowardice. It means I am not worthy of my faction, I will always regret it."

Silence. More silence. I don't know what to expect.

"Thank you for your honesty."

"Thank you for your honesty."

"Thank you for your honesty."

They all rise up around me. I feel strange... and not just from the serum.

Sorry it's short! I hope everybody had a nice Christmas by the way. I'll write again soon.

- Holly x