Tobias' POV
The next day we head over to the room we are keeping Eric and Tori. This is the day we are having their official trial, even though none of us hold any real position of authority. We decided that for today, we won't need the whole crowd- so only me, Tris, Christina and Will head over to 'interrogation'.
I lead the way, and when we reach the door, I look behind me at the others again. Tris looks so determined I'm scared of her expression, her eyebrows creased and her lips pursed. The fury in her eyes is unmistakable next to her tightly-pulled back blond hair.
Christina looks somewhat similar in expression, but also completely different. Her blond hair hangs loose, and she's gripping her boyfriend's hand tightly. Her face is more expectant than fierce, as if nothing that Tori and Eric could say would change her mind. Will is relaxed, his hair flopping in his face as usual, holding Christina's hand. He nods at me, acknowledging my look. I turn forward and open the door.
Tori and Eric are bound and gagged to their chairs, and I grin. I told Zeke to make sure they didn't get out, and the knots are tied so tightly it would take a solid 5 minutes to cut through them. Tori immediately starts trying to talk, which of course is indecipherable since her gag is well in place. Eric takes one glance at us and just rolls his eyes, looking away.
I hold up my pair of scissors and cut away their gags. Tori immediately starts, "IT WASN'T MY FAULT, IT WASN'T MY IDEA, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, PLEASE GIVE ME MERCY FOUR, AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN-"
"SHUT UP!" Christina yells, and she immediately shuts up. Eric, however is the exact opposite, and refuses to say anything. I ignore both him and Tori, and stand in front of the room, starting to speak.
"This is an interrogation. Since we are such kind-hearted, just people," I stop, and grin sickeningly sweetly. "We have decided to give you this one- JUST ONE- chance to explain yourselves, if you have an explanation. I know you, Tori, in particular, would like this opportunity. You seem very eager to explain yourself, so I'll let you go first."
She looks at me with some degree of relief and gratitude. "Okay. It started about a week before you first came to me with the issue. A hooded figure, whom I didn't know the identity of back then, came into my tattoo shop very early in the morning, and asked for a full body tattoo of all the animals in the world (by this time in the future, they did not have much knowledge of many animals since many had gone extinct, and they wouldn't have seen many anyway, being contained) and so, of course, I complied. As I drew the animals in ink, he began telling me a story of himself, a man that always came in second to one of his peers, and even in adulthood, only getting his dream job as a second choice. He began telling me of the revenge he was plotting. My heart warmed for him, he looked so sad and his story was so compelling, I understood it on a more personal level, and I promised to help; see, at this time, I had no idea who the person involved was, or even who this man was. Which was pretty stupid of me, agreeing to help a complete stranger. After I finished doing his tattoos, he slowly took off the hood, and revealed his identity. Then he pointed a gun to my head, and told me that I had promised and I wasn't about to get out of this." She takes a deep breath as tears start dripping down her face. "I'm so sorry, Four, I'm so sorry Tris, you trusted me and I let you two down. Badly. I was just...afraid. I don't deserve to be in Dauntless. I don't deserve you forgiveness, but I hope I'll get it anyway."
Holy.
Well, that is a lot to take in. I feel my anger at Tori ebb away. It isn't her fault, she's just another kind person that was suckered into the wrong deal because of her kindness. Still..
"Why didn't you tell us anything? We could've helped you," I tell her, confusion tinging my voice.
"He...he said if I told anyone anything, he'd know, and he'd kill me, and make it look like an accident." Tori's voice cracks. "I was a freaking coward. Eric is nothing more than a bully. And I cannot believe I didn't stand up to him." She glares at Eric, who is still looking away at the window and pretending not to listen.
Tris' voice softens as she says, "So it wasn't your fault at all." Tori looks at her pleadingly, shaking her head.
"I don't buy it," Will suddenly pipes in. "Cool motive. Still a crime."
"Oh, come on, Will," Tori sighs. "I'm telling the truth. Tell them, Eric." Eric doesn't react, except to spit at her feet. Tori just rolls her eyes, and looks at us as if to say, 'Why would I voluntarily work with someone like that?'
"What do you think, Tris?" I ask her softly. She looks at me, and points at the door. I nod, and the two of us walk outside, signalling to Christina and Will that we'd be back in five minutes.
"I feel really bad now," she says, as soon as I shut the door. "She was unwillingly forced into a situation she had no idea was going to turn out like this, and she was pressured into cooperating, and she was too scared to tell anyone. Trust me, I've been in this type of situation before, and it's not easy, and it's definitely not her fault."
"But at the same time, do you feel like you can ever trust her again? I don't want to..expose her in front of all the Dauntless now, make her such a hated figure, but I don't really want anything to do with her either," I tell her.
She looks relieved. "Good. I feel exactly the same way." She smiles, and I think about how much I love her. God, I love her. I live for these moments that we are perfectly in sync, and it feels like nothing can ever come between us.
I open the door slightly, and motion for Christina and Will to come outside with us. They follow, and Tris tells them the plan.
"I agree with the fact that we definitely can't trust her anymore, but what do we do about setting an example for everyone?" Christina asks. It only takes a moment of thought to come up with a solution.
"We expose the real mastermind. Eric," I say with conviction. "Who needs blackmail, anyway? Why do we need power over the government? Even if we did, we shouldn't use blackmail and corruption to get it, or else how are we better than them?"
"That is true," Tris smiles.
"So it's decided? We kick Tori out of our group, but don't expose her, and instead expose Eric?" Will asks professionally. We all nod. "In that case, let's go back in there, and tell them."
We walk in, and Eric immediately pulls a look of disgust at me. Just for good measure, I ask him, "Do you want to add anything, Eric? Prove your side of the story?"
He sneers. "It's pretty simple. I was sick of you. I was sick of coming second. I have tried so hard to go about this the honest way, to beat you fairly, but obviously that didn't work." He scoffs. "So I had to turn to the dirty tricks. The one point of vulnerability everyone has is their fears. All powerful 'Four', the guy everyone thinks is invincible...well, if my plan had worked, no one would've thought that anymore. They would know you for what you are. So there you go. You beat me again." He rolls his eyes, the piercings in his eyelids fluttering. "Go ahead. Expose me. Make me a mocked figure of the entire faction. I give up anyway."
I look stunned. I almost don't want to expose him anymore, but then Tris sneers, "Go to hell," and I'm shocked back to reality. Christina spits at his feet. Eric doesn't look the least bit fazed, continuing to ignore us the way he did when we first entered. I remember all the bad things he's done. The horrible person he actually is. And as Will said, 'Cool motive. Still a crime.'
"We have reached a verdict, actually," Tris says cooly. "Tori, we aren't going to expose you, but I'm just going to let you know that you aren't welcome to hang out with us, or talk to us, or even associate yourself with us. You may have been our friend, and we realise none of this is your fault, but I don't think any of us can ever trust you again.
And as for you, Eric, you're completely right. We are going to expose you. So say goodbye to life as you know it, and welcome the new life of a hated convict. Trust me, I know the feeling, and it's not pretty," she says, smiling. Of course. All Divergents know life as a convict.
Suddenly, we hear a loud scream. All 6 of our heads turn towards the door. "It came from the chasm," Tori says with a certain tint of certainty. "We have to go see what it was."
"No, we'll go see what it was," Christina says in a voice that is filled with disgust for her. She clearly doesn't forgive her. "You two can just stay here like good little convicts. We might let you know what we find."
Eric just rolls his eyes as we run out the door, while Tori's face is full of dismay.
The speed of us four Dauntless makes it easy to get to places quick, and even though we are at the opposite end of the compound to the chasm, we make it there sweaty and out of breath in five minutes. A whole group of people is already gathered there, watching the body being pulled out of the water by a large machine.
"Who is that?" Tris asks, her voice quiet.
the end. hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to favourite, follow and review. and thank you for 4k! i love you all x