A/N: There's not much of Tobias in chapter 16, so I combined 15 and 16 together and got this! Reviews are always welcome!

Chapter 15/16—The Nightmares

"Tobias!" Marcus's voice echoes through the small Abnegation house, and I cringe. "TOBIAS EATON!"

Marcus comes into the family room and grabs me by the front of my gray shirt, heaving me off the couch. "You answer when I call you!"

His screech is loud, and I flinch. The hand that isn't holding me a foot of the ground wraps around my chin and yanks my head back so I have to look at him. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

I start crying.

"YOU ANSWER WHEN I TALK TO YOU!"

I'm shaking, trembling, and Marcus throws me to the ground, grabbing my by the neck of my shirt and drags me towards the stairs. I start crying harder. "N-n-no, p-p-please," I sob.

He yanks me roughly up the stairs, tearing open the closet door and shoving me into it.

"Please," I beg.

He slams the door, and I hear the lock click into place.

I begin trembling, air not coming through my lungs enough. I try stretching out, my limbs all shoving at the walls of the too-small closet before collapsing to the ground. I wrap my arms and knees around myself and cry. Soon the air stops coming. I can't breathe. I'm choking. I'm dying. I begin pounding on the door, begging. The door opens, and I fall out of the closet, sobbing, onto the ground. Marcus yanks me up by my collar and throws me into the wall. He has the belt in his hand. He pulls his arm back. I cringe into the wall, throwing my arms over my head...

"This is for your own good," he hisses.

The arm and belt fly toward my face.

I flinch and sit upright in my bed. I'm drenched from head to toe in sweat, and I press my hands to my face, my teeth clenched. I breathe deeply through my mouth as my shoulders shake. That'll never happen to you again, I try to reassure myself. I'm save now. I'm safe here. And I know how to defend myself.

Marcus will never touch me again.

I get out of bed and take a shower. The cold water helps to wake me up and clear my head. I get dressed and quickly brush my hair. I'm late.

It's visiting day. I'm never quite sure how to feel about this day. Actually, that's a lie. I hate this day. There's always a risk that Marcus will show up. Of course he won't—in Abnegation, I'm portrayed as the flighty son who took after his mother and abandoned his father, while Marcus is practically some saint. He doesn't need to visit me. They all love him anyway.

But today is a very crucial day in Dauntless. There are more suicides today than any other time. The loneliness, the desperate need for family, drives them crazy.

It's my job to watch the chasm, to make sure no one hurls themselves off it. So I go stand at the chasm, leaning against the railing. I think of Zeke and his brother. They get to spend the day at home with their parents—the plus of being a Dauntless-born with good parents.

I gaze out over the water, letting my mind wander. I think about my choosing day, about how everyone gawked when I chose Dauntless, about Marcus's eyes followed me.

"There's one of my instructors," Tris's voice says behind me, and I stiffened. How did I not feel her show up? I can feel her now, feel the sparks pulling my body to hers, and feel her eyes on my back.

I hear a woman's voice say something back, hushed, and I freeze. Who would be with her?

I glance over my shoulder and I feel shock take over my face. She looks like Tris, in a strange way, and I know she has to be her mother..

"Hello. My name is Natalie," She offers me her hand. "I'm Beatrice's mother."

I take her hand carefully and shake it. She's small, much like Tris. Unlike Tris, though, I'm worried about breaking her.

"Four. It's nice to meet you."

She smiles sweetly. "Four. Is that a nickname?"

"Yes." I quickly change the subject. "You're daughter is doing well here. I've been overseeing her training."

"That's good to hear. I know a few things about Dauntless initiation, and I was worried about her."

I look at Tris, and let my eyes move from hers down to her nose, then her lips, then her chin. "You shouldn't worry," I say, still looking at Tris.

Tris blushes. It makes the air around me warmer. I suddenly feel overheated.

"You look familiar for some reason, Four."

My heart drops to the soles of my feet. Of course she recognizes me. I grew up across the street from her. For sixteen years, she saw glimpses of me whenever Marcus let me out of the house.

"I can't imagine why." I feel the coldness enter my voice. "I don't make a habit of associating with the Abnegation." That's not entirely a lie. After I left them, I've stayed as far away as I could.

Natalie laughs. "Few people do, these days," she says, and I feel bad for my coldness. She seems nice enough. "I don't take it personally."

I want to leave before they can discuss it anymore. "Well, I'll leave you to your reunion." I turn and leave. I feel Tris's eyes on my back as I walk away. My heart hammers the whole time.

"For those of you who just came in, I'm explaining how the ranks are determined. After the first round of fights, we ranked you according to your skill level. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the skill level of the person you beat. You earn more points for improving and more points for beating someone of a high skill level. I don't reward preying on the weak. That is cowardice." I let my eyes fall onto Peter and I hope he feels the weight of my words. Keep bothering Tris like that, you coward. We don't want you here.

"If you have a high rank, you lose points for losing to a low-ranked opponent."

Molly makes a demented noise. She realizes that losing to Tris will hurt her.

"Stage two of training is weight more heavily than stage on, because it is more closely tied to overcoming cowardice. That said, it is extremely difficult to rank high at the end of initiation if you rank low in stage one."

I look over at Tris. She's rocking around on her feet. getting on her tip toes. She finally meets my gaze, and then she realizes I am looking at her and she blushes and looks away.

"We will announce the cuts tomorrow. The fact that you are transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates are not will not be taken into consideration. Four of you could be factionless and none of them. Or four of them could be factionless and none of you. Or any combination thereof. That said, here are your ranks." I hang the board and step out of the way.

The room goes silent.

"What?" Molly jabs a finger at Christina. "I beat her! I beat her in minutes, and she's ranked above me?"

"Yeah," Christina grins and folds her arms. "And?"

"If you intend to secure yourself a high rank, I suggest you don't make a habit of losing to low-ranked opponents." I put the chalk in my pocket and turn to leave.

"Tobias." Marcus walks toward me. I'm standing at the chasm railing again, and this time Marcus is walking toward me. I cringe back, my hands wrapping around the railing for support.

"Tobias, you left me." His voice sounds calm, but there's a storm brewing under it. "That wasn't smart of you."

"You can't hurt me anymore," I tell him, my hands falling from the railing, clenching into fists. "I'm stronger than you."

"Are you, son? Are you really stronger than me?"

I squeeze my eyes closed. Yes.

Then I feel hands on my shoulders. I'm being pushed.

Marcus shoves me over the railing.

I scream, my hands reaching out to catch the bar. I cling to it for dear life.

"You're stronger than me?" Marcus lets out a laugh. "Wake up, Tobias."

He kicks my hands. I can feel my fingers breaking. Tris appears over his shoulder, her eyes wide.

"Four," she yells. She starts running toward me. She's too late. I'm slipping.

"FOUR!"

I shoot up in my bed, my head slamming into someone's. My hands clench into fists and I hurl myself to my feet, ready to attack.

"Ow! God, Four!" Lauren stands in front of me, massaging her head.

"Why are you in my room?" I shout, massaging my temples with my fingers. I'm covered in sweat again, and my arms ache, like I was just hanging for my life.

"Something happened with your initiate." She begins massaging her own head, the one I accidentally head-butted.

I immediately think of Tris. My heart stops. I grab her shoulders. "What happened?"

"Not Tris," She says, and I drop my hands. "Edward."

"What happened?"

"Stabbed in the eye," She sighs. "He and Myra quit."

"How are the other initiates holding up?"

She shrugs. "Last I checked, Tris and Christina were cleaning and everyone else just kind of wandered—in shock, I suppose. We don't know who did it."

I slam my teeth down on my lower lip so hard I could taste blood.

"You know, don't you?"

"I have a general idea."

She raises an eyebrow.

"Peter."