*Talia's POV*
I walk around the Pit aimlessly. I don't know why I'm in such a bad mood, I just am. I look down at the red ends of my hair. I recently got the ends dyed following a tattoo of the Dauntless symbol on the small of my back. I sigh. I'm having a good life. I count to three.
1.I'm with Ash.
2.I have my best friends.
3. My family is alive and well.
I kick a pebble on the Pit floor, and it skips into a hallway. "Awh, come back!" I whisper-yell and run for the pebble to kick it some more. I laugh a little to myself. I reach down and pick up the pebble. The cold rock sends a shiver down my spine. Suddenly, a bag is thrown over my head, two arms grip securely around each of my arms, and I am dragged. I don't know to where. And I, am terrified.
*The Next Morning*
*Ash's POV*
I open my eyes and reach over to the other side of the bed, hoping to find my amazing girlfriend there. Instead, I grab a handful of my sheets. I bolt up and get dressed, run out the door, and look everywhere around the Pit. I check a hallway.
There are two things in the hallway; a gray pebble, and...
Talia's necklace.
I scoop up the necklace and run to Tris and Four's apartment, tears streaming from my eyes. Maybe she just lost it, I think to myself. No, she told me she would never lose it. I think back to the day in the Chasm when we were 15.
*Flashback*
Talia and I sit in the Chasm, her looking at the breaking waves hitting the hard surface of the rocks. I notice her twirling a necklace between her fingers. "Hey, cool necklace, where'd you get it?" She hasn't had a birthday party that year, she rarely does. But, she smiles and turns to me. "My parents gave it to me." She says flatly. I smile as she finishes her thought. "Its special to me. I would die, i mean literally, if I lost it."
*End of Flashback*
The black wooden door on from of me opens abruptly, revealing Tris wearing a simple tank top and sweatpants and her blond hair pulled into a messy bun. "Hey Ash, what's wrong?" She asks, pulling me inside and sitting me on the couch. "Four!" She yells. "Get your lazy ass down here!"
"Hold up! Who's here? You only call me Four if your mad at me or someone else is around. Wait, what did I do?" Four yells from the other room.
Tris smirks. "Did you do the dishes?"
"Uh-"
"Exactly!" Four rushes in. "I'm sorry, Tris. I really am, you know I..." He trails off when he sees me. "Oh, I'm getting you for that, dear." He scowls at her. "Unlikely."Tris states, and turns to me. I've been silent this entire time. "So,"Tris starts, her and Four sitting on the couch opposite of me. Tris and Four's German Shepherd hops onto the couch I am sitting on a curls himself into a ball on my lap. I hold up Talia's necklace.
"Talia's missing. I've-" I start but Four interrupts me."Wait, how do you know she didn't just lose it?"
I take a breath. "Because she told me when we were 15 that she would never lose it. I've looked everywhere. I can't find her, but I found her necklace and a pebble side by side in a hallway."
"Did the hallway have cameras?" Four asks. I shake my head.
"It was one of the abandon hallways of the compound." Tris looks up with an eyebrow raised. "Ash, do you know anything about Talia's aptitude test results?" I shake my head again. "But I know who her administrator was."
"Who?" Tris asks.
"Natalie Prior," I say, my voice barely a whisper.
Tris stands up abruptly. "That's my mom. Ash, meet Four and I by the tracks at 8:00, bring a hand gun but keep it hidden. I nod. Tris runs into the bedroom. "Wait,"Four says. I turn to him. "Yeah?" He places a hand on my shoulder. "You love Talia,right?" I nod.
"More than anything."
"Good. I trust you, Ash. I trust that if we get her back, you'll protect her like I did Tris."
"Thank you, Four."
"Now go. Get some sleep and get ready for some action." I smile at him and run to my apartment. I collapse on my bed, and quickly drift off to sleep.
*Talia's POV*
I open my eyes to blue. Blue everywhere. My arms and legs are strapped down, as is my chest. "What? Where am I?" I ask, my voice strained.
" I prefer not to tell you that. But, I will tell you that we have been informed that you had aptitude for all five factions on your aptitude test. Even your mother, Beatrice, didn't get so many." An all too familiar voice says.
Jeanine.
"Beatrice? My mothers name is Tris."
"Correction," she snaps. "Your mother changed her name to Tris when she left Abnegation, mainly because she wanted to remake herself."
"And what the hell do you want from me?" I growl.
She elevates me so I can see her and her lab assistants. I see a man with brown hair and green eyes, a woman with red hair and brown eyes, and... I glance at the last assistant who is watching me tensely.
"Uncle Caleb?" I ask. He looks up. "Hello, Talia."
"Shut it, Mr. Prior. As I was saying, all I want is answers. What makes Divergent so powerful? Why can they resist or manipulate serums? I don't understand. So my plan is simple, about a year of testing, and you will be executed." I clench my fists. "You sick bastard! You too, Caleb! What kind of guy wants his own niece dead? That is sick! You are all sick!" I scream. A man dressed in all black clamps a hand over my mouth. I look up at him to see green eyes that look almost familiar to Ash's. But they don't belong to him. They belong to Ash's worst fear.
Peter.
"Thank you, Mr. Black. Now, would you and Mr. Prior take Ms. Eaton to her cell?" Peter nods and Caleb starts to unstrap me. They lift me up, I kick and scream but my kicks are unaimed and my screams are muffled.
"Shut up!" Caleb snaps as he and Peter shove me into a room. They slam the door behind me and a hear a faint locking sound. I look around the cell. It is black with a blue fluorescent light dangling from the ceiling. A bed with blue sheets sits in the corner of the room, as a chair and a bookshelf sits on the other wall. There is a closet filled with black clothing tinted with blue. I pull myself onto the bed, pulling my knees to my chest and burying my face into them, letting the sobs break free. "Be brave, Ten. Be brave." I whisper to myself. Only a year of this bullshit, then I die. Great plan, Jeanine. Great fucking plan. I hear the door get shoved open and Caleb appears at the doorway. He sets a tray of food on the bed in from of me. "Here's your dinner, experiments start at 6 tomorrow." I glare at him. "Thanks, asshole." He doesn't say anything, just leaves quietly. I eat the food quickly and change into black shorts and a blue tank top. I rub the back of my neck, which has beads of sweat forming at the humidity of the cell. I run my fingers over the tattoo, and then the Dauntless flames on the small of my back. "Dauntless is the only faction I will ever love." I whisper. I crawl into bed and drift into a nightmare filled sleep.
* Ash's POV, 7:50 that night.*
I wait for Tris and Four at the tracks. I'm nervous, but yet I'm excited to maybe know where Talia is. I hear the tracks start to shake, and lights appear far into the distance. As if on cue, Tris and Four come running up. "Train's here." I mutter and they nod. The train starts to glide past us and I sprint beside it, getting closer every second. I finally grab the handle of the tenth car and throw myself in, my feet slamming in the metal of the car. Tris and Four soon follow. "Will we ever get her back?" I ask them, tears stinging my eyes. I will not let them fall, I think to myself. Asher Black, you are selfless, you are brave. Yes, I am Divergent. I got Abnegation and Dauntless, but I guess no one thought that was a threat. Tris looks at me, concern rushing over her face. " I don't know, Ash. We can only hope for the best." She looks out of the car. "Time to jump." She stands and hops out of the car, and Four and I soon follow. We all sprint to Natalie's house. Tris knocks on the door, and it opens almost instantly. "Tris, Four! So nice to see you!"
"Hey mom, we have to talk to you, and by the way, this is Ash, Talia's boyfriend, and a good friend of ours." Tris says. I wave shyly.
"Okay, come on in." We walk inside and spot a little girl helping Andrew with dinner. "Oh, Beatrice-" Natalie starts, but Tris interrupts her. "It's Tris now."
"Okay, well Tris, this is your little sister, Amanda. She is 5. Amanda, could you come here?" Amanda looks at her and nods. She makes her way over and Natalie introduces us. "Amanda, this is your big sister, Tris, her husband, Four, and they're daughter's boyfriend, Ash." Amanda smiles and waves. Amanda has long blonde hair and blue-gray eyes, like Tris, but a few freckles spot her face and she is paler than Tris. "We need to talk in private." I say sternly and Natalie leads us to a room which looks to be Tris' old room. "You were Talia's aptitude test administrator, right Natalie?" Four asks, and she nods. "What were her Aptitude results?" She takes a deep breath.
"Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Candor." She whispers.
"Wait, that's all five factions." I say.
"She got aptitude for all five, but I put in the system that she got Dauntless. Why?"
"Because Talia's missing." Tris says. Natalie gasps. "Well, I don't know where she is. She could be in any faction, she could even still be I Dauntless." A tear falls from my eye. She could be anywhere. She could be past the fence. "Okay mom, thanks." Tris says and we leave. We jump on the train and head back to the compound.
*Page Break*
I jump on my bed, clutching Talia's necklace over my bare chest, right over my tattoo of her initials. I look at the slight bit of color on our wall. We repainted the picture I painted on my birthday. I think back to that day.
*FlashBack*
Christina sees me as I run in, takes Talia and runs into a room with a doctor at her tail. Everything is silent. Even though everyone looks like they are screaming and yelling and laughing and talking, I can't hear a thing. I run out of the infirmary when I regain my hearing. I run to the bottom of the Chasm. Its the only place I know to go. I see the paintings Talia and I painted on the chasm walls when we were 5, all the way to the one we did together. Before the Choosing Ceremony, we had painted our kiss. The paint was dry now, and I run my hand over the paint, stopping at where our lips met. My fingers ponder there for a moment, but slowly drift downward to our linked hands. A tear falls. I rush to the paint, grabbing the colors I need. I don't think. I just paint. I finish, and I realize I painted the time I was leaning over the chasm, and she told me she needed me. I paint the words 'I need you, as you need me' at the bottom of the painting in a deep red. Tears are streaming from my eyes now. I feel cold metal at the waistband of my jeans, and I realize that I still have Talia's lucky knife. I run my thumb over the inscription. I look at the other knives I brought down here, and one catches my eye. The inscription reads:
Ash,
I love you. Forever and always, if I'm dead or alive. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, my mind is always on you. I love you, don't ever forget this.
-Talia
*End Of Flashback*
I glance a little to the side of the painting, where that certain knife is tacked up, the inscription still glimmering. A little away from that are our paintball guns. Talia's is red and black, and mine is dark blue and black. I sigh. This is to much to bear. I need her, I want her. I let my head fall back onto the pillow and fall into a deep sleep.