Chapter 12
Tris
Cold metal clanking against my head, causing moderate pain; I listen quietly for the noises around me, but there is nothing. I notice my hands are tied with rope, and I try not to make too much noise.
I shake my head vigorously, and the blindfold falls off my face. I look around and take in my surroundings. Nothing hurts more than my ankle, which I can see has swollen to a blue-ish color, but nothing too extreme.
I remember something significant, something that never crossed my mind until now. The first being, I have no idea where I am. I think I'm in a van, because the object is moving. Behind me, is a small, very small, maybe six inch wide window? I can see a driver and a passenger, but I can't recognize either of them.
I feel something funny in my boot. I manage to lift my foot out, and notice I have a small knife in there. Wow! How did I not realize this sooner?
Never mind that, time to blow this Popsicle joint! I don't know if anyone is looking for me. I don't even know what time it is, or where I am.
Carefully, I look back at the rope on my hands. It's tied to a pole, but I can still move my arms up and down. I slide my foot back, clanking the knife closer to my back side. I peer back into the window for a second, and notice that the drivers are too distracted to notice me in here, or turn around to check if their prisoner is still here.
Sadly, I haven't gotten out of here yet.
With every jostle and turn, I almost lose the knife. There's one point where the knife is sliding, and it's as if it could slide toward the door. Anyone, no matter who, If they opened the door could see the knife and know I tried to escape. The knife slides back closest to me, and I grab it with my hands.
Carefully, and quietly, I turn back and begin to cut myself free of the ropes. One by one, the ropes bring a self of feeling toward my hands, the feel relief from being hung behind my back from so long. Once I manage to cut them free, I will my fingers around, and stand up. The van doesn't have much in it. But there is something I haven't noticed before.
Over by the side, there's a large chest. I notice it's locked, but carefully, nearly the partially opened window is a key. I look over, making sure my abductors don't know I can fit my hand under there. I finally recognize one of them. He's tall, with shaggy brown hair and big green eyes. The other, is a talk man with piercing almost red eyes, with spiky black hair.
"Al," I say to myself as I look over. "And Peter, I need to remember this. It will make a great police statement." Quietly, I slide my hand underneath the frame. I fear as if he's going to notice me, but I grab the key, and it falls to the floor beside me clinging. Quietly, I slide down the wall, and wrap the rope around my arms and pretend to be asleep.
The truck comes to a halt, and I hide the knife and the key under my bottom. The side doors open, and the boys are discussing and yelling at each other. Once they open the doors, I can hear their voices.
"Where did the key go, dumbass?" I hear Peter yelling at Al.
"I don't know!" Al calls at him. "Relax, it's not like she can break free."
"Yeah," Peter says quietly. "When can we have fun with the girl?" This makes my heart drop. Besides, even if they try to touch me, I carefully steady my hand around the knife in case they attack.
"I don't know," Al says, almost in a whisper. "Shouldn't we let her wake up?" I hear Peter scoff, and I feel like I'm going to hurl.
"No, let's do it now. You keep guard, got it?" Al nods and the truck doors close. I pretend to just wake up, looking groggily as I catch a glimpse of my abductor.
"Hey sweetheart," he says in a cold menacing tone. "You're safe, I promise." He gently presses his hand to my cheek. My blood boils highly. I can hear a sound of sobbing, and kicking coming from the chest.
"Shut up!" Peter growls, kicking the chest with his foot, but the thrashing does not stop. In fact, it grows louder, and it's more frequent.
"Someone, help me!" I hear the terrified pitch of a scream, and Peter looks angry. Once he turns, I stand up in a huff, and hold my butter knife behind my hands. He turns around and seems slightly taking back, but grins and cackles.
"You think you can stop me?" He snarls. I don't want to seem intimidated.
"Let the person go," I hiss, and he grins.
"Never," He smiles wickedly at me.
"Fine," I grumble, shrugging. "It's your funeral."
Peter charges at me. The feeling of gripping the knife almost scares me. I take it and swing it at him. He stumbles back, and I notice blood trickling from his face. He wipes it with his hand, and turns to look at it. His eyes widen at the sight of his crimson coloring.
"You bitch!" He hisses at me. Once again, he lunges for me. All it takes is a simple swoop to the side, and he slams his head against the side of the van. I walk over, cocking my head. I click my tongue and spit violent on him.
"You're the stupid bitch." I hiss. I lean down and pick the key out of his pocket. Quickly, I stumble over to the chest and unlock it. Opening it, I still hear sobs. Inside, I find something shocking.
A female, maybe not much older than I am; she has dark black hair and she wears black. She looks like someone from Dauntless, someone who I would know. She sees me, and she instantly begins to cry tears of joy. I instantly recognize her, and my eyes widen. I can't believe those sickos took her!
"Oh my god, Marlene!" I shriek, cutting her softly free from the ropes. Once she's cut free, I grab the rope and tie up Peter's hands. He's awake now, fully alert, and he looks over at me.
"Oh great…" he mumbles, and I raise my butter knife. For a second, I catch his glimpse. He has a feeling of terror and fear in his eyes. Marlene comes over, drawing the knife from Peter's pocket. I look at her in amazement and she shrugs.
"You know Peter, there's a place for people like you. It's called jail."
I hear tires rolling against the dirt, and the sound of sirens wailing in the distance. I kick the back of the door open with my foot, and help Marlene out of the van. Al stands guard, and I raise my knife. I hesitate for a moment, knowing I cannot murder someone, but Marlene doesn't. She throws her knife and it hits him right in the shoulder, and he falls to the ground in pain. I drop my knife and hug her tightly, crying softly with her.
"Marlene, did they hurt you?" She shakes her head. "How about you, 'Girl with the Knife', did they hurt you?" I shake my head and she smiles. "C'mon, let's get the hell out of here."
Out of the corner, a cop car comes blaring down the street. Marlene and I rush down the street, and I notice she has cuts and scrapes on her back, and bumps and bruises along her head. The ambulance trails not too far behind, and I see a silver van tagging the lead. Once the doors open, I almost faint with reality.
Caleb, Christina, Lynn, Shauna, Uriah, and Tobias all jump out from the car. The police ask where the van is, and I point just up the road, not even fifteen feet. Marlene embraces Uriah, and Zeke and Shauna throw their arms around her. I see Caleb running toward me, and I take off in a sprint, my impact nearly forcing him to the ground.
"Oh my god, Tris. Thank god!" He sniffles into my shirt.
"Caleb, I'm fine. I promise." I look over and notice Tobias just getting out of the car. I don't want to scream his name, not here not yet.
"Four!" I shriek, and I go running toward him. I'm met with his embrace, and a sigh of relief. He cups his hands along my face and stares at me intently.
"Are you hurt?" He asks me, and I solemnly shake my head. He pulls his hand to the back of my head and I wince.
"Tris, your head…" he croaks, barely with response.
"My head," I say blankly. "Is none of your concerns," He just looks at me as if I damaged him, but he nods and pulls me tighter.
"I knew something was wrong," he says to me. "You were gone for a few hours, and I usually hear from you by then, so I got worried, and when Caleb said he hadn't seen you, everything fell apart."
"How long was I gone?" I ask.
"About a day," he says. "Uriah told me he hadn't seen Marlene for two days, but she left a note saying she went out with her parents for a few days. He knew something was wrong when he called her parents and she said they weren't there."
"She was with me," I tell Tobias, and his face is filled with pure anger. "But please," I insist. "We're fine. They didn't hurt us." I look down at the ground for a moment, thinking about how even though nothing got worse, I was terrified.
A small chuckle escapes my lips.
Tobias
I'm literally in frenzy right now. How could Tris be missing? I saw her a few hours ago, working at the diner, after our kiss. Man, why can't I stop thinking about the kiss? Of course, she kissed me, or uh, I kissed her. I don't know.
"Four!" I turn to see Uriah running up to me, panting.
"What is it man?" I rush over, and he has tears in his eyes. For a moment, I feel the worse has happened to Tris.
"Marlene and Tris…" he pauses, "Peter and Al…" he takes another deep breath, trying to calm his heart rate.
"Spit it out, Uriah!" I exclaim and he sighs.
"They kidnapped them," he finally lets out. "I found out the note wasn't Marlene's, it was Peter's. He kidnapped Mar from her driveway, and Tris from the alleyway. I know where they are, too. The police tracked the stolen van. They're just a few miles outside of here. The gang is in the car, we have to go, now."
I don't hear anything else he says. I sprint toward the car, filled with anger and rage. How could someone hurt my Tris? Well, she isn't my anything, but I want her to be. I love her so much.
Wait, I do? Yes, yes I do!
I hop into the driver sides, and everyone stares at me. I start the car and pull out slowly, but Uriah is chasing after us. Zeke grabs his arm and pulls him in the back of the truck, and we zip out of the area.
Everyone's talking, trying to do something to calm me down. All I focus on is the road in front of me, and how I'm breaking seventy in a forty five. I hear sirens wailing by me, but I can't pull over.
"Zeke, flag down the cop!" Shauna calls out, and Zeke whistles. The cop drives by the back of the car, trying to ram into us.
"Wait!" Zeke calls. "Please, our friends have been kidnapped!"
"I know," the cop says over the microphone. "Lead the way. I'll give you a police escort if needed." He hangs up the microphone.
"Four, punch it." He doesn't need to tell me twice. I slam on the accelerator, and then the beeping comes from Uriah's phone.
"Look!" He calls out, and I slide the truck into park. Climbing off the road from the rocks is two figures, females. I know it's Tris but I can't seem to make out the figure. I climb out the car, trying to catch my breath.
Everything that's happened to me today has been a blur. Tris was missing, and it was the main problem on my list. I look over and notice that it was Marlene. Marlene was the other one with Tris.
"Four!" She calls out my name and I see her running toward me. As soon as she's close enough I wrap her tightly in my arms, carefully not to crush her to death.
I cup my hands in her face and stare at her intently.
"Are you hurt?" I ask her and she solemnly shakes her head. I move my hand to the back of her head to pull her closer to me, but she winces.
"Tris, your head…" I croaks, barely with response.
"My head," she says blankly. "Is none of your concerns," She just looks at me as if I was damaged by her, but I nod and pull her tighter to me.
"I knew something was wrong," I say to her. "You were gone for a few hours, and I usually hear from you by then, so I got worried, and when Caleb said he hadn't seen you, everything fell apart."
"How long was I gone?" she asks. It seems silly she's been curious about how long she's been gone, more about the fact than she had been abducted.
"About a day," I say. "Uriah told me he hadn't seen Marlene for two days, but she left a note saying she went out with her parents for a few days. He knew something was wrong when he called her parents and she said they weren't there."
"She was with me," she tells me, and my face comforts with pure anger. "But please," she places her hand to my cheek. "We're fine. They didn't hurt us." She looks at the ground for a moment, almost in fear, but something sparks inside her. A smile; maybe not genuine, but close enough.
A small chuckle escapes my lips, and I see one on hers too.
I cup my hands in her face and bring her closer to me. I draw my lips toward hers and I kiss her softly, but with a lot of care. She brings her hands to my cheek and kisses me back, except with more force. She wraps her arms around me and buries her face into my shoulder.
"What's going to happen to them?" She asks me, and I shake my head.
"Excuse me miss," the cop taps us on the shoulder and she breaks apart, turning to him worried.
"Don't worry. You will not be facing any charges. Peter and Al however, cannot face any charges at this time."
I feel shocked, and angry, but I notice something is wrong when the paramedics are on the hill.
"Why?" Tris seems to be in disbelief.
"Both of them are dead, ma'am. You saved that young woman, and yourself. Albert, sadly he committed suicide. He had a blade in his shoulder from Marlene, but Peter however had some sort of death gas in the back of his van. It could have killed you girls, if you had been in there any longer."
Tris is in shock that they're dead, but more in the fact she's alive, and so is Marlene. She nods and thanks the cop. I walk over to Uriah, who watches as Marlene goes to hug Tris.
"Hey man, how is she?"
"She's fine," he sighs, "thank god," he mumbles. "Tris saved her life. Two minutes later that death stuff would have killed them."
"Anyways," he interrupts my thought. "Did she tell you what Peter said once he kidnapped Tris?" I shake my head.
"Apparently, Marlene was awake and heard everything. He called her 'The Girl With The Knife', and Marlene knew it was her from the minute he heard her. She had been awake. She had she thought Peter and Al were going to hurt them, but Al talked them out of it the first time-"
"What do you mean- the first time?" I hiss.
"Peter almost raped Tris, Four. She said she was fine, they both are. They're both alive. They're both healthy. They've both been checked out by the paramedics. I'm sure we can all go back to normal, okay?" He claps his hand on my shoulder.
I nod my head and walk back over to Caleb, who's on the phone with Tris' mother.
"She's fine, mom. I promise. No, no don't worry. Her boyfriend and I are-" I drone out the rest of the words. Caleb called me Tris' boyfriend?
"Four?" Caleb snaps me out of my trance.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." He says, and I cock my head. "For saving my sister," he adds, and I smile.
"Caleb, she saved herself, and Marlene. I could- bring her home, if you'd like." He looks down but shakes his head.
"I would really rather. I'm sure she'll see you tomorrow, Four." I nod my head sadly and walk back over to Zeke, but a small firm grasp is placed on my arm.
"Four," Tris lets go of my arm.
"Tris," I want to say more, but I don't want to scare her off. I don't care if the group is here anymore. "I have this instinct to protect you. I need to be around you. Ever since I opened up to you, I felt something. It was something I couldn't control, something I didn't want to ever end. I love everything about you Tris. Your bravery, your intelligence, your beauty; everything about you is everything I've ever wanted in a girl."
Tris just stares at me, shaking her head with a smile in disbelief. Christina is over there talking with Lynn and Shauna, since Zeke and Uriah took Marlene home, and she's going to give them and me a ride back.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is I need to be with you, and, I love you, Tris." I didn't know those words could come out of my mouth. I didn't know I could have emotion toward someone like this, but Tris fits me. She's that one girl who I'd never thought I'd find.
She doesn't say a word, and I don't blame her. Instead, she steps closer to me and pulls me down to her height. She places a firm, soft kiss upon my lips, and grins at me.
"Yes," she just nods her head and her grin remains content.
"Really?" Now I'm the one in disbelief. Smooth Tobias…
She nods her head.
"Tris, let's go!" Caleb calls pulling up beside us in the car. He honks the horn which makes Tris jump, and glare in Caleb's direction.
"I'll text you," she says, and I nod.
Once Christina, Lynn, Shauna, Zeke and myself are leaving, I can't help but think about how happy I am now. Tris is mine, and there isn't anything I wouldn't do to protect her.
"Four, why are you smiling?" Christina nudges my shoulder.
"Nothing," I mumble, my smile never leaving my face.
"Four, come on man. I've known you nears-" Zeke says.
"Wait!" Christina shouts. "Hey Four, have you checked your relationship status on Instagram?" I shake my head, knowing the cat is out of the bag. Turning on my phone, I quickly sign into my account. Under my notifcations, I'm tagged in something from Tris.
In a relationship with Four 3
And there, at the bottom, my name is tagged.
Not two seconds later I get a text.
I love you too, Tobias.
