Four POV
My heart literally stopped beating and my mind went blank. The scene in front of me looked quite similar to one I had been in before. Yes, this was self-inflicted while mine had been cause by my dear father, Marcus, and the cuts in different locations, but they were similar enough. Similar enough to cause me to flashback. Similar enough for me to start having a panic attack.
The only thought that was going through my head was Marcus. Marcus. Marcus. Marcus. His only job is to make my life a living hell. He destroyed me, disrupted my schoolwork and is now going after my friends. I have nothing. He took everything from me. First my mother and little sister and now my friends. Why? What have I done to deserve this?
Next thing I know, Christina is running into the bathroom and I'm on the floor curled up in a ball. I must have collapsed during my attack. I look back at Christina and see the blood drained from her face. I follow her gaze and that's when I remember what triggered all of this. Tris.
"Chris, go get everyone and bring them down to the infirmary, I'm going to bring Tris down."
In what would have been comical if we weren't in such a tragic situation currently, Chris snapped out of her daze, spun on her heels, and was sprinting out of the room. I then cautiously picked up Tris bridal style and started running to the infirmary while trying to keep Tris still.
Though there are only two floors between my apartment and the infirmary, it felt like miles. Tris was bleeding profusely and I had no idea how much time she had left. I just kept praying that we could save her. It was my fault, anyways. I made her wear those clothes. I refused to give her a shirt. I'm the reason she is even at the Pit in the first place. If I hadn't dragged her into this group, she wouldn't possibly be dead right now. Think on the bright side though, right?
After I barged through the infirmary doors, a nurse ran up to me and started yelling for a stretcher and doctors for Tris. It all became a blur and the next thing I remember is waking up in one of the extremely uncomfortable red waiting room chairs. At first I was disoriented and then it all came rushing back to me. Tris, cutting, infirmary. I slowly got up and walked over to the nurse's desk on the opposite side of the room.
"Can you tell me what's going on with Tris, the girl I brought in?" I asked the nurse there.
"Um… let me check. She suffered from severe blood loss and is currently still unconscious. It's not clear yet whether or not she will wake up yet. I'm sorry sir."
"And what about my friends? They were supposed to meet me down here."
"There was a group who came by and inquired about Ms. Prior. They left about two hours ago."
That was what made me check my watch and learn the time. 8:00. I was supposed to be home by 7. I'm fucked.
Immediately I rushed out of the infirmary and sprinted through the compound to my car. Putting on my coat while unlocking the car, I jumped in and immediately speed off towards my house. It takes 45 minutes without traffic to get from the Pit to my house, and with my luck, there was traffic. I ended up not getting home until close to 9. I'm dead.
Dreadfully, I got out and locked my car and began the death march to the front door. I opened the door as close to silently as possible. I was praying to whatever higher power there might be that Marcus would be passed out drunk. No such luck.
"Where were you? And why is there blood on your shirt? You were misbehaving again weren't you, you little shit? I do so much for you and all I ask in return is that you have dinner ready for me and are home by 7. That's not too much to ask. Yet you can't manage to do that for your dear old daddy? Are you really so cruel as to treat the person to whom you owe your life to like this? You are disgrace. This dick I'm looking at can't be my son. You must be an imposter, so I'm going to teach you a lesson. This is for your own good," Marcus rambled drunkenly.
And now here comes hell. He undid his belt and brought it up to strike me, while I cowered back. He gave me the same look he does every time before striking me and I comply the same way I do every time. I get on my knees with my back towards him.
"Let's add to that beautiful blood design on your shirt. Make some art, huh? You are lucky I do things like this for you. That I instill important values on you. It's all for your own good."
And then the belt struck and my back felt on fire. I could feel the blood dripping from the whip mark. That lash was followed by 19 others, whom all left my black as bloody pulp. Then he decided that just hitting my back wasn't enough. That it was no longer entertaining. No longer "teaching me a lesson." Nope, I needed to feel even more pain.
He walked around so he was now in front of me and pulled my head up. He then proceeded to pull out a knife and cut my face and arms. I had gashes on my cheeks, my forehead, and covering my arms. I was losing a lot of blood and quickly. Everything became blurry and there were dots appearing on the edge of my vision. I was literally lying in a pool of my own blood, much like Tris was earlier. My last thought before everything went black was that maybe the world wanted both us gone and that's why it decided to pair us up and kill us the same day.
