"Nice to meet you Mia." I smile carefully, reaching my hand out.
She looks at it for a long time, before hesitantly, pressing her hand in mine.
"Nice to meet you Eric."
An Unknown Fear
One Week Later...
Tris POV
I sneak a peek at him. Ever since Mia has been back, he's become distant. Unconsciously locking himself up inside, like before. It unnerves me to think that he might wall himself up again, and push everything away. Mostly, I am afraid that I will not be inside his thin bubble of trust anymore. I can tell he doesn't let many people in, and to push them all away again would be...unthinkable.
"I'm ready." I say, shaking him out of his thoughts. He blinks and looks at me. Then he smiles but I can see the trouble blazing behind his eyes.
I'm sitting in the chair. I hate this part, even though I've done this a couple times before. Four times to be exact. And that is four times of my life I'd rather not repeat. So far there'd been the crows, the embarrassment of being tied to a pillar, naked, while Peter lights a fire threatening to devour me whole. Though the worst is always the last. When I have to kill my family; my mother, my father and Caleb. That is by far, the hardest.
"It's just a simulation, Tris." He says, his voice softening, as he spots my anxious gaze.
I look at him and nod slowly. I could do this. I can. I'm brave, or at least, I will try my best to look brave. Four turns around and his arm hovers slightly over the needle. There is only one needle in the box, yet I am the first called in today out of the other initiates. I frown slightly. The colour, of the liquid inside the needle, is usually a brighter orange, this... is like a burning orange. Fiery and unknown.
Sensing my hesitation, he explains.
"They upgraded the fear simulation liquid." He says curtly.
"Why is there only one?" I inquire, becoming slightly more suspicious.
He freezes almost unnoticeably, before turning around slowly. He looks...different. His eyebrows are furrowed together, though not too much as to raise suspicion. But I see it. Of course, I see it. His mouth is pursed into a straight line and his hand is gripping the injection with the burning orange liquid with white knuckles.
"Tris," He half says half whispers, "Just trust me." He sounds pained.
So I nod and settle back into my chair, although I can't help the gnawing feeling that there's something horribly wrong. But I can't touch his arm, or run my hand through his hair to comfort him. Not here with the surveillance cameras watching with its suspicious eyes. I know they've been paying extra attention to Four this past week. I'm not stupid, as the Dauntless leaders might have me think.
Before I can think, he plunges the needle into my arm. I am about to protest. He knows that I am uncomfortable if anyone else than me injects something into my body.
"Be brave." Are Four's last words before I feel the injection sink into my mind and body, and I let the darkness wash over me.
I feel myself free falling in the air, until I land smack dab on a rough and hard surface. It is a pavement with gravel and sand. I slowly get up, huffing slightly, and suddenly feel the urge to follow the path.
I haven't experienced this fear yet. My stomach flips just by the mere thought of an unknown fear.
The sun is shining hard from the blue, cloudless sky. Grass is planted everywhere surrounding the sandy road with the occasional tree sticking up in some places. But there is something wrong with this place, I feel it in my gut. The way the trees are bent in a withered way, and the way the grass seem to sway slightly as I pass them. The sun is like an eye glaring down at me, watching my every movement.
Hide.
A voice suddenly whispers out of nowhere. I whirl around to meet nothing but air. Doubt and fear begin to rise swell up in my chest, but having nothing better to do, I duck behind a patch of high grass and a crooked tree. Laying myself down with my stomache flat against the gravel, I begin to hear nearing footsteps.
Judging by the density and the frequency of the sound, there are many. I am proven right when I see an endless stream of soldiers dressed in only black attire, jogging right past me. Dauntless soldiers, I realise. But why are they all jogging in unison, carrying that empty expression around. Here and there I see faces, that I recognise. Will. Christina. Peter. Molly.
And then I see it. I see me. I am jogging right beside Eric, my mind as blank as the others. The worst isn't even that there are the weapons slung around my shoulders, and grenades strapped to my gear, wrapped around my leg. No, the thing that troubles me deepest is way Eric is lightly touching my arm, like he has done it a dozen times.
Follow them.
I tear my gaze away and push myself flat against the ground. I try to ignore the hard beating of my heart against my ribs. I have made up mind, and as soon as the last wave of Dauntless soldiers push through, I get up soundlessly and follow them closely but not too close as to raise suspicion.
We jog for about another 10 minutes before I see a clearing up ahead. I feel my eyebrows draw together. Tall skyscrapers and the colour blue stick out. This is Erudite.
What are hundreds of Dauntless soldiers doing in the Erudite faction, all dressed up and ready for battle?
I blend in with the mass of black around a wide and flat podium. On it stands none other than Jeanine Matthews. My father has always disliked her, for using her knowledge and putting it to the wrong use.
"Soldiers. Welcome to Erudite. In less than an hour the battle begins, and the Mission will be initiated." She stands behind a pedestal, dressed in an elegant navy blue dress and high heels. She looks confident.
Then another things happens.
Dauntless leaders step up onto the podium and stand alongside Jeanine. I stifle a gasp when I see Four stand beside Jeanine.
"Any divergence will be terminated. And to start the Mission off, we have received information about... a certain divergent amongst us. We will show you all what is to become of such filth." Jeanine spits as she begins to saunter along the line of Dauntless leaders. My blood curdles. A divergent? As far as I know, they were people with special brain powers. But their existence is almost extinct.
"Four?" She calls. He looks rigid and stiff as he steps up. His face is a mask, but I can see how he is straining to look expressionless.
A gun is placed in his hand.
"Can you spot a divergent, here in this crowd?" Jeanine asks smoothly, a sly smirk on her face. Her hand lingers a second longer than I would've wanted, and I get an uncontrollable urge to punch her right in the face.
He nods slowly, his eyes already trained on one specific figure amongst the mass.
"Bring her up." Jeanine says.
A scream. Fists punching. The sound of shoes scraping along the gravel. A small figure is dragged up on the podium.
And for one split second, I can't breathe.
It's me.
I black out for a couple of seconds, because all I can see is darkness. A feeling of nausea passes over me. Is death my fear?
Now.
The voice is back. But when I force my eyes open again, I am no longer part of the crowd. I am half standing up, two heavily armed men grabbing my arms on each side. In front of me is Four, a gun pointed directly at me. My heart is beating so fast and so hard, I'm afraid he will hear it.
His hand is shaking slightly.
Fight!
The voice is back, but more urgent and much much louder.
"Don't!" I hear a strangled shout from somewhere in the crowd. I notice it is Eric trying to fight off 10 armed men, while yelling at Four.
"Four! It wasn't her! It-" He yells but is cut off by a punch in the gut. He sags forward, groaning and swearing.
The anxiety and fear is building up inside me, and I'm afraid it might boil over. So, death is one of my greatest fears. This is the most detailed fear simulation of all the others. All the details are carried out to fine point.
Four looks me in the eyes and raises his gun. His finger is resting on the trigger and—
I throw myself upright in the chair, heaving and gasping for air.
Beside me, I see Four staring at me. His face is drained and pale. My head is swirling and everything is spinning around, flooding my vision.
"W-What happened?" I manage to get out, my head feeling like lead.
I feel Four's strong hands softly guide me away from the chair.
"We're done for today Tris. You may leave." Four nods tersely, opening the door for me.
"Wait...How long did it take? What happened?" I ask disoriented, stumbling a little.
"You were under 6 minutes, Tris." He answers laconically.
I nod, mostly to myself, trying to make sense of things. But, truthfully, I'm so confused I wouldn't be able to see black from white.
"I'll see you later." He nods. His voice is stern and professional, but his gaze and his touch are feather light and warm. Full of care.
The door shuts quietly after he makes sure that I can walk straight— more or less. I need some air, clear my head for a bit. I shuffle down the hall as normally as I can manage, trying to seem composed on the outside, when in fact I'm feeling the exact opposite. I wander around aimlessly, for I don't know how long, but I don't look where I am going, that's for sure.
Suddenly I stand in front of a great steel door. It is probably supposed to blend in with the rest of the doors in this hall, but there is something about it that pulls me forward. An unknown force driving me forward to push it open. I turn the knob, finding it surprisingly easy and not locked.
Strange.
I stumble inside, trying to blend in with the others. Dozens of Dauntless members, though most of them are high ranked, stand and crowd around something.
My mouth drops open at the sight. An enormous flat screen is mounted on the wall. The room is shaped like a semi-circle, slightly bending the screen. Projected onto the screen are drawings. Lots of drawings, that don't make any sense. Until you piece them together.
Blueprints. Weapons, attack strategies. And finally, my eyes rest on the last blueprint. Injections and needles. The colour of orange is deeply imprinted in my mind as the dots connect. It's the needle Four injected me with.
I catch a glimpse of Max and Jeanine on stage, gesturing passionately, before I am roughly pulled out to the side, behind a black velvet curtain.
"What are you doing here?" A familiar edgy voice hisses into my ear. Eric's fingers are digging into my arm, though not hard enough to actually hurt me. I turn my head sideways, so that our noses almost touch.
"What is this?" I ask, slightly scared of the answer.
Hey all,
So I thought this should be a Tris chapter, since we haven't had one of those for a while. Also, this story has a lot of plot in it, and it has probably left you all with questions/comments. This is mostly focusing on the plot, but next chapter will have more of what happened to Mia and everything. Also, "tums up" for the long chapter, eh? I thought I owed you all some Tris, since she is supposed to be the main character and all. But if you guys prefer a little of each POV, please tell me in the reviews.
I encourage you all to review and/or leave opinions and questions! Thank you! :)
~Roluv3r