Chapter 29
Tobias
It all went so fast. We never thought Marcus and Natalie would follow us here. They said it themselves they would be recognized. We stand together outside Erudites headquarters and watch Jeanine get taken away by Marcus and one of his men.
"This is not the end," she screams and struggles to escape their grip. They shove her into a car and they drive away. Just like that.
"What now?" Tris asks Natalie.
"Now," she says and smiles a little. "We wait until Jeanine's trial tomorrow."
"What do we do?" Zeke says.
"You did everything right in there. We just underestimated how smart Jeanine really is. You can go back to Dauntless if you want to, or stay in the surveillance house. What's important is that you're all in court tomorrow, 10am don't forget." Then she leaves.
Her words echoes in my head; "We just underestimated how smart Jeanine really is."
Before we leave we say goodbye to John, Adrian and Benji.
"Well," John says. "It was nice to meet you all, despite the circumstances."
"Yeah, and I'm sorry about the whole, losing you guys thing," Benji says.
"It's forgotten," Lynn says and pats him on the shoulder.
"Well," I cross my arms in front of me. "We should get going. We'll see you tomorrow in court."
"Yes absolutely," John answers and looks down at his feet. Normally that would be a sign of a lie being told, but I'm sensing John is a man who doesn't lie, so why the nervous act?
We all decide to back to Dauntless. Staying here would feel too strange.
We don't say much to each other on our way back to the truck that is parked about a mile from the Erudite compound. Marcus and Natalie went with Jeanine to jail where she'll be waiting until the trial. The most important source tomorrow is John. Without him and his photos there will be no evidence suggesting that Jeanine was planning what we're accusing her of. All of us know exactly what her plans were, but that wouldn't be enough, and as far as I know, the photos are all we have.
When everyone is in the truck I close the door. I look back at Tris. "You coming?"
"I'm not going back to Dauntless," she says. "It doesn't feel right to just leave."
"We'll be back tomorrow," I say frowning. "It's just over night."
"I know." She bites the inside of her cheek, like she always does when she's either nervous or lying.
"What's this really about Tris?"
"Nothing, I just… I just don't wanna go home."
"Why?"
She sighs. "Can we not talk about it? I will see you tomorrow."
"No. Then I'll stay too."
"You don't have to do that."
"I know I don't have to, I want to."
She shakes her head. "Tobias I need some time for myself. I will just see you tomorrow."
I don't want to argue again, so when she turns around and starts walking, I don't stop her.
Christina looks out from the truck. "Where's she going?"
"To the surveillance house," I say.
"Wait, why?"
I don't answer I just shake my head and shrug. I get into the driver seat and look in the rearview mirror as we drive away. It doesn't feel right to leave her alone, even though I know she can take perfectly good care of herself.
Tris
She door squeaks when I push it open. I didn't notice that when we left this morning. The sun is drowning in the horizon; it's weak sunbeams painting the sky orange and pink. I've always admired the sunset and I used to love sitting on our rooftop when I was little, watching the last ray of light fade away. In Dauntless you might not see the sun for days sometimes so when you do it easy to maximize it. I know I do, every time.
The floorboards squeak too. I walk up the stairs. There's not a lot of furniture in the rooms so I decide to sleep on the couch downstairs. As soon as the sun has disappeared it's pitch black in the house. I regret not looking for a flashlight or candles while my vision was still useful. I wait in the dark until my eyes have adjusted and I at least can see edges. Carefully I stumble through what I'm pretty sure is the kitchen door, where my mom and Marcus kept their surveillance equipment. They might have left something behind that I could use as a light source. I open a broken cabinet door and terrified I stumble backwards as a mouse spurt out, touching my hand, and I have to steady myself on one of the rusty metal chairs. I laugh a little and shake my head. "I give up." I decide to go to sleep right away.
I'm awake. The front door is stood wide open and I can hear rustling leafs in the wind. I can also hear heavy breaths, but they aren't mine. I would recognize my own breaths. I blink a few times to make my newly awakened sight less blurry. Before I can see anything else than a black silhouette, something cold and soft covers my eyes, some sort of cloth. Four hands clamp to my arms and lift me up from the couch. I try to scream but nothing comes out. Flashbacks from initiations appear in the corner of my mind, and I think "Not again. Please not again."
"Wow Stiff, you're not even struggling."
Yes I am. I thrash, but nothing happens.
"Pathetic," the voice says and laughs. His laugh is familiar. "Let's go," the voice says.
The four hands holding me start dragging me across the floor. The voice laughs again and this time I realized who it is. Peter.
I open my eyes and I scream into empty air. Startled, I let my eyes wander across the room, but there's no one here. I wipe my sweaty palms against the blanket and I stand up. My legs and arms are shaking. I didn't realize I still had those intense nightmares. And Peter? That makes so sense. He doesn't scare me anymore. He's not even a threat.
Going back to sleep now doesn't feel like an option, so I walk outside. The sunrise has begun and I feel relieved that I'm no longer surrounded by darkness. I climb the same latter I did yesterday up to the roof. I sit on the edge for a while. I watch the large glowing sphere rise slowly into the dull morning sky. It casts sunbeams in every direction, illuminating the field with the purple lavender and the city's skyline. Their color amplifies by the touch and it's beautiful. I find it almost overwhelming. But as beautiful as this morning may be, I still know that this day will be awful.
See ya'll soon. Be brave! -s
