Chapter Forty-Six
The wind was bitingly cold and Liv wrapped her arms around her body in attempt to stop the shivers that were racking through her body. There was no safe place in the Dauntless quarters for her and Ivy to talk, so they had agreed to meet at the ferris wheel where it was unlikely anyone would see them let alone over hear them. Liv had been sat on one of the higher metal rungs for ten minutes waiting for Ivy to arrive and she could no longer feel her fingers, winter had truelly set in. Staring down at the concrete ground below her she saw the a dash of brilliant red, it was impossible to miss in the grey depressing back drop of Chicago and instantly Liv knew it could only be Ivy.
Low clangs vibrated up the metal structure as Ivy ascended the wheel to where Liv was perched. "Couldn't have sat a little lower?" She puffed when she finally reached Liv and sat down beside her.
"It's safer this way," Replied Liv matter of factly. "There's no chance anyone can here us up here, and it's so damn cold no one's going to come out here anyway."
Ivy couldn't argue it, Liv was right it was the safest place for them to talk but that didn't take away from the freezing cold and long climb she had to endure. "I think we should leave tomorrow. We know where the factionless live, and we know Four is with them. If we leave when it's dark no will see us and it will be too late by the time someone notices." Ivy had been stewing over a plan since she had thrown Max's body over The Chasm and it made no sense to her to wait any longer, the longer they waited the higher the chance was that someone would find out what happened to Max.
"What about work? People will notice if we're not there. Eric will notice if we're not there." Liv countered, lighting a cigarette and offering one out to her accomplace who accepted it with a small smile of thanks.
Taking a long drag on her cigarette, Ivy sighed deeply as she blew out a cloud of smoke. "We'll have to leave after our shift finishes. We'll have our clothes there so we leave Tia and Jazz can close up and we get the fuck out of here." Ivy had been born into Dauntless and had never thought it possible that she would ever want to leave, or become factionless by choice but her and Liv were stuck in a dangerous situation and if leaving at that exact moment wasn't full of complications she would have done.
"And what about my sister? I'm not going anywhere without her." It was the only chance Liv had of rescuing Felicity from a life of slavery and there was no way she was going to let her sister rot in Dauntless while she went and found sanctuary with Four.
Blowing out another plume of acrid smoke, Ivy turned to look at Liv her brow furrowed. "Don't you know?" When Liv remained silent she continued. "She's living with Eric now, you'll never be able to get her out of here." As much pity as Ivy took on the situation Liv was stuck in she wasn't about to get herself killed for a Divergent slave, or anyone for that matter. "She's in no danger Liv. She's with Eric, just Eric and even if she wasn't he's relocated all the other slaves that Max kept to kitchen jobs. She'll be fine."
"I can't just leave her! She's my sister and with Four and the factionless she wouldn't be a slave, how can I carry on with my life knowing I just left her behind?" It was out of the question as far as Liv was concerned and if that meant she and Ivy went their seperate ways then so be it. Felicity had endured enough and she's be damned if she didn't at least try to whisk her off with them. "Leave it to me, I'll sort it. Just be ready to leave after work tomorrow."
Ivy nodded her head in understanding, although still unsure about breaking Felicity free. "I'll find us the most secure route out of here," Swinging down from the metal rung they had been sat on, Ivy stopped her descent momenterily. "Liv, if you're not there I will leave without you."
Liv's mind had been racing since her chat with Ivy. She was on a very tight schedule to figure out a plan to get Felicity out and actually execute it without failure. Why couldn't Eric have just put Felicity on kitchen duty like the others? That would have made Liv's life alot more simple but as always Eric was making her life more difficult than necessar; internally she scolded herself at the thought, Eric had helped her weasel out of a very messy situation and done most of the leg work so it was unfair of her to hate him for making her plan a little more complicated.
"Olivia. With me." Eric said firmly, not stopping to wait for the brunette to get to her feet from the table she was sat at in the mess hall. He had been looking for her all day and was at the end of his very short fuse; Felicity had taken a turn for the worse half way through the night and he wasn't sure that her body was going to make it through the brutal withdrawals. With any luck seeing her sister would help her battle through.
"What's going on?" Panic coursed through Liv, the only thought occupying her mind that someone had discovered what had really happened to Max. Maybe Ivy had been right? The longer they waited the more danger they were in, and Liv was even less use to Felicity dead. "Is it-"
"No."
Liv wanted to shake Eric violently as they entered the elevator up to where his apartment was located. She needed more than the poor excuse he called an answer, 'no' was no satisfactory in the predicament she had gotten herself into but obviously Eric thought otherwise as he stood silent beside her in the metal elevator. "I heard Flick is living with you now. Did you want to see which Avery was a better slave?" She hissed spitefully, unable to hide the tinge of jealousy from her voice.
With a cold sneer, Eric stepped out of the elevator his jaw set stiffly as he fought to keep his temper in check. The sheer audacity Liv had to speak to him in the way she just had when he had cleaned up her sloppy murder was baffling, and was it not for Felicity all but dying in his bedroom he would have expressed his displeasure openly. His fist's clenched by his side as he marched down the long corridor ignoring Liv who dragged herself along a few steps behind him. "In." He announced once he had reached his front door and flung it open.
"I'm not a dog." Liv snapped in outrage, but still slinked past his broad body into his sterile apartment. "If you brought me up here for sex, it's not happening Eric. I don't know how many times I have to tell you."
It was Eric's to feel outraged, his face contorted angrilly and the door slammed loudly behind him making Liv jump despite herself. She might put on a front of bravery around him but he knew she still feared him and rightly so, she knew what he was capable of and what he held over her. "As much as I would love to list off all the reason why I have chosen not to fuck you, we have a more pressing matter." Leading Liv through to his bedroom, he gently tapped the door open and stood aside so she could see into the dark room.
"Chosen?! You have no say over what I do anymore Eric, you lost that right when I stopped being a sla..." Liv's tirade trailed off when her dark eyes landed on a quivering heap on Eric's bed. It took her a few moments to digest who it was and when she did it felt like someone had punched her in the gut. On the bed her poor baby sister was scrunched tightly into a ball under the thick duvet, only her head poking out with sweat drenched hair covering her face from view. What the hell had he done to her? Darting across the room, Liv croached down by the side of the bed, pushing Felicity's matted hair off of her face to get a proper look at her. Felicity's face shocked her; it was grey and shining with sweat, her beautiful eyes which were usually so full of life seemed sunked and dull and her full lips were cracked and the same sickly colour as her skin. It was like nothing Liv had ever seen. "What's wrong with her?" Her voice was so small it was barely audible.
Taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed to the left of Felicity, Eric let out a low sigh. "It's withdrawals from the serum Max had her on. I spoke to the person who made it and he didn't realise it would do this." Next to him Felicity let out a whimper of pain and tried to move closer to him, reaching out he pulled he young girl to him and craddled her to his chest as he absentmindedly rubbed small circles on her back. "He may not know what his serum does but he now knows what real pain feels like."
It was all so surreal watching Eric hold her sister with what Liv could only interpret as affection, he cared for her it was obvious and it made Liv question the Eric she knew. He was simple to figure out, but this was a curve ball that Liv had never antisipated, she felt like she didn't know him at all. "How long has she been like this?"
"Started yesterday but not this bad. Then she looked better...apparently that didn't last long."
Liv didn't want to ask for fear that the answer she would get would not be the one she wanted to here, but she had to know. "Will she get better?"
"I don't know the answer to that question Olivia." Eric admited, knowing it wasn't what she had been hoping to hear. "I'm having her moved to medical in the next half an hour. I wanted you to see her before that, just incase she doesn't pull through."
In an instant Liv's life felt like it came crashing down around her. Eric had brought her there because he believed Felicity was going to die, and Liv couldn't bear to think of life without her sister. Even after transfering out of Erudite they had remained close, and even without seeing Felicity everyday she had the knowledge that her sister was happy and safe, but now...now it was all too uncertain.
"You know I'll make sure she gets the best care possible Olivia, but equally I make no promises."
It hurt too much. She couldn't just sit and watch her sister in the state she was, unable to help her at all. Getting back to her feet, Liv roughly wiped away the tears that had trickled down her cheeks with the back of her hand. "You promise?" Icy eyes locked onto her dark ones and Eric nodded in answer. "I have to go...I can't...I..." She didn't know what to say, she was a coward and definately needed to throw up. Dashing out of the apartment before Eric could try and stop her; Liv sprinted down the corridor, more tears pouring down her cheeks, she didn't stop until she reached the long stairwell that led back down to The Pit and other areas of Dauntless. With an ugly retch she emptied her dinner onto the cold concrete floor, her mind buzzing with static. Desperately she tried to keep herself grounded in reality, Liv knew the feeling well and the last thing she wanted to do was lose control of herself while Felicity needed Eric. Pulling herself back from the presipice of her mind Liv felt a sudden moment of clarity. Felicity couldn't come with her. Felicity was better off with Eric, he had promised to look after her and although Liv didn't understand the fatherly relationship he had so clearly built up with her, it gave her hope. Liv was no use to Felicity, Eric was, she would leave with Ivy and she would be leaving alone.
A/N/ Thank you Ariwolff14, Solstice7777, LaurenB16 and Cczerka for your feedback :) I hope everyone who read this enjoyed it. From this point onwards a lot is going to go down!
