A week has passed since Four threw the knives at Tris. A week of nothing but punching bags and kicking other initiates unconscious. And today is the day when the results come in, who will be kicked out and who will stay. Who got first, who got last, and who came in the middle. Who to beat and who to stay above. I wait for Tris and the others to finish their breakfast before we head back to our sleeping quarters for the results.
"What do you think you got?" Christina asks as we hike up the stairs.
"I don't doubt that we passed," I say. "There were people who did worse and we still have to factor in the Dauntless-born as well."
"But there is still a good chance that the bottom two for us are out," Will says.
"Guess so." I push open the door to see the other initiates crowding around someone on the floor, the scraping of chalk clearly heard throughout the deafly silent room. I see the others go forward before I can even think about doing so. But I find the strength to move my legs forward again and towards the person on the ground. As I get closer, I realize it's Eric, and just as I reach the back of the group, he stands up and puts the chalkboard on something connected to the wall before moving.
1. Edward
2. Peter
3. Grace
4. Will
5. Christina
6. Tris
7. Molly
8. Drew
9. Al
10. Myra
Third. I got third. But how? I feel someone slap my back and I turn to see Will. "Congrats. Third, above the rest of us. Maybe being good at throwing knives and shooting guns pay off after all."
I repeat my line from before. "Guess so." I look at the results again. "But there's a chance of Al getting out."
"And there is a chance that he isn't out." A flip of a dime is that boy's mind. My eyes scan the room, landing on a hateful face. Peter's. He's glaring at Edward before a small, slow smirk appears on his face.
"Hey, Will? Is there a way to tell what someone is thinking?"
"Yeah. Telepathy, but that's only in science fiction and fantasy books. It's -" But he didn't get to finish his sentence as Molly's voice rings out.
"I bet both of them! How'd they get above me?" I look to see where she is pointing, straight at both Christina and Tris. Will and I swiftly move over there, mainly to hold back a now fuming Christina.
"When you get beat by a low-skill opponent, your rank goes down," Eric replies cooly.
"Come on. Let's go," Will says as we move out of the room, half dragging Christina who looks like she is both pleased and furious at Molly. I look once more over my shoulder at the room, my eyes falling on Peter once more. He's still smirking, an evil glint in his eye. We better watch out backs tonight.
I wake up to screaming. Blood-curdling screams. My hand instantly goes to the flashlight on my nightstand, and I quickly flash it to where the screams are coming from. So much for trying to stay awake.
The beam shines a light on the scene, all there except for the culprit, but it isn't hard to put two and two together. On the floor is Edward, a hand clamped over his eye as he screams. Between his fingers is something straight and silver, blood barely showing on it through his crimson hands. The blood pools onto the floor. It makes me nauseous looking at it, but my body goes against my stomach and I leap up and walk over to him. Others get up, only two getting up and helping. I pull Edward to his feet as Myra helps, someone else running to the restroom. "We need to take him to one of the nurses," I say, seeing the worry on her face. "We can't pull it out without hurting him more." Now that I'm closer, I can see what it is. A knife. One of the butter knives that we use at meals. My stomach does another flip.
Myra nods and helps me direct him to the door and down the halls, to the make-shift hospital. I help set him on a bed before going back to the dorm. When I enter, everyone is asleep again except for Tris, who is kneeled over where Edward had laid, scrubbing at his blood. I go over and help, anything to stay away from going asleep again. Who knows how many others Peter will stab to get his way. I can't be a vigilante, but I can at least help clean up the mess that one of us made and will hopefully never make again.
Short, and sorry for the wait. I go back and forth between wanting to only read to only write to none. I'm in the "none" faze right now, but I'll work on writing this, there just won't be as many updates until the "write" comes back. Anyways, thanks for the feedback on my decision. I'm going to do the original ending and if enough people want, I'll write the alternate as well. Thanks for reading and comment/heart/follow if you like this story. Until next time!