Slinking back to the dorms, I try to make as little sound as possible. There is bound to be an initiate or two out, even at this hour (*cough* Christina and Will), and I don't want to be caught. Plus, I'm pretty sure there are guards stationed around the compound…
As I round one of the last corners to the initiates' dorm, I run smack into something solid. The impact sends me flying backwards and I lose my footing, hitting the floor.
I try to look up at what had blocked my path, but the lack of light makes it hard to see. I try to scream as I make out the frame of a human, but I am stopped before I can make a sound when an aggressive hand covers my mouth. I try to pull the hand from my face, but the grip tightens.
I adjust my eyes and make out two other tall shapes. As my pursuer lifts me up, the three of them all begin to sprint in the direction of the chasm.
One of them laughs and makes a remark that I don't understand. I can't recognize who it is.
Then, my captor laughs back, and I automatically know it is Peter.
Adrenaline rushing, I instinctively do what I have to- I bite down on his hand. Hard. Hard enough to split the skin, and I feel his blood gush between my teeth. My mouth fills with the taste of metal.
Peter drops me and I land with a thud on the cement floor. I hear him hiss through gritted teeth, and I wipe his blood from my mouth with my sleeve, spitting it out.
"Damn you, Stiff!" Peter swears at me and waves his hand about in the air, droplets of blood spattering the floor, the walls, my face.
"did you drop her?" I hear another boy remark. I take in a sharp breath; Al. Poor Albert, my friend, in cahoots with Peter. I try to stand up and run, but before I can make a break for it, Peter yanks me upward and I feel my shoulders twist the wrong way. For now, my arms are useless. I try to kick him with the heels of my boots, but he's almost as solid as Four. Before I can swing my feet hard enough, Al grabs hold of both my legs. I can squirm all I want, but both Peter and Al are stronger than I can ever be.
"What the hell do you think you're do-OOF!" The other boy, who I'm sure is Drew, takes a bunched-up rag and shoves it into my mouth. I can't continue; the gag is choking me. Drew and Peter laugh, but Al does nothing. My eyes bulge out of my head as I try to yell at them.
"Let's see what we're working with here," Peter laughs. The veins in my forehead pop and my throat rumbles as I feel a cold, blood-sticky hand lifting the hem of my shirt. The loudest sound I can make is a guttural growl from the back of my throat. I writhe in the initiates' grasp and try to yell as Peter's hand moves up under my shirt.
"I can't find anything!" Peter says manically. My eyes sting with tears as I hopelessly try to wriggle out of the boys' clutch. The more I try to scream, the more the gag chokes me. As long as none of them plug my nose, I'll be able to breathe.
"Wait- I think I found something!' Peter exclaims as he gropes my chest. I want to hurt him so badly… I want to fight back, but there is nothing I can do. My arms ache from being held in such and uncomfortable position.
"Peter, we should really get going to the chasm before-"
"No, wait," Al is cut off by Peter's malicious voice. The chasm? I think. Why, Al? Why?
I 'scream' louder than ever before and my whole body lurches as Peter takes out a stolen knife from his pocket and uses the blade to cut my shirt off, straight down the middle. I'm surprised he didn't cut my skin. I gasp and yell, and feel the tang of bile rising in my throat. Peter takes a piece of rope from his pocket and binds my wrists together.
"Peter, stop it!" Al yells shakily. Are you kidding me? It's too late now, Albert. You went along with this bullcrap. Al lets go of my legs and Peter slams me to the floor, harder than previously. My vision swirls when I hit the pavement. When my mind finally clears, I see another chance to run for it, but as soon as I move to get up, Peter slams me down again and holds his knife to my throat.
"Oh really, Al?" he hisses. Drew is just standing off to the side. "You really want to be Dauntless?"
I sneak a glance over at Al. He nods shakily.
"Nnnnnnn!" I moan, trying to yell 'no', but Peter grabs hold of my shoulders and bangs my head on the ground, his warm, bloody hands pressing on my bare skin.
My head swirls, and I don't know what is worse; being killed by these monsters or losing my personal dignity forever. Before tonight, no one in the world has seen me like this.
"So, Albert… If you really want to be a Dauntless…" Peter says as he begins to tear my other clothing off. "Why don't you come and join me?"
"Llllllll" I roar through the gag, tears streaming down my face. This time, Peter's bitten hand is pressing down on my eyes and nose. I feel blood stream down into them. He's choking me now. I can barely breathe.
"Come on, be a Dauntless!" Peter hisses, trying to reveal the rest of me to the world.
"No." I hear Al say, his voice as firm as the stone walls. His reply sends a chill through my bones, and I hear his footsteps turn and clatter towards the chasm. After a few moments, his footsteps cease without warning.
He jumped.
My mind stops racing. Peter removes his hand from my face, and I snort out blood and take in a huge breath through my nose.
Al really didn't want to do this. But he was so desperate to make it into dauntless that he would have done anything, even aid in the torture of one of his only friends. I can't decide if his final decision was brave or cowardly- brave for 'standing up' against Peter? Or cowardly from him just ending his life like that and leaving me here?
I'm brought back to reality by Drew's comment, "He jumped." There is a pause, and he adds, "You're next, Stiff. But we're gonna force you to do it."
Peter lets out a demonic laugh and says, "but first, we're gonna play a little game."
I cry as my innocence is ripped away from me, piece by piece, until there is nothing left.