And here comes the start of Stage 2 where, in my opinion, is where the real fun begins but that's probably just the sadistic side of me.

I will put a warning in here as it made me cry and it might trigger some people so WARNING for violence and death and maybe abuse…..

Buuut it might answer a few of your questions that you've been asking.

His grin softened into a warm smile as he leant back in his chair. "I had no doubt that you would win that day." Issy blushed and looked away. Eric's laugh in her ears made her blush even more as she turned her attention back to the commotion, tightly gripping her phone.

Everyone was silent and Issy hated it. No one spoke, no one made eye contact. No one really did anything but think. That's another thing that she hated, thinking. She did that at night when her demons got out of their cage and wrecked her mind with useless thoughts that are either never going to happen or that she's pulled it out of perspective until she started panicking about it.

After breakfast had finished Four told them to follow him and they did, as did the Dauntless borns who trailed after them. Confused looks were thrown around as he led them in the opposite direction of the training rooms. Four led them to a long, narrow room with chairs lined on each side. They were told to sit until their name was called before he disappeared into one of the two door at the end of the room.

The only thing that disrupted their silence was when Lauren came through the door they came from. She didn't say a word to anyone as she walked through the door Four went into before coming out moments later and disappearing into the other door and they were left in silence one more.

Everyone's heads snapped back up as Four and Lauren came out of their rooms. Four sighed as he looked at them all. "Congrats on making it into Stage Two. Things will only get harder from here. Crystal go with Lauren and Hector come with me." 'Is that it? No explanation, no "Right so here's what we're doing"?' Issy watched Crystal get up shakily and Hec wasn't much better when they entered their designated rooms. Issy curses herself when she realises she didn't put her watch on this morning and she couldn't find a clock anywhere in the room.

Time goes by until what could have been an hour Hector stumbles out of one of the doors with Four on his heels. Hec looks awful as he makes his way out of the room. His skin was sickly pale and his eyes that usually held laughter looked dead inside. Four overlooked the rest of them as they stared at where Hec left the room with mouth wide in shock and fear. "Cody." He called out and all heads turned to him as he made his way to Four. When he passes Issy reaches out and grabs his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. She gets a nervous smile in response as she leans her head on her brother's shoulder. 'What the actual fuck?' She thinks while Alec leans his head on top of hers and slips his hand into hers. From beside her, Bree grabs her other hand and silence fell once more as her eyes located on the one thing is was sure of, her was beside her and not much else mattered.

The doors opened accepting new victims as the previous ones barely walked out without shaking. Those that did come out didn't say anything as they hobbled, shaking like a leaf out of the room and to freedom of the unknown. A few of them hadn't came out at all, Kayden being one of the first. Now it was just herself and Alec in the room, Bree had just left with Lauren as Flare walked out of the room, her hands fisted and shaking. The twin's hands were still locked together and Issy suddenly shivered.

"Alec I don't like this." Her voice didn't sound like hers, it was small and weak and Issy didn't like it at all.

"Don't worry sis," He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arm around her, bringing her in closer. "We'll get through this. We always have and we always will."

"Love you Alec."

"Love you too Iss." Just then a door opened revealing Four. Sam should have came out with him but obviously he went a different way.

Four gazed at the twins with a sombre smile on his face and Alec's hold on his sister tightened as Four spoke. "Issy. Come on." She froze, staring at Four with wide blue eyes when he motioned to the room behind him. She looked up at Alec who shot her a calming smile as he let her go. When she stood up she could feel each bone individually quivering when she walked as calmly as she could towards Four. Just before she went through the door she glanced back to her brother once more to see his smile before she willed herself to move.

When she steps into the room the first thing she notices is a chair similar to the one in her aptitude test. The next thing she notices is Eric standing with his hands behind his back on one side of the computer next to the chair with wires connecting the two. Four moves to stand on the other side in front of the screen and she jumps a little when the door slams shut. Somehow she missed Declan and Hugo standing either side of the door when she walked in. Hesitating, she looks around again, a little bit confused.

"Sit down Issy." Four says as he nods to the chair so she sits on the edge of the chair, ready to bolt if needs be. Silently she takes in their stiff posture before she glances back to Four to find him smirking. "You can sit back, we don't bite."

Issy glances around the room again as she shuffles back into the chair. "You're all making me nervous." She looks around again, hoping that she's missed something, anything that will tell her what's going on. "You look like you're expecting an attack." Her brothers tense subtly but enough for Issy to notice.

"We're just making sure everything goes smoothly." Hugo quickly looks to Eric, no, to something behind Eric and her eyes flash with uncertainty. Her eyes flicker to Eric, taking him in again and that's when she spots it. Something metallic and pointy grasped behind his back. Images suddenly pop into her mind bringing everything she's tried to forget back up: white sterile walls, examination tables with restraints, needles with oddly coloured substances, "This is for the good of the faction.", that voice that's haunted her for so long. Her eyes widen in fear and all colour drains from them as she bolts for the door. Two sets of arms wrap around her waist just as her fingertips brush against the handle until she's pulled back. Declan and Hugo try to wrestle her back into the chair as she wriggles in their hold trying to loosen it.

"Issy! Issy! Calm down!" Declan shouts over her snarling. "You're not with Jeremy, you're in Dauntless! Dauntless Issy! Calm down!" She continues to struggle against their hold until she gets her elbow free and rams it back straight into Dec's nose. Surprised, he yelps and falls to the floor. Hugo's hold tightens around her and he lifts her up as she thrashes. Quickly, Declan gets back up, ignoring the blood running down his face as he grabs onto her shoulders with Hugo at her waist.

"A little help?!" Hugo shouts towards Four and Eric where they stand shocked. His shout snaps them out of their daze and Four moves forward, holding her legs as Eric fiddles about with the needle. Using the momentum of her body she slams Four into the nearest wall and her brothers nearly drop her. Eric moves forward with the needle in hand as her thrashing gets wilder. Eric roughly grabs onto her neck trying to keep it still.

"Back the fuck up!" Issy growls at him, still managing to move in his hold.

"ISSY!" Eric bellows and she freezes in surprise. Eric takes his chance and shoves the needle in.

"Bastard!" She hisses as they dump her into the chair and Four quickly explains that she'll face her worst fear, the key is to calm down or find a way to deal with it and that she'll be going under in less than sixty seconds. Vaguely, she hears Hugo mumble be brave in her ear as Dec asks how many more times that has to happen before her eyes flutter shut.

Smoke. That's the first thing she notices. Then she hears the crackling of flames. Pivoting on her feet, the scene becomes clear. She's in a house, a burning house, her old home. Small flames lick at the chairs in the kitchen, eating at family pictures hung on the walls. Cautiously, she walks into another room. The hallway feels cramped as smoke clogs her lungs and she coughs. She freezes and cocks her head to the side, hoping she'll hear it again. Crying. Her eyes widen as the crying gets louder.

"Reece." She whispers to herself, she can feels tears collecting in her eyes.

A child cries out, the very same cry that's been carved into her for years. "Mama!"

Issy breathes in sharply as a tear escapes. "REECE!" She spins around frantically and volleys herself into the flames. Running from room to room she yells for her baby brother, ignoring the flames as they become thicker, as the smoke makes it unbearable to breathe. As she reaches the bottom of the stairs the cries become louder. She looks up and shouts his name.

"Iszee!" The little boy calls back.

Wasting no time, she sprints up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. She hisses as the fire eats at her heels, as it touches her skin, burning into her soul. Opening each door she finds no one but the cries get louder. Coming to Reece's room, she flings open the door and there he is. He sits in his cot, his blue eyes red-rimmed with tears streaming down his puffed up cheeks. His light brown hair is ruffled and his hands are gripping the bars. She gasps his name and dashes forward only to run head first into an invisible barrier. Slamming her hands against the barrier again and again, she wails as loud as her brother does. "Please! Please!" She begs. "Reece!" A cold laugh comes from the darkened corner of the room. A man with greying hair and emotionless eyes steps forward into the light next to Reece's cot and she stops breathing. "Jeremy." His mouth twitches up into an ugly sneer as he walks towards the barrier. He cackles as he looks between Issy and Reece.

"Feeling useless Issy?" He grins as she slams again harder. He saunters over to Reece and picks him up. The little boy's crying softens a bit, it would look like a normal uncle calming down his nephew if Issy didn't know better. A feral grin slid onto Jeremy's face as her fists pounded against the barrier.

"No! No! Put him back! Leave him be!"

"And why should I do that?" He walks closer. "What can you offer me instead?"

"Take me!" She screams, ramming her shoulder into the invisible wall. "Take me instead! Please!"

"You know," Jeremy drawls out as he holds Reece up to look at him. "I don't think I will." His grin curls up into a sneer. As if Reece was nothing more than a doll, Jeremy grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall making a sickening crack.

"NO!" Issy screamed and screamed. Her knees buckled from beneath her and she slid against the wall, crying her eyes out, and shouting her throat raw. Clawing at the wall she begged to get closer, to hold her baby brother. From the corner of her eye she saw Jeremy smiling, looking very smug with himself. Furious, she turned to him. "You monster! You sick, vile bastard! Three! He was only three yo –" Issy screamed in frustration, gripping and pulling at her hair. She kicked and punched at the wall still crying and yet her eyes held only anger. Slowly, Jeremy faded back into the flames, leaving her and her brother's small. Issy fell into the wall and cried her heart out. She cried until she stated to hyperventilate, her breathing ragged and short. She stared at Reece's body as rivers of tears rushed down her face as she complemented the life he could have had if she was faster, if she was only –

Bright light broke through her eyelids, making her jerk up. A room. A four walled room. The sim room. Declan and Hugo and perched in front of her with tear stained faces. She can vaguely hear them calling her name but they're too close. Its too much. She can't breathe. Ignoring her brothers, she doesn't see Four slump into his chair, nor does she see Eric standing next to him, face pale, eyes still fixed on the screen. All she can see is the door shut tight. Away. She needs to get away. Her breathing becomes rapid as she launches herself to the door, hurling it open and running out of the room. She runs past Alec who jumps up, wide eyed and shouting after her. She runs not sure of where her feet take her. When she begins to slow, she hears water crashing against rock. The Chasm. Breathing heavily she walks to her nook and slides down the wall. Issy brings her knees up, making herself as small as possible.

She doesn't know how long she sat there for, it could have been a few minutes or even a few hours when she heard footsteps walking towards her. Issy didn't lift her head when they stopped next to her. She expected them to walk straight past her as no one could see her unless they knew about her alcove, instead they sat down next to her. A quick glance from the corner of her eye and she instantly recognized the black blocks on their neck. Eric. For a time they sat like that, not saying a word and lost in their own thoughts until she broke the silence.

"How long?" Her voice broke.

"Hmm?" He turned his head to her.

"How long was I in there for?"

"Around thirty minutes. For at least ten minutes Hugo was demanding we pull you out."

"Oh." They fell into silence again and Issy could feel his eyes on her. She hadn't looked at him yet, she daren't.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Sometimes it doesn't always help."

"But sometimes it does."

Issy could see the logic in that. It just brought up bad memories but it would be good to get it off her chest. She sighs, its probably about time she told someone what actually happened, not what people speculated. Her own family doesn't even know what truly happened, just the general gist of it. Fuck, even Alec doesn't know all of it and they tell each other everything. Eric waits, analyzing her as she breathes in and out slowly, her sight blurring as she looses herself in thought.

"Our house caught on fire one night, it was during a storm and the house got struck by lightening. I was ten at the time and it scared me so much, there was smoke and fire everywhere. I can remember my dad running into mine and Alec's room shouting for us to get up, move and get outside quickly so we did, finding our mum, older brothers and sister already outside with dad on our heels. As we reached them I turned around to stare at the house we grew up in and my mum cried out. Reece wasn't there, he was still inside. So without a second thought I ran back into the house and up to Reece's room. Once I got to his room I picked him up and ran back down stairs. As we got closer to the door a flaming beam fell down from the ceiling, blocking the door so we ran out of the back door. I couldn't find them, I couldn't find our family. Reece was crying in my arms, holding on tight. Where we lived at the time was back onto a load of trees, like a mini forest. I remember walking into the trees but for how long I couldn't tell you. A twig snapped behind us and Jeremy came out of the trees.

"I've always been wary of Jeremy, despite him being my uncle though my mum. He was never quite what he seemed. When he walked up to me, I remember the fear I felt, I had started to back up, to get away. He simply tutted at my actions while making up some old bullshit about taking us back to our family. Of course I believed him. I was frightened and tired and however I felt about him I thought he's still family so I let him take Reece out of my hands but then he made no action to move. Jeremy started studying Reece like a weird experiment and he said "What a shame." He looked at me with a grin on his face lime it was such a good thing. He said that Reece had taken in too much smoke to be of use. So he held Reece up and sl-slammed his head into a rock next to him." Issy's voice broke and her breathing got heavier. It took a few minutes for to calm her breathing. "I screamed and kicked and clawed at Jeremy's arms as he dragged me away from Reece's body." She barked out a humorless laugh and shook her head. "I think I got too much for him to handle 'cause he knocked me out." From her side she felt Eric tense up.

"When I woke up I was in an overly clean room with no windows and a single steel door in one corner. Jeremy would come in in the morning to take blood samples and in the evening he'd come back with needles with more serums to inject me with. That would repeat day in, day out. I only ever saw Jeremy but I heard other voices that blurred together. Only one stood out but I cant think of where I know it from. I can't remember how I was found. Mum says that a Dauntless patrol found me in an abandoned building. For a whole month I was missing. People said I was delusional. That I was imaging it all, the serums, the voices, the room but they couldn't deny the changes that happened from the serums that apparently didn't exist. My eyes weren't always as bright as they are today. Alec's can only change colour depending on his emotion. Mine change with my emotions, like Alec's, but I can also change them how I want them. If I wanted to I could have blue eyes and only be gold when my emotions shift or I could have them gold or something in between. Also I found out that I can change the size and shape of my pupil if I think about it hard enough." Issy laughs again. "I used to sit in front of a mirror watching my eyes, seeing what I could and couldn't do."

Tears fall down her face silently when Reece's small body took over her sight and she choked and coughed again, covering her face with her sleeves. Eric brought his arm around her and she allowed him to pull her into him. He shuffles around until Issy burrows her head into his neck, gripping at his jacket as she sniffles. His arms wrap around her, rubbing her back soothingly and his head falls on top of hers, hushing her as her tears seep into his jacket. The last thing she hears is Eric's mumbling in her ear.

"You're safe now.

Soo, how was that? I'm literally sat here bawling my eyes out but I think it was worth it. Sorry if I made anyone else cry but at least we know what happened with Reece and Jeremy.