**Some language/vocabulary and nudity (may or may not be what you're thinking ; D ) in this chapter's original, so this has been made into a component M chapter. Don't worry kids, I'll let you know when there is smut ahead.
This is the original version of Chapter 31.
Please keep in mind, a T rating means suitable for ages 13 and up, so there will be some naughty talk and descriptions throughout the T story. With the whole nudity thing, I'm going based off of American view points on nudity just to be safe. Nudity in my personal opinion shouldn't really be censored because it's just the human body, it's natural. But because this site is not run by me, nor will every one reading agree, I'm opting to put the nudity in the M rated sections. Not a huge difference in chapters this time, mostly just wording and descriptions.
Based on my current outline, there is a predicted number of 45 chapters total. Meaning we're over halfway there! But that also means we only have 14 chapters left…. A lot can happen, and boy oh boy do I have plans *evil grin*
Important to point out that "Ancestry .com" does not exist in this universe haha
Notice the time jump by a few days.
Enjoy!**
Tris POV – Sunday, December 28th
My acceptance letter came in the mail yesterday. Sort of a late Christmas present I suppose. Lynn's came in the day before mine. We both let out a small sigh of relief. Knowing that we can have some sort of future set up in a different state, outside of Max's reach manages to bring some comfort in our thorny lives. Tori found us a home too. A halfway house of sorts, somewhere to set up, calm down and make more plans.
Washington State. It sounds so far away, foreign. Christina mentioned that she'd been there before, Seattle the coast. It rains a lot. It's cold.
What's even better is that both Max and Eric have warrants out for their arrest in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Hopefully going there doesn't put a target on our backs, but I know of at least a couple other states where they're wanted. If they come looking for us, maybe they'll even start out by looking at international options.
Everyone is ready to leave. Even the guys. Both Zeke and Tobias have put in their notices with their respective work places – Tobias at the University, Zeke at some garage. But there's no need for Matt, Uriah or Will to file notice, as they're running from Max and Eric too. Tori seems to have everything worked out with someone. And then there's Myra. We're all a bit worried about her. She says she has someone to buy her at the auction, but her voice shakes every time like she's not sure. I want to help her out, but Christina holds me back, saying right now, I need to think of myself more than others. I'm not convinced what she says is true.
Tobias and I discussed more details on Christmas day after an embarrassing morning.
I woke up, still completely wrapped in Tobias's arms, the heat of his blanket, the smell of his skin… and in that fog, I was somehow convinced I was still dreaming and decided to lean over and kiss him. His lips were slightly parted in sleep, but as soon as our lips clashed, he was wide awake. I had leaned my whole body over him, trapping his head between my hands, body pressed almost completely against his. Dream-me wasn't afraid to put some effort into it.
As soon tongue got involved, I pulled back realizing I wasn't actually asleep, this wasn't a dream and Tobias was kissing me. Unfortunately I pulled back so much that I knocked myself off the side of the bed and landed with a thud on the carpeted floor.
Tobias got off the bed to look over me, but the pain from the blush in my cheeks was worse than my back.
"I'm sorry," I said. Nervously looking anywhere but his face. Though I could see out of my peripheral vision that Tobias was smiling. He even offered me his hand to help me back up. Once I was standing in front of him, he forced me to look him in the eye before he told me that it's okay if I want to kiss him, he's not my teacher anymore. He was talking to me like a child, and hiding more laughter behind his voice. I smacked his arm, and the barrier broke. He lifted me back in bed, still laughing and told me to wait while he got some more pain meds. I protested, but he said I should take them for his sanity. I did.
Later that morning Tobias even made me a breakfast of scrambled eggs, though I had to eat them from a can as he claimed all his bowls were dirty. We put in a movie that neither of us paid any attention to. I taught him how to play Rummy and Egyptian War. He taught me a bit about Poker. Around 2PM Tobias ordered a delivery pizza, and I took the moment to snoop around a bit, finding an old box of childhood possessions of Tobias' under his bed. There weren't many – half of a Candyland game set; some bent UNO cards; and a strange looking blue crystalized sculpture of what looked like the reminiscent spray of water hitting a rocky beach.
"My mother gave that to me." He said solemnly as he walked back into the bedroom.
"What was she like?" I asked, suddenly holding the sculpture closer to my body.
He visibly stiffened but tried to fight it. "Kind, for the most part. She never raised a hand to me, even if I deserved it." He moved closer to me, reaching out to touch the sculpture before his eyes turned dark. "Though clearly she was deceptive and deceitful. If she really wanted me safe, she would have taken me with her when she decided to disappear."
Tobias, still bare chested from the night before, had suddenly looked around the room as though ashamed or self-conscious. I reached out and put my hand over his heart. It stopped his fidgeting. "I'm sorry."
He smiled lightly. "You have nothing to apologize for, Tris." His hand gripped my chin, and his mouth descended to mine. A slow warmth built up through my toes, into my belly, and swirled up to my head. I felt like I was brimming, about ready to spill over. Yet when he had started to pull away, I pulled him back. My arms were around his neck, his arms around my waist – pulling on my hips as his fingertips dug into my skin ever so gently. It was the most sensual thing I'd ever felt. I sighed into his mouth when his tongue touched mine, and my eyes clamped shut; not because I was frightened, but because I was overcome with an emotion I'd never truly felt before now… Lust. I wanted Tobias. I wanted him so bad that a whimper of disapproval seeped from my lips when I realized that we couldn't be together like that. Not in that moment anyway. But Tobias took my noise as a good sign and to my relief pressed himself into me even more. His hands traveled ever so slightly up the shirt that was covering my body. Feeling the rough tips of his fingers moving up the bare skin of my back, I arched into him even more, this time earning a noise from him. It was primal, sweaty, and by far the longest I'd ever kissed someone. I just couldn't stop. I wanted to look at him, but my eyelids were so heavy, yet my body was so alive. Tobias was a thirst I couldn't stop drinking. No, Tobias was a drug. A lifeline.
When the doorbell rang, Tobias released a growl of some sort that sent electricity down my spine. He pulled away from me gently at first, seemed to fidget a bit as color rounded his cheeks, and then moved to the front door. The pizza had arrived. He shut the door, set the pizza on the counter and then went straight to the bathroom.
It only took me a couple of moments to realize what for. I'd felt him pressing into my stomach. The longer we had stood there kissing, the more I had felt him. It just didn't register until now. How had I not even considered pulling away when I first felt him, stirring? Suddenly while walking into the living room, I realized the inside of my underwear was a little damp. I cursed myself internally. I had no other pair to change into. Instead, I slid on my jeans from last night, now dry and willed myself not to think about it.
When he returned, neither of us mentioned the kiss – or how it physically affected us. Instead we ate pizza and talked more about our lives. Tobias wanted to be a programmer when he was young. Now he thinks of computers as more of a hobby he's good at, and is more set on being an English teacher. I laughed thinking at all the terrified faces of kids he'd teach in the future. I admitted to him that I hadn't really allowed myself to think much about 'what I want to be when I grow up', because ever since joining Dauntless, that choice had been taken from me. He told me to humor him, so I did. My answer even surprised me. I'd want to be a travel writer. To go to different places, meet different people, and be able to tell their stories or fight for them to be told, made me feel honorable inside. It would be the right thing to do.
A couple hours later, the power went out. One of Tobias' upstairs neighbors blew a fuse trying to use a toaster and a hair straightener in the same outlet.
Tobias and I got dressed in some warmer clothes. Then he offered me one of his heavier coats, some gloves and a hat; he practically forced it on me. I asked what he was doing, but instead of answering me once I was completely dressed, he picked me up and walked with me outside to the patch of grass across the street from his apartment and tossed me in a snow bank. I was tempted to scream at him, but instead I settled for launching a snowball at his head. It made me feel better when I heard the satisfying smack of the snow against his skin. Then Tobias declared war. I ended up with snow in every nook and cranny of my clothes as only the jacket Tobias lent me was waterproof. The jacket in question was three times too big in the chest, came about four inches past my hands in the arms, and the hem of the jacket hung at my knees. Tobias was huge.
I did take pride in the fact that I managed to sneak through a couple of the trees while Tobias was distracted making more snowballs and dump some snow down his back before running back to my base. Tobias howled at the cold and danced around a bit making my side bust from laughter. He then proceeded to chase me down and tackle me to the ground. I found myself squealing and laughing and smiling harder than I had in a long time. Harder than going down the zip line just over a week ago. Tobias laid on top of me for a moment, grinning down at me, his cheeks and nose red; I was sure mine were too. Then he kissed me again. And suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. The dampness in my underwear returned, and Tobias' body was practically shaking holding himself up. It only took one catcall from a passing car to separate us. Tobias was clearly embarrassed, but I just found myself laughing again. We stayed outside staring up at the falling snow for what felt like hours. The sky had begun to darken a bit, and the warmth had left my body.
Once I was good and shivering, Tobias and I walked back inside where the power had been restored, but his apartment had lost some of its heat. He offered me the shower first and asked what I wanted for dinner. I suggested lasagna, but Tobias just hung his head. He'd never made it before. I told him I would show him how after I showered.
My hair was still wet after I'd redressed in some of Tobias's sweatpants – rolled five times at the waist – and another one of his shirts. Tobias looked at me for a moment, and I'd worried I'd done something wrong, but his look changed. His eyes had darkened. And before he left the room in a hurry, he admitted he liked me wearing his clothes. I blushed as the bathroom door closed and the shower turned on again. But I was able to distract myself by raiding Tobias's pantry and fridge for things I'd need to make lasagna.
Teaching Tobias to cook was interesting to say the least. First he ended up with tomato paste in his hair, cried at chopping the onions, and accidentally snorting some garlic powder.
Once the lasagna was in the oven successfully, I wiped the remaining tears off my face from laughing so hard and Tobias went to go wash his hair again.
For dinner, Tobias managed to find some old sparkling cider in his apartment as he rarely has alcohol here. The cider was too old and tasted horrible, so we settled for water. The lasagna was good – I'd tried to recreate my mom's recipe, but I could never get it just right. Tobias on the other hand, thought it was a God-sent. Watching him eat across the table from me, for the briefest of moments, I imagined the adjacent sides of the table with smaller versions of Tobias, playing with their food, and getting sauce in their hair. The thought made my stomach turn with longing and confusion. I'd only known Tobias a couple of months. I've only really known him a couple of days. Did I really want that kind of future with him?
I think so.
We went to bed that night with fully bellies, the electric blanket on, and smiles on our faces.
I didn't look at my phone until the following morning. I had multiple "Merry Christmas" messages from the Dauntless group, Matt, and even a message from Robert and Susan. Then, there was Christina. She had all but shut down my phone with messages.
Where are you?
Are you okay?
Are you with Four?
What are you doing?
Hello?
Tris?!
When are you coming home?
Are you at least keeping your New Year's promise?
I cringed at the last one. Tobias asked what my New Year's promise is and my face became a tomato. I didn't tell him. Though now I'm wondering if I should have – mostly because I'd want to see what his reaction would be. Then again, he might take it badly, that I'm just using him.
Tobias laughed at my reaction to the text and seemed mostly alright with my not saying that my New Year's promise is that I'll finally lose my virginity before the clock strikes 12. It'll be like an R rated Cinderella story of sorts. Maybe it'll be best if he never finds out. Especially if it really does happen.
My cheeks colored at the thought – Tobias above me, or below me, naked, growling like he did earlier, his tongue battling with my own, hands at my breasts, my clit as he slides in and out slowly at first then fast, filling me up completely, mouth on my skin, tugging my hair, my nails on his back as I feel a scream build in my chest and oh… The shower turned off at that very moment, and I was a despicable display of flushed skin, heavy breathing and wet panties once more. If Tobias saw me at that moment, I don't know what would have happened.
I left not long after, Christina came to pick me up after I finally responded to her and told her where I was. I reluctantly said goodbye to Tobias, and he to me. He even kissed me in front of Christina. I could feel her giggling and bouncing in her seat when I got into the car.
We drove off to do some after Christmas sales shopping as Christina hounded me for information. The biggest question being, DID WE DO IT?!
When I told her no she deflated like a balloon. Then blew up at me. And made snide comments about my missed opportunity for the rest of the day, all because I spent the night with a boy – my crush, no less – and still failed to "sex it up". I didn't fight against her comments. This time, I just laughed at her. She stared at me as though I'd thrown a brick at her.
The stores were busy as expected. The first thing I went and bought was a cinnamon scented candle. It's not the same as smelling Tobias in person, but close enough. And when Christina passed by Victoria Secret, she dragged me in. She went off looking for both: things for her to wear for Will, and more costume related outfits as new wardrobe ideas for Dauntless. I almost stopped her, saying we won't be there much longer, but she beat me to it. Her head hung just slightly, as she said, "Just in case."
Of all the girls, I had no idea Christina was having doubts.
Later that night at the Pit, we had a lewd-gag white elephant gift exchange after closing. Resulting in Matt receiving a light up pink teddy three times his size; Marlene a glow in the dark vibrator; Shauna a pair of spank-me SpongeBob boxer briefs; Lynn some chocolate flavored lubricant; Christina an X-rated Indiana Jones inspired leather whip; Myra a box of cherry flavored condoms, to which Marlene demanded a trade since she is Cherry at Dauntless.
I clearly received Matt's contribution to the gift exchange as he was burning bright red when I picked up the package – though I didn't quite understand why, after all, he used to be a dancer too. Inside was a pair of snowflake covered fuzzy socks, a pack of gum, some Hershey's Kisses, and a pair of silver hoop earrings. Matt then became the brunt of everyone's jokes for the rest of the night as we soon learned that the gift I picked was meant for a girl who lives near him. And best of all, he must have given her the gift he meant to bring by mistake: edible underwear. This made everyone laugh even harder. It also made us question who this girl was. A half-drunk Marlene and Christina began hounding him with questions for information. All we got from him was:
Blonde hair.
Gold/Amber eyes.
She's come in here before.
Then he proceeded to beg us not to look into anything because nothing is going to happen. We're leaving so why would anything happen, right? I felt bad, but he's right. Whoever she is, she is not a part of our ordeal and shouldn't be dragged into anything.
Matt continued to talk about her though: how they've only known each other a couple of weeks – meeting outside of the Pit or Dauntless thankfully – and he thinks she might still be into someone else as he's seen her with a guy once. Matt looked straight at me when he said this, narrowing his eyes slightly. But Matt's voice is soft and velvety when he talks about her. There's no way in Hell Matt is insinuating that I'm the girl. He wouldn't have looked at me like he did. But why did he give me that look?
The girls have continued to pry for information from Matt into yesterday and will probably pick up again on Monday, tomorrow. Even Lynn seems to be having some fun with it, since he's supposed to be into Lynn for Dauntless appearances.
Now it's Sunday, my day off. I was supposed to be meeting up with Tobias to get lunch downtown, but he had to cancel and didn't say why. I invited Christina and Will to meet up with me since I was already in the heart of downtown Chicago but they were spending a lazy day in bed. Christina made sure to coo about what I was missing over the phone. I hung up on her.
So I decided to walk down to the public library. Mom and dad would take Caleb and I here every other weekend during summer and once a month during school to put our library cards to use. Caleb would always check out the books on history and sciences, never any fiction or make believe stories. I on the other hand, was drawn to the hero stories in far of lands. And when I hit my early teenage years and there was a sudden boom of heroine stories, I was in and out of the library every week. All of the endings were good endings for the heroine. And two years into reading them, I began to get pissed off that there wasn't at least one heroine who died for the cause.
This time however, I'm greeted with a large sign in the front of the building. LEARN YOUR ANCESTRY! FREE TODAY – ELIGIBLE LIBRARY CARD HOLDERS ONLY. I entered the small room it was advertised in and found the walls to be stacked full of records of Chicago citizens and beyond. No computers naturally.
"Can I help you get started?" A woman with bouncy dark red hair asks me.
"Sure. Umm, how do I start?"
She smiles. "May I see your library card?" I pass her the card, suddenly wondering if it's still any good. She frowns. Great. "Well Miss Prior, it's an expired card so I won't be able to let you check anything out, but we can at least look. Let's see, last name beginning with P's is over here." I follow her to a table close to the center of the room. "We look up the person's name and work our way backwards, opening up different books to find information on different people to create an accurate timeline. Each book is sorted by last name and birth year, so if you have any siblings you won't' be in the same book unless you're twins. And we only have information listed for births and deaths within the state, so if any family members were born outside of Illinois, they won't be in our records."
I smile a little at her enthusiasm. "Okay."
"Alright now, Prior, and… what year were you born?"
"1994," I say following her deeper into the room.
She smiles warmly. "Simple enough. That'll be book P994. P for Prior, and 994 for the year 1994." She grabs a book from the back after locating it and brings it back to the table. "Ah! There you are," she says pointing to the middle of one of the pages.
Beatrice Grace Prior, B. May 14th
She points to my name with a chipped robin's egg blue painted finger, then across the page from my name, to the names of my mom and dad identifying me as their child.
Andrew James Prior and Natalie Lila Prior nee Wright
A small cross is printed next to their names. A small sign that the ones who carried this name are now dead. I can see the woman helping me pause uncomfortably at that, so I wave her off. "It's been a while," I say.
She bites her lip. "Still. I'm sorry."
I nod.
"Okay, well let's go find your mom and dad's records." She writes down their last names, and years of birth, then leaves to go search them out. I browse the list of names before and after my own, noting that there are quite a few Priors in Illinois. I didn't think it was that popular of a name. Maybe some of these names represent distant family members I never knew I had. Many of the names have parent names with a cross next to one of the names. Some a cross next to their own name. Some even have an "M" date and name next to their own.
"Married date, and spouse respectively." The woman comes back with two books in her hands, as she sees my finger pointing to one of them.
"It's still a little hard to fathom that some people my age are getting married," I admit. "I'm not even 21."
She smiles warmly. "Whatever makes someone happy. That's what I say. Right then, here is book P965 and W965 for your parents' names and birth years."
I look through mom's first, W965 for Wright, born 1965. But a cold chill covers me when we come to the long list of Wright's, and of the 17 Natalie's listed in the state, my mom is not among them. "She's not here."
"Well that's odd. Was your mom born outside of the state?"
"I… I don't know. I always knew Chicago, but, maybe?" It suddenly shames me that I really don't remember if I ever asked my mom where she was born, or about her family. She had no one when she married my dad. At least, that's what she always said. I just assumed she was from here.
"Hmm. Well these are only Illinois records so perhaps it's possible. When all of this is online, you'll be able to search farther outside of the state."
"Why isn't all this stuff on the computer already?"
She frowns a bit. "It's supposed to be. But it's a project no one really wanted to take on until now. I'm just starting to get other states involved. Specifically the surrounding states. Illinois births and deaths will be ready to be viewed on the computer at the beginning of the new year. Don't tell anyone though, it's supposed to be a secret."
"You took on the project by yourself?" I ask her surprised.
She shrugs. "I think it's important for people to have access of knowing where they came from. We have all these records that normally aren't free for viewing, so why not?"
We move on to my dad's book, and there's a churning in my stomach of worry that he won't be in here either. But he is. Right where he should be.
Andrew James Prior, B. January 30th (M. Natalie Wright 1990)
Caleb Hansen Prior and Beatrice Wendy Prior nee Aldridge
Crosses are listed next to all their names. "So, was one of your arguments for getting funding for this project, is that it saves money to update these records electronically rather than print a new copy every year?"
Her smile widens. "Only took the board five years to agree with me. They were worried about not preserving the tradition."
"Idiots." She laughs.
"Now comes the hard part, because we don't list dates of birth next to the person's parents, we have no idea what book they're in, so we have to look up their marriage license. This, thankfully, is on the computer."
She has me follow her over to a desktop area and types in the names of my paternal grandparents. Both of whom died before I was five. Suddenly their marriage license is there, along with some photos of them when they were young.
"Oh God," I say.
"What?" The woman looks at me, worried it's not them.
I shake my head. "My dad looks exactly like my grandma."
She laughs once more, before printing out a copy. Thankfully, their dates of birth are filled in. As it turns out, my grandma had no family just like my mom. My grandpa on the other hand did in the book of 1941 births.
Caleb Hansen Prior, B. September 1st (M. Beatrice Wendy Prior nee Aldridge 1963)
Daniel Hansen Prior and Edith Margot Prior nee Ritter
She goes back to the computer with the names of my dad's grandparents, and comes back with two more books: one for births in 1917, and one for births in 1904. Quite the age gap my great grandparents had. Then again, it probably wasn't too uncommon.
Edith Elizabeth Prior nee Ritter, B. June 12th (M. Daniel Hansen Prior 1939)
Thomas Philip Ritter and Amanda Opal Ritter nee Callahan
Unfortunately when we turn to my dad's grandfather's page, it has no parents listed.
"Remember, these are only Illinois records. So your great grandfather may have been born elsewhere."
"But maybe Edith Prior has more family branches?"
She smiles. "We can certainly check."
She goes back to the computer and ends up finding that apart from my grandpa Caleb, Edith had another son, younger than my grandpa named Darrel. And Edith herself, was one of three children. She had two younger brothers, Joseph Ritter and Thomas Ritter Jr. All three within four years. Joseph Ritter's timeline is incomplete after showing his marriage to a woman named Ramona VanDerTen. Tomas Jr's records are nowhere to be found.
We're about to look for Edith Ritter's parents Thomas and Amanda Ritter's books when my name is called from the entry way. "Beatrice?"
I look up, knowing that voice but wishing he wasn't here. "Caleb?"
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly I don't want him to know about our past. I don't want him to know about how mom has no family recorded, nor does she really exist in their records. I don't want him to know about Amanda Ritter, or Edith Prior.
I close the books. "Nothing." I turn to the red head. "Thank you so much for your help. It's been fun."
She looks between Caleb and I, the name registering on her lips and suddenly she seems to pick up on the nature of our relationship. "Sure. Feel free to come back anytime. My name is Therese Cross if you ever want to do some digging again. It was nice to meet you." She walks away to a new person entering the room as someone else clears the books of my history off the table. I want to tell them to stop, but then Caleb would uncover what I did. He never took an interest in family stuff. Why should he get to start now?
"Caleb," I turn to him as he stares at me with an odd expression on his face. One that makes his nose look too big between his eyes. "What are you checking out?" I nod to the books in his hands.
"Oh, just some light reading material on genetic welfare and testing."
"Light reading?"
He grins and for a moment it relaxes me. He looks like a teenager again. Before puberty hit him like a truck that is. "It's for my new job."
My heart starts beating a little faster. "New job? You're not going back to New York?"
He shakes his head, still grinning. "The day we went for coffee downtown, I met a woman after you stormed out. She runs a highly experimental and exciting company, Matthews Consolidated that is working with genetics, human capabilities, and pushing the boundaries to new places. Soon, someone might be able to dye their eye color just as easily as they can dye their hair. Come on," he puts his arm around me and walks towards the front of the building continuing to talk about his new boss. My stomach drops a little more with every word, and the child-like tone in his voice makes my knees wobble. His new boss, Jeanine Matthews of Matthews Consolidated hired him near on the spot, almost as soon as he told her his full name.
"I didn't even have to hand her my resume! Thankfully I had it on hand and gave it to her anyway. Beatrice, you'd be amazed at how smart the woman is. Rumor is that she has an IQ of 200. She's absolutely incredible. Actually, I'm on my way there now to finish setting up my new office, would you like to join me?"
We walk out of the library together and I feel sick for two reasons. One, because my brother is now involved in the faction system whether he wants to be or not. And Jeanine probably hired him because she knew of me. Two, the last time I saw my brother – which was over two weeks ago now – I told him I was done with him and didn't care to see him anymore, and now he's acting as though that never happened. He's acting as though none of our fights ever happened, and he's treating me the way I always wanted him to. Like an older brother should treat his younger sister. To include her, tell her things, and offer to spend time with her. How am I supposed to say no?
"Okay," my mouth feels dry.
Caleb beams and leads me down the street a couple of blocks. It's surprisingly warm out today, but many people think it's the calm before another blizzard hits us for the New Year. I pray that's not the case. If it is, flights will be grounded. We'll have less of a chance at a quick getaway and more likely to be caught.
We enter the lobby of a tall blue glass building with a brightly lit interior – white flooring and furniture with blue accents to compliment the cool and collected feel everyone was permeating. A large white and glass desk stood proudly in front of the elevators and first floor offices filled with security. Three security members alone sat at the desk. An electronic billboard was mounted on the wall behind them; detailing each business and the various floors they took up in the building. Matthews Consolidated took up the top floors 49 to 71. Other businesses took up maybe three floors at most throughout the building.
"Caleb, how many floors are in this building?" I ask as Caleb shows his new ID badge to one of the guards and signs in, before motioning for me to sign in as well.
"71 at the moment. The top 4 floors are under construction right now. Though I hear Jeanine is going to buy them out for more expansion once more progress is made to the floors. Oh and Beatrice,"
"Yes?"
He looks a little sympathetic. "You'll have to leave your phone here. For security reasons. We don't want anything upstairs being leaked to the public just yet."
I fish my phone from my pocket, and slide it into an open envelope the guard holds out to me. "Okay. You make it sound like it could be dangerous for the public to know what you're working on." I eye my brother carefully.
Caleb waves me off. "No, nothing like that. But we can't risk this information getting to our competitors." He leads me over to the express elevator that takes us up to floor 25, then another express that takes us to floor 50. There's a third express elevator in front of me when we step onto the 50th floor but it has caution tape all over it. Before I can see much of floor 50, Caleb leads me to another elevator that stops anywhere between 50 and 60. After floor 60 we get onto another elevator that goes anywhere between floor 60 and 70. "This is the worst part of the job, so many different transports to board," Caleb jokes. Rather than go straight to 70, Caleb pushes the 64 button. I notice very quickly that the buttons for floors 65-69 are darkened and sunk in to show they're not in use.
We step off at the 64th floor and I'm immediately met with the same blinding white atmosphere. Everything so clean and pristine. Caleb leads me down the main hallway and my jaw goes a little slack. I can't speak for the right side of the building, but the left side of the elevator is buzzing with people. There are fogged glass dividers separating cubicles, and a large blue and sea glass looking staircase going up to the four out of use floors.
Caleb smiles at my reaction. "Come on, this way." He walks towards the stairs and goes up one floor to the 65th floor before turning off. This floor has more offices, and Caleb's is one of the first ones. His office doesn't have any windows overlooking the city directly, but one of the walls in his office is complete glass and that does face the outside windows by the staircase we just used. His name is already printed on the door.
"Why are there so many people here on a Sunday?" I ask as Caleb sets his books down. His office isn't completely unpacked yet, but its close enough. He even has a picture of mom and dad on his file cabinet. It makes me squirm, seeing them so young again.
"Jeanine is funny that way. All she asks is that you come to the office 40 hours a week, it doesn't matter when. And if you can't make it to the office, you do field work in one of her other buildings."
"How many buildings does she have?"
Caleb thinks for a moment. "Six I think? But there's plans for more. They're all over the city. This is just the main headquarters. A couple of them are just on-site laboratories too."
"Where does she get the funding for this?" He doesn't answer. Maybe he didn't hear me. My stomach is in knots, and my palms are sweaty. I feel as though I'm walking across the beast's tongue, just waiting for it to snap its jaws down on my forever.
"Oh good, Caleb you're here. I wondered if you had the—"
I turn at the person in the doorway and am completely shocked. Lily stands before me in a simple blue dress which complements her light cocoa flavored skin tone wonderfully, her dark hair curled. She stares at me with wide blue eyes, as though she'd seen a ghost. Maybe it's just her form of panic.
"Lily, you alright?" Caleb asks, not noticing the exchange between the two of us.
She recovers quickly, and I'm impressed. Christina was right, she is a lot like me. "Jeanine was wondering if you had the initial report finished on experiment 51. I tried your phone but there was no answer, and I remember you saying you were going to stop by today."
Caleb nods. "Of course." Then digs into one of his drawers and pulls out a thick white folder with black rimmed edges. "Here it is." But he pulls back as she reaches for it. "Actually, do you think she'd mind if I gave it to her myself? I wanted to ask her about subsection B if she was free."
Lily looks a little reluctant. "No, I'm sure that'd be fine. She doesn't have any meetings for the rest of the day so she should just be in her office or her private lab."
Caleb grins like a school boy. "What fun it'd be to have a private lab, eh Beatrice? Jeanine thinks I'll go far here." Then he walks by Lily out of his office and heads up the staircase.
I look back at Lily, she's sweating, but hiding it well. "Well are you going to say something or just admire the view?" She aims a smirk at me, but it doesn't reach her eyes. My expression doesn't change and even though the expression is my own, I don't really know what I look like. Do I look like I'm pitying her? What a hypocrite that'd make me. Do I look upset? I don't think so. Maybe just shocked.
My silence seems to rattle her. "Just say something!"
"Is this how you got started? Working for Jeanine?" I remember Matthew telling me how her file says Johanna wanted her at Amity because of her age, and she was there for a couple weeks but ultimately she ended up in Erudite to begin with.
Lily releases a slow breath, watching for any change in expression or movement from me, like a frightened deer on the side of the road. "Yes."
"How?"
She rears up a bit, guarding herself. "Why?"
I shrug, trying to appear as relaxed as possible. "I'm interested in people's stories."
She calms a little. "Why?"
"Everyone has something to tell."
Lily looks over her shoulder a bit and comes further into Caleb's office before shutting the door. "You're Caleb's girlfriend?"
I laugh out loud at that. "Oh no, of course not. He's my brother."
Lily's face turns red below her eyes. "Oh, sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Does he say he has a girlfriend?"
She sits down in one of the chairs opposite Caleb's desk. "Well, he talks about two girls mostly. Cara, and someone else."
Susan. "I think I have an idea. What I didn't know, was that my brother openly talks about girls. He's never done that the whole 20 years I've known him. Then again, there was one period where I thought he was gay in high school. Girls would fling themselves at him and he couldn't spare them a second glance. Now I know it was just because he was more interested in grades and studying than girls."
She smiles a little. "I have a brother too. He's younger than me, by a lot. His name is Carter."
"How old are you?"
"I'll be nineteen in the summer. You?"
"I'll be twenty-one in the spring." I smile at her, feeling motherly for the first time in a couple of weeks.
Lily smiles back at me, before growing serious once more. "I started by applying for a job at the Nook when I was sixteen. I had also applied to a couple other places, including a party shop on the outskirts of town." Amity. That must be where Johanna saw her. "Jeanine picked me up in a private car of hers as I left one of my shifts at the Nook one night. All the other girls kept going out together and I was feeling discouraged, so to see my boss drive up beside me and offer me a ride was huge. She asked me what I wanted out of life." She looks down at the floor. "All I want is a good future for Carter. I told her as such, and she offered me a place to live, a roof, food, warmth, everything Carter and I would need. I said yes before she could finish talking. She said she would require I work a little more, especially nights. But it meant I would be able to join the other girls from the Nook. Of course I took the deal. She told me I had to dance for some clients. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" Lily scoffs harshly. "I was a fucking idiot."
I lean forward. "But did it keep your brother off the streets?"
She looks up at me, anger and sadness swirling behind her eyes. "Yes."
"Then you weren't an idiot."
Lily stands and wrings her hands together, rolls her neck and faces the wall with her arms now crossed. "Jeanine removed me from the Nook after it was made known that I had no clue how to make coffee. Really, it was bad. Scorched milk all over my apron every day. So Jeanine offered me a different job, that would pay even better, but I'd have to work even harder to keep Carter safe. That's when I started to get the feeling that Jeanine was threatening us. I became one of her three personal secretaries. She pays me better than the Nook did. But then I wasn't making enough at Erudite. I wasn't keeping up the clients I should have been. So Jeanine had me transferred to Dauntless, Group B, where I've been for the last year. Only now just getting the chance to move into Group A." She actually looks hopeful.
"Where is Carter?" I ask, standing with her.
"In our apartment in another one of Jeanine's buildings. It's only a couple of blocks from here," she points at Caleb's window facing the east. "It's a building right across from where Erudite is located."
"What's Erudite like?" I ask, the pit in my stomach returning. After Eric and Max discussing possible transfers, including myself, I realize I don't know what's going to be waiting for me at Erudite should our plan fail. That is, if they don't kill me first.
"Elite, for the most part. Sensual, and slow. Many clients are really surprising – people you would recognize from newspapers or magazines. Celebrities even. There's one guy who is a regular but never pays for girls. We're just supposed to make him happy according to Jeanine. And he only ever wants blondes."
My mind reels. Someone that Jeanine orders the girls to keep happy no matter what. It has to be someone high up the chain within the faction system. Max maybe? Eric doesn't seem like a likely candidate. Then who?
"Beatrice," Caleb's voice startles both myself and Lily, but she quickly smiles at him. Faster than I could anyway. He stands half in the doorway of his office, grinning like a fool. "I'd like you to meet my boss, Jeanine Matthews." Caleb steps aside and in walks a woman in a blue pant suite. Her blonde hair falling to her shoulders and piercing eyes. I've seen her before, in Max's office. She gave Eric a look, something I didn't catch. This is Jeanine – mastermind extraordinaire. I've heard so much about her, and yet, somehow I pictured her, not looking so nice. Her cheeks are round and slightly pink, full lips, and delicately pierced ears. She radiates confidence, and for a moment I'm drawn to her. Only then to pull back sharply, as one would a snake.
"Prior, Beatrice Prior." She rolls my name on her tongue. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She holds out her hand. I pause longer than I should before shaking it. Jeanine doesn't flinch. She stares at me, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She knows me. And she knows I know her. With grace and poise, she turns back to Caleb slowly. "You're right Caleb, she does look like your mother."
I stumble. "How do you know my mom?"
Her smile widens. "Except for the eyes. Your father had those blue eyes."
Caleb answers. "She went to the University with dad. They were great friends, and that's how she met mom!"
I wish I was back under Tobias's electric blanket and in his arms protected from the world right now, as it threatens to swallow me whole. "Oh."
"Please don't be alarmed Beatrice, I did not mean to cause any bad memories for you."
"You didn't." I bite back.
"Beatrice." Caleb scolds my tone. "I apologize for my sister's behavior Jeanine. Clearly she didn't get enough sleep last night."
He probably thinks I went out partying, again. Only because of the one time I called him drugged up. He thinks I'm throwing my life away. Fine, let him think that. Jeanine knows better. Lily knows better. I know better. And the thought that I know something he doesn't know, suddenly makes me smile. Not politely I might add.
Jeanine watches my every move, judging and examining me. She's the one to break the silence. "Not to worry Caleb. Actually, would you like to show her what we've been working on?"
Caleb's demeanor changes like night and day. "I'd be happy to."
Jeanine turns back to Lily. "You're dismissed for the day Miss Cortez." Lily nods to Jeanine and scurries out of the room without giving me a second glance. My lungs suddenly twist. All the girls we're leaving behind when we do plan our escape. They're going to be the ones to take the fall, the heat, and the punishment. They'll be questioned for information, painfully no doubt. What would happen to their siblings or dependents that they're just doing what's best for? Lily's brother Carter, what would become of him if Lily just up and disappeared?
We can't just leave. We need to do something, or leave something behind that can protect them. Some kind of clue or hint, for someone else to take their whole organization down. How could I possibly do that?!
"Please excuse me for a moment. I'll join you two shortly." Jeanine leaves us and walks down the opposite end of the hall.
Caleb leads me towards the staircase he ascended earlier to reach Jeanine's office. We go up another floor and go to the right side of the building, away from the offices. Suddenly the halls are filled with examination rooms, small laboratories. We pass one window, and in it stands a girl probably my age, completely naked with three scientists hovering around her. Her breasts are swollen and tinted purple. Her face scrunched together painfully as they prod her. Her hip bones jut out of her body to the point of rubbing her skin too much leaving the area red and worn. The scientists have clipboards, cameras, and syringes. Small amounts of blood slide down her body from the darkest areas. Blood that looks thick and dark, almost as though they were draining something from her. An infection?
"Body modifications," Caleb says proudly as he moves me to the next window. A man stands there just as the woman did previously, naked as the day he was born. The muscles in his arms protruding painfully, also tinting his skin a dark purple color and stretching it far beyond what his arms could handle. His abdomen looks like stone, but not naturally, and his genitals are swollen with red and purple blotches. There are syringes nearby but so far, his infection has not been drained. There are pictures of naked women before him, and he cringes every time he looks at them. The scientists in his room seem to be encouraging him to look at the pictures. "They're trying to arouse him so they can measure the length of his penis," Caleb says with ease. It rattles me at how easy this comes to him, watching someone in pain. "This one didn't turn out as we'd hoped. Just like the woman in the previous room. The point of the experiment," he leads me towards a different viewing room. "Is to offer body modifications without the surgery. A simple injection, or even a pill. Just one sample and you're ready. Granted at the moment, it may take a couple of weeks to kick in if you just have one injection or one pill to take. So we're beginning with a set of injections or pills."
My mind flairs to the injections I had. My body modifications. They were only semi-permanent, with no side effects. Yet those two people had mass side effects.
The next window has a woman sitting in a chair with someone playing with her hair – taking bits and pieces off, including snipping the ends of her hair, and shaving off some full strands from the base. The window after that has whatever phase two must be. This woman sits with a completely shaved head with some kind of blue gel covering her head. "The goal here is to naturally grow specific colored hair. This one is still in it's early stages and not yet tested on the public."
"You do trial runs on regular people, willingly?"
"Absolutely! Many are actually homeless to begin with. We offer a good sum of money for their consent and participation. And if they recruit more people for us, Jeanine rewards them kindly. Ah, now here is another similar project," he shows me the next window. A man with a bald spot has a scientist spread some clear solution onto the space with no hair. "This one is further along in testing."
"Re-growing hair?" I ask.
Caleb nods enthusiastically.
He continues to show me the floor, including experiments on changing one's eye color, teeth whitening, and getting universal vaccines that will protect you from all known viruses and all their various strands. The last set of experiments he shows me, is meant to enhance one's mind.
"Here, try this one." Caleb leads me into an empty lab room. "This one has been tested for years and is completely rid of side effects."
I look at him skeptically.
He sighs. "I'll show you." Then he sits down in one of the chairs, takes a small syringe and injects himself with a small amount of orange liquid in the neck after clearing a small patch of skin with some rubbing alcohol. Caleb is silent for about five minutes before his eyes flutter back open. "See?"
"What does it do?"
"That's a surprise. I'll tell you after."
"Is whatever I see going to be recorded?"
"Not with this sample. You'd need trackers in the serum in order to see what's happening inside a person's mind. This is tracker-free. I swear."
Part of my mind screams at me not to do this. It could be a trap. But honestly, what would Caleb's motives be, for putting me in a trap? It's not like he cares about me that much. He's made that pretty clear.
"Fine." I hold my hair to the side as Caleb rubs down my neck. The smell of rubbing alcohol stings my nose. Then there's a small pinch, Caleb says "Done." And the world before me instantly fades away. Instead, I'm standing in Tobias's bedroom. The curtains are drawn over the windows. The bed perfectly made, like a soldier's bed. All the doorways are dark.
"Tris," his voice startles me from behind. I turn sharply and there he is, naked from the waist up.
He leans down and captures my lips in his. I lean into him instantly, an automatic reaction, and wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me closer to his body, lifting me slightly off my feet so that he can carry me over to the bed. My back hits the covers, and I'm engulfed in soft luxury. His touch is soft and gentle, with those small calluses on his fingertips scrapping my skin deliciously. I feel a groan pull from my chest and Tobias hovers over me steadily. Suddenly my top is gone, my breasts bare before him. He growls at the sight and pulls one nipple into his mouth, sucking greedily. My eyes roll to the back of my head and my hands grip at his hair. He murmurs words like "beauty, soft," and "love." I feel a small spike of fear when his fingers reach my panty line. He rubs small circles into my hips and my torso before sliding his fingers in the side to feel my bare hip.
"Tobias," I say softly, trying to get his attention. But he doesn't seem to hear me. "Tobias, wait."
"Oh Tris, I thought you wanted this." His fingers move closer, his erection digging into my thigh painfully. His touch no longer feels soft, now more like needles. "I thought you wanted me."
"Tobias please, stop!"
His eyes turn black and he laughs roughly, shoving me further into the bed. I feel I'm choking. Once he hovers over me completely, I can feel we're both naked, but I can't bring myself to look. I try to hit him but he's too strong. He's always been stronger than me, and always will be. There's no way I can escape.
Then something snaps in my mind. Tobias would never do this to me. This isn't him. This isn't real.
The feeling of drowning takes hold, and then everything is gone until I'm jolted back to standing in front of Caleb.
"That was fast." He looks at me curiously.
"What do you mean? It felt like I was… gone for twenty minutes. At least."
Then he smiles. "That's the whole point. It's a type of Dream Serum we're working on. It allows a person to live inside their dreams and recall them if they choose – that's where the trackers come in. It's meant to help people get over certain fears, or past traumatic events by reliving them until they finally conquer them. But it is also used for simply taking time to relive happy memories and happy dreams. Sometimes it completely depends on the person how it will work."
"How long was I unconscious?"
"Barely a minute. Which is extraordinarily fast compared to our other test groups. You don't suppose you'd be willing to—"
"If you ask me to be a science guinea pig Caleb I swear I will never speak to you again."
He shuts his mouth. Looking a little disappointed. "Will you at least tell me what you saw?"
"A room. With a friend. We were… talking."
He shrugs a little. "That's kind of boring. I saw mom and dad, we were at a wedding."
I snort. "You dream about going to a wedding?"
He looks a bit flustered. "I think it was their wedding. I just wanted to see them happy again."
My attitude turns dark once more. "Oh."
"Beatrice, at least let me ask you one question about while you were under."
"I may choose not to answer." We walk towards the door and continue down the hall.
He rolls his eyes. "Were you aware you were under a simulation of sorts?"
"No." I say immediately. And I hope he bought the lie. He'd ask me more questions if I said yes. "I was there, and then suddenly I wasn't."
"Interesting."
"What's interesting?" Jeanine's cool voice reaches us.
Caleb collects himself. "I was showing Beatrice the Dream Serum we created. I allowed her to sample the extras in the room. I hope that was okay."
Jeanine smiles. "Of course. And what did you think Beatrice?"
"I think it has potential." I say calmly.
Thankfully, Caleb says nothing about how quickly I was launched out of the simulation. Jeanine just watches me with narrowed eyes. "Yes. It certainly does. Come now, let's finish the tour."
Caleb nods happily and turns the corner to a different examination room. This one in particular is a shirtless young man, whose dreams appear to be displayed on the projector screen behind him. His face turned away from our observation window. Small monitors placed in various places on his temples and chest. He dreams of a young woman, with flowing auburn hair. She's pregnant, very pregnant, and sitting in a car with him watching from the outside. The man appears to be rushing towards the car, and he tenses in the chair. Suddenly a truck comes out of nowhere and slams into the car, and sends it spinning off the road into a ditch. There's blood everywhere, her eyes wrenched open and unmoving. His hands are bloody, and suddenly he screams in the dream, followed closely by the man in the chair actually screaming. The scientists don't wake him up. They don't even look bothered by the man's screaming. Now he screams a name.
"Amelia! Amelia! Oh God!"
"He's a part time employee here. Willingly undergoes this testing multiple times a month apparently. I had yet to see it in action." He's smiling.
I feel ants crawling up my limbs. "Aren't they going to help him?"
He shakes his head. "That's the whole point of this specific experiment. It's what we call Fear Serum."
I can feel my mind turn numb as Caleb explains how the injection targets a person's deepest fear and replays it over and over in front of them. How it's a new tactic Jeanine has been developing for the government as a new, more humane method of torture – physical torture anyway. This man and several others have gone under the Fear Serum in order to help correct it to its highest ability. Only an antidote can wake him up now. This will allow people to see a person's fear and use it against them to gain information, or just allow the person to sit in their own fear constantly for who knows how long to try and mentally break someone.
"Trevor was the only one who could wake up from the serum on his own when we were first beginning the project." Jeanine says from behind me. I momentarily forgot she was there. "It was incredible watching his mind at work, looking for an escape." She eyes me once more. Then Jeanine presses a button on the wall and calmly commands, "Wake him up, that's enough for now."
One of the scientists nods and adds a vial of blue liquid to this man's IV. Suddenly there is no more dream projected on the wall, and the man wakes with a small jolt. The heart monitors beeping furiously and he leans over to put his head in his hands. As another scientist hands him some water and unhooks him from the machines.
When he stands and looks over at us, I have to take a step back. It's Slade. He works here too? Did he and Lily know each other before hand? Slade, now Trevor.
He doesn't seem to notice us, and I realize the glass must be like a dark mirror on his side. But he walks out, barefoot soon after, accompanied by a scientist. It's only then that he sees me, and my little entourage. He stiffens, and his face hardens over in an instant. His cheeks redden. He's ashamed.
"You did well Trevor." Jeanine walks out from behind me. And I can't help but notice a family like resemblance. "Beatrice, Caleb, this is my nephew, Trevor Cross. He works in our Security Office downstairs."
Trevor swipes at his blonde hair and looks anywhere but my face. "We've met." I say before thinking.
Caleb looks astounded. "Where? One of those clubs you party at?!" He's angry. I don't care. Neither does Jeanine. She just continues smiling.
"I should go," I say calmly before I see anything else and completely lose my shit.
Jeanine nods. "Very well. Caleb, would you show your sister out?"
Caleb gruffs at me, but says "Of course," anyway. His hand grips my arm tightly.
When we reach the elevator I realize I need a distraction because I'm going to be sick. "Why don't you like me going out?" I ask Caleb suddenly.
Caleb launches into a whole spiel about how it's not good for my health doing drugs and alcohol and I have to giggle when he gives examples like "coke brownies" and "injecting marijuana." I can't tell if he just mixed up the drugs, or if he seriously doesn't understand how each drug works. That would be a serious sore spot of embarrassment for him as he wants to be a scientist. Even if he doesn't use the drug, he should know how it works.
The distraction of Caleb's lecturing is enough to satisfy my mind until we reach the ground floor finally. Caleb helps me sign out at the front desk, get my phone back, says a quick goodbye to me then goes back upstairs. It isn't until I get outside that I feel I can breathe again.
My phone beeps at me. Alerting me to a missed message. Tobias called me, but didn't leave a message.
I text Christina first telling her I need a ride back home. She responds within a minute saying she needs to drop Will off first but they're on their way right now.
Do I need to be warry of Slade? No, Trevor? Is he a plant watching us? Is that why Jeanine introduced him to me so formally? He doesn't know anything. At least he shouldn't.
I need another distraction. I hit Tobias's number to call him back. He picks up on the second ring.
"Tris?"
"Hey, you called?"
"Oh, yeah." His voice waivers a bit. "I'd like to use another request of mine."
Heat fills my chest, and I smile. "Well don't leave me in the dark. What is it?"
I can hear the smile in his voice now. "I'd like to formally request a date with you Tris Prior, tomorrow night on your dinner break."
"I think that will be acceptable. But I may not be able to leave the building."
"Don't worry about that. Just come as you are. What time is your break tomorrow?"
I have to think for a moment. "I'm on break from 9PM to 10PM."
"Then I will see you at nine."
"Okay." There's a small silence where neither of us says anything else, but neither of us hangs up or motions to say goodbye. I'm able to listen to his breathing, and I come to realize that the sound of Tobias is the only distraction I'll ever need. I can practically smell the cinnamon on him.
"Would you like to come over?" He asks suddenly.
The memory of the Dream Serum floats to the forefront of my mind and a small bout of fear grips me, though I know it's silly. "No, I uh… I don't…"
"Tris, is everything okay?" His voice is more on edge now.
"No, everything's fine. I just…" think! "I don't know if I trust myself around you right now." I can feel a shameful heat lick my cheeks. It's not a complete lie. If I saw Tobias now, I would be tempted.
His breathing hikes a bit, and becomes heavier. "Oh, I see."
"I'm sorry Tobias, I—"
He starts laughing. "Don't be sorry for that Tris, never be sorry for that."
I begin to smile a little. "Okay." Christina pulls up in her car, and honks at me from across the street. "Hey Tobias, I have to go, Christina just came to pick me up," I say as I cross the street.
"Pick you up? Where are you?"
"Downtown. I was at the library for a while."
"Did you see they had an ancestry room set up?"
I pause at the passenger door in Christina's car. "Yes. That's what I was doing actually."
The smile in his voice returns. "You can tell me about it tomorrow."
"Sure thing. Bye Tobias." I say his name quietly before opening the door so Christina doesn't hear his name.
There's a small hesitation in his voice right as he begins talking, but he recovers and says, "Bye Tris." Before hanging up.
I could have sworn I heard the sound of an "L" leave his lips before he caught himself.
"That had better be you scheduling a booty call with Four. Girl, the end of the year is drawing near, your time is almost up."
I roll my eyes. "And what are you going to do if nothing happens?"
"I never reveal my master plans until it's too late for the victim." She smiles evilly.
"You'd probably make a good serial killer Christina."
"Thank you very much."
**Chapter 31 done! Please review! I noticed I'm almost at 900 reviews for the story. Reviews are super motivating and mean the world to me guys! A million thanks to each one of you.**
