Chapter 16
I don't go down to the dining hall, instead, I make myself dinner in my apartment and go over all of my notes from the first stage of initiation in search of anything that will help me determine whether or not any of the initiates are Divergent. I know that stage one is unlikely to reveal any acts of divergence, but I'm hoping that by double checking I'll be more prepared to spot them in stage two.
I've gone through each of their files many times and no matter how many times I go over my notes, no matter how many times I analyze the training sessions and the fights, there is only one initiate that has made me question their actions. Only one initiate who has shown me qualities from not one, not two, but three factions. I wish I could ignore it. I keep trying to convince myself I'm seeing things that aren't there but it isn't working. If she only showed traits from Abnegation and Dauntless I would understand. It's hard to shake the qualities that are taught to you by your birth faction, but to show Erudite qualities on top of the other two…
Up to this point, looking at her file would be unlikely to spark anyone's interest. Aside from her ranking criteria, it's mainly filled with notes on her progress since she arrived, notable interactions with fellow initiates and behaviour outside of training (like getting a tattoo). Her file reads Dauntless and hopefully it'll stay that way, but I know that in stage two my fears will either be confirmed or dismissed.
I don't remember falling asleep, but I am awoken to a thunderous banging on my door. I shake my head in an attempt to sober myself from sleep and pull a piece of paper off of my cheek as the banging continues.
"I'm coming," I bark before stomping to my door. "What!?"
I'm surprised to see Four and Lauren at my door. "There's been an incident," Lauren starts. "One of the initiates…we need you in the infirmary."
My heart beats fast at the thought of anything happening to Tris.
"Which initiate? What happened?" I ask impatiently as I join the pair. One look at Four and I can tell he knows what I am thinking. He doesn't hesitate to respond.
"Edward, he's been stabbed in the eye," he states solemnly.
"Stabbed?" I ask as we continue walking. "Who the hell stabbed him?"
"We don't know," Lauren chimes in. "We think it was probably another initiate. But we haven't had a chance to talk to any of the others."
"When I first got there, I tried to ask if anyone had seen anything, but they were too shook up to talk. They just kept saying it was too dark," says Four.
We make the rest of the way to the infirmary in silence. The last time I was here was after Tris' fight with Peter.
I push open the infirmary door and the three of us walk over to Edward's sleeping form. I look over at Myra who is sitting on a chair next to him, holding onto his hand so tightly that her knuckles have gone white. The same nurse who took care of Tris is standing on the other side of the bed checking his vitals.
"How is he?" I ask her.
She turns to face us, smiling slightly when she sees me. "Oh, nice to see you again," she says, I can feel Four look at me at her words. "He's stable. We've stopped the bleeding and cleaned out the wound. Luckily the knife wasn't too deep, so there won't be any brain damage, but unfortunately he has lost all sight from that particular eye." She turns to look at Edward before continuing. "We had to sedate him for the removal, he'll likely be out until morning."
Four turns his attention to Myra.
"Myra, wouldn't you be more comfortable in the dormitory?" he asks her.
"No!" she practically yells, standing up. "I won't leave him. He needs me." Her voice is forceful. I've never seen her show this much backbone, she clearly won't be going anywhere.
"Are you sure," Four continues. "You'd probably get more sleep in your bed."
"Its fine, Myra," I interject. "Stay, if that's what you want."
She gives me a curious expression before nodding gratefully and sitting back down. Four glares at me.
"Will he…will he be able to finish initiation?" Myra asks, her voice quiet now.
Four and Lauren both turn to me expectantly. I've never really dealt with something like this before. On one hand, if the fighting portion of the initiation was still going Edward would be unlikely to pass…but on the other hand, we are moving on to the simulations and his injury won't affect his outcome.
"That'll be up to him, if he wakes up and he wants to keep going then he is fully welcome to do so," I decide.
I'm not sure what Myra hoped for from my response, but she seems to be pretty conflicted. Her initial look of relief briefly turns to one of disappointed before her face steadies into a neutral expression.
"We should go," I say to Lauren and Four before looking over at the nurse. "Thank you."
Once we are out of the infirmary, it's Lauren who speaks first.
"What are we going to do about this? We have to figure this out, quick! What if they try to attack someone else?"
I run my hand through my hair, tugging at the short strands. I debate waking up Max and seeing what he thinks we should do, but it's the middle of the night and I doubt he will have some magic answer.
"There's nothing we can do about it right now. Like you said, the initiates are shaken up and no one is in the right state of mind to talk about this. I'll head there in the morning, bright and early and see if I can get some answers. I doubt whoever did this will attack twice in one night." The words come out of my mouth easily, but I'm unsure if even I believe them.
Four and Lauren look at me apprehensively but nod in agreement. The walk back to the apartments is silent.
The next morning, I stop by the infirmary to check in on Edward before heading to the dormitory. Our conversation is short. He, in no uncertain terms, has decided not to follow through with initiation. He and Myra discussed it and decided they would both leave and join the factionless together.
When I arrive at the dorms, I am surprised to see that only a few of the initiates are there and only a couple of them are sleeping. I take a quick look around for Tris, but she is nowhere to be found. I panic briefly, but push the feeling down. She isn't the only one gone, she's probably fine.
"Listen up, initiates," I say loudly, causing all eyes to turn towards me. "What happened last night is not acceptable. Dauntless is about facing your fears not taking the coward's way out. And let me tell you, there is nothing more cowardly than taking out the competition outside of the ring."
I make a point of looking each of them in the eyes to drive my point home while also gauging their reactions. A few of them fidget while others look down at their shoes. The only one who stands stark straight and looks me in the eye is Peter. Peter was second…now first.
"If anyone has any information about what happened, I will be in my office in the leadership wing." Their eyes flit between each other and they look uneasy. I can't tell if they are nervous about the situation or nervous about the idea of talking to me. "If you would rather talk to Four or Lauren, that's fine too. They will be around. And if you see your friends, tell them the same."
I turn towards Drew and Peter. "You two, strip Edward and Myra's beds and tie up their things in their sheets. They will not be returning."
I walk over to the scoreboard and quickly adjust it, running a line through Myra and Edwards names and moving Peter up into first place.
Unsurprisingly, no one comes to me about the incident. I call down to the control room and request the footage from last night, but in the darkness and with the angle of the cameras it is impossible to see anything. My gut tells me that it was Peter, but without any witnesses or tape to back up my hunch there isn't much I can do. Hopefully he is satisfied with his handy work and will leave everyone else alone.
So sorry that its a bit short, I just need to progress some of the story before moving on! Thanks for sticking with me. Any comments are appreciated. Happy long weekend to those who celebrate it!
-MWB
