A/N: Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You guys are the best.
Chapter 3
I must have wandered through the city for hours. It is dark outside. The moon peeks out from behind a wall of clouds offering some light to the lone souls who find themselves out and about. I turn my head back towards my faction, frowning as I do so. I don't plan on returning. I don't care what my outburst will do to my father's reputation. It was his own god-damned fault. He was the one who put me in such a position. Marriage? Seriously? Do they really think that they could marry me to a stranger? I am still a dependent, and so is Tobias, albeit not for long. Come June, he will become a member of Abnegation.
Now more than ever, I am determined to leave Abnegation. I can't believe my parents have even agreed to this. I am completely speechless. No, I am outraged. Yes, that's what I am, outraged. And hurt. How could they do this to me? Don't they love me? I thought they wanted what's best for me. I guess I was wrong.
I am so engrossed in my own thoughts that I don't notice when someone is right in front of me. I bump into that person, and fall on my butt. I curse under my breath, and look up to see who I ran into. I can barely make out the person. When they crouch down, I can at least distinguish a few things. Like, it's a boy, around my age. He has a dark complexion, and the pearly whiteness of his teeth provide a nice contrast. He grins widely, but then frowns.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" he asks worriedly.
"I'm fine. That's what I get for not looking where I'm going," I mutter. He stretches out his hand, and stands up slightly. I put my own in his larger one, and let him help me up as well.
"I'm Uriah, by the way," he says, and now as we face each other, I can see him better. He is tall, about Caleb's or Tobias's height. And he is Dauntless. "What's your name?" he asks.
"Beatrice," I answer softly.
Just then, we hear voices from the direction I came from. I recognize my name being called, and look at Uriah frantically. He must have understood that I didn't want to be found, and grabs my hand. We start running toward where he came from. Thinking about it, my decision to take off with a complete stranger might not have been the wisest. But I had already promised myself to make my own decisions and if some may lead to mistakes, then so be it.
We must have run for good fifteen minutes before he stops next to a tall building. He ushers me inside, and I wait for him to tell me what we're doing here.
"You wanna have an adventure?" he asks, and even in the semi-darkness of the room, I can tell he is grinning. I only nod my head, and he grabs my hand in his. It feels warm, and a strange feeling courses through me.
I follow him, and as we take the stairs, I momentarily wonder if I didn't make a mistake following this boy. Just because he has a nice smile doesn't mean he won't brutally murder me. I shake my head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. He doesn't say much, so I keep to myself as well. It's so dark in here that I can barely see the hand in front of my eyes. But Uriah moves with such certainty that it leads me to believe this isn't the first time he climbed this particular flight of stairs.
As we reach the top, he steps through a door, and holds it open for me. I take tentative steps out on the roof, and I am stunned. The view is amazing. I didn't even notice we climbed that high, but we must be at least ten stories up. It's not the tallest building in the city, but it's tall enough to enjoy a spectacular cityscape.
"So, what made you run into this shady part of town?" Uriah asks with a grin. How come he is always grinning? For whatever reason my mind came up with, I decide to tell him my story, the whole story, and not withholding anything. It's not like I particularly care if anyone believes me or not. I just want to voice my frustrations, and right now, there are a lot.
"And I ran away," I tell him, catching him up with what has been my life this past week.
"Damn!" he says, holding his head with both hands.
"Exactly!" I say.
"What you gonna do now? I mean, clearly they are looking for you," he tells me, and stares down into the darkness below us.
"A part of me just wants to run away, and never go back, but I can't do that. I mean, I am pretty much upset with my parents for this crap," I say, and realize I have cussed more in the past days, than my entire life thus far. "But I don't want them to worry too much."
"I get that, but what they ask of you is really shitty. I mean, is that something common in Abnegation?" he asks me curiously, and I tell him no. I am just as surprised as he is. "And this guy, Tobias, he is on board with this shit?"
"He says no, but he didn't really make a move to stop any of it. I don't know what to think. The only thing I know is I can't let them do this."
"Too bad you are not eighteen. You could choose in a couple of months, and maybe go to another faction."
"I thought of that too, but since they changed the age from sixteen to eighteen I'm very much screwed," I say, and Uriah starts laughing out loud. I give him a curious look, and he tries to hold the laughter back.
"You know, I've never heard a Stiff cuss so much the way you do," he explains his outburst. I guess I understand it.
"I was never this angry before. I decided to become the most obnoxious Abnegation there is."
"Well, you are doing a pretty good job so far." Silence falls between us, and we both stare into the dark night ahead of us. "Maybe your folks might reconsider after your outburst," he suggests.
"Yeah, maybe," I agree, but inwardly I shake my head. If anything, my outburst made it worse. If I've learnt one thing about the oh-so-selfless Abnegation is that they can keep pretending nothing bad is going on. They'd rather swipe everything under the rug than, God forbid, confront a difficult situation. And God knows, I made this situation unbearable.
At some point, Uriah tells me he needs to get back home, and offers to walk me back to Abnegation, but I shake my head. I will go alone. Maybe I'm lucky, and a real murderer crosses my path, ending my miserable life once and for all. I watch Uriah walk toward the door, but he turns around before opening the door to the stairs.
"If you ever need anything, find me at school. You are not alone, Beatrice."
"Thank you, Uriah. I will," I tell him with a smile.
He finally leaves, and I return my gaze to the dark night. It must be close to midnight because the city lights are going out. I don't want to go home, but I can't stay outside either. It is too cold. Damn February weather! Why couldn't this be July or something?
I pull my jacket closer over my shoulders hoping that it will keep me warm, which it doesn't, and head towards the stairs. I hold onto the railing, as I tentatively take each step downward into the dark. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I should have left with Uriah. Now, I'm completely alone, in the dark, ten stories up. If I fall now, I'll surely die.
When I finally reach the bottom of the stairs, I have no idea what time it is or how long it actually took me to reach the bottom. It seems like days ago that I went up, when in reality it couldn't have been more than two maybe three hours.
I exit the building, and after checking the coast is clear, I start walking back to my faction, keeping myself as close to the buildings, and in the shadows as possible. I joked before about the murderer crossing my path, but there is no need to tempt fate.
As I reach my house, I see that the lights are still on. Damn! I was hoping they would be asleep already, but I guess having your daughter run away from her wedding is reason enough to skip a good night's sleep. I wish I could just teleport myself into my room, but that wouldn't solve my problem. It would solve A problem, but not THE problem. I brace myself before opening the door.
The moment the door swings open, every pair of eyes is on me. Fuck, damn, shit! Huh, I really have a dirty mouth.
"Beatrice, where have you been? We were worried sick," my mother says, rushing toward me, hugging me tightly to her body. She is so warm, and I let myself relax in her arms. I wrap them around her, and breathe in her unique scent. It's laundry detergent mixed with something that is uniquely her. I could smell a thousand people in this city, and I could still find her just by her distinct scent.
"Where have you been, young lady?" my dad asks angrily, but he sounds mostly worried.
"I needed to get out of there," I say, without looking up. "Mom, please, you can't do this to me. I don't want to get married." I look up at my mother, and see a pained expression on her face. I turn my head to my father, my eyes pleading. "Dad, please!" I beg.
"Beatrice," he starts saying, his eyes softer than before. He seems conflicted.
"Perhaps I can have a little conversation with Beatrice," Marcus says, and I only now notice that he, as well as Tobias and two other Abnegation men, is here. One of them Jonah Miller, and the other is Jacob Black, our neighbor. I look from Marcus to my father, and see a strange look cross his eyes. What is going on? My dad nods his head in consent, but I have a feeling he isn't as pleased about this as he wants people to believe. I look toward my mother who stares incredulously at my father, and then steps closer to pull me into a tighter embrace.
Minutes pass, and no one says anything. I glance toward Tobias who seems sad, and angry. Marcus starts glaring at us, and I fight the feeling to shrink back before him. When he insists a second time, dad urges mom to let me talk to Marcus.
Marcus ushers me upstairs to my room, but as I climb the stairs, I take a look toward Tobias, whose eyes are wide in shock, and he almost imperceptibly shakes his head. What is going on? Should I be afraid of Marcus? I don't have time to figure it out, because we reach my room, and I step inside. I fully expect my door to remain open, but Marcus closes it behind him. As he turns his gaze to look at me, I see a deep hatred and violence in his eyes that I've never seen in another human being before. This time, I take several steps back.
"Now listen to me, girl. I've had enough of your insolence and disobedience. You will marry Tobias, and you will be a good wife." His voice is low, and dangerous, but his demand is ridiculous. I won't allow this bully to push me around, no matter who he is in our society.
"I will not!" I growl, without raising my voice much. I glare at him, and then I see that look in his eyes again. He reminds me of a predator getting ready to rip apart his prey. And I am the prey. He grabs my arm really tightly dragging me closer to his body.
"You will do as I tell you, or your father will suffer the consequences. I am the City Council leader, and tonight you made a fool out of your father. What do you think will happen to him? He will be shunned by the others, and he will lose all the respect of his fellow leaders. Soon, he will have to give up his position as Abnegation leader, and who knows what job he'll find afterwards." That's absurd! Is Marcus trying to scare me with this? If that's his intention, he succeeded. Before, I wouldn't have believed him. But I've also never heard of an arranged marriage before. I grew up thinking certain things about my faction, but in the past week, everything I knew was spun out of its axis, and now chaos governs my world.
"You lie," I challenge.
"Try me," he snarls. An evil grin forms on his face, and I swallow hard. "Do you really want to be responsible for the downfall of your father?"
He finally releases me, and walks to the door. He turns slightly toward me, and tells me that he will be waiting downstairs with the others for my decision. He also warns me not to keep him waiting for too long.
Leaving me alone in my room, I collapse on my bed, and start crying bitterly. Can it really be true? Would my father really lose everything he worked for? But with Marcus's threat hanging over my head, I know he will stop at nothing to take it out on dad if I refuse to marry his son.
I don't even notice when my mom comes in, and sits down on the bed next to me. She gathers me in her arms, and I cry even harder. She rocks me like she used to when I was little, and had a nightmare, telling me she loves me. I feel so betrayed by my own family. I feel like they just sold me to Marcus, without even putting up a fight.
"Is it true?" I ask my mother sobbing.
"Is what true?" she asks, her voice soft and soothing.
"That dad would get in big trouble if I don't go along with this insanity?" I spit out.
"I don't know, honey. He didn't really talk to me about why he suddenly thought it was a good idea for you to get married. Tobias seems like a nice boy, but I hardly think he came up with this idea."
"Why isn't anyone stopping this?" I ask frustrated.
"I don't know."
"I thought only members can get married. How come a wedding was already prepared this evening?" I ask her angry now, and push away from her to look her in the eyes.
"I only found out today. Apparently, it would consolidate your relationship more if you would get married," mom says, vaguely, and frankly I am not sure I even understood what she said.
"But how can we get married? We are both dependents."
"Two dependents can get married if they so choose, and if they have parental consent."
"So, I have no way out. This was a done deal even before dad told me about it," I say fuming, and get up. I can't even look at my mom right now. They betrayed me. They let this happen. I am not sure if they even deserve the sacrifice. But they are all I have. They are my family. I can't let them down. No. I won't. Two years from now, I will leave Abnegation, husband or no husband. I don't care. I just have to pretend I am on board with this crazy shit, and then I will leave. I only hope by then that dad will do something about his position in the government.
We walk together downstairs to tell the others of my decision. I feel like I am going to my own funeral. Now, I wish that hypothetical murderer would have gotten me.
A/N: So, there is no way out. How will Tris cope with what is happening to her? Why doesn't Tobias fight this? Was Marcus's behavior a taste of what the future will bring her if she marries his son? Is Tobias just like his father? And how could Andrew choose his own career over his daughter?
Tris has many questions that seem to always remain unanswered. Perhaps, with her escape, the parents will postpone the wedding. One can only hope.
Special thanks to Daydreamerdb, badass4ever, and ItsHardIKnow.