Some ideas are mine. Everything else belongs to Veronica Roth.

"Stage Two commences today," Nash said as he guided all the initiates down the hallway. I stood between Paige and Haley, which has become my new job: keeping them from killing each other.

After she was taken to the doctors, I went to see Haley. And let me tell you, I've seen people get hurt. But she was in bad shape. There was more black and blue on her face than her regular pale skin. She couldn't respond to any of my questions, and she suffered from a major concussion and had possible brain trauma. The doctors told her she shouldn't keep going forward with training, but she said she could. It took her a while to pull herself together. And being constantly asked about the night when Logan, Reece and Cole were didn't help either.

Paige, however, looked like she was going to flip any second. She'll grab my arm tightly when she feels like she might freak out. Which is exactly what she's doing now. We entered the area outside the simulation room as Nash explained what will go on in Stage Two.

I already know how everything goes. You go in. Get injected. Face your fear as fast as you can. Wake up. Freak out for a few seconds. And then leave, hoping no one heard your screams as your tried to ward off thousands of spiders.

And I have a lot of expectations to live up to.

We were mixed with the Dauntless-born and as Paige was called first, I was given the ok to sit with them.

I leaned against the wall and pulled one knee to my chest and left the other straight. Lily was to my right and Joseph was to my left.

"What do you think it's going to be?" Joseph asked me as Lily spoke with Mel. He smirked down at me.

"Maybe having to kill my parents," I suggested.

But, was I really scared to do that? It's really messed up if I'm not. But, I am sort of messed up. I mean, now that I think about it, I'm positive killing my parents won't be one of my fears.

"I doubt that," Joseph snorted, running his thumb from his mouth to his chin, as if he was deep in thought.

"I think it might be sex," I laughed and shoved him, knocking him off-balance.

"I'm not afraid of sex. Who would be?"

"You'd be surprised," He murmured, leaning his head against the wall. I turned my torso to face him. I was still smiling.

"Are you?" I almost burst out laughing when I asked him. He snorted again and let out a laugh.

"Theo, you do know I'm a guy, right?" We both started laughing together.

Being here with him reminded me how much I miss everything. I miss him, Lily, Mel, and Xander. I missed the nights when we would sneak into the training room and play dumb, dangerous games that our parents would scold us for hours for doing. I miss running through the Pit, trying to shoot each other with paintball guns.

I miss Beck and our kickboxing tournaments that I would always let him win. And surprisingly enough, I miss my parents.

None of them could be in my fear simulation. Them being threatened or being forced to kill them. They can't be.

I already lost them.

"Theo,"

Moment of truth.

I got up and wiped my hands on my pants. Nash guided me into the room.

I've never been in a sim room before and I was shocked at how plain it was. There was metal chair in the center and a machine beside it. There are no windows and there is a computer screen on a desk in the corner. To track your fear I guess. Once the door shut, I turned to Nash, waiting for instructions.

"Sit," He said, simply.

As I sat in the chair, I realized how similar this all looked to the room I was in for the Aptitude Test. Almost the same layout. Remembering the Aptitude Test was almost haunting me. The Abnegation woman who issued my test was the main thing I remember. Well, mostly her words.

You are a Dauntless. During this test, act like one. Don't do anything different. Do what a Dauntless would.

Her worried expression stayed in my mind as I grabbed the knife. When I killed the dog mercilessly. When I realized I didn't want to do it at all.

My mind came back when Nash's hand brushed against my neck. I expected it to send a chill down my spine, but instead, it left a path of heat. A small pinch and the serum started pumping through my body.

"Goes into effect in sixty seconds," Nash said as he walked over to the monitor.

"Don't laugh at whatever my fear might be," I murmured, lying my head back against the cold headrest.

"I just pray I'm not it," He said as he walked back over to me.

"Don't flatter yourself," I made out, beginning to feel the effects of the serum. "You certainly don't scare me," He smiled and brushed his hand along my cheek. I would feel it, but my eyelids began to feel like lead.

"I hope I don't," Were the last words I heard before everything faded away.

The only thing I saw was black.

I wasn't sure if my eyes were shut or if I was in a black room. I looked down to find my hands. They were intact and visible. I was just in a black room.

Maybe the serum didn't work yet. I wondered.

I waited in darkness for something to happen. There was no noise except for slight noise I made with every breath I took. Looking around, I saw nothing. It was like I was floating in an infinite space, doing nothing. I counted in my head.

One.

Two.

Three.

Still nothing.

"Hello?" I asked, rocking back and forth on my heels. It's only been two minutes max and I was getting progressively bored. Whatever was going on in this fear simulation, was not working.

I should feel fear. And yet, I'm extremely disinterested.

My body began to feel heavy again. My bones turned to cement and my eyes found themselves begin to shut. My mind went blank completely. And I found myself slowly sink back to sleep.

My eyes slightly opened, and then immediately blinked after the light was too much for them. For a second, I wondered where I was. And then I heard the buzzing of the machine from the simulation room.

I shot up out of the chair and held my hands to my head. This was all too confusing. Was that my fear simulation? Being in a room with nothing to do? But, I wasn't scared at all.

"What just happened?" I asked to Nash, who I knew was there. My palms contorted my face as everything rushed my head into pain.

Nash didn't answer.

I removed my hands from my face and looked at him. He stood, staring at the computer screen. He looked as though he had seen a ghost. Or my results.

"Nash, what the fuck just happened?" I said again, getting progressively annoyed. He still didn't answer. He began to type at the computer.

I swung my feet around off the chair and stood up. My legs felt like jello and I had trouble trying to walk on them. My head was spinning and a thought ran through my mind. What if that really was my fear simulation? What if it just didn't work on me?

"Nash, I swear-"

"Be quiet," He snapped back, studying the screen for something. He started at it, waiting for some sort of confirmation on what just happened. His jaw was began to clench with every passing second.

Eventually, a beep went off. His whole body relaxed as he stepped away from the monitor. He ran his hands through his hair and looked at me with the same expression he had before. Absolute disbelief.

"Was that suppose to be my fear?" I asked, still reeling from the experience. A small fragment of my body still thought I was in a simulation. I grabbed my arm, making sure this was all real.

"No," was all he said as he began to walk towards me. My body started to get back its feeling when his presence was close to mine.

"Why didn't my fear work?" I whispered more to myself than Nash. He looked me dead in the eyes with the most serious expression I've ever seen on him. His eyebrows were knitted together as he exhaled before speaking.

"Because you don't have any,"