Welcome back again! I know I said I would be posting chapters less often in my last chapter, but I've scheduled things so that I can put a chapter up in the evenings. I live in the UK, which means future chapters will hopefully go up each day between 6pm-10pm GMT. Thank you for continuing to read these, and I hope you enjoy this one :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Trilogy. Veronica Roth does.

Chapter 4: The Monster Inside

The next day, I wake up before dawn and head straight to the training room. It's about four-thirty. I do a few laps of the room followed by the press-ups we were taught yesterday. Then, I practice the punches and kicks on a punch-bag in the corner. The cuts from my knuckles soon reopen again and when I stop to massage them, I hear the door to the room bang open.

"Eric, I refuse to pass names of my students just so you can have them killed!" Four marches into the room followed by a man of similar age to him, his face pierced all over. I sink into the corner, hiding in the shadows the best I can.

"You will, Four. And you know why? Because I own you! All it takes is for me to have a quiet word with one or two other members, before the whole compound knows you for who you really are! The snivelling coward who hides in the corner of his room," Eric says, leaning right into Four's face.

Four instantly tenses up, "You wouldn't dare..." but Eric's eyes say otherwise. He turns and storms out of the room. Eric stands, looking smug for a second before heading out after him.

P/B

Shortly after, everyone begins slowly arriving for the morning's training session, and I go to stand with Laura, Simon and Georgina. I'm about to tell them what I heard when our instructors come in.

"Everyone, this is Eric." Four says his voice low with hatred. "He's one of the leaders of Dauntless and will be overseeing some of your fights."

"Welcome to Dauntless everyone." Eric addresses us, looking round the group. "As you should know, your training is split into three stages and today will be your first fights, the results of which will decide who will be leaving us."

"On this board are the listings of who you will be facing," Six tells us and points to a board in the corner near the door. At the top is written 'Laura vs Rory' and I glance at Laura to see her grimace. "Laura and Rory. You two are up first; come up to the mats." I give Laura what I hope is an encouraging smile as she walks past me with Rory onto the mats.

"The rest of you can either use the punch bags or do some exercises." Four tells us. I head to a punch bag but constantly glance at the mats, as does everyone else.

"Okay, on my word you can start." Eric tells them. I see Laura practically trembling; she must be close to half Rory's size. This isn't fair, I think to myself.

"Begin!" Eric snaps, and they immediately start circling each other. I am pretending to hit the bag now, my eyes fixed on the combatants. Rory edges toward Laura, forcing her to back away. She steps off the mat. "Come on! Don't be such a coward!" Eric shouts at her. "Get back on," Laura steps back up, tears in her eyes, staring at the floor. Again, they start circling each other, but this time Laura steps into Rory's reach and aims a punch to the side of his head. She is too slow though and Rory grabs her fist in his, and squeezes. Laura cries out in pain but Rory just smiles and squeezes harder. I hear a distinct crack and Laura's cry turns to a shriek as tears flow down her face. I've stopped hitting the bag, staring openly at them, my arms trembling at my sides.

Four steps forward, "That's enough!" he shouts.

"No, it isn't over yet!" Eric glares at Four. This is insane, I think.

Rory advances on Laura, the smile still on his face, but she isn't even watching; she is bent over clutching her hand. Rory grabs her shoulders and slams his knee into her chin and Laura falls to floor, visibly shaking as she curls into a ball. Rory looks at Eric, who just raises his eyebrows at him and gestures for him to continue. I see Six turn her face away, leaning on Four's shoulder. Rory kicks his foot into Laura's stomach causing her to cough, blood spilling over her chin. She lies there, winded, gasping in air. Rory kneels down and grabs her hair, intending to slam her head onto the mat. All I can see is the sadistic smile on his face, and before I know what's happened, I've run onto the mats, grabbed Rory by the back of his collar and ripped him off Laura. "Can't you see she's done? She can't fight back! What's wrong with you!"

"The fights are not over until one combatant is unable to continue; until they are unconscious." Eric tells me, calmly.

"This isn't a fight!" I shout at him. "She can't continue, as it is. Don't you honour bravery here? Where's the bravery in beating a defenceless girl to a pulp?!" My voice is trebling with rage.

"If you'd rather take her place, then feel free," Eric says passively. Though his lips curl slightly into a smile and I can tell he is provoking me.

I turn to face Rory, that smile still on his face. "Fine," I say, and immediately charge at him, forgetting all about the precise punches and kicks we'd been learning. I don't care that Eric is deliberately provoking me. I bend down, slamming my shoulder into Rory's stomach and we both fall to the floor. I get up and crouch over Rory, pinning him down with a hand gripping his collar, my fist raised above me. I slam it into his face, the image of the smile on that face still fresh in my mind. I'm not thinking, just punching, again, and again, the urge to hurt him as much as possible filling my whole being.

I don't feel anything when Four grabs my arm as it is raised to hit the bloody mess below me again. I whirl around, sweeping my foot behind his leg to trip him up, rage the only thing I feel. He jumps over it though, yelling at me words I don't hear. I try to punch him again and again, each attempt hitting only air. Eventually he grabs the front of my collar and all I see is his fist coming right for my face before the world turns black.

P/B

When I wake up, I am on a bed, but not in the dorm. My jaw is throbbing painfully and when I sit up to look around, the world spins around me and I raise a hand to my head.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Six is standing in the doorway to what I see as a tiny room with just the bed I'm on in the corner.

"What happened?" I ask, groggily.

"You're in isolation. You're not to leave this room until otherwise told to by Four, Eric or me." she says.

I frown at her. "Why am I in isolation? Rory's the one you should be punishing!" I feel anger in me, just waiting to be released.

"Rory is in a critical condition in the infirmary." She stares hard at me. "You will remain here until you are calm enough for us to discuss your future here."

I suddenly feel empty. I'm going to be kicked out, left to live on the streets the rest of my life. My head falls into my hands. When I look up, Six is still standing in the doorway. "Am I going to be kicked out?" I ask her.

"Not if Four and I have anything to say about it. You did the right thing, to stand up for Laura. Although, you perhaps didn't have to go so far or to attack my boyfriend," She says grinning. "In Dauntless, standing up for those who cannot protect themselves used to be a trait well valued. Let's see if we can remind Eric that."

Then I remember, "Is Laura okay?" I ask, not able to look into her eyes.

"She will be. She's awake in the infirmary. The worst damage is two broken fingers," she says casually, as if that were nothing. I grimace and lean back on the bed.

"Sorry for attacking Four, I don't know what got into me," I don't bother apologizing for what I've done to Rory, though it makes me feel sick remembering it.

"Anger can overwhelm us sometimes. I understand that," Six replies grinning. "Get some sleep, we'll be back later this evening," she walks out closing the door behind her. I hear a lock click and I close my eyes, though sleep doesn't take me.

It still makes me feel sick to remember what I did, but a part of me I've never seen is satisfied that I beat him. I look down at my fist to see it covered with half-healed cuts, overlapped with black and blue bruises. It almost looks beautiful, like a work of art until I imagine an image of Rory's face, his features barely recognizable thanks to the blood trickling down his face, his eyes half-closed, completely unconscious. What kind of monster am I?

At some point, I fall into a sleep just below consciousness. When the lock clicks and the door swings open, I am instantly alert. Four walks in followed by Eric and the man from the building when we jumped off. Max, I remember. It feels ages ago that I jumped off that roof when in fact, it was only two days ago. Six comes in last, smiling slightly at me. I hope that means I'm not going to be kicked out.

"Hello Alex, how are you?" Max asks me.

I don't answer. "Are Laura and Rory okay?"

"Laura's just fine. Rory is still under anaesthetic, but he'll recover." Four answers my question. I can't look at him, not after what I did.

"Will he be staying here?" I ask. I don't know what answer I'd rather hear.

"Yes, though it will take some time until he can get back to training. He may miss stage one completely." Four says.

"Will his rank be affected?" I ask, still looking at the floor.

"Enough of this," Eric butts in. "We've come to discuss your future. If I were you, I'd be a lot less worried about them," How could I possibly? I ask myself.

"Despite your, outburst," Max says, looking me straight in the eye. "Your instructors tell me you have huge potential." I look at Six, who smiles brightly at me. So, this is to a warning to you. If anything like this should ever happen again, you will be out. Immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," I answer.

"Good, you'll sleep here tonight before continuing with training tomorrow." They all turn to leave.

"Sir?" I speak up. They all look back. "I wanted to apologize. I've never done anything like that before, and I don't know what came over me. I promise it won't happen again." I try to look as determined as possible.

Max pauses before saying, "It is not me you should be apologizing to," and he leaves the room, followed by Eric. Four walks back up to me, and Six turns to wait in the doorway.

"Hey, I wanted to clear the air between us," Four says to me, "I hope you know, I did what I did because I had to. Not because I wanted to," I nod, looking at him for a second before looking back down. "You've shown the values of the Dauntless that most people seem to have forgotten. You're not a bad person, despite what you might think,"

"I don't know about that," I reply, mumbling.

"Well I am. Look at me already," I look up and see understanding in his eyes. "We all make mistakes. You've got to find a way to learn from what you've done, and move forward. That's how we become better people," he turns and leaves me alone.

I nod, more to myself, and settle back on the bed, and find sleep surprisingly easily.

I know this was a bit shorter than the others. It felt like a good place to stop though. Let me know if you prefer shorter or longer chapters :) Next chapter should be up in roughly 24 hours. See ya then!

~Crysics~