I sit on my bed unable to sleep, this wasn't anything out of the ordinary though. Nightmares plagued me most nights, only allowing me a few hours of sleep. They weren't always the same, some were of Marcus, others involved my mother and brothers, but all of them left me waking up in a sweat, wishing I'd never have to close my eyes again. Over the years I had made a habit of staying awake for days at a time, then being so tired I basically pass out for 12 hours, that is the only way I can avoid the nightmares.

Knowing I'm not going to sleep anytime soon I decide to leave the room, making my way quietly past all the beds. Walking down the corridor in what I think is the right direction, I pass by the office between the Transfer and Dauntless-born dorms. The door is open slightly and the light is on, Eric is in there working so I walk as quickly but as a quietly as I can, I don't think he saw me.

While it's not against the rules to be out at night, I don't want to be questioned about where I'm going. I don't even have a plan; I just wander round the compound for a few hours. When I get back to the room, Eric is no longer in the office. I decide to take advantage of the privacy and go for a shower.

The next few days pass quickly and before we know it the first week has passed, each day we do a lap around the compound, sometimes with Eric, sometimes with Four. Before lunch we watch Eric and Four spar, showing us various punches, holds, kicks and blocks. Then we practice ourselves against the orange punching bags until dinner. I'm starting to resent the bloody punching bag, I don't feel like I'm getting any better, it still barely moves no matter how much I try. I still haven't moved from the bottom of the rankings, the only people who have moved are Dauntless-born, so they must be doing different training.

At first, I don't notice that the usual punching bags are not out, instead there is a padded platform raised only a few inches off the floor. Tobias and Eric are deep in conversation, stood next to a board but this one doesn't have the rankings on. I take a deep breath when I realise, they have paired us up for fights

"Its time to put your training into practice" Tobias announces, "This is who you're going to be fighting, there's an odd number of you so one of you gets to sit out" gesturing to the board behind him.

Colby – Elmer

Hugo – Jaime

Leigh – Meadow

Megan – Murphy

Rowan – Olivia

I look down the list, we are paired up alphabetically, but everyone seems to be evenly matched.

First up is Elmer and Colby, the boy from Amity, they are the two biggest of the group. Elmer is a few inches taller, but Colby has a lot more muscle on his side. Both boys make there way onto the mats but seem hesitant to start.

"How long do we fight for?" Elmer asks looking over to the instructors, raising his fists in front of his face.

"Until one of you can't continue" Eric tells him likes it's obvious

"Or one of you concedes" Tobias adds

"According to the old rules. New rules, no one concedes", Eric says. Tobias mutters something, I can't catch what his says but the tension between the two men is palpable.

"You'll be scored on this so fight hard" Eric says ignoring Four and walking to the other side of the mats. "Go" he shouts clearly getting impatient when nobody moves.

In the end new rules, old rules, it didn't matter. Elmer managed to dodge Colby's first few punches but a well-timed dummy throw and solid right-hook to the temple and he was out cold. Falling to the floor like a sack of bricks.

If the first match ended two quickly, the second didn't end quick enough. Hugo and Jaime were too well matched, neither had a height or speed advantage, each got a few good punches at a time. After about 20 minutes Jaime got a particularly nasty punch to the face, the sound of his nose breaking echoing around the cavernous room. Tobias called the match at that declaring Hugo the winner, sounding proud just the slightest as he did so. I couldn't help but feel Jaime was lucky Eric wasn't in the room, having left 10 minutes into the fight clearly bored at how long it was taking.

The next two matches were over quickly, Leigh defeated Meadow with surprising each, both girls were thin without muscle, but Leigh had speed on her side, sending quick and fast punches. The fight between Megan and Murphy seemed the most unfair, the only mixed gender match up. Megan was the tallest female initiate but Murphy still had a height advantage and probably weighed twice as much. But to give her credit, she lasted a lot longer than I was expecting and managed to get a few punches in but ultimately Murphy was declared the winner.

Once Megan was taken off the mat, it was my turn. Tobias gives us the signal and Olivia brings up her hands. She circles me, throwing a punch here and there but its slow and sloppy and I easily dodge them. I could have gotten a few punches in, but I refuse to punch her.

"This is stupid" I say out loud, taking a step backwards. "I'm not going to hit her"

"What is it with you stiffs always trying to be friends with everyone" Eric says exasperatedly from the side, I hadn't even notice him come back in.

"She isn't my friend" I say more bluntly than I meant to, "but she isn't my enemy, I have no reason to do it"

"You've been ordered to fight initiate, that's reason enough" He barks back.

"For some maybe" I turn to face Eric, "We don't believe in empty heads, it's in the manifesto"

"I know where it's from initiate" He all but growls

"What is blindly following orders if not empty-headedness?" I argue back.

He doesn't say anything at first, before a slight smirk appears on his face. "Fine, if you aren't going to fight her then he will" pointing to Shaun "Only one of you gets to sit out"

I can't help but glance over at Olivia she looked even more pale and nervous than she did earlier. This wasn't what I wanted, but if I back down now I look even worse.

I step off the mat and watch as Shaun makes his way to the centre of the room. Everyone watches in silence as Olivia hesitantly bounces from foot to foot as Shaun gets closer, an almost feral look on her face. She has no chance.

Olivia kicks out at him as Shaun advances on her, it's a feeble attempt. Shaun catches her foot and yanks it forward, knocking her off balances. I watch Olivia scramble to her feet as Shaun circles her. Like a predator circling its prey.

"Stop playing with her," Eric snaps. "I don't have all day"

Well, hopefully that means this torture will be over quicker. I don't want to watch, but I can't look away. Eric hasn't stopped watching me from across the other side of the mat, only sparing the odd glance to the horror-show happening in the middle of the room, it takes all my power to not look at him or shrink back under his unwavering stare.

Shaun stops circling and sends a quick jab to Olivia's jaw. She sways from the impact but manages to stay standing, not for long though as a kick to the stomach sends her flying to the floor. Olivia just lies there, breathing but barely. Shaun walks up to her and with a short nod from Eric, slams his foot into her head, finally knocking her out.

"You're all done for the day" Eric dismisses us with a cold tone, still staring at me. Hugo and Tobias take Olivia to the infirmary, as the rest of the group leave the room for dinner. I don't move, not taking my eyes off the blood-stained mats. I glance back at Eric, still staring, before leaving for the dorms. The effects of going 48 hours without sleep finally hitting me.

AN: Please review if you're enjoying it, any feedback is welcome. I have the bigger scenes mapped out, it's just getting between each of them that's slowing me down ~depressed_introvert~