Welcome all to my first Divergent fanfiction (original novel by Veronica Roth.) This story is rated T for moderate violence, language, and sexual themes. Please review; I'd love to read your feedback.
Ciao, Gabrielle.
Chapter 14: Frostbite
In the morning, Nina was giddy. Through breakfast, she tried to keep a straight face as to not arise suspicions from her best friend. She couldn't wait to see the look on Maddie's face when she saw the bow. She was absolutely lethal with one in her hands, and the initiates would be blown away by her talents. As a child, Maddie used to sling notes into Nina's open window using her bow and arrow, and she delighted in spearing a juicy apple. As the years had progressed, so had Maddie's skills; her arrow always flew with perfect precision.
Excitement bubbled in Nina's stomach. "Fuck yes," she whispered into her bowl of cereal.
"Talking to yourself again?" Amir joked, nudging her in the side.
"Don't mind me," Nina answered with a coy smile. "Come on, guys, let's go to the training room now!"
"Since when are you so eager in the morning," Maddie squinted suspiciously. "There's something you're not telling me…"
Nina grinned and stood up. "Nonsense!" She cleared her tray and looked back to her friends. "You coming, or what?"
Her enthusiasm was contagious; all the way to the training room, Maddie and Amir shared animated whispers, attempting to unravel the secret that awaited. Quentin and Nina often caught each others' eyes and had to look away, lest their huge smiles revealed their secret.
She led the way into the training room, which was beginning to fill with initiates. "Ta-da!" she exclaimed, waving towards the weapons with a flourish of her hand.
Maddie looked over and then lifted her eyebrow, "What are you pointing at? The knives?"
Nina grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the weapons storage, where she had left the bow and quiver just hours ago. She explained in a sing-song voice, "There's something special for -" Suddenly she was caught off guard. The quiver was there but the bow was gone. 'Did someone move it?' she thought to herself, wondering if there was a separate storage facility elsewhere.
"Marina Jorgenson," a voice called out her name. She turned back and saw a Dauntless warden waiting. "Come with me, immediately."
Nina shared a look of despair with her friends, who appeared equally as confused as she was, and then followed the warden out of the room. The woman had blond hair pulled tightly into a bun, and her black clothing hugged her bulky, muscular figure. Tinges of fear pricked at Nina's skin. 'What have I gotten myself into?'
"Where am I being taken?" she asked. The warden made no reply.
She led Nina down a dimly lit passage into a secured zone of the caverns, and Nina recognized the branch that led to Max's office - which she had broken into last night. 'Well, technically I didn't break in...' she attempted to reassure herself. A guard was pacing the corridor in front of Max's office, and the back of her neck broke out in sweat. What would happen to her? What happened to people to broke into a leader's office and confiscated private documentation? 'I'll get tossed out, that's what,' Nina panicked. 'If they don't kill me first, that is.'
The warden deposited Nina at a metallic door and instructed her to wait, then left. Nina paced the corridor with anticipation, looking for a way out or a weapon - anything she could use to her advantage. She spotted a decorative glass vase in the corner. She rushed to it and smashed it against the cavern wall, and the sound of glass shattering rang in her ears. 'I won't go down without a fight.'
The office door opened, and Eric stepped out. He stared at her incredulously. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Nina spun around, grasping a shard of glass in her hands, and attempted to look at Eric menacingly. "Don't come near me!"
It didn't work. He rolled his eyes, stomped over to her, and grabbed the shard out of her fist. Its sharp edge slid against her palm; Eric ignored the droplets of blood, seized her hand, and pulled her into the office.
The office was sleek and modern; all silver, black, and white. There was an inviting black leather couch and a glass table with an intimidating state-of-the-art computer. Contemporary paintings hung on the walls.
"Is this your office?" Nina asked breathlessly. She had to admit, Eric had a sophisticated sense of style. She wondering how he managed to keep his office so clean and organized despite his room being a mess.
"Yes," Eric answered coolly. "Now, are you going to restrain yourself from breaking my things, or do I need to tie you up?"
Nina blushed at the thought of being tied up by Eric, then forced herself to choke back that thought. "What am I doing here?"
He scoffed. "Don't act so innocent. A moment ago you were getting ready to stab me." He sat down behind his desk and motioned Nina to take a seat.
She refused, and instead crossed her arms stubbornly. "I didn't do it. I mean, whatever it is that you think that I did, I didn't." Her heart tightened in her chest. 'Smooth, real smooth.'
He looked at her blankly. "So you didn't steal anything last night? You didn't take anything that doesn't belong to you?" Nina paled and recalled that Eric had seen her with the document last night, just moments after she had taken it. 'He knows.'
She stared back at him resolutely. "No." Internally, she was freaking out. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!' Her heart raced maniacally. 'Why did I have to take that stupid piece of paper?!'
Eric rolled his eyes again. "So, this thing," he reached under his desk to pull out something, "just wandered into the training room all on its own?"
A sigh of relief escaped Nina's lips and she felt suddenly giddy. "Oh, that thing, the bow," she stumbled over her own words, relieved that she hadn't been caught stealing classified paperwork. "No, I've never seen it in my life."
He stared at her skeptically and gingerly set down the bow on his desk. "You are the worst liar I have ever met."
She planted her fists on her hips and looked at him pointedly. "You can't prove it!"
He stood up, slamming his fists on the desk. "Nina, the Candor guard described a young white woman with a young black man, both wearing Dauntless clothing, fleeing from the scene of the crime with the bow in her hands." Exasperation flashed across his face. "We have video surveillance outside the Dauntless compound of you entering today with the bow at 4:11 AM with Q. Stop lying to me."
Nina huffed and dropped the pretense. "God, Eric, fine. Yes, I took that stupid bow, and you know damn well why. Don't you care at all about loyalty?"
"This isn't about loyalty," he seethed, "this is about the rules! You can't just do whatever you want, whenever you want to. There are rules you have to follow, and order and structure-"
"The rules can kiss my ass!" Nina proclaimed. "This is about loyalty! Loyalty to my friends and to the people that I love. I'm trying to save my best friend because I don't want to live without her." Her voice shook with anger. "But you wouldn't know anything about friends because you don't have any!" Nina's voice was scathing, and for once Eric didn't have a retort.
She continued on vehemently. "Yes, I did steal that bow, and I would do it again a million times over! Y-Yet you… you… sit here admonishing me, throwing your stupid rules in my face like they're the only things that matters in life, because you're incapable of feeling love! What you fail to realize, Eric, is that when rules and order and structure melt away, the only thing left that matters is love. Learn to do it." Rivulets of tears streamed silently down her cheeks and her lips quivered.
He stared down at the bow, his jaw shifting tensely. The muscles of his shoulder blades were tight, and the veins along his neck were pronounced. "Get. Out," he said quietly. Nina turned to comply and was stopped by Eric's hoarse voice. "And take the fucking bow."
Nina returned, fuming, to the training room upon her dismissal from Eric's office. Her fingers were white from so tightly clutching the fibreglass bow, and the enthusiastic anticipation of delivering it to her friend had long worn off.
When she entered the main training room, she saw that most initiates had moved to other rooms; each room served to train a specific specialized weapon. Maddie alone remained, and she rushed to Nina with glee and embraced her warmly. "Oh, Nina!" She stepped back and looked at the bow with awe. "I… I can't even begin to convey my gratitude. Everyone deserves a friend like you."
Hearing the word 'friend' made Nina want to heave, for it made her recall her harsh words to Eric. She pasted a fake smile on her face and gave the bow to Maddie, who took it gratefully. "You deserve it, Mads. And Q helped as well - I couldn't have done it without him."
Maddie glowed with happiness. "I'll have to thank him later, too."
Four approached the two girls sternly. "The other initiates have a head start - they've already made their selections and are training. Maddie, we don't have any archery specialists, so you'll just have to work on your own. You can use the gun range for target practice." He gave a small smile and continued. "You're our first archer in decades."
Maddie shot him a thumbs up and made a beeline for the gun range.
Four turned to address Nina. "You need to make a specialty weapon selection. Our options are daggers, bayonets, -"
"Chains," Nina replied quietly, cutting him off. A lump formed in her throat; she wished she could take back her promise to Eric.
Four nodded. "Ok. Eric is our chains specialist, so you'll need to wait for him to return. In the meantime, you can practice any other skill you've learned."
Nina dipped her head in acknowledgement and turned towards the punching bags. His voice made her pause. "Oh, and, for what it's worth - I think what you did last night was really brave."
"Thanks, Four," Nina smiled grimly.
Eric hadn't appeared in the training room all morning, and Nina was starting to get pretty pissed. "So what if he's mad?" She confided in Maddie as they exited the facility. "They're cutting three initiates at the end of the week, I can't afford to miss out on training!"
Maddie shot her a sympathetic look. "Think food might take your mind off things?"
Nina huffed. "No. I think if I eat anything, I'll vomit. I'm so nervous." She worried that Eric would be too angry to train her at all, and she'd lose points in her final ranking as a result. 'Maybe I should just choose another weapon if Eric's gonna be such an asshole...'
She made her way alone to the dormitory, and was surprised to see Clark inside, sitting in his cot. He looked thinner than he was at the beginning of initiation. 'Come to think of it,' Nina thought, 'I can't remember the last time I saw him in the dining hall.' She entered quietly, hoping not to disturb him. He was writing maniacally in a notebook, rocking back and forth as his pen moved across the page. Every so often, he would take the lid off a box by his feet, peek inside, and return the lid.
Nina ran into Tae as she was entering the washroom and they both stared at Clark. "What the actual fuck?" Nina asked her.
Tae shook her head, eyebrows raised. "I told you, he's a total weirdo."
Nina briefly wondered if he was abusing drugs or just putting on an act as she enjoyed the warm water. 'Or maybe he really is nuts.' She pushed the thought out of her mind and stepped out of the shower. She contemplated returning to the training room, but heat rose to her cheeks at the thought of seeing Eric. 'If he's even there,' she thought. 'He's obviously just gonna ditch me and fuck me over in rankings.'
She sighed and curled up under the covers after putting on a clean set of undergarments. Lack of sleep crept up on her, and she struggled to keep her eyes open. 'Just a short nap...' She promised herself wearily. Soon her chest was rising and falling evenly.
When Nina awoke, she found herself in Eric's office, laying across his leather couch. The lights were dim, and her head felt heavy with slumber as she looked around. Eric was sitting on his desk, looking at her intently with a fire in his eyes.
She sat up, searching the room for an exit, and swung her legs free of the silky black blanket draped over her. She could have sworn the door was right there… "What am I doing here?"
Eric ignored the question and approached her, lust evident in his silver eyes. "You've been a bad girl… and you need to be punished."
Nina stood up in alarm, her heart beating quickly.
He leaned down and pulled her hips towards him, and then his lips were on hers, moving fiercely. Nina felt hunger for him swell in her chest, and she grasped his neck with both hands, urging him not to break away. She moved one hand up, curling it into his hair, and ran the other hand down his muscular chest. His tongue parted her lips, and Nina felt her knees grow weak. She took his bottom lip between her teeth, biting down softly. He moaned and moved his hands up her sides, cupping her breasts, causing her to breath erratically.
Nina pushed Eric onto the couch and straddled him, eliciting a groan from him as she leaned down and ran her lips against his neck. He flipped her over and suddenly Nina found her arms above her head, locked together at the wrist by a handcuff. He smirked and asked "Are you ready for your punishment?"
Nina sat up suddenly in her bunk bed, her heart pounding. She brought her pillow up to her face and screamed into it. "Get out of my head," she moaned. She was acutely aware of the heat in her panties, and her breathing was wild. She set down the pillow and closed her eyes, allowing her racing heart to subside. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she'd missed lunch. She gently ran her finger over her lip, recalling the sensation...
"What the fuck are you doing in bed?"
Nina's eyes snapped open to the sounds of Eric's voice and his boots stomping towards her. "You're supposed to be in the training room," he snapped.
"As if you were there at all this morning!" She retorted and got out of bed. She felt the intensity of his gaze on her nearly-nude form as she quickly threw on clean attire, and she wondered if he could tell what she'd been dreaming about.
She sat on her bed and as she reached for her shoes under the bed, the apple she'd received the other day rolled out. As she laced up her shoes and looked at the apple, her anger softened. Eric had gone out of his way to get her this apple straight from Amity despite his feelings about her relationship with her old faction. She brushed off the apple, wondering how it had gotten under the bed, and looked up at Eric. "I guess I never thanked you for this…"
His jaw shifted. "Don't mention it."
She inspected the apple as she followed Eric to the training facility; its surface was ruby red with bands of yellow near the stem. There was a small bruise and two unusual pinpricks in the skin of the apple, but overall it was in good shape. Nina worked her way around the core of the apple, savoring each juicy mouthful. The taste was crisp and sweet, and had a honey-like flavor she didn't recognize. She wondered if this apple was a new cultivar as Eric stopped at a training room she hadn't been in before. He unlocked it with a key from his pocket and flipped on the lights.
The interior of the room was small. The floor was lined with black padding and various unusual weapons hung from the wall. Nina shivered and thought to herself, 'It looks like a dungeon in here...' Eric crossed the room to unlock the weapons cabinet, and Nina stepped onto the mat, bouncing slightly to gauge its thickness. She tossed the apple core into a small waste bin in the corner, and turned back to see Eric removing two cords of rope from the cabinet.
She lifted her eyebrow. "Those aren't chains."
"Of course not. We have to start with the basics," Eric dropped one of the cords onto the ground and unraveled the other, revealing a short rope about two or three feet in length.
"Where did you learn all this, anyways?"
"My father," he answered succinctly.
Nina pondered this answer. Eric was an Erudite transfer, which meant his father was… Dauntless? She found this very interesting, and she was eager to learn more about his family, a topic he never discussed. "So, your dad was a Dauntless transfer? Do you ever talk to him? Do you miss your family?" Nina bounced lightly up and down on the mat. She felt suddenly felt somewhat giddy and light-headed.
Eric stared at her expressionlessly and ignored her questions. He wrapped his hands around the outer edges of the rope, fixing the tips securely in his fists. "I'll begin by demonstrating some basic moves." The lights in the room suddenly appeared to be dimming and brightening. Eric positioned himself into a boxer's stance, the rope taut between his upraised fists. Nina found herself transfixed by the mesmerizing magenta shade of the rope, which she could have sworn was a normal, tan color just moments before.
Eric continued, "I want you to try to punch my face." His lips seemed to move in slow motion, and it took Nina a moment to comprehend what he'd said. Shen shook her head to clear the cobwebs and finally complied, launching a weak punch to his chin.
Instantly, Eric wrapped the rope around her wrist, pulling it back tightly. The sudden motion made Nina feel confused and irritable; her eyesight seemed to blur. Then, using his upper body weight, he nudged her down, trapping her on the ground beneath him.
Eric loomed over Nina, who remained curled up on the mat unable to move. She looked up at him, the weight of her head making the movement slow. She saw that he looked confused and that his lips were moving but Nina could hear only the pounding of her heart in her ears like a drum beat. She stared in awe at the ceiling and saw beautiful stars twinkling on its surface.
The floor beneath Nina seemed to rise and swell like the sea, and she was caught in its waves. Ripples of blue and green danced before her eyes, and she giggled, reaching up to touch the bubbling sea foam. "So pretty…" she whispered as she delighted in moving her hands across the water's silky surface.
She felt Eric pick her up and cradle her, and she leaned against his chest, allowing the warmth of his body to wash over her like a heavy blanket. Nina closed her eyes contentedly, giving in to the call of the void.
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. If there's anything you loved or hated, please let me know in a review or PM!