Chapter 16
Kazana has lived factionless her entire life, having been found by the rebels who strive to live without the faction system she becomes their new secret weapon. The plan is clear, choose dauntless, pass initiation, infiltrate the system, but what can she do when a certain leader sees through her façade? AU No War, One year after Tris' initiation.
I tried to resist posting this so soon but the suspense was killing me. Many of you will finish this chapter and wonder if I wrote it with a psychotic grin whilst I twirl the proverbial moustache, and let me tell you, I did. Chapter is Rated M…It really, really is.
Disclaimer: *dons leather jacket and leans against a brick wall with a large exhale of smoke* Sup?
10 months prior to initiation
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. This was an idea that Kazana and Edward utilized as they pressed themselves in to the towery, rusted pillars of the city's ferris wheel. The Purification had come sooner this year, it seemed the authorities were growing nervous and sought to eliminate any possible threats hastily.
Years of experience had taught Kazana well as she trailed the Dauntless guards' every step, there was bitter desperation in their hounding this time round, as though they were searching for someone in particular.
"I still can't believe this is happening," Edward muttered. He had until that day been completely unaware of the yearly cleansings and even deigned to scoff when Kazana awoke that morning to gunshots, grabbing him by the scruff to seek escape.
"You'll believe it when you have a bullet between your eyes," she hissed. There was an animosity of sorts between the two which had arisen at Edward's hostile behaviour; his exile had instilled bitterness in him which she'd only been able to handle for so long.
"Actually I'll be dead so it really won't matter then," he snorted and Kazana shot him an irritable glare. The Erudite in him just refused to let up.
The day was beginning to draw to a close, but the guards were thirsting for blood that night and would not stop until it was sated. Taking refuge at the Navy Pier had provided them with a great deal many hiding places but it wasn't long before crazed screeches sounded from the carousel's vicinity.
"Bridge! Now!" Kazana whispered furiously and shuffled her way around the large pillar before breaking in to a sprint. Edward quickly followed and soon the two were running side by side in direction of the city's main bridge, a huge construction that lead straight to The Hub.
"This is crazy! We're supposed to be hiding not painting targets on our backs!"
"They know almost every corner of this city," she panted as their worn boots hit the bridge and it shook under the impact of heavy footfall. "They're expecting us to try and hide."
Coming to a halted skid, Kazana glanced behind just in time to see a swarm of black ascending the momentous structure.
"Left! I know a shortcut, GO!" she almost slid on the very outskirts of the marsh as they pumped their arms and legs in direction of the train tracks. Pure adrenaline and a human will to survive had them tearing forward but Kazana had not accounted for the loose wooden wedge along the tracks that trapped her foot and sent her toppling to the ground.
The guards were fast approaching and despite her panicked attempts she was unable to dislodge her boot from its gravelly prison. For the first time in 7 years, as they drew ever closer, she feared that they would succeed in their hunt.
One of the four in pursuit suddenly lurched forward on to his knees with an agonizing cry, and it wasn't long before his three associates joined him. They all sported identical gun wounds in their upper thighs.
Kazana stared in disbelief, scanning the surrounding area until her eyes landed on Edward. He stood at the edge of the tracks, a threatening picture as he held his arms steady, one eye dead set on the target whilst the other remained hidden.
"Where the hell did you get that?!"
Edward tucked the gun in to the belt of his withered trousers and hoisted her up with a violent pull, they began moving instantly.
"You didn't think I'd actually leave Dauntless without a little self defence did you?" he smirked.
Eventually they found the perfect alcove as the sun began to set, casting away the day's horrors and leaving those remaining to mourn the fatalities.
There was camaraderie amongst the rebels, the fighters, those who knew that where they were strong alone, they were unbeatable together. But for one day a year, an unspoken agreement came in to place that allowed selfishness to be interminable. For one night only, many years ago, jilted and alone, Kazana had given herself over to agonizing tears. Never again.
But Edward knew of no agreement, he knew not of the self-indulgent allowances made on the day of The Cleanse. So he had saved her, rendered his own life null to preserve hers. How could she possibly surmount this fact? When even she could not recognize her own value?
Kazana placed a delicate hand on his chest, she did not smile, but her expression was open and vulnerable and honest.
"Thank you."
He looked down blankly at her hand for a moment, before covering it with his own.
"You're Welcome."
A day. One single day was all she had to fix the monumental disaster that was her simulation, or rather, lack thereof.
It had not worked, the serum hadn't worked and without it she could not pass stage 2, which meant she would not complete her initiation and everything, everything she had worked so hard to achieve would be destroyed.
Four had been incapable of speaking for an enduring length of time, he had eventually admitted, that never in his three years as a trainer had an initiate rejected the serum. It was simply unheard of. Kazana did not feel special, nor curious about this fact, she was in that moment filled with exhaustive frustration.
That night she informed the others her fears had been so incomprehensibly awful, they were impossible to divulge. This excuse had been accepted, and they finished their meals in near silence.
What few snatches of sleep she got were plagued with glimpses of white fabric, pristine walls and that same artificial voice. It was all saturated with a sickly, choking atmosphere, the way nightmares always are.
The hallway was filled with silence when they all waited once again for their own simulation, and this allowed smaller details to filter through Kazana's comprehension. A single drip of water percolated through the stone ceiling, Wes exhaled singularly through his nose when panicked and every so often a long drawn out scream permeated through the door and reminded each initiate with brutal actuality that their time would soon come.
When she followed Four in to the room for the second time that week, they both knew it would be to undergo 15 minutes of nothing. Kazana had made it intensely clear that the orange fluid seeping from his needle would not come even remotely close to her person. For this reason, he entered her results in manually and examined her still form with poorly disguised pity.
"You know this can't continue," he said.
"Of course," she replied through gritted teeth.
"Your fear landscape will be the determinant, the only way to become Dauntless."
They both knew this, but how terminal it sounded in spoken form.
"We'll find a solution," she assured, without even the slightest hope of assurance.
Four did not argue, not because he believed her, but it was the kind thing to do. Kazana thought that though he did a remarkable job of remaining impassive, he possessed a vast spectrum of commendable traits.
Had she not been so caught up in her own impending doom, it might have occurred to her that neither Four not Tris adhered to the stereotypes of their Faction.
Her duties for that day were done, which left approximately 5 hours before the conventional bedtime. Vesper had informed her, not to her surprise, that yet another party was to take place that night in The Pit and when asked 'what's the occasion?' she simply shrugged. 'We're Dauntless, It's what we do.'
Perhaps it was too much emotion, too much desperation that had Kazana sneaking from the compound that late afternoon to board a passing train. Or perhaps it was a severe lack of feeling, a defensive numbness that accepted her fate and encouraged reckless decisions.
Either way, she'd jumped on the train, she'd jumped off when it passed The Hub and she'd made her way with practiced stealth to the Factionless District.
Azure blue and burnt shades of orange tessellated to create striking patterns in the sky, it was both beautiful and frightening. As though the world that they knew, dull in its regularity, was coming to an end and that was exactly what Kazana wanted. Or at least it had been, when she thought it would end in her favour, now she wasn't so sure.
Evelyn gasped when the young woman walked in to her run down makeshift office that evening. It had now been approximately one month since Kaz stood in that exact spot and listened to her mentor's last minute advice.
She had returned for that same reason, the only solace she had left, someone to guide her way.
"What are you doing here?" Evelyn hissed more emotion than she had ever displayed before and suddenly Kaz understood what Sylvia had meant by an increasing lack of control.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? What if someone had seen you? Were you followed?!"
The gaunt woman threw open the disintegrating door to double check, she remained stationed thereon out.
"The fear serum didn't work on me," Kaz said, there was no need to expand, it was quite clear the implications meant from that statement.
"That's impossible; the fear serum works on everyone. Even the Divergent-"
"The what?"
"You know what, of course you know what, everyone-" she cursed irritably and ran roughened fingers through lifeless brown locks. Where Kazana had once found it difficult to differentiate between her adopted guardians' appearance and her own, the contrariety was now all too clear.
"That's not important right now, what's important is that you return to the compound immediately before anyone notices you're gone."
"Didn't you hear me!? The fear serum-"
"The fear serum works-on-everyone," Evelyn drew out each word patronizingly slow. "Try again."
Kazana stood aghast at the illiteracy of her words.
"I remembered something," she blurted, causing the older woman's eyes to narrow in on her.
"Something from my past, I'm not really sure. It was hazy, I was trapped in some sort of machine and-"
"That was your fear! The serum was working on you just like with everybody else!"
"You don't understand! They were speaking another language! And I knew what they were saying, it was a countdown, it was a memory and-"
"ENOUGH!" Evelyn exploded, her frail body radiated fury, voice hoarse and so shrill it made Kazana retreat back in surprise. Immediate hurt flooded through her at the woman's dismissal.
"You will return to the Dauntless Compound. You will undergo the fear simulation. And you will complete your initiation to the best of your ability. We have TOO MUCH at stake for you to fail now!"
"I-"
"KAZANA!" Cain's face was a picture of rare delight as he appeared at the doorway then, pushing past Evelyn to embrace the girl in a bone-crushing hug.
"When I saw the black hair from the street I had a suspicion but I never thought…," he trailed off, simply holding her, which he'd seemed to know she needed, even before she had.
Kazana felt her face alight with the first real smile she'd felt in two days, relaxing in to the brawny man's hug. It suddenly occurred to her that something very important was missing.
She pulled away from him with twinkling eyes that had him grinning right back.
"Where's Edward?"
Never had she felt elation dissipate so quickly as when the smile fell from his face in an instant, retreating in to an aphotic abyss, realization was a callous master indeed, when it dawned on her.
She knew.
She just knew.
Cain took one hesitant step towards her, distraught and penitent.
"Kaz-"
"How?" it was a pained exhale, a demand, a need. She needed to know.
"We never m-"
"HOW!?" she roared, scanning desperately the faces of her mentors, unsure whether to give in to her anguish or rage.
The answer was clear when she threw over Evelyn's desk, every muscle contorted and flexed as she poured all of her ferocity in to the act. A carefully assembled sheaf of papers scattered to the ground and neither person dared stop her as she whirled on them, frenetic and trembling.
"HOW!?" she screamed again, "HOW!?" Kazana picked up a moulding glass bottle which would have once provided an escape for her associates and smashed it against the wall.
She battered Cain with her fists, relentless and craving an escape, some release, something.
"He was shot Kazana," his voice low and regretful as he grasped her wrists. She fell against him shaking, unable to breathe, unable to even cry. Paralyzed in disbelief.
"Who?" she whispered.
"A Dauntless guard," Evelyn supplied for the first time since Cain's arrival. Her voice clipped but an undertone of grievance ran heavy in her words.
The grip on her wrists tightened as the older man's posture stiffened, he turned to their leader with a venomous glare.
"Tell her the truth," he growled.
"Who-What-?" Kaz stammered.
"Now is not the time to interfere, Kazana has come too far to falter now."
Kazana broke out of Cain's grasp to advance on Evelyn, hurt and confusion had her on her last tether and though it was clear who in that room held the authority, Kaz had been trained to become a human weapon. And she wasn't afraid to use that.
"Who killed him Evelyn?" she crept slowly towards the woman, taut and coiled like a spring, only inches were left between them when her guardians' bravado finally faltered.
"When we found his body, he-" she wet her lips nervously, eyes closed in a wince.
"Eric was standing over him with the gun, we have reason to belie-"
"Eric shot him Kazana," Cain snapped, growing impatient with the conversation. "He shot him after they found the weapons supply. They've taken everything. It's already over."
Evelyn's head snapped in his direction. "Don't say that!" she hissed. "Don't you dare tell her that we're done. I say when we're done! Me! We've come too far to let her emotions be compromised n-"
"Stop."
Both heads turned in Kazana's direction, her face had become an inscrutable mask and in that moment it dawned on them how much she had changed.
Her body was a structure of lithe, defined muscle. She was a shadow, a body of black and ready set to attack, only her eyes, burning obsidian gems among white marble, betrayed the intensity of her will.
"This isn't over," she declared. Molten hot rage had cooled to a tremoring simmer, a seething need for revenge. "I don't care whether he held the gun or not. He's the reason Edward's dead."
She addressed both tutors with her next words, and in their glacial severity, the power was all hers.
"Without those weapons we have nothing. I am the one with access to their secrets. I am the one who decides exactly where this mission goes from here on out. This isn't over until I say it is."
Their silence was enough for Kazana; she swept from the room and took with her every trace of control.
Environmental changes hold great impact on the emotions of man, endorphins are released, a thrumming energy in each and every person as the sun beats down. In that same way, winter has a way of seeping in to one's soul; it chills the bone and forces its victims to find solace in warmth.
Once in a while however, emotions become so powerful, so consuming in their transcendence that not even the omnipotent wonders of the world itself can alter them.
It was this fact in particular, this acute vehemence that simply was, that made Kazana aloof to the freezing forces of nature that night.
Her body seared with passion and yet every step she made was mute, a snarling hunger pulsed through her veins but her face was blank.
It was no startling matter that the party was in full swing when she returned to the compound incensed with venomous intentions. In fact, she had counted on it. She was of course no fool, the train's emptiness was a surprise, but that did not stop her from becoming a shadow, there was every possibility a patrol team would be in place.
No guards impended on her journey however, which meant they too were enjoying the merriments that night. This worked in her favour; it was almost as though fate wanted her to progress. Although, she thought bitterly, had that been the case, her friend would still be alive.
If possible, The Pit was darker than ever on her arrival. Neon lights, which often bore down strikingly fast on every surface, had been dimmed to a sensuous glow.
Kazana felt the bass as slow and as purposeful as her own heartbeat, it provided for her a stable undertone, to which she walked a predatory line, in to the core of the festivities.
She saw him immediately. And it was as though liquid fire had come alive in her veins, it was hatred, it was loathing and it was raw, unadulterated passion.
He was at that moment, the focus of a ravishing woman's attentions. Her flaxen hair, soft and sumptuous, was swept to the side, pretty pink lips pouted and sage green eyes regarded him with irrefutable interest.
And Kazana didn't give a flying fuck.
As providence would have it, a sufficient viewing point made itself innately clear to her and before long she was draped, side on to the corner wall.
Her posture the very paradigm of elegance, every element from her untamed hair to her careless attire was so out of place it was almost vulgar but she wore it well. Not such a shadow upon the wall but an exhibit, something to draw the eye.
And how his eyes were drawn. They slid disinterestedly away from his current subject and on to a creature which emanated, to be candid, a magnetic sexual energy.
What is it that makes feelings of fury so akin to those of aching desire? Neither cared, it seemed, they simply stood in their respective places. Eyes locked in a power play which no one, not the party animals in her wake or the doe eyed darling beside him could impede upon.
Eventually, and it did take a long time, the young woman realized with astonishment that his attentions were not on her. Her words fell upon deaf ears; she followed his gaze to the irritant which caused his distraction.
Kazana was aware when the beauty leaned in to whisper questions in his ear, queries that no doubt involved her own person. She was also aware of his failure to reply. There was no swarming sense of jealousy at the sight, but she did derive satisfaction from his disinterest in the woman and that did not play in to her plan at all.
Slowly, deliberately, she moved her attentions to that of the exit and walked out of The Pit.
The golden haired vixen's jaw dropped when he followed.
It was as though the air was charged with a crackling, heated sense of anticipation. She never turned her head to look behind, only moved with calm deliberation to the towering stone arch.
With practiced familiarity, her hand trailed along the wall beside her, dipping and delving in to the grazing dents. When she reached his door, the presence behind made not a sound but she spun slowly to face him and there was a heartbeat of silence. A moment of deliberation.
He placed his hand on the pad alongside the door, it beeped and clicked open.
It was as though the seconds that passed for her to enter did not exist, for where Kazana was once standing outside the door expectantly, she suddenly was not.
They collided, a violent and frenzied crash as Eric's arms formed a gilded cage around her waist. Suffocating and furious in their grip, she snarled, pushing at solid shoulders to no avail when he slammed her in to the wall.
Heated breaths mingled as he leaned in to kiss her but with a fixed glare she angled her chin away so the determined embrace was met with nothing but air. His eyes narrowed at the challenge, daring her to move again, he veered in once more.
Kaz allowed scornful victory to seep in to her gaze as she evaded his lips. It was then that realization flickered in the Dauntless leaders' expression and his mouth curled slowly in to a carnal smile.
This time when he inclined his head, a husky growl fell hot and heavy in her ear.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were asking to be fucked like an animal."
"Well then it's a good thing we both revel in ignorance," she smirked.
Eric's hands were punishingly tight as he held her to the wall, and unforgiving stone drove brutally in to her back. It was nothing like the teasing, opulent touches of their previous encounter. This was sick, animalistic debauchery, a need to hurt, a need to feel.
Clawed hands grazed her skin as Kazana's vest was ripped off in a singular vicious motion; his eyes were fixed solely on parted lips. Their pants fell heavy in wild depraved lust.
"Is this what you wanted last time? Hmm? To have your pretty little knickers torn off as I fuck you in to the wall?"
To her great ire, Kazana felt a guttural moan leave her throat when he pressed entirely against her; every inch of his hard length was grinding in to her core. Seized by frustration, she scratched definite canals down the skin of his arms; eyes alight with grim repletion at the red marks she left there.
Eric hissed, she leaned forward and a sweeping of thick black hair encased his neck and torso as she growled feverish in his ear.
"I think it's about time you stop saying what you're going to do and, Just. Do. It."
His hand fisted in her hair with a savage wrench, flaring jolts of pain and pleasure shot through her as he used it to force her in to the wall. She gasped as her stomach and breasts made contact with the cold surface, Eric's free hand pressed tight against her lower back and she arched in to it, revelling in the cruel sensations.
It all seemed to happen so fast and yet her body was achingly aware, and every motion happened with such filthy, sharp clarity. The flitting sound of his zipper, and the rough scraping of material descending her legs as he left her in little more than the skimpy material covering the crux of her thighs.
She braced two hands on the wall, nails digging painfully in to the stone when she felt thick solid muscles form a prison around her ribs. Large, roughened hands kneaded painfully at the flesh of her breasts and she could not contain a fervid moan when his fingers pinched and twisted her nipples.
Neither fear, nor doubt plagued her mind in that moment, just an insatiable, furious need to be filled to the hilt, she needed to fucking scream her lungs raw and writhe and shiver and sob.
Eric didn't disappoint, fuck she knew he wouldn't disappoint, not when his breaths were smoky sweet intoxicating pants in her ear and her scalp still burned deliciously from his relentless grip on her hair.
Then his hand released its taunting constraint on her breasts leaving impossibly hard peaks in its wake and trailed down the smooth skin of her stomach. Kaz shivered when his thumb brushed teasingly over her sensitive bud, rubbing the flesh through her knickers in hard, hedonic strokes.
Hissing in impatience she arched back in to him once more, moaning when she felt the gratifying impact of flesh on flesh. He was so achingly hard for her and what semblance of control he'd had seemed to be destroyed when strong hands wrenched the last piece of material away with a violent rip that yanked painfully at her throbbing centre in the process.
And then he was pulling at her hair with tearing force, and sharp teeth pierced her shoulder as he sank into her with a shuddering masculine groan. She exhaled shakily when overcome with the sensation of being so impossibly filled because fuck he was huge and it, it…
It hurt.
It fucking hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before.
And it was exactly what she needed.
Kaz felt him seize up then, and understood in that moment that he was going to try and take it slow. She couldn't have that. He pulled away in an infuriatingly gradual motion; she pushed back instantly, forcing him to growl through gritted teeth.
The fist in her hair tightened with renewed force and then he surged forward and a clawed hand was grasping her thigh and pulling her back in to the movement, her eyes squeezed shut as her mind was so exquisitely clouded with lust and pleasure.
But then he stopped. Withdrawing to spin her around and he was hiking one leg up to wrap around his firm, taut waist. Kazana waited for him to continue, fuck she was on the verge of begging for him to continue. Yet he just kept himself positioned at her entrance and waited until she finally opened her eyes and gasped as his own bore down on her, black and searing with desire.
Then he sunk in to her and they both moaned in to each other's mouths, and then his cock was pounding in to her with rough, bruising force, and fucking hell she was so wet for him. Eric's body was hard and unyielding as it gripped her own but his eyes, fuck his eyes were burning for her.
No he couldn't do that, this was supposed to be cold, a means to an end, nothing more.
But the friction was so deliciously perfect and fuck, she felt him angle himself to go oh so much deeper and the tip of his cock hit her cervix, completely filling her and that was it, that was the bliss she had so long been awaiting, he fit so fucking well, and her body was beginning to tremble with an unfamiliar sensation, a pulsing hot vibration that burst through her skin like white hot needles, and then his lips were on hers, swallowing her moans as he shuddered his own release.
They came together; the kiss was an open mouthed gasp, a collision of greed, craving and fervent desire. She hadn't even realized her hands had come to grasp his hair until the feel of flesh endured under her tearing nails. His own grip never relented on her waist and thigh, holding her to him as their pants fell hot and laboured.
Kazana wanted so badly to escape his silvered eyes, to clutch on to what control she had left, keep everything impersonal.
But his molten steel gaze forced her to stare back at him, and it willed her to open up completely, and she knew he could see every damn thing. Scorching lust, insurmountable rage and then, finally,
Pain.
Kaz collapsed in to his arms with an anguished sob, everything that had been suppressed up until that moment broke through with agonizing entirety. Firm hands guided her other thigh to wrap around his waist as Eric carried her though another arch, depositing her on to the swarthy sheets.
Pale, gaunt fingers sought out the cool relief of a stray pillow; she sunk her face in to the cushioned surface and allowed the soft material to muffle her shaking sobs. For a long time, they did not cease, uncontrollable grieving gasps reverberated through her body. It was as though her entire being was a plethora of agony, all of the heartache in the world had come to reside within her and now it bled out in to dusky silk. The bed did not sink down with an additional weight, no hushing sounds or soothing touches eased her pain. And for that she was glad.
In the vast confines of the Dauntless compound, a young woman cried herself to sleep, alone.
Her awakening brought with it merciless clarity. All-encompassing exhaustion spoke of stolen hours, what rest she'd had, had been brief but mercifully barren.
She tumbled ungracefully from the bed; trembling arms shot out to steady her fall but the overwhelming soreness which savaged her ever step played a heavy reminder of exactly what had occurred that night.
The first thing to note, was that she, Kaz, Dauntless initiate and undercover rebel, had had rough, brutal sex with the leader of said Faction,
That was…permitted.
The second was that she Kazana, factionless orphan and reluctant spy, had experienced a phenomenal orgasm at the hands of the man, who'd killed her best friend,
This was unbearable.
A sliver of light crept through the open arch to illuminate a dark residue on her inner thighs, blood. Searching hands trailed the walls to lead in to a further alcove; the entire room was lit up immediately to reveal a great marbled tub. It did not entice her in however as she made haste to clean the evidence.
Merciful fate had kept Eric away for the time being, and she would not pass up on that allowance. Scrubbing with more vigour than was likely warranted, Kazana glanced up at her harsh reflection and willed herself to see emptiness, regret, a solitary anchor with which she could be assured nothing had changed.
Yet how could her face betray such emotions when they did not exist? It had been…he had been, sensational. Resentment grew within her as she thought back to intense grey eyes, what right did he have to force her to feel?
Kaz stormed from the room to grasp haphazardly at a folding of thick cotton, shoving it over her head, the material engulfed her, coming down to mid-thigh. What right did he heavy to f-force that and, just…leave?
But no it was a good thing, a blessing even. A sign from the deities that it wasn't over, the plan would continue on and she would grow to flourish in the art of deception.
Eric was too fundamental a figure in her plan for it to crumble now, he essentially was the plan.
So they would continue on with this…affair of sorts.
And such sensitivities as she had displayed earlier would never occur again.
Ever.
Covert steps through the door did not stopped a sudden figure from colliding in to her; she was shocked from her reverie, and immediately cursed internally that such an event should not have been foreseen.
"Max!"
"Kazana," he smiled and she waited with bated breath for the moment in which he glanced down, eyes narrowing in distaste as he questioned the nature of her undress.
No such look was received, he just continued to gaze warmly at her, a steady hand remained fixed on her shoulder.
"It just so happens that you are exact the person I was looking for!"
"I…sir?"
He did not correct her.
A moment's walk led them to another door; the central domain of the leader's living quarters. A macabre sense of unease unfurled within Kaz as he leaned on the touchpad and waited for the process of command.
This man was inviting her scantily dressed self in to his quarters in the middle of the night. Naturally, instinct instilled a readiness to flee. Halfway through the entrance, he regarded her tense form.
"I have for you a serum that will work."
Recoiling back in to the opposite wall, it was then that she became convinced this was a nightmare. Because Max could not know about the fear serum, he couldn't know that her simulations had failed.
Because Max-
Was analyzing every move she made with a glassy look in his eye.
He held himself in a poised business- like fashion that was startlingly averse to his usual hunched stance; so much so Kazana was surprised she had not seen it before…
And he'd called her by her given name.
Which meant he was under the influence of somebody else.
"Who are you?"
His lips curved in a wry smile. "You are a clever girl. Who I am is not important right now, I believe the real question at hand, is who you are."
"I do-What do you want? Why are you following me?!"
"So many queries and quite the surplus of answers I can assure you. If you would only spare me a few moments of your time?" He beckoned towards the entrance once more and against her better judgement, she followed.
Everything struck her as disturbingly sterile upon her first glance, no one thing within the room existed to serve a congenial purpose. It was the very essence of practicality.
"Please Kazana, if you would take a seat."
He had already settled himself in to a sleek, lengthy desk which resembled closely that of the conference room's table. The synthetic smile that was trained on her as she sat opposite him did little to quell her nerves.
"As I can imagine you are simply teeming with curiosity but I am afraid that my job at present is to provide you with one solution only."
Kaz winced at the sound of metal landing upon the smooth surface with a resounding bang, he slid a silver case to her. Clouded eyes scanned her reactions methodically as she unclipped the box and opened it to reveal 6 vials of burnt orange liquid.
"I suspect you know why these are necessary."
"The simulation failed. But that doesn't explain who you are, and what it is you want with me."
He clasped his hands together and leaned back in to the opulent leather chair.
"Oh dear child that is quite true! The situation remains however that you are in quite a precarious place are you not? It would be a tremendous shame were your secret to be uncovered hmm? A factionless young girl living within the Dauntless compound, a sheep among wolves if you will!"
It had been established that this was not the man he appeared to be but to see her such information fall from the mouth of a Dauntless leader with such insouciance. It shook her to the bone.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Oh darling girl no!" he leaned in to her; sweet endearments looked menacing on his tongue.
"It's just; we appear to be at a bit of a crossroads you see? We, that is my people and I have invested quite a substantial amount in the preservation of this city and well, to be quite frank my dear, you and your cause are causing us quite a stir."
"So what you're suggesting is…"
"A lifetime of comfort," he beamed, "In exchange for your absolute cooperation that you will cease to rally the rebellion any further, we give you these serums." He clicked the box shut. "You will complete your initiation without a single hiccup and society can go on as it has done for eons!"
"And if I don't comply?"
His smile faltered to a grimace, Kaz thought it the most honest expression she had seen from him yet.
"I'm afraid my darling that we simply cannot allow you to endanger the system."
"So you'll kill me?"
Pierced brows rose in an instant as his eyes widened in horror.
"Good lord darling, no! You are after all my greatest success," he eyed her fondly and it seemed to her then the surrealism of the day's events had numbed her to the startling reality this man was presenting.
"It was you in the memory, in the white. You were there."
He sighed, "I am sorry it had to happen the way it did Kazana, such a sweet girl you were. Such a shame."
The chair scraped against slate with an agonizing squeal.
"WHO ARE YOU!?"
"I'm afraid I cannot disclos-"
"TELL ME WH-"
A large hand slammed down heavily on the table as he looked up at her, he inhaled sharply but came again to fix her with a simpering smile. There was however a glint in his eye, a warning.
"This," he pressed a taut finger in to the box, it whitened with the impact. "Is your last chance Kazana. Take the serum. And go."
She gaped at him for a few moments in disbelief, but was resolute in her answer.
"No."
He studied her for a few moments with narrowed eyes; eventually however he shut them with a deep breath.
"Very well."
Silence passed between the two for what seemed like minutes, unbeknownst to her she had been tremoring violently, a perspiration of sweat fell past her brow as she tried to calm her breaths.
When Max opened his eyes, they were in all their clarity, burning with acid fury.
"What the fuck did you do to me?" he growled and Kazana knew in that instant that she was being addressed by the Dauntless leader.
"I didn…I don-"
"WHAT DID YOU DO!" he roared, she was winded as he slammed the table away and in to her ribs. Choking for breath she retreated clumsily from his advances, Kazana threw herself across the table, slipping her fingers in to the handle of the box before bolting towards the door.
An agonized scream tore from her throat as he ripped in to her hair and used it to slam her face in to the wall. She used the momentum of her spin to smack the iron case in to his head. Max staggered back, nose bloodied and his jaw clenched, he accelerated forward once more.
Waiting till the very last second she stepped to the side, he went face first in to the wall. Wasting no time Kaz wrenched open the door.
Stone walls, intricate patterns, descending halls, they all blurred in to one as she sprinted to a destination she did not know. There was not a single person in sight, the corridors were deserted and it made it all the easier for her to hear the pounding echoes of his boots.
She was suddenly submerged in to glimmering darkness, flickering's of blue light bounced off the uneven walls. A crescendo of deafening crashes and thunderous roars rendered her captive to the divine mighty of The Chasm.
Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, her throat choked up in terror as a solid form knocked her to the ground. Max's fists slammed in to her jaw, her temple, her stomach, it was a tirade of untameable wrath.
The box slid from her grasp, it teetered dangerously close to the bridge and Kazana cried out as another blow was sent to her mouth. Blood cascaded from her nose and mingled with pooled saliva as his hits refused to cease.
She was snatched up, bent backwards on to the railings as he hovered dangerously over her. Every muscle in her body trembled and ached and she could not summon the strength to stop him as he dangled her over the mortal stream.
Strands of hair flew wildly around her face as the gale force winds hammered at her bruised flesh. Syrupy drops of crimson slid down snow white skin before falling in to the icy waters where she would soon meet her fate.
Yet in those last few moments, the only voice that called to her was Cain's.
'Listen to the way your body reacts.'
He was using the entirety of his weight to tilt her against the bars, one last push and she would be fall head first in to the murky depths.
'can you feel how your movement is affected?'
A pattern could be found in anything, a formula, a code, a rhythm. There was beauty in chaos; his breaths fell on her face in measured counts, a distant thrum sounded in the rushing water.
She shut her eyes and relaxed under him, Max threw her forward and as her body moved up she wrapped her legs around his hips in a vice like grip and held on to the bars with fierce tenacity.
They both went hurtling over the edge, Kaz released her hold instantly. Clammy hands trembled on the bars as she hung contorted on the edge and an ear piercing scream was swallowed by the immersive void.
With one last modicum of power she clambered over the rails and collapsed in a shuddering heap on to the bridge. Kaz's chest heaved as dampened locks of hair clung to pallid skin, her tongue darted out to wet the cracked skin of her lips, blue and sickly in their guise.
A pulverized hand reached out quavering to hold on to the side as she searched the crashing waves below. It was as though nothing had taken place at all. The Chasm remained the same, a resplendent invariable. But a lifetime of searching could not erase the magnitude of what she had done.
She had just killed a Dauntless leader.