Chapter 23
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.
A/N: Update time! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter; I would love to hear your feedback. Where do you think the story is going from here on out? Not long left now!
Also if any of you have questions/suggestions or even requests that you want to send me personally then you can find me on tumblr. Link is in my profile.
Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent, or an espresso machine. After this chapter I'm going to need it.
3 months ago
Four walls held in the harsh screams of her writhing form, they reverberated as white hot pin pricks against Eric's ears, piercing his skull. She'd been sound asleep when he'd arrived at the teetering edge of dusk and dawn; the sky had warmed to brushed navy before disappearing behind the Dauntless walls.
A pattern had arisen in which he snatched what sleep he could and slipped away before she awoke, never did they touch, and rarely did they speak. To her, he was a silhouette, creeping in and out of the darkness. What stress he derived from the long hours increased ten-fold when the screaming began. Agonizing visions unknown to him, they swarmed through her unconscious mind and rendered her physical form to a shivering, sobbing mess.
"NO!" Kaz cried, "PLEASE, NOT AGAIN, I CA-" her chest heaved as pale fingers clutched the sheets beneath them.
Daylight would filter in, and they'd continue to watch each other in silence. He, dark eyed and furious from continuous exhaustion and she, wary and withdrawn. Kazana knew he could hear her, she'd known the moment she woke up on a bed of tears. But to brooch the subject was to risk his questions, the nature of her dreams.
Eric had seen her fear simulation, he had witnessed the same horrors as she, but they were both in the dark and it simply stayed that way.
Weeks later, Eric laid victim to another sleepless night, teeth gritted and fists clenched as the mattress shook beneath her trembling body.
"LET ME OUT! I DON'T WANT THIS! PLEASE!" her screams grew in desperation, shrill and indiscernible. His initial thought had been vicious; her night terrors were a result of abuse, perhaps at the hands of another man. Eric's blood had boiled at the idea, but it came and went in an instant when further cries discarded the notion.
"Make it stop," she whimpered in to her pillow, "I don't want to go to sleep."
This one, much to his chagrin, had been the most haunting of all. A murmured plea that crept under his skin and clung coldly to bone. 6am and Eric was already dressed, she would be awake within the hour, but he simply couldn't wait that long. Her cries were unbearable, and a severe lack of rest brought forth a searing resentment, this could not go on any longer.
A damp, sickly sheen covered her forehead as Kazana lay beneath the truck that night. Her skin retained a deathly pallor and long dark strands felt itchy with sweat against her neck. One of the wheels had come loose during testing, every muscle ached and her eyelids fell heavy due to the weeks of tortured dreams.
"Would you take a break already?!" Christina's arms were crossed resolutely over her chest as she looked down at the younger girl. Three months in and Kazana had certainly proved her stubborn streak, and a curious knack for mechanics, but the work was driving her to exhaustion and the effect had not gone unnoticed.
"Just 5 more minutes," Kaz wheezed, the tool felt heavier than usual, lean muscles flexed beneath sticky skin as she turned it with forceful strokes.
"You said that half an hour ago," Christina rolled her eyes and wheeled Kaz out from beneath the monstrous structure using her foot. She was met with a resentful glare.
"I'm not finished," Kazana sighed tiredly.
"Look you might be good with a spanner but I'm still in charge here, and I'm telling you to go get some rest."
She looked up at Christina from her reclined position, dragging a gloved hand through clammy strands of hair.
"I-"
"If you're both done lying around, then maybe you could consider doing your job?" Eric's gravelly drawl pulled their attention to the entrance in which he stood before a group of waiting soldiers.
"We were just-, I mean we weren't-"Christina trailed off when fixed with a scornful glare.
Eric's stony gaze slid over Kazana who had come to a shaky stand, she tried in vain to brush the oily residue from her thighs and looked up at him.
Minute details went unnoticed by the majority, the darkened flesh beneath his grey orbs, tired lines etched in to the skin. But Kaz saw, he was as restless as she, if not worse and instead of approaching the problem, it had festered, leaving a thick tension that was tangible.
"We'll take the usual, get my guards fixed up."
Christina had already begun to weave communication wires through the hollows of their newly renewed jackets. Kazana eyed the attire curiously, "You're not patrolling tonight?"
Eric was already in discussion with his second in command.
A young woman with cropped brown hair and multiple piercings in her brow stepped forward.
"War games," she tugged at the lightweight material and winked, "Stealthy stuff, y'know."
Nodding slowly, Kaz went to a modified station in the cavern and picked a gun to press in to the girl's palm. The Dauntless in question looked down at it and snorted derisively.
"A pistol? Really? What am I, a pussy?"
Kazana rubbed her eyes tiredly, averse to the steely gaze which was now trained on the conversation.
"I fixed it up myself," she assured, "It'll work better for your-"
"It's not up to you to decide what works," Eric approached coldly, hands clasped behind his back. "You've worked here for what? 3 months? And you're already making changes where they're not needed."
He took the firearm out of the girl's hand and examined the cap, his cruel stare swept over Kaz as it crumpled beneath his fingers.
A mixture of plastic and foam she had added for a muted shot. They fell pathetically to the ground, her throat felt thick with humiliation as harsh sniggers sounded.
His solid form was large and impending over hers as he slid the damaged weapon in to her hand.
"Next time you want to undermine my instructions, make sure you actually have a gun that works," Eric said icily. Kaz looked away with a clenched jaw as the girl smirked knowingly at her.
She kept her eyes trained on the floor, a furious blush heating her cheeks as the remaining patrol filed out behind Christina. Eric was the last to leave, his dark silhouette passed over the littered pieces. Kazana knelt down, assembling the pistol once more with trembling fingers.
He was a hairsbreadth away from the exit when a bullet flew past his ear and hit the wall opposite; every muscle froze as the stone cracked under the impact, leaving behind a gaping hole. All this, and there existed not a single sound. The shot had been, miraculously silent.
Eric turned slowly on his heel; she regarded him with a strong stance and head held high. But it did not escape his gaze, the way her black orbs glimmered with unshed tears and her face was sunken from a deep rooted sadness, a physical representation of her dreams.
The gun clattered to the ground, its weak structure tremored from the force but the message held true. She had a lot to say, he had a lot to hear, if he would just listen.
Kazana fled before a single word could pass, her pride could not take the blow were her tears to fall. It was one thing for him to witness her unconscious terrors, but she would never let him see her do it awake. Eric's rough fingers clenched around the titanium shell lying beside the exit, the seeds of doubt had been planted and an unwilling discovery churned within.
He'd felt himself entirely deserving of Dauntless leadership, even more so of the top spot which the Stiff been stolen from him. There were few things that Eric felt himself unworthy of.
She'd never just been an initiate, just another Amity transfer. Not really. It made him feel a lot less selfish when he thought of it that way, that he hadn't seen something so pure and unattainable and sought to hold onto it in a haze of animalistic greed.
Why did their disputes always come down to things so trivial? Didn't she realize he was hooked? Whatever demons were dragging her down, he'd follow. Even if it destroyed them both.
Kazana was certain she could feel each individual vein in her eyeballs pulsing with soreness, her eyes would shut momentarily, allowing a moment of refuge, of peace. But it never lasted long before the fear crept in, fear of the dark, of the night terrors. Just a moment too long and sleep would sweep her away, she would drown in it, and there his face would be, the strange man with the charming smile and deranged gaze.
Toma. Toma. Toma.
It was never going to stop, was it?
The mattress dipped as a familiar weight sat on to it; she lay hunched on her stomach. Shaky breaths falling rapidly against the pillow, the patterns of day and night went unseen within the Dauntless Compound but Eric was nothing if not consistent. It had to be early dawn at least.
Kazana did not look at him, did not even react to his silence. He was probably wondering what she was still doing there, she had wondered the same thing, but somehow even after the turmoil of that evening Kaz couldn't bring herself to leave. Deep down she knew the dreams would only get worse if she did.
"Why are you awake?"
Her exposed skin prickled with awareness, flaring out in gooseflesh. She could not discern whether it was the chill of his quarters, or the tenor in his voice.
Her cheek nuzzled the cool pillow as she turned to look at him, silvery irises glinted back at her but his form was otherwise thrown in to darkness. His naked torso radiated an irresistible heat and she was glad he could not see her own exhausted face, eyes shrunken and red, desperate for rest.
"I can't face another night," she whispered. Her soft admission was muffled in to the plush material, but in the room's silence, it did not go unheard.
Kazana's ears detected no movement, not even a breath from his direction, but suddenly warm, solid arms pulled her across the mattress until she lay half atop him. One muscular forearm snaked over her back, holding her down firmly.
Every touch, every embrace had been borne purely from lust in their three months together, leaving behind a cool reality in which neither crossed the safe rift the bed created. Kaz could not bring herself to complain as he abandoned that barrier and a blissful moan caught in her throat as she buried her face in to warm crook of his neck.
They stayed like that for what could have been hours, leg hitched tightly on to his abdomen, his thumb brushing back and forth over her hip in soothing motions and slowing until it was simply a welcoming pressure on her waist.
With each regular breath against her temple Kazana was lulled into the darkness. The cold rift between them had melted away, and with it, so had the nightmares.
Present
Wide amber eyes stared at the ceiling above, hoping that perhaps in the shadowed patterns she might find some answers. In lieu of a comfortable night's sleep to process the day events, Lisa found herself awake and entirely overwhelmed.
Beside her Christina slept soundly, it was lucky that the dark afforded her some disguise as a taller figure rose from his bed and slipped through the door.
Lisa wasted no time in shoving on her boots; stupid nostalgic thoughts occurred to her that the dirt on these shoes came from the city. She was convinced; this place was driving her mad.
Emerging suddenly in to brightness she wiped hastily at her eyes, squinting in to the hallway it occurred to her then, that it was Four's wary gait stalking in to the night.
Pushing away the instinct to shout for him, she followed quietly instead. Lisa had possessed a strong sense of distrust the moment they entered the Bureau's compound. In fact, the wariness had existed since Kazana's disappearance, but she didn't want to think about that, she couldn't.
Sophie was the only family she had, it was true her behaviour had been increasingly withdrawn, but for her to be the reason for Kaz…it was unthinkable.
Rubber soles squealed to a stop as she looked desperately from left to right, which way had he gone? Small circular lights lay in the ceiling above, illuminating her options dimly; impulse drove her to the right.
The path was unsettlingly plain, that was until ordinary walls morphed in to steel surroundings. Her shoes echoed against the surface like an anxious drum, there were strange rivets in the material, akin to a giant fan.
It was impossible that Four had followed such an empty route, it certainly could not lead to anything of use. Despite these thoughts however, Lisa could not stop. She passed an open lift; a single light flickered within, off, on, off, on. The entrance had been covered in barbed wire, a warning to stay out. The sight sent shivers down her spine.
Hall after hall after hall, they all existed in the same strangely deserted way, what could such a structure possibly provide? It seemed entirely pointless.
And then there was a door, nothing special, and yet exceedingly welcome among the nothingness that had led her there. The plaque on the smooth surface read 'Marnya Volkov.'
What truly shocked her was that applying little resistance to the handle had the door clicking open easily. Either what lay within was drastically dull, or there had been a lapse in security. It would be the height of stupidity to explore it now, just one girl, the same who had barely passed stage one by the skin of her teeth, who couldn't even protect her best friend she was so weak.
Yet somehow Lisa felt desperate, and something just pulled her in. It was thrown in to an artificial glaze the moment she set foot in the room. A startling clash of black and white, sterile walls and plain furnishings, she thought back to the offices in Candor. Every surface was immaculate, no one thing was out of place, it was decidedly professional.
Three photos sat in slick ebony frames upon the centre desk. A young woman stood in the first, long brown ringlets and a bubbly smile. She had a scroll in one hand and a strange square cap on her head as she shook hands with an older man.
The second had the same golden eyed girl grinning as she wore what looked like a fresh white robe, the initials 'RPTS' printed in thick bold lettering along the breast. Both photos looked thoroughly aged, a stark contrast to the third.
Where the first two's frames had been small and carried a feathering of dust, this one took centre stand and looked to have been polished regularly.
Though she wore the same youthful smile, the woman was young no more, greying chestnut curls pulled in to a bun on her head and clad in the same white coat. She was accompanied in this one by a small girl with rippling black waves and pretty dark eyes. The child grinned at the camera, two baby teeth already missing as the older woman held her in a motherly embrace, kissing her on the temple.
Lisa gazed open mouthed at the picture, the pieces existed there in her subconscious and yet somehow they wouldn't fit, part of her didn't want them to. It was all just too strange…
"Download Complete."
The cool, robotic voice reverberated around the walls and her eyes were instantly drawn to the screen covering one breadth of the wall. It cast the room in an ethereal blue glow, she approached it slowly. A square box flashed in the centre, Download Complete, Download complete.
Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, her heart positively pounded as she reached out tentatively and tapped the screen. The reaction was immediate the box disappeared and morphed instead to a larger file.
Archive 1: 2096
A series of images flicked on the screen in a flash, layering upon one another. Lisa crashed back in to the desk with a horrified cry. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as acidic bile threatened at the back of her throat. Each photo was barely discernible as it appeared and was immediately covered by the next. But the glimpses were there, and they stuck.
One body had been small, immersed in a half zipped sack as the face had tripled in size to a strange bulbous mess. The next showed a line of sacks, the heads protruded, each distorted in their own sick way. Every photo was colourless and yet the resolution remained sharp. A small girl behind a glass screen, face caught in a frozen scream. An older boy whose skin had sunken in to bone and looked to be covered in a range of angry open sores.
Lisa clasped her hands to her mouth, painfully tight, anything to keep the vomit at bay. What the hell was this? Who were this people?
The final image appeared, her immediate reaction was relief. It was decidedly calmer than the rest, and put a solid end to the array of terrors before. It was a photo of a photo, a screen grab, surrounded by a white frame where the words were written in inky writing beneath. RPTS.
What looked to be a giant white pill stood amidst a laboratory akin to those in the Erudite compound. Within it was a child, much like those before, and yet this one was unharmed. She stood behind a window of glass, angelic face set in a deep sleep. Lisa glanced at the frame on Marnya's desk, the same girl, there was no doubt of it.
And yet how…
A stern voice drew Lisa from her reverie. Honeyed eyes amidst a worn face stared back at her.
"What are you doing in here?"
Kazana sank to her knees, rubbing her cheek roughly against cool marble. The rough skin of his thumb was stroking her jaw, she was mildly aware of it and yet entirely averse.
"12 years ago you were taken out my darling, has it really been that long?" he chuckled to himself. She closed her eyes as new waft of smoke blew directly in to her face, it tickled her flesh.
"The city seemed the safest opti-"
"Stop," she growled.
"What?"
"Stop," her tone grew in desperation, "Just stop, I can't…," Kaz shook her head, a piercing ache thrummed through her skull. "No more, please."
His hand moved in to her hair, delving in to the midnight locks, he swept it to the side and knelt down beside her. A curl of revulsion turned her stomach as his voice murmured in her ear.
"Don't you want to know the reason for all those years of suffering? I've seen it you know, the cold nights…the tears. But you grew from it didn't you? How I knew you would grow from it."
"What does it matter now?" she asked numbly.
The grip on her shoulder tightened, almost painfully, silky fingers dug in to her flesh.
"Of course it matters, foolish child," he spat. A venomous sound that belied his true soul; it was gone before it was really there, his insipid smile returned once more. Toma released her; she continued to stare in to the glimmering depths of the pool as his words passed over her in a tired haze.
"Do you know how long it took me to succeed in my research? Years. Countless years of failed attempts and wasted lives, I needed to build something that would last, something impenetrable. It took suffering in the process, some, I admit, at the expense of others. But it worked did it not? 200 seemed a solid number, logical and yet fantastical. You can only imagine the attention I got after that."
He went on, oblivious to her shock, to the unbearable overload. How long she had wanted answers, craved them. But he could take them back; he could take them all back.
"It would have been around 42 years ago today that the Bureau sought rights to the company. Terrified, that the experiment would be shut down, I was broken out before my time was done. Needless to say that didn't work too well for them…or me."
Her dark eyes scanned the glimmering fields, his little utopia. She wondered who had come out of it better really.
"The matter of what should be done with you was a tricky one indeed. When they told me of the city, the Faction system, I was amused to say the least, their little attempt at control," Toma scoffed, "as though it would do any good. And to think they wanted to put you with the likes of them. To stamp out everything that made you whole. It was an outrage sweetheart, an abomination."
"So you sent me to the slums," she shook her head bitterly.
"I ensured that you were free."
"From WHAT?" Kaz snarled and came to face him, yet his face never changed from that patronizing smile. Could a man die in a simulation? "From a life? A family? I had nothing!"
"To keep you safe from categorization my sweet, to save you. Don't you see how special you are?"
"I almost died Toma! My life, fuck!" she ran a hand through her hair and looked in to the ever setting sun, it looked sickly to her now, the warm glow was an itchy discomfort. "My life has just been one fuck up after another, how exactly did you keep me safe!?"
"But you haven't died have you? Did you really think you would have made it this far on your own? It's startling really the potency of the memory serum. We've been keeping tabs on you since the moment you set foot in the city."
Kazana thought back to The Purification. To the boy with bright blue eyes that burned with hatred. To the life or death moment in which her teeth had sunk in to his skin and he flew back with a cry. Had they seen it?
"You said you thought the system was a joke, that you made me a Factionless for a reason. So why not step in? Why give me the serums?"
Toma laughed then, a loud obnoxious chuckle that had a flurry of birds shooting out of the trees and squawking across the skies.
"I couldn't give a toss about the city! The bureau can do what they please, what matters, what has always mattered, is you!"
"You killed Max."
"Actually my dear, I believe that was you."
The glare he received was positively toxic, she sucked in a sharp breath and dug her nails sharply in to her scalp.
"I need to get back to the city, they need me-"
A thick cloud of smoke diffused through his nose. "Impossible."
"You can't keep me here!"
"Oh we can and we will. The city you know is gone, or will be soon. Once we terminate the experiment."
And god help her, with those words all she could think of was him. Terminate? No.
"Let me go."
His gaze slid slowly to hers, a dark smile curling his lips.
"Darling I've waited over 200 years for you. I am never letting you go."
She swung at him with a fist so fast it should have knocked his neck back but the moment her knuckles brushed his skin it froze. A glacial prison surrounded her hand, the ice seared in to her flesh.
"Ah now is that any way to show your gratitude?" he tutted. Kazana growled and attempted to stamp at his knee before she was thrown ungraciously in to the fountain by an unknown force.
"You're in my world now Kazana. You should know better than to challenge me here."
Her frantic movements slowed as the water began to thicken to a molten hot substance. She looked up to see him observing her with the same hunger that had haunted her nightmares, a twisted feral gaze.
"In two days time the city you know will be gone, and you," Toma took two long strides forward and gripped her chin, forcing her to look in to his taunting stare, "Will come back to me."
He spoke then to the sky; the lilac pink's that tinted it had darkened to a menacing shade of crimson.
"Return her."
Toma stroked her jaw and smiled, Kaz cringed away from his touch but found herself paralyzed by his will. "I'm not a complete monster Sugarplum, I will grant you your wish. Go if you must, say goodbye to your Prince."
"How do you-"
"I told you we've been watching."
Long, thin fingers twiddled his bow as she was dragged back in to consciousness. A voice filled with promise followed her out.
"Two days my sweet."
Stationed soldiers awaited her awakening; they had filed in to the room, positioned at every corner as though expecting her resistance.
She gave none. Her shadowed gaze flicked to the comatose figure, to the liquid that flowed through his veins, allowing him a second life.
Kaz flinched as cool metal clicked around her ankle; she looked down to see one of the guards had secured it in her dazed state. Suited figures entered the room; Marnya was nowhere to be seen.
"A tracking device," the first replied in answer to her silent question. "You have 48 hours until our forces go in and reset the city. Should you not return before then we will take you ourselves."
"By any means necessary," the second finished.
"Why is he letting me go? One minute he said it was impossible and now he's just letting me walk out of here?" Kazana took a steadying breath. "Who's to say I won't stop you?"
There was a scoff from one of the guards, which was immediately transformed in to a violent coughing fit.
"He has his reasons I'm sure. And I can assure you that nothing, will impede upon the plans for your city."
Kazana glanced down at the device which weighed down on her foot, unsurprised if it turned out to be an explosive of some sort. A self-destruct, should anything go wrong.
She jerked out of her chair, crying out as jolts of pain shot through her abdomen. Toma's fantasy had rendered that wound non-existent. But now it was back, and it was slowing her down.
They utilized her moment of weakness; two guards grasped her arms and cuffed them. She was dragged out of the room; unable to rip her stare away from the unconscious body until the door shut behind them. The journey was faster and it occurred to her then that the soldiers had existed purely for her imprisonment as they no longer lined the walls ahead.
Kaz felt a chilled shiver when she passed the lift which had now been covered in barbed steel as a dim light flickered within. Instinct told her to stay away, yet distant memories drew her in.
Sloane lay reclined on a worn mattress within Tori's old quarters. His long, wiry limbed body covered the breadth of it as bare feet dangled off the end. A bucket of paintballs lay at his side, one in his palm; he fingered its plastic shell before eyeing her belongings with a grin.
Wrenching back his arm, Sloane threw it at one of her more precious possessions. A treasured goblet that her brother had painted as a child before his tragic demise. It hit the ground with a smash, glass shards littering the floor as globs of reeking dye coated her walls.
It really had been a long four days and he thought he ought to treat himself in style.
A loud knock sounded at the door, odd, who would have thought to look for him here?
"Busy," he shouted, throwing back his arm and aiming for a photo of her face. It hit her right on the nose, red paint dribbled down her mouth, he smiled.
The knock rung out again, a sturdy fist rapping against the wooden structure, not strong metal like Eric's. That man really did have everything, he sneered to himself.
Sloane launched off the bed and threw open the door.
"I said I'm fucking bu-"
His glittering blue gaze travelled up a lithe form. Large amber eyes stared back at him as her bright pink hair swayed down her shoulders.
"Sophie," he crooned, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
Her mouth was set in a distasteful frown as he leaned in and allowed his eyes to linger on her cleavage.
"I'm afraid that's where you're mistaken," she spoke sharply.
"Hmm?" he sighed; tongue darting out to his lips as he perused her shapely thighs.
"I'm not Sophie you bumbling moron. Put your tongue back in your mouth."
Sloane arched a brow and looked back up to her unimpressed gaze. There was an odd look in her eye; golden irises were clouded over like cataracts.
"I'm someone who is going to help you get what you want."
Sloane chuckled, "Oh I'm sure you will."
She rolled her eyes. "I know who gave you that scar."
He jerked back then, fingers trailing up to the angry skin of his jaw, along his cheek.
He saw it then, it was Sophie's face, Sophie's body, but it wasn't her. She carried it differently. There was an air about her, professional, powerful.
"Who?"
Sophie smirked and moved past him, immediately attracted to the pack of cigars which he'd left splayed out on the mattress.
"May I?"
Sloane sneered as she reached for one anyway, placing the end between her lips and lighting it with one of his matches. Dark grey swirls omitted from her mouth, her nose, until her features were entirely obscured and the thick substance that surrounded them both.
"Who," he repeated, fists clenched impatiently.
"I think you already know," she smiled.
Sloane stared back, his face contorting in to one of rage. He picked up a crystal tumbler and hurled it at the wall with a roar, the pitched smash was startling in the silence and yet she just continued to watch him, unimpressed.
"Where is she?" he snarled.
"All in good time, chap," She sunk down in to a plush armchair and took a deep blissful inhale of the cigar.
"You'd better fucking spit it out or I'll-"
Sophie barked out a laugh, "Or you'll what? Exactly? Who do you think put you here? Hmm? Why would a sleezy no one like you earn the prodigious title of leader?"
Sloane froze, unable to form a coherent answer. Though the desperate thirst for blood had been ignited and it pulsed through him, pupils dark and dilated as he stared at the possessed girl.
"That's right," she cooed, "We've been watching you for a long time Sloane. We understand your need for revenge and you can rest assured that we only want to guide you in that endeavour."
Sloane scoffed and snatched up one of the cigars, lighting it he took a greedy inhale and kicked at one of the broken shards with his boot.
"I don't need your help."
Sophie kept her acute gaze trained on him for long, drawn out moments. Waves of fog circled her head, the hazy shade akin to that of her clouded eyes. Calmly she withdrew a thick wad of paper from her bag and held it out so he could see the large photo on the front.
In it was a sleeping girl, her body encased in a large white tomb. The face however, the face was what drew him in. Peaceful, startlingly pure, and the very same who'd scarred him. Kazana.
He charged forward to rip it out of her grasp but stopped when she revealed a gun from the lapels of her jacket and trained a small red dot directly at his heart. Sloane took a careful step back, his frantic stare switched back and forth from the photo to Sophie's warning expression.
With a deep breath he sunk to one knee before her and held out a shaky palm for the paper. She smiled.
"That's more like it. Now, how far are you willing to go?"
Sloane's eyes remained fixed on the photo, drinking her in like a predator on the hunt.
"I'll do anything,"
"Good," she breathed. "Then we haven't a moment to waste, oh and Sloane?"
He looked up to see her watching him in earnest.
"When I go, take care of the body."
Sloane perused Sophie's possessed form slowly before giving a feral smirk.
"Of course."
Wes took extra care when soaking in his surroundings, on the outskirts of the Amity fields he stood sharp and ready. He flexed his bear like muscles and grunted, narrowing his eyes as the gentle breeze tickled his hair. Two guns remained positioned and loaded in his belt, if anyone were to see him, he would be prepared.
With one last look around he nodded, the coast was clear.
He sunk slowly to the ground and plucked a single daisy, piercing a hole in its stem so that he might fasten it to another, in mere moments he had created a beautiful chain. A daisy chain. He grinned and slung it over his neck, humming to himself a sweet Amity rhyme as he began on a matching bracelet.
A clear rift existed as he sat on the vast lawn of green plush fields, beyond it stood the signs, X's, a warning not to ascend any further. A flurry of gravel flew at his face as a small, black clad form threw herself on to him with a breathless cry.
He was perturbed at the disturbance, she'd broken his bracelet. The force of her attack had sent them both down to the ground; he looked up in to large, inky eyes.
"Your highness!?"
"You're okay," she laughed tearfully and winced as she withdrew, pressing a hand to her lower abdomen. "You're alright."
"I'm alright?" he spluttered. "I'm alright?! Where the devil have you been!"
"There so much-," she scrambled to her feet. "Too much to say I don't know where to begin, are the others safe," Kazana paused, her throat bobbed as she swallowed nervously.
"Has Eric…,"
"Nope," Wes shrugged his hefty shoulders and joined her in direction of the tents. "Everyone's fine, well...I mean the ones that are here."
"What?"
He gazed back with a sheepish expression.
"Weston, explain yourself right now!"
"TrisFourandeveryoneelsewentoutsidethecityandnowwedon'tknowwheretheyare," he babbled.
Kaz stared at him, he stared back, eyes comically wide.
She inhaled deeply through her nose and turned on her heel, Wes followed her in alarm and the two sifted in between a swarm of red and yellow clad bodies before stopping by a random tent.
Kazana walked in, uncaring of the family that lived within and grabbed a pillow from one of the mattresses. Wes watched as she emerged from the tent, brought the pillow to her face and proceeded to scream in to it.
Vesper and Turf ran over in excitement as they spotted familiar dark waves swaying in the distance, this instantly turned to confusion as they watched the young girl screaming her lungs raw in to someone's cushion.
"Urm…is she…" Turf turned to Wes who watched the display open mouthed, "…O-kay?"
Cain and a few others approached quietly, drawn in by the commotion and his large hand held Vesper back as she tried to intervene.
"Just let her be," he murmured.
Kazana's throat throbbed and her lungs ached but it was only when she felt the initial fury fade away that she allowed the sound to stop. She dragged the pillow slowly down her face, chest heaving, and looked around at the sea of shocked faces.
"Oh," she panted and nodded to them amiably, "Hello everyone."
Seconds of silence ticked by before she was swept up by a wave of bodies, not one distinguishable as they clambered at her for a fierce embrace. Even after the trauma, the realization that they were living on transient time, she could not help but laugh, it bubbled out of her throat and filled the air as the extent of their relief was tangible.
"Ah! Ow okay OW! Bullet wound people!" she wheezed when the hugs became a little too over exuberant.
Cain held them back and steadied her, Kaz observed the happiness in their gait, the eagerness for information. What could she say? Where to begin?
"What happened," he asked calmly.
She would just have to start with what she knew.
"Sophie was working with people outside the city."
"I knew it!" Vesper shouted, "That little cu-"
Wes clapped a hand to her mouth and drew her in close, Vesper glared up at him with narrowed eyes.
"I was unconscious for three days, and when I woke up today…I found out they are planning to reset the city."
"Reset?! What…how…,"
"Memory serum, they're going to refresh everyone's minds and begin again."
A Factionless woman stepped forward, two young children clung to her skirting. "Why would they tell you this? What were you doing there?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Vesper replied, "They know she's our leader, they wanted to stop her from interfering."
"Then why send her back?" another voice chimed.
Kazana gazed down at tracking device, there was so much to explain, but what good it would do them? She'd once had a life outside the city, but this was her life now, and soon that would be gone too.
"Because they know there is nothing I can do to stop it."
It was uncomfortably quiet then, and though the realization had been clear as day to her. Kazana wished she had not voiced it, not when she watched the children's faces sink in to despair.
Her throat felt painfully dry when she spoke again.
"Where's Lisa?"
"With Tris and Four, a group of them left the city yesterday. We didn't know what else to do, with you gone and Eric…," Cain trailed off.
Kazana nodded, had they been far? Just mere walls away? She shivered at the thought; did Toma know they were there?
The group dissipated over time, weighed down with the knowledge of their impending fate. It seemed they were trapped, unable to stay lest they be slaughtered by the remaining Dauntless. Unable to leave, the Bureau would never allow it.
Only a few stayed by Kaz's side, they lay on the grass and looked up at the night sky. Wes glanced down at the device on her ankle.
"You know if you wanted a bracelet your highness, all you had to do was ask."
She smiled sadly, tempted to run with the joke. But she couldn't lie to them.
Kazana remembered when she'd refused to get a tattoo, a piercing, anything that might bring her closer to the people she'd betrayed. Ignorance had led her to think a mere piece of artwork would stop her from loving them. But it hadn't.
"I have to go back."
"Where?" Turf looked side on at her.
"Outside the city," she exhaled shakily. "They put me here when I was four years old, wiped my memory so I wouldn't remember."
And that was putting it lightly.
"They made you Factionless? That's pretty sick," Vesper shook her head.
"Yeah well," Kaz look up into the inky darkness, where small pockets of light glinted down on her. Toma would never see the night sky. Forever living in his own distorted Utopia. "They're not very nice people."
The air was thick with that same unbearable tension, and it felt wrong amidst their group.
"Hey remember when Kaz cut your pants off?" Vesper laughed, the others joined in as Turf's face turned a deep shade of beetroot.
"That was a delicate time for me!" Turf protested.
"You guys are laughing!" Kaz shook her head, "But I was terrified of him for weeks! I thought you guys were gonna shave my eyebrows off in my sleep or something."
"No way? Turmeric? He'd never hurt a fly!"
"Yes well I know that now," Kazana laughed, "But then you guys came up to me at that party acting all creepy and-"
"Creepy! I resent that!" Vesper cried.
"It's alright V; we are talking to the girl who had probably never heard music in her entire life."
Kazana smacked Turf upside the head.
"OW!"
The group fell in to fresh peals of laughter, a series of 'remember when's' that had them falling over each other in guffaws.
"Yeah but remember when Eric carried you down to breakfast practically naked? Your face was a picture!" Vesper grinned, but felt a wave of regret as she watched Kazana's smile falter.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't ha-"
"No it's okay, I mean it's not like it was," she trailed off shakily, visions of him came swarming back and it choked her. Eric's eyes as they'd laid together, silver irises that glinted in the darkness. Eric's cold gaze as he'd pointed the gun at her head, seconds away from shooting. "It's not like it was real anyway."
The others nodded with murmurs of agreement, thinking of the man that they knew. The cold, relentless trainer, the leader, the murderer.
It was easy to believe really, for them.
She drummed her hand against the soft ground, the fine dirt filtered through her fingers.
"Where's Evelyn?"
"Probably off slaughtering babies or whatever else it is she does for fun," Wes drawled and Mia scoffed.
"Honestly though we have no idea," Turf frowned. "She disappeared around the same time as you; we think she's rallying up some of the Factionless again. Trying to stop us from leaving the city.
Kaz groaned, "Just what we need, another rebellion."
Only hours before it would have been the height of her problems, but this was all so much bigger than a meagre revolt. There was an entire world out there, and soon theirs would be over.
Her dark thoughts came to a halt as she watched Wes from her reclined position. He was sat cross legged, facing away from the group with a large block of white clay in his hands. Kaz looked on in disbelief as he moulded the substance, a deep look of concentration furrowing his brow, tongue hanging languidly on his lip.
"Done!" he cried and held it up for all to see.
There in his hands was a huge, clay penis.
Vesper groaned, "I'm dating a child."
"Dude, you have serious issues," Turf laughed but grabbed the clay out of Wes' hands and waved it about. The two boys guffawed as he began to turn it in to a pair of boobs, Mia rolled her eyes and fell back with a sigh.
"Where did you get that," Kaz choked.
Wes had been in the process of twiddling the clay nipples when he turned to look at her.
"Hmm?"
"That!" she cried, pointing at the clay, "Where did you get it!?"
"Ahm…,"Wes frowned. "I think it was in the truck when they left it at Dauntless, found it in Cain's bag."
Kazana shook her head, but then the laughing began. An excited, infectious sound that had the other looking on in confusion.
"That," she snorted, "That's C4! That's an extremely powerful explosive," she laughed again, harder.
"I made a penis bomb?" Wes cried, though his face lit up in wonder. "Awesome!"
Turf threw the clay from one hand to another, gaping down at it. Vesper knocked it from his hands.
"Careful Dimwit! That stuff could explode any minute!"
"Actually no, right now it's harmless. It would need some sort of detonator…," Kaz paused, her eyes widening. No, no, it could never work…could it?
"Where did you say you left the truck?"
"Uhh somewhere by the train tracks, we just needed to escape, it didn't really cross our minds…," Mia shrugged.
Kazana shot up to her feet and looked down at her four friends, they gazed up in bafflement.
"We need to get that truck."
Vesper scoffed, "Are you joking? There's no way we can go back there, Eric has guards stationed at every turn!"
"I know, I know, but," Kaz flapped her hands; the idea was there it just hadn't formed. She hardly knew what to do but she knew it needed doing. It was their only chance. "But I think I know how we can stop the Bureau."
Toma, she knew how she would stop Toma.
They glanced at each other uneasily, but with little options left and only one person to lead them, they were all ears.
"Alright," Mia stood, "What's the plan?"
"Tell me again why we're doing this alone!?" Turf shouted, his voice muffled amidst the gushing wind. Five of them stood at the entrance of the train carriage, guns cocked and hair flying furiously around their faces.
"Because there's a very high chance we will die and I wanted to keep the numbers as low as possible," Kaz answered.
"Well that's reassuring," Vesper rolled her eyes. Despite their protests however, there existed a tangible excitement in the air. It was almost familiar, where they stood now, memories of months ago came flooding back, to Dauntless initiation. No matter what had occurred after that, it was what had brought them together, and Kaz could only be grateful.
"Remember they are going to be waiting for us, you ONLY jump if you see the tank, otherwise we ride this train to the end of the line and don't look back."
"I still don't see why you need to go in though," Wes shook his head, "I know you know how to protect yourself Kaz." He pointed at his temple, where a bruise had resided for weeks after their first fight.
"But what you're doing is suicide," he leaned in, genuine concern marred his usually animated featured, "Eric has it out for you. He always has done."
She could not argue with that. Despite his foolish humour, Wes proved himself yet again to be easily the most observant, and it scared her. Kazana did not want to be reminded of a time that would never be.
Placing a small hand on his burly shoulder, she smiled weakly up at him. "It'll be alright big guy. I know what I'm doing."
Honestly, she didn't, she really didn't. But it was enough for Wes, and it had to be enough for her, because they had nothing else.
"THERE IT IS!" Turf roared over the hurling wind.
Every head snapped in the direction of the oncoming tracks, and to their great surprise, the tank was indeed there. It was barely discernable in the opaque shadows, but there was no denying the monstrous structure had been left untouched.
"Everyone get ready!" Kaz bent down, body taut and coiled to spring. The others wavered in doubt as they came ever closer to the vehicle, too close, but Kazana waited until it was directly ahead.
"NOW!"
They jumped; every single one took a giant leap the moment the command left her lips. Landing with an uncomfortable crash atop the momentous truck. Kaz bounced ungracefully on to the bonnet, her side throbbed as her wound cried out in protest at the ongoing abuse.
Dark silhouettes were already emerging from the compound, above and around. All clad in full body armour that would be hell to penetrate. They had no time to waste. She kick-started the engine and moved off at full speed, Vesper popped open the top and began to shoot at the approaching figures, ducking down as stray bullets flew past her ear.
"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Turf shouted and Kaz looked over her shoulder where he hovered nervously.
"I guess you're going to find out," she returned and began to shuffle out of the seat.
"WHAT?!" he spluttered, but she had already pushed him in front of the control board.
"Just keep going forward!" she joined Vesper out top and watched as the violet haired girl struggled with a particularly stubborn guard. Kazana closed one eye and shot three times in his direction, he flumped to the ground.
"Thanks," Vesper quipped over her shoulder as they stood back to back and picked off the remaining soldiers. "Now's your chance! Go!"
Kaz nodded and without a second thought she had leapt up on to the roof and rolled off the side, the pain in her abdomen pulsed agonizingly but she simply sprinted forward, arms pumping at her sides.
The urge to look over her shoulder was strong, to see if her friends had made it. But there just wasn't enough time; one soldier came out to face her.
No doubt he was the first of a new wave of guards come to intercept her arrival. Kaz allowed the momentum of her run to assist her as she threw herself on to her back and slid towards him.
The element of surprise would always be an underhanded trick she would utilize, as the guard stumbled on his feet. She kicked viciously at his knees, he collapsed down and Kazana brought her gun down on his head, hard.
He swayed for a few moments, eyes rolling back in to his skull as he fell to the side unconscious. She ripped off his helmet first and shoved it on before working on his jacket. Moments later and she looked identical to the man who lay knocked out in the icy mud.
Kaz had no time for regrets, she covered his body in her discarded clothes and moved in to the entrance where a fresh battalion ran forward. Her heart pounded in her chest, fear and relief, mere seconds earlier and she would have been dead meat.
They came to a halt as she held up her gloved hands and shook her head.
Not here, she signalled, not this way.
Luck, fate, something was on her side as they regarded her hesitantly before turning on their heels and sprinting in the other direction. She followed, refusing to allow her searing wound to slow her down; they ascended up in to The Pit and began moving further until they would eventually reach the roof.
Kazana waited until they were paces ahead and took a sharp detour in to the caves. The long series of caverns in which she had spent much of her working life. How strange it was to come here now, only days after her final shift, for such an ulterior purpose.
Heavy breaths clouded the transparent surface guarding her face and despite the winter's chill she felt stiflingly hot. Passing communications and the armoury she gave them not even a second look, Kazana had not come for weapons.
Finally she saw it, an alcove that was decidedly smaller than the rest. Flickering candlelight bounced off the glass tubes lining every surface. Vial after vial of coloured liquid, Kazana stood centre on in the room, hazy eyes soaking in the sight of the familiar fluids.
Her hands trembled violently as she removed the black mask, and allowed it to clatter down to the ground. She placed the tip of her glove between her teeth and pulled before moving on to the next. One hand reached out tentatively to grasp the first vial, palm curling delicately around the glass.
She'd been prepared for its smooth surface, for the coolness against her fingertips.
What she hadn't prepared for was the cool, smooth blade that pressed against her neck as a dangerous voice murmured in her ear.
"Got you, Little Bat."