A/N: Hello readers, It's been a while hasn't it? I hope you all are doing well. This chapter is PG rated. I figured we needed a buffer after last chapter, amirite? Warnings: mild Violence.

Enjoy!

Light up, don't know how I did it right from the beginning, my head's kinda spinning

Light up, I won't be forgiven, my life is forbidden, they say it's a miracle

Sometimes I don't even know if I'm wrong or right

I try to drown the sorrow that surfaces every night

I'm moving at a speed that makes everybody look slow

What happens if I let it go

Magnetic-Jessie J

Chapter 3: What happens if I let it go?

I lost count of how many days I've spent in captivity—had it only been a few days? Time is such a complicated concept: it races when you're happy and slows down painfully when you're hoping the day will end. In order to keep record of the time I've spent here, I've taken to marking tally marks into the wood edging with my nail every morning—at least what I suspected to be morning. As of right now I only have three scratches into the wood. I was incredibly lonely and sometimes preferred Peter's company to the lonely room —of course I would never admit that out loud.

My heavy eyelids were testing my will to stay awake as my brain tried to comprehend Peter's plan. I repeated the two words over and over again in my head. Somehow I expected to find hidden wisdom in the foolish idea. Playing Along. Playing Along. Playing Along. I repeated it until the mantra no longer sounded like English, but some alien tongue. I was once again alone in the dormitory. I hadn't seen Eric since his "interrogation" and Peter disappeared soon after discussing his ingenious plan to get me out of here. He is no Erudite, but someone who has gotten away unscathed from making so many enemies must be experienced enough to get us out. Would we be able to trick Eric, a former Erudite?

I must be crazy to trust Peter's plan. I probably couldn't count on one hand all of the people he has betrayed, stepped on, or injured to get ahead. Let's see, first there was Edward, then me, then he betrayed his dauntless leaders by leading us to the control room, then he once again betrayed us to go back to the dauntless traitors. I definitely couldn't even count his misdemeanors on one hand. Right now, I would give almost anything to find out what he was thinking.

The silence rang in my ears as I tossed and turned in the bunk. My body craved sleep after the trauma Eric caused, but I refused to succumb to it. With a groan I descended from my perch, grateful for the feel of the cold floor under my bare feet. I walked toward the locked door Peter and Eric had emerged and disappeared behind and banged on it several times. I was almost positive no one would answer, and was not at all disappointed when the door didn't open. I leaned my back against the metal door and sank to my knees in defeat. This could be worse, I thought to myself. I could be trapped under Jeanine and be forced to go through all sorts of torturous experiments in order for her to find out why my brain threatened her utopian fraction system. I ached for my friends; Tobias, Uriah, Caleb, and Susan and wondered what they were doing. Would they suspect me to be alive my body doesn't turn up? Do they believe Jeanine took me away or that I ran away? Would they even attempt to find me? I had so many questions and very little control over my situation. All because of one person: Eric. I relished the idea of ripping out the piercings embellishing his eyebrow and the cartilage of his ears one by one. Later I would take the metal piercings and melt them down into a knife and use that knife to slit his throat. The idea was dark but oddly satisfying.

Something gleamed in my peripheral vision; an object nearly a yard away. I cautiously walked closer to inspect it. I began to suspect a knife but as I inched closer I discovered Peter's weapon of choice— a syringe. I had forgotten how I had knocked it out of Peters hand when I attacked him. Luckily for me, he must have forgotten too. The syringe looked similar to the one I had used to inject fear simulation serum into myself, but this syringe was smaller and the needle was hidden by a white cover. I removed the cover and pressed the end of the syringe slightly to see the color of its liquid contents — a small bead of a pearly white liquid dropped from the needle onto the floor.

I mentally listed off the serums it could possibly be. The Amity peace serum was green, Dauntless simulation serum was orange, Candor truth serum was blue, the rumored Erudite death serum was purple, Abnegation didn't use a serum as far as I knew— my list of serums and their uses did not include a white serum. It wouldn't surprise me if the Erudite had invented many more serums than the original four. I assumed this serum to be a sedative and replace the white cover over the needle to avoid poking myself accidently. I hid it under my pillow. Maybe I could use this to defend myself if things got out of hand. I climbed back up to my new bunk and rested my head on my pillow once more. For the first time in this new environment, I felt safe clutching a weapon under my pillow. I closed my eyes and let myself drift off into sleep.

"Get up, Stiff," Someone was yanking the thin covers from around my body. My eyes snapped open and I grabbed the cylinder under my pillow. Rough hands latched onto my leg and forearm and were pulling me down from my perch. I let go of the syringe to grasp the headboard with both hands and kicked my free leg toward my attacker. I felt my foot collide with his face before I fell to the floor. The room was still dark; the lights had been shut off while I was asleep.

"Fuck," A familiar voice echoed through the room.

"Don't come any closer!" I warned. I could barely make a silhouette approaching me. The figure ignored my warning and grabbed my neck, forcing my back to collide against the wall. My neck was temporarily released but the attacker's weight crushed into me.

"Let me go!" I struggled against my captor, trying to free my arms and legs. A hand covered my mouth, muffling my screaming.

"Shh. It's Peter." My assailant whispered into my ear, his hot breath tickling my neck. My eyes searched the darkness and I could barely see his pale skin in the darkness. "I'm trying to help you. Promise me you won't scream if I uncover your mouth." I nodded against his hand.

"What the he-" I started to say but was cut off by his fingers over my lips again. I tried fighting against him again but his vice like grip didn't loosen.

"For fuck's sake! Can you be quiet for once?" Peter hissed. I stopped struggling against him and breathed deeply into his hand. I could smell the spicy sent of his cologne reminding me of sharing a room with him as an initiate. We both were panting and sweating from struggling against each other. After what seemed like several agonizingly long minutes, Peter released his hand from my mouth and stepped back. I wiped the perspiration from his hand off my face before crossing my arms protectively over myself. Last time we spoke, we were plotting to over throw Eric. He wasn't about to change his mind on our allegiance now, was he? A part of me wanted to assume the worst about Peter but if he really wanted to hurt me, he probably would have already.

"Thank you," he sighed. I continued to stare at him in silence. "I need to talk to you. Eric is going to visit you again today and we need to figure out what you're going to say." His whispers were barely audible forcing me to step closer in order to hear him.

"That's what this is about?" I whispered angrily. "Couldn't you have waited until I was awake?"

"There's a camera in here. We were okay talking yesterday because Zeke was the only one in the control room, but someone else is watching the cameras now. We can't risk fucking this up." Peter put a hand on my arm to get my attention and pointed to the corner of the room where a silhouette of a sphere was located. Was that supposed to be a camera?

"They are watching me?" Peter nodded. I suddenly felt ill. Could Zeke have seen what Eric did to me? I shuddered at the thought. I sat down on the bottom bunk and felt the bed move beneath me as Peter joined me.

"Where is the last place Tobias would be?" Peter whispered beside me.

"Erudite headquarters, obviously. They are the ones trying to kill us," I whispered back. I remembered Tobias' advice about hiding the memory stick behind the dresser again after Peter found it the first time. He had me put it back in the same place because it would be the last place someone would look for it, or so he thought.

"You really think Four is stupid enough to lead a group of Divergents near the faction who would love to break their brains apart with a scalpel?" He was right it did sound pretty ridiculous. "Besides, the Erudite have the faces of the known Divergent memorized. They've posted pictures of you guys all over the city with a reward for anyone who brings one of you in alive. Rumor is even the factionless were promised a spot in society if they turned someone in."

"I don't think he went to Erudite, Peter," I whispered in frustration. "You asked me about the LAST place he'd be and I gave it to you."

"God damn it, Tris! Listen to me. I'm just saying that Eric is not going to believe Four would have settled in at Erudite. It'll be game over the minute he suspects you're lying."

"I know where he could have gone." The safest place for Tobias and his group to hide is with Evelyn and her army of factionless. Their safe houses are spread across the city and he could be in any of them.

"Don't say it. I don't want to know" he leaned back on the bunk. "There's a chance you can fight truth serum, I'm fucked if he questions me." I nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to trust someone like you with vital information. After all, you're his sidekick."

"I'm not his fucking side kick. I'm moving up the ranks." My comment irked him.

"Right, you moved from snitch to a glorified babysitter," I smirked. It wasn't wise to argue with Peter, but I couldn't help it.

"Watch it, stiff. As far as you're concerned, I'm your only chance out of here," Peter hissed into my ear. He was uncomfortably close now.

"What if we said he went to Amity? Are they still impartial?" I asked tensely. I could smell Peter's spicy cologne again and my mind drifted off to the forbidden dream I had the other night. The darkness concealed my red tinged cheeks.

"It may be our only option. We can't risk Eric sniffing around the city," I stiffened as Peter leaned in closer to whisper. I could feel his breath tickle my neck. If someone were to have told me a month ago that Peter and I would have to work together to survive I would call them crazy.

My eyes were now completely adjusted to the darkness and I could clearly see Peter watching me. We were sitting very close to each other in order to keep our discussion quiet, something I didn't notice before.

"You never told me why you wanted to leave," I looked into his eyes studying their color; a green rimmed with dark blue.

"Do I need one?" he brushed a stray lock of hair away from my face and gently tucked it behind my ear. I let out a small gasp when he gently traced his finger down my jaw and stopping above my heart. The tender touch felt nice and I could feel my stiff body relaxing. Peter tucked his fingers under my chin and my eyes studied the curve of his lips before meeting his eyes again. I imagined kissing his full lips, feeling his warm body against mine. Wait. My eyes widened and I jerked my body away from his touch, instantly feeling cold.

"I've never known you to do something without expecting something in return," I said coldly.

"You've got me," he chuckled under his breath. "Let's just say I have my reasons. Several of them." He looked into my eyes as if searching for something. "I should go," Peter muttered and stood up from the bunk

"Wait!" I grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving again. My heart was beating wildly in my chest as I held on to his hand.

"Eric will visit you today. You have to pretend you don't know anything until I give you a signal. Eric won't believe you if you spill too early, but we risk hurting you if we wait too long." Peter cut me off before I could speak. "I'll give you a signal when the time comes."

"What's the signal?" I released his hand.

"Watch the lights," He responded leaving as silently as he came in.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of exciting events in this chapter, it's more of a filler chapter than anything. This chapter took the most time to complete because I wasn't satisfied with the first couple of drafts. Let me know what you think! There will be more Eric action in the next chapter, for those of you who are interested. Your REVIEWS motivate me to continue this story, so please don't be shy.

Ciao Ragazzi!

BelleNoelle