Hi everyone, I am so, so, so sorry for the wait. As you know, I've been in Hawaii (yay), but now I'm back in reality (aw) and I have my computer and wi-fi, so you know what that means... Fourtris galore!
(I just realized that sorta rhymes.)
Tris.
The hands that cover my mouth and eyes are rough, calloused. I let my fear take over my mind, it sharpens my instincts and keeps me in reality. Next, I focus on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. I let my body go limp, so I am heavier for the person who is dragging me away. They grunt, goal achieved.
By the weight of their footsteps I am guessing they are male. That means, that somewhere behind my right elbow is their 'sensitive area'. I pull back my arm and jab them where I estimated it would be. Another pained grunt escapes their mouth, but they continue carrying me. Panic seeps into the corners of my mind.
Suddenly, I am dropped harshly onto the ground. I look up, my eyes wide with fear. I am in a room filled with mops and buckets and cleaning supplies- the janitor's closet. There are 3 people standing around me, but I only recognize one.
"Lauren," I spit. She smiles coldly and waves.
"Hi Tris," Lauren hisses my name. The boys stationed beside her smirk. They are both tall and muscular, one with a greasy black head and the other with a bright red mop of hair.
"These are my friends. This is Peter," She motions the the boy with black hair, "And this is Drew. Peter carried you here if you were wondering."
I glare at all of them and stand up warily. Lauren reaches out with a manicured hand and smacks me across the face. I grit my teeth and grab her hand, twisting it. She shrieks.
"You little bitch! Peter, help!"
Peter steps forward and grins evilly at me. I shrink back and let go of Lauren, but I am still met with a kick into my leg and another backhanded slap across my face. I limp backwards away from them and my back hits the wall.
"What do you want?" My voice is surprisingly steady.
"I want you to stay away from Four." She says and I raise my eyebrows.
"How are you going to make me do that? Kill me?" I laugh humorlessly.
Peter and Drew seem to close in on me like lions closing in on their prey. My breath catches in my throat as I assess the situation. If I go for Peter, he will most likely beat me and then I'll be injured and have Drew to deal with. If I go for Drew, I might have a chance at kicking his ass as I am fast and he is big and slow... but then I'll have to fight Peter. My only option is Lauren. I could easily win against her and hold her hostage. I have to try something or let them beat me to death.
"No, we won't kill you, we'll just make your life a living hell," Lauren grins, "And we might beat your friend up, you know the dark skinned one?"
"Christina." I breathe in disbelief. No, they cannot hurt her. I will not allow them to hurt her.
"That's the one!" Lauren claps happily.
"Why are you doing this, you have a stupid high-school crush on my boyfriend, get over it." My voice wavers with fear at the end of my sentence. Rage contorts Lauren's pretty features. I find myself stepping backwards again.
"You stupid girl! You have been here far less than I have. I deserve him! A little worthless ugly brat like you doesn't!"
Her words turn into knives which stab me from the inside. I launch myself at her, tackling her to the ground. She claws at my face and I feel my skin breaking. An anger so huge erupts in my chest, and I punch her out cold. I scramble to my feet, holding her limp form in front of me like a barrier. Peter and Drew stand there with smiles growing. I stagger to the door, tasting blood.
"Why are you smiling? I just knocked out Lauren." I manage to get out.
"Do you really think," Peter's voice slithers across my skin and wraps around my throat like a snake, "That we wouldn't have someone guarding the door?"
A cold lump of dread thuds to the bottom of my stomach. I close my eyes as I feel someone's presence behind me. Two large hands shove me forwards and I drop Lauren, falling onto my knees. A large shape moves in my peripheral vision. I turn my head.
"Al?" I gasp. He stands there, shoulders hunched, an odd expression on his face. Peter's laugh sounds somewhere behind me and I am reminded of a hyena.
"Al?" Drew mocks me in a high pitched voice. "You pathetic bitch."
I glare at him, "Shut it Drew."
White hot pain shoots through my side as he lashes a kick into my ribs. I scream through clenched teeth, hoping someone will hear me, anyone.
"Be quiet!" Peter snaps and punches me in the jaw. I collapse sideways onto the cold ground and a dry sob escapes me. They're going to kill me, I think.
"It's a shame you knocked Lauren out, she won't get to see us hurt you." Drew grins evilly and cracks his knuckles. I spit blood out and slowly, muscles aching, I stand up. Peter and Drew watch me with amusement behind their narrowed eyes, but Al avoids my accusing gaze. What a coward.
"You're not going to get out of here any time soon, you know." Peter snarls.
I stare at him and don't respond. Instead, I grab a mop from behind me and swing it into Drew's ugly face. He howls and curses and runs like a bull at me. I swear colorfully and attempt to run.
I don't make it anywhere.
My body gets battered and thrown, punched and kicked. I sob and I scream and beg silently for them to stop, for the black spots that cloud my vision to take me away, away from the pain.
And then it all ends.
All I see is Peter's cruel smile glinting.
All I taste is blood.
All I hear is muted sounds.
And then one voice cuts through my mind like a knife.
"That was fun, now let's see what you've got hiding under your clothes..."
No. No, no, no. Please no.
I squirm as a big hand lands on my chest, squeezing, touching, prodding. It trails down my stomach to the waistband of my pants and back up again. I scream.
I earn a punch to the face, but it was worth it.
Tobias comes running through the doorway, a snarl upon his handsome face. As I watch my boyfriend fight, I fall in love even more. He is amazing, taking down two men in a matter of seconds. Wait a minute, two men? Where's Peter?
Then a rough hand gropes my chest again. I whimper. This seems to spur him on even more.
"Oh you like that, do you?" He says. I growl, and summoning all the strength left in my body, I punch Peter in the face.
xxx
Tobias.
God, she has a hell of a punch, I think as Tris gives a right hook to Peter's damn face. She then collapses onto her side and exhales shakily, her gray eyes finding mine. I run over to her as Peter stands up.
"Get out of here!" I growl at him. He glares at me, takes one last look at his fallen companions, and staggers out the door. I contemplate going after him, but a weak voice makes me look down.
"Tobias." Tris whispers, and then her eyes roll back in her head and she looses consciousness.
I check her breathing first. It is slow and shaky, but stable. Seeing her small body battered and bruised makes my blood boil. I am going to kill Peter.
She is not going to want me to tell anyone about this, I know that, so cradling her in my arms, I walk out to her car. Her keys are tucked away in the pocket of her jacket. I get them out and unlock the car.
She looks so fragile and broken, lying in the backseat. Her cuts are seeping blood onto the interior leather of her car.
I grit my teeth, restrain myself from fixing her wounds, and drive.
The journey to my house is long and painful. I seem to get every red light and have to wait for at least 10 cars at every stop sign. My anger is getting the best of me, but that is dangerous for Tris as I may be blinded by my fury and have an accident.
Calm down, a soothing voice in my head tells me. You're okay, Tris is okay.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the familiar brick walls of my house. Pulling roughly into the driveway, I jump out of Tris' Porsche before it stops rolling. Pain prickles through my shins, but it is the least of my worries.
Her cuts stain my shirt red as I pick her up gently and walk towards the house. My hands fumble for my house keys. I eventually open the door and rush inside, still holding my Tris. My beautiful, broken Tris.
I transfer her limp body to one arm- she is so light- and grab a sheet out of my cupboard. I lay it down on my coffee table, place her gently on top of it, and start tending to her wounds. My mother once sent me to a medical course where I learnt how to splint an injury, clean an open sore, and bandage. I send her a quiet 'thank you'- I didn't know those skills would be so important.
Tris' blood seeps through the disinfectant cloth I am using, coloring it a deep, deep red. I allow myself to get lost in the shade as I wipe and dab and scrub her cuts, starting from her legs, up to her neck and face. There are scratches dug into her cheek, ridges in her soft skin. For a moment I am glad she is unconscious so she won't feel the painful stinging of the cloth. She doesn't deserve it.
She doesn't deserve any of this shit.
xxx
Tris.
'FEAR GOD ALONE.'
The words are painted in a blood red color, contrasting with the dull background behind them. They are the first thing I see. After blinking the blurriness out of my eyes, I find out I am sprawled out on a massive bed, in a room with gray brick walls and a black roof. There is a desk and chair in a corner, and one wall emerges into a bathroom.
A sound reaches my hollow ears. The gentle tapping of water droplet on tiles. I turn my stiff neck and find Tobias standing in the bathroom over a sink, the excess from his split knuckles staining the running water pink. He looks up into a mirror above the basin and his heavenly blue eyes find mine.
"Tris." Tobias murmurs, and then he is by my side and stroking my lank hair away from my face. I lift my hand up to his cut lip and whimper from the pain.
"Tris," He says again, "I'm okay."
I breathe a sigh of relief and drop my hand. It hits my ribs and I hiss in pain. A tear escapes my swollen eye.
"Babe, relax. It's okay now. I'm here and I am not leaving you." Tobias whispers and my heart flutters at his words. He kisses my head and sits on the edge of the bed, holding my unscathed hand in his.
For one second, I allow myself to feel joy.
And then the events from yesterday hit me like a bullet train.
A sob wracks my body violently and my face crumples. I curl into a ball, lying on my side, and tug on my hair roughly with shaking hands. A sound rips out of my throat and echoes loud in my ears. I don't cry though. I am past crying.
Tobias' strong arms wrap me up in his embrace. I grip his t-shirt and bury my face in his chest, my whole body trembling.
"Al..." I whisper.
"I know," Tobias mumbles, "I know."
xxx
Page break.
Once again, I awake to the words 'Fear God Alone.' This time, though, I am wrapped up in Tobias' arms. We must have fallen asleep.
The sunlight is streaming through a small window on one wall, casting a golden aura across the room. I crawl out of my boyfriend's grasp without waking him, and pad over to the bathroom. My eyes find the basin as I am frightened to look at my reflection. How little do I look like Beatrice Prior with all these injuries?
Oh God. Oh God.
My eye is swollen and purple and terrible to look at. There are claw marks down my face, scratching into my neck. A bruise is making itself visible on my jaw, standing out against my pale skin. And that's only my head.
Cuts and scratches are riddled up and down my arms. They are painful to touch and ugly to look at. I avoid eye contact with them and lift up my top. A strangled gasp escapes me when I see where I got kicked. A purple bruise is blooming across the whole side of my body, like when the sun splits open the night sky. I drop the hem of my t-shirt like it burned me, and back away from the mirror.
That's not me. It can't be.
Please.
Hope you liked it, does anyone else want to kill Lauren!?
Love you all xx