Hey, guys! This is chapter 10 of 'I Am Dauntless!' I had no idea we'd come this far! I'm so happy that this story excelled. At the beginning of this story, I was very nervous that it wouldn't succeed. But now, here I am. Almost a month later, and I'm so different. I dyed some of my hair purple. Yesterday I got a nose ring! Different. Thank you so much for loving this story so much. It has 38 followers and 24 favorites! Over 3,200 views! THANK YOU OH SO MUCH! This chapter's ROTC is LovelySheree for asking a question in her review and allowing me to clear out her and my mind about WHO THE HELL LOVES TASI! So many people love her, and it's SOOO confusing! But thanks again, and here's the chapter!
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Anastasia's POV
So soon... the last day of stage 1. Tomorrow. It's been almost a month since we've gotten here, and already everything's so different. I grew an inch and lost about 10 pounds. Now my entire body is pure muscle.
Our final fight is tomorrow. Then we'll see our rankings for the first time. Mom saw hers each day. It's completely unfair, but I won't complain. Complaining never got anyone anywhere, now did it?
"Rise and shine!" I hear, but it sounds a lot closer that usual. Time to wake up already? It seems a little early. It seems as if we only went to sleep two hours ago, and I didn't sleep at all.
I sit up and swing my legs over the top bunk. Then I slip down. My feet touch the ground and I see everyone's still asleep. They haven't moved at all.
"What on-" I'm cut off by a sticky piece of paper covering my mouth. I scream, but nobody hears me because of the paper. I lick it gently and a bitter taste fills my mouth. Duct tape.
I scream louder and feel something heavy hit my head. I see spots of light jump at my eyes. "Shut it!" A voice hisses. Sounds like... no, it can't be.
I wriggle and try to punch the person, but my hands are tied by something. I scream so loud my throat feels like sandpaper, but nobody hears. Or if they do, they don't care.
Something encases my body and I only see black. I use my nails to rip the fabric that's surrounding me and I see we're on the bridge that's over the chasm. I scream louder, but it's muffled because of the duct tape.
My captor pulls the bag off of me and I see three people with black masks over their faces. One of them with a large build, another very muscular and the third small with toothpick arms.
The muscular one laughs. I think I notice the laugh. He steps forward and I try to step back, not noticing that my feet are bound. My body leans into the rail above the chasm and I begin to shiver, terrified. The roaring water is very high. It sprays over the rocks and I feel three drops hit my neck.
The one with the big build puts a hand on my cheek. I glare at him. He sees my glare and runs his hand farther down, past my waist. The other two laugh loudly as my cheeks burn in anger. I squirm and lick the duct tape quickly, hoping it will begin to come off. It does and my tongue moves very fast. The tape obeys and eases off with each lick.
The small one runs his hand slowly along my chest, stopping to feel. My jaw locks angrily. I lick the duct tape and one side begins to come off. I use my teeth to get it off, them not noticing. Only focusing on torturing me.
The muscular one looks up from my chest and sees that the duct tape has fallen off. He looks surprised.
"Didn't expect that. But it's fine. Now I can do this easier." The muscular one says and leans over me.
I squeeze my eyes shut and press my lips together. He's two inches from my lips when he asks, "What's the matter, Tasi? Are you scared of me? I thought you were Tasi the fearless. The best fighter. The fastest runner. The most brave. Surely you aren't afraid of me, your old friend. Jason."
I gasp and he presses his lips to mine. I think of what I could do and bite his tongue. He jerks back and puts a finger inside his mouth. He pulls it out and it's red. Blood. He looks at it for a second and then slaps me across the face.
The impact of Jason's palm with my face tosses it to the side. I feel a hot pain throughout my entire body and know I have to get out of here. My fingers fumble for the knot in the cloth that's bounding my hands. I find it and keep one hand on it while the other looks for the jagged piece of iron on the rail. I feel a stab of pain and know I've found it. I rip the cloth and have my hands free.
Jason is holding his tongue and the other two are helping him. I cut the cloth binding my legs quickly and have all my limbs free.
They all look up and see me, good as new. Well, except for the cuts on my hand, my face, and the throbbing in my head from the hard thing they smashed into my head.
The small one starts up and I grab his mousy hair. I pull it and he shrieks. I then jerk him to the floor. He's passed out from his head hitting the iron.
Then the one with the big build comes for me. He charges and I jump to the side, causing him to slam into the rail. Jason tries to grab me but I kick him where the sun doesn't shine and he howls.
Big build is up. I grab his beefy arm and sink my long nails into it. He shrieks and I trip him. He hits the ground and I kick him in the stomach. Soon he's unconscious.
Jason is okay now. Well, sorta. He's pale and shaking, but his fist is balled up and he looks like he's going to punch me. I try to dodge but trip over big build and Jason gets me while I'm down. He punches me over and over in the chest and stomach and I start screaming. I can't believe nobody's come yet.
Then Jason trips over big build and I grab his neck. I slam his head into the iron rail multiple times and he begins crying. I don't stop. He touched me. I have no mercy.
Soon he's unconscious and has slumped to the ground. A pool of blood mixed with tears surrounds him. His eyes, usually aglow, have a blank and lifeless stare.
I then get very dizzy and fall to the ground. My head hits the rail and I begin to cry from the pain that has infected my body.
Footsteps begin to fill my ears. I try to turn my head, but it hurts. I close my eyes. The steps grow louder. The sound hurts. Everything hurts.
"Anastasia! Anastasia!" I hear a familiar voice say. Somebody shakes my shoulders.
I open my eyes and see him. "Alex," I say in a hoarse voice.
"Oh God, Anastasia. We need to get you to the hospital." Alex says.
"No! No hospital, please. Please." I beg him.
He nods and takes in my damaged body. Then he picks me up with the greatest of ease.
That's when I black out.
Alexander's POV
I stare down into the sleeping face of Anastasia. She looks so... breathtaking. Should I wake her? Probably not. But then again, it's time for training.
I gently shake her. She stirs and opens her blue-grey eyes.
"Hi, Tasi." I greet her with a smile.
"Why am I awake?" She asks.
"Because it's time to train." I reply.
She groans and turns over in my bed.
"Tasi, today is the last day. Then you'll have three days of time to stay in bed." I remind her.
She groans again and sits up. "Fine." She says and stands up with shaky legs.
I steady her. She glares at me.
"You okay?" I ask.
"Don't." She snarls.
"Okay, okay, just let me see how bad it is." I say, referring to her wounds.
She crosses her arms and allows me to look at her. She has a cut on her hand, a large bruise on the back of her head, another bruise on her left cheek, and multicolored cuts and bruises on her chest and stomach.
I hesitate before touching a yellow bruise next to her belly button. She winces and slaps my hand away.
I raise an eyebrow. "You need to toughen up, Tasi. Today people will try to hurt you. And you won't be able to slap their hands away." I say.
"I don't think you understand what went down." She spits.
"What went down?" I ask.
"They... they touched me." She says, tears pooling in her eyes.
My jaw sets. "Touched you?" I ask, my voice raising.
"Well... sorta, I mean... yeah." She says quietly.
I don't hesitate before pulling her toward me and crushing her in a hug. A small noise escapes the back of her throat. Tears squeeze out of my eyes, like a firetruck putting out the fire of her sadness.
"Alex," She says hoarsely. I ease my grip slightly, but still hold her tight. I feel water drip down my arms and hear a quiet sobbing.
"It's okay, Tasi." I say.
"It's okay."
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POOR BABY TASI! I wanna grab Jason and give him a good taste of my wrath. I HATE Jason. Sorry if the whole thing was too explicit! Like, really sorry. But please review, and love you all!