Immediately, Tris's gaze flickers everywhere to study the surroundings of the game.
All she can see is a long silver railing, and beneath it, a dark and roaring river with crashing waves. Not to mention the sharp deadly looking rocks on the bottom.
This game would literally mean, a life or death situation.
She shouldn't be freaking out, if anything, Christina should. Tris should be there for comfort and help, not to cry and be afraid.
Tris lets go of Will's arm and slowly inches closer to the screen that is now displaying a zoomed in version of the instructions.
Ah, this looks a bit different, now doesn't it?
As said before, each game will be unique in its own way. As for this one, the concept is quite simple, but with the wrong move, your ending will be tragic.
Now, the instructions for this are quite understandable.
You must climb from the bottom of the railings, all the way until the end of the room. From there, you will need to drop from the air, and into a much more peaceful pool of water. Then, you will go and slam that red button.
But here's the catch that you might have already observed. If you become too weak while climbing, you will fall to your death and your body will be pierced into pieces. And when dropping down into the pool of water, keep in mind that it is surrounded with jagged rocks, so if you do not position yourself correctly, it's a good bye to you.
Hope you know how to swim. Good luck.
And you may begin.
Tris watches as Molly immediately jumps for the railing, and grips onto it with an intimidating amount of strength. She begins to climb her way across as fast as she can.
She wants to win.
It appears though, that Christina, does not.
"Why is she not moving?!" Lynn asks loudly.
Tris turns temporarily and meets her gaze. "Unlike Molly, I think she's stretching, so half way in the climbing, her muscles won't strain."
As she turns around, she is proven right. Christina is sitting on the floor, reaching for her toes and silently moving her lips to count the seconds for each side.
Finally, Christina stands, and studies the room again, while looking at Molly's distance as well.
She is a bit far ahead, but anything can happen.
Tris crosses her arms and begins to bounce on the heels of her feet. "Come on, Christina, please focus and win."
She feels everyone's gazes on the back of her head but she ignores them and puts all her attention back into the game.
Unlike Molly, Christina skillfully grabs onto the railing and uses her body weight to swing herself forward, then, she quickly slides across the railing a couple of feet.
"You can do it, Christina." Someone else says.
Tris feels a brush of an arm and looks beside her where Will is suddenly standing.
Didn't Christina say they kissed? What gruesome timing to have a game. Tris thinks dreadfully.
As she looks back at the screen, she can see that Christina is almost catching up to Molly, and Molly's speed has currently slowed down.
Tris can't help but feel a bit glad. The game was going very simple so far, and there were no eventful twists. The girls were practically in their own zone.
That is, until Christina passes a sweating and shaking Molly, who is suddenly swinging her legs and making contact with Christina's waist.
"Holy shit-." Tris repeats to herself again and again as there's a loud scream of pain and strain as one of her hands slip from the railing, and her grip with the other does not look promising at all.
Tris bites the inside of her cheeks to keep from panicking and yelling profanities, instead, she crosses her arms again and forces herself to watch it happen like you would to a movie.
Will, however, is freaking out.
Tris watches Christina and silently prays that she'll bring her balance back to its strengths again. This girl had essentially become her best friend. Sure, it hadn't been long, but honestly, it's not like Tris even had close friends to begin with. If she did, she couldn't remember, her memory and everything important just faded away after her parents death.
"You're such a fucking asshole. Wait, I'll slam you into the rocks and watch you're dark blood splatter." Christina seethes as she manages to shakily regain her balance.
Her rage is the only thing that is fueling her strength now, the same way rage filled Tris's body with a psycho energy that literally helped her beat the crap out of Peter and slam the red button.
Tris looks over at Molly who laughs and shakes her head. "You're pathetic and weak, you expect to knock me off?"
Christina climbs as fast as she can. "Bitch, I don't even have to try if I want to knock you off. You're some ugly excuse for a human, you look like a decomposing, mutated, pig with hair that looks like the color of fresh brown shit."
Tris bites the inside of her cheek to stifle her laugh. She covers her mouth either from how ridiculously true Christina's statement was, or just to calm her nerves.
She glances over at Will and notices that familiar ghost of a smile. The one that dances upon his lips.
When Tris looks back at the screen, she is absolutely surprised to see that they've made it to the end of the room.
Christina, however, is smirking. Tris recognizes the look, and can see herself giving the exact expression to Peter when she was shooting at him or just throwing profanities.
Molly screams as Christina swings her right foot into her jaw, and Tris herself winces at the sight of fresh blood beginning to spill out.
Trying to stop the pain, Molly stupidly grabs at her face, only to remember that she's hanging hundreds of feet above the air. As she falls with an echoing scream, though her body falls into the peaceful pool of water, her leg slams into the jagged rocks. She howls even louder than before.
Christina drops down as well, however, her positioning was obviously more accurate. Molly is furious. Though she's in pain, she slams her other foot into Christina's face, and momentarily, she falls back into the water. When she emerges, she has a cut near her lip.
"Dude, I'm not even gonna-"
Molly cuts Christina off again by punching at her cut, which bleeds even more. Christina starts to look nauseated, but she shakes her head.
"Why the hell are you trying?" She hisses.
Christina looks tired. She moves to swim out of the pool when Molly lunges at her and plunges Christina's head under the water. She flails around, but Molly is heavier than her.
"She's drowning her!" Will yells while staring unbelievably at the screen.
Slowly, Christina's frantic movements slow down, and her arms sink back into the water. Tris can feel her heart pounding out of her chest.
No, she can't die! Tris yells at herself.
Unexpectedly, Christina's arms shoot out and strike Molly's wounded leg right where she was pierced with the rocks.
Tris coughs, trying not to throw up, as she glances at Molly's leg which looks dislocated.
Christina spits some blood in her direction, then swims out of the water. She smacks the red button with the rest of her energy.
Her eyes flutter closed tiredly, then she slowly collapses from exhaustion.
There's a loud siren representing the end of the game, and obviously, a certain sweet victory for Group B.
Everyone runs out of the observation room through a different door where Christina and Molly will be.
Tris runs with them, but she doesn't run straight over to Christina like she'd planned to.
Instead, Tris looks back at Molly to see half of her leg hanging with pink flesh and white bone sticking out in a very graphic way, due to which bile rises into her throat.
...
Remember the way dad's arm was sticking out of the car window and his hand was all pink flesh and crooked? The way blood pooled out of the car like water flooding a basement? The way the vehicle was flipped and each piece of shattered glass was painted red or pink with fresh blood?
...
Though everyone in her team is talking to Christina, trying to get her to communicate, Tris immediately runs toward the roaring waters and falls to her knees. No more than a second later, she retches and all the bile she was tasting just a minute ago comes out of her mouth.
She could care less that people might be watching her feel sick. Her parents death was something that would forever be engraved into her memory, fresh like a cake that had come straight out of the oven.
She couldn't tell if this mini game really was a victory, or just something to remind her of her family.
Half way into spilling her guts, someone grabs her hair out of her face, while using the other to soothingly rub at her back.
Assuming it's Four, Tris's relaxes and doesn't push him away.
Tris sits back after wiping her mouth using the back of her hand, and feels the tears gather in her eyes but she doesn't let them fall. She just rests her head between her knees and focuses on her breathing.
The hand continues to rub her back. Then, "Everything will be fine, Tris."
Al.
Tris shoots up into a standing position and forces herself to walk a few steps back, though her body wants to do anything but.
"Why did you follow me, why aren't you with Christina?" She croaks.
Al stands up as well. "You didn't look good, I was just helping you."
Tris glances over at the crowd who're still trying to get Christina to speak, then back at Al.
Was she supposed to feel really happy, or not? If anything, she was feeling irritated.
Why the hell is he following me, when Christina is literally unconscious and won't respond?!
"It's okay, you didn't have to follow me, I'm feeling fine now, I'll just go see Christina." Tris tells him quickly before walking back over to her team.
Group A has already left with Molly, but Christina is lying on the floor with everyone surrounding her.
Tris makes her way over to Christina and crouches down in front of her, using a gentle touch like a mother and soothingly rubbing at her arm, whispering for her to focus and come back.
After what seems like several minutes, Christina whispers something.
"What?" Tris asks while leaning closer.
"Ew." She utters huskily.
Christina reaches up and pulls Tris's hair out if its bun, then she ties it into a high ponytail.
"What the hell, Christina?" Tris laughs.
"Thank you, for making me come back to reality, and find a horrible bun right in front of me. I might as well faint again, and it'll be your fault."
Tris laughs again and leans back while slowly pulling Christina into a gentle sitting position.
She clears her throat to get rid of all evidence of the earlier events, then, "Hey, how was the game for you?"
Christina smiles back at her. "I don't know, it was pretty intense and painful, but to be honest, it was awesome."
Tris reels back even further. "Um, what?"
Christina grins. "Yeah, I know right? But I got to kick Molly's ass, and it was amazing."
Tris crosses her arms. "Yeah, I'll admit, it was pretty cool, but do me a huge favor and stay away from Molly? Once her leg..."
Tris pauses, trying not to throw up again.
"...- Once her leg is better, she'll never leave you alone."
Christina shrugs. "Of course, I've got you by my side, so what's there to worry about?"
Tris smiles and studies Christina's hands. "Anything damaged? Injuries?"
Christina brushes her question away. "Nah, just maybe a bruise on my waist, and a few scratches and blisters on my hands. Probably a bruise and cut on my face as well? Nothing severe, maybe my body will be sore from all that climbing, but compared to your mini game, I'm hella great."
Tris stands up and nods. "Okay, think what you want, but that was crazy. Can you at least still go to Tori to check your waist and all that?"
Christina nods. "Yep."
After that, everyone starts to bombard Christina with questions and comments. Tris watches for a while, then finally just decides to leave.
As she's walking back, she hears footsteps behind her and she bites the inside of her cheek frustratingly. "Al, I'm fine, what now?"
When she turns around, she sees Four looking at her, with an unreadable expression.
"Al?" He repeats.
Tris pauses in her step and shakes her head. "Sorry, I thought you were him."
Four walks over to her and stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Why, is he close or..."
Tris scoffs and begins walking, matching her pace evenly with Four's. "No, he's just... Trying to be helpful, I guess, but I just wanna be alone."
Four opens his mouth, but Tris cuts him off. "When I mean alone, I just don't want to be near him. But you're fine, you don't have to leave."
Four nods, and they reach their room. He unlocks their door and allows Tris to step inside first.
"So," He begins while closing the door. "What happened back there?"
Tris moves to rake a hand through her hair when she pauses and takes her hair out if its ponytail.
"Nothing." She sighs while running a couple fingers through the tips, getting rid of temporary tangles.
Four lets out a deep breath and places his phone and key onto the counter. "You threw up, Tris. And it probably wasn't mainly because of Molly. I saw you really nauseated even before Molly fell."
Tris is silent, not knowing what to say. All she comprehended from the sentence was, he was watching her throughout the game.
"You know, you can talk to me." He tells her while grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, then making his way over and sitting on her bed.
She flops down next to him and shrugs. "I know... It's just... Too much."
Four nods slowly. "Okay, but Tris, it's not good to keep things suppressed inside."
She nods. "Yeah, I know."
He hands her the water bottle after opening it. "Here."
Tris takes it from his hands reluctantly, then drinks at least half of the bottle before closing the cap and setting it down.
They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments.
"Have you... Ever experienced, or done something so bad in life, that it's engraved into your mind? That every time you try to escape it, it'll slap you back in the face? Like, you're so scarred, that you feel like it's a part of you, forever?" Tris asks, deciding to put her current situation in a question.
Four is silent for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, it's... Really bad."
"So... How do you deal with it? How do you make it stop?" Tris asks quietly.
A look of understanding crosses Four's face. "Did something happen to you?"
Tris is still for a few seconds. "Well... Essentially, yeah."
"Does it have something to do with-"
"No." She interrupts. "Not Al."
Four shrugs then. "Well, there really is no way of forgetting. This may sound really rubbish and cliché, but honestly, it's true. You can't forget something tragic, but you are in charge of how you feel. It's just your choice if you want to be happy, or horrible."
Tris sits still. "But it's so hard."
Four looks at her with a smile, but beneath it is sadness. "Princess, how could something horrible happen to you?"
He says it so quietly, that Tris almost thinks she shouldn't have heard it. But she did. And she doesn't know why, but she feels... Special. That someone cares for her, that someone wants to provide comfort for someone like her, because she is so broken, yet he is still here.
She chooses to pretend that she hadn't heard his sentence. It'd be her little secret to treasure.
They stare at each other for a few moments, before Tris shrugs her shoulders and stands.
"I'll just go change my clothes." She tells him, then, "Are you hungry? I can make something."
Four shakes his head. "I'm fine."
It's only when Tris heads for her drawer of clothes, that she realizes how close they were sitting. There was a distance of only a few inches between their knees.
Tris grabs some black shorts, and her hoodie t-shirt before turning back to Four.
"Don't look, please. Just turn around."
Four smiles. "I was going to do that... Obviously."
She smiles back and after he turns around, Tris faces the drawer again and takes off her muscle tee. Carefully, she puts on her hoodie t-shirt, careful with her bullet wounds. It might be healed, as Tori has said, but she didn't want to take any chances and have it tear later on.
Then she does the same with her pants, and changes into some shorts.
After taking her hair out of the collar of her shirt, she fixes her clothes one last time, then turns around and glances at the door.
Tris swallows slowly. "Um, I think I'm gonna go to Tori's, wanna come?"
"Are you done?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm done."
He turns and smiles with a shrug. "If you want, I'll come."
She grabs her phone and key. "Yeah... I want you to come."
As Four stands up to grab his phone and key as well, Tris replays what she just told him.
The sentence felt so intimate. For some reason, it was as if she was telling him a huge secret. It was like some weird commitment she was making with Four.
'I want' were a strong pair of words.
Maybe she did like Four. And though it was a very scary thing for her to think, maybe the want with him would come.
"Oh, hey Tris. Christina and everyone else just left a few minutes ago, you can probably catch her at her room." Tori tells her as Tris and Four step inside.
Tris shakes her head. "Aw, no, we came for you."
Tori pretends to put a hand on her heart. "M-me? But I still have a life to live! People to care about!"
"We're not gonna torture you... Yet... But stay calm and sit." Tris chuckles jokingly.
She loved Tori. Not like a mother, obviously, but as a grown up to be there for her. She bought the vulnerability out of you. As it seems, she can bring the childish personality as well.
Tris sits down on one of the couches and Four does the same next to her.
"So what brings you both here?" Tori asks, while coming to sit in front of them.
Honestly, she had no clue. But now that Tris was here, she realized that she wanted answers. And maybe Tori would be a person to ask.
"Well. I don't know. I guess to ask a few questions." Tris tells her.
Tori nods. "Right then, I'll try to answer them."
Tris shifts her position until she's sitting criss-cross, and her knee unintentionally rests against Four. She felt it'd be too awkward to remove it, so she lets her knee stay where it was, pretending she didn't notice.
"Um... For starters... Were you kidnapped?"
Tori nods her head, as though trying to search for a simple answer. Maybe hesitating is a better word. "Well, yeah."
Tris and Four share the quickest of looks, so quick that Tori doesn't get a chance to comprehend what they did.
Tris searches her mind for good questions. She couldn't think of any, yet she knew that they were there. She knew there were unanswered questions that should be answered, yet her mind was blank.
"Do you know where we are?" Tris finally decides to ask.
Tori smiles immediately. "Ah, yes, I do know. It's pretty crazy... And obvious. Look around more, explore, the answer is right in front of your eyes."
Four sits straighter. "Okay, I have a question."
"Go for it." Tori responds.
Tris watches Four. His eyes suddenly look more focused and curious. He must have a genuine question, because she can practically see the gears shifting in his mind.
"You know how when we got here the first day, and that screen said that they'd been watching us? So, other than the games, are they still watching us?" Four asks.
Tori nods slowly. "That's a very good question. I'm gonna have to tell you, the answer is the same as how I answered Tris's question."
He looks slightly irritated by the vague answers, but he sits back again and masks it. "Sure."
Tris changes her position again, just keeping her legs down. "I have two more questions. First, how long had we been watched?"
It was a question that had lurked her mind the first time they had been kidnapped. They were chosen, yes, but how long did it take for them to study their skills and cleverness? Their weaknesses and breaking points?
"That's easy. The moment you began to struggle in life, and everything you'd ever dreamed of shot down. You said you had one more question, am I right?"
What the hell did that answer mean? Is all Tris can think.
Tris wipes her sweaty hands onto her thighs, trying to keep them from being sticky. "Yeah, I did have another question. How do you know all this?"
The moment Tris finishes the sentence, Tori looks troubled and frantic. She repeatedly glances behind her. "Hmm. Maybe that will be answered for a different time, I'm not so sure of the answer myself."
Four stands up, and silently motions for Tris to do the same. "We should get going, we need to get back."
Tori stands as well. "Oh, please stay-"
Tris cuts her off, trying to understand why Four wants them to leave. "No, it's fine. We didn't get to see Christina and it'd look pretty rude if we didn't stop by."
Tori nods, and they both exit her room. When in the hall, they slowly walk back toward their own room.
"What was that about?" Tris asks Four quietly.
He shakes his head. "She looked scared. I don't know, I just thought we should leave, maybe we were asking too much?"
"Why would she be scared? It's her own room."
"It's the infirmary, in a way. Maybe Tori has her own room, but that definitely isn't it if she wasn't that comfortable." Four answers.
Tris's eyes skim the walls. One of the things that kept replaying in her head was that where they were was so obvious. But how? All she could see were countless halls, hanging lights, chipped paint, wet and misty-
She stops walking.
"Oh my, God." Tris whispers. She walks over to the wall.
"What happened?" Four asks.
She feels him come beside her. "Help me peel this a bit, will you? It's chipped."
They both use their nails to kind of dig through the layer of black paint, and Tris shakes her head in disbelief as they get to a hard layer of silver and grey,
"What the crap? How is that freaking possible?"
Four gives her a weird look.
"Don't you see?" She tells him while pointing at the wall. "That is-"
She stops when Four gestures for her to quiet down, and she frowns as his expression shows he's nervous.
Four pulls her to a random dark hall. After looking around, he glances back at Tris, carefully removing his hand from her arm.
"Shh.. Say it quietly." He tells her.
Tris looks at him as if he's crazy, then shakes her head, remembering her discovery. "You know that grey layer? It's stone! S-T-O-N-E! We're under the ground! But how is that even-"
She pauses as she notices Four squinting through the dark.
"Did you even listen to what I said?" She asks, kind of disappointed.
Four sees her frown and shakes his head. "No! I heard every word, that's so crazy, right? But, I made a certain discovery too."
Her breath hitches as he wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. He felt so warm and comfortable. She never took note that their bodies fit so perfectly together. "Here, do you see that over there? It's high and near the ceiling?"
Tris holds her breath as he whispers this near her ear very quietly. After squinting her eyes, letting it adjust to the dark, she sees it. Very small, and very cleverly hidden.
Tori was right, their answers to their questions were right in front of them.
For one, they were underground.
And even more worse, was that they both understood why Tori may have freaked out.
"It's a camera." Four whispers quietly, his warm breath tickling her ear. She doesn't know if the shiver that follows is because of Four's closeness, or the obvious conclusion to the camera.
They were still watching them. Not only at the games, but even outside of it. Her only concern was, were there cameras in their rooms? And even worse, did they hear what she and Four just figured out?
A/N- Hey Guys! I tried to update this earlier in the week, but I had to do a lot of editing and then here we are, a new week.
THNX SO MUCH FOR UR KIND AND AMAZING REVIEWS, THEY ARE THE ONLY THING THAT ENCOURAGES ME TO WRITE MORE, AND THEY MAKE MY DAY!
Seriously, I'll feel in a horrible mood, but then I'll read your reviews and feel a priority to give another chapter to you all, so here it is!
The FourTris is getting SO SO SO hard to write, I swear! Gah!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Sorry for any typos if there are any, I was sorta in a rush, so as usual, I probably didn't edit properly!
Please Review, Follow, or Fave, whatever you want!
And I'll see ya'll later, BYEEEEE!