Chapter Four – Becoming a Dauntless
When the choosing ceremony ends there are eight transfers standing by my side – one of them is Emmett – and ten Dauntless-initiates in front of me. Max, the Dauntless head, starts running toward the stairs and we have to follow him, leaving both Abnegation and Amity factions behind to clean the terrace. If I recall next year will be Abnegation's year to present the ceremony so they will have to clean it all alone. Emmett's hand is still on mine and I have no intention to let it go.
As we run down stairs, I feel my panic slowly disappearing. At least I'm not on top of a building anymore. I know worse things are coming now that I became a Dauntless member - I mean, now that I'm trying to become a Dauntless member – but I can think about it later, right?
When we get to the street I think we're going to stop and wait for the train, but no, the train is already arriving. I look up to Emmett, while we're still running.
"Together?" I ask?
He doesn't answer me, because the first Dauntless-initiates are already jumping to the train, but he still pressures my hand while we run, parallel to the train.
"Now!" I hear Emmett screaming and I jump, feeling him pulling me. He gets in the train before me and holds the door handle. I end up by almost hitting his chest when I get in the train, and suddenly it's as if a strange electrical current passed through me when I feel a sweet, but male smell coming from his body, standing so close to mine. My heart is pounding against my chest, my cheeks burn and my brain can't think straight. Again I want to find a hole and hide, but I also want to stay here.
I go in the wagon, still stupefied by what just happened, and sit with my back leaning against the wall, staying as far as I can from him. I regret it immediately, now Emmett is going to think I'm afraid of physical contact, like Abnegation members. Well, there's not much I can do now. I try to look at him to see if his mad or something, but he is already staring at me – as I'm starting to notice he does more often than I thought – so I look around. By doing so, I notice that one of the transfers is missing. One that became faction less even before the real initiation starts. We're eight now, how many are we going to lose until the end of it? Am I going to be one of them? Is Emmett? I bet he won't, I remember when Kate accidentally made him fell from a tree once and he dislocated his shoulder; he didn't even complain even though he was on great pain.
I observe the rest of the transfers. There are two girls and a boy from Erudite, two boys from Amity – one of them looks really sad, I'm thinking it might have something to do with the transfer that didn't jump – and at last, a lonely girl from Abnegation. It's weird that Abnegation members change faction. That kind of gives bad fame to the transfer's family. And Abnegation are suppose to think about the others before they think about themselves, so Abnegation kids have to think about their families first.
I focus on the girl. She's wearing the typical gray clothes from Abnegation and her head is cocked down. She has short brown hair and is too skinny. I always thought that Abnegation members must skip meals; they're all like her. Okay, I'm not fat or anything, but I'm also not that skinny, I guess we can say I'm an in-between.
"Time to jump!" Screams one of the Dauntless-initiates.
The girl from Abnegation starts to stand up and I look at her face. She's pretty for a Stiff. Stiff is what everyone calls to an Abnegation member. I stand up too, and look for Emmett. He is right next to the door so he will be one of the first ones to jump.
I stay behind and wait for the others to jump. I don't know if I'm going to make it, not without Emmett. I approach to the door as the wagon starts to get empty and I see the blue eyes I've always envied waiting for me at the door. He didn't jump.
I walk towards him, and when I look right into his eyes I know something is wrong. He looks to the side, to the open door. My head turns to the side and I see what he sees: we're at the height of seven floors! I start to panic, but there's only me and Emmett left in the train, we're probably almost in the end of the building. We have to jump now, or become faction less. I step backward, pulling Emmett's arm so that he comes with me, then I let it go and run to the wagon's door, jumping when I can't run anymore.
I feel myself levitate for a few seconds and then I'm falling to the ground, the problem is: I didn't jump far enough! I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall! I see Emmett's figure jumping over me and I stretch my arms, trying to reach him. But I don't. Instead I grab the ledge of the building. My body hits the wall and I almost drop the ledge.
Even though I'm still thinking I'm going to fall and die – or simply die from concussion after hitting the wall -, I put all my strength in my arms, which is quite difficult as I can't stop trembling. My hands turn red and then white. I can't, I think, I'm too weak. I'm ready to let myself fall and face my death when two large hands hold me by my wrists and pull me to the top of the building.
It's not Emmett, I know it before I get to see who my savior is – Emmett's hands are thin and soft and my skin burns when they touch me -, but it's for Emmett I look for when my feet are finally on the concrete ground, if we can call it ground. I sigh from relieve. He's okay. He's getting up now; he probably fell when he jumped.
I now feel free to look at my savior. It's a Dauntless-initiate boy. He is taller than me, but not as tall as Emmett. He has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. His skin is pale, just like mine and has a lot of scars on his arms. Dauntless scars. Again, I compare him to Emmett, whose skin is tam from the sun, and has no marks of violence on it.
"Thanks." I say.
The boy smiles. "You can call me Owen."
I nod. He waits, so I say "Isabelle."
He keeps on smiling, and then looks to the other side of the terrace. I follow his eyes. Max is staring at us with a reproving look on his face: I should be death. We're not the only ones that are not on their respective group yet, but Max is not the only one looking at us, Emmett is staring at us too, with an expression I've never seen before. I could mistake it for sadness, but it goes farther than that, like… pain. I wonder if his fall was too hard. My arms still hurting, but I can handle the pain.
I look around to see where the other initiates are. Some of them are near the ledge, looking to the street down there. I don't want to approach to ledge again, but I feel tempted to do it. Why are they all looking down there? Then I see what's missing. Better, who is missing: the Stiff is no longer with us. I feel sorry for her; I didn't even get to know her name. Now we're seven, and the Dauntless-initiates still being ten. Is that going to be any important?
"Am I going to have to wait for longer?" Asks Max.
Owen rolls his eyes and joins the other Dauntless-initiates, I, in my turn, walk towards the other transfers, only stopping when I'm standing right next to Emmett. My fingers look for his hand and when I find it I pressure it softly, telling him we'll eventually get used to the pain. I wait for him to pressure my hand back but he doesn't, and I wonder what exactly his problem is. But, when I'm ready to take my hand out of his hand he closes his hand around mine and keeps it steady.
Everybody is pretty quiet when Max starts talking.
"Everybody listen, I'm Max. I'm one of the heads of your new faction." One of? I thought he was the only head of the Dauntless, he is sure the oldest, for what I can see. "Okay, somewhere down there is the Dauntless headquarters. To get there you'll have to jump. If you can't control your fear this is no place for you." He smiles. "Transfers do the honors today."
I know there's noise around me – probably transfers complaining about what has been asked for us to do -, but I don't hear a word. I literally can't breathe and I know I'm getting paler than usual when Emmett stands in front of me.
"Isabelle, calm down. They wouldn't ask for it if it wasn't safe." He knows I can't do it. He knows I'm afraid of heights. Even if I've never told anyone, Emmett knows. I know he does. "Look, I'll jump first and then I'll wait for you down there, okay?" He lets my hand go. "Don't let me down Is."
I want to stop him but my arms don't move, actually, my whole body doesn't move. What did he just call me?
"Looks like there's at least someone courageous in here." Max says while Emmett prepares to jump. Right before he jumps, Emmett turns to me and smiles, saying: "I'll way for you Is, don't let me down." And, even though I'm still hardly breathing and my heart beats at the speed of light, I smile back to him. Then he jumps.
"Who wants to go next?" Max's question is a bit late. The boy from Erudite is already approaching to ledge. Typical from an Erudite, they can't deal with not being the number one. After he jumps one of the girls that came with him jumps too. Then a boy from Amity, the one that wasn't sad on the train. There are only three of us left, and I know my time has come.
Trembling, I walk toward the ledges. "Go, Isabelle!" I hear, and turn around to see Owen's smile. I get to the ledge and close my eyes. I can't even believe in what I'm about to do. I bow my knees and jump, towards what, I don't know. But I know towards whom, and that makes me smile in the middle of my fall.
I crash into something hard and elastic: a net. I take and deep breath and roll to the side. I'm already feeling enough pain without having another initiate crashing me. I end up by falling on a wooden floor, which makes the pain harder. I'll be admired if tomorrow my body isn't covered on a big bruise.
Before I even try to get up, I feel a hand pulling me by the arm and an arm around my waist. Emmett's touch is gentile and warm, but I freeze. Nobody has ever touched me like this, not in this careful and protective way. Once I'm on my feet again Emmett let's my arm go, but he keeps his arm around my waist.
"Almost thought you're going to let me down." He says with a smile on his face.
I watch the first Dauntless-initiate falling on the net – a blonde girl that reminds me of Kate – and almost in the next second, Owen.
"Never." I say, looking back to Emmett. I blush, and now I'm thankful I chose Dauntless. They're headquarter reminds me of a cave. Dark and cold. Emmett can take my words as if I was talking about the fact that we've know each other like forever, as he can't see that I'm blushing. What am I thinking? That's exactly what I'm talking about.
A tall guy, older than us, maybe for a year or two, approaches to us and looks to Emmett's arm around my waist before he lifts his eyebrows.
"The bravest are always the lucky ones." He says, as if for some reason, he doubted that. Standing right next to Emmett, this guy could be his older brother. Same height, blue eyes, dark hair.
"This is Four." Says Emmett. "One of our instructors."
Four? What kind of nickname is that?
"Hey Four!" Owen joins us, which makes Emmett contract his arm's muscles. I'm confused, what's his problem with Owen? "Just heard the news. Please tell me you're staying with us? I can't have my sister as my instructor; she's going to make it harder for me!"
Four smiles. "Sorry kid. I'm staying with the transfers in my first year."
Owen sighs and says something incomprehensible.
"Lucky you Isabelle by staying with Four, he's-" He starts, but then, Owen too, notices Emmett's arm around my waist. I have to admit it, I liked it when it was just me and Emmett, but now it's starting to make me uncomfortable. "And you are?" Owen asks.
It's Four who answers. "Emmett, the first transfer to jump this year." He turns to me. "Isabelle, right?" He says while he takes the pen cap out.
I think about it for a brief second. "Actually it's Is." Now I'm totally free from my old life. Well, not totally, I have Emmett, let's say, only the bad parts. Emmett pressures my waist softly and I smile. From now on I have a new faction, a new house and a new name. The rest, I'll figure out as I go.
A/N: Long chapter, and hard to write, hope you liked it. Reviews would be great, please guys, I always give my best and it will feel good to have at least 5 reviews from this chapter. Thanks for reading!