Devil Takes The Hindmost, chapter 27
A/N: Hey, everybody! Just went shopping in Minnesota, and since I've got roughly an hour before I'm supposed to go to bed in time to have a good early wake up call...(HA. AHA. AHA.) I may as well update this fic! I'm so sorry if this doesn't do it justice, but I will do my best to make this as heartbreaking as possible. This is the next to the last chapter of this fic, and I have enjoyed this journey with you, and I hope nobody will kill me.
"So, now my dear, I ain't the girl you knew
Cause the Angel's got Heaven, but I get you
And the tree of life grows tall, you see
My bad, bad angel, you put the devil in me..."
Gunshots ring throughout the hallways, as Beatrice stares at her reflection in the mirror. Her heart is broken, but still she goes on with her day. Its been only 24 hours since she last spotted Tobias and he had broken her heart. Now, as the gunshots ring just outside, she feels adrenline begin to rush through her system. Beginning to breathe fast, she grips the edge of the sink in fear, trying to calm herself down. She could hear the thuds of teenagers hitting the ground, blood pouring out of the wounds that have punctured them. Looking at herself in the mirror as she calms herself down, the dark circles under her eyes stick out the most, and she stares at herself for a moment, contemplating what to do.
Get out.
That was her only goal.
Get the fuck out of this school.
She strides out of the bathroom, her heart pounding in her chest against her ribs. It was like a bird, trying its best to fly to freedom, fly from harm. She lacks the wings of a bird though, so she begins to run. Her feet slamming themselves against the floor, over and over, pushing her towards the East Entrance. Bodies of many of her fellow students litter the floor, but she forces herself not to focus on them too much. The bile at the back of her throat threatens to appear, but she forces it down, swallowing it. The disgusting taste coats her throat, but it is better then keeling over.
Dashing through the hallways, she feels perspiration forming at the back of her neck, as she dashes to the back of the school. She begins to feel sweaty, but she doesn't want to die. Bullets narrowly miss her cranium, hitting others who she could not save. Penryn. Clarissa. Astrid. Anna. Fiona. Ron. Jace. John. Martin. Ben. All dead, all bleedin from various pinpoints on their bodies. There were about 15 people in the hallway with her. And she was the only one breathing. She finds herself stopping point blank, when she sees a familiar body on the ground. Dead. He was dead.
Uriah.
She screams, a monsterous sound escaping her, as she covers her mouth with her hand. She feels tears running down her face, hot and salty, but she continues on, the image of her deceased friend flashing over and over again in her mind.
She finds herself at the end of the hallway, her fists slamming against the metal doors. She screams in frustration, trying to pull them open, when a bullet soars past her ear, narrowly missing it. She doesn't turn around, knowing this could be the end.
"Turn around, Stiff."
She tenses, hearing the voice. She knew that voice. Her breathing quickens, her palms sweating fiercely. The tears at the corner of her eyes, she wipes away, before deciding to turn around. She pivots on point, to see Eric with a pistol in his hand, and Tobias, whom the gun is pointed at.
"T-Tris..." Tobias croaks, staring up at her narrow figure. He fights against Eric's grip, but finds himself powerless once more, his efforts weaning when Eric presses the barrel of the gun more firmly into his head.
"Put the gun down," Beatrice says slowly, her hands extending out in front of her. Her palms face Eric, her head spinning as she imagines the possibilities. Tobias dead on the ground. Tobias no longer alive. Tobias, her betrayer. Eric, bleeding on the ground. This was the point of no return for all of them.
" 'Fraid I can't do that," Eric replies, a manic smile on his grey face, "Me and Tobias are going somewhere. And no one in this school needed to see that."
"So you kill them?" Beatrice screams in anger, "You could've done this any way, but you kill all these fucking kids?"
"They never saw what Tobias was," Eric spits, his voice laced with anger, "They never realized how much pain he caused to all of us, to me."
Still holding the gun to Tobias' head, there are tears forming in Eric's eyes, a desperate, frightening laugh beginning to emit from his throat.
"I loved him. And fuck, you had to come and take him away. Hell, Prior, you took what I had waited patiently for!" He slams the butt of the gun into Tobias' head, and Beatrice screams, as Tobias' eyes slide up into his head, falling onto the ground limp. Without a second hesitation, Eric turns his gun from Tobias to Beatrice.
"I loved him. And you took away what was rightfully mine."
He was mad. He was insane. He was drowning in his own love for Tobias, that he had gone and done what was unimaginable. Love, indeed, was the worse monster of them all.
Beatrice doesn't move from her spot, staring at Eric with intense eyes. She slowly raises her hands, palms up, to Eric. "Eric...just put the g-gun down..." she says slowly, her eyes fixed on him, but staring down at Tobias every other second, "W-We can sort this out...if you j-just put the g-gun d-down..."
"You took away what I had waited for-"
"Eric-"
"You're a fucking thief, Prior! You fucking took him!"
"Eric-!"
Eric's finger tenses to squeeze the trigger, but a sudden moan from Tobias pulls his attention away. Beatrice, acting on pure instinct, tackles him. They both go down, as Beatrice lunges for the gun. A sharp pain is inflicted, as a foreign elbow smacks itself against her head. She is dazed, but stumbles to her feet, everything slow and disorientated. Another fist smashes itself into her lip. She stumbles back, her lip beginning to swell. Eric's hand is about to wrap around the gun, when Beatrice sinks her foot into his stomach, and he falls. Her hand grabs the gun, and she straightens up, and stumbles over to Eric. She presses the barrel of the gun into his temple.
"Back. Away, Eric..." she hisses, her hands trembling as she loads a bullet into the gun. Eric stares up at her with manic eyes, before nodding. He slowly stands up, her hand still connecting the gun to his temple. She is about to back off, when she feels something circular and cold press against her spine.
"Hey, 'lil sis."
Her whole world flies upside down, as she feels his breath against her neck. Caleb. She slowly backs off, releasing the gun from her hand. It clatters to the floor, as her brother keeps the gun against her back.
"Why, Cale?" she whimpers, resorting to the childhood name she had called him, "Why?"
"Do you not know," Caleb's voice shook, and she knows his hand is shaking as well, "What those fucking Eatons are? Monsters. Fucking monsters. Marcus Eaton forced Dad to do terrible things, Beatrice. Dad was fired because of this. We're about to go bankrupt. And don't you even lie, when you knew the entire reason why Albert is dead is because of Tobias.
"It was because of m-"
"Fuck, Beatrice," a twisted laugh exits Caleb's throat, "You're so much like Mom. Always blaming yourself. It was Tobias' fault. But I was the one to kill Al. I planted the evidence, and stole Tobias's sweater when he visited during Christmas break. Eric had been my agent. He was the one to console Al, and tell him to go for a walk that Christmas Night. God, you are so stupid, you couldn't figure it out!"
"Caleb, please, just let this go, and then we'll move," her voice trembles as she brings this up, "We'll move. Start all over again. We'll mend each other."
"Don't you see, Beatrice? There is no re-do. This was our last hope. And now, the traitor," Eric raises his gun to the unconcious Eaton, a wicked grin on his face, insane with sadness and anger, "Will pay."
Beatrice doesn't even scream, as Eric turns his gun to Tobias, unconcious on the floor. A wild, unhuman part inside of her finally reacts, as she turns from Caleb's gun and lunges forward, taking the bullet for Tobias. The bullet is a ball of pain, slowly spreading from her chest to all the corners of her body.
Time slows.
Life fades.
She hears screams, but they are all fuzzy, as she stares up at the fluroscent lights of her school. They were all dead because of her. And this is how she would repay them. Her own life, for theirs. She would join them in the hallways. There were now 19 people in the hallway. And she knew, she wouldn't count as one of the living soon.
Multiple gunshots ring in the air,as she begins to fall, fall into darkness. Out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Caleb and Eric themselves fall onto the ground, far, far away from her. A pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her, screaming her name. Hot tears begin to fall onto her pale face, and she knows for a moment, Tobias is there. Holding her. He had cared for her this entire time. But she never believed. Not for one bit.
"Beatrice!"
His voice was screaming her name, at last.
Could she be forgiven for all she has done while she had lived in this world?
"I love you!"
She supposed she could.
"S-Stay..."
She was Beatrice Prior. Brave, beautiful, brash, powerful, and dangerous. Tris. The small girl from Maryland. The brave girl from Chicago. A martyr. A symbol. A bird, flying away. And now, she finally had her wings. And she flew.
EPILOGUE
TOBIAS' POV:
I stare at the grave in front of me, her name engraved into the stone. Her name. That named I had always loved.
Beatrice Prior
1998-2014
"He who is brave is free"
Seneca
It's been two years since the shooting. Two years since Eric and Caleb have been shot down by the police in the school hallways. Two years since Callister Highschool was closed. And two years, since I lost Beatrice. My Beatrice.
I lost many friends that fateful day, true. I lost Uriah. I had already lost Marlene and Lynn. Shauna was one of my only friends now. So was Christina. And Will. But I lost the most important one of them all. But would Beatrice want me to be such a ignoramus? I still love her. I will always love Beatrice.
I realize, now, what Beatrice has taught me. Two years of counselling and rehabilitation had helped me mend, but it was with acceptance, did I finally find myself free from what had haunted me for years. Before Beatrice came into my life, I was a nothing. I was not brave, I was not intelligent, or magnificent. I had just been a coward, hiding behind the mask of fame that all men do. But these masks we wear will eventually fall off, to show the person inside. Beatrice was the one to remove my mask, to let me become me. She had taught me how to be brave. How to be selfless. How I should be. How to be a true man. I realize, the day before her death, I had only kissed Allison because she had needed someone, and for a moment, I was blind. I knew I loved Tris, but Allison had needed someone, and even if I didn't love her, I had to be there for her. Beatrice had also taught me that, I suppose
Will I ever forget her? I kneel down and place a bouquet of lillies in front of the gravestone, I drop the necklace I had given her as well. They still gleam, like her eyes. Tears escape my eyes, but I smile, knowing she must be watching me from above. I like to think she is my angel, watching over me as I go on without her. The hours without her are beginning to become bearable, as I watch my friends go on with their lives.
Will and Christina are still together, strong and proud. Since Beatrice's death, they have grown closer together, and Will has told me secrets. Secret promises of vowing to marry Christina as soon as they are done highschool. They're only in their senior year.
Shauna continues to go on without her sister, having fallen into depression after her sister's death. With my help, and Christina and Will's, she recovers, and is now helping herself, as she continues to see Zeke, Uriah's brother.
Myself? I have been writing, reading, trying to understand what had happened to Eric when he had fired those bullets. Psychology had taken me under, and I buried myself in the studies, wanting to understand how our brains would've worked under such stress and madness Eric must've been in. As for the other Prior, I don't want to know.
Every day without Tris, I am sad, but hopeful. Hopeful, because one day, I might see her again. One day, when my own breath is taken from my lungs, she'll be there, holding me as I had held her that day. Whispering that she would love me, and always will love me, just as I had. The future was all I had, but I know, I will be reunited with her soon. But for now, I am mending, slowly being put back together by my friends. We are all broken, but we all learned something very important from Beatrice. How to be selfless. How to be kind. And especially, the most important of all.
How to be brave.