*Happy Easter everyone! This is my present to you! Enjoy the chapter! I've already got plans for chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15!*
Chapter 11
Four POV
Today they had started Fear Landscapes. Four had watched person after person come into the room, face a fear, and leave after anywhere from 11-20 minutes a complete wreck. The first day was always hard. The initiates would get three days of facing their fears, and then a day of facing one of Lauren's fears. Then to finally complete initiation after another round of cuts, everyone would go through their entire Fear Landscape in front of the Dauntless leaders. Finally, Four was at Tris' turn. He hadn't had a lot of time the last couple days to see her, so this would be nice.
He stepped out into the room where the initiates sat and waited. The only people left were Uriah, Tris, Marlene, and Peter. Uriah and Tris were talking to each other and laughing. The bastard.
Marlene was glaring and Peter was picking at his nails.
"Tris." Four said sharply, trying to keep his fists from flying into Uriah's face. "It's your turn. Let's go."
Tris looked up and smiled. "I'll see you on the other side Uri."
Uriah smiled and nodded. "Good luck!"
"Come on!" Four snapped. "I don't have all day."
Tris jumped up, and frightened, followed Four into the room. Shit. He didn't want to scare her.
"I'm sorry, for snapping at you out there Tris." Four said slowly, pulling out the needle of fear serum. "It's been a really long day."
Tris nodded a little, staring wide-eyed at the needle. "Uh, yeah. It's okay. What are we doing?"
"You're going to be facing one of your fears today. You'll do this for three days. The serum I'm going to inject you with will activate the part of your brain that processes fear. What you need to do to get out is calm your heart. Once you calm yourself down, you get out of the simulation. Are we clear?"
Tris nodded and sat down in the chair. She looked so innocent. So beautiful. Four reached out gently and wiped the hair off of her neck and injected her. As she started to fade into the simulation he whispered, "Be brave, Tris."
Four turned and looked at the screen. She was scared of crows. He saw her panicking, trying to fight the birds out as they pecked and clawed at her skin. She was terrified, all Four wanted to do was just reach in and fight those freaking birds off himself. But suddenly her heart rate was slowing and she was…wait, where did she get fire to fight them off with? And then she was awake…in just over three minutes.
"Tris how did you do that?" Four turned around quickly, and closed the distance helping her up.
"Do what? I just…I thought that was what we were supposed to do. It, it isn't real." Tris stuttered, obviously scared.
"Tris, are you…leave." Four finally said. "Leave and meet me by the chasm at eleven tonight."
"Four," Tris said, her eyes wide with terror, "What's going on?"
"You need to go." He said, pushing her for the back door. I'm going to erase your footage and you're going to go back to the dorm and tell everyone that you're just tired and sick, but you'll be fine tomorrow. And then you'll meet at the chasm at eleven tonight. Okay?"
Tris just nodded, and that was going to have to be good enough. He got her out the door, and he finished the rest of the Fear Landscapes. He tallied up times with everyone's current rankings, and Tris was first. Great.
But that really was good, it was. It was just that Peter would be mad that he was second. It was going to drive him absolutely nuts. And Al…Al was last. He was going to be out, and the rankings today would prove it. None of the Dauntless-born took nearly as long getting through their fears. God. This was awful.
Four went through the rest of his day on edge. Tris was Divergent. That much was obvious from her test today, and Eric was hunting Divergent. Everyone was. Tris wouldn't be safe, and then he would lose her. Four couldn't lose Tris. He would have to help her through the rest of initiation, but he wouldn't be able to erase any more footage from her tapes. Eric would already be suspicious enough as it was.
"Four." Four sucked in a deep breath as Eric made his way over to him.
"What, Eric?"
"You erased the Stiff's footage. Why?" Eric asked, sitting down next to him while Four tried to eat.
Four shrugged. "It was bad footage. Won't happen again."
Eric nodded. "Damn straight it won't happen again, Four. And what's this about all these unauthorized searches for people using the security cameras?"
Four stiffened, just slightly, trying to maintain his composure. "What searches?"
"Beatrice Prior. Tobias Eaton."
"Tris is looking for them. She's getting so fucking annoying that I just gave in. I figure the sooner I didn't find them, the sooner she'd stop bugging me. She's a child, I swear." Four explained.
Eric nodded. "I'll have a chat with her then. Make sure it won't happen from here on out."
"Eric, I've got it handled. It's okay."
Eric nodded noncommittally and stood to leave. "I'll see you later, Four. Keep your eyes peeled for the Divergents."
He nodded and went back to eating, silently trying to not panic in his head. What would happen if Eric found out who Four was? Would he remember? But more importantly, Four needed to keep Tris safe. He could only hope that she would show up tonight at the chasm like he told her to. He needed to start teaching her how to handle her Divergence A.S.A.P.
Four was on his way to the chasm when he heard her screams. He started to sprint for his destination faster than he ever had in his life. It was Peter, Al, and Drew, and they were hanging Tris over the edge, her head covered in a bag. Peter had his hand shoved up Tris' shirt and he was threatening her and kissing her neck sloppily. Al stood by, doing nothing, and Drew helped Peter hold Tris at bay while they assaulted her. That was all it took for Four to see red.
Next thing he knew, he was tearing Peter and Drew off of Tris and beating them into the ground. They needed to hurt for this. No one was allowed to touch Tris. No one. Peter managed to weasel away, but Four beat Drew to a bloody pulp. It was only a whimper from Tris' direction that pulled him away from Drew and brought his attention back to reality. Four ran over to Tris and lifted her gently in his arms.
"I'm here." Four whispered as he carried her for the infirmary. "I'm here, and you're going to be okay."
Tris shook her head. "No."
"Shh…" Four whispered soothingly, cradling her close.
"No, no hospitals…" Tris whimpered. "Please. No…"
Four debated in his head. He was handy in first aid, and he had a lot of the equipment they would need in his apartment. He receded, and began to carry Tris for his home. By the time they made it there, to apartment 10, Tris was out cold. Four laid her gently on the couch first and set to work checking her body over, stitching up a cut over her eyebrow and bandaging a few bleeding spots on her arms and legs. There would be some bruising around her eye and cheek, but there wasn't much to be done about that. When he finished, Four picked Tris up again, ever so gently, and laid her in his bed, tucking her in underneath his covers. He smiled sadly at her sleeping figure. She was so beautiful, even as she was now. Four let out a breath and then laid down on his small couch. He was cramped, but he would survive. It was more important that Tris had the bed.
You had to protect and treasure your reason for living, after all.
*Okay, what did you think? Was it good? What did you like/dislike? Or even better, who/how/why is Tris going to find out who Four really is? Will it be Four? Will it be someone else, I won't tell you, but I will give a shout-out to whoever figures it out once they finally have the talk. (Which will be in chapter 15, but I AM hoping to do a...TRIPLE UPDATE TODAY! HAPPY EASTER TO YOU!
However, all I ask is that you guys give me an AMAZING response to chapter 11. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. I won't even give you a limit this time, just REVIEW and do all the lovely things that go along with it because you all are amazing and I love you all so much, and I love your feedback and support. Seriously.
All my love. Always.
Rosaline.*