Hello nerds, I hate everything so I'm going to coat myself in glitter and sleep for the next 20 years. But anyway, here is another chapter that I hope yall will like. I still don't own anything except new characters and ideas, I make no money from writing, and all rights go to the rightful owners. To see outfits and character pictures head on over to my polyvore Noellamonster.
Tris and I stay close to each other, before I could look to the faces of our friends Lynn was clutching my hands. "What happened?"
"Long story that hopefully I'll be able to explain soon." I sighed, she followed me as we walked to the table where Will, Christina, and now Uriah sat.
Al, Peter, Molly, and Drew were gone. How many times was my brother going to play the role of the monster?
"What happened?" Will asks, lowering his voice. By now Tris has noticed that none of them are here.
"Look who's missing." Chris seethes, "The usual suspects."
"And Al." Tris added, her face emotionless.
"Someone is missing from the dauntless born too, he was ranked last." Uriah noted.
"Guys. Tonight we all need to talk…something serious is going on here. We need you to be understanding. There are people you can't trust here." I wasn't going to let my brother get shit talked anymore, he didn't have control. I saw how much pain this was causing him; I saw how much he regretted everything. I wish they could too.
"You guys are worrying me." Will sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose, "Where will we be meeting?"
"In the training room, one of the few rooms that have no cameras. There's a door in the very back, it leads to a storage room. Far from cameras and people. Two hours after lights out."
"But seriously" Lynn started after a few minutes of silence, "I could, like, kill the people who hurt you though."
"True romance, the threat of death." Uriah winked at us, lightening the mood enough for conversation to flow.
It was hard to swallow, bruises encompassed my neck. I don't remember much from last night but the pressure of large, callused hands made me shake.
Four gets up and stands between the tables. Conversation abruptly ceases. "Transfers. We're doing something different today," he says. "Follow me." We stand, and Uriah's forehead wrinkles.
"Be careful," he gently hugs us both, he had to keep his enthusiasm down.
"Don't worry," Will and Chris wrap their arms around us, making us wince. "We'll protect them." Four leads us out of the dining hall and along the paths that surround the Pit.
Four turns around and walks backward a few steps—backward, on a narrow path with no railing. How well does he know this place? He eyes Drew, who trudges at the back of the group, and says, "Pick up the pace, Drew!" It's a cruel joke, but it's hard for me to fight off a smile. Tris looks towards me, a light in her eyes as she stifles laughter. Until of course her eyes meet Fours, jealousy flared in his dark eyes. I'm guessing he saw that her arm was entwined with Wills.
It hit me that I no longer felt the pang of jealousy, it was a relief. I could have her as a friend again.
We get closer and closer to the glass ceiling, and for the first time in days, I see the sun. Four walks up a flight of tall stairs leading through a hole in the ceiling.
They creak under my feet, and I look down to see the Pit and the chasm below us. We walk across the glass, which is now a floor rather than a ceiling, through a cylindrical room with glass walls. The surrounding buildings are half-collapsed and appear to be abandoned, which is probably why I never noticed the Dauntless compound before. The Dauntless mill around the glass room, talking in clusters. At the edge of the room, two Dauntless fight with sticks, laughing when one of them misses and hits only air.
Above me, two ropes stretch across the room, one a few feet higher than the other. They probably have something to do with the daredevil stunts the Dauntless are famous for. Four leads us through another door. Beyond it is a huge, dark space with graffiti covered walls and exposed pipes. The room is lit by a series of old-fashioned fluorescent tubes with plastic covers—they must be ancient.
"This," says Four, his eyes bright in pale light, "is a different kind of simulation known as the fear landscape. It has been disabled for our purposes, so this isn't what it will be like the next time you see it." Behind him, the word "Dauntless" is spray-painted in red artistic lettering on a concrete wall.
"Through your simulations, we have stored data about your worst fears. The fear landscape accesses that data and presents you with a series of virtual obstacles. Some of the obstacles will be fears you previously faced in your simulations. Some may be new fears. The difference is that you are aware, in the fear landscape, that it is a simulation, so you will have all your wits about you as you go through it." That means that everyone will be like Divergent in the fear landscape.
I don't know if that's a relief, because I can't be detected, or a problem, because I won't have the advantage. Four continues, "The number of fears you have in your land scape varies according to how many you have." How many fears will I have? Only two had showed so far, something unheard of. What if new ones reared their ugly head? "I told you before that the third stage of initiation focuses on mental preparation," he says. I remember when he said that. On the first day. Right before he put a gun to my brothers' head. "That is because it requires you to control both your emotions and your body—to combine the physical abilities you learned in stage one with the emotional mastery you learned in stage two. To keep a level head."
One of the fluorescent tubes above Four's head twitches and flickers. "Next week you will go through your fear landscape as quickly as possible in front of a panel of Dauntless leaders. That will be your final test, which determines your ranking for stage three. Just as stage two of initiation is weighted more heavily than stage one, stage three is weighted heaviest of all. Understood?" We all nod. Even Drew, who makes it look painful. If I do well in my final test, I have a good chance of making it into the top ten and a good chance of becoming a member.
Becoming dauntless would only be worth it if my brother was by my side, not filled with a serum that was driving him insane. Just his normal self. Although after this ordeal who knows what state his mind is in…
When we get back to the dorm that afternoon, Al is there. Will stands behind Tris and I, one hand on each of our backs, as if to remind us he's here to keep us steady. Christina edges closer to us. Al's eyes have shadows beneath them, and his face is swollen from crying.
Al didn't attack me. He attacked Tris. I glance at her, her small frame is shaking and pain masks her features.
"Can I talk to you?" His voice shakes, her hand finds mine and she squeezes as hard as she can.
"Are you kidding?" Will squeezes her shoulders. "You don't get to come near her ever again."
"I won't hurt you. I never wanted to…" Al covers his face with both hands. "I just want to say that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I don't…I don't know what's wrong with me, I…please forgive me, please…." He reaches for her like he's going to touch her shoulder, or her hand, his face wet with tears. I stand in front of her, the look in her eyes suggests more than anger or sadness, fear mingles with her emotions.
"Stay away from me," her soft voice cracks as she taps my shoulder, I move back to her side. Her voice low and losing emotion. "Never come near me again." Her expression is gone, replaced by an emotionless mask. "If you do, I swear to God I will kill you," she spits out. "You coward."