SCAR.
"Really?"
Cal sighed, looking at the Dauntless medic in front of her. He was lean, and held a sort of permanent scowl. His hair was short and shaggy,and dyed a dark blue. His arms were full of dark, intricate tattoos that ended when they reached his shoulders and had more separate tattoo's on his neck. Cal thought he seemed a little young to be a medic, but she still had yet to see anyone old in Dauntless. He was the only one in the infirmary - which came to a quiet shock to Cal.
"Yep."
Mick, who also went by Mickey, popped the 'p' in his reply. His gloved hands still working on stitching the wound in her eyebrow. His brows were knitted together and his frowned deepened as he wiped away the blood. Caine had bruised her neck fairly well, but the cut on her eyebrow was now going to be a permanent reminder that he got the upper hand on her.
Eric stood behind Mickey, scrutinizing his stitch work with furrowed brows. Mickey, unlike a lot of Dauntless members who seemed to fidget and squirm under Eric's gaze, remained impassive. He worked unbothered, even when Eric leaned in to examine the closed wound. Mickey barely spared the young Dauntless leader a glance.
"Maybe I could turn it into a cool story to scar initiates next year," Cal mumbled, her tone was light but held an undertone of annoyance.
Mickey snorted at this, pulling away from Cal and pulling off his latex gloves with a snap. He threw the gloves into a near by trash and clasped his hands together on his lap.
"You're all set. I would say no fighting until I take the stitches out but," Mickey pauses, dragging his cloudy gray eyes over towards Eric, "You won't need them in stage two of initiation."
Cal looked between the men: Mickey, who's face was still impassive and Eric's, who's face now held a dark glint.
STAGE TWO.
"This isn't what I was expecting for stage two," Cal breaths out shakily, looking around the room. Four side eyes her, filling up the syringe while she moves her hair out of the way with shaky hands. He looks at the scar behind her ear for a moment, and Cal averts her gaze - resisting the urge to flinch when the needle pricked her skin.
"You'll start feeling the effects within the next thirty seconds," Four begins, giving Cal a firm nod, "Be brave, Cal."
She wants to ask what she'll see, wants to ask more questions like the Candor she was. But the next time she blinks she finds herself out of the testing room she was previously in.
COLD.
The cold bit at her skin, clinging to her bare arms.
If she could have known, she would have worn a long sleeve instead of this loose fit tank top. Cal shook, her hands balled into fists at her sides as she tried not to look down. A soft whine left her throat and she tightens her jaw so she wouldn't let out another cry.
She knows what building she's standing on the across from, and the thought of said building is almost as bad as the thought of how high up she was. Cal grimaced, baring her teeth and tightening her jaw when a cold and harsh breeze. She sways, and hisses underneath her breath as she steadies herself once more.
"You can do this."
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
"You can do this."
Cal bends down, grasping the cement corner of the building. She takes a deep breath, the cold air pushing against her. Cal grips the cement until her knuckles turn white and she can feel her fingertips begin to callous. Cal crawls, her black pants rip along the knees as she slides along the thin, broken edge and towards the open window of the Merciless Mart. It feels like forever before she shakily grabs the edge of the building and forces herself inside. She lands with a thud against the floor, her hair sprawling messily all over her face.
HEIGHTS.
Cal sucks in air to her lungs, not realizing she was holding her breath until after she lies against the floor. Her hands rest against the floor - which is not the floor of the Merciless Mart she remembers. Instead of the black and white tiled floor she use to walk across, the floor was pitch black, sticky and wet. The stickiness underneath her fingers makes her cringe.
Cal stands up slowly, she wipes her hands on her pants and looks around the darkened room.
There were no doors, and the entrance in which she stumbled in from was now gone.
"Do you know what scares you?"
Cal jumps at the voice, her body tenses and she balls her hands into fists. She can't pinpoint the voice, but he sounds so familiar to her.
"Caldera."
The voice echoes, but she still can't see anyone in the dimly lit room.
"ANSWER ME!"
Cal flinches at the resounding yell and brings her arms up to hug herself, as she silently wills herself to stop shaking with fear.
"Do you know what scares you, Caldera?"
The voice is becoming clearer now, and Cal squeezes herself tighter - her nails digging into her skin. She tries to open her mouth but not even a whimper makes it way past her lips. She wants to run, hide, move - but her body remains frozen in place and only her hands can manage to grip onto herself tighter. She shivers, the temperature in the room dropping to a temperature that was much colder than the air outside.
"That's right, Caldera."
Her full name, and the way it's said, makes her want to bark out a nasty remark but she bites her tongue. Her jaw clenches tight and her eyes follow the two figures as they move further into the room, centering themselves under the only lighting available.
Syn's eyes shined the lightest of blues when he cried, and they seemed almost pale even under the poor lighting. Her brothers face is dirty, and tear tracks run down his cheeks and neck. His hands are tied together in front of him and he never moves his eyes away from her.
She recognizes the man behind her brother, a man she never found herself truly afraid of until this very moment. She was never scared of him, but the power he had to kick her or her brother out of Dauntless was something she knew she feared in the back of her mind.
Cal eyes what rests in Eric's hand - and against Syn's temple - and she tries to find her voice. Tell him to put the gun down, or take her instead. She tries to yell at Eric, plead with him with her eyes since her voice doesn't work.
She's not ready to be alone.
She can't be alone.
She can't face the world without her brother in it.
But she can't move.
She can't move.
She can't move.
HELPLESSNESS.
Waking up from the fear simulation was a lot like trying to catch her breath after being held in Caine's choke-hold.
Her body is flushed and warm, but she shakes as if she's been thrown into an ice bath. Her hand dives to her heart, squeezing at the dampened fabric of her tank top.
"You alright?"
Four's voice sounds distant to her ears but Cal nods her head to assure her instructor that she's fine. She runs a hand through her hair and hunches over in the chair, trying to calm her breathing and rapid heart beat.
"Shit."
Four lets out a soft snort as he begins organizing the testing machine once more, "You did pretty well for your first time in the test, got over heights pretty fast."
"Well when you see the Merciless Mart every day and have to jump off a building to get to this compound then I'm sure getting through heights makes it a little easier," Cal sits up, "I still hate heights."
"You'll be back again tomorrow," Four nods as Cal stands, "You did good, but be ready to go against some more of your fears."
Cal frowns, and can't bite back the question that rung in her mind, "How... How many fears does a person usually have?"
"Eleven or twelve," Four shrugs, "Give or take."
Cal frowns, "Oh."
Four gives her a forced smile. It doesn't meet his eyes, and he looks too tired to put real effort into a genuine smile. But his voice remains light and friendly as she starts to walk out of the room, "Everyone's afraid of something."
Cal nods, slowly walking out of the room. Quietly repeating his words, "Everyone's afraid of something."
AUTHORS NOTE
Okay, but have any of my readers seen the Suicide Squad photos? I'm very excited.
I love the comics, so I'd love to see how Jai Courtney portrays Captain Boomerang b/c he is a fantastic actor.
Anyways! Changing the fears around a bit, and more Eric to come next chapter!
Thank you KyeRic, Renzin, BK2U for the reviews!
Thank you for reading!