"What are you doing here?"
Cal stepped into the training room, ready to speak with Four about her fears for a third time and have him watch her wither and cry in the chair. But, when she was called in and escorted into the room, she wasn't met with Four's plain gaze. Instead, she's met with Eric's.
"He's busy."
"With what?"
"Your brother."
A shock runs through her bones and Cal freezes. She knew Syn was having problems with the second stage, and was close to being bumped down to second - below Ben - but she hadn't realized her brother was struggling this much with his fears. To need private help?
"You're the last one for today," Eric pats the seat, his face nonchalant as he does, "So hurry up."
Four, in the past two days working with him, had been patient with her. Though the man was still callous and rough around the edges, he wasn't a sharp knife cutting through time. And again, Cal is reminded of the two different kinds of Dauntless she sees in her leaders.
Cal rubs her arms.
This time she dresses a little bit more ready for her landscape - though she's sure that her clothes won't matter. The tight long sleeve, pants and ankle boots are just a different kind of reassurance to her. Her hand traces over her stitches on her brow, dabbing away the light sweat that's already begun to accumulate.
"We're gonna do things a bit," Eric pauses, shrugging his shoulders, "Differently."
Cal frowns, "What do you mean by that."
"I'm curious, Kitten," Eric leans against the seat as Cal sits, "What makes you tick."
"You're going to see that."
Her words spill through gritted teeth, and she clenches her hands into fists at her side. Her heart hammers against her chest, and she refuses to even admit to herself that she's afraid of letting Eric see what she's afraid of.
"True," Eric continues on, if he notices her tone - he ignores it. Instead, he places electrodes on his forehead, and then on hers, "But in Four's little report on you and Synodic, he says you and your brother are having trouble getting out of your landscape. Though, you, unlike Syn, manage to get out. Looks like you and your other half are struggling with stage two, kitten."
STRUGGLING.
Cal's lip curls and she turns her head away, "We're fine."
Eric pauses what he was doing to look at Cal, his voice low as he speaks, "And that's why the two of you are failing? You really think Caine won't try to push you and your brother out of here the second he realizes you two are falling behind in stage two? Only reason I'm here and Four is with your brother is because Dauntless sees a lot of potential in you two."
Cal's heart thumps into her throat, her body shivering with a cold chill of fear.
Dauntless - most likely Dauntless leaders - see potential, but if that potential vanishes then no one will hesitate to drop the twins. There's no room for cowardice in Dauntless.
"So," Eric smacks his lips together, picking up the large syringe and looking at her with his pierced brow lifted, "You ready?"
He doesn't wait for her to answer. Instead, Eric moves Cal's curtain of hair away and sticks the needle into the side of her neck.
She flinches, the rush of the serum flushing through her.
Eric injects himself, and leans back into the chair that Cal barely notices before she slips into darkness.
DARKNESS.
"Eric?"
Cal stretches her arms out, trying to feel for anything around her.
She can't see anything.
There's no dim light to lead her anywhere, and there are no sounds echoing in her ears. She reaches for anything - a wall, a door, anything. But there's nothing.
"Eric?"
The silence startles her, and her own panicked breaths are the only thing that reach her ears.
"Relax."
Cal whips around, trying to locate the sound of his voice. She strains her eyes against the darkness but no matter how hard she tries she can't see a thing. Her breathing is still heavy, and she pants as she replies, "I am calm."
He scoffs, "Right."
Cal takes shaky steps forward, her arms still outstretched in front of her, "Where - where are you?"
He doesn't reply again, but Cal can hear his soft breathing now and she makes her way towards him slowly. She wants to cry in relief when her hands grasps onto his jacket, and she grips the leather so tightly she's sure it will rip through her fingers. She closes her eyes, trying to steady her breathing and ignore the pitch black hole that surrounds her. She feels Eric grab at her palm, his warm and calloused hands plucking her fingers away from his jacket. His attempt to get her to let go doesn't work, and she only latches on to his wrist. Afraid that he'll disappear into the darkness with everything else.
"Relax."
She resits the urge to yell at him. How can she possibly be relaxed when she can't see anything? When she's surrounded by nothing but the dark?
But instead of yelling, Cal exhales long breathes through her mouth. She still holds a tight grip on Eric's wrist, the warmth of him being her only comfort in the oblivion she stands in.
ABSOLUTE DARKNESS.
When Cal opens her eyes, she no longer stands in an unseeable darkness. Cal's mouth parts, her eyes darting around to look at her surroundings.
She remembered what Ben had murmured before bed the other night, the further you get into your fear landscape then then deeper your fears go. The more fears she faces, the more that surface until there's only one left. Until there is only one hiding behind everything she's ever faced.
And Cal isn't even there yet.
She takes a step forward, looking around the room with a look of horror.
Eric, only a step behind, watches her face change. It's almost fascination how in the face of sheer terror she tries to hold back her emotions, tries to hide and lie about how she's feeling. Her eyes are good at hiding what she's feeling, they shine with neither fear nor courage - but with a dark placidity. But, Cal's lips are what give her away. Usually puckered or pulled back into a forced line, her lips are parted and shaped into a grimace.
Eric knows the colors from memory but has never seen the room he currently stands in. Mostly white furniture with the hints of sleek black here and there. Few windows, and bright lights - he knows he stands in a Candor office.
"Cal."
He says her name first, her stunned silence throwing him off. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary about the office, but Caldera walks so slowly and cautiously around that it confuses him.
Cal shakes her head, not trusting in her voice. She doesn't even realize she's let go of Eric's wrist and is now holding onto his hand tightly.
Eric watches her with furrowed brows when she stops in front of a black desk. Sitting on desk is a small vile full of liquid.
The door clicks and Cal snaps her head up as three figures step into line. Two men she doesn't know dressed in white and black Candor security stood on both sides of Jack Kang.
"It's always a sad sight to see you in my office, Caldera," Kang begins, adjusting his jacket.
Cal's face twists for a moment, and Eric only watches her quietly as she straightens it out. Her lips fall from a pained grimace and into a thin line, her shoulders square but don't stiffen, and her eyes relax even under the Candor leaders gaze.
"What did you do this time?" Kang sighs, taking a seat, "Punch another boy? Ditch your classes again?"
"Nothing."
Cal feels the fear threaten to shake her to the core, she knows she's lying even if she isn't aware of what she's done wrong. The only time she was ever in Kang's office was when she was caught doing something wrong. And everytime, she was met with a horrible punishment.
"Now, Caldera," Kang sighs as he stands, "You know we don't tolerate any lies in this faction, and I there is a reason you're in my office."
"I didn't do anything," Cal's voice is firm.
She watches as Jack Kang grabs the vile, sticking it into the the gun. Her eyes dart for the door but her arms are seized by the two men that were previously at Kang's side.
"Relax."
Cal stiffens in his hold, trying to control and level her breathing so Kang can't see her fear.
"RELAX."
The man to her right is no longer the Candor man but Eric, his mouth rests by her ear but his eyes don't met hers. His face, always so placid even in the face of her fears. Cal flinches when the needle punctures her neck.
"May the truth set you free."
Cal's body falters, a rush of defeat flooding through her veins.
"Now, Caldera," Kang steps forward, standing directly in front of her, "What are you so afraid of?"
Her body burns as she can feel her muscles and joints tense as she resists, she stutters out a no and both Jack and Eric speak at the same time. Eric repeating for her to relax and Kang telling her not to resist the truth.
Cal squeezes her eyes shut, her body aches and weighs her down and she wants to bite into her tongue so she doesn't speak. Eric continues to tell her to relax, and she tries but her body shakes as she continues to resist the serum. She can only last so long.
"HONESTY."
"Thank you for your honesty."
AUTHORS NOTE
I know in the book that resisting the truth serum wasn't painful, but I did like that aspect about it in the movie.
Thank you for reading!