CHAPTER 43
FOUR POV
Tris and I are on the train heading towards Abnegation.
"You ready for this?" I ask her.
She shakes her head. "I'm excited to see my parents but I'm not happy about what I am going to have to tell them," she says.
"I can understand that. Just know I am here for you. No matter what happens," I say. We don't really know how her parents are going to react. It is going to be hard for them to hear about what Caleb has been up to. I move over to where Tris is standing. I sit down and pull her into my lap.
"I love you Tris," I say.
"I love you too Tobias," she says back to me. It brings a smile to my face and I kiss her. "I am so glad I have you here with me. I don't think I could do this alone," she says.
"Always Tris. I will always be here for you. I promise," I say. I wrap my arms around her and she rests her head on my shoulder. I am so hoping today isn't as hard as I think it is going to be on her.
We reach her parents' door and I knock. I can see how nervous Tris is; she is fiddling with the hem of her shirt. I reach out my hand for her hand. "It is going to be okay Tris," I say.
"I hope so Tobias, I really hope so," she says.
I can hear footsteps and then the door is opened by Natalie. "Beatrice," Natalie says.
"Hi mum," Tris says.
"Come in, come in," Natalie says and motions with her hand for us to come in.
"Andrew we have company," Natalie calls out.
"Coming," he says.
Andrew comes down the stairs and sees Tris and he walks over and gives her a really big hug. It takes me a little by surprise it isn't the usual Abnegation welcome.
"It is so good to see you Beatrice," Andrew says. He looks up and sees me. "Tobias it is good to see you also." He comes over and shakes my hand.
"What do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Natalie asks with a smile on her face. She has always had the warmest most welcoming smile.
"It's not a social call mum," Tris says.
"Well come in and sit down. Can I get you both something to drink?" Natalie says.
"No thank you," I say.
"I'm fine mum," Tris says.
We all sit down. "Why don't you tell them you're good news first Tris," I say.
"What good news Tobias?" she asks.
"Your ranking, your job," I say.
"Oh yeah, I sort of forgot about all that. Mum and dad I ranked first in initiation," she says.
"That is wonderful news Beatrice," Natalie says.
"I am so proud of you Beatrice," Andrew says.
"Umm well I also have a job now. I chose to become a leader of Dauntless," Tris says. She almost sounds embarrassed about it.
"Well who would have thought our little girl would be a leader in Dauntless," says Andrew. "I can see Dauntless was the right choice for you Beatrice."
"Well that's why we are here Dad. We have come because of our roles as leaders. I don't really know how to tell you this but," Tris says. She takes a deep breath and the sighs.
"Mum do you remember my friend Will from Visiting Day? I nearly got in a fight with his sister Cara from Erudite," she says. I didn't know about this.
"Yes I remember them both," Natalie says.
"Well Cara has been working closely with Jeanine Matthews," Tris says. "She has also been working closely with Caleb." I can see that Tris is finding this hard to talk about; she is squirming in her seat and looks hesitant to talk.
"Yesterday after we had job choosing Cara turned up in the Dauntless compound," I say. I think this is going to be easier if I tell then the story. Not that it is going to be easy for them to hear but it is going to be easier on Tris.
"She came to us for help. There are some problems in Erudite and Cara had some disturbing information to give us," I say.
"Is Caleb in trouble?" Andrew asks.
"Yes he is," I say. "Why do you ask?"
"If Jeanine is involved then I have no doubt that there is trouble," Andrew says. "See I am originally from Erudite."
"What?" says Tris.
"I am originally from Erudite," Andrew repeats.
"Why didn't you ever tell me? Mum was from Dauntless and now you are telling me you were from Erudite. And Caleb and I chose your old factions. This is all really weird," Tris says.
"What made you leave Erudite?" I ask.
"Well two things. First I fell in love with Natalie and wanted to be with her and secondly I didn't like what was happening at Erudite. So I knew I wasn't going to stay there," Andrew says. "So your mum and I decided that we would pick a different faction and start fresh."
"What happened in Erudite to make you want to leave?" I ask.
"Jeanine was doing experiments on people. One didn't end well. It made me sick to see what she was doing. I knew I couldn't stay there after that. So we picked Abnegation," Andrew says.
"Well it seems things haven't changed much," I say. "Erudite have been testing serums on factionless people. She has also made some sort of deal with Marcus so she can test on people from Abnegation."
"That's what Marcus was talking about," says Andrew.
"What?" I ask.
"I went to see Marcus yesterday. He begged me to get them to stop him from being put under the truth serum. He said that if things got out it would ruin him," Andrew says.
"Like he hasn't got enough that is going to ruin him anyway," I say.
"Well he seemed more concerned with the other than with what will come out about you and Evelyn, which I found quite strange. But I didn't really think about it that much because I was trying to get my head around how I had believed him all these years. How he had been able to manipulate us all on what a wonderful person he was."
"Anyway back to what Cara had to tell us," I say. Marcus and his crap can wait. "Jeanine is working on a serum that will put people under simulation so that they will become mindless murderers. She has been testing on people who are divergent to see if she can put them under simulation too. She is planning to kill everyone in Abnegation."
"What does this have to do with Caleb?" Natalie asks.
"Jeanine has been overseeing Caleb's initiation. And it seems he will do anything she asks of him. Whenever the testing doesn't go the way she wants it Jeanine has the test subject killed. Caleb has been assisting her with this. Jeanine was going to tell Dauntless that she had invented a tracking serum so that we could track any of our members in case they got lost or ran into trouble while patrolling the city. But really she was going to be putting them into a simulation and have them murder everyone in Abnegation," I say.
"Oh dear," Andrew says. "I can't believe this is happening."
"Dad, Caleb was going to have me kill my own parents," Tris whispers.
Natalie gets up from her seat and sits next to Tris and gives her a hug. "Oh baby, it's okay. It isn't going to happen," Natalie says to Tris.
"But what if it had?" Tris says as she tries to stifle a sob.
"What is being done about this?" Andrew asks me.
"We are just trying to gather as much information as we can at the moment. Then I am sure we will arrest Jeanine and anyone who is involved with her evil scheme," I say.
"Is there any chance Caleb isn't involved?" Andrew asks. I shake my head.
"We came here today to warn you about what is going on. We need you to organise a plan in case Jeanine tries anything on Abnegation. We need you to be able to all get away safely," I say.
"I am sure we can organise something," Andrew says. "What else is being done to try and stop this?
"We are trying to organise to have Candor interrogate Marcus as soon as possible. That way we can find out exactly what he knows. We have Cara giving us as much information as possible about Erudite, where Jeanine's office and residence are, who else is involved with her plan. Once we have all the information gathered we will put a plan into place. We are going to have to arrest her and anyone who is involved in all of this," I say. "Unfortunately that is going to involve Caleb being arrested as well."
"We understand, Tobias," Andrew says. "I just hope that he isn't' as involved as you think."
"The evidence is stacking against him Andrew. Some of the things we have been told are disturbing," I say.
"I don't want to know the details," Andrew says. I am feeling really sorry for him right now. He is sitting here with his daughter and you can see he is extremely proud of what she has accomplished and then he has to hear about what a horrible person his son has turned into. "I know how conniving Jeanine can be. She is extremely intelligent and is very good at manipulating people to do what she wants. It is no excuse for what Caleb is doing but I had hoped we had raised him better than this."
"If it's true what you are saying about Jeanine then it is unfortunate that he decided to choose Erudite. Maybe things could have turned out differently," I say. I don't know if I truly believe what I am saying. But I am trying to make them feel better about what their son has become. Although I remember when we were little and how much Caleb hated Tris and I being friends. I always thought he was a little strange. But maybe it was because Tris and I were so similar and really didn't fit into Abnegation where Caleb always seemed the perfect fit. He was a really good actor. He had Tris fooled right up to the day he chose.
Natalie and Andrew asked us to stay for lunch but we declined. We told them that we would come back soon and spend quality time with them. We get back to Dauntless and go straight to the dining hall for some lunch. We are both exhausted but we are also hungry.
We walk in and we see our friends sitting at our usual table. Cara is now wearing all black, looking at her you would never know she was from Erudite but as soon as she opens her mouth you can tell she doesn't belong in Dauntless.
Zeke is trying to convince her that she should get a tattoo. It is funny hearing him tell her why it is such a good idea. In Dauntless it is just a normal every day event. Someone will say let's go get tattoos and everyone is like okay. But Cara can't seem to see the logic in it.
"You could look at it as a way of remembering your time here with us in Dauntless. That you had to be brave to come to us for help. You can get it somewhere that people won't see it. I think you should at least go to the tattoo parlour and have a look around, you may find something you like," Tris says.
"Are you sure you aren't Erudite Tris?" Marlene asks. "Remember our game of capture the flag? You were way Erudite smart then too."
"Well we are just lucky she chose Dauntless," I say. I know she has aptitude for Erudite but I don't want the others to know and I still don't trust Cara completely. Who knows who she will tell when she goes back to Erudite.
"I think you might be right Tris. I should at least go and have a look," says Cara.
"Awesome," says Zeke. "So after lunch we will all go to the tattoo parlour and try and help Cara find the right design."
I don't think Zeke is going to take no for an answer with this one. I really wish Cara good luck with that.
Tris and I head back to our place after lunch. Neither of us feels like hanging in the tattoo parlour this afternoon. "What do you feel like doing?" I ask.
"I think I am going to have a nap," Tris says. "We still have to meet with the other leaders tonight and I feel so drained after everything with mum and dad today. Thank you for explaining it all to them. I don't think I could have got it all out."
"I know and you are welcome. Let's go have that nap. I think we are going to have a lot to do over the next few days."
With that we head up to our bedroom and we both fall asleep really quickly. I didn't realise just how draining this had been on me as well. That's when I realise, I hurt when she hurts.
Tris and I walk into the Dauntless boardroom for our meeting with the other leaders. We are just waiting for Sam to arrive, no one is talking, I think we are all lost in our own thoughts trying not to speculate what everyone may or may not have found out.
"Sorry I'm late. I have been waiting to see if Jeanine would send me more information on her tracking serum. Unfortunately she hasn't answered any of my requests," says Sam.
"That's okay," says Shane. "Let's start with you Max. What happened at Candor?"
"Marcus will be put under truth serum tomorrow morning. Hopefully we will get some answers from him them," dad says.
"Four, how did you and Tris go in Abnegation?"
"They didn't know anything about what Jeanine was doing. Although Andrew Prior has talked to Marcus and he admitted to knowing something he wouldn't tell him what. Abnegation are going to formulate a plan so that if they need to they can get out of Abnegation quickly. They will get back to us," I say.
"Tony, do we have a strategy for taking down Erudite?" Shane asks.
"Cara has been a great help. We should have a plan ready by tomorrow afternoon," Tony tells us.
"Was she able to name who is involved?" I ask.
"We have a list of approximately twenty people. There are probably more, these are the people that she is aware of. It is a good starting point," Tony says.
"Do you think there is anyone else in Dauntless who could be involved? Or do you think she was just relying on Eric for information?" Sam asks.
"We should check that out?" I say.
"Do you plan on going to Candor tomorrow Four?" Dad asks.
"No. I don't think it would be in my best interest to be there," I say.
"Well you and Tris can start checking Dauntless files. See who has transferred from Erudite in the last few years and if there are any red flags on them. It will keep your mind of what is going on at Candor," Dad says.
I just nod. I think that is a good idea. I don't want to go to Candor. I know Marcus is probably expecting me to be there and I don't want to give him the satisfaction. I'm sure if I really want to see what happens then I can check the security footage later.
"Okay let's meet back here tomorrow night. By then we should have a plan of attack and we should know Marcus Eaton's involvement in all of this.