Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to the reviewer guest Beth, your encouragement to keep writing helps a lot. And yes, she does find out very, very soon! Please keep reviewing and following, it helps me keep going knowing the people actually like to read my stories.
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent
Chapter 8: Missing
I sit on the train by the opening and listen to Christina brag about the flag. Too much for me, but it's her. I rest my head on the cold wall and sigh as I watch as Uriah and Marlene walks over to Tris and I.
"So you climbed the Ferris wheel, Huh." He says as he sits right in front of her and me.
"Yes." Tris .
"Pretty smart of you, like… Erudite smart." Marlene comments with a laugh. "I'm Marlene."
"Tris." Tris says with a head nod.
"Yeah, I know who you are." Marlene laughs. "The first jumper tends to stick in your head." I watch Uriah play with a paint ball. "Oh, and sorry about earlier." I look at her. "Normally, it's not a transfer to stand up and about to take charge like that." I nod.
"It needed to be done." I look back at Uriah and his paint ball. He is trying to break it with his fingers.
"Without both of you, we would have lost." She says as the train turns and Uriah's balance is taken from him and he lands on me with the paint ball exploding on my chest. My head is already on the wall, now I have his face right next to mine. No one other than my father has been this close. And his hand is right on my chest. Uriah smiles at me with his bright smile and pushes off of me. I am frozen with wide eyes.
"You okay?" He asks as he looks at me. His shirt now is covered with pink paint too. I blink a couple of times and look at him.
"I think so." I state as I look down at my shirt. There is a hand print on one of my breast. I look up at him slowly and look at his shirt, the same one is on his shirt. "You did that on purpose." I accuse. Jokingly, but I'm not sure it was taking that way by them. Uriah shakes his head.
"No. I didn't." He says quickly. "I'm sorry. I joke around, but I wouldn't touch…" I shake my head.
"I was joking. I know it was a mistake. Don't make it bigger than it needs to be." I tell him quickly. "It's already embarrassing as it is having such a huge hand print on me." The two dauntless born laugh.
"Things happen. I'm just glad you have a scene of humor." I shrug my shoulders as I slowly reach my hand into the gun's ammo storage and pull out a ball. I will get you back. Quickly, I pull it out and break it in his face. Marlene and Tris and I laugh hard as Uriah takes a moment to react. He smears some on all three of us. "You're fast." He laughs out. I haven't laughed like this since my brother left. This is a good feeling. Makes me feel alive again.
"Of course I am." I tell him as I laugh, as he paints my face with the smelly paint. I'm tall, but my hands aren't huge, like his. I think Uriah's hands can cover my whole face. When the laughing dies down, I notice some people looking at us. But I could care less. I'm tired between the laughing and being up late. There is also slight pain in my left leg. So if people have a problem with me right now, that's their fault. I yawn. "How long until we get back?" I ask with a small yawn.
"That little exercise too much for you?" Marlene asks in a mocking tone. Surprisingly, I'm not offended. I lazily look at her.
"Haven't been sleeping much and yelling at you people can be freighting for a stiff." I inform her and the group laughs.
"I'm funny when I'm on painkillers and you're funny when you're tired." Tris laughs out.
"I'm always tired. So I don't think that works for me." I say as I pull my long legs to my chest and rest my head on my knees. "Wake me up when we get there." I mumble as I shut my eyes.
"Um, Andy. Why is you leg bleeding?" Uriah asks. I don't bother opening my eyes.
"I cut it on the roof of the Carousel." I tell him.
"It's gross looking." Marlene says with disgust.
"You're afraid of blood? It's normal. Four told me I had to get it checked out when we get back." Four has been really protective over me lately. I just don't understand it.
"You should. That thing is really rusty and you can get really sick from it." Marlene says calmly.
"I been through much worse." I mumble. "Now, good night." I let the rocking of the train rock me to sleep.
0000
"Jump." I stand in front of the opening in the train. The wind is harder than normal. I have to grip the rail tightly. "I said jump." My head turns and I see my father with a belt in his hands. My body starts to tremble. He is going to hit me. I look over the side of the train and see a long drop. "One, two…" I sink to the floor of the train car and sob.
"Please stop this." I cry out. I feel the familiar leather of the belt on my shoulder and cheek. Another loud cry, scream erupts from my lips. It leaves for only a second and it is back, much harder and stronger. Hot tears run down my face as it stings the hot area that just got hit from the belt. "Dad, please stop. I don't want to die." I cry out as he hits me again. This time the blow gets my closer to hanging out the car door. "Daddy please!" I scream out.
"Aundrea, you can't be afraid of death. It's stupid." He snaps as he reels the belt back again. My eyes are full of tears and I can't see anything other than shapes. The hit of the belt knocks me off the car. I feel the impact of my body hit the side of the car. My hands are still on the railing. "Death is the last thing you need to fear." He snaps the belt against my knuckles and I have to let go. My body starts falling. Wind blowing all around me as I fall. The last thing I see it my father's cold, emotionless face, staring down at me. I have to force my eyes shut because the wind is too hard to handle.
000
"Is she always this hard to wake up?" I hear a voice I don't remember call out.
"Let me take care of her, Uriah." That's Christina's voice. I lift my head and open my eyes. Uriah, Marlene and Christina are in front of my face.
"I'm up. Where are we?" I ask as I stretch. That wasn't worth sleeping. All three look at me and laugh.
"You are hard to wake." Marlene says. "You're a heavy sleeper." I shrug my shoulders.
"Must be the train's rocking." I suggests as I watch them stand up. That normally means we are about to jump off the train. I shouldn't have slept. Now I have a fear of jumping off the train and my father appearing behind me with a belt. Uriah offers me a hand and I take it. He pulls me up and I look around. "We're here?" I ask in an unsure voice and Marlene and Uriah laughs.
"Yeah, sleepy head." Marlene says as people start jumping off. Great. I feel a tugging.
"Come on." Uriah says a little impatiently. He hand is still around mine. I let him pull me and drag me off the train. He lands first and I'm right behind him. Not as graceful as him, I landed wrong on my foot and there is a shocking pain that runs through my leg.
"Dang." I muffle a cry. Uriah turns and looks at me.
"Sorry, I forgot that Transfers haven't done this all their lives." He says as he lets go of my hand. I shake my foot out and put pressure on it. It's fine. "See you later." Uriah flashes me a smile and runs through the door with the other dauntless born after removing their guns from them.
"What was that?" Christina asks as she takes my gun from me.
"I don't know." I shake my head and look at her. "He is strange."
"You like him." She says as she smirks at me.
"Uriah is cool." I tell her. "I don't understand why he didn't let go of my hand and then dragged my off the train, though."
"He might have figured out that you had a night mare about jumping." I raise an eyebrow at her confused. "You hesitated jumping and you were clenching your legs every so often in your sleep. I know you well enough to know your nightmare signs."
"But he doesn't." I groan as we walk to the gun table. "I'm not going to sleep for awhile." I tell her with a sigh.
"Good luck." She laughs. I feel a sudden hand on my shoulder. "Hey Four." Christina smiles as I stiffen.
"Hey, Christina. Andy needs to get her leg checked out." He says right in my ear, or it sounds like it. I groan.
"I was hoping you would have just trusted me to do it." I half whine. "I'm fine."
"Will she be in before too long? She has to not sleep." She says sarcastically. I glare at her as Four leads me off.
"Chris, you're messed up." I tell her as Four walks me off. "I can walk there with no problem Four." I assure him. "I got two legs."
"Andy, I know you. You won't go there willingly on your own. Christina needs her sleep, so it's my job to make sure you don't get sick and kicked out of Dauntless because you got some blood poisoning."
"They will kick me out because of that?" I ask him as I shake his hand off of me and walk in pace with him. He nods his head. "That's messed up."
"Why have weak people in a faction full of people that are supposed to be ready for anything?" He asks me calmly.
"But Blood poisoning? That is simple to take care of. A round of the Erudite meds and your fine." I shake my head.
"But it won't work if it isn't looked at past three hours of the infection." He tells me. His voice is calm as he states facts. We walk into the hospital and the woman is still up.
"Hello Four, Andy." She says with a yawn.
"Max chose you to stay up just in case…" Four asks. "We had someone that likes to get hurt." I glare at him.
"Hey, it's not my fault that I can't see anything on the roof of the Carousel." I tell him. "I had to be up there anyway. No one else was going to pay attention." I protest.
"Whatever, she got a cut on her leg and some bites. She is allergic to the bites and needs something for that." I stare at Four confused. How does he know that? The woman goes to many cabinets and pulls stuff out.
"Go sit on a bed." She says as she pulls things out. I look at Four as we walk to the bed. Why isn't he leaving?
"How did you know that?" I ask him as I sit on the bed. "And why are you here still? Go to bed." Four shakes his head and sits on the stool next to the bed.
"Your bites are red and really swollen. I state what I see." I look at my arms and see he is right.
"Then why are you still here?"I look at him.
"You will run off." Four states. "You need to stay here and if it means someone needs to watch you. Then might as well be me." I don't get it. The woman walks over and sets everything on a little metal table.
"My name is Helen." She says as she pulls my leg up and rolls my pants up. I guess she never told me, or I didn't pay attention. Helen looks at my cut and starts cleaning it. "Not bad, but I should give you the shot, just in case." She tells herself more than me or Four. The liquid that she puts on my cut stings. I bite my lip as she wipes the blood and black away. Helen finishes up cleaning it and gives me a shot into my leg. "To numb as I sew it back up. Try not to kick as much, it will hurt." She says as she pulls the needle out and I look at Four.
"If I didn't come, I wouldn't have restrictions." I deadpan and he doesn't care. He merely shrugs his shoulders and spin in a quarter circles back and forth.
"Not my problem." He says as he spins. I roll my eyes and Helen starts stitching me up. I feel it, but it doesn't hurt, just annoying.
"Were you an Erudite before coming here? You seem to know a lot of medical stuff." I ask her without thinking. Helen looks up from stitching me up.
"Andy." Four snaps. We aren't supposed to talk about our former factions.
"No, I was Candor. But I got training from the Erudite so we don't have to go there every time you get hurt." She tells me with no offended signs. Helen was being truthful, like a Candor.
"Sorry for asking." I tell her as I get a glare from Four.
"Don't worry." She says as she finishes up and cuts off the thread. "I think it's brave for people to ask something that is supposed to be off limits instead of assuming crap." I smirk and stick out my tongue at him. It's been a long time since I did that to someone, and it was my brother. Four just rolls his eyes. "Anything else is needed to check?" Helen asks as she sticks me with two needles in the arm. I wince.
"Nope. I just want to sleep." I tell her as she pulls out the needles.
"You're not going anywhere until I see the result of the medicine for the bites." She says as she throws the needles away. I roll my eyes and glare at Four.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he shrugs. I turn and look at the woman. "How long?"
"I will check it in ten minutes. If it works, it will have the bumps go down, if not. Your body with go into a minor shock and you will stay overnight."Helen explains and I groan.
"Four, just go. I can find my way back to my room. Just leave me alone."I groan again as I lay down the width way of the bed. "Just go. I don't want to deal with a pissy Four." My hand covers my face. I'm done. After a minute or so that I don't hear him, I lift my hand up and I look to where he sits. Or where he did.
"He left, like you asked." Helen says as she works on some paper work. I expected some protest with how protective he has been lately.
"Can't I just go to bed? Since when did Dauntless actually listen to the medical stuff. They come in, get fixed up, and leave." I lie back down and cover my face.
"No, we do normally do that. But there are cases where all Dauntless members stay put and listen to me. Or they will end up coming back here and I will give them hell because they ignored me." Helen says from her seat behind the counter. "Life threatening allergies are one of them. Just try and sleep. It will help the process." I don't want to sleep. I want to go sit in the dark… that sounds stupid. But yeah, I would rather be in the dark than dream about my father beating me again.
I lay there, awkwardly on the bed, and the weight of the day hits me. I am exhausted. Maybe a moment of sleep won't be bad. Helen will wake me up after ten minutes. So I curl up on the bed like I did earlier with Tris and let my body sleep.
000
"You are stupid." I feel my back get smacked with leather and air. "How can you say something like that?" Another one. I try to roll over and I can't. "I should have let you die in the room instead of let's people take you in."
"I had no choice. They asked about the bruises. I did the best lying I could." I plead with him as I try and push myself up. I still can't see. "I did the best."
"You did your best?" I hear my father laugh. "Your best is to tell them you fall down the stairs everyday in a stutter. Come on, they are Erudite. They are smarter than that." He yells and I feel another slap of the belt on my already hot skin. "You are never going in to that place again. I will kill you."
"They weren't Candor though; they could have still not put two and two together." I plead with him as I try to get up again. I feel something grab my hair and pull me to my feet.
"They're not Candor? You are truly stupid." I feel spit hit my hot tear stained face. My body can't move. I am frozen stiff. "You're a cowardly Stupid Stiff, willing to help anyone and get yourself in trouble." More spit. "You can't think at all. How are you still alive? You can't learn anything." Suddenly the door opens and some light falls into the room. I look over to the light and I sob. Bass opened the door. He just got home from school. I went to school, but then I got bitten by a bug in the science class and I had to go to the hospital. I apparently am allergic to bug bites. It's the venom or something in them that makes it hard for me to breath.
"Ann." I hear him call my name almost scared. My father turns to him and glares at him.
"Close the door and do your homework." My father's voice is calm and quiet. I look at Bass and cry more.
"Just go. I'm fine." I try to assure him. "Go. I deserve this." It crushes me that I have to say this. But things will be easier for both of us. Bass looks scared at me and shuts the door.
"So you deserve this?" My father taunts me as my tears get hotter as he drops me on the ground and I find myself crawling to the wall. "Then this will go a lot longer." I don't know how long it is, minutes, hours? I don't know. He punches and kicks me and hits me with the belt or a hanger. It's Friday. I will have two days to heal as my father makes himself look good. "Now, I hope you learned your lesson. No more hospitals and no more talking with doctors." My father says right before opening the door and the light blinds me. "I won't be here when you wake up." He says before leaving me in the closet. I slowly pick myself off the ground and groan quietly.
"Here, let me help." Bass appears next to me and holds me as I stand up. "Don't say anything." He says quietly before leading me into his room.
"No more hospitals." I mumble to him as he sets me on the bed. He is too young for this. Hell, I'm younger than him, but I can take it. Bass is only fourteen, he shouldn't be dealing with this crap.
"I'm sorry." He says as he walks into the bathroom and comes back with a wet cloth. "I should have done something." Bass puts the cloth on my face and cleans me up.
"No, he was pissed. You don't want to be on the end of it." I assure him. "It would have been worse than this." I motion to myself. "I don't want you to take my beatings, it's not right." I seethe through my teeth as he touches a cut.
"I still should have done something, I'm the older brother." He says firmly. Bass's dark blue eyes look at mine. "I need to protect you, not the other way around."
"I only stepped in three times, Bass. You have done a lot more than me. But this time." I shake my head "I had pissed dad off badly. I couldn't let you face it."I look to the ground. "The Erudites were asking about my belt bruises." I tell him slowly. "I said I am clumsy and they didn't seem to buy it completely." Bass's face dropped.
"You were the one that was sent to the hospital." He says quietly. I nod slowly.
"I can't be bitten. I swell up worse than the belt lashes." I tell him gravely. "At least I freaked some people out. It was funny." Bass shakes his head.
"You like to upset people." He says with a tiny smile. "You're going to get yourself in trouble for that one day." I laugh quietly and he pulls the cloth away from my face and works on my arms.
"Like I haven't had that day… well every day." I joke with him. Joking for me is the only to really cope, Bass knows this.
"You know what I mean, Ann." He says as he wipes my arm. Right now, Bass is really checking how bad my cuts are and getting me mainly cleaned up. Then he will have me soak in the tub when our father is asleep. "You like to make people upset." Bass smiles.
"Well, the only ones I didn't upset were the Dauntless kids. They were laughing and high fiving me for trying to say I was fine. I was being Brave apparently." I roll my eyes.
"You would fit in well there." Bass laughs. "They don't normally care what you do to them as long as you can handle getting it back."
"I can handle it." I laugh back.
000
"Andy, get up." I shake my head and see a white sheet in my face. I turn my head and look up. Helen is right next to me. I'm still in the hospital. "You need to get to training." She says as she walks off. I look at my watch. It says 8:30. Wait, wasn't I just supposed to sleep ten minutes? and an't I supposed to be in training at 8? I bolt out of the bed. "Don't push yourself. You will be fine. Four came in and I told him that you will be a little late." but that doesn't mean I'm safe. Eric is there. I'm scared of him.
"Eric has been there. I can't be late." I groan at her as I run out the door. My leg should be fine as long as I don't kick, so running is fine. I run as fast as I can and people in the pit stop and watch me run to the training room. I get to the door and I am breathing hard. My watch reads 8:35. I'm getting faster at this. I slowly open the door and slip in. First thing I see is Eric, in Al's face.
"It… slipped" Al stutters out. What did Eric do? I feel a hand over my mouth and my eyes widen. Do to the color of skin, it's Four. I look at him and he hands me three knives and removes his hand. I look into his eyes and I see he's tired. Really tired.
"Well, I think you should go get your knife." Eric turns and looks around the room at all of our faces. "Did I tell you to stop?" he asks the others, and then his eyes fall on me. "I will get to you in a second." His lips are in a snarl. I swallow hard as knives start hitting the target again and Eric looks back at Al.
"This is your fault." I whisper almost silently to Four. "He is worse than dealing with a pissy Four." Four looks at me with a half smirk.
"Your just glad he can't hear you." He tells me.
"Go get it?" Al asks with a shaky voice. "But everyone's still throwing." He looks freighted. I swallow hard again and find myself right next to Four, like touching his arm, close.
"And?" Eric asks him cruelly.
"Is he really the devil?" I whisper to Four.
"Seems like it sometimes." Four places a hand on my shoulder and pushes me away from him just a bit.
"And I don't want to get hit." Al tells him.
"I think you can trust your fellow initiates to aim better than you." A smile appears on Eric's face. "Go get your knife." I really want to step in and stop him, but I'm in my second drastic personalities, meekness and fear. If I need to, I will.
"No." Crap, Al, you should have just done it.
"Why not?" Eric is enjoying bullying him. This isn't fair. I look at Four and plead with him silently to do something. He shakes his head. Four can't. "Are you afraid?" Eric asks. Al is from Candor, of course his is going to tell him yes.
"Of getting stabbed by an airborne knife? Yes, I am." Al is firm. Eric looks at him for a moment.
"Everyone stop." He shouts and my ears start to ring. The room falls completely silent as Eric looks at all of us. "Clear out the ring." His eyes fall back on Al. God, please don't let Al get hurt. He is so kind. "All expect you." My body shivers at hearing this. No, don't let him get hurt. "Stand in front of the target." I look at Four.
"Can I do anything?" I whisper to him in my very quiet voice. Four shakes his head.
"Hey, Four." Eric turns and looks at us. "Give me a hand here, Huh?" Four holds his hand to me and he looks at the knives. I slowly give him them. Four takes them and scratches his eyebrow with one as he walks over to Eric. I lost my shield. Yes, I just compared Four to a shield, but I don't think he would mind much. "You're going to stand there as he throws those knives until you learn not to flinch." I shouldn't have given him the knives.
"Is this really necessary?" Four asks in a bored voice and I bit my lip. He didn't seem fine with it and so care free as he does now. Eric glares at him. Something isn't good here.
"I have the authority here, remember?" Eric whispers to him. "Here, and everywhere else." Four's face pales just a bit. This must not be good. Another shiver goes through my body. Four turns to Al and gets ready the throw the knife. This is almost painful to watch. Four must have good aim, but still. This is freighting Al. I really want to do something, but there is nothing to do. Eric is going to go after me next. This isn't good at all.
"Stop it." I hear Tris's quiet voice speak out. Four grips the knife hard and looks at me first. I simply point to Tris. His eyes shift to her and his look hardens. I glance at Eric, he is glaring at her. "Any idiot can stand in front of a target." Tris says with new found confidence. "It doesn't prove anything expect that you're bullying us, which, as I recall is an act of cowardice." Tris is really brave for speaking up. I wish I could right now.
"Then it should be easy for you." Eric says flatly. "If you're willing to take his place." Tris breathes in hard before moving forward. I watch as Peter shoves her shoulder and it takes her a second to recover.
"There goes your pretty face." Peter laughs. "Oh wait, you don't have one." I glare at him. I wish I felt like I could do more than that. But I'm just a coward that is afraid of what Eric has in store for me. Tris walks into Al's place in front of the target and I can tell she is at least a little nervous. I don't blame her.
"If you flinch, Al takes your place, Understand?" Four asks her in a voice that it a little pitying her. Doesn't seem like him. Tris nods and Four gets ready to throw his first knife. I watch Four's form as he throws the knife. Tris shuts her eyes, but doesn't move as the knife flies towards her. It lands six inches from her cheek. I let out a sigh. Then Eric walks over and stands next to me. I hold my breath again. He knows I don't like him near me.
"You about done, Stiff?" Four asks her. Right now, I don't know what to think about him calling her that.
"No." Tris says as she looks back at him. Four merely taps the bridge of his nose.
"Eyes open, then." He says and Tris presses her hands to her side and stands perfectly still. Four has good aim. He has to be to train us. At least I hope so. The next knife hits right above her head. "Come on, Stiff. Let someone else stand there and take it." He says as he turns the last knife in his hands.
"Shut up, Four!" She shouts. Tris is almost as loud as me. Four turns the knife over again and I see something in his eyes that he hides so well. He is proud of her. So he must be really good to know she won't get hurt. Four throws the last knife and I gasp as I see some blood hit the board she stands in front of. He hit her. What the hell? I first look at Four, he doesn't seem surprised. Then I look at Eric. He seems amused. Eric looks at me with a hard look.
"We will talk later about you and your… behavior." He whispers to me calmly before addressing the group. "I would love to stay and see if the rest of you are as daring as she is, but I think that's enough for today." He says as he walks over to Tris. Eric's hand touches her shoulder and he smiles at her. "I should keep my eye on you." He adds. I can't move. Between what he said to me and what he said to her. Four told me he didn't pick me because Eric would start taking notice of me. It's not good if he is going to start watching her. This isn't good. I wait until Eric leaves the room before I start to breathe again. People file out and Christina and Will look at me.
"Where were you?" She asks.
"Don't worry." I tell her quickly. I don't look at her and she touches my shoulder before leading Will out the door.
"Is your…" Four starts to ask Tris how her ear is once the door closes.
"You did that on purpose." She shouts. I don't think they notice I'm still in here.
"Yes, I did." He says in an even tone as I sink to the floor. Eric is going to talk to me and watch Tris. That isn't good at all. Why is it bad that he watches us? I know he is mean and cruel, but still why? This isn't good, it can't be. I'm glad Christina isn't on his list anymore. She hasn't done anything stupid. I should have listened to my brother years ago. Pissing people off is a bad thing. Funny thing. I'm only thinking this way because I'm in my meek persona. Later I would be challenging him and causing more trouble. I prefer that one; no one walks all over me. "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think I would have already?" I hear Four's voice through my thoughts. I look up from the piece of floor I had been staring at and see him walking over to me.
"I…" She starts to shout. Tris's eyes find me as Four's does. He slams the knife he has into the table hard and he crouches down in front of me. "Andy?" Her voice changes. "Are you okay? You're shaking." I don't know what to say. I look at Four. His eye brows are furrowed as he assets me. Tris slowly walks over to me. "Why are you shaking, Andy?"
"I got this, Tris." Four look at Tris with a firm look. "Go." She isn't sure, but she looks back at me.
"I will be cleaning up my ear." She tells me before leaving slowly. Once the door closes, Four stares at me.
"What's wrong with you? You're spacing out." He asks, not in a harsh voice but more of a curious voice.
"Sometimes I'm running full speed, Sometimes I'm not. This is one of the not times." I tell him quietly as I look at the space of floor.
"Why?" He asks and I shake my head.
"Don't ask me that, Four. You really don't care or want to know." My voice is quieter.
"Try me." I roll my eyes.
"You will never understand me."I look at him. "What does it mean when Eric is noticing you?" Four eyes narrow.
"You heard that comment." He states before biting his lip. "Get up." Four stands up and offers me his hand. I take it with a shaky hand and he pulls me up carefully. "Follow me." He says before walking out of the training room and down the other side of the hallway. I never been down here. Four must know where he is going, it's dark and I don't like it. I find myself grabbing his elbow as we walk. "We are just about there." He says before turning a corner. What is he doing?
"Where are we going?" I ask him as he stops.
"Here. Away from cameras." I raise an eyebrow at him as he turns around. "Eric is looking for certain people." Four tells me. "Certain people, like you. That's why I didn't want him to notice you." He states and I slowly nod. There is some light here so I can see his face, but that's it.
"Okay, and he is looking at Tris because…she is like me?" I ask him in a confused voice. "What am I again? An Abnegation, if that's the case…"
"What was your results for your test?" Four interprets me. I stop.
"I got Abnegation, why?" I'm confused. Four nods his head.
"Yet, you act like an Erudite, sometimes, and a Dauntless." I'm not following. "The people he is looking for are people who don't just fit in one faction. If he finds out who you are you will die." Four tells me calmly.
"Is that why you have been over protective over me?" It just comes out.
"Partly. But that doesn't matter." He says. "You need to be careful."
"What about Tris? If she is who he thinks she is, then is he planning on killing her?" I ask him with concern.
"Yes, but I will take care of her. That's one of the reasons I kept 'taunting' her when she was in front of the board." I nod slowly.
"So she looks more brave than anything else. I get that." I can't help but smile. "Thank you. For some reason, I get very concerned over her and her safety."
"She's small, that's why." Four says simply. "What else is bothering you? Your face was pale when we were in the room and you weren't there."
"Eric said he will talk with me about my behavior. That guy really frightens me." I tell Four truthfully. "I'm only telling you that because when I'm like this, I am as truthful as a Candor and as spineless as an Amity." Four laughs.
"I could tell." He says with a smirk. "You normally would have stepped in for someone."
"Eric was really freaking me out. He's messed up." I defend myself. "You cannot deny that."
"I won't." Four says. "He is planning on killing you." My face pales again and my eyes widen.
"Please don't say that. I have gotten too many death threats in my life to be able to handle another one." I can't control my tongue. By the time it's out, I pale more and shake my head. "I got to go." I lower my head and walk past him. I feel a strong arm in front of my stomach.
"Wait." Four's tone seems to change. "Death threats?"I shrug my shoulders and turn back to him.
"I, um… didn't mean that." I stutter out. Four just looks at me. Didn't I just say I'm more truthful now. "Um, things with my past life. It's not happening now, so it's all good." I weakling smile at him. "I'm good now."
"That's a lie." He states. "You were never like this before. So cowardly."
"Things happen in life. Now can I go?" I ask him almost in tears. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Ann, what happen? Did he touch you?" Four's voice seems to be torn. "You are ether extremely brave and selfless and willing to protect others and be bold or you're like a scared child." He says. "You were never too this extreme before." I feel a heated tear fall down my cheek.
"Not in the way you think." I shake my head and walk backward until I hit the wall. "Never, I won't let him get that far." I don't know why I'm breaking down like this, especially in front of Four.
"He tried?"His voice is quiet.
"It was more of a scared tactic. Don't worry about it. I'm gone and here now." I look to the floor of this barley used hall.
"I shouldn't have left." I hear him say with a sigh. "That was the last thing I wanted." Four groans. "The burn on your back was from him, wasn't it?" I nod slowly. No use trying to lie. When I'm in this mood, I am like someone that had been given truth serum. Completely transparent. "Ann, I'm… sorry." His voice is quiet and very familiar. Like my brother's. Wait… Ann, him knowing about my father. Only my brother knows that, not Four. Tears run down my cheek.
"Bass." I sob out. "Like I said before if you would have stood up to him, you would have gotten it worse than I did. If you would have stayed, it would have been worse, much worse." I sink to the floor, I thought it was him. But I wasn't sure until now. "You had to leave." I tell him again. Four, or Bass, sits next to me and sighs.
"Stop crying." He says. "I could never handle them before and I have no tolerance now." I can't help but laugh.
"I missed you so much." I tell him as I lean my head against the wall and wipe my face with my shirt. It's still covered with pink paint. My face is probably, was, before I started crying. "I'm sorry I couldn't see you on visiting day. Dad locked me in the closet after one of our sessions." I tell him. Closet sessions typically meant, beating with whatever he had in reach and then thrown into the closet. "I had a dislocated hip and I was pretty messed up." I tell him.
"It's alright, I didn't show up anyway. I heard he came, but I didn't go see him." He tells me as he stretches one of his legs out and keeping the other bent. "So I wouldn't have seen you either." I can't help but laugh.
"For six months I thought you were dead because dad told me he didn't see you." I tell him. "Until he let it slip to me that you were alive, I was really, really depressed. That was the first night I snapped." I smirk. "You should have seen the things I did to him." I glance over at my brother and he seems interested. "The night of the test, I got tired of him hitting me with his belt. So I took it and started to choke him with it as I dragged him to the two I had stashed in the kitchen and I tied him to one of the kitchen chairs."
"Really?" he doesn't seem convinced.
"Really, I was on what I call a high. Extreme courage and what not." I laugh. "Anyway, the best part is that I made it so that he could simply lift his arms and he could get out. He didn't figure it out until right before he had to start getting ready." Bass looks at me and shakes his head.
"You were right, you did snap after I left." He sighs. "I would never be able to do that."
"I'm a girl that doesn't like to be pinned to the ground. So don't blame yourself, Bass. Things are the way they are for a reason." I assure him. "Now look at you. If you didn't change factions. You would still be dealing with dad's crap." I tell him. "You know how to fight, use a gun, knife and your voice in ways you could never do before. Hell, you seem totally different. I only saw how you looked and that gave me a hunch, but after seeing your personality. I was unsure."
"Great, my sister didn't even notice her brother when he helped her off the ground and pulled her shirt down. By the way, where was your shirt?" I shrug me shoulders.
"After I got burned, I showered to cool them down and I slipped on your big sweater. Didn't have much time for anything else. I was late to the Choosing ceremony." I explain to him. I feel a lot better now that I 'found' my brother. It's more like he found me.
"Them?" He asks leery.
"Dad smacked me in the back of the head." I tell him. "But my hair blocked most of the heat." I assure him.
"And you said it was from cleaning the floor and cooking at the same time." He sighs.
"That did happen, but not this time and not the same punishment. That time, I was woken up and pined to my bed until I freaked out. Ironically, that was the night I found out you were still alive." Bass shakes his head.
"No it's not, it's sick." He mumbles. "You shouldn't have gone through that."
"I didn't. I stopped him when he got too far. Without him and his beatings, I wouldn't be so protective over people, which is a good thing, most of the time." I tell him. "Granted, I never want to see his face again and if I do, I will put the knowledge I learned here to good use."
"Seems like you're feeling your new normal again." I shrug my shoulders.
"I don't know. Something about being around you makes me feel safe. Now I understand it." Bass smirks.
"About that, don't hang on me around people. I don't want them to know we are related until they forget about who your father is." He tells me.
" 'Your father' seems like someone has daddy issues." I joke and it takes him as second to laugh.
"You too. You're the one that wants to kill him. All I want to do is stay away from him." He says. I can't help but laugh.
"You want to know what I told him regarding my choice in factions?" I ask him as I nudge him. I do feel a lot better. Like this morning with laughing.
"Do I want to know?" I nod.
"I told him that I was planning Candor." I smirk. "Candor's give a truth serum as their final test in initiation. I would have told them everything about him and the beatings." Bass looks at me for a moment. "Then I chose Dauntless and I freaked him out more. Maybe because I told him that I would kill him when I get the chance." I joke the last comment out.
"Should I tell Eric and Max that you are not stable enough for us and have you become factionless?" I laugh and shake my head.
"Bass, you know the only way I can cope is joking and laughing it off. I don't see myself really killing dad. I would flip into my meek persona before that happens." Bass sighs.
"I know, but it's dark humor." He says. "I really don't want to hear it. Anything else is fine." I stop and think.
"So you like Tris." I state suddenly. I watch the blush on his cheeks. "I can only tell because you're being protective over her like me. But I figured why you were for me, so yeah." I explain. "I'm stupid, but I can still put two and two together."
"First, you're not stupid. That's something your father called you and your not." Bass says firmly, and then he smirks. "What about you and Uriah?"
"What about Uriah?" He points to my shirt and face.
"That's his hand print." I look down and shrug.
"So, he was stupid enough to be playing with a paint ball and the train lurched forward at the moment." I tell him simply. I'm better at controlling my emotions than two years ago. "I got him back by breaking one in his face."
"And you let him paint your face with his name." I raise an eyebrow and touch my face.
"Was I even more tired than I thought?" I ask myself as I feel my face. I only feel a U and an r. "I'm going to get him back." I mumble out. "That jerk."
"Why are you even wearing the shirt still? Make it look like you didn't care he fell on you." He tells me.
"I didn't have time to change. I woke up at 8:30 and I ran straight to the training room, Which reminds me, what will happen to me now that I didn't do the knife thing?" I ask him.
"Eric will make you do it as he talks to you about your defiance." My eyes widen and I breathe in sharply.
"Mind teaching me so I don't get the other end of his knife?" I ask him with my tiny smile that he could never resist. Bass stares at me in the expression Four normally uses. No emotions.
"Whatever." I smirk and hug him.
"Thank you, Bass." I tell him as I squeeze him tightly.
"Don't call me Bass or hug me around that others, I am Four here and don't let little annoying girls hug me." he says as he pushes my off of him. I just smile.
"Whatever, Bass."