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Chapter 11: Saved
"You need to get out of my bed." I hear a low voice tell me. For the first time in a while, I didn't have a nightmare. I roll over and open my eyes. Bass's face is right next to mine and I scream quietly as I jerk upward.
"Bass, don't you dare do that." I snap as I breathe heavy. He doesn't seem to care.
"I want to go to bed. Now you know your way back to the dorm, so go." Bass points to the door and I get up.
"Night, Bass." I tell him as I walk out the door. I feel refreshed as I walk back to the dorm. I probably was asleep for about five hours or so. I might have to explain my disappearance. But right now, I just want to sleep again. The pit is still busy now. Not too surprising. I walk the rest of the way to the dorm. Outside the door, I hear a loud cry. What is going on? Al having another nightmare? I slowly open the door and Peter and Drew run into me. They both have wild looks in their eyes. I stand there confused. Drew takes one look at me and runs like hell. Peter, however, glares at me and I narrow my eyes at him. I look at him and I see that something has soaked his shirt. I return my eyes to his and Peter goes to grab me. Quickly, I reach around my back to grab my knife. My hand slips under my dress and I grip the knife's handle tight. "Don't you dare touch me." My voice is low and threatening. He looks at my arm that is bent behind my back and runs. Not like Drew, but he still runs. I don't know what the hell just happened, but I feel safe to remove my hand from my knife. Turning on the light, I gasp. Edward is in the middle of the floor with blood around his body and a knife sticking out of his head. Myra is next to him screaming and Tris runs over to him. So I do as well.
"Lie still." Tris says calmly. Her Abnegation kicking in. I look at Myra and hold a finger to her lips.
"Screaming doesn't help anything. Go get a doctor." I tell her and she looks between me and Edward. "Tris and I got him. He will be fine right now. GO." She gets up and runs out the door as Edward screams again.
"My Eye!" His voice is still deep, but I can hear the pain. "Take it out. Get it out of me, get it out."
"No." Tris says. "You have to let the doctor take it out. Hear me? Let the doctor get that it out. And breath." She is doing well. I can't image Tris being used to seeing this amount of blood before. I'm used to it.
"It hurts." He cries out.
"I know it does." She says. "It will be all right." She can't know that for sure. Looking at him, I know he will lose his eye and become factionless. This is taking too long.
"Myra is getting a doctor, but I'm going to get Four. We will be back at the same time." I tell Tris. She looks at me.
"How do you know where he is?" She asks.
"I ran into him on the way back here." I tell her. "Don't let him move." I warn her.
"What is he going to do?" Tris whispers to me. I shrug my shoulders.
"Better let him know then not." I tell her.
"Don't bother." She tells me as I pat Edward's shoulder.
"There shouldn't be much damage. Looking at it, it just looks like the eye got hurt. The blade handle isn't too big." I inform Edward. He is erudite. They live on facts. "Your brain will be as smart as ever." I tell him in hopes he is able to think right now, through the pain. It's a little bit before the doctors come in here and take him off. I sit there in the pool of blood as Tris gets up. If I was in the room, I would have been in the same place as Edward, maybe worse. Peter doesn't like me at all. If I didn't beat him, I would be third and he would be second, which means he would have still stabbed Edward in the eye. What could have I done? Hop over the railing and grab them? No, I'm hella tired right now. I wouldn't have been able to fight back.
"Andy." I feel Christina's hand on my shoulder. "Come on." I will need to shower more than anything. The very end of my hair is wet in his blood as well as my legs, from the knees down. I stand up and shrug off my shoes and I follow Tris's lead out with Christina in tow. We don't speak as we walk to the bathroom. Tris changes and I wet the end of my hair and clean only that part and wash my legs off so I don't have blood residue on me. I pull my hair back and grab a lot of paper towels and go clean up the mess with Tris. My head is racing again, I can't even hear the talking the two are doing on our way back. I could have grabbed him on the way out of the door. I could have done something, but I didn't. I stood there confused and threatened him and nothing else. What's wrong with me?
"Andy, where were you?" I hear Tris's voice cuts in and sound like she had been trying to get my attention. I shake my head.
"What? I'm sorry. My head is swimming." I tell them in my abnegation voice.
"Where were you?" Tris asks me in a gently voice.
"I was out with my brother." I confess.
"The one you don't want me meeting?" Christina tries to lightly joke.
"Your brother is still here?" I nod at Tris's question. She knows of my brother. That fiasco didn't go unnoticed two years ago.
"I was with him and we were catching up and I passed out in his bed. I had a long couple of days and that was one of the first times I didn't have a nightmare." I explain. "He didn't want me to leave when it was time for bed, but didn't want his little sister sleeping in his bed. When I did, he merely left to give me time to sleep." I shake my head. "If I was here Peter would have killed me. The look in his eyes was one of rage. All I did was get ready for a fight and he ran off."
"Peter is afraid of you. His whole gang is." Christina tells me. "He wouldn't have dared to touch you."
"I am dead tired and not really able to fight anyone right now." I remind her in my voice from back home. "I don't know if I would have mind him hurting me. I would be factionless and not having to deal with the second and third stage."
"What? You want to be factionless?" Tris doesn't believe me. "I would rather die."
"Differences in opinions, Tris. I have people there that love me. They are my family. More than my father was." She looks at me strange.
"She didn't like her father much." Christina briefly explains before looking back at me. "What are you worried about with the next stages?"
"Emotion and Fear. Second stage is about learning to control the emotion and the last one is how to overcome fear." I tell her.
"That doesn't seem bad." Christina tells me and I shake my head.
"I have to face my fears in both. I don't think I can do it." I inform her even more quietly.
"We can help you with that." Tris speaks up. "It can't be that bad." She smiles. Tris, you are so innocent.
"Let's just clean up the blood." I deadpan as I open the door. Everyone is wide wake now and staring at us as Tris and I being who we are at heart, Abnegation. I kneel on the ground and start mopping up all the blood and Tris goes on the other side of the pool and does the same. These towels are very absorbent. I guess that's a good thing. There might be a good thing of being beating. I'm used to cleaning up blood and any other bodily fluid I can think of. We get most of the blood up on the first towel run. By the end of the second, we can start scrubbing the floor. Tris and I don't look at each other or talk as we work, but we know what the other needs at the right moment. That is an abnegation thing, I guess. I hand her some of the paper towels and she hands me the cleaner spray that we found in the bathroom supply closet. Both of us are used to this, but I can feel the eyes of the others staring at us. The room is silent as we work. I don't have the will to snap at them and tell them to help or go to bed. After seeing Peter like that, I don't know what to think. I spray the floor and start scrubbing again. Blood isn't a new thing to clean up for me. My father would have me clean up my own blood during the past two years, it use to be me cleaning Bass's up and him cleaning mine up. Sick cruel man. We are both sweating by the end of two hours of cleaning up the blood and puke. I'm tired and she's tired, but I don't think we can sleep in the room for awhile. She throws the towels away and I grab my clothes for tomorrow. I won't be coming back here tonight. I leave everyone to shower and to my brother's room. I need to feel safe.
000
I feel someone's foot on one side of me and then a crash as sudden weight hits my hip and stomach.
"What the hell?" I hear my brother groan as he gets off of me. "Ann, I thought I told you to leave." I sit up and look at him with tired eyes.
"Good morning." I stretch and sit up. Last night, or this morning I walked in here and laid on the ground like I used to do and past out. "I couldn't sleep in the Dorm. Peter attacked Edward." I tell him as I look around for him. It's a little dark in here. I find him to the right of me.
"What?" He asks me as he turns on the lights. The lights blind me and I cover my eyes.
"I got there and Peter just finished stabbing Edward in the eye." I explain as I start to blink. There we go, I find Bass again standing right above me. "Tris and I cleaned up the blood and I was dead tired and can't sleep without nightmares. So I came in here. I hope you don't mind." Bass looks at me with his arms crossed over his bare chest and there is a tattoo. It's of flames.
"You didn't think you should tell me?" he asks me.
"Tris told me it wasn't worth it. Christina got hung over the chasm by Eric, no one did anything about that. So what are you going to do about Peter stabbing the competition in the eye?" I ask him as and crack my neck. "The floor here hurts worse than in the old house." Bass shakes his head.
"Are you okay?" Bass says.
"I'm fine." I pull out the knife from my waist band. "I got there as soon as it happens and both Peter and Drew ran into me. Drew ran off like a coward, but Peter was going to do something and I went to grab this and he ran off." Bass stops shaking his head.
"Ann, you stole a knife." He doesn't seem pleased about.
"I had it in my hand when Eric walked in. I slipped in my waist band just in case. I'm glad I had it last night. Peter would have killed me." I explain to him. "Stealing is a little offence then letting someone kill me because I couldn't defend myself."
"You can defend yourself." I shake my head. "You beat him before."
"Sometimes. Last night, something was wrong. I didn't even realize that he had Edward's blood soaked to his shirt." I confess. Bass looks at me hard for a moment and then shakes his head.
"Never mind, I forgot." He says after a second. "You show go find your friends, it's almost lunch time."
"What?" I look around for a clock. I find one next to his bed and groan. "I slept for like five hours." I whine as I stand up. Bass is in the middle of grabbing a shirt from his closet. He has more tattoos. His whole back is covered with the five symbols for the factions. Dauntless at the top, then Abnegation, Candor, Erudite and finally Amity. All going along his spine. "That's cool."
"What?" Bass turns around and pulls on his shirt.
"The symbols. I like it." I smile weakly. I still haven't talked in my normal voice. Must be in my meek mode again. He nods and points to the doors.
"I have to finishes changing. Go find your friends and stay with them today." I nod and leave his room. I walk down the hallway towards the pit. My steps are silent as I walk. The last time, I was able to defend myself against Eric. So what's going on? I turn the corner and run into the person I was just thinking of. Oh, crap. I stumble back.
"What in the… Andy?" Eric looks at me confused. "What are you doing down here?" I shrug my shoulders.
"Just walking to the pit." I tell him as I go to walk again. Eric holds his arm out to stop me. "Sorry for running into you." Hopefully that's what he wants.
"What are you doing down here?" He asks me as he glares at me. I look back at him and I see the bruises up close.
"I don't… know. I'm just trying to get to the pit." I tell him. Eric must have noticed I'm using my quiet voice, because he pulls his arm back.
"Your reunion yesterday was interesting." Eric states. "You really don't like your father. Why's that?"
"What made you think that, Eric?" I ask him. I don't think I can lie to him right now. He shakes his head.
"You know what I'm asking, Andy." He says. "You don't like him because…"
"There you are." I turn and see Uriah with a smile on his lips. He sets his hand on my shoulder. "We are going to be late." He says with a laugh, and then he looks at Eric. "Sorry, but can I take Andy? I'm taking her with us." Eric looks at him.
"Sure. Whatever, I can talk with her later." He says.
"Thanks." He says as he grabs my hand and pulls me into a run. Thank God for Uriah. I didn't want to have Eric talk to me. After we get to the pit, he slows down. "You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks." I tell him as we walk. "That was the last thing I wanted to do." He laughs. I like his laugh.
"No one ever wants to talk to him. Especially after someone left those on his face. He has been pissed since." I shake my head and laugh quietly.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean for that to happen." He stares at me.
"You're the one that hit him?" Uriah smirks. "Why?"
"He came after me… I …" He squeezes my hand.
"Don't worry about. Now we need to get going, for real this time." He says as people start to run past us. I start to run with him.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask him.
"A ritual." He tells me out of breath. I nod and run. We run past the dining hall and down another one I never have been into. Not surprising. I see someone ahead of us looking at her shoes.
"Why is Tris in this hall?" I ask myself more than Uriah.
"That's Tris?" Uriah asks as we slow down. "Tris." She looks up at us at us and the initiates we were running with start to stop. He tells them to go and we stay with Tris. "You okay?" She looks at our hands and I look at them. Slowly, I remove my hand from his.
"I had a difficult night." She says and Uriah nods.
"Yeah, I heard about that guy Edward." He checks the people running down the hall. They are just turning the corner. "Want to get out of here?" He asks with a smile.
"What? Where are you going?" I shrug my shoulders.
"To a little initiation ritual." Uriah explains better to her than me. "Come on, We have to hurry." He says. "Andy's coming." I shake my head and remain quiet. Not like I had a real choice. He dragged me away from Eric.
"He got me away from Eric and told him I was coming with him. So I have to go." I tell her. Uriah laughs.
"You will like getting out. You two need it." Tris gets up and Uriah smirks at me as he grabs my hand and starts to jog so she can keep up. "The only initiates they usually let come are ones with older siblings in Dauntless." Uriah explains. So I'm good. "But they might not even notice you two. Just act like you belong." Tris glances at me and I shake my head. No don't tell him.
"What exactly are we doing?" She asks instead of telling him.
"Something dangerous." His eyes seem to shine in a new light. He is excited. Tris gets excited as well as I just jog. We turn the corner and slow down. We have made it to the other initiates.
"What is the Stiff doing here?" A boy asks. I hold onto Uriah's hand tighter. Right now I can't handle confrontation. I don't know why.
"They just saw a guy get stabbed in the eye, Gabe." He snaps gently. "Give them a break, Okay?"
"She's a stiff?" Gabe points to me and I look at him as if he is crazy.
"Neither of them are." He says. Gabe looks at me and I stare at his nose ring thingy.
"Don't look like a stiff. Looks like…" He starts off.
"Does it even matter?" Uriah cuts him off.
"No, guess not." Gabe shrugs his shoulders and turns around.
"You're fine here." I hear Uriah whisper to me. "They are just not used to Stiffs being here." He tells me. I don't let go of his hand though. It comforts me, like when I was younger and I held my mother's hand. I miss her. We start running again and I'm glad Uriah got me out of talking with Eric. I don't like him.
"Let's go." Someone calls out as they head to a very dark hallway. I hold onto Uriah's hand tighter and run closer to him. He doesn't say anything, much to my surprise. Uriah guides me to behind him as he goes.
"Back staircase." He tells me and Tris. "Usually locked."
"Thanks." I whisper as I move in sync with him. The door opens and we run through. The door leads to the tracks and a train is coming. Just in time.
"Still can jump into a moving train?" Uriah asks me mockingly. Last time he made me hurt myself. I give him a shrug.
"I think so." He shakes his head and we run with the group next to the train. He lets go of my hand as we jump to the opening. I jump short and would hit the tracks, if it wasn't for Uriah and his grin grabbing my hand and pulling me in.
"Close." He says as we sit next to the wall. "I should just stick to holding your hand." I shake my hand. It feels weird to me a little bit. He is a guy, but it comforts me. Tris gets on and walks over to us.
"Where are we going?" She asks as she sits down.
"Zeke never told me." Uriah replies louder than the wind. I can't compete with it right now.
"Zeke?" Tris asks.
"My older brother." He says as he points across the room to the guy half hanging out of the car. They look nothing alike.
"You don't get to know. That ruins the surprise!" A girl next to us shouts, in my ear too. I lean closer to Uriah so it doesn't happen again. She holds her hand to first Tris. "I'm Shauna." Tris slowly grabs her hand and shake.
"I'm.." Tris doesn't get a chance to say anything.
"I know who you are." She shouts. "You're the stiff. Four told me about you." I see her face change a bit.
"Oh, what did he say?" She asks carefully. She likes him too. I can't help but smirk a little. Shauna smirks too.
"He said you where a stiff. Why do you ask?" Shauna will be the kind of girl that is great to be friends with, she is just a little strong at times.
"If my instructor is talking about me." Tris seems to be good at covering herself. "I want to know what he's saying." She says. Good back tracking. "He isn't coming, is he?"
"No, he never comes to this." She says. "It's probably lost its appeal. Not much scares him, you know." I know. He is my brother.
"Do you know him well?" Tris asks. Come on girl, don't sound too eager.
"Everyone knows Four." She laughs. "We were initiates together. I was bad at fighting, so he taught me every night after everyone was asleep." That sounds like the brother I know. "Nice of him." She looks at me and smiles. "You must be Andy." I nod slowly and she laughs. "Nothing like how he describes you." Shauna smirks, pats my head and walks over to the other members. I look at Tris and Uriah.
"What does he say about me?" I ask, probably too quiet.
"That you like to piss people off." Uriah tells me bluntly. "And you're loud." I shake my head. Bass…"He doesn't tell us about this side of you. So you're okay." I look at him confused and then at Tris.
"Here we go!" I hear Shauna shout. She then runs out of the car. Members stream out and we get up. No one moves. If they are doing it, it should be fine. Tris runs out first and no one runs. I Might as well go as well. I drag Uriah with me and I jump out of the train. He is trying hard to protest. But we are out before he can say anything. It's moving a lot faster and I land hard on the ground. So I have to let go on his hand and I roll on the ground and stop on in a crouch.
"Dang." I stand up and Uriah is rubbing his shoulder. "You okay?"
"You pulled my arm out of socket a little." He says. "You're strong." I look over to the group and Tris is already running. I grab his other hand and pull him into a run to catch up.
"We have to stay with her." I tell him and he doesn't resist. We catch up with Tris and the members break out into a run. We run to the Hancock building. I rarely came to the abandon part of the city, but I know this building.
"Do the elevators work?" Tris asks Uriah as we stop.
"Sure they do." The guy Uriah pointed at earlier comes around and rolls his eyes. "You think I'm stupid enough not to come here early and turn on the emergency generator?" He's rude. I hold onto Uriah's hand tighter.
"Yeah, I kinda do." Uriah jokes with him. Zeke glares at him for a moment and then suddenly attacks him. Zeke puts him into a head lock and them rubs his knuckles into Uriah's skull. I don't know what to do. I hold onto his hand still as he shoves his brother's side. Zeke let's goes and laugh.
"So is this your girlfriend?" Zeke looks at me. I stare at him confused. Girlfriend? Uriah's girlfriend?
"NO!" Uriah protests. "This is Andy." He pulls me in front of him and I hold out a hand to greet him. I'm a little sad when Uriah lets go of my hand.
"Zeke." Zeke tells me. "You look familiar." I shrug my shoulders.
"Shouldn't be. I'm not a member… yet." I tell him quietly.
"You're the other stiff." He says. "But you're a hot one." I widen my eyes.
"Thanks. That's not something I get every day, Zeke." I inform him. "I'm not sure how to take it." Zeke laughs and let go of my hand.
"You both are cute." He says before walking away. I quickly wipe my hand off on my pants and I hear Uriah saying something, but my head is swimming again. I should really get something to fix the concussion. We walk into the elevator and Tris's foot gets stomped on by a girl that shaved her head. What? I look at Tris and she seems upset.
"What floor?" The girl asks.
"One hundred." Tris tells her and the girl glares at her.
"How would you know that?" What a jerk?
"Lynn, come on." Uriah interjects. "Be nice."
"We are in a one hundred story abandoned building, with some Dauntless," Tris snips. "Why don't you know that?" Lynn doesn't say a word as she presses the button. The elevator is packed. I don't like being confined. I get bumping into people without meaning to as I fail at standing still. What's going on? I feel two hands on my shoulders that pull me to him, Uriah.
"I know your excited, just stop moving. It's too tight in here." He whispers to me. I'm not excited. I'm freaking out. He moves his hands to my elbows and holds my bouncing body still. Thanks, I guess. I look around and my eyes settle on my reflection in the door. I look different. I still have the same features, but I look more carefree. I may not feel it, but I look it. With the tight dark shirt and pants against my tan-ish skin I look a lot like my brother. But my face and frame is different from his because I'm a girl. I look braver. Was this what my father saw yesterday, even though I was freaking out inside? I would not mess with someone that looks like me. With the dark circles, it doesn't matter. I look brave. Behind me, Uriah finally let's goes of my arms to fix his hair. I will need to thank him later. The elevator stops and opens. "I wonder how we'll get to the roof from here…" He opens his mouth and trails off once he relies we are outside. Wind hits us in the front of the elevator and my hair blinds me for the millionth time in my life. I move the hair from my face and I see a ladder in front of me that Zeke is climbing. What is he doing? He gets to the top and holds it for the next person. I walk out and stay by the wall on the outside of the elevator. I watch as Uriah goes up and motions for me and Tris to go up. My face is blank as Tris moves first. Now I will have to go. She gets to the top and takes Uriah's place, but he doesn't move from next to the ladder. I climb up and breathe out slowly. What am I doing? The wind hits me and hair goes everywhere. Crap. My hand gets tangled with my hair as I climb. I get to the top and I hear him laughing.
"It's not funny." I protest quietly as he helps me up to the roof. I move some of my hair out of place and groan. It's a mess now. "I wish I had my band." I groan as I take Tris's place and hold the ladder for the next person.
"Your hair's normally up." Uriah states. "Why don't you have it up anyway?" He asks as my hair gets wiped around. I can't grab it without making the ladder less safe. And I can't believe he noticed that. Tris comes around to my other side and gathers my hair up and holds it.
"I was only in the dorm last night to clean up the blood. Then I left." I tell him as Tris holds my hair. "Thanks girl." The girl climbing the ladder gets to the top, and it's Shauna. She is holding something out to me.
"Here. You can have it." She says. It's a hair band. I smile a little bit and nod as I take it and move out of her way. Tris helps me pull it back and we stand up. The wind is strong and her and I start to wobble.
"Careful," Uriah sets his hands on our shoulders. I look around as I try to stay on the roof. I see the marsh. Bugs, I hate bugs. I shake my head and see Uriah point over to Zeke, who is next to a pole and line, holding a bag. We are leaving the roof through the line? I glance over the edge and swallow hard. A hundred stories high. I didn't really think this out. "Oh my God." I hear him say behind me. My body tense. I hate heights. I feel the grip on my shoulder tighten. I turned around and look at him, petrified.
"I can't do this." I tell him. He looks at me and pats my shoulder. My heart is beating fast.
"This is to face you fear. You're brave enough to handle it." He smiles his goofy smile. "I will be right behind you… kicking and Screaming the whole way." He says the last part as an afterthought that tells me he doesn't like it either, at less right now. I can't help but smile.
"You're not going to be screaming." I tell him as I turn around. I feel better now. I see Shauna in the bag and Zeke just about to push her off. The members around us break out in shouts and fist pumps. I frighten again. I turn and face Uriah again and my eyes are widened. I want to go back to my brother's room and curl up on the floor or bed and be safe. "I can…"
"You will and you will be fine." He says as he turns me around and holds me with both hands now. Tris doesn't seem to need it anymore. His arms snake around my stomach and rest his head on my shoulder.
"What are you doing?" I ask him.
"Keeping you on the roof. What else does it look like?" He asks me with a smirk playing on his lips.
"Making me feel weird." I tell him truthfully. "I never let someone do this to me." he doesn't move or say anything as we wait behind Tris. Soon, all seven go before her and it's her turn. She is shaking and having a hard time getting into the bag thingy.
"Don't worry." Zeke says as he helps her into the bag. Tris is going Face down, head first. I don't know what to think of this. "Ready stiff? He asks with a smirk. "I have to say, I'm impressed that you aren't screaming and crying right now."
"I told you," Uriah speaks up. "She's dauntless through and through. Now get on with it." I stiffen. He just wants me in that bag and hurled over the edge. My breathing quickens and I'm panicking. Uriah's grip tightens in reaction to my change.
"Careful, brother, or I might not tighten your straps enough," His brother warns and I can feel my face pale. "and then splat." He didn't just threaten to kill his brother.
"Yeah, yeah," Uriah chuckles. "And then our mother would boil you alive." Would a mother do that to her own child? I wouldn't know.
"Only is she finds out." Zeke says. Then he tugs on the pulley thingy and looks at Tris. "Ready set G.." He doesn't finish the word before pushing her over the edge of the building. My heart leaps and I'm glad Uriah has a hold of me. I would have stumbled over and fell off the building.
"I would tell her." I tell Zeke. He looks at me and laughs.
"Are you sure you aren't going out with the Stiff. It looks like it." He tells Uriah.
"She been unsure if she wanted to cut in line or not. So I'm holding onto her so she didn't piss people off." He tells him as if that's the truth. Then he lets me go. I stand there in between the brothers as they look at each other.
"Let's see how willing she is." Zeke looks at me and holds the bag open. I move stiffly into the bag, the same way as Tris and he seems surprised. "Have you done this before?" He asks seriously.
"Nope." I hold back the shaking voice.
"You get in braver than most of the members here." He says as he starts to tighten me into the bag. I can't move my arms. I look at Uriah and he is smiling and nodding. "Ready set.." No I'm not. My body wants shake, but the bag won't let it. "Go.." He pushes me over the edge and I close my eyes and hold my breath.
Oh God save me. Oh God save me, please. I give into peer pressure way too easily. My heart is beating way too fast as the cold wind hits my face like ice. I got to calm down. I have to calm down. This is perfect practice to work on calming myself down. I push out the air in my lungs and breathe in more. Soon I'm able to breath and open my eyes. It's a big, big drop. I'm too far up to see anything clearly. I feel the adrenaline run through my veins, unwillingly. That only happens when I'm in a lot of danger. Am I in danger now? I hope not. I look ahead and see the marsh. The place with the bugs. Gross. I'm glad I'm not heading there. I look around and try to keep my breathing even. That is the best way to stay calm. I see the abandon city around me. This is nothing like the heights I have been afraid of. This looks calm. Falling, I imagined it more freighting to deal with. This is nothing from my night mares or my father holding me over the railing of the stairs. This is nothing. Not that I will ever do this again, I don't enjoy this. But I'm also not afraid like I thought I would be. Yeah, I am afraid of falling off of this thing and landing on the ground, but that isn't going to happen. Ahead of me is a group of people. I see someone waving at me. She is short so it has to be Tris. I see her doing something with her hands and the groups start to form something. A net. I'm going to have to get out of this thing…. Crap. I just got calm. I wiggle my arms and feel something start to budge. I slip out my hands and I work on the straps that are behind my back without much thought. Don't think and you will be done faster. I get the straps undone and hold both sides as I look down. They are right underneath me, so I let go. I feel my body fall from the safety of the bag and my hair trying to get from the bun, but can't. I feel the cool air around me as I turn so I can land on my back and not see. Then I breathe in sharply as I hit the net of arms. My head gets jerked forward a little bit, but I will be fine. Someone helps me stand up and people are cheering for me. I did it. I did it.
"What'd you think?" I turn and see Shauna and Tris. I look at them for a moment. I shrug my shoulders.
"It's fine, I guess." I tell her truthfully. The people around us laugh a little bit. It's a great accomplishment. I look back up at the line and I hear a bloodcurdling scream. "Uriah?"
"That's Uriah?" I hear someone ask. I nod.
"I bet he'll cry." Someone else says. That's mean.
"Zeke's brother, cry? No way would He get punched hard." That's really mean. I watch as I see him move a little too much than he should. Zeke did something. He didn't tighten his straps enough. That has to be it. Yeah, Uriah didn't really like the idea, but still.
"His arms are flailing!" Someone laughs out. Jerk!
"He sounds like a strangled cat." I turn and look at Tris. Did that just really come from her mouth? People laugh at her joke. It's not funny to me. We gather around and make a net for him so he can fall down. I grab Shauna's and someone else's arm and wait for him to connect with us.
"Pretty sure we can't call you Stiff anymore.' Shauna says with a nod. "Tris." She is accepted into dauntless now. I smile and he lands with a groan and people and laughs and cheer as he is brought to his feet. He looks around and looks at me.
"What? You're not phased?" He asks me in a whisper. I shrug my shoulders.
"I flipped it around and turned it into something else." I tell him simply. "You did great." I smile again and he shakes his head and holds my hand this time, for his comfort.
000
"I'm starving." I mumble as I walk with Uriah and Tris in the group of dauntless. "I didn't eat anything yet today."
"Why not?" Uriah asks as he plays with my badly windblown hair.
"Quit it." I whine. "I slept through breakfast and I was on my way to lunch before someone saved me from explaining myself." Uriah drops my hair and continues to rest his arm around my shoulders.
"Was it because of this morning?" he asks. I stare at him annoyed. I don't want to be reminded about that. "Sorry. Anyway why where you in one of the member's hall?" Tris looks at me.
"I went to sleep in my brother's room." I tell him as I look around. Four is on the far corner of the room eating with other people. I continue to look around so they don't see where my eyes settled. "I was tired and didn't want to sleep in that room."
"You have a brother here?" Uriah seems surprised.
"Yeah. But no meetings. He doesn't want people knowing I'm related to him." I tell him quickly.
"Whatever." He doesn't seem to care. "I need to meet him sooner or later. You met my brother."
"I wish I didn't." I say in a low truthful voice and he laughs.
"Wish I wasn't related to him sometimes." He says. I look away from him and I don't see Tris.
"That's not funny. He is your brother." I tell him as I look around. "Where's Tris?" I ask.
"She is with your other friends at your table." He tells me as he point with is other hand. Tris turns and looks at us as she points to us. Christina, Al, and Will are staring at me and Uriah. "You can go over there. I'm steady now." He tells me with a little smile. Honestly, I don't know if I feel safe with him, like I do with Bass.
"I should." I mumble and he laughs.
"Sounds like you are reluctant." He smirks and looks at me. I shake my head and remove his arm.
"You wish. I just don't like the way they are looking at us." I tell him. He looks over and shakes his head.
"They don't understand what just happen. Your hair looks terrible." I slap the hand that goes to try and fix it.
"Don't touch my hair. It's kind of creepy." I tell him as I point at his hand. "Keep that to yourself." Uriah only laughs.
"Want me to explain things to them? You kind of look like you just been through a wind storm." He says.
"I pretty much did. And no, I'm fine." I tell him as I start walking away. "See you later, Uriah." I say before turning around and walking to the table. The three staring at me.
"What the hell?" Will says. "You look worse than her and the others that just walked in."
"Wind and long hair, not a good mix." I tell him as I sit down and pull stuff on the plate before me.
"Are you sure it was wind?" Christina asks and I slowly look up at her.
"Yes, being hurled off of a hundred story building to somewhere else in the abandon part of the city there won't be anything else to mess it up." I tell her in a kind voice. I really can't think of anything else that could do this.
"Anyway, You two missed Christina almost punching an Erudite." I eat and look hard at Christina who is smirking now. "He was here asking for opinions about Abnegation leadership, and Christina told him there were more important things for him to be doing." Al informs us.
"Which she was completely right about." Will adds. "And he got testy with her, Big mistake."
"Huge." Tris says. Something feels off here.
"Yeah," Christina speaks up, looking at Tris. "While you were off having fun, I was doing the dirty work of defending your old faction, eliminating interfaction conflict…"
"Come on, you know you enjoyed it." Will interrupts her. "If you're not going to tell the whole story, I will. He was standing…." I am so confused. Why did she defend it? She knows what my father did to me. I don't understand. After I finish my food and look at her again when the story it done.
"Why?" I wasn't paying attention. "Why did you do it?" Christina looks at me and shakes her head. She doesn't answer.