Four pulls the sleeve of his fleece over his hand and begins to rub the names from the chalkboard that Eric had written on there the day before. Eric was repositioning the safety mats into stacks in the corners of the room, clearly as far out of the way as he could possibly get them. Nobody has said a word yet; the tension in the room is palpable.
All of the initiates stand huddled together near the entrance to the training room. Nobody dares to speak, each of us just watching the two men as they worked. I shuffle my weight from one foot to the other, not really sure what to do with myself. Christina stands next to me, chewing subconsciously on the inside of her cheek. I realise then that she isn't watching Eric or Four like everybody else is. Her gaze is resting steadily on Will. He hasn't noticed her looking at him yet, and he stands with his back turned to us, talking in a hushed voice to Al. After yesterday's events, it was clear to me that there was something going on between them, but I chose not to say anything for now. Christina would come to me when she felt comfortable to. My Abnegation upbringing stopped me from questioning her about it. I look away sheepishly.
Eric turns around then, his eyes scanning the group of initiates in front of him. He looks bored; like he doesn't care whether we are there or not. His gaze pauses on me for a split second longer than anyone else, and then he looks away. I don't think he meant for me to notice, but I did. It only made me feel more on edge for what was to come.
"Today, we will be finishing this god awful game." There was a finality in his tone. His expression remained sour. When nobody says anything, he continues. "Same teams as yesterday, but we're starting from the beginning." He walks over to the chalkboard where Four stands, and stands beside him so that they are now standing shoulder to shoulder, facing us. "Today, the rules change. If the person before you chooses truth, you must choose dare. Two people are not permitted to choose truth consecutively. Is this understood?"
We nod in unison.
"By the end of the day, Four and I will have decided who is getting cut and who's still in." Four gave him a look then, his expression hard. It looked as if he was going to say something but thought better of it and looked away. Eric notices this and huffs in annoyance.
"I am willing to disregard what happened yesterday," he continues, his eyes scanning over the group from one side to the other, and back again. He twists the metal ring in his eyebrow aimlessly as he speaks. "Starting from now, every decision you make will be judged. Your cowardice will not be forgotten, and your bravery will not go unrewarded. Does everyone understand?"
We nod again. Uriah takes a step forward, his expression puzzled. "So how many of us are getting cut?" he asks, frowning.
Eric smiles then. He smiles wide enough to show teeth. The metal rings in his lips glint in the light as the skin of his lips stretch tighter as he smiles. It isn't a friendly smile by any means. It's menacing. I hope he never does it again.
"That's the fun thing," he says, his smile stretching impossibly wider. "That depends on you."
Uriah swallows hard, knowing better than to question Eric further. He steps back to merge back in with the rest of the group without saying anything else.
My eyes meet Four's then. He'd already been looking at me when I met his gaze. It was eerie that even after everything we'd been through over the last few days, after all the shared looks, the handholding, sleeping in the same room together… yet he still looked at me indifferently. It was as if we were strangers.
My gaze drops down to my hands. I didn't know what to think. Had he not felt what I had? The thought that I'd been so naïve made my cheeks start to burn.
"So now that we're all on the same page about the rules, you have five minutes to sort yourselves out. Be back here prepared to start by nine. Anyone late is automatically cut."