If I Was Dauntless Born

Chapter 14- Butter knives and Rankings

As soon as I got back from capture the flag, I collapsed onto my bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"Tris. Tris, get up."

Someone was shaking me awake. I rolled over and opened my eyes. It was Uriah.

"This better be good." I say, my voice still groggy with sleep.

"You know that Erudite transfer, Edward?" He asked. When he saw my confusion he explained, "You know the tall, blond guy." I nodded, remembering the transfer at the top about the leader board. "Well, he got stabbed. In the eye." Uriah whispered.

"What!?" I jumped out of bed and ran to the transfer dorm. When I got there, Edward was gone, but there was a huge blood stain on the floor. All of the transfers were huddled together looking shaken. I spot Christina sitting on a bunk with Will and Al. I walked over to them. "What happened?" I ask.

Will was the first to speak up. "We woke up to a scream. Someone flipped on the lights and we saw Edward laying on the floor with a butter knife in his eye. He just went to the infirmary a few minutes ago."

"Who did it?" I ask. Who would be sick enough to do something like that?

"I think it was Peter. He was second place. When Edward was carried to the infirmary, instead of looking shaken, he looked triumphant." Christina said. Of course, Peter. I got up and walked toward the bathroom. I grabbed a wad of towels and walked back to the dorm. I got to my knees and started scrubbing. Christina soon joined me by my side.

Eventually the blood went away and someone poured bleach on the spot. I got up and went to the training room. Just as I thought, Four was in there.

"Four!" I yell across the training room. Four looks up for a second from his punching bag then goes back to what he is doing. I walk over to him.

"Four, Edward just got stabbed in the eye. With a butter knife!" I yell. I'm probably the only one in this whole faction that has the guts to do this and get away with it.

"And..." he says.

"And I think it was Peter." I reply.

He turns to me. "Well, do you have evidence?" He asks.

"Well, not really. But Christina saw him after the stabbing and she said he looked triumphant. She said that-"

"Unless you have real evidence, we don't what to hear your superstitions, Tris." He says curtly.

I was stunned. "So this is okay? So people can go around stabbing people to get better rankings?" I yell.

"Tension is naturally higher in the transfers. They don't know each other and they are in a new area. I guess everyone will just have to watch their backs." He replies.

I walk away. How is this alright? If the leaders aren't going to take action, well, I'll just have to take matters into my own hands. I smile as a plan comes together.

When I walk into our dorm, Uriah, Lynn, and Marlene are together talking. "Mar, Uri, Lynn. Come on, we have a job to do." I say. They jump up. Uriah asks, "What is it?"

"Oh, just a little payback." I say grinning.

☆☆☆

We all stand positioned behind a wall. We are waiting for our target to come. Then we hear footsteps. I look back and nod. Peter turns around the corner and we grab him. Lynn and Uriah pin him to the wall. I pull the knife out of my pocket and spin it on my fingertips.

"See, you aren't the only person that can do some damage. Only our damage is permanent." Marlene says.

"I'm not afraid of you. You're just a girl." Peter spits back.

"Wrong answer." Lynn says and knees Peter in the stomach. I walk up to Peter and put my knife to his throat. Every one of his muscles freezes.

"If you pull a stunt like that again, I swear we will make your life here at Dauntless miserable." I say through gritted teeth.

"Ohhh. I'm so scared." Peter says, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Apparently Uriah had had enough because he punched Peter in the jaw.

"Let's just say we know people. Who care a whole lot more about us then you. Word spreads quickly here at Dauntless. And reputations stick. So I would watch your step." I reply pulling the knife from his throat and placing it on his eyelid.

"Because you know, an eye for an eye." I say venomously. With that I walk away, my friends trailing behind me. Leaving Peter with a swollen jaw staring daggers at my back.

Uriah puts his arm around my shoulder and says, "Well, that went well. We should celebrate with Dauntless cake." I roll my eyes at my brother's sweet tooth, but still follow him to the cafeteria for some scrumptious cake.

We all grab cake and sit down at our favorite spot in the cafeteria, laughing about the prank that we just pulled. "Did you see his face? He was like a little girl!" Lynn says while taking a bite of her cake. We all laugh remembering it.

Four walks in, looks at us and shakes his head, then keeps walking. I look at my friends questioningly. They just shrug, as bewildered as I was. When Four walks by our table, Uriah grabs his sleeve and pulls him into a seat. " What? Why did you look at us like that?" Marlene asks.

"The things you guys do to get revenge amazes me." Four replies.

"How did you...?" I start.

"Control room." He replies, pointing to himself. "I can't believe you guys threatened him like that."

"Well, he had it coming." Uriah says with a shrug.

"Next time, do it in a blind spot on the cameras." Four says in a low voice. I can tell he is trying not to smile, but one keeps creeping onto his face. With that, he walks away. We spend the rest of our time talking about pranks and cameras while laughing and having fun.

But something wasn't quite right in my mind. Then I remember, Four doesn't work the control room during initiation, so why was he there? I push the thought aside. It couldn't be anything important.

☆☆☆

"Congratulations on the end of stage 1. The lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us. Here are you rankings." Four says and hangs a huge board above his head.

1. Uriah

2. Tris

3. Peter

4. Lynn

A little farther down I see

6. Marlene

7. Will

And

9. Christina

"Congratulations. We will start stage 2 at the beginning of next week." Eric finishes.

Everyone cheers. I hear a few sobs of the people who didn't make it. But joy mostly fills the room. Someone comes up and hugs me from behind. It's Marlene. "Congrats!" She squeals. "Thanks! You too! 6th isn't too shabby!" I say with a smile. Uriah comes up to my left singing, "I beat you! I beat you!" I smack him in the arm. "Not for long! There's still two more stages!" I smile and push through the crowd to find Christina and Will. "You made it!" Christina and I both yell in unison. We hug. "Congrats on 2nd. Now you just have to get your brother." Will says with a smile. I return the congratulations and push through the crowd. Someone grabs my arm from behind, I spin suddenly, colliding with the person. It was just Four. "Congratulations on 2nd. You'll have first by the end of initiation." He says with a smile. "I know." I reply. I smile and keep moving. I spot Peter in the crowd. There is so much I want to do to him, but I settle for bumping his shoulder and giving him a small smirk.

As I look around at the chaos, I realize that this is my faction. How could I have considered any others? We are happy and free.

A/N
Sorry for my sudden absence. Stuff happened with Wattpad and I couldn't get on to post. Well enjoy this new segment. More to come soon!