Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

thirty-eight

"Late again, my boy." The woman pats Eric on the cheek adoringly, "Come and sit! I've cooked up a feast."

As they stand before each other, I notice the similarities between Eric and the woman as well. Like how they'd shared the same noses and had the exact same eye colours. It was then that I realise that this was Eric's mother.

"Come on, then." His mother urges with a smile, "Before the food gets cold!"

Eric's fingers tighten around mine. He's holding onto my hand so tightly, that it's almost painful but I don't say anything. Mostly because I had a feeling it was the only thing that was grounding him.

The other girl- Eric's sister, I presumed- laughs at something their mother says to her, turning to Eric and teasing, "Better eat up, Eric or I'm finishing all the chicken and leaving you with the bones."

Suddenly, the door to the room bursts inwards and a group of three men storms the place.

One of them rushes Eric, punching him in the face while the two others are dragging his mother and sister by the hair holding knives to their necks.

"No!" Eric's heart-wrenching scream almost tears me apart and before I could even make a move to try and stop the men, they drag their blades across both the women's necks and blood splatters everywhere.

I watched the barbaric scene, feeling as if my legs were stuck to the ground and like I couldn't move, unable to do anything as the life slowly seeps out of their eyes.

I'm still staring at their lifeless bodies when Eric grabs my elbow and pushes me behind him.

"We need to get out of here," He says, his voice eerily calm.

Turning, Eric quickly disarms the man closest to him. Then, picking up the knife the man had dropped he stabbed the remaining too, moving so quickly I could barely even keep up.

"Let's go," He drops the knife, coming to my side and taking my hand before leading us both out the door.

"Eric, I'm sorry. I should've done something! I don't know what got into me, but I just couldn't-"

"There was nothing you could've done to change it," He cuts me off, "It never changes. That's the way it's supposed to play out."

I read between the lines, finally understanding what he's not saying; it plays out this way because that's the way it happened.

"Eric-"

I stop short with a gasp when I find myself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Don't do this, Jeanine," Eric begs, standing across the hall from me and not beside me like I remembered he was.

I meet the cold, unfeeling eyes of Jeanine Matthews, the leader of Erudite, as she cocks the gun in her hand and presses it to my temple.

"We can't let a single Divergent slip through the cracks, Eric." She says, "They'll ruin the system."

"She won't!" He yells, "I'll make sure she stays in line. Please."

"Don't let love blind you, Eric. They're dangerous." She replies, "You of all people should know what they're capable of." Jeanine spat, "Look what happened to your mother and your sister. Divergents killed them! And now, she'll pay."

A loud bang rings in my ear and I shoot up in my seat, blinking against the bright lights shining in my eyes.

Immediately, I'm lifted off my chair and was crushed against a hard body.

"Are you okay?" Eric asks, breathing hard like he'd been running.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He pulls back, his frantic eyes studying me as if he's worried that stimulation-Jeanine had somehow managed to get a shot in. "I won't let her hurt you," Eric promises as he holds my eyes.

"I know you won't," I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a tight hug.

We sit there like this for a second, with me in his arms and his head on my shoulder.

"Eric..." I start after a couple of minutes, "The people that killed your Mom and sister were Divergent?"

Eric lets out a heavy sigh and nods, "My Mom was working Jeanine. Not to get rid of Divergents- she never wanted that. She just wanted to understand how their minds worked. I guess it just fascinated her." He swallows, "Word got out within Erudite that Jeanine was hunting Divergents and I guess people just assumed that since Mom was working with her, she was too. And so they came for her." He lets out a humourless laugh, "My sister, she wasn't even involved in any of it, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I should've stopped them." Eric chokes out.

I shift closer to him, holding him as tight as possible as if by doing so, I could hold the pieces that felt like they were threatening to fall apart.

"I just...I couldn't. The fear had paralysed me and I couldn't fucking move." He pauses, gathering his thoughts. "Then, one of them attacked me and I somehow got ahold of his knife and I was standing above him. And I...I couldn't take a life. I didn't have the fucking guts to do it. But by then, it was too late. My mother and sister were already gone.

They were going to kill me next, I'm sure. But our neighbours must've heard the commotion and came to check on us. It scared them off. I was so hell-bent on avenging them...until I met you. And now, I don't know if it's worth all the carnage, anymore." He pulls back to look at me, his gaze boring into me so intensely that it makes it hard to breathe.

"Eric, are you Divergent, too?" I asked, "You only had four fears."

"No," He shook his head, "I used to have sixteen. I worked my way down. I heard how many your brother had and got a little competitive."

I raise a brow at him, "A little?"

He laughs, despite the heavy subjects we'd just discussed and pushes my hair out of my face. "I have to say, now that I've finally gotten to where he is, it's not as satisfying as I thought it would've been."

With a sigh, I bury my face in the crook of his neck and whispered, "I'm sorry for what happened."

"It's not your fault," He replies, his voice cracking at the end.

"I'm still sorry," I tell him, "Would you tell me about them?"

Eric hesitates for a moment and just went I think he's going to refuse, he holds me tighter against him, settling back into his chair as he tells me stories from his childhood.