You die, I die too

Chapter 4

"None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free."

- Pearl S. Buck

Candice POV

I woke up to the sunlight that shone through the window, feeling happy for the first time in forever. I remembered last night and smiled, he would never hurt me again. I would set myself free, I was ready to start my new life. I got up from my bed and walked into my bathroom to take a shower. After the shower, I got dressed in black tight jeans and a white tank top, which I matched with a pair of white sneakers. I braided my hair and put on some light make up. When I was done, I went to my nightstand to take out a photo of my mother, and a bracelet I got from Tobias for my 16th birthday, apparently it belonged to his mother. I went downstairs to grab some coffee and a sandwich and sat down at the table. After I was done with breakfast, I took a final look around the house before I walked out, locked the door, and began walking to the Hub. Michael had already left, he had told me he was going to meet me there.

When I arrived at the choosing ceremony, I sat down beside Michael with the rest of our faction. Amity was hosting this year and Johanna Reyes was going to give her speech after Jeanine Matthews had given hers.

"The factions system is a living being composed of cells; all of you. And the only way it can survive and thrive is for each of you to claim your rightful place. The future belongs to those who know where they belong." Jeanine said.

Then Johanna went up to give her speech, I tried to focus but the speech was so boring, and all I could think about was my decision. When the speech was over, she started to call out names by alphabetical order. The eighteen-year-olds stepped up on the stage, and walked over to the table, which had five bowls and a knife on it. Each bowl contained a substance that represented one of the five factions, gray stone for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless and glass for Candor.

Michael took hold of my hand in a death grip, a searing pain erupted in my arm, and I yelped quietly. He lowered his head and whispered in my ear.

"Remember, you pick Candor or else." I just nodded.

"Candice Heart." Johanna called. I stood up and walked down to the stage. I took the knife from Johanna and walked over to the five bowls. I stood over the Candor bowl, I could almost feel the burning hole in my back that Michael gave me. I took a deep breath and cut my hand and slowly let my blood drop onto the burning coals.

"Dauntless!" Johanna called, and all the Dauntless erupted in loud cheers. I looked up to Michael and smirked. Fuck you Michael, you are no longer the boss of me. I sat down with the rest of the new initiatives and felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned my head to meet a grinning Kevin.

"I knew you would join us."

"No doubts." The ceremony ended, and everyone from the Dauntless crowd were the first one out. We started sprinting wild into the street, climbed to the top of the train tracks, and chased after the train as it went by. I manage to jump onto the last carriage with some help from Kevin, but not without me landing on top of him. We looked into each other's eyes and started laughing. Kevin got up and helped me to my feet.

"That was really something, huh? Such a rush." Kevin said while grinning.

"It was amazing!"

"Hey, asshole! Why didn't you wait for me?" Someone behind us said.

"Levina, nice of you to join us. Candice this is my twin sister, Levina. Levina, this is Candice." Kevin said with a somewhat annoying voice.

"Nice to meet you, Levina."

"Nice to meet you too, Candice. So, you think you're going to like Dauntless? Because this is just the beginning."

"Can't be worse than Candor, can it?"

"Hah, nothing beats Dauntless. You're going to love it. With a new haircut and some other clothes, you will fit right in." I smiled at Levina, and we continued to talk for a while before someone called up.

"It's time!"

"Time for what? Are they jumping?"

"Come on, Candice, take my hand. We'll do it together on three." Kevin said.

I can't say I wasn't scared. It's one thing to jump on a train, it's another thing to jump off one. I grabbed Kevin's hand, then we jumped together on three. We landed on the roof above the compound, rolling on our backs. The gravel scratched my arms, but I didn't mind. I had finally made it to Dauntless, I was free. Kevin offered his hand, and I took it, and together we joined the crowd. I stood between Kevin and Levina, trying to see the two Dauntless members that were standing on the ledge of the building.

"Alright, listen up. I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders. Several stories below us is the members entrance to our compound. You have to jump from here. If you feel like you can't do it, you don't belong here." I looked up to see a fairly young man. He was at least 6 foot tall, incredibly well built, short brown hair and he had two piercings above his right eyebrow and in his ears. He was wearing a black t-shirt that hugged his toned torso perfectly and showed of his biceps. He had tattoos on his upper arms, and I could faintly see a start of a tattoo on his neck. He was insanely attractive, and I had to mentally tell myself that he was a leader.

"Is there something at the bottom?" An Erudite guy asked.

'Of course, there is something down there. Why else would they want us to jump, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.'

Suddenly I saw everyone was staring at me.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I said while inwardly sighing for not knowing when to shut up. Eric jumped down from the ledge and walked up. I bit my bottom lip, and he eyed me for a second, then smirked.

"You did smart mouth. Now, since you're so sure there is something down there, why don't you go on and prove it." I looked up to him and sighed.

"Sure, why not." I walked passed him, my shoulder bumped against his arm. I stepped up on the ledge and looked down at the hole below. I looked back at Eric then took off my jacket.

"Yes, take it off. Take it all off." Zack said.

There were chuckles coming from the initiatives, but I ignored them. I looked over at Kevin and Levina, seeing them smiling at me and ushered me to jump. I took a deep breath and jumped.