Urgent

Chapter 19

I didn't expect to enter the dormitory and find a crowd around Peter. Yet, here I am, standing with Tris, staring at Peter who stands at the center of a group of initiates, reading loudly from a piece of paper. 

'The mass exodus of the children of Abnegation leaders cannot be ignored or attributed to coincidence,' he reads, and I have a faint feeling that I will not like what comes next, 'The recent transfer of Beatrice and Caleb Prior, the children of Andrew Prior, calls into question the soundness of Abnegation's values and teachings.' 

My fists clench, and my nails are digging into my palms. I glance at Tris. She's looking at Christina who stands at the edge of the crowd. There's an unidentifiable emotion on her face, but I can guess what it is she is feeling. Anger. Burning anger. Because they have made it personal. Because they aren't just attacking Abnegation but attacked Andrew. Her father. 

'There is also the matter of Ariadne 'Ari' Graves.' Peter's gaze is now resting on me. He's trying to provoke me, and he's succeeding. 'Ariadne was adopted by the Priors at the young age of eleven, after the brutal murder of her parents, Katilyn and Travis Graves.' 

It takes all of my self-control to stop myself from marching up to Peter and snatching the newspaper from him. To stop myself from ripping it into shreds. I don't think I have hated Peter more than I have now. 

'She was raised and cared for by Andrew Prior and his family since the tragic death of her parents. She transferred to Dauntless, in what is believed to be an attempt to escape from Andrew.' Escape? I didn't want to escape from Andrew nor any of the Priors. They're like family to me and I.... is this all my fault?

'Molly Atwood, a fellow Dauntless transfer, suggests a disturbed and abusive upbringing might be to blame. 'She has terrible nightmares,' Molly says, 'She screams in her sleep. I don't know what it is she sees - but it's definitely traumatizing.' This is all my fault. 

I shouldn't have beaten Molly. If I hadn't, perhaps she wouldn't feel the need to exact her revenge. She's upset I placed higher than her, despite having been quite badly myself. She must have spoken to the Erudite reporter who had come here not too long ago. 

I look at Tris. She's white. Shaking with anger. I don't know what she will do if Peter continues - but I doubt it will be good. 

'Give it to me,' I say, pushing through the crowd to reach Peter, knowing I have to interfere before Tris does something she regrets. 

'But I'm not done reading,' says Peter teasingly, and for a second - it's like we are two friends fighting over something silly. Only for a moment, until reality comes crashing and I remember all the terrible things he has done. He looks away from me, and pulls out the paper again, reading once more. 

'However, perhaps the answer lies not in a morally bereft man, but in the corrupted ideals of an entire faction. Perhaps the answer is that we have entrusted our city to a group of proselytizing tyrants who do not know how to lead us out of poverty and into prosperity.'

I glance at Tris, who's storming over. She's furious. In a blind rage and doesn't even care that she almost pushes me to the ground to reach Peter, who's only provoking her further. As I stagger to my feet, Tris stomps on Peter's foot. He grunts softly, but no one seems to notice. No one seems to notice because at that moment Tris throws herself at Molly. 

I have never stopped a fight until now. Will, who has suddenly appeared seemingly from thin air, helps me drag Tris away from them. Tris who is fighting every step of the way, screaming at the top of her lungs. 

'That's my father!' She screams. Her voice is shrill - absolutely shattering my eardrums, and I'm prepared to bet that if not slightly deaf before, I'll definitely be hard of hearing after this. 'My father, you coward.'