Surrender

s i x

"Eric." Max called out, as I was walking towards the dorm.

I turned around and looked at him.

"Jeanine would like to speak with you." He said.

"About?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm busy right now."

He came up to me.

"You see, orders are not optional." He said sternly. 

I sighed. I followed him through a dark tunnel and came in front of a room with big doors. The security guards opened the doors. When I entered, I saw Jeanine and a few people from Erudite in the room, working on computer systems.

"Coulter, it's nice to see you again," Jeanine said, while smiling savagely. "We need your help."

"For what?" 

"You've been in the Dauntless compound for a while. Tell me. Have you seen something suspicious going on?"

"In what context?"

"Your instructor, Amar and the kid from Abnegation."

"No, I didn't notice anything." I said, almost immediately.

"Jeanine, Amar is a Divergent. I know him." Max spoke up.

"Alright, there's only one way to find out. We need Amar and that Abnegation kid to go through some evaluation." Jeanine said.

"What kind of evaluation?' I asked.

"That's not of your interest, Eric. You can leave," Jeanine said. "And if you mention anything about what happened here, you may not be able to continue initiation. Now, would you want that?"

I shook my head and walked out. What just happened?

..

"Eric!" Monica shouted. I woke up with a jolt.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Amar..he's dead."

"What?"

"Yes. He either jumped or fell. Nobody knows. A woman found a dead body in the Chasm." 

I could see the fear in her eyes.

Amar was dead. He was killed by the Erudite, because he was supposedly Divergent. I felt numb. I could have stopped this, but I didn't.

We all gathered in the Pit for Amar. A friend of his, I suppose, spoke about how brave he was. Everybody chanted his name. Amar, Amar, Amar. 

I felt out of place. All the initiates and members were drinking and having fun in the Pit. I walked to the Chasm with my bottle and sat down near the edge of the Chasm.

"Eric?" A voice boomed.

"Monica? What are you doing here?" I asked when I looked at her.

"I was bored there. Can I sit here?" She asked.

"Sure." I said.

"Why did you leave Erudite?" She asked.

"Because of my mother." I said bitterly, the memories returning back.

"You know, sometimes when you make choices in life, they may not always be right, but you were destined to choose them, and trust me, there is something good in store for you." She smiled.

"Why did you leave Candor?"

"I was abused. My father used to hit me everyday because of some unknown reason. So I thought I should leave Candor. Hell, my aptitude test also determined that I'm not truthful enough to be in Candor."

I clenched my jaw.

"Who's your father?" I asked.

"Seth Henderson, leader of Candor."

I knew him. Very fucking well.

I took a sip of my drink. My hand was on my side. My eyes widened when her hand slightly brushed against mine. I looked at her through the corner of my eyes, and saw her smiling.

"So, are you and Four a thing?" I asked. She looked at me and simply laughed.

"Of course not. He's just a friend. Besides, I think I like another Dauntless initiate." She admitted. I tried to fight the anger that was bubbling up inside my body. She liked someone else. But why was I reacting? She suddenly placed her hand over mine. I looked at her, but she simply smiled.

"You have a beautiful smile." I blurted out. I looked away.

She placed her hand on my cheek and pulled my face towards her.

"When I told I liked another initiate, who did you think I was talking about?" She whispered.

"I don't know, maybe Chris or some other guy who--"

She cut me off by placing her lips on mine. That made my heart beat faster and increased my breathing rate. I kissed her back, like I'd been wanting this. She gave me a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. We pulled away out of breath.

"This isn't right." I said.

"I know it isn't. But we're Dauntless. We're trained to be rebels." She smirked. She got up and walked away to the Pit.

We're trained to be rebels.

Her voice echoed in my head. Did she like me?

..

I took a sip of the alcohol as I saw Four approach me.

"It was you," He growled."Who told the Erudite about Amar. I know."

"I didn't." I said.

"You're the reason he's dead." 

I got up.

"I have done nothing. Stop blaming me."

He shoved me against the wall behind me.

"I know it was you, and I'll make sure you won't get away with it." He said and walked away.

This was wrong.