The Girl Who Cried Dauntless

Chapter Fifteen: Target Practice

By the time thirty minutes were up everyone had hit their targets - all except Al. Throw after throw his daggers clattered to the floor right before the dummy, or missed it completely. I felt sympathy because Al's face was flushed, flustered that none of his throws were making it anywhere. After we all went to collect our daggers, I was going to go help him. That was until Eric made it to him first. "Well, that's pathetic," he commented casually, looking at Al's unmarked target. Al ignored his comment and went to throw another. It was to the same effect as all the others - dropping before it could hit the target. "How slow are you, Candor? Do you need glasses? Should I move the target closer to you?"
"It slipped," Al said, embarrassed. Eric's chilled eyes drilled into Al's warm, brown ones. "Then go get it!"

Nobody was throwing anymore daggers. We all stopped to look at the spectacle that was Eric and Al. Eric noticed our lack of motion and his eye glared into all of ours. "Did I tell you to stop?" With the exception of me, daggers started hitting the board and this didn't go unnoticed by Eric. Anything to get his attention off of Al and onto me would be preferred. "Are you deaf, Nose? Get back to throwing!" Eric's eyes were flaming past his usual anger, they were almost rabid looking. "There's no need for that, Eric. I thought you would've learned to carry yourself with a lot more class considering your time in Erudite." I spoke the last part so only him and I could hear it. In turn, he slowly walked to me and hissed in my ear. "You're walking on very thin ice with me, Adelaide. Keep it up and your mother won't be getting you back in one piece."
"I think you and I both know neither Max nor my mother would allow that." I responded and though I felt amused, my cold and reserved demeanour never wavered. He looked at me and said nothing, his face voided of any expression. "Everyone stop!" He shouted, his eyes never leaving mine. On command, the daggers stopped and the entire room's attention was on us. I didn't bother to look and them because I already knew their expressions: shock and awed. An idiot could tell that with Eric's sadistic and ruthless tendencies, paired with his position of power nobody stood up to him, they most likely thought I was crazy. "Clear out of the ring. All except you," he looked at me, a cruel smirk on his lips.

His led us to another edge of the room, where all the full-body dummies were kept. "Stand in front of a target," he said. Without hesitation, I obliged. I walked toward the dingy and beat up dummy, lacking the fear I didn't need to feel. Under no authority was he given the power to kill me and if he harmed me beyond the point of medical help, the alliance between Erudite and Dauntless would be broken. The best he could do was rough me up a bit.

"Wanna give me a hand here, Four?" Four sighed in annoyance and approached Eric's side, daggers in hand. The lack of energy in his step and the dark circles rimming his eyes told me that he's just as exhausted as we are. "You're going to stand there while he throws the knives, and if you flinch - I get to pick out any suitable punishment," he said, not bothering to hide the fact he would love to see me in any sort of uncomfortable situation. "Is this really necessary," Four said, looking at Eric with an unimpressed manner. They both looked at each other, challenging the other to look away first. "Remember that I'm the one who has the authority here. Here and everywhere else," Eric growled, finally turning away from Four. That comment made me want to scoff. The reason he's in the leadership position is because it was convenient for my mother's plan so she advocated for it.

Four looked away calmly, though the way he stood tensed and his thinned lips suggested that he was far from calm on the inside. He tightened his grip on the daggers until they were white and turned to face me. Pulling his elbow back, he threw the dagger which landed a quarter of a metre above my head. I would be lying if I said the deafening sound of the dagger hitting the target didn't scare me, but I didn't let it show. When you not only grow up as an Erudite, but also as Jeanine Matthews' daughter, you learned to keep a cold and collected exterior no matter the situation. He takes another dagger from his left hand and throws it at me again. This one was closer than than the last - it's a few centimetres away from my cheek. I still didn't move. I might not like Four, but if anyone was throwing these at me, I'd prefer it to be him. A person who's precision never failed.

The next blade that came didn't follow the typical procedure. Usually, he'd shuffle his stance around and line up his throw, but this time something different happened. His lining was a bit off than what it normally was. When it flew out of his hand, it was right above me - to the point I was sure this one was going to nick me. It tore through the barrier of the target and I felt a tug on my scalp when it did so. Simultaneously with the hitting of the dagger, something fell to the ground. Something that was layered with multiple shades of blue. A mass of my hair.

"I would love to see if anyone else is as daring as she is, but I think that's enough for today." Eric spoke smoothly now that he'd been appeased.

As soon as I was allowed to move again, my hand reached for the part of my hair that was missing. It wasn't a large amount, nevertheless it was still enough to anger me. I kept glancing at him and he reciprocated the action. From the glint in his eyes I could tell the incident hadn't been an accident.

All the initiates vacated the training room to head to the Pit. That didn't include Four who stayed back to clean the daggers up and I noticed that Tris also lingered behind. I eyed the two with a look of skepticism before I continued on my way.

* * *

There was still no sign of Tris or Four when the rest of us sat down for dinner. Al and Will engaged in a conversation with each other and Christina talked to me. "I can't believe he cut your hair!" She exclaimed. "Yeah, I know. Is it noticeable?" I asked, hoping for the best. "Not really. I wouldn't even be able to tell if I didn't see it happen."
"You were a Candor, you're not suppose to lie," I said, grabbing the mirror Christina offered me. "I'm not lying! It still looks gorgeous." I inspected my hair to see if Christina was being honest, and in my end results nothing seemed to look wrong. I sighed in relief but the anger wasn't yet washed out of me.

Christina and I went back to eating the contents of our plate when a hush fell rapidly over the room. At the beginning of the eating area, Eric stood in the entrance, his eyes sweeping along the room in search of something. His glare zeroed in on our table started towards it, dropping himself down onto a seat without an invitation from any of us.

"What are you doing after this, Adelaide?" His question took me off guard and I
shared a suspicious look with Christina. Will and Al were starting to take notice in the odd exchange too. "That depends. Why?"
"There's going to be a game tonight," he said, causally picking at his cuticles. "It's a traditional Dauntless game." I continued to look at Eric with an expression clouded with suspicion. Why would he ever invite me to a game that would grant me plenty of Dauntless status. "The Stiff is also coming," he explained further.

His bizarre behaviour for inviting me was understandable now. Since Tris was attending the game as well, it would be idle for me to go. It had been told to me that my mother recently expressed her concerns regarding Tris, therefore I was to try and get even closer to her. I did look at Tris as an acquaintance, but if my mother so desired it, feelings had to be put aside. One couldn't let their heart interfere with their brain.

"Okay. Sounds lovely," I agreed.