ALLEGIANT

Chapter: 10

"What do you know of them" he asks her, arms crossed in a defensive position, I wait for the magnetic pulse but nothing comes.

"I know they're ruthless, uncaring, masking their abilities with faces like ours-" she smirks, "well more like faces like yours"

"What are you talking about" Tobias finally speaks up and I dont have to look at his face to see his bewilderment, it radiates off of him like a beacon. He hates being out of the loop as much as I do.

Cara sighs and steps back, I didn't even realize that she moved closer.

"Anivials are the extreme Divergent. Or we like to think of them as opposites. Anivials radiate a certain feramone that acts like a serum. It gets into the air around them and anyone in contact with them feels fear like nothing before and the Anivial or in this case, Peter, feeds off of that fear and uses it to become stronger. Now as we all know, Divergents dont do anything like that. They dont feed off of anything from anyone around them but they reject the simulations. They are aware which makes them unique, dangerous, and strong. The perfect soldier. Anivials are deadly and foriegn-"

I turn to Peter now, the information rolling agaisnt me like the waves on a rocky shore. This time im not the beach but the ocean, the waves moving in a choppy, violent manner. And I am one pissed off ocean.

"So it was you," I say pushing him away from me, his face is shocked and a hand grabs my waist from behind, I ignore the shock that runs through me at Tobias' touch and I feel the blood run up my face as I begin to yell. "I'm not afraid because im weak! I was afraid because of you!" im being irrational, and pety, and stupid and i can think of at least a 100 more words as to why my reaction is ridiculous but I'm too angry to care. And I dont even know why.

"I told you!" he yells back fists clenched at his side. "I told you and did you have soooo much on your mind that you ignored it all until this moment?"

"I dont even know what your-" but i do. i do know 'I am the simulation' My body becomes less tense and Tobias' hands leave my waist. I can sense his confusion.

"Well," Cara says "That was an interesting reaction." I can sense her laughter as she contains it. Before she can speak again Peter grabs my shoulder to face him. Tobias grunts behind me.

"We weren't friends in initiation. We arent even friends now. Did you expect me to leap into my life story the minute i spoke to you in Erudite? I dont even understand what I am, how could I explain it to you? why would I even want to" He's right, I know he is, but the anger inside me is not wavering and the feeling is familiar. It's the feeling I had when I saw Caleb standing in the doorway days before my execution. What I'm feeling is dissapointment for a boy i just began talking to, a boy, who pointed out, I'm not even friends with. 'Why would I even want to' its like being betrayed by someone I would never even trust.

Peter releases me and I ignore Cara's voice until I heard my name. "the facts are quite extreme in Tris' case. She is an extreme case of what we all call Divergents. 3 factions for a aptitude test? Unheard of. The same with Peter. He is an extreme anivial. A long line of Divergent ancestors are in his blood line and here he is, a mutation gone wrong. A mistake in the the time line that has deadly consiquences for all of us." Im conufsed, many Divergent ancestors in his bloodline? What does that even mean.

"It means that we made a mistake." She answers my unspoken question "When we sent Divergents into the faction system, we tore a thread in the fabric of that society. They were rouge. Uncontrollable by the government and therefore they needed to be gone. We made an agreement with the leaders of each faction and they were killed off. All the divergents we had on file were terminated. Years later, 16 years to be exact. We found evidence of a young Divergent female living in Abnegation. Her aptitude test was strange. Abnegation and Amity. A red flag. The bureau was at a loss. When our government finally realized what had happened the Divergent mission was a joke. We created a new race of your kind in that society. And you are all bastard children of an equation gone terribly wrong. And you," she looks at Peter. "Are another mistake. You are a species of your own. You are what happens when two Diverents reproduce. The genes dont correlect and the outcome is horribly unstable."

Peters face is chalk white and his knuckles are tight agaisnt his skin. I don't even know what to say. I dont know what to do, a bastard child, that's what I am? I feel angry at her words but isn't this what I wanted, to know exactly what I am. And yet I'm more confused that ever.

"So what are we." Tobias asks, I almost forgot he was there.

"Come again?"

"What are Divergents exactly. Why are we the way that we are."

"Your genes allow you to resist things that are put into your body, serums, vitimans, toxins. Your bodies are like a cure to the plague. We want to understand it but we can't. It may not be some grand superpower but you are the lucky ones among us. You'll always be free from things that we control. We will never be able to resist, but you can." her voice is scientific, calculating, and envious.

"We dont know exaclty what being Divergent means. But do not carry it as a burden, and do not hold it like a prize."

"We wanted answers, not Vague fortune cookie mottos" Tobias walks to the wall next to the door of the room and runs his fingers through his hair, exasperated.

I still haven't moved. I feel the words run through my skull as I try and make sense of them. Anivials, the mosters, as Cara calls them. They feed of of fear and weakness and all the things I try and free myself of. No wonder Peter makes me unconfortable and anxious. So its not just me. That, at least, is a relief. I fast forward   In the conversation to when she spoke about Divergents and what they reproduce. They cant have a normal child. It would always be considered a monster. I look at Tobias who appears to be argueing with Cara and I wonder if he's thinking the same thing.

"So i'm nothing more than a monster." Peters voice is surprisingly close and i jump. "Relax," he tells me. But I cant, not really. Not after everything I just heard about him. Am I really still afraid?

"Dont-" he says, eyes pleading "You dont have to be afraid of me. Im not going to hurt you"

Caras voice comes from the doorway and I didnt even register the movement around me until she spoke. Whats wrong with me? I wonder. Apperently, alot.

"Oh I dont think you can help it boy. Just being around you will hurt her. But remember," her voice becomes muffled as she leaves the room but I hear the echo of her heels along the tiles. Followed by her cold, humorless voice. "Opposites attract"

The door slams and Peter, Tobias, and I glance at the door and then at eachother.

Peter is the first to leave.