The choices you made | Eric Coulter (Under Reconstruction)

x3. Put that dagger in my heart

"Thanks.", meanwhile Christina mumbled, grabbing his hand and standing up.

"Okay, everyone, let's take a break.", he announced.
Oddly, he looked directly at Ellie again at that moment. She assumed the Dots attracted his attention? Or not?

"Do you need water?", Uriah asked her, breaking her thoughts apart, while they grabbed their stuff and headed to The Pit, following Eric.

"Yes, thank you.", she took the bottle from him as they joined the colony of their fellow initiates.
Will and Tris joined in, with Will being alone beside her.
Ellie looked in front of herself and figured out that Chris was still walking alongside Eric in front of the group.

"Are you feeling a little better?", he asked her, putting his hand on her hip. What the...?

"Yeah, I'm fine.", Chris said.

Two seconds later, he threw her off the rail. Ellie was surprised. She should have seen this coming.

"Grab the rail.", Eric commanded.

Christina gasped above him, barely holding on and it pained psychically both Tris and Ellie. "Or don't.", he simply added.

"C'mon, Chris, Goddammit.", Ellie shouted impatiently, because this was getting on her nerves.
And Eric looked at her directly again. Directly enough to also attract the looks from the other group members.
It was awkward again, as everything was around him.
She switched her gaze at Chris, trying to ignore whatever he just tried to do.

"You've got three options.", he continued, bringing back attention to Christina again. "Hang there and I'll forget your cowardice. Fall and die. Or give up. But if you give up, you're out."

Metal creaked at that very moment and Ellie knew it was only a matter of moment before Christina dies. She didn't want to lose her new friend.

"Time!", Eric shouted and both Tris and Ellie were first to run to pull her up to the railroad.
Christina was still grunting and painting, but at least she was alive. She'll make it. That's all that matters.

"Dauntless never give up.", Eric said, again looking very openly at Ellie.
This was her lesson for today and it was officially learned.

* * *

After the lunch couple of days later and the trip down to The Wall, there came her favorite part of the training - the knife throwing.
As if she wasn't already enraged from him taunting Christina the other day, Eric added the oil to the fire by putting both Al and Tris as the targets this evening, so it turned out to be an even more frustrating event.

She picked every possible knife she could lay her finger on s and then threw them into the target, secretly imaging Eric's face there.

Tris managed to get both her and Al out of the bad situation they were in and even got herself some points, but it still pissed Ellie off. Mainly because of Al.

He was one gentle creature she grew to like lately.

Only from 7 o'clock this morning, Eric was in the mood to kill two of her friends if they back down.

The training was finished and a lot of them left, but she decided to stay for one more round of throwing before she goes to Tris, who was probably the person of the day because of confronting Eric. Not undeserving.
It was pretty legendary.