Initiates were patiently waiting to stand all around to whispering or even in common silence, in front of the Simulation room, waiting to be called in for their final test.
Eric Coulter was one of the Leaders being waited inside, given he was supposed to be there a lot
earlier than scheduled
He was supposed to attend some type of gathering before the entire thing starts.
Which Ellie find out only when they came to their destination. He was silent about that, only so that he can be with her this entire morning.
Among the bizarre looks coming after the tattoed leader waving her a fast, emotionless goodbye, she was quick to find her friends and stand in the line. Of course, she was embarrassed by the situation...
But, Eric does what Eric wants. This time it was walking Ellie to the test.
And she decided not to question that.
"Are you alive, girl?", Christina welcomed her into the party. "Is that a new tattoo?", she implored, looking amazed at Ellie's chest.
Except for two dots Ellie had tattooed when they came, there were some changes added to her neck and chest in the meantime.
On her neck, in the area of Adam's apple, the girl now had two straight lines resided.
Beyond, gently landing on every end of her collar bone, two more curved lines rested, hugging the dots.
It was unusual, but it was symbolic and it had a very profound meaning to Ellie.
"Alive and well. Yes, I've got it fixed up a little.", she smiled heartily, standing next to them. "And you?"
"If you'd walk among us Mortals from time to time, you would know!", Will gagged and hugged her.
"I am here and I promise I will make it up to you this week.", Ellie said. "At least we know we'll have all the time in the world after today."
"Until I pass that test, I'm not planning a single thing.", Christina shivered a little for a moment.
"But, you will.", Will ensured her. "We all will."
"Anyway, is it true?", Christina asked her curiously, as always.
"What?", Ellie asked, not sure what she was pointing at, but she could imagine it was about Eric. It always was recently.
"Well, you know.", she giggled, her hand gesticulating Eric and her walking in together today.
Christina didn't want to use the words. They were surrounded by too many curious ears today. Candor was officially gone from her.
"Seriously, Chris, now?", Ellie spoke in a low voice, furrowing her eyebrows and making a sad face.
"Yes, now! When will I get to see you after?"
"It is true.", Eleanor admitted to her, nodding her head in approval. "And you will be seeing me at the Pit tonight."
"You guys are going?"
"Well, I know I'm going.", Ellie smirked.
"Tris Prior.", someone called Beatris to come forward.
Ellie looked at the former Abnegation girl walking. She didn't even realize Tris joined them by now.
But as soon as she did, she went into the room, running courageously towards her fears.
***
"Eleanor Cabbano.", Jeanine's assistant called her name after some time and a long list of people coming in and out of the Stimulation room.
It was time for the show.
She knew Eric will be there, watching her every move as always, which made her feel a bit lighter.
But it didn't change the fact that Jeanine was there too along with her suspicions about something Ellie didn't know if it was even logical. Or real.
When she walked down the hallway to the screaming orange armchair centered directly in the middle of the room, she could feel people glaring at her.
Leaders, computer geniuses, judges, experts in all areas surrounded her, prepared to deicide her faith.
Dauntless had one of the toughest final tests, if not the hardest.
People were inclined to attend to Dauntless initiation out of novelty sometimes. But, mainly, they were here to grade the youngsters passing the test.
No wonder all Dauntless members were insane. Who wouldn't be after being dragged throughout all of this in just two months?
Her eyes wandered around looking out for Eric, while she was being seated. But, luckily, it wasn't long before she saw him.
So, when she ultimately did, she took one small glance at him before she laid down. He deliberately nodded his head in consent, looking motionless as ever.
Either way, Jeanine noticed the communication between them.
Of course, she did.
She just had to.
Ellie didn't even crumble.
She perfectly knew what she was going into, as always, which secretly enthralled the Erudite Leader, making her take one inquisitive step forward, standing second to Eric.
"Good luck.", meanwhile Tori said promptly and injected Ellie with the serum. In a matter of seconds, the girl turned her sleepy eyes up to the ceiling, scarcely managing to keep them upright.
One of the first flashes to appear on that big screen, as an indication they were infiltrating in her psyche, was Eric's ceiling from this morning, seen from her point of view.
Something clutched in his stomach at this being her first flashback, as if he was tense.
It was at that moment, that he understood how afraid he was for her well-being. How uneasy this situation is. Even if it's just a Sim.
And that he would stop at nothing to keep her safe.
However, Eric displayed no sentiment to her officially attaining her Fear landscape.
Ellie has found herself in her old bedroom, where she immediately realized she shouldn't be.
Why was she in Erudite when she was supposed to be in Dauntless?
She knew.
It wasn't real.
At the moment after, she realized she had her rifle from the Catch-the-flag in her hands and that she is holding on to it for dear life.
Ellie ran through the door, but they were locked. She ran to the window, it wouldn't open.
The more she pushed the window to open it, the more she was suffocating. She was running out of air.
Ellie never succeeded at conquering the fear of not belonging. And it came right back at her today.
Meanwhile, he admittingly did gain some sympathy, as one's mind could be more treacherous than anything in the world.
And from what he has seen and heard by now, her mind was a catastrophe deeper than the Loch Ness itself.
Jeanine carefully observed her heart rating, not moving her gaze even for one second of the condition monitor.
It even amazed him personally, her heart barely skipped a beat by now.
Elliz realizing what needs to be done, took the rifle and started hitting the glass until it wasn't broken.
Her brain pissed her off because this wasn't supposed to happen.
She said goodbye to Erudite the moment she stepped in the Dauntless. What the Hell was going on with her brain?
"This is one exceptional young lady here.", Jeanine whirled to Eric, looking at Eleanor pushing roughly through the window of her former residence, which Jeanine was very familiar with in the reality.
Ellie symbolically burned the curtains of her old home before leavig, knowing what it would look like to the people outside the sim.
She belonged in Dauntless. She belonged with Eric.
That's all she wanted to admit.
"She is quite strong.", Eric plainly said, contemplating her jabbing some poor Factionless on her way to the Dauntless, with no remorse.
They tried to tie her and beat her up, but with no success - she broke free and ran away.
"I can bet.", she politely said, stating the obvious. "After all, you know
her best.", she was being meaningfully ironic, but in that kind of way that you could blame her for it and end up as a fool.
Jeanine Mathews was quite manipulative, but playing a game with Eric was a bumpy road to take. They both knew that.
"She has nothing in common with your test subjects.", Eric was straightforward. His voice was strong, supporting his claims. He still somehow managed to preserve an impartial look as always, given the fact that his adrenaline just went high and he could sense it.
The ferocious leader recognized where Jeanine was headed with this: from not approving his exclusive connection with someone who was just finishing his initiation to Ellie conceivably being a Divergent. "And her heart rating has just jumped pretty bad.", he raised his brow, appointing on the numbers at the monitor before them.
That was the moment where even worry kicked in.
Ellie was squeezed in the elevator between the floors and with every new moment, it was closer and closer to falling and blowing.
It crumbled like Hell, so it was really hard to see it.
Plus, the broken wires all around threatened to burn her with electricity.
Which could kill her in a real-life too, if she's not quick enough to pass this fear.
Feeling she had nowhere to flee, she decided to try and smash open the door, which was her last possibility.
While she was giving in the urge to break up the doors and luckily, it was going good, Jeanine's eyes widened a little bit.
"You are right. I hope she will be a promising addition to your Leadership board.", Jeanine, now left without any excuse to push Eric any further, noticing how hazardous that was, stepped down in silent truce. But, they both knew it- it was temporary.
"I count on that.", Eric declared, with eyes still blended with her Fear landscape.
He didn't want to miss a single thing that could go wrong.
People were already voting on Ellie's results since she managed to jump out of the elevator, and he recognized by their body diction that they were approving her. But Jeanine was eligible of noting what all of these people encircling Eleanor couldn't.
So he needed to maintain himself on her level, at least until Ellie gets out of the Sim.
Otherwise, it was all for nothing. Everything he did for her.
Ellie was currently encountering her lifeless friends in the nook of the room where the test has taken the place.
She hasn't seen the room before, so she must be afraid of something in here, he reckoned.
Eric could assume what it was.
But what he couldn't imagine even in his wildest fantasy, was to see himself in there, in her senses, with the loaded gun in his hand.
"Are you ready to die for your Faction?", Eric on the Fear landscape aske
d her.
Jeanine significantly glanced at him, ready to catch any sort of fallout from the Leader, while he was petrified on the inside.
Knowing people's frailties gave her power. And he has decided not to show that volatile sandstorm galloping through his head.
Not to Jeanine, not to anyone.
Luckily, she didn't realize he already saved her twice from being assassinated.
That first time she wasn't even attentive to the threat. Neither Ellie nor Jeanine could ever get aware of those facts.
On the surface, Eric looked harsh as ever. But on the inside ...that's how vulnerable he was for her.
Did she fear him? He wondered. If Eric had no fears to conquer, now the new one had appeared.
He knew who he was. But, Ellie didn't know everything.
If she wakes up one morning and looks at him with fear in her eyes, that would be...
Was this what he has aroused in her for this whole time? He asked himself again, trying to remain realistic. It was frustrating; him giving everything he could to keep her safe and her subconsciously fearing him.
Ellie who has by now passed suffocating, kidnapping, fire, running in the woods, and being stuck in the elevator, was standing all bruised and wounded, covered in muck and blood in front of him on the Landscape.
She looked at Eric on the screen with such despair in her gaze, as he has never seen on her before.
A minor tear rolled down her bruised and ruddy cheek.
"Yes. I am.", she retorted, her voice trembling.
"Dauntless will be honored.", he announced, pointing the gun gradually at her.
"I forgive you.", she whispered, taking a thick breath just before shutting her eyes replenished with tears still falling on her cheeks.
The bullet was blasted in her forehead, and in the next moment, Ellie was awake, literally leaping out of that chair and encountering presence.
She huffed deeply, as she still had a sensation of being in the Sim. But, luckily, she was not. It took her a couple of seconds to realize that.
Eric was true, this Simulation was distinct from any other she has ever undergone by now. Her entire body throbbed because Eric killing her this time felt so real, that she had a feeling she was just entering Heaven's gates. She remembered the whole time that it wasn't real, though. It was simply arduous.
But she also understood that it may happen in real life. They both knew it.
He needed to know that she forgives him. She will always forgive him because in this little time they have devoured together, she lived an eternity being cuddled in safety and devotion. It was strange love, but he was her sanctuary. From the world. From everything.
Ellie glanced at him and froze, still coming to her senses.
Seeing him standing next to Jeanine only caused the anxious sensation in her stomach again.
For a moment, she felt like her Fear landscape was turning into reality.
She still felt a little shaky from the serum, but the awe inscribed all over her pale face indicated she was frightened as Hell, which luckily Jeanine appeared to take as a hint of normalcy.
"Congratulations, welcome to Dauntless.", Tori released her cables and monitoring equipment and she hopped off the chair, realizing that people were clapping around her.
T
hey did that for everyone, so she didn't feel so extraordinary at all.
Except for Eric. He just supervised everything, without any cheering.
But she didn't mind, it was needless to say that she knew this was significant to him too.
She came towards Eric, him being the only person she wished for until she recoups from this wild experience.
Seeing he was being quite restrained, she just stood next to him, while Peter was arriving at the room.
Of course, he took a notice of her standing next to him.
Eric was the one that invented the "no left-no right turn" rule. Peter knew about it.
But, they were all being inspected. And they were both mindful of that, as today was still being quite the prudent time and they shouldn't allow themselves any kind of blunders.
Going public with whatever was happening between them before the time was right, was something that has probably saved Eleanor's life and he did it on purpose. But, he knew they shouldn't push their luck. Not at least until the scoreboard has been revealed tonight.
"Congratulations, miss Cabbano.", Jeanine deliberately intruded the silence between the two.
She was a Divergent and Eric was 100% sure about that, because he has spent enough time with her by now to collect the pieces.
He knew Ellie never had a chance to see the Simulation room, exclusively being unlocked only once per year, for this purpose - The Final test. He knew that, but Jeanine didn't.
The room echoed her fear from Jeanine and she was by the end of the Test fully aware she was in the Sim, only doing what she was been trained to do to fight this, which was exactly why she told Eric she forgives him.
He will probably never ask about that, though. Because he shouldn't show any sign of knowledge on that.
Ellie was aware that Jeanine was watching her, even though being in the Sim.
By now, they came to the official conclusion that not all Divergents were the same, and Ellie hasn't shown any other typical indications by now.
The percentage of her divergence was probably very low.
Eric thought them so low, that Ellie wasn't even aware of that. But they were real enough to seriously annihilate this newly-Dauntless girl.
And he wasn't ready to be the one to pull that trigger. He probably never will be.
No one will ever put that trigger, he decided in silence.
"That was spectacular.", Jeanine communicated again and Ellie knew what she was pointing out with her attitude, just like Eric did a shorter while ago.
"Thank you, Jeanine. I am very satisfied if it caught your good impression.", she was considerate, too considerate for Eric not to roll his eyes, but he managed to restrain himself.
***
When they got back to the Leadership floor, Eric was deemed to be with the Leadership, and Ellie, still being an Initiate, was supposed to drink with her friends and wait for the scoreboard.
They both had society commitments to attain, but instead of that, they both chose to make out in his bureau.
Eric decided not to tell her or any other living soul about his little discovery. Not about his thoughts. And Ellie decided she should keep it all to herself. The test, her awareness of the test, and the sim, Jeanine, everything. It's behind them now.
He was taking away her freedom manually, but at this very moment, he realized he'd give her every type of sovereignty she yearned for.
They were finally both autonomous to do whatever the Hell they wanted and they did it. Right now. Because as their lips locked in a kiss, they both felt extricated.
But, unfortunately, no matter how sexy and enticing that was, they had to stop.
"I should go.", Ellie slightly broke out of the kiss, being the rational one this time. "I am expected downstairs. So are you.", her cheeks were blushing from bussing and emotions, but she was probably reddish too since she was consummated by her hormones. So was Eric, but him being him, he felt no remorse for wanting to have the girl he was in love with to the bits.
Nonetheless, Eric had no right to deny her the joy of being at the Pit with her friends.
Nor did he want to, not after today. She merited her happiness more than anyone else and he just wanted to protect her from everything that was to come. Because he knew what was coming. He was the first in line to face it.
"Okay. You can go.", he smirked, a million thoughts still operating through his mind right now.
"Will you join me at the party?", Ellie invited him, feeling very much alive, giggling at him.
She is so beautiful, he thought.
Coming from her, this question meant something and it stunned him. He rose his eyebrows, still holding her:
"You are not once about how people will talk?", he asked with a grin on his face.
"Oh, they will, I know.", she said promptly. "But, I don't want to lose a single moment with you.", she sounded as if she knew something, and Eric was weirded out about it. The more he gave her the space, the more she didn't want any. That didn't seem like her.
Not today, Eric, not today, he thought to himself and just smirked again.
Just for today, he will leave her to be virtuous, enthusiastic, and young. It simmered his sore soul, to see her smile.
"I will.", he said. "The whole Leadership will be there to celebrate with you, it's a tradition."
"Okay.", Ellie said and gently positioned her hands on his cheeks, kissing him again. "I will be waiting.", she pledged, one more time taking a deep look in his eyes before she took off.
Author's note:
Hi, guys!
This chapter was kind of written from Eric's point of view.
We were very much focused on Ellie and on exploring her feelings, mind, and character until now, so I thought we could take a peek at Eric's mind too. :)
Thank you for reading, any kind of comments, reviews and votes are welcome!
P.S. grammar mistakes will be corrected today by midnight.
Thank you!
Sasha ❤️