"The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while."
- Albert Einstein
Eric POV
I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock, and I let out a laud growl. I was not looking forward to today, I just wanted this day to be over so I could go to the bar and get wasted. I stepped out of the bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. After the shower, I brushed my teeth, pulled on my shoes and jacket, and left for breakfast. The hall was empty because everyone was already in the dining hall eating, eighteen-year-olds eagerly waiting to go to the ceremony. I opened the double doors to the dining hall and the hall went quite. I loved the feeling of power, they all feared me. They knew not to piss me off, especially since I was their leader. I grabbed my breakfast and sat down at the leaders' table. Lauren and Max were chatting, but I could care less about what they were saying, my thoughts where somewhere else. That girl everyone was talking about yesterday, what was so special about her? Why did I even care about some silly little girl anyway? My thoughts were interrupted when Aaron waved a hand in front of my eyes.
"Hello, earth to Eric. What were you thinking about? You just zooned out."
"It's nothing, just have a lot on my mind that's all. Anyway, what's your plans for tonight? Want to go to the bar for drinks?"
"Yeah, sure why not. I can do with some drinking."
"Good."
"Listen, today I want everyone to behave. Aaron you are going to the ceremony with Kristin. Lauren, you will be at the bottom of the net with Four, and Eric you're with me at the entrance welcoming the new initiatives." Max informed us.
After breakfast, I went back to my apartment to read for a while before I had to get to the roof. Dauntless had a small library with different books from before the war. I had borrowed a few books, and I was currently reading A Clockwork Orange. After about two hours, I left my apartment, and went up to the roof with Max to wait for the new initiatives.
"So, do you think there will be any Divergents among them?" Max asked me.
"I don't know, I guess we just have to wait and see." I said before we heard the train approach. We stood on the ledge by the entrance waiting for the initiatives to jump off. I watched how they jumped, some landing on their feet, obviously Dauntless born, while the rest rolled on the ground. One girl caught my eye though. She was short, blond almost white long hair that was braided, and she was wearing black and white clothes, she was from Candor. But what struck me the most was her smile, it was one of those that could melt even the coldest of hearts. I looked up to see what or rather whom she was smiling at. That dickhead Kevin was smiling at her and helping her to her feet. I averted my gaze to the rest of the newly formed group in front of us. When everyone was there, I started talking.
"Alright, listen up. I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders. Several stories below us is the members 'entrance to our compound. You have to jump from here. If you feel like you cannot do it, you don't belong here." I scanned the group and saw them tense up at what I just said.
"Is there something at the bottom?" An Erudite guy asked.
"Of course, there is something down there. Why else would they want us to jump, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out." Someone said. I looked over to see who it was, when I saw everyone starring at the Candor girl.
"I said that out loud, didn't I?" The candor girl said. I jumped down from the ledge and walked up to her. She bit her bottom lip, and I eyed her for a second, then smirked.
"You did smart mouth. Now, since you're so sure there is something down there, why don't you go on and prove it." She looked me in the eyes and sighed.
"Sure, why not." She said and shrugged. I was a little taken back by her bluntness, but I got to admit, the girl got guts.
She walked passed me, her shoulder bumped against my arm, and I watched her step up on the ledge, and looking down at the hole below. She then looked back at me and took off her jacket.
"Yes, take it off. Take it all off." Some Candor guy said, and I stared at him angrily.
The other initiatives chuckled, and I looked back to the Candor girl, waiting for her to jump. She looked over to the group, and I followed her gaze to Kevin and his sister, seeing them smiling at her and ushering her to jump. Then she looked back to the hole and jumped.
***
Candice POV
I felt weightless while falling down the roof. My stomach did cartwheels, and it felt so good. I landed on something hard, and I bounced back up a bit before I fell down again, it was a net, a freaking net. I laughed before I felt the net sink down, and a pair of hands grabbed my arms, and pulled me out of the net. I looked up to see his face and gasped in realization. It was him, it was Tobias. I saw him eyeing me before he spoke.
"What's your name?" Tobias asked, and I just stared at him.
"You can pick a new one if you want but make it good. You don't get to pick again."
"Okay. It's Candice, my name is Candice."
"First jumper, Candice!" He shouted to the rest of the Dauntless people who were there.
"Welcome to Dauntless." He put a hand on my back, and I flinched at the touch of his hand on my newest wounds. Hopefully he didn't notice, because he just motioned for me to go to a tall woman in the back and wait for the rest of the initiatives.
Soon, I saw someone land on the net. It was Levina. She approached me with a smile, and we waited together for the rest. When everyone was down, I was standing next to Levina, Kevin and an Erudite guy named Matt that we just met, when Tobias began to talk.
"Okay Initiatives, most of the time I work in the control room, but during your training I'll be your instructor alongside Eric. My name's Four."
"Four like the number?" A Candor girl I recognized as Kimberly or Kim as she called herself asked.
"Exactly like the number." Four answered.
"What happened? One two three were taken?" There was a spattering of chuckling from the others, I however did not laugh. Sure, I was curious to why he had chosen that name, but I was not going to push on the matter. Besides, I hated her, so why would I laugh?
"What's your name?" Four asked as he walked up to her.
"Kim" She said, a little shocked, seeing his face expression. Four stepped closer to Kim.
"Well, Kim. The first lesson you learn from me is, if you want to survive here, you'll keep your mouth shut. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
"Good. Dauntless born go with Lauren, transfers follow me." Four turned and started walking off, and the group followed him, while the Dauntless born left with Lauren. I walked alongside Matt while following Four around the compound. Four led us to something called the Pit, where music was playing and apparently, this was the place where the Dauntless gathered to have fun.
"This is the Pit, the center of life here in Dauntless." Four explained. He continued to walk, and we soon heard water streaming not far off. We came up to a bridge with a railing on one side and a water fall on both sides.
"This is the Chasm, it reminds us that there's a fine line between bravery and idiocy. A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life." Four said, and then led us to our sleeping quarters. We entered a room with ten beds.
"You're going to be sleeping here for the next ten weeks."
"Girls or boys?" An Amity boy asked.
"Both."
"Alright!" Zack cheered.
"If you like this, you're going to love the bathroom." He showed us our bathroom, which were all open with no cubicles.
"Great." I said to myself.
"Seriously? Are you kidding me?" Kim question.
"You should feel right at home, Candor. Everything out in the open." Four replied.
"Is this a joke?" Matt asked me, and I shrugged. Four started to walk off, and as he walked through the group, he hit my shoulder.
"Get changed." He said and walked up to the entrance to wait for us. I saw Eric standing beside him, looking over us. I walked to a bed furthest to the entrance, where a set of clothing were laid down on the duvet. I picked up the black sweater and panicked as I remembered the newly placed scars on my back. I didn't want anyone to see them.
"Hey, this bed is not taken, is it?" I looked up to see a girl dressed in blue, looking at me with questioning eyes."
"No, it's not." I said and smiled.
"Good, then it's mine. I'm Meg by the way, short for Megan."
"Nice to meet you, Meg, I'm Candice." I shook her hand, and she smiled back.
"Are you going to get changed, or are you just going to stand there?" She asked while chuckling.
"Yeah, it's just there is a lot of guys starring. Don't get me wrong, I am not insecure or anything like that, it's just..."
"You don't want to flash all the goods, right? I get it. Though I honestly believe it will help you in combat. Just flash a little boob and they will get distracted. Works like a charm."
"Exactly, but I hardly think showing of my boobs is going to work, besides the guys would just take of their shirts and BAM, all the girls would just drool."
"Hah, maybe so. But one can always try. Anyway, you can always go into the bathroom. I can stand guard if you want?"
"That would be great, thanks." I took my clothes and started walking to the bathroom when someone spoke.
"Where are you going, Candor? I thought Candors liked everything in the open?" I looked up to see Eric staring at me with a smirk.
"Perhaps, but I don't think it's a good thing to add fuel to the fire, if you know what I mean." I said, gesturing towards myself while turning my gaze to the boys in the room.
I turned back to see him holding on to the railing, his knuckles turning white. I smiled and walked into the bathroom. I took off my shirt, standing in front of the mirror and gazed at my scars. They were visible, and I had no idea on how I was going to cover them up. I studied my body and saw the one scar I feared the most, the gunshot wound right in the middle of my abdomen. Michael had given me that on my seventeenth birthday, when he saw I had made a birthday cake. I didn't feel it at first, I guessed it was the adrenaline, but as soon as it left, I cried. He sedated me and took out the bullet and did my sutures. Since it was the day of the choosing ceremony, almost no one was home and school was out for a couple of days, so I had time to recover. That was also the year Tobias transferred.
I hurriedly put on the sweater and pants and walked out to tie my shoes. Me, Meg and Matt and the rest of the initiatives followed Four to the dining hall, Eric had left already. On our way there, we dumped all of our old faction clothes. We walked to the dining hall, and you could hear the people talk a long way. We all grabbed some food and sat down at a table, I ended up sitting between Matt and Four. Kevin and Levina were already sitting at the table, and we started talking.
"So, who are your new friends, Candice? Are you going to introduce us?" Kev asked me with a cocky grin.
"This is Meg and Noah, you already met Matt." I said and gestured to my new friends.
"How're you finding Dauntless so far?" Levina asked.
"It's awesome, a little dark though, but I guess you get used to it." Matt said.
"So, you are both Dauntless born? How do you know Candice?" Meg asked while smiling at Matt.
"We are. I met Candice yesterday after the test. Had a little chat with her and then we met again when she chose Dauntless." Kev said and winked at me.
We continued to talk for a while and ate our food, when suddenly everything went quiet and everyone looked up to see who had entered, well everyone accept me. I had barely acknowledged the silence since I was so into my food when I felt someone behind me grab hold of my shoulders. I flinched under the person's grip, his palms pressured on my scars. I saw Four in the corner of my eye studying me, he must have seen my reaction, because he had a worried look on his face.
"Four, Max wants to talk to you." Eric said behind me. So, it was him, no wonder everyone looked scared.
"Tell Max, my answer is still no." I looked at Four, wondering what he meant by that. Maybe I could ask him later when we were alone.
"I will tell him that. Are you not going to introduce me?"
"Eric, this is Levina, Kevin, Noah, Meg, Matt and Candice." He gestured towards us.
"First jumper, would have never thought. I'm looking forward to see you in training." He said, whispering the last part in my ear. I shivered from his hot breath on my neck. He left, and we continued to eat, until Four took us back to our dormitory. He leaned against the doorframe, I was the last one in but before I could walk in, Four grabbed my arm.
"We need to talk. Come with me." I followed him through countless of hallways, until we came up to a door. Four took out a key and opened the door. He gestured for me to go in and when I did, I saw what looked like a living room, it was Four's apartment. I turned around only to be engulfed in a hug, Four's warm body radiating heat to my cold one. I had missed his hugs, I had missed him. He kissed my forehead, then let go of me and pointed at the couch.
"Please sit down." He said, and I walked to the couch. I sat down and watched him come over with two glasses of water.
"What did you wanted to talk about?" I asked.
"Well first of all, it's nice to see you again."
"It's nice to see you too. It's been awhile."
"It really has, now to my question. I noticed you flinched when I put a hand on your back earlier by the net, then you freaked out when you had to get dressed. Not to mention your reaction when Eric grabbed your shoulders."
"It's nothing really, don't worry."
"That's bullshit and we both know it. You know I will always worry about you. Now, would you like to tell me what happen, or do I have to force it out of you?"
"Please, you would never force me do to anything." I said with a cocky grin.
"Candice! Don't do this. I want to know what that bastard did to you this time."
"Okay, but you can't tell anyone about this or anything about me for that matter. I don't want them to pity me, I don't need it. I came here for a fresh start away from him."
"I promise." I stood up from the couch and slowly pulled off my sweater. Four didn't know about the gunshot wound, and I had no idea how he would react when he saw it. I stood with my back towards him, and I heard him gasp while he stood up and walked towards me.
"Can I touch it? Or does it hurt too much?"
"You can touch if you want, I can take the pain." I said, and I instantly felt his fingers trace my scars smoothly, barely touching my skin. He sighed and muttered to himself.
"I have some healing cream in my bathroom, do you want me to put some on?"
"That would be great, I couldn't reach it all by myself when I tried." He walked pass me into what appeared to be a bedroom, after a couple of seconds he came back, but stopped in his tracks when he saw my front or rather the scar on my abdomen. He quickly walked up to me and stared at it before he met my eyes again.
"What the hell happen? Is that what I think it is? Candice, tell me it's not what I think it is!"
"It's... a birthday present from last year. Guess he got a little angrier with me than usual."
"That son of a bitch! He should be punished for what he has done to you. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you, Candice." Four hugged me, and I sighed, resting my head in the crook of his neck. None of us cared that I was half naked; he had seen me without a shirt before. After some time, we parted and I put my sweater back on again, and we realized how late it was, and that I should get back to get some sleep.
Four walked me back, and we said good night before we parted. I had really missed him, and now I had him back. I walked to my bed and grabbed a t-shirt to sleep in and went to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. When I was done, I went back to my bed and laid down and fell asleep.