"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."
- Galileo Galilei
Candice POV
My team had won, and they were all celebrating when I arrived. We all went back to the tracks to catch the train back to the compound, and when we came back we had the rest of the day off since it was the weekend and we hadn't started stage two yet. I had waited for Eric to come get me for my punishment but he never showed up like he said he would, so I decided to catch up with the girls for a little girl time instead. We went to the tattoo shop because both Levina and Meg wanted to get a tattoo, I however didn't get one myself since I decided I wanted to wait until initiation was ove. But I stayed with them for the company. Their tattoos were amazing, Tori and the other guy named Butch who by the way was the kindest, did a fantastic job. Levina got the Dauntless symbol on the back of her neck and Meg got the Dauntless symbol on her right wrist and the Erudite symbol on her left wrist. After they were finished and paid for, we walked over to the clothing stores for some shopping. I bought myself some new tank tops in different colors, some pants, lingerie and make up.
***
When visiting day came, I realized most people would enjoy seeing their familes again. But for me it was another reminder of my fucked up life, a reminder that my mother would never get to see me and tell me how proud she was of me. It was a reminder that instead of a loving father that loved his daughter, I had to live with a sadistic monster. Not once did I called him father after mom died, only in his presence did I call him father but other than that, he was Michael.
Eric had not come for my punishment yesterday, but that didn't mean he had forgotten about it all together and that is why I spent my morning in his office cleaning and sorting paperwork. On my way to Eric's office I had stumbled upon Four and he had asked me if I wanted to come over later for some dinner and bonding, like our own little family thing considering we saw ourselves as that, family. That had made me more excited and I tried my best to speed up the process of cleaning, but all that paperwork was taking forever. I couldn't believe how much paperwork one person could have since I thought Dauntless was all about freedom and being laidback. However, after three long hours I was finally done and decided to go back to the dormitory to clean up and change my clothes before I headed over to Four's. Four said he was going to try to finish up earlier so he could go to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for our dinner, which meant I had some time to myself before I had to be at his place.
The families were about to arrive so all my friends where down at the pit to greet them, even though I didn't need to be there I decided to check it out so I walked over to the pit. Maybe the happiness of others could bring some happiness to me, after all it was a day I rather dismissed. As I was walking towards the pit, I noticed someone standing on the bridge looking over the pit, and when I walked closer I noticed it was Eric. I hadn't seen him since that morning, he had let me into his office and explained what he wanted me to do before he left me there alone for three hours. He didn't even come back to see how I was doing. I walked over to him because I wanted to talk to him about what had happened the night before.
"Hi" I said and he turned around to face me.
"Hi. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down there waiting for your parents?"
"No, my family is not coming."
"Why not? Didn't they approve of your choice?"
"Something like that." We were quiet for a while before he broke the silence.
"Listen, about last night."
"I know, it shouldn't have happened. You are a leader and my trainer and I'm an initiative. What if someone had seen us."
"Exactly, it would've been bad for both of us. So, whatever is going on have to stop before something happens or someone finds out."
"Right, well I should be going or I'll be late for my day with Four."
"Why are you spending your day with Four?"
"He asked me and I said yes. Bye Eric." And I walked away before he had time to say something.
Eric POV
I watched her walk away, the times I'd spent with her had left me crave her even more. I told her we couldn't continue whatever was going on between us, but that was not what I really wanted. I wanted to do more than just kiss her, I wanted to claim her as mine and never letting her go. She was not like other women I've been with, no she was different and I didn't want to lose her. I started to wonder if she was a virgin, as the thought of her with someone else made my insides boil. Her close relationship with Four irritated me. I had no idea why they seemed so close, but they clearly had history somehow?
She asked me if I was jealous of that Amity kid and maybe I was. How couldn't I be? He had his arm around her. He clearly liked her and not just in a friendly kind of way, but I didn't think it was mutual or she wouldn't have made out with me. She was just as much aroused as I was. I smiled to myself thinking of what happened the other night and what could have happened if we weren't interrupted.
I was too caught up in my own thoughts, I barely heard someone clear their throat beside me. I turned around and was greeted by a big muscular guy, around my height and a scar by is right eye. I would have taken him for a Dauntless if it wasn't for the clothes, black and white. Candor.
"Excuse me, do you by any chance know where my daughter is? I can't find her." He had a deep voice, no surprise there.
"Who is your daughter?" I asked in a bored tone.
"Candice." That caught my attention. Was that Candice's father? I never would have thought.
"She said you weren't coming."
"Oh, well. I wasn't at first, but she is my only daughter after all."
"Well, she was here a couple of minutes ago, I'll take you to her."
"No need, just point the way and I'll find her. I'm sure you have other things to do then help parents find their children." He was right, if it was someone else I wouldn't even have offered to help, but since it was her I did.
"It's pretty hard to find the way around here, it would go quicker if I take you."
"I appreciate your offer, but I rather find her on my own. It will be a surprise for her. So, if you just point the way then I'll be on my way."
"She walked off that way." I pointed towards the way Candice had walked off to a couple of minutes ago.
"Thank you young man." I nodded and he walked off.
Four POV
I had left work earlier to spend the day with Candice, after all it was family day and I considered her my family, my sister. I had made plans with her that morning, we were going to make dinner and then just have a nice quiet night together catching up. Even though I knew about her year with Michael, I hadn't told her yet about my initiation last year, and I knew she wanted to know about it.
When I left the control room, I directly went to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for the dinner before I went home to wait for Candice. When I got home I put all the groceries in the fridge and then cleaned up a bit while I waited for Candice to show up.
When she didn't show up after about ten minutes I started to wonder, I told her the time and yet she hadn't showed. I decided to go out and look for her because if there was something I knew about Candice, it was that she was always on time. I walked my way over to the pit and saw Eric standing on the bridge, looking over everyone.
"Hey Eric, do you know where Candice is?"
"Yeah, she told me she was going to meet you. Then her father showed up and I guess she is somewhere with him." My eyes went wide and my heart started pounding. I wasn't sure I'd heard him right, because there was no way Michael was there. Eric looked at me in a quizzing matter.
"Where did she go?" I almost shouted, he frowned and pointed at the direction. I didn't wait for him to ask me anything, I just run as fast as I could. I could hear Eric's heavy footsteps running behind me, and all I could think about as I continued to run was 'If only it wasn't too late'.
Suddenly we heard a frightful scream and I knew it was Candice, and that made me more determent to get to her in time. I couldn't even imagine what she looked like, I didn't want to imagine it. We run faster, and it felt like forever until we would reach her and my anger started to rise. I would kill him, I thought. Because if she was dead I wouldn't care what they would do to me, I would kill him with my bare hands without feeling guilty.
We rounded the corner and the sight in front of us was nothing I ever wanted to experience again. My heart stopped and my skin got pale. On the ground in the middle of the corridor, laid Candice. Blood was dripping from the wall behind her and you could faintly see a rope around her neck. It was horrible.
"CANDICE!!!!" I screamed and run over to her. I got down on my knees and pulled her head on my lap, ripped the rope off of her and just cradled her face. I stroked the hair away from her face and then her cheeks, her eyes were closed and she was beginning to pale. Tears were running down my face but I didn't care, my sister and best friend was hurt and I couldn't do anything about it. The bastard himself had run away, but at that point he was the least of my problems. Right then, all I could think about was Candice, Michael could wait. He would be caught sooner or later. Eric came up to us and kneeled down beside us.
"We have to take her to the infirmary." He said in a low voice, starring at Candice.
"What if it's too late?"
"Don't think like that, she needs to go to the infirmary so they can fix her. Come on, lets go." He stood up and waited for me to move. I sighned and then carefully stood up, Candice in my arms. I motioned for Eric to move first and then I followed him to the infirmary.
Eric POV
The sprint to the infirmary felt longer than ever, it was like we were running in slow-motion. I had never felt that powerless before and if she wasn't going to make it, I wasn't sure what I would do. I couldn't imagine a life without her anymore. It was weird, a month prior I didn't even know this woman and all of a sudden I couldn't function without her. She had bewitched me completely, body and soul, I was trapped. She was the one I wanted next to me, and I was affraid I wouldn't get the chance to tell her that. Corridor after corridor, the sprint felt endless but we finally reached the infirmary. Max and some Dauntless guards greeted us, but we didn't stay to explain. Four rushed in with Candice, me in a tow, Theresa was already by their side.
"We have informed Erudite, and they have sent a few of their doctors, they will be here shortly." Max informed us. Theresa and her sister Raven was checking on Candice, trying to stop the blood from sipping out of her head. Four was holding Candice limp hand in his, starring at her. He looked like he didn't even notice anyone else was in the room.
"There isn't much more we can do until Erudite comes, I don't have the skills to perform this kind of surgery on my own. Fortunately she has a pulse, it's faint but it's there. We can only hope that she will make it until they arrive." Theresa said. I didn't know what to think, what to do, my head was spinning with million questions. What the fuck just happened?