Chapter 8:
When we return to the Dauntless Compound from the fence, the cold air near the net sends a chill down my spine. Something seems different- and it doesn't seem good. I stand at the back of the line of initiates waiting to jump into the net, looking around at the buildings around the headquarters.
Most of the buildings around Dauntless look similar to the Factionless. Their walls are crumbled, windows broken, and the insides of them are extremely dilapidated and need numerous repairs.
Since most of the Dauntless life is underground, the buildings above ground are neglected the use that they would receive in the other factions, since they all live above ground.The buildings around the Candor and Erudite Headquarters are taller, nicer, safer, and cleaner than those around the Dauntless Headquarters.
The line soon begins to shrink; only three or so initiates in front of me. Angela, the girl who now has a mutual hatred toward me, begins to jump.
She walks up, scoffing. "Easy," she says. She steps up onto the small brick ledge, and stares down into the hole. A gust of cold, November wind comes, and her body wobbles. she lets out a frustrated scream as she does a flip over the edge, falling into the hole.
As I step up to the ledge, I see that her whole body wasn't positioned correctly, and her right arm scraped the side of the tar, trash, and shingle covered hole. She screams in pain and agony as she hits the net. I see tattooed arms pull on the net, and Angela rolls off, signaling the fact that I may now go.
I step toward the edge of the ledge, and take a deep breath. My dad always told me to take a deep breath before I jump off of something high up- seeing how I inherited his fear of heights.
I don't look down as I leap off, flying away from the safety net of the building. I gasp, losing my breath as soon as I'm off of the ledge.
Even though the fall from the top story of the building to the net is five seconds maximum, it still gave me a lot of time to think about my life. I remember the first time my parents brought me to the top of this very building when I was young. I was about nine.
They told me about the net, and how they had to jump off of that net when they became Dauntless; how I would have to jump off of that net someday- that's when I saw how far down it was.
I whimpered and my parents asked what was wrong. "It's a long way down." I said, gulping. Hunter toddled to the edge of the building and leaped off.
My mother ran to the edge of the building, just to be rewarded with the sounds of Hunter's joyous screams below. Olivia had already jumped; she is almost afraid of nothing.
My father consoled me and told me that I would have to try anyway. He told me that, "Dauntless never give up. They act brave in the face of fear, and that's what makes you Dauntless, and brave."
When he said that, that gave me just enough courage to try again. That's when I jumped off for the first time. It scared the crap out of me, but I did it. Now, seven years later, here I am doing it again. Wow, time sure does fly. It seems like that day was just yesterday.
Oh, how I want to go back.
Deep in thought, my frail body slams against the rough rope of the net, making my body jolt. Then I roll over, until I fall into someone's arms.
When I look to see who it is, I don't even recognize them. Tattoos cover their arms, and I frown. I really want to know who this is. I scramble to get up, my eyes still glued onto their tattoos.
I have yet to get a tattoo.
I'm kind of scared to. It's not that I'm scared of needles or anything, just, I don't want to get a dumb one that I'll regret. They scowl at me, and ask, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Maddie." I say.
He chuckles. "Well, if it isn't the Daughter of the legendary Four and Six," he sneers, then he slaps me. Then he snaps his fingers. I gasp as I try to run, and I do run, but I don't get very far, because another man grabs me.
"Help!" I wail, "Help me! Mom! Dad! Zeke! Someone help me!" I shout as loud as I can, but my voice just echoes in this empty corridor of the compound. The only time that people are ever in this area is on the day of the Choosing Ceremony.
That's when the new initiates come. Other than that, it's empty. If a member jumps into the compound through the net, they can get out themselves. They don't need anyone else here. "Help!" I shout once again, and I hear noise.
I hear footsteps, and all at once, cloth is tied over my mouth, and I am blindfolded. Another person zip ties my hands behind my back, and then a bag is pulled over my head. I gasp.
I'm having another Why me? moment, and I hate it. I don't even know who these people are, so why are they kidnapping me?
I keep thinking about that man's appearance. I don't know who he is. Then realization hits me like a grenade exploding in a war zone. Maybe they have a thing against me because of my parents. The guy looked to be about the same age as my mother and father.
I attempt to scream, but I can't. Nothing comes out except for a muffled roar. "Shut up, fucker." The man says as he punches my side.
I continue to be dragged across the rocky floors of Dauntless, and then I hear water running. I hear waves crash onto rocks. There is only one place we can be. The Chasm. Fuck my fucking life. I'm fucking screwed.
This... This is bad. I wriggle and roll myself around, earning a hard kick to the ribs. The bag is removed from my head, and so is the blindfold.
Everyone but the arm-tattoo guy wears a ski mask, and black gloves. I can't make out who they are, since my vision is blurry, and almost everything is white, but I can make out who the person with the short, brown ponytail is.
It's flipping Angela. I see the blood on her arm from where she hit the side of the hole, and I sigh.
I try to scream endlessly. Nothing works. I am picked up and pulled in the direction of the chasm. I kick people, earning a punch to the stomach.
The air is forced out of me, and I cough. I cough up blood, and I bite my cheek. I can taste the metallic taste of blood beginning to fill my mouth, and Mr. Arm-tattoo snickers.
"Can your legendary parents save you now?" He asks mockingly. I try to kick him, and he punches me in the side of the head. Black dots dance across my vision, and even as I try to fight back, I lose consciousness.
As my vision fades, I hear a familiar voice calling my name.
a/n: ****rewritten on 7/19/16
Merry Christmas!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!! Drama. I enjoy drama. 😏
What did you get for Christmas?
I got:
-A soft, fuzzy blanket
-An iPad Mini
-Divergent Collectors Edition
-New Earbuds
-An Under Armour Hoodie
What did you get?