The tension from yesterday is building. Ever since Edgar lost that fight against Dex, Isaac has been giving him the silent treatment, and the fights show that the others are feeling the pressure too.
It's clear that Cassie is on the verge of giving up completely. In her combat against Sam, she barely fights and literally lets him beat her. April refuses to concede in her fight against Isaac and she is knocked out. Sam and Cassie have to take her to the hospital wing.
The fight between Jo and Phoebe is quick, with an obvious win for Jo. The fight between Amy and Plato is slow. It takes several minutes for him to finally grind Amy down until she submits. But all four are reluctant to fight each other.
Before my fight with Edgar, he begs me to go easy on him as he has done calculations and has figured that he's the only person who hasn't won I fight yet. I refuse, knowing that if I let him win, I'll look weak in front of the others, Isaac included.
By the time the session is done, I'm feeling sick from the tense and uneasy atmosphere. As we stand up to go, Isaac nudges me and gestures to Plato.
"Fall in front of him." I'm curious but Dauntless soldiers don't ask questions and I just nod. Stumbling, I pretend to trip in front of Plato, and I grimace in pain. It's humiliating but it looks realistic.
"Here, let me help you up," he says, outstretching a hand. And then I realise why Isaac asked me to do this. This behaviour isn't normal Dauntless behaviour. After everyone I've beaten up, after my record as a bully, most Dauntless would just walk right past. Just like all of his friends are doing.
His brown eyes lock onto mine, warm and genuine, as I tentatively reach out to take his hand.
"Plato! What are you doing?" snaps a voice I recognise to be April's. She's standing there with her arms folded, her eyes blazing with fury. Plato just shrugs, smiles, clasps my hand with both of his and pulls me up.
He helped me up. Abnegation. And he stood his ground. Dauntless. Which means...
I feel my eyes widening in shock and force myself to retain my neutral expression. Instead of thanking him, I turn on my heel and join Isaac and Edgar. Edgar seems confused but Isaac is smirking triumphantly at Plato, and I know then that he too has figured it out.
Great. Another Divergent. But one who's not good at hiding it. I remember Natalie mentioning that there were several Divergents this year, but I didn't think anyone else would be stupid enough to go to Dauntless. It appears I was wrong.
Isaac, Edgar and I file out behind Plato and April, with Isaac's eyes trained coldly on Plato's back. Plato is talking to April, seeming not to have a care in the world, clearly not having realised that his deadly secret has been uncovered.
"I feel like having a drink tonight," Isaac nonchalantly announces, as he leads the way towards the Pit.
Edgar blinks, "No training tonight?"
"No point," Isaac explains carelessly, waving a hand, almost accidently hitting a Dauntless coming past us, "I reckon the rankings are practically fixed by now."
"Oh," says Edgar, seeming disappointed, but then he tries to pretend to not care and says, "A drink with friends, why not?"
"I only want one though," Isaac says, with a touch of menace in his voice, "I don't want to become senseless just because I feel like celebrating tonight. So don't try and get me more."
"Of course," Edgar says hurriedly.
We head, for the second time since we've arrived at Dauntless, into the Pit. The noise is almost deafening, and I resist the urge to put my fingers in my ears.
"Come on," snaps Isaac, and marches over to the drinks area, his tall figure meaning that Dauntless part like a black sea in front of him.
The barman gives us each a pint and we sit down on the table.
"Now I really feel like Dauntless," Edgar grins, before downing his drink in one. He then bangs it on the bar and says, "Another!"
"Enjoy it while it lasts," Isaac mutters darkly, taking a cautious sip from his own one. I, in turn, take a sip and grimace. It tastes awful. How do people like this stuff?
"Go easy," warns the barman, pouring Edgar another one, "It's fairly strong."
"I can handle it," Edgar boasts, his voice already sounding sluggish and slurred, while the barman raises an eyebrow.
He passes Edgar's mug over to him, which he again downs in one. This time, however, he slumps down on the table and doesn't stir. The mug falls from his fingers and lands on the floor, smashing. The barman rolls his eyes and goes and gets a dustpan and brush.
"Typical," he mutters.
Isaac looks at Edgar in disgust, "He's unconscious." I just nod.
While Isaac is looking at Edgar curiously, however, I notice a Dauntless teenager walk past our table. And had I not been looking at our drinks, I would have missed it. In fact, it happened so fast that I'm not completely sure I saw it. The girl removes a small vial from her shirt pocket just as she walks past us, and quickly, deftly, pours a few drops into Isaac's glass. She then returns the vial to her pocket and walks away.
I turn my head slightly to follow her out of the corner of my eye, and see that she returns to a table where some Dauntless and Amy are sitting.
"What are you looking at?" Isaac asks me.
I blink and try and come up with a quick excuse. I shrug and say, "Just weird how the Stiff is sitting with the Dauntless."
"Weird how?" he asks. I turn to look at him and see that he's taking another sip of his drink.
I shrug, trying to appear casual, whilst also watching him to see if there are any side-effects, "She's a Stiff."
"Yeah," he says and takes another gulp of his drink whilst I try to sip mine so he doesn't notice that he's the only one drinking. Is it me, or is his voice starting to sound sluggish?
He laughs suddenly, an odd high-pitched laugh.
"What?" I ask.
"It's funny," he says. Yep. Definitely becoming more slurred. "That the Stiff and Pansy Cake have done so well, and the 'normal' transfers like Edgar haven't." I don't say anything, but just nod, as he continues, "Edgar who wanted to get into Dauntless."
"Everyone wants to get into Dauntless," I say, confused.
He laughs again and takes another gulp of his drink. Whatever drug the Dauntless girl put in there seems to be working far quicker than I thought it would.
"You want to become a member of Dauntless?" he asks me sluggishly.
"Of course," I reply instantly, becoming wary. What is he getting at here? Even when drunk, Isaac is dangerous.
"But what more?" he asks.
"More?" I ask.
He waves his hand vaguely, "More...what job?"
I shrug, "I don't know." The idea of what job I wanted had never occurred to me. My main goal is to survive.
He laughs, "See? You all idiots," I don't reply, as he takes another swig of his drink and he continues, "You just want to be Dauntless. Well I'm smarter. I want to be Dauntless leader."
Dauntless leader? Did I hear him right?
"What for?" I ask, but there's no answer and glancing at him, I see that Isaac has collapsed on the table. It seems that I won't get any more answers out of him this night, or probably any other night. My only chance has gone.
I take another sip of my drink, thoughtfully, before remembering that I don't like it and resist the urge to spit it out.
"What did he say?" asks a voice. I swallow quickly and see that, to my surprise, Phoebe, of all people, has appeared behind me.
"I..." I begin. You're an idiot. I remind myself. A mindless idiotic bully. "What do you want?" I snap at her, attempting to make my voice sound sluggish as if I've drunk a lot. To emphasis this, I drain the rest of my mug and slam it on the table, just like Edgar did. It takes a lot of effort not to retch it all back up.
Phoebe's face wrinkles in a expression of disgust and disdain, before she regains her composure and says, "I'm going to take him back to the dorm."
I'm confused as to why she'd even want to do that. Why she'd even want to help a bully who'd thrashed her black and blue one training session. But I just nod, not bothering to offer her help. Only an Abnegation would do that.
Not that she expects help anyway. She moves Isaac's arm around her neck and heaves his tall frame against hers, surprisingly strong for someone who's hopeless in training. I watch, bemused, as she half-staggers out of the Pit carrying Isaac, with Dauntless kindly parting to make way for her.
I frown at her back. Something doesn't feel right here and I get the feeling that if I truly want to survive, I need to up my guard.