Now or Never

Chapter Ten

I dream of Abnegation. My mother brushing my hair, Ethan crawling across the floor. "You need to take care of your brother, always," she'd remind me. "I know, Momma. Always" I'd reply. But instead of listening to the humming she'd make while pinning my hair up, she begins to vanish. I reach for her, but it's just dust on my fingers. 

I look for Ethan, but he's crawled out of the room. Marcus stands there now, picking the baby up into his arms before slamming the bathroom door closed. Locking it from the outside. I slam my body constantly against it, but I'm back to my frail self. I have no muscle to break a door, to throw whatever I can find. Nothing's working. A whaling plea for someone to open the door screams through my mouth. I'm suddenly small again, five or six.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

I bolt up from my bed, my chest moving up and down rapidly. More smacking noises echo into the apartment. At first, I think I'm still dreaming, but I realize it's real. Someone's at the door.

"I'm coming!" I call out to whoever it is, barely able to open my eyes all the way. I'm pulling on a pair of shorts with my hand on the handle, twisting it enough to crack open but I'm quickly pushed aside.

"Is Mia here?" Tobias asks with concern, there's a figure in his arms. A person. Tris.

My eyes are wide open now.

She's bruised and bleeding, looking even smaller in Tobias's arms.

"She's not here. I'm alone," I set my hand on my forehead as I try to collect myself. "What happened?" I begin to feel frantic, I've never been this sort of situation.

Tobias sets Tris down on my bed, pulling the blanket over her. He whispers something before walking back out.

"Tobias," I gasp, "your hands. They're covered in blood."

"I was leaving the control room when I heard a scream. I saw that three people were gathered around the railing at the Chasm, dangling Tris. Her face was covered so she couldn't see. I didn't know what else to do." His hands are shaking when I take them gently to examine.

I can't help but wrap my arms around him, holding him against me as he wraps his arms around my waist. I feel him deflate and put his weight into me. "I know this isn't the best time, but I'm glad you were there for her," I whisper.

"It could've been so much worse," he sighs. "Do you have any ice packs? She needs one for her head."

I pull away from him and nod, waking into the kitchen. He follows behind me, turning on the faucet and covering his hands in soap to scrub the blood away.

"Did you get a good look at who they were? You had to recognize them." I hold an ice pack in my hand, letting it thaw a bit in a towel.

"I only saw Drew's face. But the other had to be Peter, and I think... the other one was Al." He looks at me with a heavy sigh.

"Al? I thought they were-"

"-friends? I thought so, too. But she was first on the ranks, they must've felt intimidated."

"So if you only saw Drew, did the other two run away before you came?"

"Yeah," he holds the bridge of his nose, "I beat him up a bit harsher than I should've."

"Meaning...?" I start to walk out of the kitchen.

"He's in the infirmary," he glances at me again.

I sigh, shaking my head. "I'll go get this to her then I'll bring out the first aid kit for your knuckles. We're not done with this conversation."