The Devil Wears Yellow

16

"Are you excited?" Al asked her as they walked to the simulation room. Eden was playing with his hair as she was on his back.

"More nervous," she answered honestly. "How about you?"

"Really nervous. I heard people talking about the horrors of the simulation," he said and she shrugged.

"Well it is quite literally our horrors. Just be brave," she told him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He turned to give her a small smile.

"It's easy for you. You're always brave," he said and she scoffed.

"I act like I am. I'm scared every day," she said and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"You know, when you were hanging from the chasm you seemed almost at ease. There were moments when you panicked but for most of it you just hung there with your eyes closed. I wouldn't be able to do that," he told her and she frowned.

"I think you could if you tried. Just don't piss of Eric and you'll be fine," she said and he chuckled.

"I won't. The chasm scares me," he said as they walked into the small room with a bunch of chairs. Eden hopped down from his back. Her head went up to about where his armpit was so she had to look up at him all the time.

"This room scares me," she said while taking in the eerie feeling. The white walls, plastic chairs, and large door. They looked over and Molly came out looking absolutely terrified. She moved straight to walk out.

"Tris," Four called and she walked over. Al and Eden sat on the floor in the corner by Christina and Will.

"You guys are cute together," Christina said when she saw Eden playing nervously with Al's hand. Eden looked up to see Christina cuddling against Will.

"You guys are too," she said and they looked at each other.

"We aren't," Christina said shaking her head but Eden smiled.

"Okayyy," she said and they all chuckled a bit. Eden kept playing with Al's hand and he just let her do it. He knew she was nervous and if this was her way of coping then so be it. Tris came out a few minutes later and the room furrowed their eyebrows. Most people had been in there for at least fifteen.

"Eden," Four called and she looked to Al.

"Be brave," he told her and kissed her forehead. She walked off towards the room and sat down in the chair.

"I'm going to inject you with a serum that stimulates the part of your brain that processes fear. It indices hallucinations and the transmitters in the serum allow me to see the images in your mind," he said while grabbing a large syringe.

"Will that hurt?"

"Not as bad as you think. You have to either face your fears or slow your heart rate. Most people have ten to fifteen really bad fears. Good luck," he said and injected the serum into her neck she flinched but felt herself relax into the chair as her eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes she was in the stables at Amity. She looked around and saw there were no horses but it was raining outside. She heard the loud crack of thunder and jumped. She could feel her heart beating faster and saw sat on the ground against a wooden post.

"Calm down. Calm down. It's okay," she mumbled to herself while rocking back and fourth and her eyes squinted to shut. Another crack of thunder came and she jumped. The loud, booming sounds freaked her out.

"Calm down. Face the fear," she said to herself and relaxed a bit. She took a few deep breaths but when another boom came she was back to square one.