Dauntless Brothers

[Chapter 11] The Alley.

I'm walking back to Dauntless from school. Everything was the same as always, except one thing. Tris passed me a smile when I passed her in the hallway.

I step into an alley. It's a shortcut that I found two years ago and have been using it ever since. No one else uses it because I've never run into someone. But once in a while I get to see some Factionless.

I push my bag's strap higher up onto my shoulder as I walk along. I think about what happened last night. My family ignored me this morning and I know they will do so till I do something that makes them think that I'm strong and belong in Dauntless.

A hand on my shoulder makes me jump. I turn around to find a man staring at me with blood shot eyes. I take a few steps back and ask him.

"What do you want?"

"Food." He replies.

I hold up my hands. "You can search me if you want but I don't have any. I swear."

Without saying another word he shuffles off back to where I just came from. I start walking again when a voice shouts my name. I wince at this because I know who it is.

I turn around to face Eric. Max is with him. I take a deep breath to steady myself and then say. "I've never seen you take this path."

"I don't. I just wanted to check that you didn't curl up into a ball and start crying." He tells me.

"Why do you care?" I ask him.

"I care because you're my little brother. As I'm your bigger brother, I have to care for you." He says.

"No, you don't."

Max and Eric nudge each other and start to laugh. I roll my eyes and start to walk away from them but someone grabs my arms and smashes me into the wall. I wasn't expecting this.

Eric kneels down next to me and jabs a fingre at me. "You can deny the fact that I'm your brother because that is something that I'm not proud of either. But you'll never turn your back on me again. Understood?"

I don't reply. This makes him even more frustrated.

"I asked you a question!"

I don't miss a second to reply. "And my answer is, no."

He throws a punch at me but I move my head aside so that his hand hits the wall instead of me. The impact must've hurt because he gets back on his feet, rubbing his hand. I do too.

"You're a coward. That's what you are." He says.

"Oh really? Is that why you don't want mom and dad to find out that you have a crush on Tris Prior?" I ask him. Max's eyes nearly pop put of his head which means that he did not know about this.

"Do you think that this makes me a coward? Then what about your crush on Kate? Huh?" He asks me. Max's expression remains unchanged.

"I've gotten used to the beating but you've never got to experience it. So, it might be a little difficult for you." I say.

Without saying another word he turns on his heel and walks away just like that Factionless man did. Max follows him.

I could've fought him. I'm not scared of him. But I'm scared of Marcus and his beatings. I get terrified when my heart starts to beat real fast. This is not the only reason that I stopped.

I also stopped because I don't want Kate to get into trouble because of me.