Defection to Abnegation

Chapter 8

No excuses, it takes me a long while to juggle university and make sure the chapter is as perfect and entertaining as possible. This is double the amount of words I usually write per chapter to make up for the wait ;)

Thank you so much Dragonmaster65, you catch so many mistakes its not even funny. Love ya!

Eris interaction alert!

                                                                          -o0o-ERIC-o0o-


"Eric, Eric, Wake up," someone whispers in my ear, waking me from my dreamless slumber. I sit up and rub my eyes groggily, squinting to see who decided to piss me off today. Shawn Frost was standing there with a stupid smile that I wanted to slap off his face.

"The f-heck dude!" I hiss, barely catching myself from saying fuck. I am trying very hard to become as Abnegation as possible, and that includes no swearing which sucks!

"Get up boy. We're going to Amity today!" he says excitedly and I can't help but groan. Isn't it bad that I gotta spend my entire life in Stiffland? Now we gotta go to Amity for a week? Fuck!

I get up and decide to run so I can shower first but damn that Shawn! He got a head start due to my groggy state. I wonder if I can close my eyes for a minute.

I feel a hard kick to my leg and open my eyes to see the clock proudly displaying 7:45. Fuck! I just closed my eyes and can't believe I slept for an extra half an hour. We are so gonna be late.

I rush to the bathroom and take a shower in a record speed of 5 minutes, put on my ugly grey robes, and run out. I can hear Shawn snickering in the background, but I am too late to care.

Last week, we volunteered in the Factionless sector and distributed the bags we had prepared earlier in initiation. The entire week was boring as hell and even though I am not a religious person, I kept praying for it to be over already. Guess what, that was the longest one week of my life. The only good thing was that I saw Merry again and she smiled and hugged me after I gave her the bag. That totally made my day. Beatrice was with me again and I couldn't help but feel my cheeks heat up at the thought. She looked proud. Proud of me.

We reach the Great Hall and I check my phone and it helpfully displays 8:02. God, no! No. No!

We quickly make our way in and I sigh in relief, no other transfers are here. They all must think they can do anything they want since no one fails Abnegation initiation but with how we all are behaving, I can't be sure.

At around 8:05, the transfers start trailing in and I look up in time to see Marcus Eaton coming in too, a frown on his face. I don't know why, but every time I see the man, he just looks familiar, like I personally know him from somewhere and I can't pinpoint why I feel that way.

We go through the normal routine of breakfast and Marcus Eaton leaves as soon as breakfast is done. I can't help but find that I don't like him. I feel bad for judging but seriously, the guy gives me a bad vibe even though he's my leader.

We spend the last day volunteering in the Factionless sector, courtesy of Marcus Eaton and before I know it, it was five PM.

"Go home, take a shower and rest. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow," Tobias says and I can't help but agree.

No one says a word, then again someone hardly does anymore and we all go our separate ways. We take turns taking a shower. The Abnegation borns offer me and Shawn to go first like always and before I know it, I fall into a dreamless sleep.

We walk towards the great hall in a group, the Abnegation borns and us transfers together. It's the second time today and I hope to god whatever it is isn't too important. I'd like to go back to sleep.
                                                                                     -o0o-
Who am I kidding? If they called us to the hall at twelve PM, it means it's important so I should forget about my hopes for getting a decent night's rest.

Rubbing my eyes, I see a flash of red and look up. Beatrice stands there looking like a goddess in red. How she manages to rock anything she wears is beyond me, but I like the form fitting red knee-length skirt and shirt she's wearing. Even her naturally highlighted blond hair is pulled into a braid resting on her left shoulder. French braid, my mind reminds me. Her cerulean blue eyes look alive and happy. It's a look I've never seen before, but it's quickly becoming my favorite.

I think she felt my eyes on her as she looks me in the eye and gives me a small smile. She's definitely happy.

"Hi again everyone," she says and the majority of the initiates groan. Why is she so chipper at this god forsaken hour? Did wearing the Amity dress make her talk like one? I know I am being ridiculous.

"We are going to Amity today and before you all try to murder me with those sleepy eyes, I am doing this as a favour. I want to make this initiation one of the best and most memorable times of your life. It only happens once and right now, we have an excuse to show a little selfishness but trust me, you'll thank me later." Beatrice says and no one says a thing.

"Moving on, we are going to board a bus in 10 minutes which will take us straight to Amity. Johanna has been informed of our plans and has our sleeping quarters ready. We will spend a full week there and each day we will do a different task.

"The first day we will have a grand tour of Amity, which will take hours as Amity has the largest land area. Then you can explore. Afterwards we will eat together and then we will retire for the night.

"Day two, we will be picking various fruits and vegetables from the farms. Day three, we will help with harvesting the crops. This task has two different areas, as in,half of you will help outside and the other half will help inside. Day four, we will learn how to take care of different farm animals and a few tricks on how to tame them. On the fifth day, we are going to help store and preserve foods for all factions and help with cooking a large feast Amity style," Beatrice rattles off and gasps are heard from some initiates.

"Selfish I know but look at it this way, we are helping them feed people so its all good," she says with a smile.

"On the sixth day, we will help everyone with extensive cleaning of the Amity compound and we will plant new plants and trees as well. Finally on our last day, we will learn how to ride and interact with horses, and then at twelve PM sharp a bus will bring us back to Abnegation. We will sleep and then the next week of initiation will resume in the morning, any questions?" she asks and the nasally voiced Candor, Suzanne I think decides to interrogate her.

"What is the purpose of this activity? Like aren't we supposed to not interact with other factions? Why are we going at this time of the night when we were supposed to go early in the morning?"

Beatrice doesn't seem fazed and if I knew better, I'd say she was prepared for this.

"The purpose of this activity," she repeats Candor's wording, "Is to help a faction that supplies everyone with food, like a show of appreciation. We aren't interacting with them for leisure. It's a requirement. We are Abnegation not those snooty Erudite or Candor who look down on others with disgust." She challenges Suzanne with her raised eyebrow and Candor huffs.

"The reason I - yes I - decided to change the time of arrival to Amity was simply out of selfless reasons. The Abnegation take the bus to go to places and Amity is an hour drive. It would inconvenience those who leave for work very early so I thought a few hours of lost sleep is good enough if we are being compassionate," she spits and it takes me by surprise. I have never seen her pissed but I am fairly certain she is controlling herself.

"Besides, I sent you all early to sleep with specific instructions. It's your fault if you don't listen to your instructors. We tell you to do things which are in your best interest," she finishes but it obviously isn't having the impact that Beatrice would hope.

I can hear Suzanne muttering under her breath "Should've told us earlier, bitch." I want to punch her in the mouth, the same one she uses to spit bullshit. I know Beatrice will call it service to humanity and cover my tracks. Or at least that's what my half-awake brain thinks.

"Tobias will join us at the bus stop," Beatrice says as she checks the time on the simple wall clock we have in the Great Hall.

"There's a pile of Amity clothes there." She points towards a corner. "There are only red and light yellow there as we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Go and change in the bathrooms and meet back in 5 minutes," she says and walks away.

I am among the first few who changed and I think I look ridiculous in my light yellow shirt and dark red jeans. When I come back the initiates start talking in hushed tones. I stay quiet and sit in a corner where I am partially hidden by the shadows. Taking out my cell phone, I pull out a small screwdriver and take it all apart. I study each part intently and try to remember what each does and when I am sure I got it all, I carefully reassemble it just in time to hear Beatrice call us together.

We all walk out towards the bus stop and the silence is almost too much for me. It's way too quiet, and I feel a chill run down my spine as I remember what Jeanine wants to do to this faction. I have been in many early morning meetings with her when the Erudite were asleep. The silence was eerie for me then. It's unbearable now. My thoughts are interrupted as I see Tobias approaching.

We all bow our heads respectfully and he bows back. Within a minute of his arrival, a bus drives by us without stopping, and I am confused until my eyes meet an excited Beatrice's. She's up to something.

Tobias runs ahead and jumps in through the open door of the bus. Beatrice grins at me and Shawn and jumps next. After a moment, I run and jump in, followed closely by Ace and Shawn, the Dauntless borns.

I thought everyone else will wait, being too Abnegation or sleepy but I am surprised as I see a red head jump in and then another.

The girl turns towards us, initiates and holds out her hand. I shake her hand.

"I am Sienna and this is my twin brother Etienne," she says with a smile.

"Why Sienna, your name is almost as beautiful as your hair, which also happens to be Sienna, too, if I am not mistaken," Shawn says, stoic, and we all burst out laughing at the lamest joke to exist.

"Hey! Why do you think we are helping the Amity? Aren't we supposed to stay in Abnegation and volunteer or something?" Ace asks and Shawn nods too.

"Some of us can also end up working as Abnegation volunteers to Amity so we are being trained that way too," Etienne says and Sienna nods.

"What he said," she adds and we all laugh again. Man this lack of sleep must be messing with our brains. I don't remember ever laughing at nearly everything I heard.

I like them. They aren't uptight like most Abnegation born, which is why we all seem to be getting along, and I can't help but think that this is the start to a beautiful friendship.

Too soon the others manage to get inside and from there on, we all chat among our respective friend groups. It's gonna be a long ride but I think we all will do well with some bonding.