The Fourth Eaton

Chapter 10 🔪 Down

A/N: Annndddd I've done it again. Three weeks of silence, and I apologize for that. The last time I talked to you, I was in the middle of band camp, preparing for high school. Now, school has started, and the work has started coming. But I'm going to try my best to update as soon as possible. Most of the time, that will be on weekends, because anyone who has gone through high school knows how it is.

My first football game of the year is Thursday. Woo-hoo!

Maybe it's a bit late now, but ayyyeeee, the United States pulled ahead of China and won most overall AND most gold medals in the Olympics. It was a great games. And I'm looking forward to the Paralympics, which start in two days. Not that I'll have a lot of time to watch them, but still. They're amazing, I'm cheering on every one of those superhumans!

Could you guys pretttyyyyy please comment on the last chapter, and vote on the third Divergent fanfiction I want to start. I would weally, weally like your opinion, but all I have is silence. :( And if you want to vote and/or comment on this chapter too, be my guest!

Alright, Chapter 10!

I'm tied to a chair.

Tobias is kneeling on the floor in front of me, in the position in which we had to take beatings.

Marcus and Jeanine Matthews are standing to his right, grinning like they've just discovered a secret that nobody else knows.

"Are you Divergent?" Jeanine asks me, her voice cold and calculating. No pleasantries, apparently.

I gulp. How could she know? "No."

Jeanine nods at Marcus. Marcus smiles maliciously, and begins pulling off his belt. My eyes widen as I figure out what he intends to do. I start pulling against the ropes that bind my wrists and feet, but they're too strong.

I can't let this happen to Tobias again. No. I would rather take it myself.

"Stop! What are you doing?" I yell at Jeanine and Marcus.

Neither of them reply. Marcus has the belt in his hand now. With one flick of his wrist, the belt flies up, then comes down on Tobias' back.

Tobias doesn't make a sound, but his facial expression suggests that this is more painful than he's letting on.

"No! Stop!" I cry, over and over again. By now, my wrists have started bleeding from rope burn. But I won't stop. Not until I've saved him.

"Only a Divergent can save him." Jeanine says, while staring at me.

"Let me go! I'm Divergent!" I scream at her, straining against the now bloodstained ropes.

Admitting my divergence means death. And I am fully prepared to die if it means sparing my brother from Marcus' torture.

Is that selfless, or is it brave?

At that, Jeanine raises her hand, and Marcus stops. Throughout the entire beating, Tobias had stared at the ground, not making a sound. But now, he raises his head and stares at me in horror.

Jeanine walks over to me, slowly, as if she's waiting for me to deny it. But I don't. If I deny it, Tobias will just get beat again.

"Marcus," she says, beckoning to him. He walks over, eyeing me like I'm prey. "I'm going to need a little help with this one."

"Gladly." He replies. Jeanine unties me from the chair, pushes me to the ground, then reties my wrists and ankles.

Marcus raises the belt over his head. I stiffen, and wait for the sound of the belt whistling through the air, the crack when it hits my back, and the unavoidable pain that's going to come with it.