Finding The Courage

Part 18

Loud banging woke me up, I jolted but Four's arm kept me pressed against his chest.

"Who is it?" He called out, loud enough apparently for whoever was on the other side of the door to hear him. He nuzzled his face into my hair as we waited for an answer.

"Get up. You have to work with the initiates today and we need to talk about some other things." Eric's voice rang out on the other side of the door.

"Go away Eric, we can talk after breakfast." Four shouted back but he was now sitting up in bed and gathering my clothes off the floor. He handed them to me and I hurried to pull them on. I could feel my hands start shaking, it would not be good for Eric to catch me here. As I approached the door I heard Eric grumbling under his breath and soon his footsteps faded. I turned to Four and gave him a chaste kiss before opening his door and sliding into the shadows of the hallway. I found Wayne's room again and took another shower, to wash off any scent of Four that might have clung to my skin overnight. I pulled on the same clothes but in the morning light I noticed Wayne had actually gotten some clothes that looked like they would fit me. I decided to change into clean underwear and tight black pants, I slipped my combat boots back on and french braided my hair, I figured in a fear landscape it might help in case of a fight. I again added a little makeup that I found tucked among Wayne's female stash of items. My brother did seem to pay attention to what I wore and liked.

I locked up his place once again and made my way down to get some breakfast. I ran into Peter on my way and I knew there was no avoiding him this time.

"Wren, whose shirt is that? It looks rather big on you." His voice was sweet as honey but I rolled my eyes in his face.

"If you must know Peter it's my brothers. I spent the night at his place because he left to patrol this morning." I suddenly noticed Peter's body relaxed. I put that out of my mind as we continued to make our way to get food. I separated from Peter as soon as we entered the room, I found Uriah and sat with him. I took a quick look around the room and found Eric looking pissed but Four and Tris were missing. My heart sank a little bit and I decided then and there that I would stop seeing Four in any way other than a friend. I wasn't going to let him break my heart.

We all made our way to the fear simulation room, I made it up the stairs without an incident and once we reached the top as a group. Four was already there and Tris was still missing. I saw her sneak into the back of the group while Four started talking, I could only assume they had been up here practicing together. I sat with Uriah, Marlene, and Lynn away from Tris, Christina, and Will. I knew I had to put some distance between us if I was going to survive here. One by one we were called up to run through a sample fear simulation while the others watched. By the time my name was called there was only Uriah and Tris left. I entered the room to find Four, Eric and a few other members I didn't know there. I sat myself in one of the chairs in the middle of the room. I refused to let my face give away any emotions as Four approached me and injected me with the serum. He then followed suit and injected himself too. He sat in the other chair, once he closed his eyes I closed mine. When I opened my eyes Four and I were in a small space, the walls started shifting and pushed us together.

"We have to figure out a way out of here or how to stop the walls from squishing us." He mumbled. I found screws on the floor and started wedging them under the walls praying that they would stop the walls from moving forward anymore. The walls stopped moving but we did not come out of the simulation. I tapped Four so he would meet my eyes.

"Breathe with me Toby." I whispered and we took deep breaths together. We were out of the simulation moments later. I exited the room while Tris entered, I watched as someone else injected her and joined her. I stayed to watch what would happen and I could tell she was panicking. She was pulled from the simulation as I closed the door. I could hear raised voices as I walked away and a loud smack. Tris was then running past me and I found Four standing with a red cheek. I took off after Tris, fearing the worst. I followed her to the train. I jumped into the same car as her.

"Tris what are you thinking? We could get in so much trouble." I could tell she was startled to see me but it melted into a small smile.

"I have to go see my brother, I miss him and I know I can't go home so I thought maybe it would be a lesser punishment if I went to see him. You'll get in trouble for coming with me won't you?" I just shrugged off her question.

"I enjoy the feeling of flying that the train gives me." I smiled at her.

We reached Erudite in no time. We jumped off the train and entered the Erudite faction. As we made our way up to one of the main buildings everyone's eyes followed us, Tris avoided them but I caught someone's eyes here and there daring them to question us. I follow her into the building up flights of stairs and into a glass walkway. We enter what looks like a library but it lacks all the books. The people in the room are all studying or something. Caleb noticed us and immediately approached us. I watched as the siblings embraced and for a moment I could see the relief flood his face. He let the hug last a little longer and then shoved her away.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned, I took this as my cue to start to move away so that they could talk in private. I notice more and more people beginning to stare at us. I caught one rather handsome man staring openly at me and I shot him a wink. The siblings moved off to a more private place to talk and I followed behind. I could barely make out their conversation but it sounded like Tris was asking him for a favor. Caleb seemed annoyed and I watched as Tris's eyes began to well up with tears. I stepped closer with just enough time to hear her mutter "faction before blood. Got it." As she turned to walk away. I rush past Caleb only to stop and meet his eyes.

"That's your sister, You should love her no matter what faction she is in. She will always be your family. I thought you were better than this." I watched hurt flash in his eyes before I took off after Tris. As we made our way down the stairs two men approached us and blocked our path.

"I need you to come with us."

The man who spoke reached for Tris and immediately our training kicked in for both of us. She threw a punch and knocked him down as I punched the other man preventing him from grabbing her.

"Stop." Tris and I froze. I knew that voice. It was the same voice I had been hearing talking about divergents.