Poison & Wine [Eric Coulter]

08.

Olivia wrapped her arms around herself, fighting the chill of the compound as she watched Four and another Dauntless member on the mat in front of the transfers, explaining how to block as they demonstrated what he wanted them to do for their first fighting lesson.

He divided the six of them into pairs, matching Olivia up with the blonde-haired Erudite transfer, Emma. They stood about the same height, but years of working in the fields with her mother and climbing trees in the woods near her home had left Olivia stronger than the average pencil-pushing Erudite.

The girls stood opposite each other, practicing the blocks that Four had shown them.

"People are talking about you, you know," Emma began in a hushed tone, her blue eyes capturing Olivia's.

"Is that right?" Olivia replied impatiently, already irritated at the sound of the girl's voice as she wondered where the conversation was going to go. She wished they could just practice the drills in silence, knowing that if Emma continued speaking, it wasn't going to end well.

"They say your parents left you to die in the streets. That you're the poor little orphan girl that nobody wanted. That you were forced on your mother, but she didn't want you, and that's why you defected."

Olivia could feel the anger rising inside of her as they continued circling each other, her hits against Emma's arms becoming more forceful.

"You think people didn't see that stunt on the roof this morning? One day in and you're already all over Eric. You think you can sleep your way through initiation?"

Olivia could feel her fingernails cutting into her palms as she attempted to keep her composure. She saw Four out of the corner of her eye a short distance away, the conversation capturing his attention.

"You think you can get a little help climbing the ranks, huh? Whore yourself to the top of the board?"

Olivia's vision went red. She lost it.

Before Emma had the opportunity to defend herself, she was being slammed to the ground, the air escaping her lungs as Olivia's shoulder collided with her stomach. Kneeling on her wrists, Olivia's fists flew at the girl's face, a hard one to her nose causing an audible 'crack', followed by the quick flow of blood from Emma's nose and a scream from her lips.

"Get off me, you crazy bitch!"

Olivia felt a pair of arms around her waist, easily pulling her small frame off of the other girl and holding her tightly as she continued to kick and flail in an attempt to get free.

"Don't you ever say another fucking word about me, you fucking-"

"Olivia, stop!" a deep voice boomed in her ear as she continued fighting against the strong grip around her to get back at Emma, who was being helped to her feet by Malcolm.

"Get off of me!" Olivia spat at Four as one of his muscular arms moved up across her neck and applied slight pressure, locking her in place.

"Enough. I will put you out if you don't stop, Olivia." His voice in her ear was so calm, it only made her angrier. The pressure across her windpipe increased and her struggle lessened as she fell still in his arms, her eyes still full of fire and focused on the blonde seated on the bench a short distance away, a towel to her nose.

"You," another male voice boomed from behind them as Four dropped his arm from around her neck and set her back on the ground. "To the infirmary. I want you back here in thirty, and you'd better not be bleeding all over my floor. You," Eric came into sight and pointed at Olivia dangerously as Emma hurried off of the bench and disappeared through the heavy metal door on the opposite side of the room.

"Come with me."

"Get off me, Four," Olivia spat, wiggling from his grasp and pushing him away from her, her fists hitting his hard chest like pebbles bouncing off a brick wall. She looked up at his eyes through her mess of bangs and expected to see rage, but was met instead with a flicker of amusement. He held her gaze for a moment before turning back to the rest of the group, his expression hardening again as he attempted to regain their focus and set them back to their drills.

Eric grabbed Olivia roughly by the elbow and dragged her from the room, the loud slam of the door echoing through the empty corridor.

"I can walk," she spat, ripping her arm from his grasp as he pulled her down the hallway. An animalistic growl escaped his lips as he pushed her roughly against the stone wall, his arm barred across her chest. Fire danced in his eyes, which had turned dark with anger as he glared down at her.

"You don't get to do that. You don't get to lose it, not here. Not on my watch." His voice was dangerous as he applied more pressure on her chest, the sharp rock wall behind her digging into the small of her back.

"Are you kidding me?" she spat through gritted teeth, ignoring the pain from the sharp rock digging into her spine. "You want me to just stand there and take that shit?"

"I want you to be fucking smart, initiate! You can't lose it like that. Dauntless are to follow orders, not lose their tempers on the first bimbo that talks shit to them. Your ability to maintain your composure could mean the difference between life and death here, do you understand me?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, the adrenaline coursing through her veins wiping away any control she had left over her emotions.

"You want to talk to me about losing my temper? Look at where you are right now, sir." she spat, grasping at his forearm as it pressed down harder. "Good to know that standing up for yourself is a crime here."

Eric's jaw clenched and eyes narrowed at her, he stood unmoving for a moment before releasing his hold on her, taking a few steps backwards.

"You're done for the day. Get out of my sight. Cool off and report tomorrow. Go." His voice was calm again as he waved her away and turned in the opposite direction.

"Olivia," he said flatly as she turned to walk away from him. It was the first time he'd said her name. She rolled her eyes, annoyed that he couldn't make up his mind and turned back to face him, readying herself for another verbal lashing.

"You ever speak to me that way again, you'll be the one finding yourself in the infirmary. Is that clear?"

She glared at him but said nothing as she turned and stormed back in the direction of the dormitory.