Learning to Let Them In | Fourtris

Chapter 27

Tris' POV

Eric's chasing me.

I don't know where I'm at but I do know I'm in the woods somewhere because of the endless trees and bushes I run by.

"Beatrice, you can't run away from me!"

I try to move faster, but it seems like I'm going as fast as I can. I can hear him getting closer and I make a hard right, hopefully throwing him off and holding him back for a few more seconds.

"You can't run forever!" he yells. My turn didn't throw him off a bit.

I can feel myself getting slower, but I can't help it. It's like my legs are being filled with heavy lead. I feel his disgusting hands wrap around my waist and start to drag me. I scream and try to kick him. It only makes him angrier.

"You bitch!"

He throws me to the ground so hard it knocks out my breath. I'm gasping for air on the ground when he kicks me in the legs. I roll over on my side. My leg starts to bleed from the kick. He's wearing spiked boots.

"You're a weak, ugly, coward! I wish you hadn't been born! Everyone wishes you hadn't been born!"

He then kicks my stomach, hard. I can feel the gash open up and start to pour out my crimson blood. I scream out in pain and hold my hands over the cut, covering it from any further damage.

"Shut up you whore!"

He kicks me again, but it doesn't hurt as bad as my stomach does. I start to cough, praying that more air will find its way into my lungs. I clench my fingers tighter around the gash. It hurts so much. I can feel tears streaming down my face at a heavy pace. I risk a look down and wish I hadn't. The gash is a jagged line all the way from my stomach to my chest. I can see the blood pouring out between my fingers and pooling in the grass beneath me. I can feel more blood leak out with each beat of my heart.

I throw up on the ground beside me. Eric makes a disgusted noise and starts to drag me away from that spot, leaving a trail of blood behind us. I close my eyes and try not to focus on the immense pain that comes with the movement. How long have I been here? An hour? Two?

He sets me up against a tree a couple of minutes later. I open my eyes as he squats down in front of me.

"This will be fun," is all he says before he balls his hand into a fist and punches me in my stomach. I scream in pain but am quickly silenced by a punch to my jaw. My head throbs but my stomach throbs even more. I close my eyes again when the pain becomes too much. I can't hear him anymore. My thoughts become fuzzy and the world looks too much like a spinning top to do anything. As I feel myself drift off into unconsciousness, the last thing I feel is the unbearable pain from my stomach.

I wake with a gasp and sit up. My stomach sears with pain and my hand flies to it instinctively. My head and heart are pounding.

I look around. It's dark. I look to the clock to see that it's 2:30 am. I slept through the entire afternoon, evening, and most of the night as well.

I feel a hand on my back, rubbing gently.

"Tris? You ok?"

I turn my head quickly to see Tobias sitting right behind me with a concerned look in his eyes. My head throbs from turning and I wince in pain but close my eyes to hide it. My stomach is throbbing as well. Why does my stomach hurt this bad? It shouldn't! It was only a dream! Just a made up cut!

Then I realize that it's not made up at all. It's the same cut Eric gave to me 3 years ago with a knife. But instead of a knife, this time it was a spike from the bottom of his boot. In my nightmare, he gave me the same cut, just in a different way.