Soulmates

Chapter 1: Marks

Left or right? Beatrice Prior stands at a fork in the road, panicked, her head whipping left to right and back. The dark trees looming over her don’t let her see far down either path. A snarling growl tells her one thing - she has to make a decision. Now.

Beatrice’s blue-grey eyes snap open, the dark forest replaced by the sunlit grey of her sparse Abnegation bedroom. She catches her breath as she swipes at the perspiration on her brow.

This dream again.

It doesn’t take an Erudite to decipher the recurring dream. She knows that it’s about her soulmark. Or more accurately, her soulmarks.

A soulmark is like a birthmark. Some people are born with a phrase on their bodies, and that phrase is the first words that their soulmate will say to them. The marks are either blue, black, grey, red, or a black and white mix, indicating which faction the soulmate was born in.

For example, Beatrice’s mother, Natalie, has blue words on her arm. In Tris’ father’s masculine handwriting her words say, “Would you like to borrow a pencil?”

Tris’ father, Andrew, has a black mark, and his says, “Sure, thanks,” in her mother’s soft script. The two met in school, before their choosing ceremony. Deeply in love and confident that they were soulmates, they transferred together from Erudite and Dauntless to Abnegation.

The problem is that Beatrice has two soulmarks. On her left hip is a blue mark, indicating a soulmate born in Erudite, like her father. In even, blocky writing the mark says, “Welcome to Dauntless.” In the same place on her right hip is a grey mark. The writing there is more cramped, and says, “What’s your name?”

Beatrice has spent countless hours mulling over the possibilities and implications of her soulmarks. The grey mark frustrates her. “What’s your name?” is such a common first interaction with someone. Teachers, classmates, neighbors - nearly everyone asks that question when they first meet. And since it’s in the color of her birth faction, she probably already knows the mystery man who shares her mark. Is there someone in Abnegation with “Beatrice” marked on them in grey? Does this mean she should stay in Abnegation? People from her faction rarely transfer, so undoubtedly transferring would take her away from her soulmate.

The other mark is even more confusing. It’s blue, so that soulmate was born in Erudite. But the words say, “Welcome to Dauntless.” Is that soulmate an Erudite transfer to Dauntless that she’ll meet if she transfers? Or is he still in Erudite and they’ll meet while both are in Dauntless for some reason?

And why does she have two marks? Will she find one soulmate then lose him and find the second? Or will she be in love with two people at the same time? The thought makes Beatrice blush.

For years she assumed that the aptitude test would seal her fate and help her decide which path to follow. If the test indicated Abnegation, she would shelve her dream of transferring somewhere more interesting, and look for the man with the mark of her name. If the test said Dauntless, she would transfer there and look for an Erudite-born transfer. If the test said Erudite, she would go there and keep her ears open for the unlikely “Welcome to Dauntless,” phrase.

But the test has just made things worse. The Dauntless woman who administered Beatrice’s test explained that she is divergent - meaning that she has aptitudes for more than one faction. To make things even worse, her three aptitudes are Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite.

“Knock knock,” Beatrice hears her mother at the bedroom door.

“Good morning, Mom,” she greets in a voice still hoarse from sleep.

“Bad dream?” Natalie asks, concern on her face as she notices her daughter’s expression, twisted bedclothes, and the sheen of sweat on her brow.

Beatrice nods.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Natalie asks.

“I’m fine,” she insists, her Abnegation selflessness holding her back.

Natalie gives her a knowing look and sits on the edge of her daughter’s bed.

“Sweetheart,” she says in a comforting voice, “the choosing ceremony is hard for all sixteen-year-olds. It’s a big decision. You have to factor in your aptitude, your own dreams, and the possibilities of your soulmark, or soulmarks in your case. It’s okay to admit to your mother that you’re feeling stressed about it. Did the aptitude test help at all?”

“You know we’re not supposed to talk about the test,” Beatrice says evasively.

“I know,” Natalie replies, “and I understand if you don’t want to talk about it with me. But if you need to talk, know that I won’t be upset with you for telling me. And I certainly won’t tell anyone else what you say.”

“Not even Dad?” Beatrice asks, surprised that her parents would ever keep secrets. Secrets are selfish.

Natalie shakes her head.

“Um...” Beatrice begins, hesitantly. “So you know how I, um, have two marks? And how they suggest three options? The test, it didn’t, uh, tell me which one to choose. You know?”

Natalie nods. “I’m not surprised, really. I always suspected you were divergent. Which two did you get?”

“All three,” Beatrice replies quietly. “Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless.”

Natalie's eyes widen as she gapes at her daughter. “Three?” she questions. “That’s rare. In fact, it’s unheard of.”

Beatrice drops her gaze to her hands, knotted in her lap. “I don’t know what to do.”

Natalie sighs, and lightly strokes her daughter’s blonde hair. “I can’t tell you what to do,” she says. “You have to make your own choice. It’s your life. Maybe you should look at this like the people who don’t have a soulmark. If you didn’t have to worry about finding 'the one,' where would you choose to go?”

“Dauntless,” Beatrice says, her voice little more than a whisper.

Natalie smiles softly at her daughter. “I’ll miss you,” she says. “Dauntless initiation is hard, but it’s fun there, too. You’ll love it. When you can, look for Hana and Michael Pedrad. Hana was my best friend. I know she will just love you.”

“You’re assuming I’ll go to Dauntless,” her daughter says.

“Oh Honey, go with your heart. The rest will follow.” Natalie places a kiss on her daughter’s forehead, then leaves the room.

Beatrice sighs, falling back onto her pillow. Does she have what it takes to join the faction of the brave? And will choosing Dauntless help her meet at least one of her soulmates or keep them apart?