The Other Side of the War (Tobias Eaton X OC)

Chapter 30

"We're accidentally in love"

THE PAINFUL SILENCE IN THE DORMS was choking Storm. She was forced to listen to her own thoughts, the very ones that kept her from finding peace. She attempted to close her eyes; And she thrashed, then thrashed some more until she could no longer find the strength to do so. The night before final evaluation terrorized everyone, and not a single initiate could find the words to express their concerns. So they sat there; most ended up going to bed by 9 pm, but Storm stared into the dark abyss (also known as the ceiling).

She wanted to be able to relax, yet something didn't feel right. Eric, Max, and even her mother had yet to fill her in on any future plans. Usually, they meet once a week to debrief. But they went completely silent. Just like the silence in the dorms. Storm was no idiot; she knew that they were going to inject her with whatever serum that would turn her into a mindless drone. As if her compliance and training wasn't enough. As if her years of torture weren't enough.

The girl sat up abruptly when she could no longer take the quiet. She ran her shaking fingers through her wavy, tangled hair. Storm pushed the thin blankets off with a newfound frustration. She had to remind herself that if they knew Ember was alive, she would already be dead. For now, she was safe. But of course it didn't feel like that.

Storm left the dorm with no intention of going back to bed, if the nightmares weren't keeping her awake it was thoughts of her mother. She wasn't too tired surprisingly, at least not mentally, as it wasn't unusual for her to stay up all night. When she was 12, her mother made her stay up for 48 hours straight. If she had started to drift off, a new punishment was created to wake her up.

Storm had to give it to her, Jeanine was very creative in her ways of causing human suffering.

She wandered the dauntless halls for what seemed like an hour, but was only really 10 minutes. Only after her legs began to shake from exhaustion had she decided on a set place to go. She couldn't keep her body awake for much longer, not when she could feel the fatigue draining every nerve in her body. Thankfully, her mind was still sharp and moving at a thousand-miles a minute.

Tobias's apartment was not hard to find, she had memorized the walk there since the first time she stepped through the door. Out of every corner in dauntless, it was the only place Storm ever felt truly safe. Although she kept that to herself.

Storm stood in front of his door and sighed. She felt bad waking him up, and though she hated to admit it, she trusted Tobias with her life.

The dark haired girl quietly knocked on his door. No response. Her knocks progressively got louder when there was still no answer. Her hand shook the door knob with annoyance. It's locked, Storm rolled her eyes.

She stood there for about a total of 30 seconds before deciding to pick the lock. Maybe that was a little far, but she was determined to at least get a little sleep; she was wasn't the most patient person in the world. Storm pulled a knife out of her jacket pocket. It was the one Tobias gave her so many weeks ago, and since then she slept with it every night. Of course, the knife always remained in the pocket as well.

Storm inserted it gently into the door knob and twisted the knife around slightly; this was one skill she had learned on her own. Within a few seconds, Storm heard a click and she was able to push open the door. She walked with light steps, not wanting to scare him.