Let Me In

Chapter 5 - Black And Blue

A member died last night.

At the arrival of the next morning, the encounter with Eric is fresh in my mind. However I wasn't given the opportunity to further dwell on the memory before Four come in shouting for us to get ready to go to breakfast. However most of us are already awake from the shouting and crying outside our room ever since earlier this morning, yet no one care or dare enough to actually go and investigate the source.

It first starts with a quiet whisper follow by a series of quick footsteps, at first I thought I was dreaming but Christina's gentle cough and kick dismissed that idea. The sun wasn't up but it is still bright enough for me to make out the features of Christina, the her alert eyes confirms that she heard the noise outside too. The sound is hushed and hurried but continuous, eventually it manages to wake up half the people in this room. This lasts for almost an hour until the crying starts that eventually wakes up the remaining initiates in the room. The sound so despairing and shrilling that it both shocks and silences all of us at the same time. We are all on edge and expects an explanation at Four's entrance but he delivers nothing. So nor did we say anything as we all get ready. Anxiety and discomfort fills the atmosphere as we welcome our first day in Dauntless.

It is all revealed to us as we pass the chasm, two dauntless men are pulling on a piece of rope while a stiff body is being dragged up, his limbs dangling down and as water drips down from his blonde hair to his exceptionally pale but lifeless face. A woman weeps into the shoulder of her friend while a few members stand in a group engaging in a heated discussion, Four is among them. At the sight of me, he pursed his lip and strides towards my direction.

'You need to come with me.' He instructed, his voice void of emotion refusing to give me a hint as to why I am needed. Christina give me a curious glimpse before walking away with confusion.

'Why?'I question, secretly glad that my voice sounds stable because deep down inside anxiety is taking over.

'The leaders wants to speak to you.' His voice soften as he adds. 'You really should have been more careful.' The pit in my stomach worsen.

Four lead me to the seats outside Max's office before his assistant dismisses Four. He seems hesitant to leave but eventually did because he knew he had to, not without giving me one last troubled glance to deepen my worry. I fiddle with my nails as I try to calm myself down, second day in dauntless and I am already in trouble? It's nothing new for me to get in shit, in fact this almost feels like deja vu compares to the numerous times I have been called to the principle's office back in school. The only difference is that now, I have no idea what I did.

My dad used to call me a 'trouble magnet' as a joke and I did not mind. Getting into trouble never bothers me too much, the idea of following someone else's rule of what's right and wrong and getting into trouble for it because you don't agree just seems silly. Instead of trying to stay of trouble, I rather focus on trying to find a place that defines my inappropriate behavior as a lifestyle. That is one of the reasons I chose dauntless, they encourage the actions I used to get into trouble for and teaches the skills I was forbid to even think about.

'You can go in now.' The assistant announces without interest as I wipe my hands on my leggings. I try to be confident because whatever it is that I did, I refuse to give myself away before he has the chance to accuse me of anything. All of confidence somehow diminishes as I walk in the office. Max is not along. Sitting beside him on the left is Jeanine Matthews, it seems like years since I last saw her at the choosing ceremony, yet it was only yesterday. Her perfectly styled hair and wrinkle-free blue dress makes everything more intimidating.

Blue and black are interesting colors, they each symbolizes the type of pain a person can inflict on someone else. Blue is nothing as daunting as black but it's ever bit as threatening and damaging, if not, more. Black can terrorize someone because of it's cruelty and violence, it can make you beg for mercy as you watch the malicious grin spreading across their cheek as they take in the joy of seeing you bleed and suffer. Blue on the other hand is more cold and distant, it brings no physical harm but the damage it can cause is much terrifying than black. They don't care about you screaming in pain because they don't care or feel for anything, unlike black, they don't take joy in seeing you suffer because you are not even worth for them to feel hint of human emotion. All the scream and beg are just a waste of their time as you realize that they simply. don't. feel. Emotions means a potential weakness but blue has non, once they master the art of not caring, nothing can truly hurt them. Black can leave you with a broken bone and a bleeding cut but blue can leave you with a with a permanent nightmare and a resigned soul.

That's how I feel as I stare into Jeanine's blue eyes. Cold and distant.

Sitting on the other side of Max, is the one and only Eric. He didn't look up from his tablet as Max greets me.

'Hello Aly.' Max's tone is warm but also full of authority.

'Hello sir.' I am proud myself for the fake confidence in my voice. 'I was told you wanted to see me?'

Jeanine spoke out this time : 'You were seen wondering around the chasm last night in the surveillance camera, around the same time Jerry was killed. We want to know if saw or heard anything that can possibly help us look further into this case' Her tone is just like her appearance, so calm but...hollow.

'No, I did not see or hear anything.'

'Did you see anyone that can be a potential suspect?' So they assume that he was murdered? My eyes flicker to Eric and wish I hadn't. His has now given me his full attention, his eyes bore into mine as I struggle to answer the question. Am I suppose to share my encounter with Eric? Do they already know? Is this a test to see if I am capable of telling the truth? Suddenly, Eric sit up straight, and gave me the smallest nod. It was so tiny that I am doubting myself whether or not I saw it correct, however as there is no time for me to break it down and analyze the movement, I went with my instinct.

'I saw Eric.' I realize that I have been holding my breath because my head is now light from a lack of oxygen. To my surprise, Eric seems relieved at my answer. Max smiles and Jeanine relaxes.

'Very well, we were informed about that. Anything else you would like to share?' Max questions.

'No, I only saw Eric and immediately went to bed.' My voice is more stable now and I silently praise myself for holding it all together. Max and Eric both looks relieved now and Jeanine seems more at ease?

'Okay, thank you Aly.' As I am about to walk out, Jeanine calls out to me.

'One more question, what's your mother's name?' I stop on my tracks, secretly fearing that she is going to punish my family for whatever it is I have done. Max and Eric look at each other, clearly confused about Jeanine's sudden interest in my family tree. I want to ignore her question and walk away, but what's stopping her from going through my records and punishing them more for ignoring authority?

'Kira, wh-why?' I begin to feel uneasy.

'What's your birth mother's name?' My head starts to spin, if I felt uneasy before, I am now petrified. No one else should know about this information, my mother brought it up a few times when was younger but eventually I stopped caring about my birth parents. All they did was give birth to me, my parents are the one's with me through thick and thin. My lips feels dry while a million questions run through my head, why does Jeanine want to know my birth mother's name, and most importantly HOW does she know my back story. She seems to recognize my discomfort because she let the matter drop.

'Sorry, it's non of my business. Thank you for your time Aly, you are now dismissed.' I want to run out the office and all the way back to amity to hug my parents but at the same time I also want to stay with Jeanine and demand the reason behind her question. However I did neither of those things as I slowly walk away, each step feeling heavier and heavier as I head towards the dining hall.

Blue, capable of triggering the most sensitive part of a person without any physical contact and merely a sentence. Cold, emotionless blue.

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A/N: Thanks again for reading this chapter! Before I started this story I have already planned out most of the major plot lines in the story. I am going to focus on Aly and Eric's relationship but at the same time I would like to add some of my own plot twists on the overall story. Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. Any feedback is more than welcome :)