Vic (a divergent fanfiction)

26

My head rests on Felix's lap when I wake up. A dauntless man stands in front of us clanging on the bars. Four other dauntless lurk outside the door, and the recognition of three of them makes my heart want to stop. Felix's mother, Dad, someone else and Cal are standing outside the door. I kind of expected dad, I knew he'd want to rub this in my face, but Cal? The brother I've always loved? The brother that showed me much needed kindness and sympathy when I most required it? The person that drew the tattoo on my shoulder? This doesn't feel right. I want to cry. Cal's here. Cal's here. Cal's here. How could my brother betray me this way? How could he put me through this pain. Cal's here. A sting of bitterness and despair clings to me, sinking deep into my skin and filling my small heart's dark and lonely depths. I'm all alone without my family, I can't live without Cal. I can't be brave in front of him again. Cal's here. I'm abandoned by him.

"You aren't alone Vic." Felix whispers, suddenly alert as if sensing my pains and thoughts. His hand wraps around mine giving me a reassuring squeeze. The gesture feels warm and friendly, beautiful and a sweet, wonderful in the combat between my depression and loneliness. I'm not alone, I never will be. I have Felix. "Be brave Vic." I nod, standing up with him. My back stings in protest, my whole body weak and pained from sleeping on the floor.

"We're taking you to Jeanine now. Don't attempt anything," the guard warns, "we're prepared. Follow me." We follow him down long glass corridors, pressed on by our other four guards. Cal tries to catch my glance several times, but I ingnore him, focussing instead on Felix. Felix's eyes offer a twinkle of reassurance and his face offering a pained smile. His focuse is drawn to me as much as mine is to him. We need eachother. Our family's against is now, and we only have one another.

Finally we reach what must be our destination. The dauntless man leading us opens the door and our guards hustle us inside. The room is almost empty. The two glass walls give me a spectacular view of our city and the erudite buildings surrounding us. I wish I could soar out the window, fly through the sky, gliding to safety like a bird. The floor is made of polished wood, which shines in almost painful cleanness. The only pieces of furniture in the room are a small wooden desk and a matching chair, occupied at present by the person I loathe more then anyone. In front of me sits our captor, Jeanine Mathews. The desk is covered in organized files and papers. Jeanine is  writing something on a piece of paper. "Welcome to my office." She says without looking up, "Not many have been in here. You ready to begin? My experiment is ready." I scan the room for test tubes or syringes but none are in view. Jeanine looks up at me smiling. "Vic, I suppose you are curious about the experiment that I'm about to conduct. I believe I've figured out my weakness in serums, and I have created a new one that I hope will work." The thing that's scary about Jeanine, isn't just that she's willing to put others through pain to achieve her goals, it's that she's so smart it seems she can solve anything. Our divergence is like a math problem, an obstacle that she wishes to overcome. The problem is, Jeanine generally succeeds.

"How will this serum work? How will you gain control of our minds?" I ask.

"Vic, you always hit my problematic spots. A good question. My problem, I now realize, is that divergents have strong minds. Their minds are strengthened by their multiple attributes, making them immune to a serum that controls the mind. I discovered this, and realized that my serums are good for most of us because they seize control through the mind. A serum for a divergent however, shouldn't work in such a way. Instead of controlling you through mental control, I wish to use your senses instead. Divergents hear and see like the rest of us, so I will use those senses against you. This method will be more affective because you will still be able to think and decide, unlike in the ordinary serums. You will not be put into a trance. Instead, you will be free to think and react, doing what you feel rational. What you see and hear will influence your decisions, getting you to do what I ask of you. I'll show you what I mean." Jeanine pulls out a syringe of transparent red-orange liquid and reveals a small device on her desk. I don't understand what the buttons and knobs on the dice mean, but I obviously don't need to. Jeanine scans the serum across a small sensor on the device. The device hums to life and the red stuff bubbles and becomes an yellow color. Jeanine sterilizes the needle and walks to me, her heels clicking.

"No!" Felix yells, "Me first, please no!" He tries to interfere but the guards lunge for him, pinning him down. Jeanine smiles.

"You can try later Felix if you wish." Jeanine says smiling, watching him struggle, "If you live."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, as a guard pins me down too. Jeanine bends down beside me, brushing my hair from my neck. I feel a prickle of pain as she inserts the needle, injecting me with the serum.

"You'll see." She promises, getting to her feet. Nothing feels odd, nothing happens to me. "Ready?" She asks, holding the device for me to see. "One, two, three." Then she presses a glowing yellow button. Bubbly tingles run through my neck, coursing through my body tingling through my spine. I scream in anguish as the tingling becomes pain. The pain courses on, burning through me like a fiery hot stove. I want it to stop. Everything goes temporary black, the pain slowing to nothing.

I open my shuddering eyes. There's a glassy dreamlike texture to everything, a orange-red glow in the air. The room is the same, but the people inside have changed. Rune stands where Jeanine was and Felix stands where Cal was. Jeanine lies on the floor, pinned down by an unfamiliar candor and dauntless. Several unknown people are here, and I don't reconize them at all. They come from different factions, all the factions but amity. "We need to kill Jeanine. We can't let her do this to anyone else." Rune says.

"What happened?" I ask.

"You blacked out. Rune was smart enough to figure out that something was wrong. She lead a rescue party to save us. She had a fight with Genevieve, and she beat up Ariana. It must have been cool." Felix says. I smile. We're finally free. We will get to leave this horrid building. But would Felix or rune say theses things? Rune wouldn't fight people. It isn't her way of doing things.

"This isn't real." I realize, "I'm still in the serum."

"What are you talking about?" Rune questions, "what's wrong."

"You'll have to do better than this Jeanine." I murmur, before running at Rune. My hands close around the woman that is really Jeanine, the one that caused this illusion. Really, I am attacking her not Rune, but it feels wrong to put my hands around my friend's neck. I feel hands clasp around my chest and wrists, as Felix and someone else pull me from Rune. Really, Cal and another guard must be holding me. The illusion dissolves leaving a blur at first. Then my vision is untampered with once more.

Jeanine lies gasping at my feet, red marks from my hands on her neck. Cal holds me back, while my father clasps my wrists. He grins at me, staring at the mark of the needle that remains imprinted in my neck. Cal looks stunned, as if confused by my actions. "How dare you make me attack Felix!" I shout, "how cruel are you Jeanine!" Cal stares into my eyes, bewildered and surprised by my unusual violence.

"Vic stop." He whispers, "don't be so violent. Fighting us isn't worth it. And, if possible, I wish to avoid it." 

"Yeah, tell them all about you're inner amity Cal." I growl, knowing that my words will feel spiteful and personal to him. I don't like to hurt him, it feels wrong. He's always been so kind. He's always been my brother. "What about the blood before faction that you always spoke of? What about me? What about Felix? Why are you doing this Cal? Why are you such a jerk!" He smiles sadly.

"I'm not in your faction Vic. I choose my faction for you, for dad. You left me. I never did anything to you."

"You're doing something now! You're leaving me here with her! You're letting me die! You're letting her kill us!" I shriek, out of control. I thrash in his arms trying to escape. I won't let him do this to me. They won't hurt me and Felix.

"Return her to their room." Jeanine says, "I'm heading down to the lab. I have some adjustments to make. I'll call for them when the senses of touch and smell are added to the illusion. I must strengthen the existing senses in the serum as well. I'll be testing on you again later, Vic. For now, I want to get some X-rays of Felix's brain. I'm curious to see how it functions."