Source of My Strength (Eric Love Story) -ON HOLD-

Choosing

I couldn't hear anything. My eyes were focused on the stage. I couldn't feel my body, but I knew I was moving towards the stage. This moment is going to change my life forever. I clumsily made my way up the stair toward the choosing bowls. I sneaked a glance at my father who in return gave me an encouraging smile. I almost broke down right there, because I knew that would be the last time he gave me a smile again. I picked up the knife and everything else is a blur. Marcus from Abnegation snapped me out of my daze by yelling "Dauntless!". I saw the rest of the Erudite gasp in shock and I heard the Dauntless cheer. I saw my father's look of disappointment before I hurried over to the rest of the dauntless getting lost in my own thoughts.

        A rough shove brought me out of my thoughts as I realized the Dauntless were moving again. I quietly followed trying not to trip over everyone's feet. They started running and I tried my best to keep up while wheezing. They then began to climb up a tall pole. What is this, gym? I thought bitterly before I began climbing with everyone else. I let out an exasperated sigh as everyone began running yet again. They were getting onto a train. I began to slow down, I have plenty of time, right? Wrong. I cursed under my breath when I saw there was a drop off. I jumped and grabbed the side rail of the train; my body slamming against the side of the train. Just let go, you can't do this. I closed my eyes and started to let go. Before I could let go and plummet to the ground, I was grabbed and dragged onto the train. I opened my eyes to look at my rescuers. A small dark skinned Candor and a light haired wide-eyed Abnegation girl. I slumped against the train wall and slid into a sitting position.

"Hey, are you okay? I'm Christina and this is Tris." I looked up to see the Candor girl or "Christina" smiling at the me. Tris gave me a small smile before looking away. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm Hope." Before she could respond Tris looked over as us and said "Um, I think they're jumping." Christina and I quickly looked over at the others to see them jumping. "Jump together?" Christina asked. Tris nodded and before I could respond they had yanked me to my feet and we were jumping. We barely landed on the roof of the building. After I stopped rolling I looked around for Tris and Christina. I spotted Christina who was laughing and Tris who was inspecting the holes in her cardigan. We scrambled to our feet and gathered around the others. There was a man standing on the edge of the building. "I'm Eric, one of your Dauntless leaders, this is the way into Dauntless. Any volunteers to go first?" The man said. There was a long silence before Tris spoke up and said " I'll go." The crowd parted so she could go through. She took her cardigan off and threw it aside. "Take it off, stiff!" An obnoxious voice called out. She stepped forward and fell off to wherever the mysterious hole leads to. I began to back away  slowly. You shouldn't have came here. You can't do this. "Hey! Erudite! Where you going?" Eric asked loudly. 

"Um.. N-nowhere." I responded.

"Good. You're next." he smirked. I walked quickly over to him with my head down. He grabbed me and hoisted me up on the side of the building. "Don't worry, there's a net down there." He whispered in my ear and shoved me over the edge. Sure enough, there was a net down there. I bounced a few times, shocked. "Hey, you okay?" a man asked. I looked over at him. He was very attractive, but I saw Tris sneaking glances at him, so I pushed that thought out of my head. "Yeah, thanks." I said and hurried over to Tris. We stood quietly beside each other absentmindedly watching the jumpers. The man that was supervising the net introduced himself as Four and briefly explained something about an initiation process. The Dauntless born went with some woman while the rest of us followed Four for a tour. He showed us where "The Pit" was and then he showed us the room we would all be staying in. I shivered in disgust at the bathrooms. He gave us five minutes to change into Dauntless clothes, which I did as quickly as I could. After everyone was finished he led us to a place where we burned our clothes. 

    

   After the tour we came into The Pit to get food. It was just a hamburger, there wasn't even a bun. Tris just sat there eyeing her burger. "Never had a burger before?" Christina asked. Tris shook her head quietly. Will then explained why Abnegation doesn't eat meat. Tris and Four then had a small argument I suppose you could call it. I wasn't really focused. My attention was focused on Eric who was entering The Pit. He spoke to Four and they exited tensely. One of the Dauntless leaders, Max, asked for all of the initiates to stand. Everyone began to cheer for us. We were lifted and they passed us around the room. I smiled my first real smile in months. Maybe I do belong somewhere, here. You'll never fit in. 

               Eric and Four showed us where the initiates spar. Christina and a big girl named "Molly" were fighting on the large mat. Molly elbowed Christina in the face and she fell to the ground. "Stop! I can't."Christina cried out. 

"Oh, you're done?" Eric asked with a sneer. She nodded weakly. He helped her up and motioned for us to follow him. He kept an arm around her waist and led her to wherever he was taking us next. A flash of jealousy passed through me, but it was quickly replaced with discomfort. I  knew he was up to something. He showed us "The Chasm", which was truly horrifying for someone who is not a fan of heights. He pushed her over the edge and she held on to the railing. "In Dauntless we do not QUIT. You have 5 minutes to hang on to this rail. If you succeed, you can stay a Dauntless initiate. If you quit, you become factionless or you can fall and die." Eric said coldly. I gave him a horrified look while Tris and Al cheered her on. He avoided my gaze until the 5 minutes were done. I helped Tris hoist Christina back up. We helped her back to the room we stay in. 

      Tris was calming Christina down, so I laid in my bed and closed my eyes. 

                                                                       Dream/Flashback 

     "Mom? Mom, where are you?" I called out and ran into her bedroom. I saw her packing something into a box. "Hope! Come here, quickly!" she said in a hushed voice. I scurried over to her. She picked up the small box and handed it to me. "Hide this. Never show it to anyone. Do not open it until it's time."

"How will I know when it's time?" I whined like the 7 year old I was.

"You will know. Do you know why I named you Hope? You have been my hope for all of these years. I have never lost hope, because I have you. I'm not afraid because you're my hope. You need to protect this box with your life. There will come a time when you are the only hope for the factions." She said while looking at me carefully. A loud commotion came from the living room. "Quick! Hide!" She commanded. I crawled under the bed and peeked my head out to see two Dauntless soldiers dragging my mom out of the room.

       "Hey! Wake up."I felt someone shaking me. I woke up quickly. My shirt was covered in tears. I looked to see it was Eric who had been shaking me awake. All the other initiates were staring at me in shock, others were laughing. "Come with me." Eric said and helped me up. I followed him down a long hallway to a room with a large bed, a sink, a few cabinets, and a fridge. "Here take this." Eric said while handing me some sleeping medication and a bottled water. I nodded in thanks and took the medicine. I let out a surprised squeal when he picked me up and laid me on the bed. He walked towards the door. Before he left he turned and looked at me. " No one should bother you here. Sleep well." He said with a small smile and left.

                                  A/N Sorry, I'm going off of the book and the movie, so it's kind of complicated..                                             Also, I did change a few things, so sorry it sucked! OKie, bai.