Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 30

All units storm the building. Brian and Tori enter through the front doors and begin to quickly and quietly make their way through the building to find Tris. As they are walking they hear two male voices that seem to be arguing. Brian quietly gestures to Tori to follow him. They move through the rooms silently. When they get to the doorway of a large storage room, they see a small body lying on the floor. She seems mostly unharmed but the two men stand over her arguing.Tori and Brian raise their guns and enter the room. "FBI, hands in the air!" Brian shouts."Put your hands in the air and step away from the girl," Tori shouts.Both men turn toward Brian and Tori. A look of terror and panic come across their faces as the realization that they have been caught hits them.Eric tries to make a run for it. He races across the room toward one of the many exits in the room just to be caught by one of the other teams that stormed the room. Before he knows what hit him, he is on the floor face down with a boot in his back and he is being handcuffed.Al doesn't attempt to run; he just kneels down and waits to be approached by one of groups that have entered the room.While the other agents are taking Eric and Al into custody, Brian and Tori run over to Tris and take the blindfold off of her face. She looks at them and immediately the tears start to fall."You found me!" she says. "I was so afraid that you would never find me."Brian cuts the bindings from her wrists and ankles. He lifts her off of the ground and carries her out of the warehouse toward where Four is sitting in the car waiting to see that she is safe."Did you know those guys?" Brian asks her as they walk out of the building."Yes, I did. They were both students. The shorter guy, Eric, he's the guy that used to stalk me, remember? We got the restraining order on him last year.""Yeah, I remember that guy. He was obsessed with you.""Yeah, and the other guy is Al. He used to be a football player. I don't know what happened to him though. He also used to hit on me all of the time.""Tris, did they do... anything to you?""No, Eric ripped my shirt off and if Al weren't there he probably would have done something to me. But Al told him he wasn't to touch me.""Tris, we are going to have to talk about everything that happened step by step. But first there is someone here that is dying to see you."She lifts her head and makes eye contact with the man sitting in the back of a patrol car. He smiles when he sees her and she can see the worry and fear in his face.Tori goes over to the car and opens the door to let Four out. He runs up to her and takes her into his arms."Oh my goodness, Tris. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" he asks as he kisses her on the top of her head."I'm fine. I just want to go home.""First Tris, we need to go to the police station so that you can give your statement," Brian explains.They get into the car and drive to the police station where Eric and Al were taken. When they arrive, Four walks into the building holding Tris' hand. They walk past Al sitting in a chair waiting to be taken to his cell."Wait I know him. His name is Al, he was on the football team. Third string quarterback. Is he one of the kidnappers?" Four asks getting angrier."Yes," Tris says quietly.Four glares toward Al. This guy did everything he could to try to get Four to lose games at the beginning of the preseason. He was gone before the beginning of the regular season and Four hasn't thought about him since.When Al sees Four walk in to the building holding Tris' hand. Anger fills him. He sees Four look at him and glare as he walks past with Tris. Al suddenly believes that if he is going to go to jail, he might as well make it worth his while. As soon as Four is past and Tris has been taken into another room, Al stands and lunges toward Four.He hits Four from behind and knocks him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him. Four quickly recovers from the surprise attack and rolls over so he is on top of Al, punching him in the face. He is yelling at him the entire time."What the hell did you do to her? Why would you kidnap her? She never did anything to you," Four screams at him."She never loved me. She only ever saw you," Al announces. "You took everything from me, my position on the football team, my respect from Marcus, my girl, everything. I was just taking what is rightfully mine."Four punches him in the face once more before Al throws him off and they both stand. Several police officers attempt to apprehend Al, but they aren't fast enough and he lunges at Four again. He throws a punch to Four's face that lands just at Four's cheekbone.Four doesn't let Al get a chance to land another blow. Four quickly goes for Al's abdomen. He throws punches to his stomach, and face until Al is no longer able to stand without swaying. Al attempts to tackle Four to the ground, but he is slow and uncoordinated, so Four easily dodges the attempt and Al lands face fist on the floor.The police officers that had attempted to apprehend him before, come and handcuff Al and lead him to the jail."What the hell just happened here?" Tori demands. "Is it common practice to watch a suspect and a bystander duke it out?""No, but there was no way to capture the suspect safely without also possibly injuring this man," one of the officers says."Well, he should have never had to defend himself in the first place."Four looks around and sees another face in the police precinct. It's Eric, he used to play baseball and live at Phi Delta with Four and everyone else. Last August he went off the deep end at a pick-up softball game with the girls. He had accused Tris of cheating."Tori, what is Eric doing here?""He was the other kidnapper, Four. How do you know him?""He was on the baseball team, he lived at Phi Delta. He had an altercation with Tris about eight months ago.""Well according to Brian, Eric has been stalking Tris since her freshman year. About eight months ago she had a restraining order placed on him because he was hanging out around the girls' locker room and following her around all over the place.""What? Why didn't she tell me that?""I don't know," Tori says. "You'll have to ask her. For now though, we need to take your statement about the attack that just happened."Four, Tori, and one of the police officers go into a room where they ask him about Al attacking him."What happened in there?" the officer asks."I don't know. I had my back to him when he attacked me from behind. From that point all I did was defend myself," Four explains."Did you know the suspect before today?""Yes, he was the third string quarterback at the University of Chicago until he was cut from the team in August.""Do you know why he was cut from the team?""No, I really don't. He was always trying to sabotage me, but I figured that was because he wanted my position on the team. He was there one day and the next he was gone. The coaches just pulled me and the second string quarterback aside and told us that we needed to be careful around that guy. They didn't elaborate and we really didn't ask any questions.""I was also informed that you know the other suspect, Eric.""Yeah, he played baseball at the University of Chicago. He also used to live in my fraternity.""Used to live there? What happened?""I don't know. He left at winter break and didn't come back. We had heard that he dropped out of school.""There was an altercation between he and the victim back in August, is that correct?""Yes, we were playing a pick-up softball game. She made a really good play that got him out. He confronted her on it, accusing her of cheating. I got between them when he put his hands on her.""Were you aware that he was stalking her?""No, she never told me that.""Thank you for your time. You are free to go now."Four and Tori stand and go out to the where Brian is waiting for them."What did they need to question him for?""Because one of the suspects attacked him in the station," Tori explains."Did you kick his ass?" Brian asks."Yes he did," Tori answers."Wait, where's Tris?""She was taken to the hospital to get checked out after she was done being questioned."Four gets into the backseat of the car. They start driving toward the hospital that Tris was taken."Did you call Natalie?" Four asks."No, we haven't.""I'm calling her to let her know that Tris is okay," Four says.He dials the phone and waits until someone answers."Hello?" a male voice answers."Bud?""Yeah, Four any news?""Yes, they found her. She is fine, mostly unharmed.""What do you mean mostly?""Well they had her tied up so she has bruises on her wrists and ankles. She is pretty shaken up. She was taken to the hospital to be checked out."He hears Bud explaining things to Natalie.Natalie gets on the phone, "Four is she really okay?""Yes, she is going to be fine. I promise I'll never let anything happen to her again."They talk for a few more minutes. He explains that they will be returning to campus tomorrow morning and he promises to have her call the moment that she can.When they arrive at the hospital, Tris' room is overrun by softball players. They are shocked when they see Four enter the room."I thought you were in Pennsylvania," Shauna asks."I was, but when I found out that Tris was missing I left."He moves over to Tris and kisses her forehead, "How are you doing?""I'm fine. They were inept kidnappers.""Why didn't you ever tell me that Eric was stalking you?""Well, when it began we weren't together. It was just after that pick-up game we played just after semester started that I got the restraining order on him.""But Brian said he had been bothering you since you were a freshman," Four says."But still Four, we weren't together. I wasn't going to go to you with my problems, especially if I was trying to get you to notice me." She quickly looks down. She can't believe that she just admitted that to him.He places his fingers under her chin. He makes her look up at him, he leans in and quietly tells her, "Believe me, there was never a time when I didn't notice you."He kisses her on the cheek, "I love you Tris."She smiles, "I love you too."Four turns his attention to the other girls staring at them. "You two are so sweet!" Marlene says."So, did you win your game?" Four asks trying to change the subject."We did, barely, but we won! World Series, here we come," Kenzie says."Now it's time to go home," the coach announces. "We will see you back at home Tris.""Thanks for coming," Tris says.Once everyone is gone and Tris and Four are alone, he sits in the chair next to her and takes her hand."Now tell me, are you really okay? You don't have to be strong around me."Tears glisten in her eyes as she looks at him, "They said they took me because you refused to do what Marcus told you and because you didn't lie for him at the trial.""What? They did this to you because of me?"She doesn't say anything but he knows that what he said is true."Tris, I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to be caught in this. I'll understand if you don't want to see me anymore," he says. He thinks about everything that has happened. He realizes that he can't put her in anymore danger. "Actually, maybe it would be best for me to just leave now. The more time you spend around me, the more dangerous it is for you."He begins to stand and panic overcomes her as she starts to understand what he is saying. She can't let him leave. She doesn't blame him for the actions of others, especially for his psychotic father.He turns to walk away but Tris grabs his arm and makes him turn to look at her."I don't blame you for what happened. You can't control what two obsessed guys do. They have both been bothering me since before you I even met you.""Yes, but they were acting on Marcus' orders.""How is that possible? I know he threatened you at the court hearing, but according to Brian he is currently in solitary confinement for his own safety. Apparently criminals don't like child abusers.""Why didn't Brian tell me?""He just found out. He had contacted the jail to see about phone calls and letters that Marcus has been sending or receiving. They said that he hasn't received anything since his arrival and he has been in solitary for the past week because he was almost killed in a fight in the cafeteria about two weeks ago. He spent a week in the infirmary.""I guess a lot has been going on. But you still aren't safe because of me.""Four, those two would have come after me at some point. Even without you, I still would never have paid any attention to either of them. I don't care what they say their motivation was, I think they were acting of their own accord. They just chose to use your father as an excuse," she reaches up and grabs his face and makes him look into her eyes. "I love you, forever.""I love you too," he says. "I've loved you since that first day.""Are you going to let these people take that away from us?""No, I don't want to. But I also don't want to put you in anymore danger.""You won't," she says kissing him.He pulls her to him and wraps his arms around, engulfing her with his body. He has been desperate to feel her body against his for days. The fact that she is here and safe overcomes him with the love that he feels for her. He can't help himself anymore; he presses his lips to hers firmly and kisses her hungrily. She responded immediately. His mouth is so warm, the caress of his lips soft and tender. He tastes tentatively with his tongue, and Tris opens her mouth with a low moan. Their kiss continues until they hear the door open behind them and someone clears their voice."Tris, you can go home now," Brian says with a smirk on his face.