Devious | Eric Coulter

13

UNEDITED

"Here are your last rankings for the first stage." Four clicked on the same remote Eric used two days ago. The initiates were all silent, nervous but nonetheless eager to know which spot they had managed to grab.

26. Charlie

I blew out a relieved breath, knowing I was not going to be factionless got a big amount of weight lifted off my shoulders. I scanned the board for Peter's name. When I finally saw it, I gave him a small pat on the back. He gave me large grin in return.

He got second place.

"Listen up!" Our attention traveled to Eric who was on top of a boulder with a stoic expression on his face. I resisted the urge to spit an insult at him, I was still pissed off at his decision of pairing me and Tris on the fight.

"Tomorrow is Visiting Day. Now, I know most of you are excited to see your family again," He gave us all a calculated glare, "But it's best not to get attached. Tomorrow, I don't want too see you clinging to your parents like babies, do you understand?"

We all chorused our agreements, well most of us, anyway. Eric nodded approvingly. "Good. Now, get out of here. You can do whatever you want today and tomorrow, consider it as preparation for your second stage of initiation. It will start after Visiting Day, so you better do your best."

"And to those who are below the red line," Four cut in, "Go immediately to your room to pack up your things. You shall be in the Pit after five minutes. Don't keep Eric and I waiting."

A sob from an Amity transfer was the loudest cry I've heard among the bottom five initiates. All in all, there were two Erudites, two Candors, and the Amity transfer. My eyes were still focused on them before Peter snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Hello? Anyone here?" He started poking my forehead.

 I slapped his hand away, "What do you want, Peter?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Oh-kay. Someone's in their period today--ow!"

I smiled triumphantly as I watched him rub the spot where I had hit him. He gave me a small frown.

"Your punches are becoming stronger. Anyway, Molly was asking if you wanted to hang with us today. Drew, Molly and I are going to this party at some Dauntless member's apartment. Care to join us?"

I pursed my lips. "We are not supposed to drink, Peter. We're still initiates, it could get us in trouble. Besides, I don't drink."

He huffed at me. "So? You can just stand there and flirt with some guy."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Thanks, but no thanks, Peter. Go have fun."

He gave me a defeated look. "Fine. Have it your way."

"I'll be fine, Peter. I'm serious."

He gave me one last look before scurrying off to find Drew.

"Shít, I thought he was never going to shut up."

I looked behind me and saw Eric with his hands behind his back, a small smirk on his face. I kept my face neutral.

"What do you want, Eric?"

He stalked towards me and grasped my arm before dragging me towards a dark corridor. I struggled against his hold and hissed,

"Hey! What's up with you and dragging me to places?! Let me go!"

I continued trying to pull my arm away from his hold. After a few seconds, he finally let go of me. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look.

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Why the fúck are you avoiding me?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not avoiding you, Eric. I'm going through this thing called initiation which you are overseeing."

He glared at me. "Oh, really? Then why are you asking for Four's help more than mine during training?"

I bit my lip. It was true. I was purposely avoiding him these past two days, and that included asking my brother's help, even if I haven't forgave him for our fight, yet. Call me over dramatic, but after seeing Tris walk out of the infirmary with a bruise on her cheek and a black eye, I didn't want to associate with things that reminded me of what I did to her.

Seeing her reminds me of Marcus.

But this time, I was the one inflicting pain, not the one who was hurting.

My silence seemed to tick off Eric because he sneered at me. "Don't fuçking tell me you're avoiding me because I paired you up with the stiff. Seriously, you're bound to fight her."

"Yeah? Well thanks a lot for driving the only person who came from the same faction as me away. Having someone that respects your habit of looking away from mirrors or your cautious eating of hamburgers is very important to me, Eric. Only Tris understands what I had to go through in Abnegation. Making me fight with her made her cautious of me, it was as if I was going to kíll her on her sleep!"

He rolled his eyes at me. "You don't need her. Now, you need Peter and his friends. It's good that you surround yourself with powerful people---" 

"Oh, shut up, Eric. You know that even if I surrounded myself with the likes of Peter, I'm still gonna be a weak little girl from Abnegation--"

"No you're not." He cut me off. "Because starting tomorrow, you will meet with me an hour before Four wakes you up. You and I will be training--"

"That's going to be useless and you know it." I gave him a frustrated look. "Only the first stage of initiation is physical. The second and third are mental, you heard it from Four yourself."

"And who said that we were training your combat skills?" He smirked at me. "No, baby. We're training you for the second stage of initiation."

I gaped at him. "That's not even allowed!"

He widened his smirk. "Nothing's not allowed when you're a leader, Lottie. Now, go get lunch."

He pushed me towards the direction of the cafeteria and walked away.

What the fúck just happened? And did he just call me 'baby'?

💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮

Four frowned as he saw Eric drag his sister away from the training room. Deciding to follow them, he quickly walked towards the direction they disappeared into.

Where the fúck are they? He thought as he checked each corridor. He made a small tsking noise. He lost them.

He turned into a corner and heard two muffled voices, he knew it was Eric and his sister.

Fúck. He thought angrily. These past two days were going fine! Charlotte was asking for my help, not that bastàrd's. He just has to ruin my progress. Now, what? It's going to go back in square one, Charlotte would fall into his trap again, and I'll have to pull her out before she falls completely.

He huffed. Damn you, Eric Coulter.

Four suddenly stopped as he heard Eric's voice.

"And who said that we were training your combat skills? No, baby. We're training you for the second stage of initiation."

Four narrowed his eyes as he hid in the shadows. Go figure, Eric decides to break the rules to get his sister. And 'baby'!? What the fúck!?

"That's not even allowed!" he heard Charlotte reason with Eric.

"Nothing's not allowed when you're a leader, Lottie. Now, go get lunch." He heard Eric walk away.

Four frowned. Eric was proving to be a fúcking huge problem on his part.