Devious | Eric Coulter

15

UNEDITED

I tried to even my breathing as I slipped under my covers discreetly, making sure that I looked like I was sleeping. Eric's words echoed in my mind.

"You were in there for a fúcking minute."

As I tried to wrap my mind around what Eric had told me, I snuggled deeper against my thin blanket. Was being inside the simulation for a short time a bad thing, or a good thing? 

The sound of footsteps shook me out of my thoughts, and soon enough, the banging of metal was heard. Four's voice called out,

"Alright, initiates! Be in the Pit after fifteen minutes. Your families will be waiting there."

Grumbles turned into excited murmurs as Four finished talking. I tried to act like I just woke up like the rest, casually yawning and rubbing my eyes. My eyes darted to Four's, him giving me a small glare. It kind of showed a hidden message.

He knows.

I held my breath, it's not possible. I mean, he wouldn't have heard my conversation with Eric unless he followed us or saw us through the cameras. But I knew Eric wouldn't risk getting us caught, I'm sure he lead me to a place void of cameras. My eyes widened as reality sank in.

He did the former, he followed us.

I cursed under my breath. He wouldn't report me to the leaders, would he? There's no guarantee that he wouldn't, especially now that we aren't on good terms. I cursed again, why does everything go bad for me?

I watched as Four went out of the room, not missing how Tris followed his every move.

♍♍♍♍♍♍♍

"Silence!" Eric's deep voice cut off the initiates' chatter. We immediately fell silent, not daring to speak up against the ruthless leader. He cleared his throat and did his usual leader stance.

"As I have told you yesterday, today is Visiting Day. And let me reiterate this very clearly, I do not  want to see anyone complaining and crying to their parents. Remember the saying, 'Faction before blood.' If I see you clinging to your parents, I'll have the tip of my gun pressed against your head. Understood?"

Scared to speak, we only nodded our heads at Eric. He gave us a satisfied smirk.

"You can go."

The rest of the initiates dispersed, leaving me to stand in front of Eric and Four like a fool. Eric raised his pierced eyebrow while Four's face remained stoic.

"Aren't you going to see your parents, Lot--initiate?" Eric slightly coughed up my name, realizing that we had company.

I looked down on the floor, the dusty ground suddenly became interesting.

"My... parents won't be here."

I can feel Eric scrutinize me, "Hmm. Are you sure about that?"

I nodded mutely. The sound of boots hitting the cemented floor made me lift my head up. I expected Eric to drag me away, but instead, Four was in front of me, sporting a small frown on his face.

"We need to talk. Follow me." He said quietly and turned towards the Pit's exit.

I casted my eyes on Eric, seeing him wearing a scowl on his face. The way he stared at me was making me slightly nervous. Without thinking, I raised my hand and waved at him, blushing as he gave me a smirk. 

I did not expect him to raise his hand and wave at me, too.

With my mouth agape, I scurried to the direction where Four went.

♏♏♏♏♏♏♏

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked Four, my voice hardening.

His eyes darkened as he glared at me. "You're going to start that búllshít? Why are you training with him?  You dåmn well know that you could get Factionless for cheating your way through initiation, especially with a leader--!"

"I am not 'cheating my way through initiation'!" I hissed angrily.

He scoffed, "Oh really? Then what do you fúcking call that?"

I clenched my fist and blurted out, "If you're going to report me, then go ahead. It would be ironic since the report is coming from someone who is training an initiate himself. Tell me, did you and Tris know more about each other when you were telling her all about the things she needs to know about the second stage of initiation? Does she also know about Capture the Flag?---"

The sound of skin against skin resonated across the dark corridor. I held my hand against my cheek.

He slapped me.

I turned my head towards him, tears flowing rapidly on my face. "Wow, Tobias. I never knew you could be so much like our father---"

Slap. 

I gave out a dry laugh. "Another one? Wow, you really changed, Tobias."

"What the fúck are you doing to her?"

Both of us turned and saw Eric, he was sneering at Tobias. My eyes immediately widened.

Eric stalked towards Tobias and swung his arm towards Tobias' jaw. My brother stumbled back, blood dripping from his nose.

Eric turned to me and grasped my arm, quickly steering me in a different direction. I looked behind me and saw my brother cupping his swollen nose, Tris aiding him to stand.

I let out a disbelieving laugh. Well dåmn, she got here fast.

Eric continued to drag me towards another corridor, and I had no choice but to force myself to match his fast pace. When we finally stopped, he slowly took my hands away from my cheeks and inspected it.

He murmured lowly, "It's not going to bruise, but it's going to be numb and painful for a while."

I didn't give him a response. He sighed, his hands still caressing my cheeks. 

"Mind telling me about what the fúck happened?"

I pursed my lips and finally said, "Family problems."

His hands dropped and he stepped away from me, a disgusted look on his face.

"You have a family with Four? What the actual fúck? How come I did not know this--"

"No! No! It's not like that! We're...we're siblings." I whispered the last part.

Eric stopped his rambling. "You're... you're siblings? "

I nodded and focused on playing with my fingers, the burning on my cheek was long gone. "Yeah."

I was suddenly pressed against his chest, his very  firm and muscular chest. His hands went up to my hair, and I felt him run his hands through it.

I unconsciously leaned towards his chest, wanting to feel the warmth radiating off of him more. He sighed.

"I'm sorry."

My voice came out as muffled as my face was pressed against his chest. "Why are you apologizing?"

He sighed again. "Never mind. I've been meaning to ask you though,"

I looked up and stared at his icy blue eyes. I saw them darken.

"What do you know about Divergents?"