Revelation | ✓

Chapter 15

A/N: Okay, so I was working on this last night and then I finished it this morning and then it wouldn't post because I'd logged out in another window and then I finally figured that out so then I copied it and went out and yeah so now here's the next chapter :D

I lead Jack in through the initiates' way, letting him jump first. When I hit the net, he silently pulls me off, holding my waist to soften my landing on the concrete floor.

A dark figure leans against the doorway, hidden in shadows. The person steps forward, and I get a good look at their face.

Ryde.

He gives me a blank look and instead turns to Jack, his jaw tight. "I wasn't aware that you got a new friend." His voice is just as flat as his expression. He extends his hand, which Jack shakes. "Ryder Pedrad."

"Jack." Jack replies.

"No last name?"

He shakes his head. "Among the factionless, we don't do last names. My family's been factionless for three generations, so our last name is lost."

"Nice to know. Too bad I really didn't care."

Jack looks pissed but knows to keep his mouth shut.

My heart beats hard in my chest. God, I wish these two never met. "I'm going to go find my parents. Jack, why don't you...um...go find Lynn? I'm sure that she can track down Tori and Harrison and figure something out for you."

He nods. "Alright. I'll see you later." He shoves his hands in his pockets and walks away.

Once he's gone, I keep one hand on the glass statue and start to move past Ryde with some weak muttered excuse.

"I thought you'd be going to replace your mother, not hook up with some guy." The venom in his words startles me.

"I did. Go to replace my mother, I mean." I don't turn and face him. I just stay that way, hunched over with one hand in my jacket, the wind blowing some hair that got free from my ponytail into my eyes. "Jack was my guard back there, I guess."

"If he was just your guard, then why did you bring him along?" It's hard for me to imagine that just days ago he'd been hugging me as I cried.

"We made a deal, alright? There's nothing going on with Jack and I!" I whirl around, angry. How could he just make assumptions like that? Who gave him that right?

He storms past me to go inside. He stops when he's right next to me. "Just remember who was always there for you." And then he's gone.

The door slams shut behind him. The world is painted in blacks and grays and blues, and only two of the three match how I'm feeling. I feel like screaming or hitting something or crying, but I do none. Instead I turn and go inside, desperate for some warmth.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I sit down on my bed in my room, laying back against the blankets. My legs are bent at a right angle, my feet on the floor. My bed lays pretty much parallel to the back wall of my room, pressed up against the gray wall. The top of my head hits the wall.

I pull out the statue and turn it over in my hands, for once actually able to see it fully. It looks like just like how I thought it would, but with sharper edges. I run my finger along them, tracing up to the tips and coming down on the sides. I'm still doing this when the apartment door opens.

I sit up, pulling my feet up on the bed. "She's back, Tris. Marlene said that she brought her back."

"I know, but we haven't seen her-" My mom cuts herself off. They whisper back and forth.

My door slowly creaks open, and then opens fully. My parents stand in the doorway, and my mom grins when she sees me. Even my dad looks happy, though I can't imagine how angry they are at me.

I set the statue down and get up, running forward and hugging Mom. Dad joins after a minute, and I squeeze my eyes shut, forgetting everything else except this, now.

My mother pulls away first. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you? What happened?" I tell them everything up until just now. My parents share a dark look before looking back down at me.

"Wait- you said you found a blue glass statue?" My dad's eyebrows pull together.

I nod. "Yeah."  I grab it and hand it to him. "Weird, right? Especially because it feels so familiar."

My dad turns it over in his hands. A faint smile tugs at his lips. "This was mine. My mom gave it to me when I was about six. She told me to keep it a secret. On the day of my Choosing Ceremony, I set it on my desk, I guess as a sign of rebellion."

My mom smiles. "And two years later, his father hadn't moved it. As far as we know, I was the next person to touch it." They both look at each other and smile.

I stare at it for a minute. "It was the thing that got me through it all, I guess. I talked to it a lot."

My dad hands it to me. "Well, it's yours now. It can be your symbol of hope like it was a symbol of rebellion for me."

I look at the thing in my hands, surprised that he'd trust me with something so fragile. This is like the time that my mother trusted me with my grandmother's wedding ring, only different, in a way. "Thank you."

My dad ruffles my hair. "Not a problem, Vae."

My mom sighs. "Now, about this factionless boy."

I groan. This is going to be a long conversation.