Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

five

"This is the Pit," Tobias announces as we arrived at the large underground cavern finished with a glass roof.

Unfortunately, Uriah, Marlene and Lynn were in a separate group from me, being Dauntless-borns and all that. Since I didn't know anyone else here aside from Tris, who hasn't left Christina's side and a brother who refuses to acknowledge my existence, I left trailing along at the end of the group and mostly keeping to myself.

"The center of life here at Dauntless and that right there is the Chasm," He points to the far right corner of the Pit, "The Chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy. A daredevil jump off of that ledge and you won't live to see another day." Tobias's eyes flashed to me as if he were giving me a warning and in turn, I narrowed my eyes at him.

I catch the eye roll he gives me before he tears his gaze away from me and continues on with the tour. "Follow me, I'll bring you to your dormitory."

Sticking to the tail of the group, I followed behind them as Tobias- or Four as he prefers now- guided us through the dark pathways.

As we were walking, a burst of bright light at the end of a short tunnel that veers off from the main pathway.

Curiosity gets the best of me and my legs start to carry me towards the source before I could think better of it.

The path leads me to a floor-to-ceiling glass window at the end of it, which gives me a crystal clear view of the sky.

I carefully skipped over a decent sized puddle that had collected on the ground before it- assumably from some kind of leak in the ceiling- bringing me closer to the window. Peering out of it, I'm awestruck by what I find.

Dauntless members were zooming past on a zip line. Some of them had their arms spread wide like they were taking flight while others cheered.

The muffled sound of them screaming at the top of their lungs as if was the greatest thing they've ever done in their lives filters through the window, bringing a smile to my lips just from watching them have so much fun.

"Hey!"

I jerked back at the sudden intrusion, slipping on the puddle of water I so carefully tried to avoid before. Landing face-down on the ground with a loud splash, I hiss through my teeth at the sting in my palms coupled with the pain from my bruises.

A pair of scuffed-up black combat boots enter my field of vision. Craning my neck, my eyes trailed up the pair of long legs and muscles torso before they finally land on the pair of striking blue eyes I seem to be getting well acquainted with.

Eric stares down at me with scrutinising eyes, "This is a restricted area, initiate. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I got distracted," I answered lamely before narrowing my eyes at him. "You pushed me," I accused.

I'm aware of how ridiculous it sounds out of context, but Eric seems to be following my line of thought.

He raises a pierced brow at me, looking too amused for my liking. "Would've done it again, but you seem to have taken care of it yourself this time." He scoffs, turning on his heels. "Get off your ass, initiate. And good luck finding your way back to the dorms on your own."

"Jerk," I scolded under my breath.

I'm not sure if Eric heard me, but if he did, he doesn't spare me the acknowledgement.

I groan as I push myself to my elbows, wincing at the pain that fills my body with every movement. Looking down at my palms, I notice that they're stained with blood seeping from the cuts across them and my skirt was stained too from the scraps on my knees.

Suddenly, the sound of Eric's boots against the ground as he leaves comes to a halt followed by a string of curses.

"Damn initiates," He grumbles.

Eric spins around again, coming back to where he'd stood before. Only this time, he swoops down, wrapping his arms around my waist and hauling me to his chest.

His eyes seem to take in my roughed-up appearance, "Did you hit your head?"

At first, it sounded like he was taking another jab at me. But as I cut my eyes to him, looking mighty offended, he rolls his eyes at me.

"Sheath your damn claws, you munchkin. It was a genuine question."

The term 'munchkin' is often used as one of affection, but somehow Eric manages to make it sound like it's an insult.

"Well, did you?" He asks again impatiently, to which I shook my head in answer.

Satisfied, he grips my hand in his and studies the cuts.

"I don't know how you did it, but you've gone and cut yourself up badly enough that these may need stitches."

"You were the one who sneaked up on me," I argued in indignation.

"Maybe don't be somewhere you shouldn't be next time, how about that?" His retort has me clamping my mouth shut. My compliance seems to please him and that unsettles me. The guy seems to be enjoying our bickering way more than he should.

Wordlessly, Eric starts tugging me along with him back down the pathway, his shoulders set and his brows drawn close together as if he's silently questioning why he's even doing this at all.

"Where are we going?"

Eric glances over his shoulder at me, "To the infirmary. Where else do you think?" He answers with a heavy sigh, "You initiates are such a handful."

Don't get me wrong, the dude's an ass. But his comment does make me feel slightly guilty for inconveniencing him.

"If you give me some directions, I'm sure I could get there myself." I suggest.

Instead of a reply, Eric simply lets out a disgruntled grunt but doesn't loosen his grip on my hand.

"I'd hate to take up your time if you have things to do." I tacked on sheepishly.

Another grunt. And just as I think he's done sparing me any replies he says, "Why don't you let me worry about what I do with my time, initiate."