Paying the price

Chapter 1

I bolted upright, sitting up on the bed in my room, gasping for air. Holding my hand to my aching chest, I tried catching my breath and calm down my racing heart.

Another one of those nightmares, that had haunted me, ever since that one, faithful morning. Letting out a deep breath, relieved that I was in my room, instead of that alleyway, I saw it was 5.38 am.

I had slept five hours. Longer, then I was used to.

Ever since Edgar made an appearance in my life, I was plagued by insomnia and if I managed to fall asleep at last, he was still there, waiting me in my dreams.

And when he was there, they were never pleasant ones.

The last three and a half years had been hell. There wasn't a single soul in this damn city that hadn't heard the story of my suffering.

Of my sacrifices.

The poor daughter of dauntless' best known leader, that had been abducted and tortured by factionless.

In their eyes I was a broken, little girl, they had to pity.

The rest, that didn't feel any empathy towards me, thought I was weak, not being able to escape a bunch of factionless in three months. But what they failed to realize was, that they weren't just any factionless.

That they knew exactly, what they were doing.

Or that they were on a personal vendetta against my family.

Rubbing my face, I suppressed all thoughts of a small, cold concrete room, mocking laughter sounding through it, as I prepared myself, as best as I could, before they could pull me back into a place, I wouldn't be able to get out again.

Peeling the blanket away, I rolled my aching shoulders. As I walked into the bathroom, adjoining my room, I realized I had took training a little too far yesterday. But the results of my aptitude test, that caused the need of an intense training session, had to be some kind of cosmically joke.

Turning on the water and waiting for it to become warm, I scoffed.

As if I would let someone, who sounded just like Jeanine Matthews, order me around. I knew her well enough, from her work with dad, to do anything that conniving bitch told me to.

So I didn't.

As the dog came into the room, I just stared at it, unmoving.

Unyielding.

Until it realized, I was the one in charge, his alpha and submitted to me, rolling onto it's back.

Eying my reflection in the mirror now, I asked myself why the appearance of the little girl later, that looked like a spitting image of myself, when I was twelve, had caused me to freeze. Unable to do anything, I just stared at her.

Even as the dog readied itself to attack, my gaze was glued to the child.

How that girl used to look like, a genuine smile adorning her face, her skin not yet marred by so many scars.

She was so innocent.

So naïve.

I didn't order the dog to stop, even if I was sure he would obey me instantly.

I have thought about that a lot.

If I wasn't able to do it, because the way she looked shocked me so much, or because I knew, she was better off with the dog killing her now, then going through what faith had in store for her.