Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

thirty-three

I'm seated in one of those incredibly uncomfortable and oddly cold metal chairs that lined the hallway outside the testing room as I waited my turn.

Most of the other initiates have already had their turn- Uriah and Marlene included- leaving me, Lynn and one other Dauntless-born initiate who I couldn't remember the name of.

"Would you stop that?" Lynn chides from where she's seated beside me, slapping a hand on my knee to stop me from shaking it anxiously. "And that, too." She adds, pointing to where I was chewing on my thumbnail. "Seriously, Ness. You're making me nervous too."

"Sorry," I mumble, freeing my nail from between my teeth just as the door swings open again.

"Nessa," Tobias sticks his head out and calls.

I stand, hesitating for a minute and nervously glancing at Lynn. Considering the fact that I've been sitting here watching initiate after initiate gets removed from the room, covered in cold sweat and barely hanging on the edge of consciousness, I would say I had every right to be a little fearful.

My friend simply shrugs, "I don't know what I can say to make you feel better." She says, "Good luck, I guess?"

I nod, taking a deep breath. Well, that didn't help at all.

"Thanks," I say anyway.

Lynn rolls her eyes at me as if she knows that I was just thanking her for the sake of it, "No problem." She drawls.

"Hurry up, V." Tobias urges and I hurry down the hallway and into the room.

Staring down at the clinical looking chair in the centre of the room, I gulp.

"Take a seat," My brother orders, fiddling with something on one of the monitors in front of him.

"Oh, look. Another uncomfortable metal chair. Yay," I say unenthusiastically.

I don't miss the way Tobias rolls his eyes as I do as I'm told and got settled on the chair, feeling a lot like I'm about to get experimented on by some mad scientist.

"Stop doing that, it's disgusting." Tobias scolds as he turns to face me.

Once again, I find myself unconsciously chewing on my nail.

I pull my hand away and look up to see Tobias holding a huge needle.

"Whoa," I hole up a hand to stop him, "What the hell is that for?"

My brother lets out a sigh, "It's the fear serum. Now, would you calm down?"

"You're holding a giant needle and you expect me to calm down?" I shoot back, "Remember that time you wanted to draw a temporary tattoo on me and ended up stabbing me in the eye with your sharpie?"

Tobias frowns at me, looking indignant. "That was an accident."

"It might've been, but I think I'll that as my sign to not trust you with a damn needle." I argue, "Toby, you can't even handle a sharpie right!"

"Let it go, V. I was seven." He retorts.

I resist the urge to stick my tongue at my brother and slump back onto the chair with a huff.

"Don't kill me," I quip.

He glares at me, "Then, stop tempting me." Tobias continues, "If you're done being dramatic, this," He holds up the needle to indicate it, "Like I said, is the fear serum I'm going to inject you with. It stimulates the part of your brain that processes fear. An average person experiences about fifteen to twenty fears."

"Sounds like fun," I smile sarcastically at him.

Tobias ignores me and goes on, "It'll induce hallucinations and the transmitters inside the drum will allow me to see the images inside your mind-"