Chasing Dauntless (A Divergent OC Fanfic in Dauntless)

Chapter Nine

I was in fourth place when stage one of training ended. Hannah was in tenth. We both passed. It wasn't surprising who had been cut. There was a small celebration right before stage two started, but we weren't complete Dauntless yet. We had a day off to do whatever we want. Hannah and I were just going to relax and walk around, maybe climb some stuff or throw some knives. We had to stay good, after all. After stage two, if we weren't cut, we would receive our jobs in Dauntless. I wasn't worried about being cut.

Hannah wanted to guard the wall because she would be near the Amity fields, which she missed. She loved being Dauntless, but she did spend sixteen years in Amity.

Chase had explained his job awhile ago: he was a Dauntless leader, supervising everything alongside Duncan and a few other leaders. It was a strong, honorable job. I wanted to be a leader.

Hannah and I were enjoying our breakfast on our day off. Chase always came a little late to breakfast, because he had to clean up and do some other stuff after our early morning training. I expected him to be on time, because we hadn't had training. But he wasn't.

Hannah and I were about halfway through our meals when Chase walked in. He stood in the entrance, scanning the crowd. When he saw me, his eyes seemed to lock onto mine. He walked over to me, never looking away. He came over and sat next to me.

"Um, morning," I said, taking a bite of breakfast. I licked my lips because I felt like there was a tiny drip of syrup on them. "Morning," Chase said after a moment. I returned to my food, dismissing Chase's weirdness. "Jess. Eat quickly. You need to come with me."

Hannah had grown bored with listening to me and Chase, and had joined a different conversation.

I finished a bite, then looked up at Chase. He was dead serious, his gaze piercing. "Why? This is our day off," I replied. "This is important." I gave a small laugh, and looked up at Chase. He bit his lip worriedly. It was kinda cute. "Jess, please," Chase said, his voice breaking. His eyebrows were knit together. He looked really worried. I realized that whatever he meant was serious.

"Okay."

My voice was quiet. I took a few more bites of breakfast, then stood up. Chase let out a small sigh of relief, and stood up too. We started walking out.

We started twisting down the concrete halls. "Nope, not that way," Chase said, reaching over and placing his hand on the small of my back, steering me the right way. "Where are we going?" I asked. Chase shook his head and stared forward.

Finally, we reached a small room with chairs lining the walls. Chase took his hand away and walked to the door at the end of the room. He pushed it open, and held it open for me. "Thanks," I said.

The room was a lot like the one where I took my aptitude test. It was small, with the same chair and machines. Chase walked over to the computer and started typing. "This is where you'll enter your fear landscape in stage two of training," he told me. I sat down on the edge of the chair. "Okay, so why are we here today?" Chase sighed, and looked up at me. "I want you to take your aptitude test again." I was surprised. "What the hell? Why?" He looked at me solemnly. "I'm worried about you." I took a slow, quiet breath. Chase seemed sincere, and genuinely worried. I nodded. "Okay," I whispered.

Chase walked over to me, his face still unsmiling. He handed me two white foam sensors attached to wires. "Put these on your temples," he said. I did. He walked over and filled a small vial with blue liquid. I recognized it from my aptitude test. He held it out wordlessly. I waited until Chase had gone over to his chair and attached his sensors. "I'll be in there with you, but I'm not going to really do anything," he told me. I nodded uncomfortably. "Ready?" he asked. I nodded. "Ready." I gulped down the blue liquid.

I was in a long, narrow room, similar to the one before. Chase stood next to me. He crossed his arms and waited, his eyebrows knit together. I turned back to the room. A snake materialized this time, growing larger and larger as it slithered towards me. Snakes didn't scare me. It wouldn't be able to hurt me, anyway: this was a simulation. This was my mind. I was in control. I shut my eyes. This is my mind. This is my mind. I convinced myself that if I opened my eyes and looked behind me, there would be a pair of black high heels. The heels were behind me. The heels were behind me.

I opened my eyes, and turned.

Next to Chase's feet sat a pair of black heels that weren't there before. He glanced down. "What the hell?" he breathed. I ran over, my feet suddenly bare. I grabbed the heels and yanked them on. I walked over to the snake, not shaking, because I knew I could walk in heels.

I clomped right over to the snake and stepped on its head with my tall, pointed heel. I heard a crunch, and it was gone.

I turned back around, because I knew the next part of the test would be there. Chase looked at me, then turned around himself. There was a small table, with a slab of meat, a knife, and a rope on it.

"Choose."

The word echoed through the room.

"Why?" I called, looking for the source of the voice.

"Choose," it repeated.

I darted over and grabbed the knife. Then, I tossed it to Chase. He caught it and raised his eyebrows. I picked up the meat and the rope too. "Jess," Chase warned. I whipped around. "What?" I said sharply. He opened his mouth, and closed it.

I heard a low growl.

A large brown bear was approaching on all fours, glowering at us.

Damn.

My heart started to pound. I gulped, and tried to shove away my one completely irrational fear.

I held up the meat, but knew it wouldn't do anything. The bear glanced at it, then looked back at me and growled, its fur rippling across its muscles. I knew it could rip me in half.

But this was a simulation.

I threw the meat to the side. "Knife," I called weakly to Chase. He tossed it my way. It clattered to the ground. I fell to my knees, and covered my head with my hands.

"Jess!" Chase sounded surprised. He didn't know what I was doing.

This was my mind. My simulation.

Every brain wave, every ounce of my being, pushed. My breaths were shallow and fast.

I heard a loud crack. I smiled to myself, and glanced up. 

A large crack had appeared in the once-solid concrete floor, right in front of the bear.

I shut my eyes again, and willed the floor to open. I heard a cracking, ripping sound. I looked up just in time to see the bear start to fall, trying to entrench its claws into the concrete. I hastily stood up. The knife from Chase was gone, but I willed another one to appear at my feet. I picked it up, and willed it larger. When I looked back down at the knife, the blade was larger and sharper. I threw it with perfect aim at the bear, but the bear tumbled out of sight before I could see the knife hit its target.

I watched the gaping hole in the floor slowly close, satisfied, but then I heard a soft sound. I whirled around. Chase was backing away, coming towards me, looking mystified and freaked out. Hundreds of large, furry spiders were slowly walking towards us. One particularly brave one leaped onto my leg. I smirked at Chase, and started towards them. "Jess, what the hell are you doing?" He sounded so concerned and worried, I didn't want to go through with it.

But Chase had told me to do what I was supposed to do.

I set one foot into the wave of spiders. It was furry, and started crawling up my leg. I crouched down, then laid completely down. The spiders instantly covered me. It was weird and creepy and I knew they would bite me.

But it would not hurt.

I would not die.

"Jess!" Chase's voice was muffled. I felt light taps on the floor. Chase was running over to me.

The darkness washed over me.

I felt tiny pinches that would be painful.

But this was my mind.