The Way Back

Chapter 28

TRIS POV

I am alone.

Thousands of trees stretch for miles in all directions of the seemingly endless forest. A mist has settled over the ground, and it chills my ankles. It is nighttime and nearly pitch black, but I can still recognize this place.

It is Fort Wayne.

Shivering, I rub the goosebumps on my bare arms. Suddenly a shadow is cast in front of me—my shadow—and I turn around to find out what the light source is.

The moon is unusually bright and shines primarily on a patch of dirt in front of me. I frown and study the peculiar sight as I try to figure out what the significance of that spot is.

It doesn't take me long to find out.

Fingers reach up out of the ground and claw in the soil for leverage. I'm terrorized to the point of immobility as two arms force their way past the earth, and then a head. The jet black hair is mangled and filthy. It is veiling the person's face, but I still know who the person is all the same.

Stacy climbs out of the hole in the ground, except it doesn't look like Stacy at all. Her pale face and body are both contorted, and she wears an expression of malice—she grits her teeth and snarls so intensely that saliva flies from her mouth.

And there are two holes in her chest, where I put the two bullets that took her life.

Gasping, I try to run away, but the mist has actually frozen my ankles. I am helpless and unable to run away. All I can do is struggle with my upper body to get away from her claw-like fingers and whimper in fear.

Should I even save myself? She couldn't.

When Stacy hauls herself onto all fours, that is when I really start panicking. Like a deformed creature, she gallops toward me until she is within arms length. I shut my eyes and shudder as I wait for her revenge, and it doesn't come for a few moments.

Her nails tear into my legs first, and then they rip at my stomach. The burning is enough to make me scream so loudly...

...that I wake myself up. Flailing to get the imaginary demon off of me, my screams turn into hysterical sobs that won't allow me to open my eyes. I can still feel my midsection being sliced apart, and the restraints holding me back are not exactly helping my case.

I soon realize that two arms are holding me back into a solid chest. Someone calls my name in an attempt to pull me back to reality, but I can barely hear them past my own hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey, hey," Tobias says right up against my ear.

It gets my eyes to fly open in realization of where I am, and it is not Indiana. It is Chicago, in our Dauntless apartment. I make out the lines where the walls and ceiling meet, and I focus on them to calm down.

"Shhhh..." He keeps my legs and arms secure in his grip until he is positive that I am no longer under the jurisdiction of my dream. It doesn't stop me from shaking forcefully and choking out cries though. "It was just a nightmare. It's okay."

"No, it's not!" I shout at him with sudden hostility. "I-I..." I killed her. I can't even get the words out.

"Come here," he murmurs, loosening his arms around my body to allow me to turn. I flip in his arms so that our chests are pressed together, and I wail into his shoulder as I clutch his shirt in my jittery hands. I'm glad that he can't see my face because I can only imagine how ugly I am with my crumpled face and my open mouth that embarrassingly leaks drool onto his shirt.

He holds me on top of him, but it is not enough like I hoped it would be; while it does take a tiny load off, I am still carrying most of the guilt of what I have done. He can't hold it for me, and I don't want him to. This is my doing and my responsibility to deal with the consequences.