Burning With the Fire (Eric Divergent Fanfic)

Where I Go When I Drink

***Eric's POV***

I go to sip from my glass, only to find it empty, again. As exhausted and pained as I am, I manage to pull my body into a standing position from the bar stool. I walk around the long bar counter, and grab the hardest bottle of vodka on the shelf, which won't be enough for my long term healing, but it will do for the short term. The bottle is almost empty, as I have been sipping it all night.

I'm way past drunk, but I don't know how to best describe it. Probably numb. I'm not feeling anything and that's how I want it. Ever since Arielle left, I have been catching the train from Erudite, where Jeanine's loyal army is, to Dauntless, because I know this is where the good shit is. And when I say good shit, I mean the booze. A life without booze is a world I don't want to be in right now.

Arielle has been drowning my every thought, so the night is my escape, my release from reality. Even though I am in Dauntless, I steer clear of everything that reminds me of her; our apartment, the chasm, the initiate training areas, and the initiate dorms. So basically a whole half of the faction.

I see her in everything. From the bed where I should be sleeping every night, the train I take every night, to even the fucking bar that I'm standing at. Everything has something to do with her, even if it is the slightest flicker of her being, she is still there, with me.

I just want to forget everything; forget my family, forget my responsibilities, and forget the love of my life. God, she deserved so much better than me, but she still wound up pregnant.

Fuck, she's pregnant. There's something I almost forgot. Well shit...

"Eric, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Corey asks from behind me, and I choose to ignore him and sip my bottle of vodka instead. "Eric?!" Corey yells again, coming towards the counter.

"What can I get for you? Martini, beer, vodka cran? It's all on the house tonight!" I boast cheerily, acting like the drunk idiot I am, and Corey rolls his eyes at this. Did he seriously expect to show up here and find me not drunk? I internally laugh; that's the funniest thing I've heard all day.

"You need to get the fuck back to Erudite, Jeanine will lose her shit if she learns you have been coming here and getting shit-faced." Corey seethes, and I just chuckle.

"Let her learn that useless piece of information, she loves to learn, doesn't she?" I laugh at my own Erudite pun, but Corey just looks pissed off to no end. "And she wouldn't care if I left and never returned, everyone is replaceable to her." I tell him, watching the clear liquid swirl around inside the glass bottle. That went from funny to depressing really fucking quick, I didn't realize being drunk could make me bipolar. Huh, you learn something new every day I guess.

"What about Arielle, man? What about that baby? Does that not matter?" Corey asks, and my entire being just becomes so angry.

I never mattered to her. I couldn't have. She wouldn't have left me if she cared about me. God, how much I would give to have her want me, but no, I had nothing for her, so she fucking left. And she left with her favourite fucking initiate.

"She doesn't want me. She left. Probably so she could go fuck around with her initiate friend. Uriah, was it?" I seethe, and Corey takes a couple steps away from me, unsure of where my sudden anger is directed.

"That's a crock of shit, man." Corey tells me, and I've absolutely had it. I smash the bottle of booze on the ground in front of me, not caring that I just wasted the best bottle of alcohol, and I leave the bar behind me. I storm through the halls of Dauntless, the halls of the castle I once ruled, and it becomes hard not to think of how much I want that back, my kingdom.

Before long, I find myself at my apartment door. Corey is nowhere in sight, which is probably smart of him, because I kick the door open with so much force that parts of it break off, flying everywhere. I stomp into the place I once felt the happiest, and I destroy it all.

The dining chairs are thrown into walls, creating holes, and pieces of wood are everywhere. I snap the legs of the dining table, and I shatter the coffee table with my bare fist. If I was sober, it would have stung like a motherfucker, but lucky for me I'm far from sober.

I make short work of the love-seat and recliner. The couch is a bit of work for me to ruin, but I settle for running the kitchen knives through all the leather. Just as I am smashing all the art frames on the frame of the coffee table, I catch movement in the corner of my eye.

"What the fuck did you do?" Corey shouts, and I don't even bother acknowledging him before continuing down my disastrous path. When I see no more furniture to ruin, I begin punching and kicking holes in the walls. By the second punch, my knuckles have split, and are bleeding profusely. After every punch, there is some sort of blood stain left around the hole.

"I'm sorry, man." I hear Corey say from behind me, and before I can comprehend why the hell he is behind me, my world goes black.

***

"He destroyed the entire apartment, Max. I've never seen him in that bad of a blind rage before. But he was pretty fucking drunk. The bottle of that hard Dauntless vodka was almost gone when I showed up." I hear Corey's voice, and every word he speaks is like a fucking jackhammer inside my skull. Fuck...

"If you want him to stay alive, you will insure Jeanine doesn't hear of this, you hear? She already suspects he is unfit, but we can't let that be proven." Max speaks up, and I hear a set of feet fade away.

I open my eyes slowly, and my arms immediately come up to shield my eyes. Remind me why I like to drink again? I have no fucking clue.

"Hey man, I'll turn the lights off." Corey says quietly, and I appreciate his sympathy for me, even though it's the last thing I want right now. As soon as the lights are off, I slowly take my hands off my face.

"Why the hell am I in Erudite? Fuck... wait, Jeanine didn't kick me out yet?" I ask, looking at Corey through my squinted eyes. Even though the lights are off, opening my eyes at all just makes my head pound and makes me want to puke.

"No, but she has a mission for you, something she wanted you to personally attend to." Corey states, and I look at him in skepticism and interest.

"And that is?"

"We received word from Amity, and they are establishing their faction as a safe house, where no violence is allowed. Now, Jeanine believe a certain group of Divergent's are hiding out there." Corey explains to me, and one name comes to mind. Arielle.

"And by a certain group you mean..."

"Arielle, and her friends. They're there. They have to be."

And there is another Eric chapter! Sorry, it's kind of crappy, but I feel like we kind of had to get a feeling for Eric as well as Arielle, right? Anyways, I hope you lovelies are enjoying the second book so far! Goodnight/day! xoxo