Split Apart

Chapter 8

When I entered the Abnegation sector I immediately thought of visiting my parents. The idea seemed great at first then reality set in and it became foolish. If I did visit them I would most likely become Factionless if I was caught. I had taken this risk before, but now didn't seem safe.

I sauntered toward Abnegation headquarters and waited outside for the rest of the Dauntless. I asked some of the people inside if any Dauntless had come recently. They denied seeing any. It must have meant that I had come earlier than them.

I waited for the arrival of the others until I saw that dusk was approaching. Having no where else to go, I decided on taking a train back to Dauntless headquarters, but, as I walked, my decision changed.

I had time to visit my parents.

Furtively, I headed toward my former home. I hoped I would find my parents there. I didn't want this journey that separated me from Tobias to be for nothing.

Upon seeing my old home, memories filled me. Memories of a boy and girl playing on the cracked sidewalk; of a boy and girl leaving to their Choosing Ceremony and never returning. I couldn't wait to see my parents, they understood how it felt to leave their families, to have their siblings separated from them.

I knocked on the front door of my house and waited. The man who opened it was not my father. It was Eric.

"It's nice to see you Tris." He said. Years of hatred bubbled up, still hiding under a surface of surprise.

"Why are you here?" I said. "Where's my family?"

"I should be asking you the same thing." He replied, leaning against the door frame. "As for your family, they're enjoying dinner at a friend's."

Eric's demeanor worried me. He didn't seem bothered that I had disobeyed the motto of faction before blood.

"What are you doing here?" I asked a final time.

"Well, Tris, why don't you tell me?" He said, playing with the ring in his eyebrow. I didn't have to contemplate his question because his purpose was obvious, but that didn't mean I had to reply to him. My silence made him talk.

"Tris, I'm here to tell you that we take faction before blood seriously." Eric paused, watching for any response on my face. When he continued, I knew I had offered him no sign that I was afraid. "And we were told by a reliable source that you were visiting your fa-"

"Who was this reliable source?" I interrupted Eric. He smirked, the holes in his lip opening wider.

"Your fellow initiate when you were a transfer." He said, and then another voice came from behind me.

"Should've been more careful, Stiff."

My blood ran cold. Peter was behind me. I was trapped like a dog. I wouldn't be able to escape either of them if I was to run, no matter how small I was.

"So, this is your way of getting rid of me?" I said, turning to face the boy that had tormented me when I was an initiate. "Teaming up with another second best like yourself?"

My comment angered both of the males I was betwixt, but it only fueled me on.

"What was in it for you, Eric?" I asked. He hesitated, then took a moment to answer.

"A chance to destroy the only other Stiff in Dauntless." I knew he was speaking of Tobias, who would most likely never see me again.

"Just grab her." Peter said, snatching my arm. Eric did the same. Their grasps were of iron, making me unable to escape, but I did not stop fighting them. They walked to the Factionless sector of Abnegation, before stopping abruptly and throwing me down to the ground.

"Enjoy your new family, Stiff." Peter mocked. I spat at his feet, resulting in a blow to the head. I fell backward. As I slipped from consciousness I heard Eric say one last thing to me.

"I'll be sure to tell, Four."

Four.