Venus Eaton is desperate to escape the abuse of her previous faction although she is unaware and unprepared of the ordeals of Dauntless initiation. She is a stranger to her own brother until he accuses her of murdering their mother, and finds out th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
VENUS
I WAKE up to the shuffling of feet, and everyone is awake. I look over at the clock, 6:40am. The initiates are nervously waking up earlier, and I am one of them. I look around, and see Emily sitting next to Al. It looks like she's comforting him, but he is not crying. He just looks down, and my eyebrows furrow.
This stupid ranking scheme is making everyone fear what their futures will hold.
I look around for Lucy, but she is nowhere to be seen. My fingertips tap against my thighs - I changed as soon as I woke up. My mind is in a thousand different places, thinking to what Uriah said about last night, wondering how winning would've boosted my points.
And then I think to Eric.
But I stop thinking about him as quick as I start, just as everyone starts getting to their feet again.
I look up to see Rhett scowling at me, Molly at his side. Her mouth is open like she was telling him something, so I return the scowl before walking over to Emily. She sees me and a smile stretches across her lips.
We interlock fingers. "Let's go."
***
The cafeteria is silent, filled with only the initiates and Dauntless-borns. I wonder if the instructors are counting our points right now, as we speak. It makes my stomach churn and my eyes flick to my full coffee cup. The coffee stirrer dances between my lips.
"Are you alright?" Harmonie takes a seat in front of me and Emily, and I glance up at her.
"Yeah, I'm cool," I say, dropping the coffee stirrer back into the cup. "You?"
"Feeling great, actually." She says, examining my face for a little while longer before saying, "You'll make it through, you know."
I half-laugh, half-certain, half-uncertain. "I... yeah, I don't know."
My appetite isn't on my mind right now, I don't think it's on anyone's minds. The majority of us sit in silence, some of us talk in hushed voices. The scores will be up in the dormitory soon, we'll head back there soon and see if we're staying or leaving.
Emily finds my hand beneath the table, lacing her fingers in mine and reassuringly squeezing. I squeeze back, glancing across at her. She looks happy.
We continue eating for another 10 or so minutes, before I see Rhett standing. He glares directly at me, and then he starts walking toward me. I look down, continuing to stir the last of my coffee.
Then his hand slams down on our table next to my cup and I freeze.
"I have to get Peter from the infirmary because of you." He says sharply, and I feel him lurking behind me. My teeth grind together and I push my cup back, standing up.
I'm so close to Rhett I can smell his morning breath, and I narrow my eyes.
"I don't care. Leave me alone."
"Nah, nah," He chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. "You'll be leaving us alone once the rankings are announced." He pushes me backward and my fingertips skim the table, holding me up. I hold my tongue between my teeth to stop myself from screaming as he stomps away.
Harmonie raises a brow at me. "What was that? What's his problem with you?" I let out a sigh.
"Why is Peter in the infirmary?" Emily presses. I shrug.
"You'll find out later," I tell them, but they won't be finding out later. Either because I won't tell them, or because I will no longer be in Dauntless.
We decide to head to the dormitories immediately.
***
When we arrive, there are a couple people waiting outside. I see Kathleen and Ollie are waiting outside, and they look at us when we pass.
Do they not want to know their futures just yet?
We walk straight past them and into the dormitories.
It is pretty packed when we get inside, but I see Four with a chalkboard leaning against his legs.
"For those of you that have just arrived," He continues to explain, "I'm explaining how the ranks are determined." The door opens again as Kathleen and Ollie walk through.
"After the first round of fights, we ranked you according to skill level. The number of points you earn depends on your skill level and the skill level of the person you beat. You earn more points for improving and more points for beating someone of a high skill level. Although, I don't reward preying on the weak, for that is cowardice."
I wipe my hands on my pants. The door creaks again as Rhett returns with Peter, shoving past me and the others to get to the front. Everyone glances at Peter in shock but he just scowls as Four glares at them for a moment before continuing.
"If you have a high rank, you lose points when losing to a low-ranked opponent. The last fight has made one of the biggest impacts on your ranking." Four says. "Stage Two is weighed more heavily than stage one because it is more closely tied with overcoming cowardice." So Uriah was right.
"That said, it is extremely difficult to rank high at the end of initiation if you have ranked low in stage one." That's just great. If my rank is as bad as I imagine, I will be out by the end of stage two. My pulse increases and I duck my head.
"The fact that you are transfers and the Dauntless-born initiates are not will not be taken into consideration. Four of you could be factionless and none of them or four of them could be factionless and none of you. Or any combination."
Four pauses, before speaking again. "Anyone below the red line will be factionless. With that said, here are your ranks."
He hangs the board on a hook and steps to the side. At first, I don't look at it, but then I do:
