A Different Divergent: Everyday Love

29

Chapter 29

"Hey, baby," I say as I stick my head through Tobias' office door. It's almost 11:30, and I'm beyond starving. Unfortunately, the two huge cinnamon rolls I had this morning didn't hold me as long as they normally do. If I don't eat soon, I can't be held accountable for my actions. I'm going to gain so much weight this pregnancy, I just know it. Tobias is sitting at his desk intently staring at his computer screen, and I'm not sure he knows that I'm standing here. "Yoo-hoo! Do you want to have lunch at home or would you rather go down to the cafeteria and eat with our friends?" I've spent the past few hours reading over the incident reports from the fight in the Pit this morning that Will and James sent up just like Tobias asked me to and logging them into the official record. That technically didn't need to be done until next week but I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and get a head start for once.

"Can you lock the door, love?" he asks instead of answering my question. "I need to show you something and get your take on it."

"Okay," I say as I step through the door, close it behind me, and flip the lock.

"No, come here," he says as I start to sit in one of the office chairs across from him. I straighten up then join him behind his computer. I glance at the monitor and on it sits a frozen picture of Hector and a person I don't know but who looks oddly familiar. "Watch this video then tell me what you see."

"Okay." He pulls me onto his lap, wraps his arms around me, and rests his chin on my shoulder. He reaches forward, presses a button on the keyboard, and the still picture on the monitor rewinds then comes to life right before me. Unfortunately, this particular camera doesn't have sound so we have to guess what precisely is going on. The video looks to be taken in one of the many hallways that vine off the Pit floor but it's hard to say exactly which one since they all look alike.

Hector leisurely rounds a blind corner into the camera range followed shortly by a tall, broad man with sandy blonde hair and no visible tattoos or piercings. Hector looks relaxed until he sees the obviously unwelcomed company then he visibly tenses. The big man invades Hector's space, talking at him quite animatedly, waving his hands around but he never touches him. It's hard to guess what's going through Hector's mind because his back is mostly to the camera so we can't see his facial expressions. Is he frustrated, angry, frightened, nervous? I can't tell by his body language alone but nervous seems high on the list of possibilities. Suddenly, the big man steps forward and pushes his index finger into Hector's chest three times then turns and walks away. When he's out of frame, Hector's shoulders sag and he collapses against the wall. It looks like he's trying to catch his breath. When he turns around, his face is set in determination but I definitely see anxiety, fear, and fury in his eyes. He takes a few steps then disappears from view.

"This was approximately 45 minutes before the fight by the chasm took place," Tobias says. "What do you think?"

"Can you play it again?" I ask.

"Of course," he says as he reaches out and hits the replay button.

"If I'm reading this situation correctly, I would say Hector is being bullied," I say after letting the video fully sink in. "I'm not entirely sure why but it kind of reminds me of when Tyler was bullied by Bobby. He relentlessly picked on poor Tyler so Tyler took his frustrations out on his friends. Do you think Hector is feeling powerless against whoever that is and is taking his frustrations out on us?"

"That's exactly what I thought when I saw this," he says.

"Do we have any idea who that is?" I ask.

"No clue," he says, "but don't you think he looks a lot like the eye witness descriptions of the man who fell into the chasm. He's even wearing the same kind of shirt that was fished out of the river."