Rampant: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Two) ©

Chapter 9

                “Sage!”

               I paused mid-step, leaving the door to my room open as I craned my head to see who’d called to me. After having my talk with Banks, I’d gone down to the Cage and reluctantly informed them of my job reassignment. Surprisingly, most of them had been happy for me. Even Marko, who I suspected had only complained because it was what everyone expected of him, had obviously appeared relieved.

               “Dan?” I asked, shocked to see him so soon; he’d hidden from me before, and I’d assumed it would’ve taken longer for him to cool off and come talk to me.

               “Hey,” he said as he jogged up and leaned against my doorframe. “So, Banks had a talk with you?”

               I frowned a little; there was a different sort of tone in Dan’s voice. I looked at him, and though is posture and voice seemed nonchalant, I could sense that he was wound up. Could it be that he was still upset about the train incident?

               “Yeah,” I said; drawing the word out slowly. I stepped back and continued into my room, throwing the manila packet onto my bed. “How did you know?”

               “I heard what Marko said to you,” he confessed. “Then I saw you walk out of that office Banks always uses.”

               “So you were following me?” I asked. “Again?”

               “Yeah,” he admitted with an offhanded shrug. “I was curious.”

               “Well it was nothing important,” I hedged. Something was terribly wrong, it was like the calm before the storm.

               “Oh?” Dan mused, picking at his nails as he spoke. “So what did he want then?”

               I sighed, and then nodded my head in the direction of my bed where the little package sat untouched.

               “I’ve been reassigned,” I frowned.

               “Uh-huh, where to?”

               I froze; that cadence in his voice was foreign. Dan, my best-friend, he was trying to lie to me. Why? What could ever possess him to want to do that? He was the most honest person I knew, and not just because he’d been raised in candor, but because that’s how he liked to be; it was in his nature.

               “Not sure,” I said slowly, waiting for any sign that would tell me I was wrong. He couldn’t be lying; there was no reason to, not with me.

               “Well then, I suggest you check that out immediately Sage,” he said in clipped words; his attempts to hide his deceit were failing, and I could see his composure breaking. His body was practically vibrating with restrained anger. “You better read it soon too, you wouldn’t want to be a bad instructor to this year’s initiates now would you?”

               “What?” I stammered, my face going blank.

               “I mean, that wouldn’t be fair to them at all, and think of how it would look on your records. You wouldn’t want to jeopardize their and your future now would you?”

               I spun on my heel and ripped the flap off of the large envelope, horror making my heart beat frantically. Like a maniac, I began leafing through page after page of the manual titled; Initiate Addendum/Syllabus. My eyes flashed up, and I saw Dan’s all-too-perceptive gaze resting on me.