Writer Games: The Final Twist & A Night in Wattpad Manor & Faction Wattpad

The Betrayal: Arin Freestone

I'm in court. It's a  surreal experience, though to be honest not one that ever crossed my  mind as impossible; not after that incident involving the fence and my  determination to run away. Sitting in the gallery overlooking the  courtroom, myself and the rest of my group of Dauntless initiates-no,  Dauntless members, we're members now-are grouped. Trey sits beside me,  and though I can feel the frustration emanating from him at being out of  the running for president, nothing can quell the utmost elation we are  feeling at finally being allowed to experience the relief of both being  members together. Together. The word, kept at bay by the events of that  day among the factionless, sends little tingles up my spine. Right now  it means friendship. It could mean so much more.

The defendant is brought  in, hidden from view by the Dauntless guards flanking them on either  side. Even craning my neck to see doesn't give me a better view, and I  turn to Trey to ask him if he recognises whoever it is. His face is a  sickly white colour. As the guards step back and reveal who it is, I  realise why. It's David. Cheeks haggard and skin sapped of any life or  colour, he stands in the dock a ghost of his former self. I shudder and  retch as the crime of which he is accused is read out by the judge.

"David Freestone, you  stand here today convicted of sabotaging vital serum research on behalf  of a known rebel group. Do you deny the charge?"

Impossible, David's  words reach my ears, driving straight through a fog of white static to  allow me to hear them. He does not deny the charge. Clear and clipped,  they carry to all corners of the courtroom and gallery. I know that the  punishment for such a crime is exile to the factionless, and then I  realise why they sent us on that visit earlier. They wanted to show us  what it was our family member would be facing. They wanted to show us  where they would be going once they left us. And I have no idea why they  would want to do that.

It's like I've been hit  full in the stomach with a pile of heavy books. I slump backwards and  lean against the back of the hard bench we're sitting on, hand against  my mouth. Trey looks at me, and the gaze I receive is full of nothing  but sympathy. I feel his hand squeeze mine, and a tickling blush colours  my cheeks. His are lit up like fires, and the grip is loosened,  suddenly making my hand seem very cold. I take his back, and both our  faces flush as bright as the t-shirt of the Amity girl seated a few  places away from me.

The lawyer for the  prosecution, some Erudite guy balancing round wire-rimmed glasses on the  end of his long nose, is cross-examining David and I sit up to watch  and listen to my brother's fate. I know what will happen at the end of  this trial-our trials are always short, seeing as they would never take  someone to court if they weren't certain of that person's guilt-and I'm  ready for it. They'll ask if anyone in the audience would like to  protest against the charge levelled at the accused. Sometimes they'll  take character statements, things like that, though those are usually  useless in a case where the defendant has admitted to the charge. And he  has.

I just don't know how David could have said yes.

Tears are threatening to  spill over the edges of my eyelids, and I brush them away angrily.  Dauntless don't cry, not for things like this. Faction before blood, and  all that. The phrase sense icy chills down my spine, and I stiffen.  Faction before blood, the phrase that has been drilled into me ever  since I could understand what it meant. Will my readiness to stand up  for my brother, one in a different faction to myself and standing  accused of rebellion be seen as less than total commitment to Dauntless?  I'm a Dauntless member now, and I can't have that snatched away from me  just as it falls into my greedy hands. I can't lose this. I can't lose  Trey.

I look at him, face set  and staring at my brother, hand loosely wrapped around my own. I look at  David, stoical and pale in his obvious guilt. I have to choose. My  faction or my brother.

David or Trey.

And I don't know who.

The logical side of me,  the side that tells me simulations are real and dissects every scenario  place in front of me tells me to look at how much they mean to me, weigh  up the pros and cons. And I don't. I don't do what my brain instructs, I  don't follow the side that tells me to go with my family, those who  have raised me and taken care of me, I don't heed the part that wants me  to think of myself and my own future. I don't do anything, I just look  at that face, the face that means so much to me, more than I ever  realised until it's about to be pulled from under me. And when the time  comes, when the judge asks for those who want to give character  statements...

I do nothing.

***

Many hours later I'm  sitting on the edge of the chasm, feet dangling over the edge. Soft rain  is plastering my hair and clothes to my skin, but I don't care. I just  let my brother be exiled to the factionless. As the looks from the rest  my family, pleading and confused as they demanded for David's release  focused on me, I didn't stand up. I didn't do anything as they led him  away to his new life among those without hope. I buried my face in  Trey's chest and sobbed as Kevyn, a pebble in the sea of black-clad  Dauntless, spat my feet, calling me a traitor and a coward. He said he  didn't know who I was, but I was not his sister.

The tears come then,  splashing one by one onto the rock I'm sitting on. Their sounds, a tiny  tintinnabulation among the symphony of rainfall breaks into my silence  like a simple trial smashed family ties. My dignified weeping gives way  to sobs, racking my body as I bury my head in my hands and wonder how I  could ever, ever, do what I just did. I just abandoned David for Trey.  He better be worth it.

"Hey."

I whirl around, focusing  on the noise and see him, tall and leanly silhouetted against the  shadows of the city. I rise, slowly brushing away the tears and hoping  he didn't see me cry.

"Hey," I reply, sniffling a bit, "I...I wasn't crying, just then. It's only, the rain, giving..."

"Ssh."

Trey places a finger to  my lips, and as I open them to say something, they're closed for my by  his, brushing against my mouth. The kiss takes me by surprise, and  tremors course through my body as I breathe in more of him; his smell,  the hard bulging muscles beneath his dark t-shirt. I kiss him back, and  tell him what I never could have before now. In the driving rain, in a  frenzy of kisses, my choice is finally made.

I choose Trey.

And he is definitely worth it.