Enliven - Divergent Fanfic

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Tris

 

I breathed in and out as I stood in front of the bathroom mirror in my trousers and bra, my shirt discarded on the floor.

I hadn’t looked at my reflection yet. I was too scared of what I would see. Clenching my jaw I flicked my eyes up.

The girl looking back at me had pale skin and her cheeks had hollowed out a fair bit. Dark circles lined her eyes and her lips were dry and cracked. There was still a spark in her eye and it was still me. Just worn down I guess.

Picking up the needle and syringe, I felt a warning in the back of my mind. This is the reason why you looked so defeated my subconscious yelled at me. I brushed the thought away and inserted the needle into my upper arm. My body welcomed the familiar sting of the needle as the liquid joined my bloodstream.

This has been my routine for the past 4 days. Inserting the next serum that will, and I quote ‘perform miracles’. So far I’m not sure if I agree.

The new serum that I am testing is called the Nourishment Serum. It is supposed to give your body the right amount of food and water for twenty-four hours. And I say supposed to because I don’t think it gives you enough.

I feel like I haven’t properly eaten in 4 days, my mouth feels like sandpaper and I have lost a lot of weight.

Before I didn’t think this serum testing was going to affect me, but I am definitely wrong. It has been great, seeing and knowing what I can withstand, but I think I might have to stop this serum. Usually I would never give in, I thank Dauntless for that, but just this once, I might have to.

I make my way to the lab, hoping to find either Lucas or Maisie. I do not want to confront Katherine; she would never give me any sympathy.

Sadly, as I knock lightly, I see Katherine approaching the door. I sigh inwardly.

This will not be fun.

“Tris! What are you doing here?” fake surprise seems laced into her tone.

“There’s a problem with this serum.” I say bluntly.

“Whatever could be the problem, are you saying there is a fault in the serum?” she looks quite offended.

“No, well yes, can’t you see how it has affected me?”

Her eyes shift around my face, taking in the slight deterioration.

“No, not really.” I can tell she knows I’ve picked up on her lie.

“Come on Katherine, you’re a bright woman and I don’t appreciate being lied to, tell me the truth.” My voice comes out much more calm and intimidating than I thought it would.

“Well I don’t appreciate someone criticising my work.” Her tone is sharp.

We stare at each other for a moment, sizing each other up. Tension is thick in the air.

“I am not criticising your work, I am just asking if you can maybe double check it in case there are any problems.”

Katherine’s cold, narrowed eyes regarded me like I was dirt on the bottom of her shoe. I wanted to throw knives at her head like Tobias did to me, but I would actually make sure they stuck in her head.

My daydream of impaling Katherine with throwing knives was cut short when she impatiently and rudely said, “Did you hear me?”

Sorry I was too busy imagining knives in your head.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, fine, but don’t think we won’t just let this slide Miss Prior. You can stop taking the serum.”

I sighed in relief, no more stupid injections.

“Thank you.” And with that, left Katherine staring after me.

-           -           -

I stopped to get some stuff for the apartment and some clothes on my way home. I stuck to mainly black and dark clothes, I guess Dauntless traditions never really go away.

When I entered the apartment, Tobias was sitting on the couch with something that looked like a piece of medical equipment.

He glanced up when I walked in and put the bags down.

“Hey, is something wrong?” I asked him cautiously.

His palm opened to reveal the needle, syringe and small vial of Nourishment serum from this morning.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

a/n ooo cliffhanger!!1!!1!!!1 i just couldnt help myself ya know

umm quick update bc sweg

its gonna get interesting now yayayaya

anyways yeah umm i cant remember what i was gonna say oops

oh! tysm for 23.5k you dont know how much that means to me like when i started writing this story i never thought that i would ever get this many reads, its crazy! so thank you soooo much ily all

- kaitlyn Xx