Brick by Brick (BDTW #2)

Chapter 4

Hi guys! 

Yes, i'm a little late with the update :/ sorry bout that. 

But this is a really long chapter and it's very exciting and you guys will probably either love me or hate me by the end. Hold on tight!!!!

CHAPTER 4

I step into the room. It's all cement, and smells like rust and sweat. I can't see anyone outside. Just gray stone, graffiti that says Dauntless in colourful letters, and my breath slightly fogging. It's so cold in here. Or is it my imagination?

It is. The room gets colder, and colder, until I''m shivering and rubbing my arms. All around me is thick snow, and I'm now in almost nothing. The clothes I wore before have fallen away, and I'm only in a sports bra and short blue shorts. All around me are banks of snow with no escape of the cold.

I can almost feel my lips turning purple, just as much as I can't feel my fingers and toes. I need to calm down. Find a way out of this. I won't let the panic take me.

How do you get rid of snow? Heat.

I picture a little lighter in my back pocket, a perfect little lighter with tons of butane in it so I don't run out. When I pat my right back pocket, I feel a lump. I pull it out.

I dig through the snow and find the torch I imagined a few moments ago. In a swift move, I crack the lighter, pour a bit of the butane on the torch and leave enough to light up the rest.

The flame sparks to life and I have a nice little torch for myself. My fingers thaw out and the snow melts away automatically. That wasn't that hard. Not as much panic involved.

Once the snow is gone, everything is. There is no light, there is nothing. Only the sound of my unsteady breaths and irregular heart beat. I swallow hard. Darkness.

In the empty void it's hard to decipher what's where, so I don't dare take a step anywhere, in fear of falling or hitting something. The easiest thing: wait for it to pass.

I sit down (I think I do) and cross my legs, setting my hands on my thighs. I close my eyes. I breathe deeply. It's not as bad as it seems when my eyes are closed. It's like it's all a dream. I just hold on to the thought of Patrick, how he'll be waiting for me outside the room, how he'll smile and tell me congratulations. How he'll wrap me in his arms. I just hold on to those thoughts. I smile.

When I open my eyes, the light is back. Too bright though. It's the sun. I look down, and I'm in the black sludge again. Instead of trying to find the island, I take a deep breath and push myself under. It's like swimming but slowed down, moving twice as slow as you're supposed to. I will the sludge to become water, and when I open my eyes, the sludge is blue. I move normally.

I swim towards the bottom. Bass gave me some strategies last night. He said you either had to face them or lower your heart rate. The only way to face them, for example, if you're afraid or drowning, then swim deeper. I'm not afraid or drowning, but I'm guessing that maybe if I swam deeper, the simulation would move on.

Suddenly, I hit the bottom, but it's not sand, it's wood. And a handle. I pull on the handle a few times, and when it opens up, that whole 'Lake' drains in a matter of seconds.

I sputter and cough a few times, trying to shove water into my lungs as quickly as possible. My body aches from the lack of oxygenation, but recovers quickly as I see someone emerge from the darkness. When I focus on the walls, I see that everything is gray. Gray bed covers, gray walls, gray chair, dark oak desk. It's my room. I look down, and I'm still in my Dauntless clothes, yet I'm in Abnegation. The figure at the door is Marcus.