Rebellant

Finding Family

Disclaimer: Veronica Roth is the owner of the fabnegation Divergent series. She owns all the characters in this fanfic except for Gabriella and her 'mom', and other characters. Enjoy! 😜
Another boring day.
I peel my eyes open, rubbing the sleep out them. I'm so tired that I just fall back onto the floor. You see, I'm factionless. My mom and I don't have a proper house, but we managed to find an unoccupied room in an abandoned store. We wrap mouldy, moth-eaten blankets around us and sometimes there is some slowly expiring food lurking in the corners and on the decaying shelves for us to eat.
I try opening my eyes again but I can't. I could sleep forever.
Suddenly, I feel a finger prodding my shoulder. I sigh and attempt yet again to open my eyes. I can see my mother, smiling.
"Happy birthday. Sweet 16." She grins. She's got a few teeth missing.
"Is it my birthday?" I yawn.
"It's somewhere around this time." She shrugs.
I hug her. I love my Mom.
"Gabriella." She pulls away. She looks sad.
"Mom, are you-"
"I'm fine, Gabby." She sighs.
I look at her, sternly.
"Mom, something is wrong." I say fiercely. "And you're telling me."
"God, you're so stubborn!" Mom laughs.
I glare at her. She immediately stops and clears her throat.
"Okay, I have something to tell you. Don't get upset, or mad..."
"Just tell me." I pout.
"Fine." She clears her throat again. It's almost like she doesn't want to tell me. "Gabby... I'm not your real mother."
And everything froze. All was silent. I couldn't move. This isn't real, it can't be real, surely not...
I'm going to wake up, with the stinking blanket around my twisted torso, with Mom still prodding at me, it's my birthday, but it's still a normal day, nothing bad.
Gabby, wake up.
Gabby, wake up now.
Wake up, Gabby. Get out your dream.
Why are you not waking up?!
It's because I can't.
This isn't a dream.
It's reality. It's the horrible, dreadful truth.
"You're lying." My voice escapes cracked, distorted.
"I'm not." 'Mom' says, wiping away a tear.
I knew that.
But I still had to clarify.
"H-how?" I mumble. "How?"
"I heard screaming." My 'mom' starts to explain. "I looked out and I saw your mother giving birth to you. I was going to assist her, but you were already out. You were blue, stone cold. Your mother must have thought you were dead because she left you. Then I realised you were breathing and well, and I took you in."
She smiles.
"Who was my mother?" I ask.
"I've seen her lots. I'm pretty sure she leads the factionless." She furrows her eyebrows, trying to think. "Her name... Is Evelyn Johnson."
Evelyn Johnson.
My mother.
I've heard of her before. I think I saw her once. Brunette, hooked nose, deep brown eyes.
My mother.
"And where is she?" I question. "I want to see her."
"I don't know where she is." Mom replies.
"Well I'm going to find her." I start to get up. "I'll search the whole city if I have to."
Without another word, I walk into the cool outside air.
The wind snaps my clothes. I'm wearing a Dauntless jacket, and baggy Amity trousers, which keep slipping down my waist and I have to keep pulling them up. My Abnegation sneakers click clack on the pavement, my brown hair blows into my mouth.
I walk for a while, my hand resting on the buildings next to me. I realise walking isn't going to get me anywhere, so I break into a jog. Then a run.
Where could my mother be?
The wind is slowly getting stronger and stronger. I find it hard to run, to even balance on my feet. It gets so powerful that I fall back.
"Ow!" I yell as I fall ungracefully onto my backside.
I try to get up again. I manage to stand for about a second before the wind knocks me back again, this time onto my back. My head smashes on the hard pavement. I can smell blood.
I grit my teeth and scream in pain. No one can hear me though - this part of the city is abandoned.
Or so I think.
I see a figure as everything turns black...