Bite Me || Eric Coulter Fanfic - Divergent

22. You're wrong

The next time I open my eyes, I'm in a small room. I can barely stretch my arms without touching the four walls.

I don't remember claustrophobia being one of my fears.

I think to myself as I spin around, trying to find a way out.

And then I hear it. It starts off as a seemingly distant sound, like rain hitting a window. Then, all too quickly, the sound intensifies, like angry waves hitting the shore.

The tiny box I'm in is quickly filling up with water.

Drowning alive; that's definitely one of my fears, mainly because I didn't have many experiences with water in Amity.

Momentarily, I panic. I wonder if this is how I join my parents and aunt and uncle. The water is steadily rising, intensifying my anxiety. It's cold, so cold that apart from numbing my legs, it's also numbing my thoughts.

But then, like the light at the end of a tunnel, a sliver of determination shines through.

Taking a deep breath, careful not to accidentally inhale some of the water, I survey my surroundings. The room is dark and the water makes it hard to discern anything useful, but the flow must originate from somewhere, right?

I dive towards the bottom of the box and after taking off my jacket, I stuff it forcefully into a pipe from which the water is pouring out.

When I open my eyes again, I'm laying down in a glass box so narrow that my nose nearly touches the top. I can't move a muscle without hitting the walls of the glass container.

If the suffocating feeling of confinement wasn't enough, I soon realize why I'm experiencing this. Seemingly millions of tiny needles can be heard, drawing nearer and nearer.

Insects and arachnids.

They surround me, climbing on top of me, over my eyes, nose, mouth. If I were on the outside, just listening in, I would mistake the sound for rain visciouly tapping on glass.

The only reason why I'm not hyperventilating is because I don't want to swallow any of them.

Closing my eyes tightly, I begin to move my hands as much as I can. By now, the box has filled with insects to the brim, so I have to plunge my hands in the sea of creatures to find anything useful. Suddenly, my fingers make content with a paper box.

Praying that it contains matches, I bring the box closer to my chest and blindly open it.

Success! The box is filled with matches, as far as my sense of touch can tell.

Quickly, I light a match and the small space is immediately filled with the ear-splitting sound of screeching insects being scorched.

The third time I open my eyes I'm in a pitch black room; only a sole light above me illuminates the space.

I slowly look from left to right, trying to understand what I need to do.

"Worthless"
"Coward"
"Useless"

Three separate voices can be heard.

I nearly get whiplash trying to locate where the voices are coming from.

And then I see them; Callum and two of his "friends". They're looking at me with such hatred that I nearly take a step back. Their eyes are bloodshot and each man is sporting a menacing sneer. They keep repeating the demeaning words.