Defection to Abnegation

Chapter 2

Eric Coulter: 18 years & 2 months old

Beatrice Prior: 17 years & 8 months old

-o0o-ERIC-o0o-

"Divergent!" I hear someone hiss in my ear. I twist to look around me but see no one. I'm just standing in my bedroom. No one should be here except myself and maybe William.

Andrew Prior's face appears in front of me and he hisses, "Divergence is dangerous!"

Turning around abruptly brings me face to face with my mother's celery green eyes. The eyes that once held love and mischief are now filled with fear. "You had Dauntless, Erudite and Abnegation aptitudes."

My father whispers something in my brother's ear. "Divergent!" This is getting strange. Why are they whispering when it's clear I can hear them. And how in the world do they know about my Divergence?

I blink and this time my sister appears to stare at me emotionlessly as she ties me on an exam table. Thrashing around in order to free myself, a cold voice says, "It's fascinating! Eric himself is a Divergent rebel."

My sister's face morphes into Jeanine's and a cold voice that my mind registers as the Erudite leader herself echoes, "Kill him! Kill him..." More and more voices join her mantra demanding to kill me.

I shake my head and the voices grow louder and louder making me close my eyes. And...

I wake up with a start. It was just a dream. I hadn't gotten any dreams since I was very young, six or seven I guess. But, this wasn't a dream. It was a Nightmare.

Andrew Prior's warning is ringing clearly in my mind. "Take the secret of your Divergence to your grave Eric. Trust no one ever!"

I hold my head, willing the voices to fade. I just want to forget about it. Just want to ignore the impending death threat hanging over my head. Divergence is very dangerous, as Jeanine's research has proved. They don't fit in only one faction, therefore their loyalty is hard to determine and they are uncontrollable. Jeanine wants control, so she secretly experiments on Divergents if they are ever found and most of them don't survive their harsh treatment as lab rats, in order to make serums that work on Divergents. That's why, if Jeanine discovers you are Divergent, you have a one way ticket to your death.

I get out of my bed and decide to take a shower first to calm my racing thoughts. And also because I may be expecting the shower to wash my divergence away. It's impossible. Me, a Divergent?

After a long, warm shower, I get dressed up in my training gear which I have been given for the sole purpose of my Dauntless training, as I have been feeling a lot lighter after the obvious realization.

It must have been a technical fault of the aptitude testing machine.

I make my way to Jeanine Matthew's office and knock a couple of times. "Come in!" her voice calls and I do just that.

"So, what brings my favorite dependent here may I ask?" She says it like a request but I know it's an order in disguise of politeness.

"I came to review our plans for one last time," I tell her and a hint of a smile appears on her face. Uh, why does she have to smile like that all the time. It looks kinda creepy. I only came here to look like I was not running away from her cause, because if she got suspicious about my loyalty, it can get really bad.

"Very well, Eric. Start from the beginning."

"I will be choosing Dauntless at the ceremony and will go through initiation and achieve the top rank. Due to my eligibility, Dauntless head leader, Max will be forced to offer me the position. I will start my leader-in-training program all the while convincing the leaders and other important people that Divergents are dangerous monsters who are not loyal to one faction therefore they should be eliminated. Being the lazy and reckless people they are, they will follow your plan and provide alliance. We will inject all members with control serum under the disguise of safety trackers which will ensure that they will participate in the overthrow of Abnegation as a mindless, armed army with Abnegation being none the wiser." I finish, reciting from memory of our previous meetings.