#FINE FINE ILL DRAW SOMETHING OTHER THAN AMITY!!!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lonewolfel · 1 year

Text

Phylogeny: Chapter 4

Read on AO3

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

The being, this Collector explained how they were going to play a game that King, her kid, told them about that was named after her house.

Then suddenly her, the CATTs, and some random wild witches that had managed to escape Belos were in the basement of her house. They all looked around at each other in confusion.

"EDA!" King called out. She turned around and spotted the little titan. Eda rushed forward and hugged him. Relieved to see him mostly safe. He had a cut on his head but Eda could deal with it as soon as everyone is safe and away from whatever this is. Speaking of everyone...

"Where is Luz?" Eda asked with a frown.

"And Hunter." Darius tagged on. King looked down in shame.

"They're in the human realm," King said. This earned a sharp intake of air from Darius and Raine.

"Well, we can go get them," Eda said.

"The uhm portal was destroyed by the Collector." King stuttered. Well, that is a setback but she could deal with that. They could always grab Luz's notes and make their own. Besides, that had to be the safest place for them right now with the Collector and possibly Belos hanging around.

"It's fine we will just build another one. Luz was close to getting one to work." Eda reassured herself more than anyone else.

"Where's your arm?" King asked. Raine rubbed their neck with a look of both guilt and relief.

"Long story. Let's focus on getting out of here." Eda said.

"Wait you know that symbol we found where you found me," King said.

"Vaguely," Eda admitted.

"Of course. I have never seen anything like that before." Lilith pipped in.

"It hides the wearer from the Collector," King told them. He then drew the symbol on the ground.

"Are you sure?" Raine asked.

"When I first encountered the Collector he couldn't see me. When I took off my collar he was able to. Though it doesn't do anything for noise." King explained.

The group began to draw the symbol onto their articles of clothing, well except for Darius and King.

"Absolutely not." Darius protested.

"Don't you want to be hidden from the Collector?" Raine asked.

"And get dirty, absolutely not." Darius huffed. Eberwolf took it upon themself to scramble up Darius. This left a series of dusty and muddy pay prints all over him. There was a look of pure anger at this. Everyone laughed.

"Looks like you are already dirty." Eda chuckled.

"Fine." Darius snarled. He began to draw the symbol on his cape. Eda handed King a piece of purple fabric with the symbol drawn on it. King quickly recognized Luz's old witch's wool cloak. He quickly put it on.

"What exactly happened?" Raine asked.

"Uhhhh..." King stuttered. Eda knew that something bad had happened.

"King," Eda said sternly. King flinched slightly.

"So Me, Luz, Hunter, Willow, and Gus all went to get Amity. We did but she wanted to confront her parents cause she was sure that they didn't know what Belos's plan is. So they did and left me behind. I found a trail of Hex-mix so I followed it. Alador was there instead of being with his wife." King started

"Of course he was." Darius cut in. This earned him glares from all the adults present.

"He complained about her for a while and then I told him what Belos's plans were and he was horrified." King continued ignoring the head witch's interruption. "He agreed to help. All the while Luz and everyone else had been captured by Odalia and Kikimora."

"WHAT?" Both Raine and Darius exclaimed. Everyone looked over at them. They both had looks of worry and looked slightly ill.

"Well Alador freed them and told her about Belos's plan but she already knew about it. Then began to fight with Odalia. Kikimora got fed up with this and captured Hunter. We tried to get him back but we couldn't. We were going to go get him at skull but then it was revealed that Luz had Gus cast an illusion over her and Hunter so that they would switch places. So Kikimora really had Luz." King explained hesitantly.

"Of course she did." Eda sighed. It was just like her reckless, selfless, human to switch places with one of her friends to go to Belos instead of them. It didn't make her feel any better but it at least it explained why they were near the portal.

"We all went after on a blimp. Odalia told the Emperor's Coven what happened cause we were attacked and shot down. I was knocked unconscious in the crash it's kind of blurry." King said. Eda looked at the little demon in concern.

"Are you ok?" Eda asked

"We managed to get to the skull." King continued without answering the question. This broke her heart. "Luz and Belos were fighting. Willow, Hunter, and Gus went to help her but they wouldn't let me. I got knocked off the platform when it shook and I ran into Kikimora who was thrown down there by Belos. She told me that Belos can't stop the Day of Unity only the Collector can. So she showed me where the Collector's disk was. I tricked the Collector into helping us against Belos but I had to free him. I made up a game and made up rules for it. The Collector stopped the Day of Unity and I think he killed Belos."

Eda surged forward and hugged the little demon. She had hoped that by sending Luz and him to the Blight Mannor that they would be safe but that wasn't what happened. It turned out that they would be in worse danger than any of them.

"Willow spotted the portal." King continued. "It was our only escape. But the Collector was unintentionally ripping the portal apart. Luz went to hold it together with her vines. She wanted to stay to make sure that you were ok. Then the Collector began to levitate me towards them. Luz wouldn't let me go. So with a blast of magic, I sent her through the portal and it was destroyed. Sorry."

"They're safe that's the important part. And we'll figure out this Collector. Build a new portal. We'll figure this out." Eda said. She wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure, herself or King.

"King! Where are you?" The Collector called out. Everyone froze and held their breath. Eda clutched King tighter to her in fear that The Collector would rip him from her arms. The powerful star kid looked around but didn't see their group. "Wow, you're a really good hider." With that, they moved on. They remained silent for a while not daring to breathe.

"We need to get out of here before they come back," Lilith said

"Let's hope that they didn't also replicate Hooty," Eda said. Hooty made noises of distress and Lilith patted his head in reassurance.

Eda and Lilith lead the CATTs through the house making sure not to run into other confused individuals or the being.

~~~

A red bird flew over to discarded debris. They began to peck at the debris as if that would suddenly put it back together or even activated, but it just sat there. The bird let out a series of sad and concerned frantic chirps that no one heard.

That the one person that they wanted to hear couldn't for they were gone. Far away and unreachable.

#owl house #the owl house #eda the owl lady #toh king #darius #lillith clawthorne #raine whispers #toh #fan fiction #fanfic

1 note · View note

the-erudite-library · 6 years

Text

The Fateless Chapter 2: The Test

Read on AO3

The tests begin after lunch. I won’t be taking any of my afternoon classes today so I’ll have plenty of time to think about my choice. We mostly did nothing in class; one would think that the teachers would want to cram all they could into one last lesson because for some of us this will be our last day of school for the rest of our lives, but that would be wrong. It was mostly just parting words and free time. This was everyone else's last day of the school year too, but they'll be back again and they also got to leave before lunch. We're stuck here until at least the end of the school day barring some sort of illness or injury. No one knows what the test because we’re not supposed to be told, so none of us know what to expect.

I sit between Casey and my other friend; Elizabeth Reynolds, known to most as Eliza. Eliza is a bit arrogant to say the very least. She always has been, but it’s not like she doesn’t have a reason to be. She’s is highly intelligent and has a knack for navigating life with a certain sensibility and grace that I could never amount to. She radiates elegance in every aspect of her life, a product of her upbringing I guess – though that just raises the question why I can’t be like that because we grew up together. Like Casey and I, Eliza was born to powerful people. Her father, Jason, is a very well-respected researcher in his field and works very closely with the head of the head of the pharmacology department. Her mother, Cynthia, owns the largest makeup company in the city; it’s branched out from just being an Erudite business to opening a shop in City Center where people of all factions can go.

In some ways, Eliza reminds me a lot of Melanie. Melanie’s kind of arrogant too but totally has a reason to be to be with how smart she is, and Eliza has that same drive to know everything that they can about everything. But Eliza’s greatest interests lie in chemistry and software engineering, both careers that Erudite always needs new people in.

I met Eliza when we were seven at one of my parents’ many dinner parties after the adults shooed away the kids so they could drink and talk without being disturbed. I like her a lot; I always have. She’s funny and she’s got this energy about her that repulses some and draws in others. She’s one of the really competitive Erudite, but neither of us really feel like we have to compete with each other or Casey. We’re all totally secure in our friendship and we all know where we stand. It’s not that Casey and I aren’t smart enough to keep up with Eliza because we definitely are, it’s just that neither of us really want to compete against her like others do. She is our dearest friend and we’re all just really invested in supporting each other. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for either of them, all that they have to do ask. And I know for certain that they feel the same about me.

Eliza twirls a lock of her silky black hair around her finger as she talks, her voice laced with haughty contempt. “Dahlia doesn’t know what she’s talking about and I’m more than happy to set her right if she would only get off her high horse and listen.”

Eliza holds a particular disdain quite a few classmates of ours and from what I know, there are many that feel the same about her. She speaks of Dahlia often, and I can’t say that I disagree with her. Like I said, some of the acquaintances I have are just terrible.

“She’s so arrogant,” Casey says. “And totally underserving.”

“Mhm.” Eliza nods in agreement. “I’m so sick of her acting like she’s better than me or something.”

“At least I’ll never have to see her again after today,” Casey says with a smile that contrasts the heavy nature of her statement that isn’t lost on Eliza and I. But we all knew that this day was coming; we’ve known for years that Casey would leave us and, like me, Eliza is just glad that she’s pursuing her own happiness.

“Ugh, Mimi and I are probably going to be stuck with her forever,” Eliza says with a roll of her eyes.

No one wants to discuss our choices without certainty. But I’m the only one of my friends without it. Eliza knows and has always known that Erudite is where she truly belongs. It suits her, she loves it here and she knows how to excel in way that sort of scares me. Casey has always known that she’s leaving and in recent months has begun to look toward Amity as her new home. I think that suits her too, I really do think that she’ll be happy there.

Casey and Eliza sort of assume that I’m staying because of how deeply tied to the place I am and I don’t have the nerve to tell them that I’m not sure. I want to tell them now, but there are too many other people around. I want to tell them now, but I don’t want Eliza to freak out. I want to tell them now, but I’m still not sure if I’m not going to stick around. I wish that this were simpler; I wish there was some sort of ‘idiot’s guide to choosing a faction’ or something, I think that would really help. Maybe the notion that knowing more would make my life easier means that I’m fated for Erudite. Maybe if I just keep repeating that I belong somewhere than eventually I will; maybe that’s just how it works for everyone.

I do not think that is how it works for everyone.

My lack of response creates a pocket of awkwardness as Eliza and Casey both look to me to laugh with them and join their casual disparaging of Dahlia’s character. Not that she doesn’t totally have it coming.

Before I can force the awkward laugh from my throat and stumble over an agreement of how much it will suck to always be around Dahlia all the time, I receive a text from my sister that gives me an excuse to look away. Melanie asks me to lunch after I’m done with testing and I tell her that that sounds lovely. I might even be able to get some advice on what to do from her. Of course, Melanie always knew who she was going to be and where she belonged, I remember her always saying ‘When I’m a member…’ like there was never any alternative because for her I suppose there wasn’t. I doubt there was one for Michael either; my reserved and studious brother who spent so much of his time holed up in his room studying long before he began initiation. Erudite is woven into the twins, and my parents, and Jeanine, and Eliza in a way that I wish it could be a part of me. I wish that I could just exude that energy, have that personality; I wish that I were just a little bit more like them so that I would know exactly what to do. They have all always known exactly what to do.

With Mark and Minerva my memories are always a little fuzzier. Honestly, I don’t remember a lot of Mark before he was getting close to leaving. I wasn’t around him like I was around the twins and I can’t really remember him acting really ‘like Amity’. He didn’t act like my parents, I remember that, but I also knew enough about people to know that everyone was different. I hear how faction transfers always seem a little off before they leave, but I never saw that with Mark and Minerva. Or maybe it was there and I was just too young to realize.

I wonder if they struggled with their choices like I’m struggling with mine now. I wonder if they fought what they were and my confusion is just me subconsciously suppressing who I really am. But I like to think that I would know if I were Candor or Amity.

All due respect to Minerva and whatever, but I am not terribly fond of Candor. In some ways I can appreciate how straightforward they are, but most of the time I find them to be loud and obnoxious. It’s always the Dauntless and the Candor that talk too much and cause too many distractions. I mean, Erudite also have a tendency to talk too much, that stereotype doesn’t come from nowhere, but at least we know what we’re talking about. Candor just tend to spew out whatever comes into their mind and Dauntless are just crass.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love Minerva and I do admire her work in Candor and I admire what Candor does for this city. But every Candor teenager I have ever met has been nothing short of extremely irritating. At least I know of one good Dauntless my age.

I glance over to where the Dauntless sit and spot her playing cards with a group of three others. She brushes her brown and gold, nearly gravity-defying curls away from her face only for the section to fall right back over her left eye. She notices me out of the corner of her eye and waves; I wave back and the others notice too. A little grin crosses Eliza’s face that she more than happily returns.

I met Kira Elysium when I was thirteen, which was when the others met her too. We were all just hanging around during the break in the park when Kira waltzed over to us and just sat down, jumping in on our conversation like we’d been friends for years. She’s as bold as she is compassionate and fits in with our little group very, very well. Of course, she has friends of her own in Dauntless who’s names escape me because I only seen them once or twice. She says she likes to think of her friendship with us like an alter ego, no pressure to be daring and out there; she can be as bookish and nerdy as she likes without anyone giving her shit for it. She isn’t terribly interested in Dauntless, but she seems endlessly enchanted and fascinated by Erudite. I think she knows what faction she’ll be choosing tomorrow too.

I know that most Dauntless aren’t Kira, that she’s a rarity, that she’s always been more Erudite than Dauntless and so I don’t base any of my opinions of them off of her. If I did then I’d probably think much better of them. Kira likes her birth faction well enough. She’s told us that she thinks it’s a fine place to be, but she never says much of it past that. I think that she’s is as scared of leaving as I am. Neither of us are like Casey; even though Kira seems to have fallen in love with Erudite she is still hesitant to make any commitments. Speaking of commitments, I know that she and Eliza have had a thing for each other for a while now. I know because they’ve both told me and both of them are aware that the other likes them back. But interfaction dating isn’t allowed and even if it were Eliza could never date a Dauntless, and like I said Kira is still not totally ready to jump ship yet. Even so, I don’t think that she’ll be staying there. I think that, if I stay, we’ll be seeing a lot of each other during initiation.

Her fascination with Erudite aside, Kira’s really crazy smart. I know that I’m smart, and I know that Casey and Eliza are smart, and I’m sure there are smart Dauntless, but Kira is on another level. Kira really is Erudite smart and if she were Erudite I think she would be some of Eliza’s greatest competition. She learns all that she does because she thinks it’s fun, because she enjoys the hands on work that she can do as much as she enjoys reading about things in the abstract. I know that she enjoys mechanics, that she volunteers at a Dauntless repair shop in her free time that her uncle worked for a while back. She really loves it, but as she says, it’s just a hobby; she doesn’t think that it will be something permanent.

If I could invite Kira over to sit with us, I would. I love talking to her because on top of everything else, she’s super witty too. Her quick humor and spur of the moment jokes are one of the many things that I love about her. But none of us are allowed to move from our tables and go interact with kids from other factions. For all that we’re supposed to coexist happily and interact, there sure are a lot of limits on just how we can interact with each other. All that we can do is sit with our respective factions and just do what we’re supposed to.

I look around at the other tables, first noticing the others that belong to my own faction. Everyone is either studying or talking. Some had enough foresight to bring a book that they actually want to read (i.e. literally anything besides the textbooks that we have. All of them are digital downloads with hard copies kept in class, but it’s the only reading material we were provided if we forgot our own stuff). Others type on laptops or tablets. We’re supposed to be studying, but I really doubt that it matters as long as you don’t get caught. Most of us started out the waiting period buried in our books and tech, but as time wore on the quiet slowly began to break down and a lot of kids have abandoned their stuff for conversations with their friends.

To the left of the Erudite tables are the Dauntless tables. Looking past Kira and her friends playing cards, I see that other Dauntless are doing the same or talking much more loudly. Others brought other games to play to pass the time. That entire section of the cafeteria is just a lot of noise. The Dauntless are as beautiful as they are fascinating to me. My siblings and parents never hesitate to roll their eyes at the Dauntless look but I think it’s great. They look comfortable (more comfortable than I have ever been in some of my dresses) while at the same time being stunning. Between their tattoos, piercings, dramatic makeup, and unnatural hair colors that take up their entire head paired with creative styles, their bodies are works of art in and of themselves. To me it is a very attractive, if slightly off putting, look; and I know for a fact that Eliza thinks so too. Erudite also has a lot of dramatic makeup, but Dauntless’ is darker and heavier. They are less focused on making themselves look perfect and more on making themselves noticeable. I have seen people with eyeshadow and lipstick as bright and colorful as their hair in every color imaginable, always paired with very heavy eyeliner that draws attention to the eyes.

Candor to my right are no better in the noise department, I suppose. Their faction encourages talking openly at all times, so that is what they do. A few groups, from what I can overhear, are debating something that was in the news this morning, but most of the kids are just chatting about nothing. Some of them look exceptionally bored, like they would rather be doing anything than talking to whoever they’re talking to. I am very familiar with that feeling. Aside from Minerva, I have never been very fond of the Candor, but I can at least appreciate the aesthetic that they have going. Their black and white clothing looks neat and put together just like the clothes in Erudite do. They don’t have as much variety in color, but they make up for it in style. Many of them have a natural beauty about them honed from years of learning how to be stunning without makeup because their faction doesn’t allow it.

Some of the Amity have abandoned their tables to sit on the floor in circles and play games that cause them to erupt into a fit of giggles every five or so minutes. Others remain in their seats and talk excitedly with bright smiles and lots of hand gestures. I can easily see why my brother would have been drawn to Amity; I am a little drawn to Amity. It’s hard not to be when they all just look so happy. Maybe it is not the wisest life to lead; perhaps it won’t lead to great success and prominence, but no one can deny Amity’s importance to our city. And maybe prominence isn’t everything. I mean, Mark obviously didn’t think so. I can see both the physical and metaphorical beauty in Amity. Their lives just seem so carefree, so easy. They never have to stress about anything and everything is always very pleasant. It would be so nice to be that way, to live without a care in the world. There is beauty in their kindness too; their bright smiles and how they always know just what to say. They always seem very in tune with others emotions and are ready to offer comfort even to those outside of their faction. Every Amity just seems to really enjoy being alive and I’ll bet that makes it a little easier to always be nice to people. Amity are pretty physically too. Every faction has sort of a look going for them beyond just colors and Amity’s is very light and soft, like they are. When they’re not working, most of them wear their hair long, loose, and natural. Their skin is perpetually sunkissed from working in the fields and many of them have freckles from the same thing. I look at Casey and I wonder how long it will take her to develop freckles that weren’t there before and a tan. Mark is noticeably slightly darker than the rest of my family and he has a little splash of freckles across his nose that I don’t remember being there when we were children.

The Abnegation sit on the far side of the cafeteria, all of them staring blankly into space with their hands folded. Their faction rules dictate that they’re always supposed to be quiet, still, and unnoticeable until someone can make use of them. There’s not a lot to look at with them; they don’t do anything, they don’t act like anything, the only time they ever say anything is when it’s their leaders. In a way I find it odd how they can always be so quiet, but in a way I do admire them. They always seem to be totally at peace, totally comfortable with fading into the background. I guess that if you never think about yourself then there’s nothing to be uncomfortable with. I kind of respect and envy that.

Eliza is called with the next group and as she stands neither Casey nor I wish her luck or reassure her, she doesn’t need it. Eliza knows who she is and where she belongs; she always has. She’s going to be an amazing Erudite who will do incredible things just like her parents, like my family, like the department heads. I think that Eliza will be one of them some day; maybe she’ll even be faction leader.

“I’m kind of nervous,” Casey says quietly, twisting her fingers together.

I nod, “Me too. But it’ll be fine; we - we already know where we belong.” The words feel wrong in my mouth, like the kind of lie that makes your skin crawl and you feel uncomfortable for ever saying it.

She nods with a strange look on her face. “Right.”

We fall into silence and she goes back to her book so I glance down at my phone, trying to pass the time by scrolling through my pictures. I’m not exactly one of those people who takes pictures of everything, but I do have some good ones. Most of them feature my friends, laughing and smiling. But flipping through them only makes the fear in my chest stronger. I don’t want to have to leave; I don’t want to lose them, I don’t want to be separated. But whether I leave or not things are about to change and they’ll never go back to the way that they used to be. Casey is going to leave. I keep saying that I’m okay with it and that it’s not a big deal because I’ve always known, but I’m going to miss her. I want her to be happy, but I also don’t want to lose my best friend. Following her wherever she goes isn’t really an option either; I could never be Amity, and I can’t just abandon Eliza and my family, right?

But I know that they’d all be fine without me if I did leave. Eliza is perfectly self-sufficient and she’s got Kira. My parents have watched two of their children leave already, they might not approve but I would never have to know. If I can’t do anything for myself then I at least want to make everyone else happy, but I can’t because everyone’s going in different directions. I don’t want to be alone and I don’t want to be smothered. I’m so afraid that I won’t survive if I stay in Erudite, or I’ll let everyone down. My family expects so much from me and I don’t want to disappoint them. I’m not Michael or Melanie; I don’t belong like they do, I can never pretend that Erudite is all that I’ve ever wanted and that I’ve always been sure.

When people look at me they always see something that I’m not. It feels like everybody thinks that I’m super smart and really impressive like all of my siblings are, but I’m not. I’ll never be as good as my siblings no matter how much I want to be. That’s always been my friends, they’re more adept than I am at pretty much everything. I mean, I have hobbies and even things that I’m good at. I get good grades and I’m good at talking to people, but I’m nothing outstanding. The only thing that makes me special is who I’m related to and that’s practically nothing if I can’t live up to my family’s legacy. Everyone I’m related to is special; everyone I’m related to is talented, and smart, and outstanding. Their greatness is natural and effortless; it’s something that they’ve always known and something that they just are. I work really hard at everything I do and I’m still nowhere as good at anything as anyone I know. I’m not oblivious; I know that I’m not the best fighter, or the best cellist, or student. I’ll never be as smart as Kira and Eliza, I’ll never be elegant and perfect like my mother, or strong like Minerva, or effortlessly kind like Mark and Casey. I’m nice, but I can’t draw people to me; and I’m not clumsy, but I am hardly perfect.

Erudite places a lot of importance on knowing what your good at; we call it finding your niche. The idea is that you find what you’re really, really good at and you stick to it. Supposedly everyone has one and that’s what you’re meant to do and be. If I have one, then I haven’t found it yet. Maybe if I could, then it would be easier to figure out what I want to do.

Because that’s what this all circles back to; I don’t know what to do. I feel lost and I’m terrified that nothing I’ll ever do will be what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m really afraid that I’m going to make a mistake, make the wrong choice, and spend the rest of my life miserable. I only get one chance to make my life the best life I can live.

Eliza comes back ten minutes or so later as calm and confident as she was when she left.

“How did it go?” Casey asks.

“Just fine,” she says with a smirk. Neither of us have to ask what she got, we’re not supposed to but that doesn’t exactly stop people, we both already know she got Erudite.

She’ll be really happy here, she’ll do great. I wonder if I’ll get to see it, I really don’t know. I think it’d be cool for her, Kira, and I to rise through the ranks together and for Eliza and I to be the people everyone wants us to be together, and for Kira to be a Dauntless that my parents don’t hate. I think it would be wonderful five years from now to be Melanie and Michael’s age and feel totally at home in tones of blue, surrounded by glass and steel, looking back on today and wonder why I ever worried. To be right there when Eliza claims all of the success that she’s always deserved, to be at her side the whole time; and Kira along with us, shocking everyone time and time again.

But even as I think this I still can’t help but think that this only sounds amazing in theory. In reality I know that it would be hard for all of us, that we’d struggle. Erudite weeds out the weak with brutal efficiency through vicious competition and I don’t worry about Eliza, but Kira and I could get cut down not because we’re not smart enough, but because we’re not as cutthroat as others. As much as I hate her, Dahlia could probably best me easily because she’s as devoted to competing as Eliza is. I might fail.

I do not want to fail.

My thoughts are interrupted as an Abnegation volunteer calls the next group for testing; two from Amity, two from Candor, two from Dauntless (Kira is one of them), two from Abnegation, and then, “From Erudite, Cassandra Diarmond and Mimette Malachite-Captor.”

I stand on trembling legs, smoothing my skirt and leave my journal behind with Eliza. Casey and I walk closely to each other and I want to take her hand to calm my nerves, but I don’t want to appear vulnerable. I am aware that I’m noticeable, I know that people see me and as the daughter of Erudite’s representative I know that there’s always a bit of a spotlight on me. I learned very young that I had to always be conscious of how I look, that I had to project confidence and grace all the time and uphold the core ideals of my faction. I have to be the perfect daughter, especially now that I’m the only one left under my parents’ care. I’m not perfect, but I can never let everyone else know that.

I nearly bump into an Abnegation girl as I go through the door, both of us stepping back quickly. After a moment I realize that it’s the same one that I smacked into in the hallway this morning. She gestures for me to go first and I do, muttering an apology.

Through the door is a hallway with ten frosted glass doors. Each of us goes through one, I glance at Casey one more time before we’re separated.

Inside the room is a chair and a computer terminal with an Abnegation woman sitting at it. We aren’t allowed to be tested by members of our own faction, so most of the volunteers are Abnegation with the exception of a few. The woman’s back is to me as she finishes something; her dark brown hair tied into the same bun that every Abnegation woman wears but hers has a few sections of hair that have fallen loose from it. I close the door behind me with a click and she turns at the sound.

She smiles gently, “My name is Maria. Have a seat please.”

The chair’s back is reclined and so when I lean back I am staring straight up at the ceiling.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Maria says. “It’s actually rather easy.”

“What happens?” I ask.

“I can’t say. Don’t worry about it, just do what feels natural.”

“What does that mean?” Like everyone in my faction, I ask a lot of questions. But I’m sure she’s been getting this all afternoon.

“Don’t worry about it.” She moves some of the loose curls behind her ear. Her eyes are dark and look as warm as her smile.

She hands me a vial of blue tinged liquid. “Drink this.”

“What does it do?”

“I can’t say, you’ll just have to trust me. The test will begin immediately afterward.”

I drink it all in one gulp and lean back again. I feel tired and heavy almost immediately. All I can do is close my eyes as my awareness of everything around me fades away.

When I open my eyes, I am in the cafeteria again. In front of me are two pedestals, each one holding a basket. In one basket is a knife as long as my forearm, gleaming silver in the bright light, and in the other is a slab of raw meet.

“Choose,” a voice says.

“Why?” I look around for the source of the voice and find nothing.

“Choose,” the voice repeats.

I look between the baskets, trying to decide. I reach out and hover over the meat for a minute before going to the knife and then back and then back again. Finally, I pick up the knife. This isn’t the first time I’ve held a knife, Melanie throws knives as a hobby and collects the pretty ones. Hers are far more elegant than the simple black and silver one I hold now.

I hear a noise behind be and turn to see a large black and brown dog growling. I can see its massive sharp teeth from here and I look down at the knife in my hand, knowing what I’m meant to do with it. But I can’t. I can’t kill this dog, I can’t and I won’t.

I throw the knife off to the side and hear it clatter to the floor somewhere. I step back slowly. There’s no way that I’ll be fast enough to make it all the way to the door, I wish that I’d grabbed the meat.

The dog snarls and runs at me. I don’t have a lot of experience with animals, Erudite doesn’t allow pets, but I know that usually they are more afraid of you than you are of them. Going down to their level and allowing them to approach you on their own terms works well, to be as gentle and nonthreatening as possible.

I, very slowly, kneel down to its height as it continues to run at me. I expect it to pounce on me and I brace for the impact but instead it skids to a stop in front of me. Very slowly, I lift my hand and hold it out in front of me for the dog to sniff. The dog snarls at me and sniffs at my hand. I keep my eyes on the tile and the dog’s feet, keeping my breathing as even as possible. I feel something cold and wet press into my palm and I lift my head slowly. The dog’s snout is pressed into my hand and it looks at me expectantly, its vicious expression gone. I smile slightly and move my hand behind its ears, still slowly so as not to upset it. I scratch behind its ears and it wags its tail, sitting down.

I smile at it. “You’re not so vicious, are you?”

It licks my face and I laugh, wiping the drool away with the back of my hand.

“Puppy!” A child in a white dress exclaims, giggling. “C’mere.”

The dog snarls at the little girl, once again becoming vicious. The child shrieks and flinches, before the dog can run at her I wrap my arms around its neck, keeping it from charging with only my body weight.

I expect to feel sharp teeth sink into me as it thrashes in my arms, but after a moment it stops. I open my screwed shut eyes and I am no longer in the cafeteria, I am sitting on the city bus among dozens of others.

Across the aisle stands a Candor man reading a newspaper. I can’t see his face over the newspaper, but his hands are scarred like he’s been burned as far up as I can see before they disappear into the white sleeves of his jacket. I fold my hands in front of me and stare ahead, reading the front page of his paper. The headline reads, ‘Brutal Murderer Finally Apprehended’ in thick black font. Below the headline is a grainy black and white mugshot of a plain looking man with dark hair and empty eyes. I can’t make out any of the text surrounding the photo thought. Suddenly, the man folds the newspaper so that only the front page shows, his face twisted into a scowl. His face is in the same state as his hands and he wears dark sunglasses, but I can fill in the blanks on what his eyes must look like.

“Do you know this guy?!” he demands, jabbing the mugshot.

I jump slightly looking at the people next to me, and there are people next to me but I can’t quite to focus on their features.

“I’m talking to you, girlie,” he says.

I point to myself, looking around at the other passengers, waiting for them to notice but no one does.

“Yes, you.” I cannot see his eyes, but I do not have to to know that he rolled them. “Well, do you know him?”

I stare intently at the photo, I feel like I might know the man, but the feeling is faint and the photo quality is poor. I glance down to see if there’s a name, but I can’t quite make out any words besides the headline.

“I don’t believe so,” I say. It’s a lie, but he does not seem the sort of person that I want to be honest with.

“I don’t believe you.” He crumples the newspaper.

“You must be mistaking me for someone else.”

“You must be lying to me.” He steps closer and looms over me in my seat.

I rise slowly from my seat, forcing him to take a step back. “I’m not lying.”

“I can see it in your eyes.” I can smell cigarettes on his breath and have to push down the urge to cough.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I try to keep my tone light and pleasant, like dealing with a particularly unpleasant classmate in the presence of a teacher. No one has to know how mean I can be, all I have to do is smile and be polite.

He tilts his sunglasses down and I can see that his eyes are pale green and bloodshot with dark rings under them. “If you knew him, you could save me. You could save me!”

I clench my hands together and look away, anywhere but his eyes. “Well, I’m sorry. I don’t.”

#divergent #fanfic #The Anthem Series

5 notes · View notes