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Lilith had lost the count of exactly how long she'd been hiding in Amity when the anniversary of Flynn and Hortense's wedding arrived, and while she'd plastered on a smile for the happy couple when she greeted them in the kitchen, her features had turned into a heavy frown as soon as she'd turned her back on them and left the house. Her sister had told her that she was free to stay there as if it was any other normal day, but Lilith hadn't wanted to intrude, and she wasn't in the mood for displays of affection while eating breakfast. It wasn't that Lilith had anything against couples or anniversaries. It was that a man who was dead popped into her head whenever she saw the looks shared by Hortense and Flynn, and Eric Coulter was the last person she wanted to think about.
Well, one of the last.
Tris and Caleb had been the only ones she knew in the dining hall, sitting at a table together and engrossed in their own conversation. It was the first time that Lilith saw Tris say more than two words ever since they'd gotten to Amity, and a slightly envious feeling took over her for a few seconds. Why was it that Tris seemed to be recovering, yet Lilith felt as if she was sinking deeper? Those thoughts left her as soon as the other girl gave her a small smile, and Lilith found herself returning it as she sat down at an empty table.
Her eyes drifted to the plate of toasted bread in front of her, and then to the basket of apples resting on the center of the table, her lips curling into a grimace. The bread had tasted awfully sweet to her when she'd first tried it, being nearly enough to make her want to spit it out. Though she had always been a fan of sweets, her stomach didn't agree with the Amity bread, and she stayed away from it as often as she could. Thankfully, there were bowls of fresh fruit salad placed on every table, and Lilith was quick to reach for hers.
It had been increasingly hard for her to eat during the latest week. A feeling like the weight that had taken over her whole body when she suspected that Erudite was planning something nefarious had, yet again, settled over her, and Lilith really wasn't sure why. The only thing that she knew was that it was a kind of dread that seemed to grow with each passing day, and there didn't seem to be anything that she could do to stop it.
Lilith couldn't shake off the feeling that the peace they had found within Amity was about to be disrupted. As far as she knew, there hadn't been any news from Erudite in days, and that deeply concerned her. It was like they'd retreated back into their headquarters to plan yet another attack, and that they were waiting for the perfect moment to catch them by surprise. She couldn't allow that to happen, not again.
She briefly released her grip on her fork, her eyes sweeping the room. Tris, Caleb, and the other refugees from Abnegation stuck out like sore thumbs, as much as they were dressed to fit in, and Lilith could only imagine that the same thing happened with her. Even with her tattoos concealed by fabric and her new bangs, it was visible in the way that she carried herself that she wasn't Amity, and she would never be. After making sure that no one was looking in her direction, she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the knife placed near the plate to her right, and hastily shoved it inside of her boot.
