Inextricable: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Three) ©

Chapter 6

"No, that just can't be," I said haltingly, shaking my head as if that action alone could solidify my statement. "For starters, the aptitude test isn't for three months." Danny winced at that, looking like he'd just been slapped, but I continued with determination, "I mean, just a few days ago you, Basho, and I were at the Merciless-Mart studying for an upcoming test in our Factions History class. I remember it clearly, you were making paper airplanes and aiming them at anyone within view, and I was..."

I trailed off, not because I'd lost my train of thought, but because of the expressions on both of Danny and Grace's faces; they were a mix of horror and pity.

"You know I'm telling the truth," Danny said in a hushed voice when I could only gape at him. "I'd never lie to you."

Though reluctant, I knew this to be true. Both Danny and Grace must've eventually sensed my resignation, because they shared a look and stayed quiet as I tried to gather my wits.

Slumping back onto my bed, clenching both of my hands into tight fists, a thousand questions seemed to form out of thin air. I voiced none though, instead focusing on what intel I could gather for myself; trying to collect facts that I could actually see with my own eyes.

Up until now, I hadn't really had a chance to observe Danny –what with being blinded by the sudden lights of the room, then having to deal with the drugs being pumped into my body– so it came as a shock when I realized he truly did appear changed.

Though he'd always been fit, he appeared to have grown leaner and more muscular than I previously remembered. Even his normally boy-ish features seemed not only sharper, but roughhewn. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face appeared completely exhausted.

"You have a tattoo," I noted quietly. On his right bicep, large flames intricately weaved along his arm until they formed a bird in flight.

"A phoenix," he nodded. "You have-"

"No, don't tell me," I cut in, shaking my head quickly. "I don't want to know just yet."

He nodded sympathetically, crossing his arms as he continued to wait for me to adjust. Beside him Grace edged closer and offered me a glass of water. I raised a hand to take it, and immediately came upon another discovery.

Scars upon scars were strewn across my knuckles –the skin there tough as some of them crisscrossed and overlapped– and continued onward onto various parts of my arms. While some were thin and barely visible, others were thicker and had the appearance that they'd been there for a long time.

Hesitantly, I ran a finger along one that looked fresh. There were two crescent-shaped marks that, to my disbelief, resembled a bite. But that couldn't be, what kind of situation would I ever be in that would allow for that type of injury? As I continued to muse over those thoughts, Grace spoke up.

"I don't get it. What you told us before, if it's not what happened here in dauntless, then what exactly were you describing?"

"He's remembering the wrong accident. More than a year ago a group of us candor got into a pretty bad fight with some dauntless," Danny answered for me, saying that sentence dispassionately; as if it were old news, though for me it had been just yesterday. "Started as a game, but it somehow ended up in blows."

More than a year ago... An icy coldness seeped down my spine as my brain caught onto those words. It felt like something was terribly wrong inside my head. I could hear what he was saying, but when I tried to piece it together it became nonsensical.

More than a year, which means I'm not sixteen. It's like I've aged overnight! A part of me wondered if perhaps I wasn't still under the effects of some kind of drug. No, but I felt fine. Felt like me. This nightmare was all too real.