Stay Away | Eric Coulter [1]

thirty-four

"How are you feeling?" Eric asks, rolling his chair closer to me.

"I feel alright," I replied, running a hand over my face. "What happened? Tobias said an average person should experience about fifteen to twenty fears."

The wrinkle between Eric's brows doesn't fade. Instead, as he observes me, it seems to deepen.

"There was an error," He states.

"An error?" I frown, "Does that happen often?"

Eric eyes me thoughtfully, "Not at all."

"So...What do we do now?" I ask, "Do I have to do it again?"

Eric clears his throat, sitting up straighter in his seat.

"No, I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions." He answers, "What did you do to get through that first stimulation?"

I swallowed, trying to decide if I should tell him the truth or what he wants to hear.

Deep down, I knew I could trust Eric, but there's still a part of me that worries. Especially after Tobias's warning.

I guess it's because he's right in a way. I still wasn't sure where Eric's loyalty lie. If he was really working with someone, would he choose them over me?

"I managed to calm myself down," I lied, "And the next thing I knew, I was trapped in that room with the fire."

Eric simply stares at me for a minute, as if he was trying to pick me apart and figure me out and I shifted nervously under his intense gaze.

"Okay," He finally speaks after what felt like a good minute, "How long do you think you were in there?"

I shrugged, "I'm not sure. Maybe about twenty minutes or so?"

His eyes never leaving mine, he says, "You were in it for less than a minute, Nessa."

Eric sighs, raising from his seat and leaning over to kiss me on the forehead, "You're sure you feel okay?"

I relax slightly as he reaches up to skin his knuckles over my cheek, thankful that his interrogation is over.

"Completely fine," I reply and he nods.

"I'm thinking of giving this another go after dinner. What do you say?"

"Of course," I say, not wanting to turn him down and raise more suspicions.

"Good, why don't you go grab something to eat and I'll come get you after I've got the room ready."

"Okay," I quickly raise from my seat and make my way to the door, stopping only when Eric places a hand on my elbow, pulling me close to kiss me thoroughly and I melt against him as his lips move against mine.

"I'll see you later," He mutters against my lips as he pulls away and I smile up at him. "Oh, and one last thing," Eric says as my fingers curl around the handle of the door.

I look over my shoulder at him as he settles back into his stool, swivelling it around to face me.

"Have you ever heard of Divergents?"

His question makes me freeze and I force a small laugh, "Aren't they just myths?"

"No, they're real," He tells me, "And Erudite have been actively searching for them. So, I have to ask; what were your aptitude test results?"

"Dauntless," I lie again, keeping my voice as steady as possible.

Eric studies me again for another minute before he jerks his chin in a nod, "Okay, then. I'll find you when I'm ready."

I leave the room in a hurry, wiping down my sweaty palms on the material of my pants, wondering how long I'd be able to keep my secrets.

✧

"And then, there were these clowns chasing after me, and one of them had a huge-ass machete and the other had a gun and was shooting at me! I'm telling you guys, I was this close to shitting myself!" Uriah goes on about his stimulation.

To be honest, I haven't really been paying attention much, mostly because I was too busy worrying about what might happen later.

"Nessie!" Uriah snaps his fingers in front of my face, pulling my attention back to him. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm great!" Apparently, I'm filled with lies today. "I was just thinking."

There's a short pause before Marlene raises a brow at me, "About?"

"My stimulation," I answered, "I was just trying to figure out what I could've done better, you know?"

"Done better?" Lynn snorts, "You were in there for like fifteen minutes, tops. If you get any better, we'll all be factionless by the end of this."

I roll my eyes at her dramatics, "Please, you're all good enough to not end up factionless."

"How many fears did you have, anyway?" Marlene asks, resting her chin in her palms and looking at me with interest.

"Oh, I, uh-"

"You ready to go?" Eric saves me from having to answer as he slides into the empty seat next to me.

"Definitely," I answer before turning to my friends, "Sorry, guys. I'll catch you guys later?"

They all mumble a quick goodbye and I make my escape, relief feeling my chest.

Saved by the bell. In this case, however, I guess I was saved by Eric...Though, I'm not sure how much of a blessing that is, considering what we're about to do.

Eric leads me back towards the stimulation room with his fingers interlaced with mine.

When we get there, he fishes a pair of keys from his pocket and unlocks the door, letting me in before him before he shuts the door behind him.

My nerves get the better of me and I realise that my hands are shaking a little.

"It'll be fine," Eric reassures, having noticed my anxiousness. "It won't take long."

He pats the empty seat, signalling for me to sit down and I get settled in the scary-looking chair.

When I glance over at Eric, I see that he's staring down at me with such affection that it almost makes me feel guilty for lying to him in the first place.

I force a wobbly smile at him as he reaches up to trail his thumb over my jawline.

"I'm not going anywhere," Eric says, gripping my hand in his larger ones, "I'll be with you, no matter what."

My heart clenches at his words and I can't help but feel like he's hinting at something else. Has he figured it out?

Shaking the thought from my head, I nod and watch as he pulls out a familiar-looking syringe.

Then, as gently as he possibly could, he plunges it into my neck and I shut my eyes, waiting for the serum to take its course.