Inextricable: A Divergent FanFiction (Book Three) ©

Chapter 25

               It was her.

I waited for the aha moment that would surely kick start my brain back into gear, that would send a wave of memories rushing back, that would forcefully resurface the feelings of grief I'd certainly once felt. I waited... and waited.

Nothing. No sudden intake of breath, no stuttering of my heart, no whirlwind of emotion. I looked at her as I would at any other. The only sadness that arose could've been compared to what anyone else might've felt upon reading a newspaper and discovering that someone had been a victim to a heinous crime.

"Randi," I repeated quietly, testing the name out, searching for familiarity even if it were only in the letters that rolled off my tongue.

"Miranda," Ava added, her shoulders sloping with what could only be described as resignation. "Miranda Redfield. Dauntless born and bred."

"Is any of her family still here?"

"No. For a long time it was just her and me," she replied, shaking her head slowly. "Happens a lot here in dauntless. Almost considered the norm. Kids are made orphans, but they learn to keep their heads up and move on."

"Is that what happened to you?"

"Yeah, same as Finn," Ava jerked her head at the stack of photos I still held. "His older brother, Ripley, raised him until he turned sixteen."

"Then what happened?"

"During his own choosing ceremony, Rip broke Finn's heart by transferring to erudite," her lip curled with distaste. "Completely blindsided him, that's why he never mentions him. He left without ever looking like he regret it."

As I thought about the new information she'd just provided me, I found myself frowning.

"Clearly you've been busy investigating Randi's death," I noted, gesturing with my free hand at all the papers strewn about us. "But what I don't understand is how that involves any of these guys." As I studied her growingly shamefaced expression, it slowly dawned on me. "You've always said it was my fault that she died, that I might've even been the one to kill her, but I'm starting to see that deep down you must've never truly believed that."

She dropped her head to stare at her lap as I spoke, saying nothing once I finished. It was a long and tense moment before she managed to collect herself. Raising her head, she nodded at the sheet still tied around her.

"Untie me," she said, after a pause adding, "Please. I'm going to tell you everything that I know."

Maybe I should've been suspicious, or at least guarded about her sudden change of attitude. However, something in me –a sort of gut instinct, told me that the worst was over. Well, at least the worst that pertained to Ava.

Before I freed her though, I held my wrists up to indicate the cuffs. Once she'd talked me through finding the keys and freeing myself I untied her. She took a second to rub the circulation back into her arms.

"Why the change of heart?" I asked, making sure to study her for any signs of duplicity. "A few minutes ago you were literally chasing me around this room with a gun, shooting at point-blank with obvious intent to kill."

She didn't answer right away, but when she finally did it was with a grudging undertone. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's fucking impossible to not believe the things you say when you're like–" she gestured with exasperation at me, "–like this. It's as if you were literally plucked out of candor just yesterday."

That's exactly how I feel.

When Ava got to her feet, she gestured at the wall behind me. Now without the sheet, I could suddenly see what she'd been hiding. While my room had reflected just how cold and empty my life had been during the past year, Ava's showed just how much she'd come to obsess over the mystery of Randi's death.