The Air We Breathe - A Divergent Fanfiction

Chapter 5

The next few days were the all same. Get up, eat breakfast, do whatever I wanted while the others were training, eat lunch, and then work with Eric until dinner. I felt that I had made some progress with my fears, having already overcome one. I didn't expect one of my fears to be worse than they already were though.

~•~•~•~•~

I had just gotten to the usual room to meet with Eric, but I saw that he wasn't there yet. I sat down on the chair and closed my eyes, waiting for him to come.

"Sit up." I heard Eric say as he walked through the door.

"You'll be facing a new fear now that you've overcome your fear of betrayal. It won't be any different than the others, just new." He explained. I nodded, and let him inject the serum into me.

~•~•~•~•~

When I opened my eyes, I was in my room in Erudite. Not the one at Aunt Jeanine's house, but the one that I was beat in every night. I turned to see my dad walking in, a belt in his hand.

"You've failed this family, Airazela Matthews! I'm ashamed of you! I can't believe that you're a child of mine! We shouldn't have even had you!" He yelled, walking closer to me. I backed away, my breath coming in short bursts. I looked around, trying to find something that I could fight with, when the first hit came. It was over my head, knocking me to the ground and making me see stars. I scrambled up and raised my arms, blocking my head. He hit me again, this time in the stomach, knocking the air out of me. I fell to the ground and closed my eyes, blacking out.

~•~•~•~•~

My eyes shot open, and I looked around wildly, trying to figure out where I was. Where was my dad? Was he gone? I thought I heard a voice, and it was growing louder now. I was being shaken too. Why? Why was I here?

"...ir! Ai...! Air!" I snapped my head up to see Eric in front of me, his hands on my shoulders and a worried look on his face. Wait, worried? Why is he worried?

"Come on, get up. The floor isn't exactly comfortable in here." He said, offering me a hand. It was then that I processed that I was on the ground, curled up and in a tight ball.

"How did I..." I started, confused.

"You were thrashing so much that you fell off. It usually doesn't happen, but I guess you're a special case. And yes, that was your worst fear. I decided to let you face it now so that you won't be surprised when you do the third part of training." Eric explained, helping me back onto the chair.

"How do you know I'll get there? What if I become factionless instead?" I asked. He sighed, and turned to face me.

"You're strong. You have a strong will and won't let weaklings beat you. Because of that, I bet you'll get first out of everyone." He said. I was definitely surprised. Getting first was not exactly on my to-do list. In fact, I hadn't even considered it. Connor seemed like he would though. He had the right mindset and had won all of his fights, making him first. I assumed he was doing well even now.

"Let's go through it again. The more times you do it the less it will scare you." He said. I turned, surprised.

"You're not going to ask questions?" I asked.

"It's not my business. If you wanted me to know you would tell me." Eric muttered. I lay back and let him inject the serum, content with his answer.

~•~•~•~•~

"That's enough for today. You did well." Eric said, helping me out of the chair. My legs were shaking, and it was hard to stand, even when not putting all of my weight on them. I nodded, and limped over to the door. Before I could get to it though, my legs collapsed from under me, and I prepared to hit the floor. Instead of the hard surface I was expecting, I found myself in familiar arms, held up by my waist.

"Come on, I'll help you." Eric said, grabbing my legs with one arm and pulling me up to his chest.

"Hey! I can walk!" I yelped, uncomfortable.

"No, you can't." He replied, already walking through the hallways. I sighed, giving up.

After a few turns, I noticed that we weren't headed in the direction of the transfers room. I pointed this out to Eric, who ignored me and kept walking. He eventually stopped in front of a dark wooden door, and pulled out a pair of keys from his pocket. He opened the door and walked in, placing me on a couch on the side of the room.

"This is your room?" I asked, looking around. The walls were a dark brown and made the large room look very warm. There was a kitchen installed on the side of the room next to the door, and two doors, which I assumed were a bathroom and closet, since the bed was in the middle of the room.

Eric nodded, and walked into the door next to the couch I was on. He came out with a pair of sweats and a large shirt, and threw them on my lap.

"You'll stay here the night so that I don't have to carry you into a room full of initiates. That wouldn't look good on you or me. I'll grab us some food from the kitchens, so stay here, change, and don't touch anything." He said, and walked out.

Looking down, I saw that he had given me a large black shirt that went down to my knees, so I took off my shirt and pants and wore that instead. I left the pants on the couch and stood up, using the couch as a cane. I slowly made my way to the kitchen and sat on a stool, then reached over and grabbed the book that was on the counter top. It was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There was a bookmark in the middle of the book, so I flipped to that and read the chapter.

I was so engrossed with book that I didn't notice when Eric entered the room, or when he walked up behind me with a plate full of food.

"I thought I told you not to touch anything." He breathed down my neck. I snapped around and shut the book closed, caught by surprise. The sudden movement, though, made my head start spinning and I lost my balance on the chair.

"Woah! Don't go passing out on me now." Eric said, grabbing onto waist. I blinked out the stars in my vision and sat back up, out of Eric's grip.

"I'm fine." I said. He shrugged, and put down the plate of food in front of me. The smell hit me, and I immediately began eating, just realizing how hungry I was. I heard Eric sit beside me and begin eating his own food, much slower than I was.

"Thank you." I said after finishing my food.

"For what?"

"Taking me here, giving me food, everything." I replied.

"It doesn't matter. It's my job as a Leader to help the initiates." Eric said nonchalantly. I sighed, knowing he wouldn't except my thanks properly even if I tried all night. It just wasn't like him to do that.

"Thanks anyways." I mumbled.

"I'll take the couch, you can have the bed. No arguments." Eric said, even as I opened my mouth to deny the offer.

Eric flopped onto the couch and turned off the lamp, telling me to turn off the light next to the bed when I got in. I followed his instructions and slipped under the covers, curling up and quickly falling asleep.

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I am soooooooooooo sorry that this took so long! I didn't have the motivation to write, but all of those reviews got me up and running. Thanks so much to everyone who's still following this story! Thanks!

Amber Silverwood