Venus Eaton is desperate to escape the abuse of her previous faction although she is unaware and unprepared of the ordeals of Dauntless initiation. She is a stranger to her own brother until he accuses her of murdering their mother, and finds out th...
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VENUS
MY FIGHT is against Lucy Reyez. She is one place below me on the scoreboard, but if I lose this, I will definitely be below her. I will definitely be out by the end of Stage One. It's strange how certain I am, when it's only the third day, but I ignore it.
I need resilience. I don't preferably need someone teaching me to fight, I just need them to tell me to keep going. I need positive thoughts. But, then again, maybe I do need help with my fighting.
Harmonie loses her fight against Peter, and then it's my turn.
Lucy stares across at me as we stand on the platform, like a rabbit in headlights. She inches towards me so I raise my fist and slam it against her cheek. She lets out a squeak and falls at the impact, although it seemed like a weak punch to me. Pinning her down, I swing my fist at her face again until her nose bleeds. Guilt blossoms in my stomach although the adrenaline pushes it away as Lucy lets out a sob - I can't lose this.
She pulls one of her arms free and uses all her weight to shove me away. I fall onto my back with a grunt and we change positions until she's on top of me. Blood trickles down my nose at the blow she aims at my face, and I grumble incoherently, withering myself free until I'm on my feet.
She hides her face behind her hands although my foot is already raised, slamming against her face. She collapses with a thud.
Eric gives me a smug grin, and Four helps Lucy to her feet, taking her to the infirmary. With my head down, I make my way to Emily and Tris. What have I done?
Why didn't I stop punching her? The look in her eyes: she was giving up, but I still stomped on her like a terrible person.
That wasn't Dauntless. That was just cruel.
"Awe, look at that, the Stiff can't deal with the-" Rhett starts to say, but Emily cuts him off with a remark, silencing him. I don't quite meet anyone's eyes until the next fight is over, and it's our turn to leave the training room for dinner.
Before I get outside, Eric calls my name. Emily gives me a questioning look although hurries outside. The door slips closed and I turn to Eric, my eyes blazing.
"Why'd you make me do that?" I snap. Eric clenches his jaw.
"It's what everyone else has been doing, if you haven't noticed-" I cut him off, shaking my head.
"I feel awful! Hurting someone isn't brave! That's-"
Eric grabs my wrist, pulling me close to him. My breath catches in my throat and I glare up at him, into his steel grey eyes, still managing to sustain the anger in mine.
"If you don't like it, you can leave. I don't have time for cowards, I don't have time for weakness." His words sting, and I blink away the water that gathers in my eyes. There's nowhere to look but in his eyes, his ruthless, calculating eyes.
"I'm proud of you." He says lowly. "You did well."
A warm feeling erupts inside the pit of my stomach, spreading to the tips of my fingers. I ignore the stinging throb in my wrist as he holds me tightly.
Then I realize that Eric is a stranger. I've only known him for three days, and in those three days, they haven't been the greatest experiences. He is with Rebecca. Feeling anything is prohibited.
I pull away, but he doesn't let me go. My eyebrows knit together. "Well, thank you, but you can let me go now."
Eric raises an eyebrow and a smirk upturns the corners of his lips. If I didn't know him, I would think of the smile as genuine. But this is not genuine. Not this.
"Who said I wanted to?"
I purse my lips and sharply yank my wrist away at his words. A jolt of pain courses through my side although I ignore it, stepping backward, scanning his face.
"So, what do you want?" I say.
"To tell you I can't train you tonight. I've got things to do."
"Things to do?" I ask, my eyes glinting with curiosity. "What... What sort of things?" I think of Rebecca, and then I erase my thoughts. I shouldn't disapprove of them when I hate Eric, but a small part of me does whenever I think of them together.
"You'll see." Is all he says, and I tilt my head. He gestures to the door and I look at it in confusion, before realizing he's telling me to go. Oh.
Hurrying towards the door, I close it behind me without looking back. A small feeling inside me tells me that I don't want to see what I'm going to see, and I bite my lip. Heading to the cafeteria, I try to forget about Eric and his words. They don't concern me. They shouldn't concern me.
***
Rhett plonks down in the seat opposite me, and I glance up from eating. Will presses his elbow against mine, almost protectively, and Harmonie spins round on the bench to face him.
"Enjoying your lunch?" He says, an eyebrow raised. I glance down at my plate, and then back up at him.
"Is there a problem with what I'm eating?" I snap, before getting to my feet. Harmonie, Christina and Will follow, and I watch as Rhett does the same through the corner of my eye.
"Only the fact that you've stopped eating it," He says, with a smirk on his tone. I clench my teeth as I walk out the cafeteria, hearing his footsteps as he catches up. "Don't you want to talk to me?" He continues, barging past Will to get to me.
Just as I turn to him, his hands stretch out, slamming against my shoulders, slamming me against the wall. I let out a yelp and try to push him away but he doesn't let go.
"I saw you. Training with Eric. Don't think I didn't-" He snarls, just as Will grabs him by the collar and hauls him away from me. I back away and Harmonie and Christina follow, eyes wide. Will yells at Rhett to calm down and he breathes through his nose, fists coiled, glaring at me.
"We'll all know the truth soon." He spits, before shoving past Will again and out of sight. Chrstina nudges me.
"What was that about?" She asks. I press my hands to my side to stop them from trembling.
