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
I SHAKE my head. "What do you have to say about him? He's the one person that saved me from becoming Factionless, a choice that you made!"
"You'll find out why I tried to make you Factionless in Stage Two. You'll find out why Eric saved you from it in Stage Two, also!" Four snaps back, and I let out a chuckle of disbelief.
"Venus, you have to promise me not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," Four suddenly says, and his voice is lower now. "Not even Eric himself. I don't know what he'd do if he found out what I'm telling you..."
I tilt my head to one side, confusion furrowing my brows. "What? What is it?"
Four sets his glass down on the wood floor next to him. I follow his movements before greeting his eyes again, pressing my lips together.
"I believe it was the second initiation after I left Abnegation," Four begins, and I figure out that I must've been 14, probably one of the worst years of my life. "Marcus had been accused, and nearly put through trial. Initiation was postponed for a week for all factions due to that incident."
I remember when that happened. Another Abnegation has seen Marcus hit me and reported it. We had to travel to Candor for a trial to see if Marcus really had abused me, but Marcus immediately told Candor I was highly allergic to the serum, so I couldn't be injected with it. The Candor asked me questions without the serum but I was told to keep quiet, so Marcus got away with it. That experience didn't stop him, though.
"So... Initiation started the day after tomorrow for them?" I say, and Four nods. "What does this have to do with Eric?"
"Well, Eric had a sister." Four says, and his eyes flash with something I can't read. "Her name was Georgina Coulter, and she was a former Erudite."
My mouth drops open. Eric has, or had, a sister? "What... uh, what happened to her?"
"The net was set up for the original day, although when the Dauntless heard that initiation had been postponed, they took the net down because they hadn't told them how long it would be postponed for." I can feel the heartbeat in my ears. The suspense is gnawing into me, and I can't take it. My fingertips drum against my knees. "The Choosing Day was a surprise for us all, and we quickly had to decide our duties. Max on the roof and Eric decided to wait at the net. Apparently, the net had been properly set up. At least, that was how it looked..."
His voice trails off, and darkness looms in his eyes. He looks down, and then into my eyes again but this time, he's looking past me.
"Georgina was the first to jump and as she fell, the net collapsed beneath her." Four's words tremble. "However much I hate Eric, it must've been the worst feeling to watch his sister fall to her death in front of him, and not be able to do anything to help."
I stare down at my hands, and my breath hitches. I imagine it, her fall, and I try to imagine the pain as the net is unable to bear her weight and she hits the concrete below. My eyes sting, and I clear my throat. "Did she... die?"
"She was in critical condition, unable to breathe without the help of a machine." Four explains. "There was something wrong with her spinal cord, and a brain injury."
There was a silence between us. "What stupid fucker hadn't set up the net properly?"
Four looks up at me, then down at the ground. He scratches the back of his neck and I raise a brow.
"It, uh, was me. And my friend Ray." I glare at him, unable to speak. "As soon as Eric found out, I knew he was coming after us. He killed Ray with his bare hands, Venus, even though it wasn't his fault. The net was on its last legs anyway, it was old and there was already a string broken."
When I don't speak, Four continues. "Eric nearly killed me, but luckily Max was there to stop him."
"He didn't even tell Eric they had cut off her life support." Four keeps a steady voice now. "They just did it, and buried her back in Erudite, and then had the audacity to tell him she was dying anyway."
I feel a tear on my face, and I wipe it away quickly. I can't even imagine the pain Eric must've felt, to not even be able to say goodbye.
"When Eric found out that it was his brother's decision to bury Georgina without him there, it lifted some weight from my shoulders. They hate each other. Channing knows that Eric is capable of killing him, but he doesn't care because he knows Eric won't kill his only other sibling."
The new information drills into my head, and I press my fingertips against my temples. My mind rewinds to the night Eric pushed Rebecca off the chasm, she had said, 'you're nothing like your brother' to Eric. I never bothered about it, at least until now.
"Eric has turned into a monster since that incident. He uses whatever girls there are available to relieve his stress, and then he pushes them away and forgets about them, or makes their lives hell. He hasn't just killed one of his previous girlfriends, you know." He straightens his slouched shoulders and takes another sip of the water before placing it back down again. "It seems his behavior gets worse round about now, when Georgina died, which is why I'm begging you to stay away from him."
"I don't want you to become of Eric's playtoys, Venus." He shakes his head. "I... I can't... I can't afford to lose you." The second part is quiet, so quiet, but I still manage to pick it up. I raise my head, and he is already looking at me.
"Promise me you'll stay away from him." He demands softly, and I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. "He's trying to make you think he's the perfect man, isn't he?" Four shakes his head. "Don't wait until he turns into a monster, please."
I want to promise to him that I won't, but it's still hard for me to believe that Eric'll turn into a monster, or is it that I just hope he won't?
"I... I won't." I finally say, but I can't promise. Four lets out a small sigh of relief, scratching his eyebrow.
I stand up and Four does almost immediately, wrapping his arm around my and pulling my into him as if he doesn't want me to go. My eyes widen and I return the hug, inhaling sharply.
"I'm sorry, Venus." He says, and I fight the urge to be angry at him for disowning me only hours before. I feel tears in my eyes, I remember hugging him like this after Marcus would beat us, him promising to me that we'd be alright, we'd be alright someday and this might just be the day we'll be alright.
"No, no..." I say, my voice muffled by his jacket. "I've missed you so much, Tobias."
[it has taken me soooo long to write those two chapters!! i nearly cried writing this tbh, and i'm sorry if this confuses you, i've done my best to explain it<3 i wanted venus to hold her grudge with four for a little longer, but i couldn't help it<3 i didn't like the asshole i had made four to be, but you'll find out why he was like that (plus why he had tried to make vee factionless + disown her) in the next part or two!!<3 love you as always, have a wonderful weekend :0]
