Aurora wasn't looking forward to today's events. The thought of the simulation itself made her stomach churn. What if she couldn't wake up and she was stuck in her nightmares forever? She didn't even know what her biggest fears were.
Seeing people leave the room made her feel even worse, one Dauntless-born came out with puke down the front of him. She really wasn't prepared for this.
Michael tried his best to comfort her, but when Jackson came out of the room with wide eyes and shaking hands Michael's attention turned to him.
Four stepped out of the room, a blank expression on his face, "Aurora, your up."
"Oh god," she breathed out while glancing at Michael. He gave her a reassuring smile, and a thumbs up. What a dork.
As she stepped into the small room Four gestured for her to sit in the hospital-like chair. "Don't worry," Four reassured her, "the first time is the worst, after that, it'll be a breeze." He injected something into her arm and she was out cold in an instant.
Aurora woke up in Amity, yet she felt shorter, she was standing in the cherry orchard with her father. "Go on, Aurora, get that apple up there." She knew what this day was, this was the day she broke her arm. She was seven, hence the height difference and her dad helped her up the first few rungs of the ladder. Aurora felt her legs start to shake, the tree was taller than she remembered. Super tall. Her palms were starting to sweat, making the ladder even more difficult to climb.
You know what this feels like Aurora, she thought to her self. Just let go. She leaned back off of the ladder, and as she fell she felt the air around her grow cooler. She crashed into the water below, hearing laughter and splashes around her.
Still in Amity, this was one of the many ponds that littered the land outside of the wall. "Rora!" She heard Michael yell her name. "Get out of the water!"
Before she could move there was a hand grabbing her ankle, pulling her down into the pond. She kicked at whoever was dragging her down, but the hand wouldn't let go. Finally, she grabbed a lock of long brown hair yanking it up so she could see the face of whoever was dragging her down. Her own face stared back at her.
She bolted awake, but this wasn't the simulation room. She was back in her bed at Amity. She rubbed her eyes, feeling groggy. Slowly she walked to the kitchen, seeing someone unexpected standing in the hallway. "Eric?" She called his name, wondering what he was doing in her family's home.
Glancing over his shoulder she saw her family, sitting dead at the kitchen table. "What did you do?" Aurora shouted, a sob choking her up.
Hearing the click of a gun being loaded kicked her into fight or flight mode. She rushed toward Eric, the both of them fighting for the gun in his hand. Aurora finally got ahold of it, pointing it at him. "Please don't make me do this!" She shouted at him, but he rushed forward and she pulled the trigger.
The gunshot still sounded in her head when she sat up in the simulation room, Four was staring at her. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Aurora responded, rubbing the tears from her eyes. "It's not real, right?" She knew it wasn't, she just said that to remind herself.
"Regardless," Four began, "That was a pretty impressive time for a first go, ten minutes."
Aurora looked at him in disbelief, "There was no way that was ten minutes, it felt like forever."
Four shrugged, "Fear distorts your perception of time," Four paused a minute, seeing tears still flowing from Aurora's eyes, "Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to talk about it? That last part especially, why was Eric in that last part?"
"I don't know," she lied, "I guess my brain just picked a face." Four's eyes narrowed, but he dismissed her anyway.
Walking out of the room Aurora brushed the last of her tears off of her cheeks. "That was fast," Michael shot a smile her way, "Are you okay?"
Aurora waved her hand dismissively, "I'm fine, don't worry about me." Aurora shifted her gaze to Jackson, who was staring intensely at the opposite wall, "You should worry about him, is he alright?" Aurora moved to crouch in front of Jackson's chair, his gaze didn't waver.
Michael sighed, "His simulation really took a toll on him, I'll tell you about it later." Aurora could tell he was genuinely worried for his boyfriend.
"Michael," Four called out, "You're up."
Michael stood from his chair, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants. "Hey, can you look after him while I'm in there? I want to make sure he's alright."
"Of course," Aurora nodded, "good luck."
When Michael entered the simulation room, Jackson looked to Aurora and spoke. "In my simulation, I had to kill Mike. I lied to him and told him that I was extremely claustrophobic, but all I'm afraid of is losing him."
Aurora felt a lump form in her throat, looking at Jackson's teary eyes broke her heart. "I know how you feel."
"He's the first person that I've genuinely been in love with. What if it all falls apart?" Feeling a pang in her chest, Aurora stood and hugged Jackson. He still sat, but he wrapped his arms around her neck to reciprocate.
Aurora knew exactly how he felt, because she was feeling the same thing.
_
Sorry this kind of sucks.
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Amicable ➵ Eric Coulter
Fanfiction"Come on softie!" Eric yelled in Aurora's face. Aurora and Jackson sparred on the mat, but Aurora wouldn't hit back. Her cheeks were red and her lip was split, but still, she didn't hit back. Eric was now shouting at the Amity born initiate. Getti...
