Brick by Brick (BDTW #2)

Chapter 5

For this chapter listen to Skinny Love by Birdy

CHAPTER 5

I wake up to gray walls. Gray ceiling. Gray steel door. A stainless steal bed that hangs from the wall with a thin mattress. My head is so disoriented I can't even form a coherent thought, other than I hate Eric. Then I remember why. Everything comes rushing back. Eric. The bullet. Bass. Patch. Patch. Why didn't he save me? Why did he attack my brother?

I look down at my thigh and see it's bandaged. I'm relieved. At least I'm not bleeding out on the floor.

I'm afraid to move, but I think it'd be better if I were on the bed then the cold floor. Chills run all over me on pin prick legs, telling me that this is all so wrong, that I need to go home, I need my normal life back. But then again, when was my life purely normal? Something is always happening that shouldn't be. Something is always wrong.

I haul myself over to the mattress and put my head between my knees, taking long, deep breaths. I have to stay sane. I have to say calm. I can't think about Patch right now. I can't think about anything. I need to throw it all away.

When I look up, I see the camera in the room. They're watching me. I'll give them something to watch. I raise my middle finger and smile sweetly. I hate them. I hate them all. I don't know if I can hate Patch. I don't know what he was doing.

I hear rumbling from outside the room and the door creaks open to reveal Eric.

"Good morning, sunshine." He greets me.

I snarl in disgust. "Where am I?"

"Erudite headquarters," he explains with a smug smile. "In the finest of the finest of cells. Five dead bolt locks on the door with five security cameras, four of them which are hidden and a guard that stands outside the door at all times."

"Classy," I reply, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I have to make a move now. If Eric's here, and the door's open, I can attack and leave. I can run fast. I hope.

I run and lean all my body weight into a punch but feel a stinging sensation in my neck. I drop to the floor unwillingly and clutch at my neck. There's a thick brace wrapped around it.

"New Erudite technology," he explains over my suffering. "It sends an electric current through your body every time I press this button. There's also a setting in which when I turn on, it activates this bracelet I'm wearing" —he holds up his right wrist that has the bracelet— "and if you're more than ten feet away from me, it'll shock you until you're back in range. Isn't it fascinating?"

I wear a look of pure disgust. "Fascinating? It's sadistic."

"Well, it makes my job a hell of a lot easier. Now, come with me. Jeanine wants to explain a few things to you."

He leads me out of my cell, his hand wrapped tightly around his sadist remote in case I try to attack him. The halls are dark due to poor lighting and lack of windows. At every five foot intervals lies a small wall fixture that emits a strange white-blue light. Eric opens a door that reveals Jeanine behind a sleek white desk that's perfectly organized with a perfect little stack of paper in front of her. She looks superior and has a thick aura of authority in the room.

"Take a seat, Ms. Eaton." She offers. "You've had a long day."

I oblige and cross my legs. It takes everything inside me not to lunge across the table and strangle her, watch the light fade away from her eyes. She's the reason behind all this.

"Do I at least get an explanation?"

She smiles. "Of course." She clears her throat. "I've created a serum that when injected induces a simulation on the mind that reverses everything they see. Turns their enemies into their friends. That kind of thing. Every Dauntless was injected with it yesterday, and in exactly thirty six hours, it will be activated and the whole Dauntless faction will be under control."