The Damaged

Chapter Twenty Five

"On the day you hated most. At the time when she died. In the place where you first jumped" I repeat again, trying to make sense of these words.

"It's tonight," Four sits on my desk chair, "he wants to meet me tonight at the train tracks."

I meet his eyes, narrowing a bit. "Him? Who do you think sent you this letter?"

"Isn't it obvious? Marcus. He wants to meet with me and I don't know why." He stands from the chair and begins to pace, brushing his fingers through his hair.

"Four... I don't think it's Marcus. Because I saw him today" my voice goes lower and lower as I try to pick which way I'm going to tell him what I did today.

He stops the pacing to look down at me; I'm sitting cross legged on my bed. The note resting on my lap.

"You saw Marcus today? When?"

"I went to Abnegation to see Ethan, I was practically kicked out of the whole sector by Ester but Marcus caught me before I left."

Four sits on the chair again, dragging it so he's sitting directly in front of me. "What did he say?" I can't tell if he's angry or not, but he seems further away.

"He asked about you, I told him you don't think about him anymore. It's what he deserved" I sigh, biting the inside of my cheek.

He's silent for a few moments, staring at the floor. But when his head raises, he takes the note from my lap and studies it again.

"Then who wrote this? Who wants to meet me?" Four asks quietly, more of a question for himself.

"Do you think it's some sort of trick?"

He shakes his head. "There's only one way to find out."

I make a face. "You're still going to go? What if something happens to you?"

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle the situation if it goes south," Four sighs, "I need to go, Mal. This message was written with only information I would understand. It has to be someone who's close to me."

"Then let me come with you. I can help if whoever it is tries to hurt you."

He looks at me with a grin, setting his hand on top of mine. "I know you can, but it'll be better if I'm alone."

I know he's right, but I don't want to admit it. "Fine" I sigh.

Four's smile disappears into a straight line again. I can tell there's something else he needs to add.

"What?" I ask softly, not wanting to disturb whatever Mia and Tara are doing in their rooms; I didn't check to even see if they were home.

"When I saw the letter waiting for me in my apartment, I went straight to the control room to find out who planted it. But as I was scanning the camera footage, the camera from Max's office came on the screen. Jeanine was there."

My body goes still. "What happened?"

Four tells me what he heard from the small sliver of recording he saw and listened in on. Jeanine and Max we're discussing a sort of candidate for the leadership program. Jeanine had someone in mind already, but Max was the one who wanted to wait it out to see if anyone else meets the criteria.

She must be referring to the informant, Eric. Max must be referring to the one he recruited himself, Four.

"So the whole leadership program is orchestrated by Jeanine?" I ask quietly; this was a lot of information to take in.

"Sounds like it. I don't know why she's involved, or why Erudite is involved at all with Dauntless politics."

"If Erudite has anything to do with Dauntless, we might end up like Amar sooner than we expected."