Aberrant

Twenty-Three: Brooke/Dex

Brooke:

I'm lying in my bed in Candor, staring at the light streaming though my curtains, willing myself to wake up. There's distant banging on my door-I know it's Clara. She's probably made porridge and wants me to get up before it goes cold. 

I roll over and grab my pillow to put over my head. I know she's going to start shouting in a bit...

"Wake up!" There's a voice, but I'm confused; it's not Clara's. It's deep and low. 

"That's an order, Initiates!" It barks again. And my eyes fly open...

...And suddenly, I'm not in Candor, but in Dauntless. And it's Amar, not my sister Clara, who's shouting. He's standing by the doorway, a torch in his hand, and is banging sharply on the door. 

"Get up!" he yells," I want you by the train tracks in ten minutes!" I blink and take a good look around the room. Everywhere, initiates are scrambling and stumbling from their beds. 

"What time is it?" I hear Sam groan sleepily. 

"Probably midnight," yawns Amy in reply. 

"Oh great," Sam says, and I see him climb up to the top bunk, "Dex isn't even awake!"

"How could she possibly sleep though that ?" Amy asks. 

"Probably has super-powers," Sam sniffs, "Plato, come and help me wake her, will you? Last time I tried, I got kicked in the face." I see Plato's small form join Sam on the top bunk. 

"Will you guys hurry up?" I hear the voice of Cassie call, "We have to go in ten minutes!"

Ten minutes! It suddenly hits me that I, too, should be getting up, and I get into full-scale panic mode. Scrambling, I get dressed using my duvet as I shield, and stumble bleary-eyed over to the bathroom. 

As I stand there, brushing my teeth, I hear some retching behind me, and glancing into the mirror, I see Isaac crouched over the toilet. I'd completely forgotten about his spiked drink. I rinse, spit, and wipe my mouth, just as he turns and meets my eyes in the mirror. He looks like hell. 

"Edgar!" he snarls, and I see that Edgar too is near another toilet. 

"Yeah?" Edgar asks, weakly. 

"Get me a double expresso from the Cafeteria! I need caffeine!"

"It's the middle of the night!" Edgar protests, "I don't think the Cafeteria will be open!"

"Just do it!" he growls, and Edgar stumbles out of the bathroom. 

Isaac stands up, swaying slightly, and makes his way over to me. He clumsily reaches out to grab me by my shirt, but misses and almost falls over. 

"What did I say last night?" he hisses. I blink, remembering that Phoebe asked the same question. I don't want to give an honest answer. He might not have wanted me to know about his plans to become a Dauntless leader. My best bet is to pretend that I was too drunk to notice last night. 

I wince, "Will you stop shouting? My head hurts." Isaac scowls, an odd mixture of relief yet ongoing suspicion on his face. He straightens himself up and, still swaying, exists the bathroom. 

We all board the train, with April arriving just in time. A disgruntled Amar has to help Isaac and Edgar get on, and, seeing Phoebe's cool eyes watching me, I force him to help me too. 

"Idiots," he mutters sourly. 

"I got the coffee by the way," Edgar tells Isaac, as we sit down, with Isaac almost missing the seat completely.