Starting Over

Chapter 27

I wake up in a cold, dark room. I don't know where I am or how I got here. I try to move away from the wall I'm leaning against but it causes my head to spin. I feel like I'm going to puke so I cover my mouth with my hand. That's when I notice the handcuffs and chains that attach to the wall. The chains rattle which draws the attention of someone else in the room.

"Hello, B. I'm glad to see that you're awake," a tall figure says. I recognize him and his voice sounds familiar, but I can't place it.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I ask, sounding more confident than I actually feel. I mean really, I'm chained to a wall, my head is spinning, and I feel like I'm going to vomit. What could I actually do to him?

"Oh, you know me. We've been friends for almost a month now. I'm actually quite offended you don't recognize me."
Malachi. But why would it be him? Why would he want to kidnap me?

"Friends don't kidnap friends," I tell him. He laughs in response.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's kidnapping so much as influencing you to give me the information I want."

"And what information would that be, Malachi?" I ask as dryly as possible.

"I need to know how you beat the simulations so quickly."

"I slow my heart rate. You already knew that. They tell us that before the simulations start."

"That's not what I mean. I already do that, but you are still faster. How?"

"I focus."

He tisks. "Not good enough, B," he mutters before he backhands me across the face. I gasp slightly at the force behind it. It will defiantly bruise.

"When I come back you better have a better answer. Oh, and you won't be getting any food until you're able to answer me."

When he's gone I start to mess with the handcuffs. They're thick metal and I quickly figure out that the edges are really sharp. I pull against the chains a few times, trying to pull them from the wall, but it's no use. I only succeed in digging the sharp metal further into my skin. I feel the blood on my wrists but I'm too tired to care. I lay my head back against the wall and eventually fall asleep.

<<<•>>>

"Wake up," I hear somebody hiss in my ear. I know it's Malachi. I would attempt to do something while he's so close but he moves away before I can think of anything.

"How do you get out of the simulations?" he demands.

"I already told you, I focus on slowing my hear rate."

"That's a lie! There's no way you could get out of them that fast by just slowing your heart rate!"

"Fine, you want the truth? I'm Divergent and it comes easier to me because I know I'm in a simulation."

"I already knew you were Divergent, B! And guess what, so am I. I always have trouble with the simulations and I want to know why! What can I do to fix it?"

"Some Divergents are stronger than others, Malachi. You can't just waltz in and expect to be good at the simulations because you are Divergent. It doesn't work like that."

"That's the thing, I am decent at the simulations. I'm not great though, and I want to be great. I want to be able to get out of them in two minutes."

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you. Although I don't know why I would want to after you kidnapped me and chained me to a wall. You really should have thought things through more."

Before I realize what's going on he has a gun out and is pulling the trigger. I hear a loud bang followed by a scream which I realize is my own. My hands fly to my leg as I try to control the pain and the bleeding. I hear Malachi's footsteps heading away from me. Before he leaves he tells me I have until tonight to give him a real answer or he'll finish the job.

I rip off the bottom part of my shirt and tie part of it around my leg a few inches above the bullet hole. I tie it as tight as I can get it, trying to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. It hurts so much that I can't get it at tight as it should be and blood is still bubbling from the wound. There's blood already soaking my leg. He must have hit an artery. I press the rest of the fabric to the wound itself and sit back against the wall. I try to get my heart to slow down so it won't be pumping blood as rapidly. I need my leg to stop bleeding, or at least slow the bleeding. I need to buy time until Tobias finds me, because I know he will.

<<<•>>>

All I can do is wait. All I can do is wait and try to stop the bleeding. All I want is to sleep.

<<<•>>>

My eyelids droop more and more with each passing second. My hold on my leg slowly relinquishes and I feel more blood making my leg warm. Slowly my head falls forward and everything goes dark.

<<<•>>>

I wake up to a mix between a scream and a gasp. My hands fly to my leg and I realize the shriek was my own. I realize there's another pair of hands on my leg.

"Tris, I know this is going to hurt, but I need you to trust me," Tobias says. I smile and throw my arms around him. Tobias.

"Hey, I got you," he whispers in my ear as he hugs me back. "We need to go."
I nod against his shoulder and hold on to him as he picks me up. I wince at the movement in my leg but I don't scream this time. I bury my head in his neck as he caries me out the door. Before I know it we're at the hospital.

"Name?" the lady behind the desk asks.

"B," he tells her.

"I'm sorry, but we need her full name. We can't help her if we don't have any medical files to go off of."

He looks at me like he's asking for permission. I try to tell him it's okay, but I can't get my voice to work. Instead I nod at him and place my palm on his cheek. He nods back in response and turns back to the lady.

"Beatrice Prior. Her name is Beatrice Prior."

I don't know what all happens next. I'm too tired to focus on much of anything. I can feel myself slipping away as I close my eyes and rest my head on Tobias. I hear him tell me to hold on, but it's too late. I'm already gone.