Chapter 22

We eventually head back to headquaters. By now people are slumped against the metal walls of the train as sleep, but like dead bodies from the war we were just part of. Excitement still runs through my body as I am leaning against Connors beating heart. He is asleep just like Shayne and Olivia (who is also sleeping on Shayne's shoulder) I don't understand how they can sleep after the victory they just had. I see Aspin, his friend Ryan and the rainbow haired girl walk towards me with grins. I remove myself from Connor's grip and stand to face them as though I am facing my boss or a captain of some sorts.

"Hey." I nervously say. I want to set a good impression to them after all being brave to them is in their dna. Like a mixture of honesty, kindness and bravery is meant to be in mine. "Thanks for the help tonight. Without you guys my skin would be covered in that gooey paint." I add. Ryan and Aspin both smile, the rainbow haired girl still stands with a straight face and crossed arms. "What is her problem?" I wonder.

"No problem we should be thanking you and your plan. I'm starting to believe Abnegation secretly do this sort of stuff for fun." Ryan says as I look at one of his lip piercings I notice one of them has a slight tint of red to it. Blood. A fresh piercing that is only days old.

"Yeah! Not bad for an ex-Stiff" The rainbow haired girl spits out. "What is it with people spitting out the word Stiff?" I frown at her small body.

"I apologise for my friend Keira here. Spending too much time with Lynn I think." Aspin jumps into say.

"Keira nice name...though I would have thought it would be a little more bold to match your hair." I say a little too harshly.

Keira glares at me "It is a family thing passed down from mother daughter it has been for generations. Though you wouldn't know much about a family now would you if those stories are to go by." She responds. I feel my blood boil with anger and my hand fold into a tight fist.

"Keira! I'm sorry about this." Aspin shouts. He pulls her away from me lifting her shirt and exposing a black dragon tattoo on her wrist. I'm glad he pulled her away otherwise she would have ended up with a black eye. Speaking of bruises I wonder how Jessica's face is. I smile at the vision of her holding an ice pack to her face, your own medicine doesn't taste good it never does. But it does the trick I wonder how she and her friends like being the ones who are hurt for a change. I sit back down next to Connor who is still asleep. I then follow in with sleeping.

We arrive back at the headquaters, the pit is empty, the tattoo parlour lightless, the dim blue lights are flickering and I am walking with a tired crowd. Connor has his arm around me.

"Thanks for helping me tonight, it meant a lot." I say for the billionth time this evening. But for some reason I have put more effort into my thanks to Connor. The boy who can hypnotise me with a simple look of his deep blue eyes.

"It is cool. We are friends after all." His voice is filled of tiredness but none the less the last bit hits me. I don't want to be just friends with him, I want more. But perhaps being friends isn't entirely bad, at least then he won't be able to hurt me completely. A usual occurrence with people who get close to me. I look to the floor and watch my footsteps. "You ok Ruby?" He asks. I nod my head and move his arm off my shoulders.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I'm gonna rush off." I say walking a head of him. The thought of Connor hurting me is terrifying, I don't think I'll have enough glue to put myself together again if he does hurt me. Even as friends.

The following day I get up and have a shower, Shayne, Olivia and Connor have all gone to get new tattoos. A small gift to themselves after last night's victory and to use the spare freedom they have tomorrow's final set of fights. This morning I have awoken to both smiles and snarls. Nothing that a shower can't fix. I can wash my troubles out of my hair and off my skin. After I finish; I wrap my hair in a bun and put on a pair of black jeans and a black jumper. My body still aches from the 'fight' I had with Lewis the other day. I walk to put my dirty clothes and used towels in the laundry. There is no one in the dorm but myself and the three Erudite's sitting on Oliver's un-made bed. They all fix their angered eyes upon me like big brother. Though I find it difficult not to laugh at Jessica's purple and white face. A bruise from last night from yours truly.

"Well, well Stiff even after one fluke of a win you think you own the place." Oliver says holding his chest. All three of them get up and approach me like sharks. "Look at you Sonia! You are nothing but a mere Stiff. An embarrassment to Dauntless." Oliver growls as he presses down on my shoulder, I push his bony hand off me and stop myself from hitting his ugly face.

"We will break your pathetic self down until you can't continue no more. Until you are factionless. We will hurt you worse than your father and brother could ever do in a lifetime." Jessica shouts almost. All three of them are stood around me in a circle and tears are beginning to form in my eyes. "Everyone has a weak spot and yours seem to be your...friends who are only your friends because sympathy. We will break them down and manipulate them to hate you." She continues. A brief silence has appeared which begins to scare me. They all nod and race towards me. Lewis has his solid hands wrapped firmly around my neck and pushes me against the metal wall. Air has escaped my lungs and I whale around over Lewis's emotionless face. My vision begins to blur until a fire has triggered in my blood urging me to find a way out of this. I collect a ball of saliva and launch it to his face.

He loosens his grip and I knee his sternum and run out of the dorm the way I ran last night as though my life depended on it. But knowing how sadistic those three are they would probably kill me. I continue to run down a hallway and down into a dead end out of sight.

I kneel my bruised and broken body and hold my hand to my neck and begin to cry. Not tears of sadness but more like tears of anger. They have hurt me more than enough times to remember, they have threatened my friends they have painted good people bad....and now it is my turn to hurt them. If they can play dirty so can I.