I open my eyes and the room is pitch black. I raise my hand and wave it in front of my face, but I cannot make out the outline of it in the dark. I blink and raise a brow at the sight in front of me: three overhead lights illuminate three figures before me. Each person's face is blurry, and I cannot decipher who it is.

"Take it," a deep voice says.

I glance to my left. Max is illuminated by an overhead light with his hand outstretched to me. In his hand is a handgun.

"What do I need that for?" I ask, my heart rate quickening.

"If you truly want to be Dauntless," Max says, his mouth tilting up to form a malicious smirk, "you have to shoot one of them."

He yanks my arm and forces the gun in my hand, tightening my fingers around the handle. My hand feels heavy. I have held and shot a gun before, but I have never been forced to shoot an actual person. My hands shake and my heart beats out of my chest as I take a look at the three figures.

My breath catches in my throat.

On the far left is Fern, the woman who took me in when I was seven. In the middle is Tera, her eyes wide and her shoulders shaking. On the right is Eric, his face is stone cold, not revealing any emotion. All three are people I care about and have grown to love.

"All you have to do is shoot one of them," his voice taunts, "and you will become a member of Dauntless."

"I can't," I say, shaking my head. I squat down and set the gun on the ground. "I refuse to shoot anyone, especially when they've done no wrong."

"Don't you want to be Dauntless?" he sneers, moving closer.

"If that is what I have to do to be a Dauntless member," I say, "then I don't belong here."

"Well, I guess you're right." He shoves me down and swipes the gun. He raises it up and points it at me. "You're no use to us, so I might as well kill you."

The gun fires and I feel a burning sensation in my shoulder before Max fades away and my eyes droop and close.

***

My eyes fly open. Four is sitting at the monitor, a shocked look on his face.

"That was... interesting, to say the least," he says, scooting the chair away from the monitor.

"Yeah, it was something." I sit up and touch my shoulder where I had gotten shot in the landscape.

"That reminded me of one of my own fears." He runs his hand through his hair before his eyes lock on mine. "I was told to shoot someone too, but I didn't refuse like you did."

"Wow, that just felt so real," I say.

He nods and scoots his chair back to the monitor. I take that as my cue to leave. I slide out of the chair and walk to the door.

"Rori," Four says as soon as my hand touches the door handle.

"Yeah?"

"Eric will come around," he says. "But be careful."

"I will," I say with a nod. "See you later, Four."

He raises a hand and I push the door open. I smile at my friends and say, "I'll meet you guys at lunch."

I leave the waiting room and decide to walk around the building. Since being here in Dauntless, I have hardly done any exploring. The are only a few places I've been to besides the dormitory, cafeteria, and training room. I've been to the Pit, the roof, Eric's apartment, the infirmary, and the daycare.

I should go to the daycare, I think to myself. Tera and I both told Agetha, the woman who runs the daycare, that we could help out when we don't have training. I planned to start going, but my attack put a dent in my plans, and the Eric situation has been all I can think about.

I make my way through the halls and find myself outside the door to the daycare. I knock on the door and open it when I hear a faint "come in."

Agetha is in the floor playing with blocks with a toddler. She glances up and I shut the door behind me.

"Hey, stranger," she says. "I haven't seen you in a while."

I sit in the floor, crisscrossed in front of her. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to start helping here but--"

"You don't have to explain," she says, a warm smile on her face. "I heard about your attack and knew you'd have a lot on your plate."

"Thank you for understanding," I say before the toddler hands me a block and points at the tower he has built.

"Do you want me to help you build?" I ask the little boy. He has brown hair and blue eyes and looks to be around three years old.

He nods and smiles. I put the block on top and say, "Tada," which makes him giggle.

"So, what's your name?" I ask him.

"Karson." He holds up three fingers and says, "I'm three."

"Wow, you're growing up, huh?" He nods asks me my name. "My name is Aurora, but everyone calls me Rori."

"I like that name," he says. "Aurora is the name of a princess from a story my mommy reads my sissy."

"Thank you," I say with a smile. "I like your name, too."

"Speaking of your sissy," Agetha says, getting up from her crisscrossed position, "I need to go check on her and the others."

"I'll do it if that's okay," I say.

"Thank you," she says, looking quite relieved. "If they're awake and will let you, you can pick them up."

"Yes ma'am," I say, standing up and brushing my pants off.

I glance to my right and head toward the room labeled nursery. I use some of the hand sanitizer from the wall before I tiptoe inside, careful not to wake up any of the babies. There are eight cribs lined up along the nursery walls. Lucky for me, all the babies except for one are still napping soundly. The crib in the far corner holds a baby girl, about six months old. She has blue eyes and dark head of hair.

The name on the sheet hanging from the railing says her name is Karleigh. I'm assuming this is Karson's sissy.

"Hi, Karleigh," I say, reaching out to tickle her with my finger. She wraps her little hand around my finger and smiles, making my heart melt. "Wow, you are such a beautiful baby."

He reaches her arms up and I gently pick her up. I cradle her in my arms, and comb her hair back with my finger. Each brush makes her eyes flutter, and before too long, she is asleep. I reach over the railing and set her back in her crib. I cover her up before checking on the others and leaving the nursery.

Agetha and Karson are no longer playing with blocks, but are instead coloring. As soon as I sit down, Karson asks me if I want to color.

"I may have to go soon," I tell him. "I told my friends I'd meet them for lunch."

Agetha checks her wristwatch and tells me it is fifteen til twelve.

"You can go ahead and go if you want," she says.

"Do you want me to get you some lunch?" I ask. "I don't mind."

"Thank you, but it's okay," she says. "I'll wait until someone comes to cover me, so I can go on break."

"Okay." I stand up and brush off my jeans. "I'll come back and help soon."

"Bye, sweetie. Thanks for helping."

"No problem," I say. I exit the daycare and make my way to the cafeteria to eat with my friends.

***

"It was horrible," Raiden says, telling us about his fear landscape from this morning. He sits to my left, facing the three of us. And by us, I mean Tera, Finn, and me.

"I can't imagine how embarrassed Four must've been," Tera says.

"Why are you worried about how embarrassed he was?" Raiden says, his voice raising and his cheeks turning even redder. "I was the one who was naked in front of the whole Dauntless population."

He checks behind him to make sure nobody has walked in without him noticing before facing us again. We are in the fear landscape waiting room. We finished eating and decided to come in here early.

"Yeah, but it wasn't really real," she says, chuckling. "Think about it, Four had to watch your fear."

"Duh," he says. "He has to watch every fear he monitors."

"Dude, she means that Four watched your fear," Finn says. "You were naked in your fear, and she was talking about how embarrassed and uncomfortable he must've been to have to watch that."

"Oh, my goodness." Raiden's jaw drops and his eyes widen. "I didn't even think about that."

"How'd he look when you finished your fear?" I ask, finally contributing to the conversation.

"I don't know," he says, looking lost in thought. "I didn't look. I hurried up and left the room."

"Maybe he's forgotten it," Finn says.

"It happened this morning," Tera says, laughing. "He probably won't forget that landscape for a while."

"Honestly, you're probably not the only initiate with that fear," I say, trying to make him feel better.

"Let's find out if he remembers," Finn says, pointing toward the doorway.

I glance toward the door to see Four walking in with his head down.

"Hey, Four," Finn says. "How was your morning?"

"Same as always, I guess," he says with a shrug. "I monitored the fear landscapes and then ate lunch."

"Speaking of which," Finn says, "were there any interesting ones?"

Four's eyes flick to Raiden and a small smirk appears on his face before he looks back at Finn. "Yeah, there were a few interesting ones."

Raiden slouches in his seat and Tera and Finn double over laughing. A hint of a smile appears on Four's face before he clears his throat.

"I better go get things set up." He acknowledges me with a nod before he walks off and enters the room he monitors the fears in.

Footsteps draw my attention away from the door Four disappeared in and I glance toward the entrance, almost instantly wishing I hadn't looked. Eric walks in, looking as good as ever. Our eyes meet and I glance away, hoping he doesn't notice I was flat out staring at him.

Tera nudges my side and motions me closer to her. She leans in close to my ear and whispers. "Pretend I'm saying something funny."

I do as she says, and feels Eric's eyes on me but I don't look up. Once he walks past us, I sneak a look at him briefly before turning toward Tera.

"Thanks," I whisper, trying to manage a smile. "That was almost awkward and uncomfortable."

"What else are friends for?" She grins and pulls me into a hug. We pull apart and she starts talking to Finn about I don't even know what.

I glance at the door Eric disappeared in and sigh. I have not gotten a chance to talk to him since he ended things between us, but I'm hoping I can get a chance today.

A handful of other initiates trickle in the door and get seated about the time Four peeks his head out the door. He makes eye contact with my but says Raiden's name. I raise my brow and he motions his head to the left. I nod in understanding.

"Good luck, Raiden," I say. He smiles before walking and entering the door Four just closed.

I cross my arms and lean my head against the wall behind me. My eyes perk up at the sound of a door opening.

"Tera," Eric's voice calls.

I open my eyes and flash Tera a thumbs up. "Good luck."

"Thanks." She gets up and follows Eric into the room.

Finn scoots into the seat Tera was just in and clears his throat. I take note of his face and his bouncing leg. He is nervous about something, and I don't think it's just because he's about to go into his fear landscape.

"You okay, Finn?" I ask.

"Yeah, I've just been meaning to ask you a question," he says. "I just never seem to get the chance."

"What's up?"

"Do you know if Tera likes anyone?" He rubs the back of his neck and his eyes fall to his shoes.

"She hasn't told me anything," I say, "but I think there is this one guy she likes. It's kind of obvious they like each other."

"Oh," he says, his mood deflated. "I, uh, thanks for telling me."

I laugh and nudge his shoulder. "I was talking about you, silly. I see the way you two act around each other. It's obvious there's something there."

"I'm so relieved to hear that," he says, a smile appearing on his lips. "I was planning on asking her to be my girlfriend after we're members."

"I'm sure she'll like that," I say, pulling him in for a side hug. "If you want help planning dates and asking her out, please let me help you."

The door to Eric's landscape room opens and Tera walks out and smiles at the both of us.

"Thank you." We pull away and he watches Tera leave the room before turning back to me. "I will definitely need all the help I can get."

"Finn," Eric calls out.

I smile at Finn as he gets up and lean back once he disappears behind the door. I rest my head against the wall and close my eyes. I cross my arms over my chest, figuring I might be here for a while. I might as well be comfortable while waiting.

***

"Wake up," a voice says. Hands shake my shoulders slightly and my eyes flutter open. Eric stands before me, a neutral expression on his face.

"It's your turn." He turns and walks toward the door without checking to see if I am following him or not. I look around the room, surprised that no other initiate is in the room. I didn't mean to fall asleep.

I enter the landscape room and sit in the chair in the middle. I fiddle with my fingers as Eric gets things set up behind the monitor. I practiced what I'd say to Eric if I got a moment alone with him, and now that we're alone, I can't seem to speak.

"You're nervous," he comments, making my head snap up. I wasn't expecting him to talk to me, let alone talk to me first.

"You can't blame me," I say. "This is the first I've been alone with you in a while. You've been avoiding me."

"You can't blame me," he says. "I needed time away from you after what I saw in your landscape."

"You didn't even let me explain." My eyes are trained on the opposite wall and my hands are shaking. "You just jumped to conclusions."

"This isn't the time or place to discuss this." He scoots the stool back and stands up. He walks toward me with a syringe in his hand and motions for me to lie back. "Meet me on the roof at seven this evening. That is, if you want to talk."

I nod and turn my head so he can insert the serum. I'm really hoping he is willing to listen so we can work things out. I miss him, and I know he misses me too. I can tell because of his hair and the stubble on his face. It looks as if he's been running his hand through it all day. And he looks like he hasn't shaved his face in a while, which is weird. He likes to keep his face clean shaven.

"Good luck." He inserts the serum and my eyes droop shut before I am pulled under.

A/N: Hey, initiates! I hope you like this chapter, and if you do, please vote and comment! Also, if you would like, you can follow me! :)

Q: What do you think will happen when her and Eric talk? Will they sort things out and get back together?