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The obstacle won’t be comfortable for me, but because I have been able to manipulate every sione through Tobias’s landscape, I am not apprehensive as Lauren inserts the needle into es and the kidnapping begins The ground turns into grass beneath my feet, and hands clamp around my arms, over my mouth It is too dark to see

I stand next to the chasm I hear the roar of the water I scream into the hand that covers my ;into darkness flashes into htain; I scream until my throat hurts and I squeeze hot tears from my eyes

I knew they would coain The first tiain--not for help, because no one will help me, but because that’s what you do when you’re about to die and you can’t stop it

"Stop," a stern voice says

The hands disappear, and the lights come on I stand on cement in the fear landscape roo ic, I lost all sense Lauren’s fear transformed into one of my own

And everyone saw me Tobias saw me

I hear footsteps Tobias marches toward me and wrenches me to my feet

"What the hell was that, Stiff?"

"I…" My breath coether! This is pathetic"

Sohthe weakness out of me, and I smack him so hard my knuckles burn with the iht with blush-blood, and I stare back

"Shut up," I say I yank rasp and walk out of the room

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I PULL MY jacket tight aroundtiainst my face, and I watch my breaths for: I convinced Peter and his friends that I’er a threat I just have to hYesterday failure seemed impossible Today I’h one I braid my hair and tie it with the rubber band around my wrist I feel more like myself That is all I need: to remember who I as like boys and near-death experiences stop her

I laugh, shaking my head Am I?

I hear the train horn The train tracks loop around the Dauntless compound and then continue farther than I can see Where do they begin? Where do they end? What is the world like beyond theo home, but I can’t Eric warned us not to appear too attached to our parents on Visiting Day, so visiting ho the Dauntless, and I can’t afford to do that Eric did not tell us we couldn’t visit people in factions other than the ones we cah, and my mother did tell me to visit Caleb

I know I’m not allowed to leave without supervision, but I can’t stoprab the handle and swing h my sore body

Once in the car, I lie on my back next to the door and watch the Dauntless coo back, but choosing to quit, to be factionless, would be the bravest thing I have ever done, and today I feel like a coward

The air rushes over ers I let ainst the wind I can’t go home, but I can find part of it Caleb has a place in every memory of my childhood; he is part of my foundation

The train slows as it reaches the heart of the city, and I sit up to watch the ss The Erudite live in large stone buildings that overlook the h to see where the tracks go They dip down to street level just before they bend to travel east I breathe in the smell of wet pavement and marsh air

The train dips and slows, and I ju, and I run a few steps to regainsouth, toward the marsh The empty land stretches as far as I can see, a brown plane colliding with the horizon

I turn left The Erudite buildings loom above me, dark and unfamiliar Hoill I find Caleb here?

The Erudite keep records; it’s in their nature They must keep records of their initiates Someone has access to those records; I just have to find the, the central building should be the most important one I may as well start there

The factionaround everywhere Erudite faction norms dictate that a factionat a ti chemicals, and "a calnify their faction It seehting and dark clothing

I expect to weave through the crowd, dodging elbows and"excuseDauntless has madeto me as I pass I pull the rubber band froh the front doors

I stand just inside the entrance and tilt e, silent, and ses The wood-paneled floor creaks beneath my feet Bookcases line the walls on either side of , because computers occupy the tables in the center of the roo They stare at screens with tense eyes, focused

I should have known that thewould be a library A portrait on the opposite wall catches ht and four tiray eyes and spectacles--Jeanine Heat licks ht of her Because she is Erudite’s representative, she is the one who released that report about my father I have disliked her since an, but now I hate her

Beneath her is a large plaque that reads KNOWLEDGE LEADS TO PROSPERITY

Prosperity To ation uses it to describe self-indulgence

How could Caleb have chosen to be one of these people? The things they do, the things they want, it’s all wrong But he probably thinks the same of the Dauntless

I walk up to the desk just beneath Jeanine’s portrait The youngbehind it doesn’t look up as he says, "How can I help you?"

"I a for someone," I say "His name is Caleb Do you knohere I can find hiive out personal information," he replies blandly, as he jabs at the screen in front of him

"He’s my brother"

"I am not permi--"

I slam my palm on the desk in front of hi at me over his spectacles Heads turn in my direction

"I said" My voice is terse "I a for someone He’s an initiate Can you at least tell me where I can find them?"