Nathan, Uriah, and I follow Eric into this room. It's a neglected room in Dauntless. I don't think anyone has ever seen it, except us. It kind of creeps me out, to think of what they might do to us in here.

"Clean," Eric announces.

We all nod. Nathan hands me a broom from the nearby closet.

"Have you been here before?" I ask anxiously.

Nathan nods slowly and puts his index finger to his lips. I nod, shifting my eyes around the room, because I have absolutely no clue what to do. Nathan quickly picks up some clothes from the floor and throws them out the window. As soon as Uriah looks towards us, Nathan starts to clean vigorously, trying to avoid all sorts of conversation. He sweeps like a maniac. I sweep slowly, completely unsure of my surroundings. Uriah clears his throat.

"Yea?" I whisper softly.

"What is this place?" Nathan asks sarcastically.

I slightly nudge him in the shoulder.

He shrugs. "Whatever works."

Uriah glares at Nathan, then just shrugs it off. I'm used to Nathan being so quirky and logical, but now he just looks afraid. Uriah is usually so outlandish and reckless, but now, he's just.... Puzzled. I can tell he's deep in thought, because his personality is gone. No Dauntless Cake, no punching, and no criticizing us initiates left and right. Nathan is normally hilarious, but now, he's so focused, his brain will pop out of his head. I feel something stinky hit my head. It smells like mold and rats.

"ERICA!" I roar loudly.

"Initiate, if you ever call me that again, you're going to hang off the chasm rails until your neck turns a violet purple permanently. I will scar you.  You don't want that now, do you?" he demands.

All I do is stare. I don't nod or shake my head, getting glares from both Nathan and Uriah. They think I'm brave. They think I'm impetuous. They think I'm haughty. I know I'm not any of these things. They think I care. I brush my hair away from my face. They still glare at me. Whatever.

Eric glares at me like, got it initiate?' I just stand and stare.

That's all I do, and all I plan on doing. Eric leaves the room, disgusted by some of the things  he found in there. I imagine guns, being fired everywhere as I clean this place. I remember the targets and that's all I can think about. Uriah does more and more cleaning, while Nathan's face is turning bright crimson with frustration as he vigorously cleans. But, I noticed something. I noticed something big. Nathan cleans only one area. He avoids the huge lumps of clothes all over the place. When either Uriah or I look at the clothes, he quickly tosses them out the window.

"Nathan?" I ask, "What's wrong?"

He glares at me.

"Seriously," I mutter.

"Nothing's wrong," he mutters, then glares at the both of us.

"Why are you cleaning only one area?"
I ask, "Are you serious!"

He puts his finger to his lips again. He tells me to come closer to him. I take a step forwards. He yanks me by my arm and pulls me into another room.

"Listen, my friend," he says, "I can't tell you anything. But I can tell you one thing. I'm doing everything for a reason. Now, stop asking questions. I'll tell you later."

"Later...." I start in consternation, "As in when?!"

Nathan pauses, gulping on the dirty, moldy air of this dilapidated place.

"Kat, later obviously means after this place is cleaned."

I look at Nathan with bewilderment, then slowly return to where Uriah is.

"Hello," Uriah mutters uncomfortably.

"Hi?" I mutter back while Nathan just stands there, nodding.

I look at Uriah with a confident facial expression. He smiles back at me. If he... just yuck. Nathan finally cleans other areas, carefully studying the both of us, causing both me and Uriah to cringe.

Uriah looks at Nathan. "You're the creepiest initiate I have ever met."

"Creepier than Peter?" he asks suddenly.

"Yep," Uriah says in reply.

Nathan shrugs it off than returns to work. He still studies the both of us.

"I DDIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO KEEP BEING CREEPY, THAN DID I! YOU'LL GET ARRESTED!" Uriah exclaims.

Nathan chuckles in reply. "You can't get arrested and brought into Erudite for being "creepy", now can I?"

"But you can become factionless," Uriah retorts.

"Okay, try," Nathan replies, still chuckling.

Uriah pulls Zeke into the room. "Zeke, one of my dearest brothers, tell me if Nathan could get thrown out of Dauntless for being creepy."

A happy expression falls onto Zeke's face. "Only if you give me Dauntless Cake!"

I punch Zeke square in the face. "Shut up. Just.... Shut up."

Nathan walks up to Zeke and says, "Now, Zeke. You're always right. But not this time."

"Ask Four," Nathan continues, "Maybe he should be the final verdict."

"Wait a moment...." Zeke says, "What is this place?"

Nathan scowls on response. "Oh, great."

"I mean seriously, if this is punishment, then Eric mist ne pretty cruel." Zeke mutters with sass.

Uriah's mouth hangs open. None of us bother to close or cover it. "How do you know that?"

Zeke snaps, then does the whip. "Because I'm your brother."

Uriah looks down at the floor while Nathan looks up, while I'm trying to figure out what's going on. They both look like they're keeping a secret. Nathan just looks puzzled while Uriah looks guilty.

Eric finally walks in and examines the dilapidated place. "You are dismissed."

Zeke's the first one out of the cabin.

"How did he get here?" Eric asks with consternation.

Nathan just smirks with confidence while uncross my arms across my chest. Nathan and I walk out of the dilapidated place next. As soon as we are out of sight, I yank Nathan by his arm into another empty room.

"What's going on?" I ask quietly but confidently.

"What are you talking about," he whispers defensively.

"What is wrong with you? What were the clothes? Like, seriously?" I exclaim with anger.

Nathan pauses and taps his foot, while slowly crossing his arms across his chest. "I do everything for a reason."

I am about to yell and rant about how silly he is, but I just stop, due to the fact that people might be watching us. I lift my hands up in surrender. "Okay. What reason? You just do everything monotonously with absolutely no emotion at all. You just stood in one place for FOREVER, alright?! What is going on?"

"I'll tell you later," he mutters uncomfortably.

I pause for a second, carefully studying every inch of him. "Later is now."

Nathan looks like he's on the verge of violence, but instead he speaks in a peaceful tone, "I'll tell you when I feel like it. Look, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," I mutter without thinking.

Nathan smiles, chuckles softly, then shakes his head. He looks into my dark brown eyes, then blows his African American hair out of his face. "What are you sorry for, exactly?"

I chuckle at his response. "I'm sorry for being so stupid about this. I was a complete coward just to yell it in your face like that. That's not normal."

Nathan places his finger to his lips. I feel someone tug me from my shirt. I squirm. They bring me into another room, while one person fights Nathan.

"Hey, stiff," I hear an Erudite's voice mutter, "Be logical."

I automatically stop moving.

"That coward," Peter's voice mutters.

"Oh yeah," a muffled voice from the factionless replies.

Pater punched me in the face, causing blood to gush out of my nose, my skin turning light scarlet. Another factionless member ran towards us, knocking all of us down to the floor. I hear a loud thump, then I sprint away from the scene. I jump on top of Peter, causing him his body to be prostrate for a second. Then, he grabs my legs and flips me over. My body plummets to the ground, hitting my body hard. I can see the numerous violet bruises forming on my collarbone.  He kicks me in the left rib again and again and again.

"Bring it on, stiff," Peter mutters, when the factionless members laughed along with him.

I elbow Peter in the neck, causing him to collapse onto the floor. I kick him in the rib. As soon as I make another move, Peter flips me over, causing my rib to hit hard on the ground. I wince slightly, but I have high pain tolerance compared to most Abnegation, anyway. I get up fast and pin Peter against the wall.

"You coward," I mutter and the world goes black.