Blood over Faction writing challenge #1: Hate
“What happened?” She let herself fall on the chair the man who was talking to her had grabbed and place behind her. He had introduced himself, but she had forgotten his name. The only thing that kept repeating in her head was the first thing he had said. I’m sorry, Camille. Your parents and brother died in the Dauntless attack on Abnegation. She kept shaking her head. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. As much as she was happy here in Candor, as much as she had always stood behind her decision to transfer to another faction, they were still her family. Faction over Blood suddenly didn’t mean a lot when you got these kind of messages
“You heard about what happened, haven’t you?” The man didn’t stop talking about what happened in general. Yes, of course she had heard what happened. Of course she had heard what Erudite had made Dauntless do. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “With them, I mean. I want to know how they died.” She didn’t know if she wanted to hear it, but she had to. She knew she had to know it, she knew she couldn’t rest before she had heard the truth. Even when it would hurt her, and she didn’t doubt it would. “I want to know it. I need to know it!”
She felt a glass of water begin pressed in her hands, and automatically she started to take a few sips, before she realized what they were doing. “I don’t need to be calmed down! I need to know what happened! I need the truth!” She looked up, watching him in the eye, and she saw he didn’t know if he should tell her. “Is it that bad?” He nodded, grabbing another chair and sitting opposite her. “They didn’t have a chance...” She pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t cry when he was still there. How could they have had a chance? If there were people believing in turning the other cheek, it was them.
“They were among the first. They just... they just took them and shot them...” She looked at the man who seemed to have trouble to tell it. His voice started to break, and suddenly he stood up, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry Camille...” He turned around and walked away, silently closing the door behind him. She stared into nothingness, seeing her parents at the dinner table, like they had been the night before the Choosing. Her brother was there as well, and when she looked back at that night, she was sure they had known she would go.
She had never been back. She had seen them once or twice after that Choosing Ceremony, but she had her life here, she had been happy to be away, and there hadn’t been much contact anymore between her and her family. Faction over Blood, after all. And now they were gone. All of them. She couldn’t restrain herself anymore, and suddenly she started crying, wishing she had visited them now and then. Wishing she had managed to be so honest with them to tell them she did love them. Now it was too late. All because some Erudite leader thought she knew what was best for the city. All because those Dauntless soldiers were too trained to be stopped.
She was suddenly glad with the glass of water she had in her hand, drinking from it, trying to stop the tears. Tears wouldn’t help her. Nothing could help her get over this, only time. When she was sure she wasn’t crying anymore, she put down the glass, ready to leave the room. It wouldn’t make any sense to hide what happened, her faction members would know. But that didn’t mean she had to spell it out for them. Her pain was hers and hers alone. When she walked out, she felt something she hadn’t felt before. Not only would pain be a part of her from now on. Hate had found its place as well.









