Hello.
The first few chapters are more like a prologue, but please, enjoy.
Please excuse my mistakes.
It was a peaceful night, one like any other, when I was walking through the streets of the forgotten. I weaved my way through the forsaken humans that all kept to themselves in their own little worlds. There was nobody of importance here, we all were just faces faded into the background of society. Voices chatted to one another, trying to get business to survive another day, and yet these voices were not so urgent as one would think. They were just empty voices, as if they were tired of their lifestyle, no longer wanting to be used. Sooner or later, the voices would stop, like always, because they were trying to become nothing. And that was what I needed: to be nothing.
I wrapped my black hoodie closer around my body as I walked down the street. Off the distance, I gazed upon the sky full stars that mocked every being on Earth. We would never be able to reach something so beautiful and every night, the sky always reminded us of that. However, humans were foolish. They would always dream, pretending as if the fact wasn't a fact. They all loved to pretend that the world didn't have darker meanings than they could ever conceive. They didn't truly understand that this world was cruel.
I turn my gaze away from the provoking stars when I heard laughter. My eyes followed the two figures dressed in black with caution. Laughter with life was a thing out of place in streets like these. That's how I knew they weren't humans. They turned to look at me, showing me that they felt my gaze on them. They smirked, daring me to say anything. Rolling my eyes, I looked away. I could hear them laugh again.
I heard their feet shuffle quickly as they walked away and then it hit me. The smell that tried to will my body to follow instincts. It was both exhilarating and disgusting. I clenched my teeth as I moved to walk away faster. I didn't want to be here anymore. I ignored the way my mouth salivated and how my pulse rise. I was nothing, so I had to be nothing.
However, my legs came to a stop when I heard a sound from the past. It was faint, but I knew that it was the sound of a crying child. With my head hanging low, I tried to will myself away, but I couldn't. Unbeknownst to myself, I was already walking through the dark alleys to that crying voice. I ignored the workers in the alley who were ignorant to the crying sound. Soon, I found myself at a door.
I should just leave. It was only natural. People were bound to die at some point. It didn't matter if they were children or not. In fact, it's a miracle that the kid was still alive. As I started to back away, the crying got louder. I cursed under my breath. I should know better, and usually I do just walk away. I didn't know why this specific cry bugged me and not others before. Did I really want to do this? Was I even capable of doing this?
I gulped as my hands shook with sweat forming on them. The smell was so strong and the cry was so heart wrenching. I pursed my lips as I stared at the door. The doorknob was broken. Hesitantly, I reached my shaking hand out to doorknob. I twisted it and slowly pushed the door open. The crying stopped. It probably heard me opening the door, but the whimpers were loud and clear.
I slowly walked in and closed the door behind me. It was dark. The only light in the place was from the moon shining through the closed blinds. I followed the whimpers and strong smell. Too focused on the two things, I passed the small living, the small kitchen, and the small bathroom without much observation. I came upon another closed door. The cries and smell were coming from here. My head was pounding with excitement. An excitement that made me ashamed of myself. I opened the door as the smell engulfed my entire being. My teeth cut the inside of my mouth as I pushed away every instinct out of my system. Licking the blood inside of my mouth, I walked into the room.
My heart stopped when my eyes landed on the whimpering pale child that sat in front of the small twins bed. My mind was being pulled away from the scene. Before I could fall into the pits of memories I came to a realization. No. It's a boy. He was a small thin boy with black hair. With a tear stained face, he looked at me with silver eyes full of fear. My gaze fell down from the boy. A woman laid before the boy. She was pale, paler than any human should be. Her long black hair fanned out on the floor. Her neck was covered with four tiny holes with red liquid seeping out. The liquid stained her white nightgown red. Below her, red was staining the wooden floor. Blood.
The cut in my mouth grew bigger. My mouth tasted like iron. I gulped as I ignored every instinct telling me to get on the floor and lap at the blood. I walked to the body and the crying boy who was trying to back away from me. Kneeling down by the dead body, I grabbed the boy. I wiped away his tears and proceeded to cover his eyes with my right hand. Softly, I whispered, "Don't look. I'm sorry I couldn't save her. Please don't cry anymore."
It was probably from shock, but the boy stopped shivering. I picked up the tiny boy who flinched at first, but relaxed when I didn't hurt him. He was really light. It was like he was only skin and bones. I walked out of the room and went to the bathroom sink. I washed the blood away from his hands. I wiped his tear stained face with a wet towel. There were no signs of other people living here besides the kid and the woman. I needed to quickly leave with the kid. Others will show up because of the smell. I brought the kid out into the living room. On the floor was a backpack for a child. I picked it up as I looked at the kid sitting on the couch.
"We have to leave. Is there anything here you need?" I asked him. I knew that it was cruel to tell a child that they had to leave their home after someone was, most likely, murdered in front of his face, but we really needed to leave.
The boy looked at me with his silver eyes. He was no longer crying, but he was now devoid of all emotions. His eyes wandered around the room as he was deep in thoughts. His gaze stopped on a picture frame of him and, I assumed, his dead mother. I walked over and grabbed the picture, putting it in the backpack. I told him to wait in the living room while I grabbed clothes for him from the bedroom. He only nodded in return.
Bracing myself, I kept my mouth shut tight as I walked back into the bedroom. I rummaged through the dressers, trying to decide which clothes actually fitted the small boy. Most of the clothes were old and tiny compared to the boy. Sighing, I zipped the backpack up. I had to bring the child somewhere that didn't ask questions. The government was out of the question. There would be too many complications with that.
Back in the living room, I saw the child finish zipping up a dark blue sweater. He had put on shoes as well. I walked up to him and handed his backpack. He quietly took it and put it on. Without asking, I picked him up again. I kept him close to my chest as I walked out into the night.
Discreetly, I maneuvered through the alleys. Once again ignoring the workers of the dark alleys. As I came back to the main street, a woman walked past me. She had a smirk and it was faint, but I could see her eyes flash red. Her blood lust filled the air as if it were tempting me to join her. I looked away before she could see me staring. I made my way down the streets of the forgotten, feeling better when meaningless chatter filled my ears once again.
I moved the kid in my arms so that his head could rest on my shoulder. I almost faltered in my steps when I felt him wrap his arms around my neck. The kid was very adaptable. It seemed as if he understood what was happening. It was either that or he just simply didn't care. He was taking the death of a parent very well compared to others.
"What's your name?" I questioned once we fully assimilated into the background of the streets.
"Levi," the boy said simply.
"How old are you?" I interrogated further.
"Seven," Levi answered.
I nodded. With how small he was, I thought he would be, at most, five years old. After that, we didn't talk to each other. Soon we exited the streets of the forgotten and entered the streets of the normal. We were already in the safe side of the city. My body started to relax and then I tried to deal with the situation at hand. Where could I possibly leave this boy? Before I could start answering myself, a grumbling sound reached my ears. I feel the grip on my neck tightened. I let out a small huff of laughter. I smiled lightly, "Are you hungry?"
Levi shifted around in my arms. He turned his face away as he softly whispered, "Yes."
At that answer, I looked around to see if anything store or restaurant was open. Down the road full of neon lights, I saw a Denny's. I started heading over, understanding that this was probably the only place that was opened at this time of the night. I opened the door and immediately felt unwelcomed in the empty restaurant. I supposed that I couldn't blame them. It was probably two in the morning. The girl at the counter eyed me suspiciously as I walked up.
"A table for two," I said as I took noticed of the radio playing overhead.
"You're gonna have to pay upfront," she replied with a smirk.
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes as I brought out my wallet. Although I didn't eat human food or used human things, I still carried money just in case. "Can I see the menu?"
Wordlessly, she slided me a menu on the counter. I put Levi on the ground and handed him the menu. I didn't know if he could read or anything but I was pretty sure he could see pictures. Sure enough, the kid opened it and practically drooled at the pictures. I held on my wallet and said, "Pick out whatever you want. I'll buy it."
Levi started pointing at random pictures and the worker wrote it down on a notepad, offhandedly saying that she would also be our waitress. After paying upfront, we were seated. I pulled off my hood, getting comfortable. The girl eyed me before running away with a blush. Quickly, she came back bringing black tea to me and milk to the boy. After being left to our devices, the boy picked up his beverage. With both hands, he held the rim of the cup and drank it. It was a rather weird way of holding a cup, but who was I to judge? I lifted my tea and relished the taste of burned liquid.
"Mister, is tea tasty?" Levi asked from behind his cup.
"I don't know. It just calms me," I replied.
The boy nodded in response and continued to nurse his cup of milk. I observed him as we drank in silence. Honestly, I shouldn't had picked him up. Nature was a bitch about natural selection, but it would had only been natural for me to leave him. And I was going to leave him, but apart of me was drawn to him, a human child. Even though he had silver eyes that looked like they could drive a stake through my heart, I picked him up. A small defenseless child. I was only torturing myself.
The waitress came back to our table. She set two plates in front of the child. One plate had pancakes and bacon. The other plate had a burger with fries. Condiments were placed by Levi. I looked at the food and then at the boy. Could the kid eat all of it? He was so tiny. Then the kid starts wolfing it down like an animal.
"Kid, slow down. Chew with your mouth closed," I told him. Humans had enough time to be able to eat slowly. Spooked, Levi looks at me cautiously. Seeing that I wasn't angry, he followed my orders.
After drinking some milk, he slowly spoke, "Mister, are you not hungry?"
"No, I already ate," I said. It wasn't a lie. I went hunting earlier.
"How old are you?" Levi asked with a head tilt. He really was a child, asking a childlike question in a childlike way.
"Old enough," I said. He scrunched up his nose in a pout.
"Then… what's your name?" Levi tried as he nibbled on a fry.
"I don't have one," I said. I had long forgotten my own name. I took a sip of my tea, feeling the warmth enter me.
"What do you mean?" Levi asked.
"It means that I don't have a name," I replied simply. He puffed his cheeks in irritation. It was subtle, but I noticed it.
"Then I'll give you a name," Levi declared in a steady voice. He thought to himself as he ate his pancakes. Soon, his silver eyes lit up as if he discovered the next big thing. If I was being honest with myself, I would say that he looked cute. "Your name will be… Eren. It's a pretty name."
"Okay, my name is Eren," I said. Did I look Turkish or something? And I was anything but "holy." This kid was weird. His mother just died and he was talking to me as if nothing happened. "Why aren't you sad anymore?"
"Huh?" The kid looked at me in confusion with a bacon stripe hanging from his mouth. He ate away the bacon as he looked around, thinking to himself. He looked back at me, still confused. "I am sad, but you said to not cry."
"And you listened because?" I asked.
"You looked sad," Levi answered. "Your eyes are very pretty so I thought it would be better if you didn't cry either."
"Oh," I simply said.
I didn't really know what to say to the kid. I knew how others looked at me, but a kid saying it was different. I coughed a bit and took another sip of my tea. Seeing that the conversation was over, Levi went back to eating. Once he was done, he watched me, waiting for me to do something. I picked up a napkin and reached over to wipe his face clean.
"You should try to not be so messy," I told him. "A clean person will most likely be a good person."
"Hmm," Levi grunted as I finished wiping away the milk clean. As a pulled away, he let out a little yawn. He blinked his eyes, trying to will away his exhaustion.
"Go to sleep," I said as I went back to nursing my tea. He gave me an agitated look. I reached over and patted his head. "It'll be fine. You're safe."
I moved his plates and he cleaned the table before resting his head on the table. He quickly fell asleep. I continued to drink my tea and watched the boy sleep. Soon the warmth from the tea had been replaced by a chill as it got colder and colder. The radio overhead changed to the next song and I felt myself sighing at how appropriate it was.
I couldn't keep the kid, no matter what. Bad things were bound to happen if I kept him by my side. Sighing, I called the girl over who quickly came up.
"We're done. Can I have a piece of paper and a pen to borrow?" I asked.
"Sure," she said as she handed me her notepad and pen. She picked up the plates and cups.
Once she was gone, I ripped off one paper from the notepad. I wrote out what I wanted. I put the pen down and folded the paper. I looked at the kid across from me. I stood up, slipping the note in my pocket. I took out my wallet and took out all the money I had. I picked up the kid's backpack and took out his picture frame. I opened it and placed the dollar bills behind it. After zipping up the backpack, I threw it on my shoulder and lifted the sleeping kid up.
The girl came back out when I put my hood back on. She stopped me for a conversation. She was stalling for too long so I just told her that I wasn't interested. I walked away from the establishment, entering the streets of the normal.
The dark was illuminated by the neon lights in the streets. A few cars came and went at this late hour. I could hear Levi's breathing. His body shifted and I rubbed his back in calming motions. I sang to him softly. In this very moment, he was innocent. The cruel world was trying to consume him and would continue to in his future days. However, right now, he was innocent. I wasn't innocent and I hadn't been in a very long time.
I moved through the night, looking for a better neighborhood. The boy should stay in the streets of the normal. If he ended up back in the streets of the forgotten, then I couldn't do anything more. I came to a stop when I found a building that mocked my existence. I looked around and deemed the neighborhood good enough and nice enough to keep the boy in my arms.
I stepped up onto the stairs, observing the colored stained glass on the door. I touched the doorknob. The door was unlocked. I walked in, seeing the opened space filled with benches. I walked past it all and stopped at the altar. I felt as if the white walls were trying to erase my existence. It was so pure. Above the podium, on the wall, stood a very proud cross. I reached out a hand, feeling a slight burn on my skin. Silver.
Sighing, I turned away. In the first row, I put down the boy's backpack and laid the boy's head down on it. I watched as his chest rise up and down. His pale face was calm. His eyelashes were long. His black hair was a mess on his backpack. I slowly reached out a shaky hand and patted his head. With my other hand, I pulled out my note. I placed it under his arm for the person that would find him in the morning.
Against my better judgement, I leaned forward and placed my lips on his forehead. I pulled away and gave him one last look. With a heavy heart, I stood up and whispered, "Bye, Levi."
I left the building, returning back to the darkness outside. This was right. As I merged into the background of society, I felt my head replaying that appropriate song in my head. In the dark cruel world, I sang to myself.
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away, in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
Thanks for reading. You are all loved. :D
This was inspired by Vassalord by chrono nanae and the "1 Hundred" dj by komatsu shouko.
I'm trying make this serious. I'm pretty bad at it, but I'll work on it. Also the song is "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails.