Ghost of the Past

Welcome, all, to my first chapter fic! I hope that you guys like it. I can't say when my updates will occur; they pretty much happen depending on my motivation but I'll try to be diligent. I have already written the first 3 chapters of this, and I hope to continue for a while if the story is well-liked. Reviews are greatly appreciated!

"We're here, Eren."

Eren looked up from his book for the first time in hours to survey his surroundings. It was pretty; rolling green hills with flowers atop them, a forest in the distance and cottages sprinkled here and there, along with the main part of the village where the trade mart was.

"I don't like it."

"It's beautiful, Eren. You're still just upset about moving," Carla, Eren's mom replied. Mikasa, his younger adopted sister that seemed to outshine him in everything, smiled and pointed at a group of kids that waved to them as their carriage went by.

"She's right. You'll like it here soon enough," his dad replied.

"No, I won't. I'll hate it here until we move again," Eren retorted. His mom sighed and gave up, turning back towards the window and leaving the stubborn child to his brooding.

Eren's family had moved several times thanks to his dad's well known reputation as a doctor in the country. They had moved five times in total, counting this one. His dad was a busy-body, though, and enjoyed moving, so he didn't mind. Mikasa didn't seem to either, which of course bothered him. Leave it to her to cope with everything and leave him complaining.

It was beautiful, though. Eren had always loved places like these; especially his hometown, which had been a village similar to this one. The forest caught Eren's eye. He had always liked the woods as well. Something about nature just comforted him.

After about another ten minutes of continuing down the same road that had led past the majority of the village, the carriage made a turn and began to leisurely stroll downwards. Eren looked out the window as they bumped down the rocky road towards their new home. From what he could see, they were right by the forest, along with a pond that he hadn't noticed before.

"There's our new house, kids!" Grisha, Eren's dad exclaimed excitedly. As the carriage came to a stop, the family got out to look around. Eren looked at the house in which he stood in front of. It was a good sized cottage with what looked like two floors. The outside was painted a cool shade of beige which complimented the light colored wood on the porch very well.

"Well, what do you think, Carla?" Grisha asked, joining the rest of them to look at it.

"I love it," she whispered. The two kissed, earning a fake gag from the young boy.

The carriage horseman stepped down from the reins and went over to the family. "Would you like me to help you with your trunks?" he offered.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Grisha answered. As soon as all of the trunks were out of the back, moving them into the house was the next step.

"Mikasa, Eren, you'll be on the second floor, okay? Do you two need any help with your trunks?" Carla questioned. The two shook their heads and began to drag the heavy trunk up the stairs to the porch. Their dad strode over to them and began to help.

"I can do it myself!" Eren snarled.

"Okay, then, I'll help Mikasa. I would appreciate it if you would be more pleasant, Eren." With that, he picked up the younger girl's trunk and began to carry it up to the door before stopping and putting it down to unlock the house, then picking it back up and proceeding to the upstairs.

Eren huffed as he began to heave his trunk up the stairs before Mikasa came over and picked up the other side that was dragging against the wood.

"I said I didn't need any help!"

"You're scoffing the wood." Eren looked down to see that the first two steps had indeed received some minor damage, but nothing that wasn't fixable. He shrugged and glared at her.

"Put it down," he ordered. Despite his protests, Mikasa ignored him and helped him get it to the doorway before Grisha came back down and took it up. Eren sighed and gave up the fight, knowing he probably couldn't have dragged it upstairs anyways. Instead, he skipped ahead of his dad on the stairway and rushed up to claim which room he wanted. Mikasa wouldn't mind whichever one he picked; she never did.

There was a loft at the top of the stairs that overlooked the sitting area and entrance area. Eren reached the top of the stairs and found a small closet. Closing the door, he dashed into the hallway right next to it and opened all of the doors within it. On the right side was a door that led to a bathroom. Parallel to that was a bedroom. Deciding he wanted more privacy than that room had to offer, Eren rounded a corner at the end of the small hallway and came face to face with another door. Cautiously, as if trying not to disturb anyone who was within it, he opened it.

The room was perfect. A bed stood on the opposite wall of the entrance tucked into the left corner of the room. On the right was a bookshelf filled completely with books. Two windows were in the room; one right above the bed and one on the opposite wall from the door. A desk was directly under it, along with a chair.

"Jackpot!" Eren said enthusiastically. Mikasa stepped into the room and observed the surroundings.

"Seems like a bookworm's room," she said. "It'll be perfect for you." Mikasa strode out to claim the only other bedroom offered to her now. Eren snorted.

Forgetting all about his trunk waiting for him at the top of the stairs, he began to engross himself in finding books of his interest. Surprisingly, he ended up with at least half of the books on the shelf piled onto the desk in order of interest. Whoever had lived here before him certainly had an impressive collection, not to mention a good variety.

His dad came up to check on the boy nearly half an hour later.

"I see you've already begun to settle down here," he said with a smile. Grisha walked over to him and sat on the bed by his son, leaning over to look at the book he was looking at.

"Dad, you're in my personal space," Eren replied, looking up from his book about the ocean. He found it to be probably the most fascinating book on the whole shelf; aside from the one about volcanoes.

"Those books belonged to a boy about your age who passed not too long ago. The carriage driver said he loved reading and always had his nose in a book," his father mentioned casually while getting up to go look at the other books.

Eren instantly put the book down. "You mean… a dead boy lived in here?"

"Don't put it that way, just think about it like he passed them on to you, or something."

That didn't make Eren feel any better. Realizing this was the boy's old room, he began to feel uncomfortable and itched to get out from the now heavy atmosphere. His dad had told them that the furniture belonged to the previous owners, but he didn't mention that one of them was dead. Had he died in this very house? Or more specifically, this very room?

His train of thoughts began to take a disturbing turn as he imagined what kind of cruel fate this mysterious boy was met with. Shuddering, Eren laid the book down and told his father he was going for a walk to clear his mind. Maybe he could check out the forest.

But as Eren made his way outside and to the forest, the thought of the dead boy still plagued him. What if he had played in that very forest Eren was about to journey into? Would he find an old fort possibly constructed by him? What if he hadn't been dead and he and Eren could have become friends? Eren somehow felt like he had missed out on something.

"Stop thinking like this," he told himself sternly as he took his very firsts steps into the woods. Of course, everything was absolutely normal. There was no fort or book left behind, no trace that he had even ever stepped into the woods. Calmed by this fact, Eren walked back home after exploring for about an hour. He returned to find that his trunk had been moved into his room and that his mom was making dinner.

"Dinner is special tonight," she said. "We're having potato stew with roast to celebrate!"

Potato stew and roast was one of Eren's favorite meals just because it contained meat. Meat was a rare luxury, and his family only bought and cooked it to celebrate things. One of these things was moving.

As Eren and Mikasa dug into their plates, their parents looked strangely worried.

"Something wrong, Dad?" Eren asked, his mouth full of hot roast.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing," he answered, allowing Eren to resume his vacuum-like duties to his meal. Mikasa looked over at them a couple times before devoting her complete attention back to her plate again.

As his mom cleared the table, Eren didn't miss the slight head movement Grisha did towards their bedroom. Apparently, she got the hint. Carla told the kids to start washing and drying the dishes. The two headed into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Eren and Mikasa sat at the table for a moment before his sister rose and took her plate to the sink, then motioned for Eren to do the same. He crossed the room and handed her his glass and plate before he began to creep over to their parent's bedroom door.

"What do you think that's about?" she asked, scrubbing the plates clean.

"I'm about to find out."

Mikasa turned. "Eren, that's wrong."

"Are you saying you aren't the least bit curious?" Eren responded, gesturing for his sister to come over to the door. "Don't turn the water off, make it seem like you're still doing them," he said as she made a move for the handle. She sighed and walked over, mimicking the stance Eren was now in with his right ear pressed to the door quietly.

"…keep them away from it," the conversation became audible through the door. It was Grisha's voice talking.

"You never said why, though. It could be a good place for them to spend some time together! You know, keep secrets from us, go through those piles of books in Eren's room," Carla argued.

"What are they talking about?" Mikasa whispered. Eren shushed her.

"Please, Carla, just tell them that they can't go near it for a while."

"Not until you tell me why we're keeping them from it."

"Because of the man!" Grisha's voice rose. Eren could tell he was getting distressed.

"What man?" His mom asked, her voice suddenly concerned.

"The man who committed suicide in this house. The blood is still there, no one ever bothered to clean it up! I'll have to do it myself!"

Mikasa let out a small gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. Eren stared at the door wide eyed. Were they talking about the boy? No, they said it was a man. He pressed closer to the slab of wood, eager to hear more.

"Where did you ever hear such a thing?"

"A man came by earlier and told me about what happened here. He told me that the boy's grandfather committed suicide in the basement about a week after the boy died and nobody even bothered to clean it up. As soon as he left, I went down into the basement to confirm it myself and you'll never guess, but it was true. The body was gone, but there was dried blood everywhere."

"That's terrible!"

Mikasa backed away slowly from the door and turned back to the sink, probably trying to forget she had ever heard anything. But Eren stayed. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know the secrets of this house and what else had happened. How had the boy died? Where did he die? And where was the basement?

Then Eren remembered passing a small cellar door on the outside of the house on his way to the forest. It didn't seem significant then, but now it seemed like there was hidden gold in it.

"Mikasa!" he called out quietly. Mikasa looked up, her face grim and ashen. She obviously didn't like this. "Please keep listening for me, I'll do anything for you later. Please."

Mikasa hesitated before saying, "Fine, but you owe me—wait! Where are you going?" she called out as Eren thanked her and rushed out the front door. He didn't answer, but he figured she got the general idea. He was going to the basement before it could be tampered with.

At times like this he did appreciate having Mikasa around. She was pretty reliable when it came to helping him out, although her fines were pretty hefty. The last time Eren had asked for her help was for her to do his homework for him, and that had earned him a week of desserts gone to her in secret.

Rounding the corner like he was going to the forest, Eren stopped at the wooden doorway leading to unknown secrets about the house. He paused before opening it, not really sure if he should go through with it. What if something he found down there scarred him for life? If what his dad had said was true, would he really be able to handle seeing blood everywhere?

Eren decided that yes, he would be able to handle it, and forged forwards. Shoving the raised trapdoor open with a heave, he was greeted with a musty smell and something else that could not be masked; death.

The foul stench of the odor caused him to hold his nose and he slowly descended the steps down. It was about ten steps going forwards at first, but then it turned right with another five steps. As he turned the corner, the frightened boy closed his eyes as if to hide himself from what was before him… which was a normal room with many bookshelves placed in the format of a library.

"Ha, see it's not so bad…" Eren whispered to himself while slowly moving through the room, stopping to study the bookshelves every once in a while.

Crack.

The boy looked down and saw it; dried blood everywhere on the ground below him and it was crackingas he stepped on it. In it.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted in the air and bounced off the unforgiving stone walls. Eren wouldn't be able to recognize it as his own if he had heard it as someone else. The book dropped to the floor below him, crunching more of the horrible substance.

Make it stop, make it stop!Eren internally screamed. But he couldn't move, not until Mikasa was there a moment later dragging him up the stairs while he panted and gasped for more air to use to fuel his screaming. His throat was dry and his lungs ached.

"I want… to go home…" He finally managed to say. The two children's parents came rushing out a moment later.

"Eren! Mikasa! Are you alright?!" Carla asked, rushing quickly over to the scene. Grisha seemed to notice the trapdoor open and Eren assumed that meant he knew what had happened.

"Eren, did you go down there?" Grisha asked. Eren solemnly nodded, embarrassed that his parents had heard him, though he couldn't have expected them to have not. He vowed to himself to never let something like that scare him again—he was tougher than that. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been so secretive about it. Next time I'll…"

But Eren had stopped listening. He wanted to know about the boy and his grandfather, and now seemed like the perfect time for asking. He didn't want to hear any sob stories about how they'll never let him out of their sight again, or how he wasn't allowed to go near it anymore. In fact, the whole experience seemed to throw fuel on the flames.

"Dad, if you want to stop being so secretive then tell me all you know about the boy who died here. I want to know," Eren asked, putting on the most determined face he could muster.

Grisha sighed. "On one condition: you won't go anywhere near that basement until I get it fixed up, okay?" Eren nodded crossed his fingers behind his back, making sure not to let Mikasa or his mom see either.

"Mikasa, do you want to hear this too?" he asked. Mikasa nodded slowly. If Eren was going to get involved with this, so was she. All four of them gathered on the front porch and sat around the small wooden table that had been left there as well by the previous owners. Mikasa looked a bit uncomfortable now having learned that they were living in a death house.

"The boy's name was Armin Arlert," his father began. "The man was his grandfather. Armin contracted a fatal disease about a year ago and died only weeks later. His grandfather reportedly committed suicide in the basement because he was so depressed without his grandson. I'm not exactly sure what happened to his parents, though.

"They said Armin was a bookworm and nobody really saw him with anyone except for his grandfather," he continued. Eren interrupted.

"Wait, how did you learn all this?" he questioned.

"When I came here a couple weeks back someone told me what happened at the house and asked if I still wanted to buy it or not. Of course I didn't believe the rumors that the grandfather… Never mind. They had records on it as well."

"Do you know what he looked like?" Eren suddenly spat out. He was becoming more and more intrigued about Armin; it sounded like they would have gotten along.

"Yes, well—"

"What was he like?"

"Eren," his mother stopped him. "It's okay to ask questions, but it's rude to interrupt." Eren muttered a barely audible 'sorry' and looked at his dad, still expecting answers.

"The man told me had longish blonde hair that stopped around the base of his face and bright blue eyes that, quote unquote, 'never stopped searching for knowledge.'"

"Did they have any pictures?"

"I'm not sure. Why are you so interested in this anyways? He's gone, Eren. It's not like you'll ever meet him. Are you planning to make him your imaginary friend?" Grisha teased.

Eren looked down at the table, embarrassed. He had just been curious is all. His mother shot a stern look his dad, who put his hands up in defense.

"Anyways, the two are buried somewhere over there—", he waved his hand in the opposite direction of the forest, much to Eren's relief— "and there's a rumor that the boy's ghost leaves flowers on his grandfather's grave every Saturday."

"Why every Saturday?" Mikasa voiced.

"That was the day he died," Grisha answered. Mikasa replied with a slight nod and gazed towards the direction that he had pointed in. It was a Friday. If the rumors were true, Armin (Eren decided that if he were going to pay his proper respects to the boy and take his room he should at least use his formal name) would be stopping by the next day.

"I don't believe that," Carla sighed. "It's probably someone who does it secretly to spark the rumors."

"Could be, but maybe not," Grisha smiled.

"Eren, are you really going?" Mikasa asked as she watched Eren put on his favorite red jacket.

"Sure am."

"I'll go too, then." Eren normally would have objected at this, but thought it might not be a bad idea to bring his sister along just in case something happened. Maybe it was a thief that picked people's pockets when they went out to see if the rumor was true; or maybe Armin's ghost was hostile.

"We're going on a walk!" Eren called to his parents when he stepped out the door. He received a nod from his mother and left, Mikasa lagging a couple steps behind him.

"Eren, why are we running?" she questioned as she caught up to him.

"Because I don't want to miss anything!" he replied, smiling. He was surprisingly almost completely over what had happened the day before, though he would admit that he didn't intend on going back in there until there were at least some lights. Eren quickened his pace so that Mikasa would actually have to struggle to keep up. Running had been one of the only things he was better at than her.

Eventually, he started running at a full sprint, leaving his sister trailing behind.

"Eren, wait!" she called out as she tried to run faster, but as soon as he disappeared behind a hill, he knew she had lost him. "Eren!" the faint call came again.

Eren ignored her calls and continued running, loving the feel of the wind on his skin, blowing through his hair. It was invigorating. He couldn't tell that he was tired or that he was nearly out of breath; he just kept running until he finally collapsed on the ground from the exhaustion and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He fell down on the cool grass as the breeze brushed his hair against his face. He ran his fingers through the chocolate brown locks to keep it out of his eyes. Turning his head, Eren realized he hadn't even known where he was until he saw it.

Two graves stood side by side, looking weathered even though they only stood there for a year. Eren's heart began to thump faster at the sight of what he was looking for. But there was no one there. Yet, his mind told him. If I just sit here and wait, something's bound to happen.

He didn't know how long he lied there, but the warm rays of sunshine and cool wind began to take its tolls on him as he began to drift off from lack of sleep when it happened.

Something moved out of the corner of his eye, he was certain of it. Eren sat straight up immediately, a sense of alarm replacing the peaceful stillness he had felt before. Nothing; just his imagination playing tricks on him. Tired of lying down, the boy figured that he may as well just go up and see the grave. His pounding heart nearly jumped into his throat as he approached it, unsure of what would happen if he did.

Right as he was about to reach it, he bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry—" Eren was staring into a pair of translucent blue eyes that were wide with fear. His image was blurred and subtle. Eren rubbed his eyes to make sure he was actually there, but before he could do anything else, the boy ran off.

"Wait! Are you the one that leaves flowers?" he called after the running boy. Eren took off and sprinted after the boy, but he proved to be an even faster runner than Eren. He soon lost him. "Ah…" he huffed, struggling to catch his breath. It was then that Eren realized that there had been nobody there but him the entire time, and that the boy had blond hair.