"Farlan! Give me a mojito, please!" I nearly shout to my brother when I entered his bar, my friend trailing directly behind me. My friend insisted that I go out to clear my head after I had told her about my day, and I choose my brother's bar.
"Someone's had a bad day," he says, already in the midst of starting his task. I stand across from him with my friend, the varnished wooden countertop separating us that was by the entrance of the bar. The seating area for the patrons are to the left and can be seen from the outside to attract potential business. Those already seated at the tables shouldn't hear us.
"How did you guess?" I ask as I lean against the countertop.
"You always come to see me when something's wrong," he says, shrugging his shoulders.
I don't argue with him, the purpose of my visit is definitely to forget about today's events. "Hanji, do you want something to drink, I'm buying," I asked changing the subject.
Hanji smiles at me, "A white beer then." she pipes up excited. I'm guessing she is currently broke; it is the beginning of the month. She is the type of person to spend her money needlessly. I have seen all the junk she has bought before.
"Okay girls, go sit. I'll bring you your orders in a few," he motioned.
I nod my head and head over to my regular spot, a table next to one of the windows hoping I can finally relax. There are only three other people in the bar besides us which isn't so bad considering it is only 8 pm. Maybe other patrons will come in if they see us.
I appreciated the decor of this place; it was a nice bar. The walls of the bar are painted red with beautiful wooden columns spaced evenly apart, and the floor is made up of black and white tiles, which gives the bar it's cozy atmosphere.
The tables are small and round made of the same material of the columns, varnished burgundy wood, just like the matching chairs. Then towards the opposite end of the room is a spot with brown and white armchairs, sometimes I sit there to drink coffee. The final touch to the ambiance is the yellow glow of the streetlights coming from the outside.
"So you met the boy's mother whom I autopsied?" Hanji asks. She's the medical examiner in charge of the case concerning A', she is excellent at her job.
"Yes..." I whispered, looking outside the window. I hope it wasn't going to rain out...
"How was it?" she asks curiously.
"The worst moment was when I had to tell her that he was murdered by A'. You should have seen her face when she realized how much her son had suffered before dying." I murmured as I thought back to my afternoon.
I can feel myself on the verge of crying. How did I manage to say that to a mother? I find that as an inspector we are not prepared at all for that. I would have to say it was definitely the hardest task of my career so far.
"I still don't think it is alright to have put you on this case when you only just arrived," Hanji says, well aware of how terrible this case is because they are never any clues found, yet the murders continue. It's literally an endless nightmare.
"Nobody wants to get their hands dirty and waste their time, and I find that is horrible for the families of the victims, and the victims themselves," I confessed to her. I care a lot about this case, not because I am new or the fact no other inspector wants to work on it, its just because I care about the victims who suffered from the hands of this unknown killer.
"It's ever since the murder of Naile Dork." Hanji began but then paused briefly before continuing, "You may not have known, but Naile was also taking care of the case a few years ago in another office in Karanese."
"I vaguely heard about it," I said remembering seeing his picture when I was going thru the victims' folders but I did not read his file, there being just too many victims of A',
"He had insulted A' on a TV show, treated him as a psychopath, things like that. He was very good at talking, but not at all for investigating. Anyway, two days later his body was brought to my lab for an autopsy, A' had obviously not appreciated him at all. " Hanji explains to me. That's when my brother arrives to give us our drinks and to take the order of the customer behind us making us momentary pause.
I stir the ice cubes and mint in my drink almost automatically without really bothering to watch what I'm doing. I had chosen a cool and refreshing drink despite the outside air being already cool, and the sky threatening to rain at any given moment. I'm really afraid to go home while it's raining...
"In addition to being a mental case, he dares attack people who stand against him," I say, taking a sip of my drink. "When I think about all this, the boy, Eren... He was only sixteen years old ..." his body was almost entirely cut up, only his face seemed to be recognizable.
"I admit that every time a body is brought in to me I am always troubled..." troubled is a big word for Hanji, her obsession with morbid things is very pronounced. If she happens to be disturbed by the work of A' you know that it isn't a joke. "You know he's not his youngest victim." Hanji continued.
"Yes, I think there's a younger victim, a fifteen-year-old girl," I murmur quietly, and when I turn my head to glance outside again, I see the rain has started to fall.
"Lidia Arch was fifteen, and she was his very first victim from what we know. It was almost nine years ago, but I remember it very clearly," she states taking off her glasses to rub her eyes for a few seconds before continuing. "She had her teeth pulled out, and she was also raped."
I had noticed this was often true for his female victims and I listen to the rest of Hanji's words. "She was really young, pale skin and blue eyes... Almost like you." Hanji says sadly, and I must admit I didn't expect her words, they caught me off guard.
I look a lot like my brother Farlan, especially when it comes to my eyes. Some even think that we are false twins and that's because Farlan is a little genius, he skipped a year of school, so we were in the same class. But in spite of that he never really liked school, especially university, so he dropped everything to open a bar in the middle of Trost's business district. He's much happier the way things are going for him, he meets people every day, and I know that's what he likes.
"You know Hanji; I'm very intrigued by this story of the victims' teeth being removed..." I started, ignoring my drink focusing on the case. "Why only twelve victims and why ripping out their teeth..." it's something I can't understand in this case.
"To remove teeth impressions, so that we can't identify them," Hanji answered as if it was clear for her, but for me, it was far from it.
"No, he would have burned their fingertips to make identification more difficult or impossible," I say, contradicting her.
"It's true, but it's rare to have your fingerprints on record, most of the time we have teeth impressions," Hanji argues.
"Maybe, but in the end, the bodies were identified so whats his real aim here. It doesn't make any sense..." Really the more I think about this, the more I feel we should investigate this further.
"Listen, Nora, this guy is sick, he's doing insane things that we can't understand, he may even be doing it on purpose to make us go around in circles," Hanji said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
But I refuse to let him make fun of me, not after seeing Eren's corpse.
I can't stand that he is roaming the streets looking for more victims.
"Who knows, maybe the clues are hinting we need to focus on the identities of the victims, maybe they're all connected to one another," I mutter looking outside, seeing a high school girl running with her bag over her head trying to stay as dry as possible.
Then just behind her, is a man with a thick black scarf wrapped snug around his neck wearing a long high necked coat. I must confess even if I weren't a young girl all by herself on a lonely street I would have changed sidewalks, knowing a killer was on the loose.
The rain is so heavy puddles have already formed, and I wonder how I would get home because I didn't take my car to work since I decided to take the public transport not wanting to pay for gas being cheap. The bar is just a stone's throw away from work; however, I didn't want to be like that young girl, nothing ever good comes out of traveling alone. Not even for men, just look at Eren and the others...
Though, how can A' fear an investigator who travels by bus? I should not have anything to fear, I have just started the case, and I was no one of importance.
"But why does he leaves clues? It's completely stupid!" Hanji exclaims looking more like the everyday Hanji I know when she talks like this.
I turn my head away in thought, almost reluctant to look her before speaking, "Surely because he's bored, but I do not know." She sighs, before taking a deep sip of her beer while I have hardly touched my drink. The little bits of mint beginning to sink sadly to the bottom.
"Stop overthinking, it'll make you crazy, insane almost, just look at me, "She said, finishing her drink completely.
Stop overthinking? After seeing Eren's mother completely devastated, I can only overthink. I don't understand why that makes people give up, even after the death of Naile Dork, they should still be indignant.
"Mmmmhhhr," I almost growl completely depressed by the situation. I slowly stir the contents of my glass in order to think about something else, but it's in vain. An idle thought crosses my mind noticing that it is already dark outside, 'Was the girl running from the rain or something else?'
I watch as my friend puts her beige coat, grabbing her orange beaded bag before getting up. I assume she was leaving to go home and she then states what I am thinking, "I'm going home Nora, it's getting late, but thank you for inviting me."
She parts from the table smiling, and I smile back giving a half wave, bidding her a good night before she exits. After she leaves I collapse into my arms, the stress and my depression getting to me. I decided to stay hoping for the rain to calm down.
The customer behind me calls to me, startling me from my semi-nap.
"Excuse me," he says, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I raise my head to look at him a little surprised. "You know that I could hear your whole conversation with your friend, it's not very professional," he says with a small, mocking smile. But who does this man think he is? He was touching my shoulder which is rude for a stranger and then criticizing my professionalism. I become angry a little to fast, but my mood was already sour from earlier, he shouldn't have been eavesdropping.
"In that case, why didn't you say something from the beginning?" I ask, glaring at him. He responds with an arrogant smile instead of words. He was the customer my brother served after us. He takes his cup of tea into his hand before getting up and sitting at my table as if I had just invited him.
"Curiosity is one of my many sins," he informs me, finally deciding to speak to me as he sips his tea. As he drinks his tea, his gray eyes paralyze me almost on the spot, the air becoming heavy. This guy was bad news.
"It was a rather confidential discussion, wasn't it? It's not safe to talk about it here," he hums, and he acts as if I couldn't have heard his sarcastic little laugh at the end of his sentence.
I like to cut him off even though it is not polite, but he speaks before I get the chance to, "I'll keep everything to myself, don't worry Nora," he says finishing his thought. The raven hair man mentioning my name immediately alerted me, but I quickly remember that Hanji had said my name multiple times so it would be normal he knew it.
"And you are?" I asked leaning back in my chair a little to put a little distance between him and I. He's handsome not to mention incredibly attractive; he's too perfect to be honest.
"Levi Ackerman, nice to meet you," he says, holding out his hand to me, and I hesitate to grab it for a second, but I end up doing it because it will be incredibly rude to ignore him. I know he expects me to give him my last name but I will not give him that pleasure.
"Do you often do that?" I asked.
"What?" he responds, raising an eyebrow pretending not to know what I am talking about.
"Sit at a girl's table when you are not invited," I answer to make him understand that I don't want him at my table.
He chuckles but I must say that his laughter is the most terrifying thing about him. Shit, why does this man scare me so much? I shouldn't be afraid; I'm in my brother's cafe, the slightest problem and I can scream. But at this moment I really feel like a lamb caught between the claws of a wolf.
"Not really, only when they please me," he says, and I frown at his words. It's a banal phrase that any flirt could have said but coming from him I am not sure how to understand the intention behind the phrase.
He wears a black suit jacket that matches his shirt, and his cufflinks seem to be expensive while his haircut is flawless. It gives him a serious and intimidating look, which his eyes also reproduce. This man is definitely to die for.
I do not answer and turn my attention back to the outside hoping he'll leave soon.
"It's strange to order this kind of drink when it's cold out," he states talking about my mojito. It's true that I ordered it a little on a whim.
"I just wanted alcohol," I respond having no desire to finish my drink now that he is in front of me. I want to push my drink away, but the behavior would appear childish.
"I'm sure after having such a day, many people would need alcohol," replies Levi, leaning his head slightly to the side. A lock of hair shifts to the middle of his forehead from his movement which immediately catches my eye.
I was lost in my thoughts until he starts talking again. "Maybe you want to talk about it?" he adds while crossing his legs. "You've heard enough already," I say dryly, and it still makes him laugh a little. I think he laughs at me too much which is creepy.
"I see then..." he hums happily taking a pen out of his pocket before he starts writing something on a piece of white paper towel.
He resumes speaking, "Don't hesitate to call me, I'll be ecstatic if you do, and I wish you all the luck in the world to catch A' my dear Nora," and by the time he finished speaking, he has written his number and his name on the paper towel.
And so as to not make a scene and to leave as soon as possible I take it from him. I stuff it in the pocket of my gray coat, and from my actions, it is obvious that I do not intend to call him.
"Thank you," I say in a sweetly sick tone. I watch as he gets up placing down money for his drink, even more than what's necessary, but I say nothing about it since the money is for my brother only saying a simple farewell, "Goodbye..."
I want to sigh with relief but hold back. I hope I never run into him again. He offers his farewell, "See you soon," and with these last words, he leaves.