This chapter turned out a little different than I had first planed but I enjoyed writing it.
Chapter 2 ~ Haunting
The HQ was relatively quiet, not even Hanji was herself; even though they often bickered and insulted each other on every chance they had, Eren never believed that they hated each other. On the contrary, he believed that there was something much more in their relationship, more than just fellow soldiers.
All of this grief could have been avoided if he had not messed up yet again. He endlessly tried to remember exactly what had happened; debris had fell causing them to split up just for a second and he was gone. Why did the corporal leave when he should have stayed closed to him, to watch him like he was supposed to. Eren was angry at Levi for being so foolish, it was no secret that he had injured his leg while he was trying to save him from Annie back on the 57th expedition. He had overheard the argument he had had with Erwin about going out with the injury, Levi had been able to argue himself a win and that was it. He limped a little but he never spoke much about it, he rather ignored it altogether. Eren should have known better than to let Levi face those two Titans alone, he should have taken those two while Levi would have dealt with the single one.
"What the fuck were you thinking Corporal?" He asked himself as he walked through the empty hallway towards his room, it was getting dark, he probably needed to get some sleep. Maybe he could get some sense out of what exactly had happened, had he been eaten alive? Where was his body?
Eren walked down the stone steps as he made his way to the basement and straight to his room, the only good thing about sleeping down there was that he slept alone, he did not have to listen to Jean with his ridiculous questions because he could not sleep nor did he had to listen to Connie laughing at Berthold's strange sleeping position all night long.
He opened the hard oak door, walked in and closed the door as he walked to his bed, the picture he had left on the bed was still there. Tears rolled down his face as he tooked it in his hands, his entire squad was really gone his eyes staring at the happy faces that he would never see again and unto that serious bored expression of his corporal. He was never really fond of pictures but accepted just to make the squad happy, not once did he ever ask for anything in return.
He wiped the tears with his free hand and placed the photo in the empty frame he had gotten but never took the time to actually do it until now. At least the frame would protect the picture, it was all he had left of them. He gave it one last look before going to bed and tries to get some sleep.
Images of blood filled his dreams, the blood of endless Titans being killed along with his comrades. Levi killing the giants like they were nothing, he screamed at the short man but he never looked at Eren, he was just getting further and further from him as he ran to catch up and then he was gone. His eyes jolted open, his heart beating like a drum; he sat on the bed to regain his breathe, at this rate he would never get some sleep. His eyes wondered through the dark room and he suddenly froze. The picture frame was empty, Eren quickly jumped on his feet in alarm; what the hell was going on he wondered as he looked for the picture and was relatively relieved when he found it on the floor right next to his night table. Had someone entered his room he wondered. No, that could not be it since the heavy door would have woken him up when it opened; maybe he had removed it in his sleep? Whatever it was, it was probably just a mistake, maybe he had thought he had placed the picture in the picture frame, yeah that was probably it, placing the picture back in the picture frame, this time making sure it was well placed before deciding to take a walk and get some fresh air. There was just no way he could sleep, his mind just would not let him, it raced like there was no tomorrow.
The hallway was faintly lit but not as quiet he had thought it be. It seemed he was not the only one who could not sleep. He could hear the familiar voice of his friends as he approached the dining room, they were all sitting at one of the tables, probably talking about the expedition.
"You guys can't sleep either?" He asks as he joined them at the table.
"No…" Jean answered, his head rested on his right arm, both spread on the table.
"Well I think I might be losing it." He dared say, they would probably think he was crazy but he had to tell what had happened with the picture, it was just rather weird.
"Maybe we all are but why would you say that Eren?" The blond boy asked
"I put a picture of the squad in the frame I bought the other day right before I went to bed. When I woke up, the frame was empty and the picture was on the floor. I know I put the picture in that frame." He said as he looked at his friends' expression. Jean mockingly ignored him, not that it surprised him at all but was amused when he heard a thug under the table as Jean flinched from the sudden pain he had received from the kick Mikasa had given him.
"Are you sure it was not someone playing a trick on you Eren?" Mikasa asked, shooting a menacing glance at Jean as he quickly responds. "Hey don't look at me! I'm innocent in all of this! Ouch, that hurt you know?"
"I'm sure, the door is so loud, and it never fails to wake me up." He answered, seeing Jean rubbing is leg was rather amusing as he switched his attention to the others.
"Maybe it is the Corporal's ghost telling you something…" The soft voice of Christa caught everyone's attention as she bared a confused look. "What? Was it something I said?" She asked with that same soft voice.
"You sure as hell come up with strange things!" Ymir responded as she held Christa in a tight hug.
"It was probably just a mistake Eren. We are all tired and you must be as well. All of that stress just confused you Eren." Armin answered, trying to change the mood. He probably was right Eren thought to himself, Armin was always the voice of reason but it still felt good talking about it with his friends. They ended up talking the rest of the night, no one being able to sleep, the topic of conversation shifted from Sasha's never ending appetite to Berthold's sleeping position. Jean kept teasing him about it, saying every time Berthold sleeps with his butt in the air, it was going to rain with some thunder.
"Of course there will be thunder, which will be from his farts." Connie shouted out as he gave a high five to Jean. Eren listened to the endless jokes his friends were making, they had not done this since they had been just meer trainees, it kind of felt good but it also reminded him of the Levi squad. They would often get into these comedic debates, everyone was happy back then too…
Morning had come quickly enough, Eren had been tasked to clean the stables. He did not mind, he liked having an excuse to spend some time with the horses and he kind of wanted to see Black Tundra. He wondered how it was doing, on a normal day he would already be out on the field getting brushed by Levi. Black Tundra was just an animal but he knew the time of day, it was surely an intelligent animal, he wondered if he knew that he would probably never see his master again?
Eren wasted no time in cleaning, with the time he had spent in Levi's squad, he had learn how to do things quickly but neatly, little tricks here and there had surely been useful. Before he knew it, he was done; the horses had been taken out to the field already. Black Tundra was the only one who had been left in it's stable, he had been told that it had refused to move.
"Hey boy." Extending his hand to try and place it on its nose but it shook it's head violently at Eren's approach, quickly pulling it back to his chest.
"That animal should be put down." A voice behind caught him by surprise as Eren quickly turned around to meet one of the veterinarian. He was a middle aged man he had seen a few times but never had the chance to actually speak to. "It won't let anyone near it, you can say it's gotten mad." He said with a serious tone as he tried to get closer to the frantic animal without any success. "But the commander refuses to have it put down, I hope he changes his mind before someone gets hurt." He added before turning away to care for the other horses outside.
Eren tried again to extend his hand only to receive the same reaction from the horse. He wondered if Black Tundra had seen Levi get eaten by a Titan, maybe having him put down was really the best option as he looked at those large black orbs looking at him.
"Hey Eren, would you give me a hand?" Hanji's voice booming in the stable. Eren turned to face his superior and wasted no time joining her when suddenly a loud crash was made behind him. Hanji quickly pulled Eren out of the stable as Black Tundra had gone into a blinding rage losing its balance in the process resulting in the animal to roughly fall on its left side. The commotion had attracted many of the Scouts, Eren starred at the animal he had known as grand, now laying on the ground, seemingly unable to move. He wondered if it had injured himself in its rage.
"Eren did you do this?" Hanji ask as she carefully walked to the back of the stable, touching the wall to Eren's surprise there was a strange symbol that looked like a cross but the lines were curved carved in the wood. Hanji turned to face Eren with a concern expression as she added. "If you did this, you need help."
"No I did not do it. It was not there earlier." He quickly responded as he lifted his hands to chest level. "What does it mean Hanji?" He nervously asked, afraid of what she might say.
She turned to look at the symbol again a few seconds before turning away to see if Black Tundra was okay. "I've never seen such a symbol before." She answered as she crouched next to the large animal, placing her hands on the warm body as she petted it gently. It's breathing had calmed down as it stood up on all four and casually walked out of the stable like nothing had happened leaving everyone puzzled.
"What just happened?" Erwin asked as he ran to the damaged stable, looking at Hanji and then turning into the direction the others were looking at. Black Tundra was now acting like it usually does when Levi is around, just like nothing at happened at all.
Hanji stood on her feet and walked to her commander. "It's acting just li-"
"He's gone Hanji… Black Tundra must now have acknowledged that." His voice numbed and serious as he spoke. He would not hear of it as he walked away.
"Umm… Hanji…" Eren was out of words as he starred inside of the messed up stable, surely his eyes were playing tricks at him.
"What is it Eren?" She asked, her voice filled with fatigue as she turns to look at what Eren was looking at. Her eyes widen in shock, the strange cross that had been carved into the wall was gone.
"Spooky… I think I'm starting believe what Christa said. Maybe we are being haunted by Levi's ghost." Eren nervously blurted out, wasn't well received by Hanji though. "Ghosts are not real Eren. It's just our eyes playing tricks on us. We have work to do, we need to clear out Levi's belongings. Let's go."
Eren knew better than to argue with her and she was probably right he kept telling himself. He did not look forward into cleaning out his corporal's things out, it just did not feel right. He followed Hanji as they entered the old castle and through the hallway; his corporal's room was far to the right side of the castle with the rest of the squad leaders, all had their own individual rooms. Hanji opened the door, revealing the nice and tidy room of which was to be expected from his corporal. Everything was nicely placed, nothing was out of place, and it was almost freaky.
"I brought some empty chest, just put everything in them and we will sort things out later. I will be back in a few minutes." She ordered before exiting the room, leaving Eren alone.
He walked through the spacious room, making his way to the corporal's dresser, opening a drawer filled with clothes. Eren slid his hand on the fabric, it just felt weird as he took them with both hands and placed it neatly in the chest. He did this for the six drawers of the dresser filling one chest.
How much time had passed since he had started he could not tell, he had filled three chest of Levi's belongings, there was some old books and a few other stuff but other than that, his corporal did not have a lot of things. A photo album had caught Eren's attention when he was packing the stuff; it was filled with pictures of his old squad, all pictures taken within Wall Maria at the time. One Picture Eren liked the most, it was a picture of Levi with Black Tundra. He could tell that the picture had been taken by surprise, he did not wear that usual bored expression. Eren studied the background of the picture, trying to figure out exactly where within Wall Maria this picture was taken, there was a small waterfall behind Levi but he could not recall seeing any waterfalls when Wall Maria belonged to them.
Eren closed the photo album, he did not want to part with it as he took it with him to go get Hanji to tell her that he was done. Fortunately for him, he did not have to go far as she was walking back up the hall.
"Eren did you finish?" She asked in the familiar tone he knew from her.
"Yeah. Do you mind if I hold on to this?" He asks as he gives her the album. She quickly went through the pages and gave it back to Eren with a smile with her approval as she enters the room but suddenly stops.
"Eren, this is not funny. What did you do all afternoon?" She asked with an irritated tone.
"I packed the corporal's stuff just like you told me to." He answered impatiently, walking to Hanji only to have his stomach twist. All three chests were opened and empty, he quickly entered and opened the first drawer he had emptied. It was filled with the same clothes he had removed; the album dropped to the floor as he clenched to his hair backing away from the room.
"I emptied it all… I emptied it all…" Was all he could say as he bolted into a run leaving Hanji behind in confusion, he had to get out of this place, he needed some air. He could hear footsteps behind him as he heard someone call to him but he could not stop, he just needed to get out as he roughly opened the front door of the old castle as he walked mid-way towards the courtyard before he stopped.
He felt a hand on his shoulder turning his head to see who it was, the worried face of Mikasa. "Eren what's wrong?"
"I think I'm losing my mind." He said with a nervous tone as he recalled to her what had happened in the corporal's room and about the strange symbol he had seen in the stable but magically disappeared. Her facial expression suddenly became shocked, he knew that she believed him which brought him relief but it did not change that something strange was going on.
A creaking sound killed the silence as they looked towards the castle. The heavy hardwood oak door had lazily opened on its own. Eren and Mikasa looked at each other, both were nervous as they walked back to the castle, the door opening wider as if it wanted them to come back in...
Tell me what you think about this chapter. :)