Chapter 6: Into The House
"Alright, we'll be splitting up into three groups of three. Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie are a group. Ymir, Krista, and Sasha are a group and Connie, you're with me and Marco. Any problems?" Jean asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Okay, let's head on in. Leave no room unsearched," Jean turned to head up the path towards the house when Connie's voice stopped him. "What if the doors locked or stuck?" He asked. Jean turned back around. "Bust it in with your bat or something," He said and resumed walking. "Ah, wait for us!" Marco called, hurrying after him, everyone following closely behind.
"We should wait a few minutes before we go in to ensure we're not spotted," Levi said, standing up and stepping out from behind the car he and Hanji were crouched behind. "Sounds good. What will we do when we get in there?" Hanji asked, standing up and stretching. "We'll do some investigating of our own while keeping an eye on the others," He replied. "I think we've given them enough time to move away from the front door. Let's go," He said, walking towards the house with Hanji following.
Marco looked up at the sound of a door opening and closing. "Is something wrong?" Jean asked , glancing over at him. "No, it's nothing," Marco replied, smiling reassuringly at him. Jean stared at him for a couple of seconds before turning back to what he was doing. They were searching a room that looked like it might have been a family room, but there wasn't much there. There were a couple of torn and moldy couches, the remnants of a fire place and some broken picture frames and bookcases. Determining that there was nothing to be found there, they moved over to the door on the northern wall of the room. Jean opened the door and shined his flashlight down into the darkness. There were a set of stairs beyond the door that led down into what was probably a basement. A rank smell drifted up from the darkness and they gagged, taking a few steps back. After taking a moment to catch their breath, they took a big gulp of air pulled their shirts over their noses and held them there with the hand that wasn't holding their flashlight and descended the stairs slowly with Jean in the front, Marco right behind him and Connie bringing up the rear.
When they reached the bottom, they spread out to search the basement. There was a thin layer of water covering the floor, and the air was much colder than the rest of the house. After taking a few steps into the middle of the room, Marco discovered the source of the awful smell. There was a decomposing corpse of a small animal, a cat or dog by the looks of it. "Poor thing," Connie said, coming up beside Marco. Jean came over and nodded solemnly, turning to face Marco and Connie. "Did either of you find anything?" He asked. "I saw a broken table and a couple of chairs," Connie said and Marco shook his head. "I didn't see anything besides an old washer and dryer. Let's head back to the foyer to meet with the others," Jean said, heading for the stairs. Marco and Connie followed closely behind, eager to get out of the foul smelling room.
"This room is a mess!" Sasha remarked, looking around the room. It appeared to a dining room, with torn and disgusting curtains hanging over dusty windows, a busted dining table and some broken chairs, a couple mainly intact china cabinets and broken china pieces scattered around the room. "We should be careful. Don't want to get cut up," Ymir said, moving into the room. There wasn't much else in the room beyond what they saw when they first entered to room other than a necklace Sasha found in one of the china cabinets, so they made their way carefully into the next room.
The next room they found themselves in was what appeared to be a kitchen. The room was mostly empty, except for more wood pieces, broken granite pieces, more broken china and a couple of spoons that Ymir picked and put in her pocket. Deciding there was nothing else of interest to be found in the room, they headed back to the foyer to meet up with everyone else.
"Let's split up and each take a room," Reiner said, turning to face Bertolt and Annie. They nodded and each moved to a doorway. The one that Bertolt choose was unlocked, while Reiner's and Annie's weren't from the sounds of them attempting to bust down the doors. The room he was in had a broken bed frame pushed against one wall, a couple of broken end tables missing their drawers, a closet that was empty and had a musty smell and a doorway that led into a bathroom. He walked through the doorway and saw a broken bathtub and a sink and pieces of porcelain. Seeing nothing else in there, he headed back into the hallway.
"Did you find anything?" Reiner when Bertolt rejoined them. Nothing notable," Bertolt said. "Same here," Reiner said. "Same with me," Annie said. "All that's left is the room at the end of this hallway. Let's go," Reiner said, heading towards the archway at the end of the hall with Annie and Bertolt following behind.
The room they entered looked like it was once a living room. There were a couple of torn and filthy couches, a broken coffee table and a couple of broken bookcases. After a bit of searching, they didn't find anything else, so they went back to the foyer to meet up with everyone else.
"It's harder to evade them than I thought," Hanji whispered, peeking around the corner and stepping out when she ascertained that the cost was clear. "Perhaps you should have thought of that before you came here," Levi said, stepping out behind her. "Hush now," She said, looking over her shoulder. "Let's go into the kitchen," She said, heading towards the doorway in front of them. Levi rolled his eyes before following her.
Hanji was inspecting something on the ground when he walked in. He walked over to her and crouched beside her. "What are you looking at?" He asked. She looked up at the sound of his voice. "I just thought I saw something," She said, standing up and offering a hand to Levi. "I don't need help. I'm not that old," He grumbled, standing up. Hanji just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Well, let's go," She said, walking to the doorway in the south wall of the room when her foot caught on something and she fell. Levi reached out to try and stop her fall, but it wasn't enough and they both crashed to the ground, causing a loud thud. "Oh shit," Hanji said as they heard running footsteps heading towards them.
"Did anyone find anything?" Jean asked when they regrouped in the foyer. "I found a necklace!" Sasha said, holding it up. "I found two spoons," Ymir said, holding them up. "Okay, other than that?" Jean asked, looking at the others. They all shook their heads. "Well, that just leaves the second floor then," Jean said, looking up the stairs. "Let's go." He started up the stairs when a loud thud resounded from somewhere in the house. Everyone stopped and started at each other in fear. "That sounds like it came from the kitchen," Ymir said, breaking the silence. "Let's go," Reiner said, running in the direction, baseball bat in front of him, everyone following suit with their own weapons.
The sight that greeted them was the last thing they expected to see. Their biology teacher, Hanji Zoe, and the head librarian at the local library, Levi, sprawled in a heap on the floor. "Ms. Zoe? Mr. Levi? What are you doing here?" Sasha asked, stepping forward and offering a hand to Hanji. "Well, I happened to overhear your conversation at lunch today, and I was worried about you being here alone, so I decided to come to. But I didn't want ot come by myself, so I asked Levi to accompany me," Hanji said, accepting Sasha's hand. "But we're not alone. There's nine of us," Jean pointed out as Sasha helped her to her feet. "That's what I told her," Levi said, standing up and brushing himself off. "But she still insisted on coming." "I was worried about," She said, grinning sheepishly. "Nothing we can do about it now. Let's just go on up to the second floor," Jean said, turning and leaving the kitchen, with everyone following and Levi muttering about how filthy the place was.
"Have you found any sign of Eren and the others?" Hanji asked as they ascended the stairs to the second floor. "Not yet," Jean replied as they reached the second floor. There were seven doors, three on each side of the hallway and one at the end of the door, and only three opened, but they decided to leave the door at the end of the hall for last. They busted through the other four, but there was nothing beyond them besides a closet, a bathroom and four bedrooms that didn't hold much, and certainly nothing to suggest anyone had been in them. They went down to the door at the end of the hall and opened it. Like almost every other door in the house, it creaked horribly when they opened it and beyond it was a set of stairs leading upward. Jean shined his flashlight up the stairs, but it didn't reveal much besides a couple of dusty boxes. He started up the stairs carefully, and one by one everyone filed up after him.
When they reached the top, they were hit with a blast of cold air and disappointment. There wasn't anything up there besides a bunch of boxes and a mirror in the middle of the room. "They're not here," Sasha said dejectedly and the others looked down sadly. Marco sighed, shoulders drooping, and looked over at the mirror. Something about it felt off. He walked over to it, peering at it curiously and his eyes widened in shock and he dropped his flashlight and rolling pin he had been using as a weapon. "What is it Marco?" Jean asked, walking over to him. "This flashlight, it looks like one I've seen Armin use before, and this mirror, it looks far to clean to have been sitting up here in an attic for who knows how long," Marco said. Jean crouched down and picked up the flashlight. "You're right," Jean said, standing back up. The others came over, looking between the flashlight and the mirror. "This mirror... I wonder what it's doing here?" Hanji asked, reaching out and touching the surface of the mirror. There was a sudden flash of light and everyone quickly closed their eyes. When they opened their eyes and they readjusted to the dimness of the attic, they all gasped in horror. Hanji was gone, and there was no indication to where she might have gone.
"What happened? Where'd she go?" Sasha asked frantically. "I don't know. She just... vanished," Jean said slowly. "Calm down. Panicking isn't going to help us," Levi said sharply. "He's right," Reiner said, captiously moving closer to the mirror. "That flash of light occurred when Hanji touched the mirror, and that's when she disappeared. I think that this mirror is a portal of sorts," Jean said, studying the mirror closely. Everyone looked amongst each other and then at Levi, whom they expected to rebuff the statement as the no nonsense kind of guy he is. Levi seemed lost in thought for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. "I've heard rumors that there was a portal that led to another world here, but that's what I thought it was. Just a rumor. But it turns out it may be the truth..." He said. Everyone looked at each other nervously. Jean straightened up and cleared his throat. "The only way to find out is to try it," Jean said, reaching out and touching the mirror. There was another flash of light and Jean was gone. "It seems it's true..." Levi said quietly and faced everyone else. "We're all going in. We can't leave them in there by themselves and we might find the other missing people in there as well," He said before going up to the mirror and touching it's surface. Just like the other two times, there was a flash of light, and he was gone. Everyone stood there quietly for a few moments before Sasha spoke up. "What if we never find a way out and are trapped in there forever?" She asked. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find a way out. For now, let's just focus on getting in," Reiner said, touching the mirror. A flash of light, and he was gone. Everyone repeated the process one by one until the attic was empty, no sign that anyone had been there except for the two flashlights and the rolling pin on the ground.
A/N: Two chapters this week because I didn't update last week. Enjoy and review!