Hey, people. Apologies for missing a Saturday AGAIN. I need to stop doing that…
Anyway, I received a PM from Gekkou no Netsu, saying that it would be a great idea to have a manga version for this story. I must say…I agree with him! Or her. But the thing is, I can't draw for my life! XD
If there are any artsy people out there who are willing, would you like to work with me to turn this into a manga? PM me if you're interested~! 3
Also, if you're a Durarara! fan, go check out the new story I published. It's called Black Wings Rising and it's also a supernatural story. Maybe you'll like it. You won't know unless you read it.
Thanks to those who reviewed/followed/favorited this story!
~FR242
{~|The Haunting of House Jaeger|~}
[Chapter 6: Drain Your Blood]
"So, Levi." Hanji dropped a pile of books on the table that she and Levi had claimed. "Why are you looking through these again?"
Levi shot her an exasperated glare over the top of a nonfiction science book he was skimming through. "I've told you already, Shitty Specs. Does information always go in one ear and out the other with you?"
"The police are already on the case, Levi." Hanji plopped herself down in a chair. "They have tons of sources to finding out the cause of the blood. You shouldn't be wasting your time." She put her head on her hands and stared at the books uninterestedly.
"Just let me do whatever the hell I want, Hanji." Levi rolled his eyes and continued to look through the book he was holding. He was currently on a page that spoke about the effects of mixing alkali metals with water. A couple more flips brought him to the index, which he briefly scanned for anything that was even slightly connected to hallucinations. A cursory glance told him nothing, so he tossed the book aside and picked up another one.
A look at the title made Levi glare at Hanji, who snickered quietly. Levi was tempted to throw Clifford: The Big Red Dog in the woman's amused face, but refrained at the last moment and opted for carefully setting the book back on the table. "Shitty Specs…"
"Levi, just leave the investigation to the police. They have the sources and the people." Hanji pushed her glasses up her nose, the lens flashing in the lighting of the library.
"Then what do you suggest I do?"
Hanji shrugged, gathering up the books that lay in a mess on the table. "Just don't do anything rash." She walked away to the shelves, carefully placing the books back where they belonged.
Levi stood up as well. "Fine, but I still want to search up House Jaeger."
Hanji spared him a quick look. "I'm sure the library has records. You should ask the librarian."
A tall teenager with dual-colored hair was walking past with a stack of books in his arms, so Levi reached out and grabbed the boy by the arm. He was surprised when an icy-cold feeling seeped through the article of clothing from the boy's skin, but Levi didn't relinquish his hold.
"Do you work here?" The shorter man's steely eyes bore into the teenager's surprised brown ones.
"What's it to you?" The teen stared at him belligerently.
A swift flare of impatience shot through Levi. "I want to look at the archives regarding House Jaeger."
The teen visibly blanched at the name. His grip on the books tightened until his pale knuckles turned pure white. His lips pressed together to form a thin line, but when he spoke, he sounded completely calm. "Why do you want to know about that house?"
"Is everything okay here?" Hanji slipped out from the bookshelves, halting when she noticed the slightly-tense atmosphere around Levi and the teen. She laughed awkwardly and quickly stepped between the two males.
"Hello there. I'm Hanji Zoe. Nice to meet you!" Hanji adjusted her glasses and practically beamed at the teen.
The teenage boy glanced at Hanji. "Jean Kirschtein." His gaze flicked suspiciously to Levi, who scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Levi."
Hanji interrupted their glaring contest again. "So, Jean. May we see the archives on House Jaeger?"
Jean frowned. "I need to know what you need them for. There are some things that I can't show you." He shot another wary look at Levi. The latter scowled fiercely and glared back.
Hanji discreetly stepped on Levi's foot, telling the man to calm down so they wouldn't antagonize Jean. She faced Jean with an innocent and friendly smile, hands raised reassuringly. "We just want to conduct some research on the house. Have you heard the rumors that are floating around?"
"Who hasn't?" Jean snorted as he placed his stack of books on a table. Levi opened his mouth to say something, but a warning nudge from Hanji made him shut his mouth.
"We want to research the history of the house." Hanji went on cheerfully, pretending that Levi hadn't been close to ruining things with his crude language. "The archives should have lots of information on House Jaeger, right?"
Jean still looked slightly conflicted, but sighed nonetheless. "I suppose I could get the archives for you. Just don't damage them or anything."
Hanji and Levi nodded their agreement, and Jean disappeared through an open doorway that led to the storage room of the library. As they waited, Hanji sat down and began flipping through one of books Jean had been carrying. The crinkling sound of turning pages reminded Levi of his ruined book, and he made a mental note to take care of that as soon as possible.
The cold feeling from grabbing Jean's arm still hadn't faded from Levi's fingers. He rubbed his tingling digits. "Shitty Specs, does it feel cold in here to you?"
Hanji looked up from Fifty Shades of Grey with a confused expression on her face. "No, why?"
"Kirschtein's arm was freezing." The comment was casual, but Hanji's eyes sparked with interest.
"Really?"
"As serious as the South Pole."
As the two of them were talking, Jean had returned from the library's storage room, clutching a large stack of papers to his chest. He hurried to the table and dropped the archives in front of Hanji. "These were all I could find. Is it enough?"
"I'm sure it's fine." Hanji waved a hand reassuringly. "Thank you very much, Jean."
"Thanks." Levi added grudgingly. He wasn't so immature that he wouldn't show the teenage male some appreciation.
Jean nodded and scooped up his books again, walking away quickly. Levi watched him go with a critical eye. "He looks like he just committed some crime."
Hanji laughed. "Don't mind him, Levi. Come on, let's look through these." She took the first archive off the top of the pile and began looking through it.
Levi took an archive too and scanned the title. "'Disappearance of Eren Jaeger,'" he read out loud. Interested, he began to read the words that were typed out underneath the heading. As it turned out, Eren Jaeger was the son of the family that first lived in House Jaeger. That explained the name of the house.
Levi's eyebrows furrowed. According to the archive, Eren had been acting perfectly normal when the Jaeger family first moved into the house, but his behavior changed after a few weeks. The teenage boy had started talking to himself, although what he said sounded more like it was meant for another person. No one could figure whom he thought he was talking to. Not even his father Grisha Jaeger, who was a doctor.
Weeks after Eren's abnormal behavior started, his mother Carla was found hanging from the ceiling of the attic. Her death was deemed suicide, and that was what everyone accepted. Everyone except Eren.
He claimed it was murder.
A few days after Carla's death, Eren went missing. The only clue the police force had been the large bloodstain that was in the kitchen floor. Searches were conducted for weeks on end, but Eren was nowhere to be found.
Stricken by grief, Grisha and Eren's adopted sister Mikasa moved out of House Jaeger as soon as they could. Where they went was not mentioned in the article.
Levi's eyes fell to the picture of Eren that was below the brief article. The boy's brown hair stuck up messily in some places, and his teal-green eyes gazed at the camera with calm happiness.
Hanji suddenly shoved another archive under Levi's nose. "Yo, look at this."
Annoyed, Levi took the archive from Hanji and glanced at the page she told him to look at. "What is it?" There were pictures of two boys with the foreboding title 'Missing Boys in Maria Town' hanging over them. Levi quickly scanned over the article and quickly found out that the boys had disappeared four years before he moved to House Jaeger.
"The police think that maybe the boys went into House Jaeger and ended up as victims to the 'curse' of the house." Hanji watched Levi for a reaction, which was disbelief.
"They think House Jaeger is cursed?"
Hanji shrugged. "Apparently. Frightened people can come up with anything."
Levi scowled fiercely. "Why wasn't I told anything when I decided to rent the house?"
"Who's your landlord?"
"Some douchebag called Kitts Verman."
Hanji snorted, half amused and half derisive. "You better clear things up with him as soon as possible. Perhaps he didn't know about the house and still doesn't, although that's highly unlikely. Maybe he's keeping the house on purpose? Don't know why he'd do that. He probably can't sell it off, but why would he still let people rent the house?"
Levi tuned Hanji out as the woman rambled on and on about the house and Kitts Verman. He put the archive he was holding aside and picked up another one. This time, he was greeted a set of pictures. According to the heading, these were the people who had disappeared in House Jaeger.
Hannes, Ymir, Ilse Langnar, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhardt…
Levi couldn't believe his eyes. These people must have known that there was something off about House Jaeger, yet they still decided to rent the place? They were either really stupid or really desperate.
He tossed it aside and picked up another one. This archive had a picture of the Jaeger family on it. Levi recognized Eren immediately. Next to the brown-haired boy was a quiet-looking girl with black hair. She looked nothing like Eren, so Levi guessed that she was Mikasa, Eren's adopted sister.
Carla and Grisha Jaeger stood behind their children. The two adults looked happy in the picture, unaware of the fact that the house would cost them half their family. Levi almost felt bad for them, and he saw Hanji leaning over his shoulder to look at the picture, sorrow in her eyes.
Hanji's phone suddenly vibrated, and the woman abandoned the archive to flip it open. "Hello?" She paused, letting the person on the other end speak and saying the occasional 'yes' and 'okay.' Levi went back to the picture of the Jaeger family, waiting for Hanji to finish her conversation.
"Yes, alright. Thank you." Hanji snapped her phone shut and began cleaning up the archives that lay open before her. "Levi, the tests are done. Mike and Nanaba are waiting for us at the house."
"Alright." Levi folded up the archive he was looking at and placed it on the pile.
Suddenly, someone called to them from a few feet away. "Excuse me, are those the library's archives?"
Levi and Hanji looked up to see an elderly woman striding towards them. A tag that was clipped to her sweater told them that she was the librarian, and she did not look happy to see the papers strewn across the table.
"Yes, they are, ma'am." Hanji looked confused as to why the woman was displeased. "Is something the matter?"
"Customers need special permission to look at the archives." The librarian began stacking up the papers. "Who gave you these?"
"I'm very sorry, ma'am," Hanji apologized hurriedly. "We asked a boy named Jean Kirschtein if it was okay to look at the archives, and he brought these to us."
The librarian shook her head and lifted the stack of archives. "I don't know who you're talking about. No Jean Kirschtein works at this library. Good day." With that, she stalked away to the storage room, leaving Levi and Hanji looking baffled. The two looked at each other and shrugged, concluding that they had been part of some kind of prank.
The police cruiser was already parked in front of 465 Shiganshina Drive when Levi and Hanji got back to House Jaeger. Mike and Nanaba must already be inside waiting, so Levi and Hanji picked up the pace. When he reached the front door, Levi reached for his keys but stopped when he saw the condition of the door.
The area around the lock was splintered, sharp bits of wood sticking out in several different directions. In the middle of his door, there was a shoe-shaped dent, suggesting that the door had been kicked in.
Levi and Hanji exchanged shocked looks. The situation was too strange. If an intruder had broken in, then Mike or Nanaba would have called them to alert them of the situation. That left the police officers as the culprits, but why would Mike and Nanaba feel the need to break in?
Hanji reached out and gave the door an experimental push. The door creaked open without resistance, exposing the empty and eerie hallway to the two of them. Levi moved to go inside, but Hanji put a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful."
Levi nodded and cautiously stepped into the house. Hanji followed right behind him, hand in one of her pockets. The pair proceeded carefully into the house, senses alert for anything that seemed out of ordinary. As the entered the kitchen, Hanji let out a horrified gasp.
Nanaba lay on her back, arms splayed in a spread-eagled fashion. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth gaped in a silent gasp of fear. In her rigid right hand, she clutched her gun, which was completely empty of bullets. Blood stained the front of her uniform and drenched the ground beneath her.
Her throat had been torn open brutally. Her trachea was exposed to the open air, and ragged strips of flesh hung from the wound. Pieces of shredded muscle were scattered on the floor around her. The grotesque sight was almost too much for Levi to handle.
Hanji suddenly stood up from where she crouched beside Nanaba's corpse. "Stay here." With that, she made her way upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time.
Levi stayed next to Nanaba's body. Hanji's tone was unnerving. She sounded tense, almost frightened. The correct phrase would be "shit's about to go down." Levi didn't really want to argue with that, so he remained where he was, staring down at Nanaba's mutilated body.
A trail of blood caught Levi's eye and he followed it to three words that had been written in the morbid liquid.
DRAIN YOUR BLOOD
An icy feeling settled over Levi, who automatically tensed and backed away from the words scribed in blood. He had barely taken a few steps when a cold breath wafted over the back of his neck and a quiet hiss reached his ears.
Levi whipped around only to have something hard and cold collide with his neck, slamming him onto the ground. The oxygen flew from his lungs in one breath, and he tugged on the bony hand that was constricting his windpipe. He managed to pry it away by a millimeter as his eyes focused on his assailant, and he inhaled out of shock.
The figure crouched over him was identical to the image he had seen in his mirror. Two sunken black holes in a pasty-white face stared at him. The mouth was split in a feral smile, revealing teeth that were rotten and blood-stained. Long, messy black hair raggedly framed the creature's face as it snarled at Levi. The hand around Levi's throat tightened again, and this time, Levi couldn't pull it away.
The beast raised its other hand. Levi's eyes widened at the flashing silver blade of the kitchen knife and struggled to move out of the way. His efforts were unsuccessful, and the knife buried itself into his flesh. Pain exploded through his shoulder, stunning Levi briefly so the creature could yank the blade out with a satisfied growl.
Fresh blood seeped from Levi's wound. The creature bared its teeth and bent its head over the puncture. "Shit," Levi cursed, struggling to get away from the teeth that approached his throbbing cut. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to put up much fight against the beast's strength, and he shuddered when he felt the filthy teeth clamp over the wound.
More pain pulsed through Levi's body as the creature began to suck the red fluid from the injury. Levi writhed and dug his heels into the monster's stomach, but his efforts were fruitless. The creature was too strong, and Levi could feel his strength ebbing with every passing second.
Gathering the remnants of his energy, Levi sucked in a breath and shouted as loud as he could. "Hanji, get away from here!"
"Levi!" He heard Hanji yell, followed by a series of swift footsteps. The creature released Levi's wound with a snarl and raised the knife again, plunging it into Levi's chest just as Hanji appeared on the stairs. The beast twisted the knife, forcing a hiss of pain past Levi's gritted teeth.
Suddenly, the monster let out a howl and released Levi. Levi was barely aware of the sprinkle of white powder that rained down on him. He was losing consciousness fast, and the last things he sensed were Hanji kneeling next to him and the furious howls of the monster.
Cliffhanger~! I know you readers just love them! XD
