Thank you guys for any reviews you give me! It's a big inspiration to see this fic being so well received. I am definitely more motivated when I receive feedback, thank you! I'm excited about this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
I was lying on the ground next to Mikasa. We were staying as quiet as possible but I couldn't control my constant trembling. Mikasa did not react at all. The man dressed in black invited a group of masked people into the hotel and then held a gun at the receptionists head as they forced her to lock all the exits. After they positioned themselves all over the building, five masked men rounded up all the hostages into a board room, past the elevators on the first floor. They had us lay on the floor, like before but removed a handful of women to bring back to the lobby. One man walks up to us and instructs Mikasa to walk in front of him. She stood up but did not move. The man started yelling at her, a few scared whimpers could be heard from some of the others laying on the floor.
I urged her. "Mikasa. What are you, crazy? Listen to him—"Before I could finish, the man kicked my head with as much force he could muster. I put my arms on top of my head, groaning in pain. "Ugh"
Mikasa yelled my name, but it sounded far away. My vision became impaired and I felt nauseous. I felt an arm grab the back of my shirt and lift me off the ground, temporarily choking me. I hear some mumbling and then the mumbling turned into words. They were becoming clearer and clearer. "Are you REALLY EREN JAEGER?"
I find the strength to lift my arms to my neck, clawing at my shirt. I felt a slip and release. I took a few breaths. "I SAID, ARE YOU EREN JAEGER? DON'T LIE TO ME." The man was yelling in the ear he just kicked. I coughed a few times and cleared my throat. "Yes. Yes! That's my name. What do you want?!" The man stood still for a few minutes and screamed in delight. "Guys! You'll never believe this, It's Eren!" A few others entered the room and surrounded me. "He does look like Eren's avatar." Another guy said. The one next to me grabbed my arm with his left hand and used his right hand to slip off his mask. It was… He looked familiar… He had blonde hair…Golden eyes…It was Reiner Braun. "Reiner?" I said. He laughed and lifted me up. "Yeah, from BW!"
I knocked his hand off of me. "What are you doing?!" I demanded to know. He looked at me unapologetically. "You know that letter you received in the mail? It was us! You belong with us, Eren."
I glared at him. "What. Are. You. Doing, Reiner?"
He sighed. "Will you listen to what we have to say if we tell you what's going on, Eren?"
I paused for a moment and took the time to observe my surroundings. There were about a dozen masked men with guns inside the room, now. All the hostages were at gunpoint. If I ran for it, I would be done for… "Sure." I replied.
"We were here for Levi. We heard about your titan ability and wanted to know where you were since you were missing for so long. We figured he would know where you were If he was the source of the information…"
"AT GUNPOINT, REINER? It's just a game! What about these hostages?! Don't you even care? It doesn't even matter, my avatar is being held captive by the court. If you want it so bad, I'll give you the password to my account. Just don't hurt anyone!"
Reiner shaked his head and gripped my arm once again, he pulled me in closer to him with his left hand. And after a bit of movement behind my back I feel a cold metal object on my back. "We don't want your avatar. Your avatar wasn't different because of the way the game was programmed…." Before Reiner could finish his sentence, a gunshot was fired and cut him off. He yelled. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" The man at the door poked his head out and repeated a message to Reiner: "One of the hostages fought back!" -there was another pause as a distant voice spoke. "Bertolt shot her."
I gasped. I almost started running, but Reiner held my arm back. "Tell him to pack up, we have what we want. Some of us will have to stay behind to confuse the authorities and give us an opportunity to escape. You guys choose who will stay behind, I need to get him out of here as fast as possible."
"I'm not leaving without my sister, you asshole." I growled.
"Sister?.." He said. "We don't have time for that."
"Actually, I don't want to go with you guys. You can't just hurt people and take people like this."
Reiner rolled his eyes. "They're only humans."
I scolded him in disbelief. "How could you?! You're human, too. You crazy fool!"
Reiner lifted his gun and violently threw it at one of the hostages. There was a small uproar until Reiner told them to shut up. "We're not entirely human, Eren. We're not like them! WE'RE DIFFERENT!"
The way he spoke had me speechless and afraid. My knees gave out. Reiner started pulling me by my shirt, I used my hands to try and grab something but there was nothing to really grab a hold of. I was dragged out of the room, out into the hallway. I looked towards the front entrance, there were police cars around the building and you could hear a voice from outside trying to rationalize with one of the masked figures. On the ground in front of the doors was a corpse soaked in blood. With black hair… without saying a word I broke free and ran toward it. Someone yelled "DON'T SHOOT HIM. GRAB HIM!" Before they caught up, I could feel an unbelievable amount of energy. My heart was racing, I felt strong. I grabbed the corpse and sprinted out the door into the arms of the authorities- Or so I thought. The man I ran into was not a police man but the person responsible for all of the hostages' safety or anything that happens on the hotel grounds. It was Levi.
He examined me and then threw a glance at what I was holding in my arms. His eyes widened and he looked back at me with a pained expression. I was still breathing heavily, I was mostly wearing an expression of pain. My head was pounding and my heart was still racing. I could hear gun shots in the background and I could see some people falling in the corner of my eyes. I knew we needed to get away. Without thinking, I fought the pain and tackled Levi, grabbing him by the waist and running through the crowd. I ran, as fast as I could while holding onto two people and manage to reach one of the ambulances further off. I let go of Levi and Mikasa then collapse to the ground. My lungs were burning.
"Eren, what in the world…"
