Chapter 17 Hide And Seek

"I can't believe we actually did it.." Erica said in disbelief taking a breather on Mikasa's living toom couch."Me neither" Bertholt added sitting next to Mikasa while the dark haired girl tended to his scratches. "Who would have thought that we would actually get rid of him?" He said. "Well what's done is done, and Annie is safe now" Mikasa said patching up the last of Bert's bruises."her safety is all that matters "

A few minutes later vicious bamming could be heard at the front door. "What the hell?" Bert groaned. Upon opening the door, Mikasa was greeted with a brutal punch to the face, knocking her backwards. "WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!?" Annie roared storming into the house. Erica and Bertholt jumped up in alarm at this. The blonde woman seized her ex best friend by the collar of her shirt and lifted her off the ground like a ragdoll.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY DOLL!?" Annie hollered with angry tears running down her face. She then turned her attention to the other two occupants of the room. "Bertholt..?" You were in on this with her too?"Annie asked with her voice dropping to a low whisper. A look of hurt and betrayal bled it's way onto her face making Bertholt look couldn't face her knowing that he was apart of this too.

Her icey eyes then shifted to Erica, making the brunette squirm uncomfortably under her gaze."y-you too Erica?" Annie asked feeling even more betrayed than ever. Erica looked down to her lap in shame now, averting her eyes."it had to be done Annie!" Mikasa snapped in Annie's grasp."don't you see that that doll is nothing but trouble!?" Mikasa yelled."how long will it be before you finally realize that he's just full of shit!?"

" for all these years that doll has done nothing but manipulate you!"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Annie snapped back bursting into tears now."ALL OF YOU! YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT ARMIN! HE IS A GOOD PERSON! I KNOW HE IS!" she cried."HE CARES ABOUT ME! HE LOVES ME! EVER SINCE I FOUND HIM AND RAISED HIM HE'S BEEN NOTHING BUT NICE TO ME AND TREATED ME HOW I LOVED TO BE TREATED! AND YOU KNOW WHAT!? I LOVE HIM!" She revealed shocking everyone in the house."So why?" Annie sobbed lowering her voice."why couldn't you all just let us be?"

The room was silent save for Annie's cries. No one was quite sure what to say or how to respond."please Mikasa..please.. just tell me where he is and i swear i will forgive everything you've done to Armin up until now" Annie pleaded desperately looking into her former friend's eyes.

It literally killed Mikasa seeing Annie so messed up and broken like this. She hated how it all came down to this! Their entire relationship shattered and in pieces because of that damn doll! Even though he's in pieces now and underground he still has control over Annie's mind, body, and soul.

The Raven haired girl could see now that taking him away from her did no good. The damage had already been done to Annie. He may not have harmed,killed,or hurt her in anyway intentionally, but he had done the worst to her already. he'd brainwashed her and manipulated her to the point of no remained defiant though, keeping her mouth shut and her starry black eyes away from Annie. "I'm so sorry Annie...but this is the only way I'll know that you'll be safe" she finally replied.

Annie's heart dropped when she heard this. her hand softly trembled as she released Mikasa's shirt collar. She then looked over to Bertholt and Erica silently begging them for an answer to Armin's whereabouts. Neither of them fessed up. "We're just doing this because we love you sweetums.." Erica mumbled quietly."we just don't want to see you get hurt" You could see some signs of guilt on her pretty tan face but it clearly wasn't enough to reveal where Armin was.

Annie's eyes were now locked on Bertholt's. "Bert..?" Annie begged. Bertholt remained silent with a grim look on his face."I've already had one friend go six feet under now Annie, please don't beg me to watch the same thing happen to you" he said at last. Annie just looked at them all feeling hurt and helpless as ever. Her face was as pale as porcelean and her eyes brimmed over with more tears.

"To Hell with you.." The blonde whispered trembling under her breath backing out of the door now."to Hell with you all.." And with that she left her three former friend's alone and walked out into the cold rainy air,making them feel horrible as ever.

Annie got on her bicycle and slipped on her helmet, searching for Armin once more. Wind and rain whipped at her face as she searched everywhere through the town screaming Armin's name. "Armin!" Annie hollered throughout the town. Rain poured down harder as she searched every area he could think of. Seeing no sign of the doll in town she eventually gave up and went back home.

Annie curled up on her bed clutching and burying her face in Armin's short fluffy black coat as if it were the doll himself. "Where could he be?!" She thought crying Into the furry garment. It smelled sweet just like him. He couldn't have just vanished into thin air! Dolls don't just disappear like that! Bur then again Armin wasn't a normal doll. She looked every place she could think of but she still came up with neither hide nor hair of Armin.

"He could be laying somewhere cold, deactivated and alone somewhere for all i-" Then it suddenly hit her. The very first and last time she ever found Armin like that he was in the forest! Getting a hunch she shot up out of bed and looked out her window. Multiple footprints and drag marks that Annie hadn't noticed before could be seen heading into the woods behind her backyard. "Oh my God!.." Annie shrieked running downstairs.

Grabbing her bike and putting her helmet back on, she attached her old wagon to her bike via rope and made a dash towards the woods following the trail. Mud and dirt splashed the bottom of her jeans but she didn't care. She wasn't leaving this forest until she had Armin back alive and unharmed! First she inspected the creak but there was no sign of a body there. She then looked around some more near that area only to find that old shallow grave where Armin "lived" in prior to being found at.

Erosion naturally took place there over the years but it was still undisturbed for the most part. If you looked really closely, you could still seem some traces and outlines of a body once being there. Annie teared up at the memory of how happy Armin was when she took him home that day.

"Don't worrry Armin, I'll bring you home again soon!" She rode through the muddy ground in search of her doll until she ran over something, knocking her off of her bike. "Ugh, what the hell?" Looking Down, she seen a muddy gloved hand sticking out of the ground. It was slowly moving and twitching, attempting to worm it's way out of the ground. It was barely functioning, but still faintly moving.

"ARMIN!" Annie screamed happily ripping her doll's arm out of the ground. She frowned in despair however when she seen that this was the only part."w- where's the rest of you?" She wondered out loud. The disembodied limb pointed near a tree trunk where she could see fingers creeping out of the ground like worms.

Putting the left arm in her wagon, she went over to where the visible fingers could be seen.

Annie choked back a sob as she grabbed Armin's hand and tugged it out of the ground. "Oh Armin.." Annie trembled bringing his glove covered hand to her face. "What all did those three do to you?" She asked quietly. She then put his right arm in the wagon next to his left one, Searching for more parts.

It wasn't long before she found his legs buried under a bush somewhere and threw them in the wagon too. Had this only been a funny harmless game of hide and seek this would have actually been fun! This vaguely reminded her of an Easter egg hunt."now all I need to do is find the main part and your head"

Going even deeper into the forest, she looked around for any signs of more dug up earth. She soon found what she was looking for when she seen a patch of uneven Ground in front of her. Digging her way through it, she found Armin's main part which consisted of his neck, chest,torso, stomach, hips and bottom. He was muddy and he was still wearing his corset and underwear, but could see that they were torn in some places .

The very moment she put the main piece in there with the four limbs, they weakly connected, forming his body. She smiled a bit in relief when she seen this. All that was left now was his head. Armin's half naked body curled itself up into a ball and shivered in the freezing cold air. "Armin!" Annie yelled once again. "Armin can you hear me!?" She called out.

~with Armin~

Armin whimpered to himself, cold scared and alone in the little hole he was in. He felt himself growing sleepy which was most likely because of his wind up key slowing down. Wherever it was at with his body...

"ARMIN! ARMIN CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" He heard a voice call out. "Annie..?" Armin wondered to himself in his drowsy state. "Armin please answer me!" The voice called out again. It IS Annie! "A-Annie!" Armin croaked. "Fuck!" He cursed to himself. His voice was messed up, making him sound like a creepy busted up Vocaloid.

"I have to find a way to get her attention somehow!" He thought to himself."but how?!" Getting an idea, he mustered up the little energy he had left and started to sing. Hopefully his voice was still recognizable enough to be noticed by Annie.

~with Annie~

Annie continued shouting Armin's name until she stopped hearing a muffled voice from somewhere.

"Someone's always watching me.

Someone's always there.

When i'm sleeping he just waits

and, he stares"

Annie stayed perfectly still as she listened to the voice."Armin..?"

"Someone's always standing in

the darkest corner of my Room.

He's tall and wears a suit of black

Dressed like a perfect groom"

the voice sang some more. It sounded really strange, almost as if it was rattled and broken, but it still continued to sing. It had to be Armin! "Armin keep singing!" Annie ordered following the sound of his voice. Armin heard this and started to sing a bit louder.

"Where are you going?

Why won't you stay?

They might be scared of you,

But i just want to Play"

Annie could tell that she was definitely close to Armin now. She looked around for the source of the singing.

"He has no Face.

He hides with the trees"

The doll sang some more.

He sounded like he was directly below her now. Annie got on her hands and knees and pressed her ear up against the ground, listening for Armin.

"He Loves little children

When they Beg and Scream"

"Please..."

"Found you!" Annie said digging through the muddy ground with her bare hands. It wasn't long before she clawed her way to a black trash bag with Armin's head inside. Quickly tearing through the bag, she freed Armin's head.

"ARMIN!" Annie screamed clutching the doll's head close to her bosom."THANK GOD!" she sobbed cradling the head close to her."Thank God you're okay! Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She sobbed kissing his head repeatedly. "Annie.." Armin rattled quietly in her embrace. "You..f-found ..mee" he smiled shivering. He was so cold. "You really...found me.. agaiinnn" he croaked straining his voice box some more.

Annie cried harder at the sound of Armin's voice. His cute feminine voice was severely damaged. "Shhh rest your voice you dork" she said connecting his head with the rest of his shivering body. Taking off her coat, she wrapped it around Armin's shoulders in an attempt to warm him up."Annie? W-what.. are you..do~ing?" The doll asked confused. "You're going to g-get siicck" Armin said worried.

"I don't care, I'll live" Annie replied."you may be a doll, but you still feel like any other human " she said."I can't stand seeing you cold like that " Armin was genuinely touched by this and nearly shed a tear from Annie's kindness."thank..youuu.." Armin rasped out flipping the hood on over face. He than looked around at their surroundings, feeling a chill creep up his spine.

Something about this specific part of the forest he was in...it frightened him and he couldn't figure out why. The more he looked around, the more scared he got. If you looked dead ahead where Armin was facing from where he sat in the wagon, you could see the old worn remains of a cobblestone path leading somewhere. It was hard to tell where since it was raining hard and tall trees and bushes covered the rest of the path. But it felt like he seen this area before and it scared him. "I don't like it here.." Armin trembled from both the cold and fear. "I w-want to goo h-home!"

"Okay" Annie said nodding "let's go home"

(A/N: YES! ANOTHER CHAPTER COMPLETED! XD and ohhh! I wonder what had the crazy cutie so spooked!? We'll just have to stay tuned and see! See you all later in 18!)