Omg, thank you so much, Lady Monoceros! My heart goes out to you! :3
And yeah, some typos last chapter. My apologies, I uploaded this at 5 a.m., so... XD
Apparently Levi can't count XD Oh well, I'll fix 'em later... maybe when I'm not so lazy...
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: First Death
The morning sunlight shining on your face woke you up. Groaning, you sat up and stretched your tired limbs. Why was it so bright? You could've sworn the curtains were closed...
Looking over to the window, you saw the window was open and the curtains had been moved out of the way. You saw a black cat sitting on the windowsill and staring at you, its tail twitching. You didn't know why, but somehow the cat seemed very familiar to you, although you've never seen this cat before in your life. You stood up and went over to it.
"Well hey there, pretty kitty. Were you the one that opened my window and pulled back the curtains?" you asked as you scratched the cat on the head. It purred slightly before standing up. With one last glance at you, it leapt out the window.
"No, you're two stories up!" you cried as you peered out the window. You didn't see the cat anywhere. No blood, either. You sighed and closed the window, making a mental note to ask that short guy if you should lock the window, too.
You unpacked your clothes and picked out an outfit for the day. Nothing fancy; just jeans and a blue shirt. You opened the door to your closet and widened your eyes when you saw it was huge. You tossed the clothes on the floor because you were lazy and would put them away properly later. Besides, you had a full day of cleaning and cooking ahead of you.
After you put on your clothes, you opened the door to the bathroom and wasn't at all surprised to find it as big as your room. After brushing your hair and teeth, you went over to your to-do list and looked it over.
To-Do List
-Go to kitchen at 8 a.m. to cook breakfast
-Clean all rooms that don't have Do Not Disturb signs
-Take all laundry from laundry bins in those rooms and put them in the washer.
-Go to kitchen at 11 a.m. to cook lunch
-Clean hallways
-Put laundry in dryer
-Trim hedges in the back
-Pull weeds in the back
-Water plants and do other gardening
-Go to kitchen at 5 p.m. to cook dinner
-Wash dishes
-Ask any of the residents if they need help with anything
-Take out laundry and return it to their owners
Well, seemed easy enough.
You unpacked your watch and looked at the time. 7:55 a.m. Turns out that cat had woken you early enough to get to the kitchen in time. Sighing, you pocketed the to-do list and headed out of your room. You took out your map and followed it to the side door next to the giant dining hall doors. You opened it and inside was a long rectangular room with two long metal tables in the middle and long rows of counters against either of the walls. Pots, pans, and all sorts of cooking supplies either hung on the walls or were on racks on the counters. Hanji walked over to you, handing you a hairnet.
"Hey, _, nice of you to join us!" Hanji said, smiling brightly. You smiled back.
"You help out around here?" you asked. Hanji nodded.
"Yup. I also work at the infirmary. I'm the only certified doctor here, you see." she explained. You nodded. Then you noticed others behind Hanji who were already starting to prepare breakfast.
"Who else is helping out?" you asked.
"Christa, Mina, Thomas, Petra, and Ar-" Hanji cut off when she turned to look at the others. There were only four people, and Eren had told you about them, but not about who Hanji almost mentioned.
"And who?" you asked. Hanji looked away.
"No one. Anyway, don't let Sasha or Connie in here, otherwise they'll eat all the food. We don't want that happening again." Hanji said. You bit your lip. The people here were definitely hiding something-no-someone-and not telling you. But why? And who was it?
As Hanji told you about the rules of the kitchen and whatnot, you couldn't help but wonder if this person they were trying to hide was the one who peeked through the door at you yesterday night. Obviously he or she was interested in you. You wondered if their room was on the third floor, and maybe that's why you weren't allowed up there.
You just couldn't see why these people would hide someone from you.
The day had been pretty busy so far. Surprisingly, you only had little time to think about how mysterious everyone was being. You knew tackling a manor was a big one, but you didn't know it would consume most of your thought process. Gripping the gardening supplies tightly, you made your way down the hall and towards the gardens in the back of the manor. You couldn't believe how huge this place was.
You blinked when you saw Levi up ahead, inspecting a window you had wiped earlier. You walked up to him.
"Hello Levi!" you greeted. He glanced at you, his face still as expressionless as ever.
"This window isn't clean enough." he commented. You rolled your eyes.
"If you say so. Anyway, I have a question I need to ask you. Actually, two." you said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" he said. You nodded.
"Yeah, first off, should I lock my window, too?"
"Yes."
"Okay, and second, what are those creaking noises in my walls last night? Were they rats?" Levi chuckled. Your eyes widened; you didn't think Levi could laugh.
"Oh I assure you, _, those creaking noises are much worse than rats." he said, and the look he sent you chilled you to the bone. You stared at him as he passed you, trying to comprehend what he meant.
Christa walked by Levi and stopped in front of you, giving you a bright smile.
"Hi, _! How are you today?" she asked, and you couldn't help but smile. Christa was so kind and polite.
"Oh, I'm fine! What about you?" you said.
"I'm doing great, thanks for asking! Sorry to bother you, but I forgot to put some laundry in my bin, so I was wondering if you could get it, if it's too much to ask."
"No, not at all! Of course I'll get it! I mean, it's my job after all."
"Sorry for being an idiot..."
"Oh Christa, you're just fine!" you gave her a reassuring smile and ruffled her hair, and she giggled. You noticed at the end of the hall Ymir was staring at you two, and her glare could set you on fire.
"Well, thank you!" Christa said.
"You're welcome! I'll get it back to you before lights out, I promise." and with that, Christa turned and left, Ymir disappearing from the corner. You sighed and turned back on your way. Once you made it to the back door, you went outside and down the back porch steps. The gardens looked absolutely breathtaking. There were several benches scattered about. Trees, bushes, and flowers decorated the area nicely, and at the center of it all was a fountain smaller than the one out front of several dolphins. Unlike the other one though, this fountain actually was running.
You began trimming the hedges, making sure they looked even, or else Levi might notice and you'll get in trouble. He already thought a spotless window (in your opinion) wasn't clean enough. Hopefully you wouldn't get fired; you were too intrigued by the mystery of this place to leave just yet. You still had to find out who this mysterious person was.
You noticed in the corner of your eye something shiny just past the beginning of the forest. You set down your hedge clippers and made your way towards it, wondering what it could be. Once you got there, you saw it was a pair of broken glasses. Your eyes widened when you saw a pool of red surrounding them.
Then you saw a drop of red drip down onto the glasses.
You slowly looked up and screamed. She was completely torn apart and hanging. She had been impaled by numerous tree branches and blood was splattered everywhere. Her stomach was split open enough to see her organs and several were pierced by branches around her. What seemed to be her liver was on the ground, and her intestines hung like scarves on the branches closest to her that weren't through her.
You knew Rico must've suffered something awful. Her death didn't look painless at all.
You didn't know how long you had been screaming, just long enough for someone to come out and see what the hell was going on. You didn't remember who it was that called your name and raced over. One second you were staring at Rico's bloody corpse, then you were seeing blackness.
After you woke up, they held a funeral for her. For Rico. You didn't even know her that well, yet you still joined. They buried her in the back of the gardens. They showered her grave with flowers. All you could think about was the last words she spoke to you; a warning.
At one point you had looked up at the manor. You didn't know why, but you felt compelled to look up at it's old, crumbling self. And on the third floor in the center was a white balcony that jutted out of the building. Vines and other plants were draped across it like a tangled blanket, and only several parts of the balcony were clear of plants.
You could've sworn you saw the white curtains in front of those French double doors move.
First death guys! Poor Rico...
And ooooh, what's going on here?
:3
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