Chapter 3 – Say my name three times.
(Hello lovely readers! Another Chapter for you! Sorry if it's a little late! Eren is finally making an appearance in this chapter so i hope you're happy! Please follow me on Tumblr and feel free to ask me any questions! the next couple of updates might be a bit all over the place because I'm just starting University now! Stay tunes for more! Love you readers XD )
In the darkness of night a piercing noise splits the quietness of Levi's room, a loud and disruptive beeping startles the grumpy sleeper from his slumber. His alarm clock flashes in his face, telling him it's midnight. This is the fourth night in a row that he has been awoken from his sleep to the shrieking of his alarm clock. After the first night, Levi tried everything to stop the alarm clock from going off again.
His first attempt was unplugging the damn thing. It ended up being plugged back in again. The second attempt was unplugging it and shoving it in the boot of his car that was locked in the garage. It ended up appearing back in his room plugged in. By the third night Levi was boarding on insanity as he was awoken yet again at midnight by the alarm. He then proceeded to take the shrilling device onto his front lawn and used a hammer to smash it to bits before throwing it in the trash. Satisfied that he had finally rid himself of the haunted alarm clock he was confident the following night he would get a proper nights rest.
When the next night rolled around, Levi was ready to scream when he found a brand new alarm clock sitting on his bedside table.
So here he was, glaring at the alarm clock as it continued to beep in his face. Dark circles highlighted his dark expression as he pushed the clock to the floor, effectively shutting the damn thing up. Levi was beginning to sympathise with the previous owners and doesn't blame them for running.
His beliefs in the supernatural were slowly changing the longer he stayed in the house. It wasn't just the alarm clock that was pissing him off, objects around the house would be moved without him noticing or furniture would be moved, almost like a sloppy teenage was living with him. Sometimes Levi would find his washing folded neatly in a basket, like an invisible maid had come and saved his washing from the rain.
It is currently 6 am on a Monday morning and Levi is glaring at his second cup of coffee, contemplating throwing the coffee away and slipping back to bed.
The doorbell suddenly rings throughout the house and Levi freezes. In the week that Levi has lived in the house he hasn't had a single visitor, he assumed most were too afraid to come near the house but with the constant threat of his regiment looming over his head, Levi won't trust any stranger knocking at his door.
The doorbell rings again and snaps Levi out his train of thought. He slowly walks towards the front door, quickly grabbing his newly purchased boot knife from his shoe and holding it securely behind his back. Another sharp rap on the door startles Levi into unlocking the door and swinging it open. Levi immediately regrets the knife behind his back when he lays eyes on women in a police uniform. She is taller than Levi and has short black hair. Her expression is stern and her posture screams death.
Levi gulps and looks around the woman to find her alone, that's unusual for police, he thinks.
"How may I help you officer" Levi asks in the nicest voice possible, he suspects it doesn't work due to the death stare he receives back.
"I just have a few routine neighbourhood questions, if that's alright?" the question sounds rhetorical in Levi's head so he continues to play along, shoving his boot knife into his back pocket.
"Sure. Ask away,"
"How long have you lived here?"
"About a week or so,"
"Are you the only resident living in the house?"
"Yes,"
"Notice anything odd or unnatural about the house?"
"Not really," Levi decides it's best to leave the hauntings out.
"Are you sure about that?"
This question makes Levi very suspicious. Apparently he answered the question wrong which makes him think the officer knows more about the house than she is letting on. He continues to play along
"Positive," he answers.
"Can I please see some ID?"
Levi reaches for his wallet and hands the woman his driver licence. She looks skeptically between the plastic rectangle and Levi's face, squinting harshly. Levi begins to get nervous as she continues to stare at the ID, afraid she has discovered that it's fake. Eventually she nods her head and grunts before giving the card back the Levi.
"Thank you Mr Church. I'm sorry for bothering so early in the morning."
"No problem" Levi replies, ready to shut the door and go back to bed.
"I just have one more question," The officer states, folding her arms and somehow making her look bigger.
"I sense that wasn't a request. Ask away" Levi exasperates.
"I had a report from a neighbour that two nights ago you were seen in your front lawn smashing a device with a hammer. Is this true?"
"Yes."
"Was the device an alarm clock by any chance?"
Levi goes still, shock written on his face as he processes the question. His suspicions of the woman increases as there was no way she could have known it was an alarm clock unless she was there that night. Levi shakes himself from his thoughts and puts on a bored expression, hoping the officer didn't catch his momentary shock.
Unfortunately it seems she did by the slight smirk on her face, the expression looking out of place next to the uniform.
"Yes it was," Levi states. "How did you know?"
"Educated guess" The officer quips. "Thank you for your time, have a good day."
"What's your name?" Levi blurts before the officer can turn and walk away.
"Sargent Ackerman" She says. "At your service" She then tips her hat and walks back to her car, driving away swiftly. Levi continues to stand at his front door. That was the woman Petra had recommended, the one she trusted.
Fuck! Levi was screwed. If he was related to her and Petra trusted her he was going to have to be careful. She seemed suspicious and Levi had a feeling she knows more about the haunted house than he does.
For the fifth night in a row Levi is glaring daggers at his alarm clock that is shrilling and making a racket. The numbers 12:00 flashes in his face, taunting him, begging him to smash it with another hammer. Instead Levi pulls the plug from the wall, not caring that he damages the socket, and walks to his window. As he opens the window a cold breeze blows through and Levi shivers, he then proceeds to throw the now quiet clock out the window, watching it smash on the front lawn, feeling no satisfaction.
Since Levi is awake he may as well go to the bathroom before hopefully crawling back into bed. He shuffles into his ensuite and begins to relieve himself, yawning in the process. Just as he is finishing up when a movement to his left catches his eye. He begins to shift his gaze to where the movement is coming from before he hears-
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
The words are yelled and they make Levi's whole body freeze, including his half shifted his eyes. His eyes are now trained on the wall in front of him but he can see the person next to him, clear as day. Levi's heart is pounding his chest and adrenaline is pumping through his veins as he thinks of what this person is doing in his house. This mysterious person's words ring in his ears and he obeys to not look at the person in hopes he won't be killed.
Levi curses that he left his boot knife in his room, this invader gives an almost threatening presence and Levi doesn't like it one bit. He starts thinking of ways to escape, weapons he could use, maybe he could—
"Pfft…" The voice beside Levi breaks his train of thought. The person begins to giggle and laugh, confusing Levi further.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Levi barks, trying to sound menacing.
"Your dick is still out," The words are almost seductively whispered and it makes Levi shiver. He then looks down to find his dick is in fact still out. He quickly tucks it back into his sleep shorts and goes back to staring at the wall in front of him, trying hard not to be flustered.
"Who the fuck are you? How did you get into my house?"
"Well that's not very nice language. You should learn to ask nicely,"
From the voice Levi can determine that the person is a young boy, 17 or 18, and also a little shit.
"Listen you little shit! You have broken into my fucking house in the middle of the night and scared the shit out of me. And to top it all off I can't fucking look at you for some fucking reason, so don't tell me to be nice because right now I want to skin you alive.
"Wow old man, I never knew old people knew so many swear words,"
Levi was quickly losing his patience and he finally decides it's time to see who the brat really is. Levi begins to move his eyes sideways toward the boy, they don't make it far before…
"I SAID DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
Levi flinches hard and averts his eyes back to the wall. Having someone shout so close to his ear is damaging and he rubs his ear in response.
"Why the fuck can't I look at you?"
"Because I said so,"
"That's not a fucking answer,"
"Yes it is."
Levi sighs heavily, fighting with this boy is exhausting and the thought of curling up in bed is becoming more tempting, surely he must be dreaming.
"Look kid! You have 5 seconds to get out of my house or I'm calling the cops,"
"But you can't kick someone out of their own home," the boy says matter-of-factly.
"What the hell are you babbling about?"
"I live here, you asshole."
Levi stands in silence and absorbs the words, he doesn't want to believe the boy. There's no way someone else could be living here, Levi would know if that was the case.
"How can you live here? I live here. I think I would know if someone was living with me."
"Are you sure about that?"
Abruptly images surface in Levi's mind, his keys hanging on a hook without his knowledge, the washing folded in a basket on a rainy day, the furniture being moved, and the alarm clock every night. It all make sense to Levi, everything that's happened in the house is because to this boy. Without Levi ever knowing, this mysterious boy has been living with him.
"Shit" Levi curses, running a shaky hand through his short hair. "It was you all along"
"Indeed it was" Levi could feel the shit-eating grin the boy was wearing.
"And you're the one that has set my alarm off every night? And bought a new one when I smashed the old one?"
"Also guilty"
"Fuck! Then why haven't I seen you?" Levi questions.
"You can't" the boy states.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that no one can see me when they look directly at me. I can only be seen through peripheral vision."
Levi is slightly spooked by this statement. He doesn't believe in the supernatural, this can't be possible.
"That's not possible."
"Look at me then,"
"What?!" Levi is now even more confused, one minute he is told not to look at him, now he can look at him.
"You heard me. I'll prove it. So look at me." The boy sounds confident but Levi is still wary.
Curiosity eventually wins over and Levi gives into the urge to look at the boy. Very slowly he begins to slide his eyes to the left, he can make out a green hoodie as the boy's shoulder comes into view. Just as Levi is about to get a good look at his stalkers face, he disappears.
One second he was staring the boys shoulder and now he looks at his shower, there is no one else in the room, just Levi. His heartbeat begins to skyrocket as he turns in a circle, trying to look for the boy. Levi is now convinced that he is going crazy, that this boy is figment of his imagination, there is no way he could be real.
Levi stumbles toward the sink and grips the edges tightly, breathing heavily, trying desperately to wrap his head around this fucked up situation. After a few deep breaths Levi begins to calm down, telling himself that this is all a sick joke. He must be hallucinating.
"Hi again," Levi nearly jumps through the roof when the boy suddenly appears by his side again. Levi is still staring at the sink and he is determined not to look at the boy again, he doesn't think his heart can take much more.
"You're not real," Levi whispers.
"Sorry to say that I am. Whether you like it or not."
Levi closes his eyes tightly, wishing this bad nightmare to end. Suddenly the memory of being outside the real-estate agent pops into his head. The exact same thing happened there, the boy in the green hoodie drawing a circle around the house he just bought.
"It was you wasn't it," Levi states, opening his eyes again to see the boy next to him.
"Huh?"
"It was you at the real-estate agent. You drew the circle around this house. Fuck, you're even wearing the same fucking clothes. How could I forget that?" Levi's head reels again, he needs to sit down.
"Yep that was me, I have to say your face was priceless when you looked directly at me,"
"I'm glad one of us is finding this amusing," Levi grumbles under his breath. "But why did you lead me to your house?"
"I was bored," the simple answer angers Levi.
"You were bored? So you decided to fuck with a random person? Make it so they get no fucking sleep and drive them crazy?" Levi could feel is anger slowly rising again and his voice becomes dark.
The young boy doesn't seem fazed.
"Well when you put it like that it does sound like I was a dick. But think of it more like a test."
"A test?"
"Yeah. Whenever we have new owners I do the same stuff, move the keys, set the alarm off. Most people don't last a week. You're the only person who hasn't been totally freaked. A little violent perhaps but you showed no sign of leaving."
"Am I supposed to be proud of that?" Levi felt the boy shrug and silence followed.
After a minute Levi broke the silence.
"Why me?" it is a simple question yet both men feel the heaviness of the answer to come. Levi doesn't believe he was chosen at random, there had to be another reason this boy chose him.
"You looked lost." The young boy finally answers, it's a soft answer, only meant for Levi's ears. The air around both boys grows thick and heavy. Levi feels exhaustion creep up on him and his bed sounds very inviting but he knows the minute he moves he will lose sight of the boy.
In the silence Levi's mind has time to think. He thinks about the strange boy standing next to him who shouldn't exist, he tries to convince himself that the supernatural is possible. But with the amount of sleep Levi has had (or lack thereof) it is hard to rationalise any thought. His best course of action is to get a good solid 14 hours sleep before he goes head first into the supernatural world.
Deep down Levi knows that what he's seeing or half seeing is real. His chance meeting with the boy is only the tip of the iceberg. Levi takes a big breath and looks up into the mirror, his reflection scares him, the dark circles under his eyes are bigger than usual and his skin has become pale. He shifts his gaze in the mirror to where the young boy's reflection should be but he only sees the wall behind him.
Yet in Levi's peripheral vision the boy is still there, seemingly looking in the mirror too, almost like he is trying to find his reflection but he can't. This creates a pang of sadness in Levi but he is too tired to think about it.
"Well this has been one fucked up night and I need a solid night's sleep. Come find me when I wake up. And don't you dare think about putting another fucking alarm clock in my room" The young boy sniggers at the comment but reluctantly agrees.
"Goodnight old man"
"Night- … wait I never asked your name."
"Eren"
"Eren huh? That suits a brat like you" And with that Levi shuffles back to his bedroom, not giving Eren another thought, he falls asleep as soon as he hits the bed.