"Erwin you can't be serious!"
Hanji watched as her boss nodded good naturedly, as if he was suggesting they go get a bite to eat instead of doing the unthinkable. "Hanji," he said, smiling as he shuffled through some papers. "You know good and well that a beast must be let out of its cage every once in a while, lest it breaks out and and its hunger consumes it."
The calmness in his voice drove her to back away from his desk. "Erwin…"
She had been monitoring the boy (she doesn't care if he's twenty two—he's too young for all of this) for months now, and he'd shown signs of devolving. They have to sedate him with shot guns from afar in order to care for him physically—if they don't, he'll lash out at them with such force even the straight jacket couldn't contain. He bites and kicks, and somehow has hospitalized five men before they decided to just put him down like an animal.
It hadn't always been like that, but Hanji had sensed the buildup before hand—his sarcasm had grown darker, his glares got sharper, and his empty threats fulfilled with resolve.
The first obvious clue was when she found his fondness for stuffed animals.
It was a simple experiment to see how he would react, and she learned he would give special attention to any and all sea animals—but seemed to keep manatees and orcas closest. She had gotten him a few of those, and he had grown attached to them like any young child would.
But then it changed.
Hanji had come into his cell to find every single stuffed animal torn to shreds. When she asked, why, she got no response. They had taken off his straight jacket for the experiment, so there was no doubt that he did it himself. She asked over and over again for days why he had done it until she finally got a response.
Ghosts make wonderful companions, don't you think?
He went back into the straight jacket after that.
It wasn't her idea, but Erwin demanded it. He was afraid of her getting hurt and to be honest, she did feel threatened. Things went even further downhill until they had to resort to drastic measures—fail-safes and contingencies for situations that she thought were just her imagination running wild.
Either way, it proved that he was in no way whatsoever ready for what Erwin was suggesting.
"Erwin," she repeated seriously, "I don't know about this. He's grown increasingly hostile towards even me, and he used to like me the most! I know that keeping him locked up is only making things worse, but he'll kill the first living thing he sees!"
Erwin grasped his chin, deep in thought. "He's feeling bloodthirsty."
Hanji actually rolled her eyes like good friend of hers. "No shit Erwin! It's like he has a vendetta against all mankind! Whatever he's been through, he seems to have lost faith in everything!"
"Doctor Zoe."
The brunette jumped at the sound of her title. "Y-yes?"
Dr. Smith took a deep breath. "You're hereby taken off this project. Arlert will be in my hands personally."
Wait…what?
"Dr. Smith—that's—that's insane!" she almost screamed, "I—what—!?"
"Do I make myself clear?"
Hanji flinched at his commanding tone. "Y…yes sir."
Dr. Smith nodded. "You're dismissed. I'll take it here."
She felt his gaze on her back as she left, and shivered despite feeling warm.
Hanji knew that this was a bad idea.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit!" she cursed as she raced down to Arlert's cell, "Where—how—!?"
"Dr. Smith said that he didn't want his visits recorded," the assistant explained as she ran with him, "so he demanded we cut the cameras off! Next thing we knew, he was gone and…!"
They made it to his cell, only for her to back out of it instantly with a shriek of terror. When she got a hold of herself, she peeked back in.
She shrieked again.
Erwin was lying flat on his stomach, his back torn to shreds as two more assistants tended to him. There was blood everywhere—
She shrieked again.
Written on the wall in what could only be Erwin's blood was a message in what Hanji figured was German.
Das Tier wird frei!
Erwin was the German speaker, but Tier stood out to her the most.
Beast.
The assistant behind her gasped at the wall. "'The Beast is free…'"
Hanji turned to her, eyes wide. "What?! Is that the translation!?"
The assistant nodded. "I think…Dr. Smith isn't our highest priority."
She couldn't agree more, but a part of her was suspicious…
Right as she thought that, she shook her head. There was no way Erwin would set him free like that! He of all people knew that this was the result!
He didn't want his visits recorded, so de demanded that we shut the cameras off.
How would he have gotten out of that straight jacket!? Despite how hard he tried, Arlert hadn't been able to break free of it even once. He'd come close a few times by chewing through it, but that would take months, and he'd always get caught before he can free himself…
Dr. Smith isn't our highest priority.
She couldn't disagree more.
Mikasa sighed as she flopped down in her bed. She had gotten out of the support group that was held that day by feigning illness, so she was finally able to rela—
The woman sat up instantly, every bone in her body screaming at her to run.
Someone is here.
Getting up slowly, Mikasa inched towards the far wall of her cell, eyes darting around. A part of her wondered if she was just being paranoid, but somehow she knew that her gut was right—it always was.
Suddenly her cell door slid open, making her jump.
"…what the…?" she murmured, glancing up and down the halls. Her neighbors were doing the same before a few stepped out cautiously, and another few just sprinted out, laughing all the way.
"We're free!" one of them yelled, "We're finally free!"
Mikasa's eyes sparkled. She can see Eren again—!
Her thoughts halted when the feeling came back tenfold. Something was not right. Almost all of the patients had escaped by then, but fear kept her feet planted. Something was coming, but she just couldn't bring herself to move.
Fight!
The blood finally returned to her legs, and she broke into a sprint—
"Shinē."
The ground suddenly rushed up at her as her legs gave in, terror hitting her like a truck. That voice…it…it can't be…
"Sie haben Angst zu suchen…" the voice cooed, "Why are you so afraid? Monsters aren't afraid of anything, right?"
Mikasa got up to her and slowly turned around, tears falling down her face. No…
There stood her worst nightmare, the straps of his straightjacket undone and bloody beyond belief. Blood was also all over his psychotic face and tousled blonde hair that hung over his eyes, producing a shadow that made the blue orbs glow like a beast hungry for prey.
"G…get away…" she whined helplessly as she tried to scoot away from him.
It was all in vain. A few strides later he stomped on her back, pinning her in place.
"This is rather pathetic," he said, "You're physically stronger than me. If you want to kill me, than do so."
Die.
"Unless…" he said, kneeling down to her and whispering in her ear. "…you want to die."
Mikasa couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but cry there as he stroked her hair with bloodied fingers. "Well?" he asked, "Which is it? Who do you want to die?"
Me. "Y…you…" she whispered, "you…you demon…"
The blonde had the audacity to pout like a child. "That's not very nice," he said, suddenly taking her head and slamming it onto the hard floor, causing her to cry out. "I don't want you to die just yet, so it looks like we both have to suffer on for a little while longer, hmm?"
He then began to giggle as he traced a finger down her back. Despite the light touch she screamed in agony as memories brutally assaulted her nerves. She couldn't help it—his very touch ripped away her sanity.
"Interesting," he murmured as he continued to traces lines on her searing back, "you're so afraid of me that a mere touch will tear you to pieces. I'm not sure how to feel having that much power over you."
Armin giggled lightheartedly as she screamed, wondering when someone was going to hear her cries—at this point she was begging for the sweet release of death to take her away from this beast tormenting her for sport. A part of her kept screaming at her to get up, to fight, that she was stronger than her, but the rest of her remained frozen in terror as her imagination made his finger feel like a knife carving up her body.
"No one's coming for you," he said, the lines he traced turning into little shapes. "Everyone is preoccupied with the other murders and serial killers running loose. But…"
Her cries died in her throat when he flipped her over and grasped her neck gently in his bloodstained hands. "They are looking for me. But I'm not leaving until I hear you beg."
Armin gently planted a kiss to her neck, and she continued to choke, air refusing to go into her lungs. Only Eren can touch her like this! How—how dare he touch her like this! She—she won't let him get away with this!
She shoved him away, determined to get him away from her with rekindled rage—
—until his jaws suddenly clamped down on her neck and tore her throat out.
"Okay, let me be the first to say that this is a conspiracy that Dr. Smith is in on."
Connie's attempt at humor fell flat on the morose workers. Eren himself was boiling with rage—it didn't matter how hard he tried, he just could not forgive him. This is the third time—third fucking time—that he landed his sister in the hospital, and he wasn't going to put up with his shit anymore. He didn't care about what Marco said, Armin was truly evil and he doesn't deserve to live. He'll kill him with his bare hands if he had to!
"Eren."
The brunette jumped when Annie put a hand on his shoulder and just stared. He didn't know what she was trying to convey and he didn't care—most of this was her fault anyway! If she had just called the police beforehand none of this would have happened!
Calm down, a part of him said, she probably didn't want any of this to happen.
Still not caring, he ripped his shoulder away and went to flip his desk only to have another hand firmly grasp his shoulder and spin him around.
"Kid," Levi said, "I know you're upset, but don't go messing up the office. Go take the day off—hell, feel free not to come in until next week—and see your sister. Just know that you're not the only one who's lost loved ones to him."
Eren furrowed his brows at that statement. "I…okay."
As he wandered to the door, he heard Levi say, "Leonhart, as much as you deserve a day off, I'm not too sure about having you away from your two bodyguards while that psycho's running around again, got it? You don't have to work, but I'd rather you be where there are a lot of witnesses."
"…okay."
The brunette didn't look back at the two as he stepped out of the office. He was definitely going to take Levi up on his offer to not come in next week, and he is going to see his sister, but he's also going to find that demon and put him in his place.
He sat in his car for a while, staring at his hands. It would be preferable to go with some sort of weapon, but he wanted to kill him with his bare hands—and he wouldn't let him die easily, either. He'd hurt him like he hurt his sister, weapon or not—in the end, it makes no difference.
Either way, he's going home with an Arlert's blood on his hands.
No I'm not okay.
Just a warning, the next few chapters might (will) be extremely dark, but that's because I'm going a really, really tough time and I right from my feelings
(you know Ch. 17 of Sparkles? The chapter where Armin goes batshit crazy and almost kills Mikasa? That was originally going to be a happy chapter, and look how that turned out…)
Either way, I'm not happy so my characters won't be happy either. So don't read the next few chapters to feel good, because I'm going to assault your feels or just scare the shit out of you :P