The Monster Within: An Attack on Titan Story

Chapter 2

    Annika ran. Her own heartbeat rang in her ears like the tempo of a song. A song of tragedy. All around her was piles of rubble that were once houses. And...there were bodies. Most of them missing at least one limb. I-I'll heal them later. She told herself. But she was lying. There was no possible way she could heal them and keep her family alive. She turned a corner, her breaths getting quicker. She ran even faster when in the corner of her eye she saw a titan stalking towards her. She turned left and then right in a zigzagging motion in hopes of confusing the creature.

    "Am I safe?" She asked herself. She looked around and didn't see any Titans too close to her. She let out a breath. Annika felt the sensation of hands grabbing hers and she was pulled back. She screamed and where she was standing before was the foot of a titan. Whoever pulled her away saved her. She looked back and saw her brother looking at her, blood seeping out of his left eye. "Brother!" She exclaimed and he dragged her back even further and started running. She ran too.

    Her legs were about to give out when they finally stopped. They heard the shriek of a familiar voice and she forced her legs to move forward, but her brother grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. "We can't save her." He spoke monotonously. Annika let out a whimper and her eyes started to water. "No. We have to save Cassie!" She stared up at the titan holding her sister in its hand, it was going to eat her. Someone was approaching them from behind and they turned around to find their parents, potions in hand. "You won't be saving them, we will."

    "No." Jace said, the blood from his eye running all the way down his face. Annika shook her head and stepped forward, trying to summon the power she used earlier that day when her biggest threat were some dumb bullies. "Annika no." Rosa said and stepped in front of her daughter, a glowing ball of light in her hand. Rosa put her arm in front of her face and sent the ball of light flying to the titan. While in the air it formed into a blade of some sort and severed the titan's hand clean off, freeing Cassie. Cassie quickly got up and started running towards them with a limp. The titan's other hand made its way towards Cassie, but their father was faster than it. He pushed Cassie out of the way and the titan's large hand closed around his body. He screamed as it tightened its grip. "Allen!!" Rosa let out a cry and hurled herself at the monster. It only smiled and let go of Allen's now lifeless body, seemingly uninterested in it now. Annika ran to her father's body. "D-dad?" She shook his shoulder. "Wake up!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and looked up when she heard her mother cry. The titan had her. "Mom!" She screamed along with her siblings. Her mother looked at them and smiled. "Survive." She said. "I love you all. Now run! Don't stop running." She smiled and then the titan ate her.

    "No!!!" Annika screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed so much she swore her throat felt raw. "Mother!!" She yelled through the tears. Her brother and sister grabbed her, trying to get her to run. She wrenched herself out of their grasp and ran toward the titan. "I'm going to destroy you!" The only thing she could feel was the wind hitting her face and her heart beating fast. She slid to a stop and held her hands in front of her. She bit her lip and violet flames erupted from her hands heading straight towards the titan. The fire engulfed the monster and it screamed. The thunderous steps of other titan's alerted her to the approaching monsters. Its scream must have attracted them. Annika looked down at her hands, they were sizzling, but they looked fine, as if the fire did nothing to her. How did I..? Annika swayed on her feet and started falling when her brother caught her. He put her over his shoulder and started running. He didn't stop until they got onto the escape boats. Jace placed her down and she fell onto her knees. Cassie placed her hand on her shoulder to steady her. "If only I was faster." Annika whispered. "You couldn't have done anything. They sacrificed themselves for us." Jace said, choking back a sob. Cassie sniffled and Jace pulled his two sisters into a hug. He was trying to be strong, but he couldn't hold back his tears and neither could his sisters.