Still Standing | Levi Ackerman

8

"the job is done" My mothers voice was a blur, but the volume was incomparable to the beating in my chest. Her delicate placement on my back with her hand became rough in only a second as she pushed me forward into a strange man.

He lowered his sunglasses, and leaned down to look at me better. A sinister smile rose on his lips as his eyes burned into me, and I stepped back to get closer to my mom.

"mama..who is this man.." My voice squeaked, fear striking it so the pitch would increase. I turned back to her, feeling my heart roll to the edge of a cliff as her stare was filled with anything but affection.

"don't call me that.." she spoke lowly, "...Im not your mother"

My heart, pulsating on the edge of a cliff finally got one last push, and dropped. The words left her mouth, yet my brain wasn't fully processing their meaning. And despite that leap I felt inside me, I couldn't bring myself to believe it.

I wanted to speak. Desperately. I wanted to beg my mom to take me back, to learn to love me again. If her love was ever real. An eerie shadow covered her eyes, and she turned around. I watched her back became smaller and smaller as more distance was creating. The woman I once knew as my mother, walked away without an ounce of remorse.

I jolted as a hand was placed on my shoulder, spinning me back around the face the man.

"I know you may not know who I am know but.. you're going to real soon" His attempt to speak with assurance failed, and only caused more bats to swat in my stomach.

_

I stared in horror as another girls lifeless body in the shared dormitory was dragged out by men. My blanket covered everywhere but my eyes comfortingly, trying to ease the chill running up my back. My sleep had been disrupted by the loud sounds of choking, and by the time I fully became aware of my surroundings, she was being dragged out in a body bag.

I didn't sleep for the rest of that night. The image of watching yet another victim of this institution pass on. It was only a matter of time before I was next, and I was terrified.

The clicking of a door indicated that it unlocked, and I remained hidden under my blanket praying whoever was about to walk in would just leave. I was the last child alive, this would only mean the person walking in would be looking for me.

Footsteps of expensive leather shoes clicked against the cool tile of the ground, and stopped right behind me. My back was facing them, but I could feel their presence itching at my back.

"Marina" the man said, Dr Otto. The same man I was pushed into at my earliest years.

"it's time to get up" His voice was calm, but left a hint exhilaration in the tone, "we've got a busy schedule today"

I twisted around slowly, the blankets uncomfortably sticking to my pajamas. I looked at him, hatred seething from my eyes.

I was back in my least favorite room. It's empty walls bounced with white noise that left my equally empty brain flooded with discomfort. The bright white paint coloring the room left my eyes sensitive to the blinding light in the center of the roof. I stood in front of a table, looking across from me to another doctor, or scientist.

"I'd like for you to answer a few questions for me honestly. Can you do that for me?" Her soothing voice spoke.

I nodded silently.

"Have you been experiencing any muscle aches?"

"no"

"Great. How about any disorientation?"

"none"

"Hallucinations?"

"none"

"Lastly, have you found your heart racing at unexpected or random times?"

"..no, why are you asking me this?"

The lady peered up at me from her folder she held, "These are the symptoms our other patients felt days prior to their demise. Fortunately for you, you don't show any signs of dying anytime soon" the lady leaned forward and patted my head.

She turned to leave, walking out of the room allowing the heavy door to slam closed on its own. I jolted at the sound, and relaxed once I was left with the loud silence. There were words coming from outside the room which I could barely hear.

"She's our only hope" I heard, "If anything goes wrong, we won't be able to prove a human stronger than the Ackerman experiment!"

Ackerman?

"The plans already going downhill! Just as the Ackerman bond is needed to trigger power, we need to consistently feed this girl .. black tea! How pathetic is that?"

Days passed since I heard the conversation. It didn't matter whether I heard it or not, nothing changed. It was already obvious I was being tested on.

But one day, everything finally came to an end. When a large foot stomped on the building and crushed everything. Including all the scientists who tormented me for years. I was the last and only survivor in the institution.

Unfortunately, a large piece of wreck from the building managed to hit my head and cause me memory loss over everything.

***