𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

XCIX - The Ghost Of Sina

a/n: happy 100 chapters! got a long one for you this week x

tw: murder, gore, frequent mentions of rape

On her behalf.

***

There were two types of night tonight could've been.

There was a nice night in, buried amongst my blankets with a book and Sarj at the foot of my bed. Or a nice night out in the cave where I could've gathered my thoughts when Levi muddled them up with the past of a late friend.

It was neither, yet I was determined. I was set on killing four men with the help of my significant other before dusk. We were going to make the Underground a tad bit safer for the citizens that laid their heads there.

I was going to drive a knife across their throats and sever their airways entirely, for the sake of a girl's honour. Levi had explained their appearances, all somewhat common features with the added wrinkles and age spots that would've taken their skin. But there was one feature of one man that would likely make him stick out like a sore thumb. A scar from above the left cheekbone, dragged all the way across the cheek, across the nose and then curving down to the right corner of the lip.

I began thinking of all the possible appearances these men would take, and their names seemed to ring in an endless cycle through my head, whether I liked it or not.

Kurt. Lothar. Kiefer. Florian.

Kurt.

Lothar.

Kiefer.

Florian.

So pointless, how I remember their names and know that they won't be recognisable for a marked grave. Hopefully their bodies wouldn't be found. Maybe they'll lose their flesh and organs to decay and play their part as maggot chum. Cruel? Probably, for men as dirty as this? Not in the slightest.

Levi never questioned my sudden need to travel to the Underground to find men I'd only just learnt of. I'd imagine he understood where my mind sat, I'd imagine he feels the exact same way, but way stronger. So the ride to Sina stayed silent. I stayed within my thoughts, he stayed within his, all was smooth until we arrived at the gates of Stohess.

"Do you want to do this?" I ask quietly, our horses slowly trotting through the open stone gate. I catch him gesture a singular nod in my peripheral, eyes pinned straight ahead and hands tight on his reins. He donned a button up black shirt, black trousers and the same shoes he wore when the Military Police were hunting us down, accompanied by the same cloak we used during that same time too.

"I've wanted to do this for her for years. After coming to the surface, I rarely ever had the chance to finally seek them out, becoming a captain is time consuming as well. I barely had time for myself," he admits. I spare him a glance that lasted no longer than a fraction of a second, an eyebrow slightly cocked as we made our way through the streets of Stohess and towards the Underground entrance.

"Barely time for yourself but you manage to make time for me?" I muse, the ghost of a smile across my face as I looked straight ahead.

"For you? All the time in the world," he states calmly. My heart fluttered and a warm smile played on my lips at such a flattering comment, the storm in my head somehow calming down a touch.

"And you say you don't deserve me," I murmur as the entrance came into view. He didn't say anything after that, both of our eyes trained on the wall that was dark and the stairs that descended to an even darker depth. There was the faintest glow near the bottom of the stairs, likely from a torch that was placed further down the corridors that the stairs turned off into. I let a sigh out of my nose, eyebrows furrowing as I revert back to a serious state. The two of us tied our horses reins to a post nearby before moving and standing at the top of the stairs.