In the Shadows of the Past | Levi Ackerman

13

Ella's pov:
As Levi ascended the stairs, my legs gave out beneath me, weakened by the flood of emotions. My lungs constricted, my heart raced uncontrollably. I forced myself to take deep breaths, attempting to quell the rising panic. Close your eyes, and the nightmare will vanish, I told myself, but the memories lingered, haunting me like a specter from the past.

I gripped the wooden railing tightly, trying to ground myself. He's dead, I reminded myself, he can't harm me anymore. Yet, an image flashed before my eyes, one I had tried to suppress for so long. Chained to the ceiling, my body stretched taut, my step father's face contorted with madness as he wielded a needle.

"Let's see what your father left for you," he had taunted, his voice dripping with malice. I squirmed, instinctively recoiling from the impending torment. "Stop squirming, bitch!" he bellowed, his fist connecting with my abdomen, sending waves of agony coursing through me. Despite the pain, I refused to yield, knowing deep down that whatever he intended was nothing but cruelty.

As the needle pierced my skin, injecting its vile contents, my screams echoed through the room, a symphony of suffering. The memory shattered, broken by Hange's voice calling my name. I opened my eyes, my grip on the railing tightening. Ignoring the tremors in my limbs, I rose to my feet, not daring to glance back at the room below.

With each step up the stairs, questions swirled in my mind. Did my father leave the needle behind? Or had my stepfather discovered it in his relentless snooping? I pushed aside the unsettling thoughts, focusing on the task at hand as I reached the top of the stairs and rejoined the others.

As I stepped into the room, a heavy silence hung in the air, broken only by the soft shuffle of feet as my companions followed behind. Avoiding their gazes, I kept my eyes fixed on the task ahead, my expression a mask of detachment. Yet, beneath the facade, a tempest of emotions raged within me, threatening to overwhelm my composure.

"Let's pack everything and leave immediately," I stated, my voice betraying the weariness that weighed heavily upon my shoulders. The words echoed hollowly in the room, each syllable tinged with the weight of our shared burdens.

Turning away, I made my way back to the drawer, my steps measured and deliberate. With each book I retrieved, memories stirred within me, a jumble of fragments from a past I had long sought to bury. I couldn't help but wonder if the answers to my questions lay hidden within these pages, waiting to be unearthed.

Descending the stairs, I found myself outside once more, greeted by the sight of our wagon patiently waiting to be loaded. The task ahead seemed daunting, but I pushed aside my doubts, focusing instead on the practicalities of our departure.

As I worked, the rhythmic clatter of objects being placed into the wagon provided a comforting distraction, drowning out the cacophony of thoughts that threatened to consume me. But amidst the flurry of activity, my mind inevitably wandered back to my mother and our shared room.

Standing in the doorway, I was assailed by a flood of memories, each one a poignant reminder of a bond that had once been unbreakable. Yet, alongside the fond recollections lingered unanswered questions, doubts that gnawed at the edges of my consciousness.

Was my mother aware of the torment I endured at the hands of my stepfather? Did she choose to remain silent, or was she simply powerless to intervene? The uncertainty weighed heavily upon me, casting a shadow over my already troubled mind.

With a heavy sigh, I tore myself away from the doorway, steeling myself for the task that lay ahead. Returning to the office, I focused all of my energy on the task at hand, determined to see it through to completion.

As we finished loading the wagon, I cast a final glance at my childhood home before turning my back on it and climbing daisy our way back to the survey corps was quite except for hange's crazy talking about titans and erwins comments and sometimes levi cursing hange.