The Once and Future Monster

Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, I changed my mind and decided to write more to this story. I hope you enjoy it. There will be a few more chapters but I don't know when I'll update.

PRESENT 

Eren pocketed the pinky finger with unmasked glee, his mind blocking the shrill cries of the man beneath him writhing in pain. Levi covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing back the bile that rose up from his stomach at the sight of the bloody nine-fingered man on the ground beneath the once-gentle Eren.

"Wait!"

Eren heard Levi call after him, but he didn't spare the man any more of his time. It was getting late and he didn't want to miss dinner. The sun persistently cast a few last rays of light, but it was low enough that the alley was now in full shadow. Eren used it to his advantage, melting into the darkness and running away from the bleeding man on the ground and his ex-friend, ex-babysitter. No, not running away. Running towards something. Towards his home.

The sewer grate was padlocked shut from the inside. It had taken Eren longer to collect from the thieving customer than he thought it would, and his family had already locked the base of their operations for the night. It was no matter, he would simply use the unconventional entrance.

Eren slowly stepped away from the sewer grate, careful not to slip on the muddy ground leading out of it to the trickling stream that remained of the diverted river. Eren climbed up the riverbank and followed the gravel road to the abandoned water treatment plant. The doors leading into the plant were welded shut to keep out intruders, but on the back wall was a drain pipe Eren shimmied up then jumped from to reach the balcony railing. It was a rusty balcony, the floor slightly tilted to one side, but it held under Eren's weight. Eren pulled on the doorknob of the balcony door but it didn't turn down. Someone must have locked the door. It was probably Annie. Eren smiled at the gesture; it was a very Annie thing to do, to lock him out of the base to express that she wanted him to come home more. Pulling a thin piece of wire from his pocket, Eren fiddled it inside the doorknob until it clicked and the door handle twisted. He didn't bother locking the door behind him, no one else was crazy enough to climb the drain pipe like he was.

The door led into what Eren always assumed was the former treatment plant boss's office. A dusty, dilapidated couch was pressed against one end of the room while a desk and swivel chair occupied the space beside the balcony door. When he had nothing better to do, Eren liked to pass hours in this room. There was a bookshelf, only a few books remaining from the previous tenant, but Eren had filled it with items he collected from customers who were late with their payments or that he found lying around the streets at night. He was usually wandering the streets at night, walking away from the nightmares that woke him. He had a particularly vivid nightmare last night. There was a young girl, he remembered, and she was frozen still not with fright but the feeling that life was no longer worth living. Eren watched as one man effortlessly held her down with a single hand, not needing to restrain her since she was not resisting. Eren hated that she had given up. Next thing he remembered was the feel of the knife in his hand pushing through the soft flesh of one of the men. 

Eren pulled the pinky finger from his pocket and placed it on the bookshelf. He felt no remorse for cutting off the thief's finger. After all, the man had wronged him first. Eren had to set an example, continually display his unwavering ruthlessness if he wanted to protect anything. The thinnest hole in his defense could let someone snatch what was precious from him.

Two knocks on the open office door captured his attention and he turned to see Annie leaning in the doorway.

"You missed dinner."