Timer (Ereri)

Try (part 2)

Alrighty. Well, this one's gonna get real sad real fast. Bring your windshield wipers.

Eren's PoV

I held onto Levi as if I was afraid he'd slip away. He had started shaking and I was actually afraid he'd explode or something. I had asked him if he was okay at least three times already and he just brushed it off. I was concerned, yes, but I couldn't help but smile. Who knew that the stern man with the emotional range of a rock could turn out to be a huge Teddy bear on the inside?

I snapped out of my thoughts and back into Levi's story. His voice was slightly muffled from his face being pushed into my chest. That coupled with his thick accent made it a bit hard to understand.

"We went to school that day. Lo and behold, she did find h-her soulmate. It just. . . wasn't who she expected it to be--or wanted it to be, for that matter. We all met h-him on the way to school. We liked to take this short through an alley in between two buildings. It was sketchy at first, but nothing bad ever happened. Well, I guess nothing until that day.

"We were walking through the alley, talking and joking as we always did. I think that's why we were all surprised to hear the chirping of a timer. Farlan and I immediately started to look at for the lucky couple. The thing was, there wasn't one."

Flashback

Levi looked around for the source of the strange beeping until his silver gaze landed on the terrified face of his sister.

"Belle? Belle! What's wrong?" Levi put a cautious hand on his sibling's shoulder, but she shrugged it off. His gaze shifted to her timer, which was flashing erratically. Roger Brice, it read. (A/N: Thank you, random name generator.) "Who--" Levi was cut off by his own realisation. 

There the man sat. He couldn't have been older than his mid-thirties, but still way too old to date a fifteen-year-old girl. He laid scattered among several broken bottles of alcohol and various pieces of trash. He reeked of alcohol and bad choices, quite obviously too drunk to do anything. However, upon the sound of his timer, he stirred. He let out a rather unpleasant grunt as he was snapped out of his slumber and began to stand up. 

"About fuckin' time," he slurred, staggering as he grew to his full height. Huge was an understatement for his man. He had to be at least six feet and towered above the three teenagers. "Oho, who's the lovely lady?" He roughly grabbed Isabel's shoulder and jerked her forward. The redhead stumbled into his chest, inhaling the scent of alcohol and other things that were definitely illegal. 

You might ask why the girl didn't fight back, or perhaps why her two very capable brothers didn't fight back. In all honesty, they were suspended in shock. This couldn't be happening. How could this angel, this ball of sunshine that the two were blessed with being able to call a sister end up in the hands of a perverted drunkard? Levi had read about soulmates in all the romantic novels and all the cheesy chick flicks.  It was supposed to be like everything stopped except your heart, which worked overtime. It was supposed to be like finding your second half. And it was most definitely not getting raped in an alley on the way to school. 

Suddenly Isabel found her voice--or rather her voice found her-- because her scream came, and it came loud. She ripped her hands away from the man only for them to be gripped by the larger, callused ones. 

"You're too fuckin' loud, ya bitch!" the man roared while shoving something from the dirty street floor into her mouth. The girl cried out to her brothers, her only saving grace. Levi's shock quickly wore off as he lunged forward for his sister, only to swatted away by the larger man. Farlan did the same, but even his larger frame was overwhelmed by the abnormally strong man.