Dangerous Territory

A Bump in the Night

Levi eventually crawled to the bedding hidden behind a wall of boxes, wrapped up in his trench coat for extra warmth, his knife under his pillow, and using his backpack to prop up his sprained ankle for some relief to the swelling. Despite physical pain and a million worries racing in his mind, he somehow managed to drift off.

It was not a deep sleep, though, so when he heard a click at the window, his eyes immediately opened wide. He stared into the darkness, listening hard. The rain had slowed, and the noisy torrent from earlier was now a peaceful autumn drizzle, barely a sound on the roof. In that quietness, he heard a slow, squeaking sound of rusty metal hinges, followed by cold air rushing in.

Someone was opening the window.

Although he could not see the window from his hiding place behind towering crates and boxes, Levi distinctly heard the noises. The intruder left the window open and crept over the floorboards. They must be planning for a quick escape. Levi recognized skill in the silent steps, testing out the ground before placing weight down to avoid squeaking boards.

Levi slowly reached under his pillow and slid his knife out of its sheath. He sneered at his ankle—what a perfectly shitty time to be injured—so he opted not to walk. Instead, he crawled on his hands and knees. He climbed over the bedding and glanced around the corner of the boxes. His eyes narrowed as he saw a person dressed all in black, gliding through the spacious attic like a silent shadow.

A thief, or an assassin?

The intruder pointed at the doors cut into the floor, counting them to make sure he had the right room, and stopped at Eren's hatch. At this point, Levi slipped out of his hiding spot. Like a cat stalking an unsuspecting prey, he crawled across the attic. After weeks living up there, Levi knew which spots on the floor were safe and which parts squeaked. He moved with perfect stealth, kept to the shadows, and watched with growing anger.

Was this the same person who poisoned Eren, here to finish the job?

He watched as the intruder pulled out a gun, knelt by Eren's hatch, and slowly began to open the door in the floor. Pure rage surged through Levi. For a moment, pain was forgotten. He rose from the shadows like a demon, his fingers tightened around his knife, and like a cheetah, he pounced on the man, knife aimed to cut his throat.

Just before Levi could get the blade to the skin, the intruder dropped his gun, grabbed Levi, and threw him over his shoulder with surprising speed. Levi hit the ground with a bang that reverberated through the attic.

"Merde!" the man whispered, realizing he had made a fatal mistake. Everyone in the rooms below would hear that hit.

Levi cursed as the throw made him land on the hip he had bruised just days earlier, when a would-be thief shoved him into the ledge of a bridge. He got up, struggling to balance on one foot, while his back was now one massive throb of pain. Whoever this was, he was immensely strong, with impressive skill and training. He was dressed head to toe in black, wearing a mask with a single slit for the eyes, showing pale skin. His throw had been powerful and swift. This was no average burglar. This was definitely an assassin.

The man threw the hatch door open and began to slide into the room below.

No! Eren!

Levi completely ignored pain and fatigue. He practically flew at the man, slamming him backward and away from the opened hatch. The intruder again managed to use Levi's momentum against him, flipping him until he crashed into a stack of boxes that fell down onto them both.

Levi swirled out of a partially crushed crate. His knife was up, but in the moonlight he saw the man reaching for his dropped gun.

Levi leaped forward, aimed the knife to the man's gun arm, and stabbed hard. The knife went straight through the forearm, right between bones and muscle, and Levi felt the tip of the blade impale into the wood below. The attacker screamed in agony as his arm was nailed to the floor.