Dig Your Own Grave - Eren x Reader

00: Prologue

"God, please! I beg of you. It was a mistake, I never meant to hurt anyone!"

Eren sat in the corner of the room, twirling his hunting knife between his index finger and thigh, a trickle of his blood traveled down the blade. Pain was futile to Eren, he believed that only the weak and spineless needed pain, he said it was a landfill emotion and served him no purpose, so one day he decided that he'd no longer acknowledge it.

"Come on, man!" The victim pleaded once again, tears streaming down in a uniform line, making a path of skin in the wake of blood that had started to stain his skin.

The pain in the man's voice was vexing, the closest thing to hurt that Eren felt was discomfort, and nothing made him more uncomfortable than an inept man. He sighed, pushing himself from the corner, the single light fixture swaying in the middle of the room only made Eren more terrifying than he looked in the dark. How could such a beautiful face be so grim.

"I'll make you a deal," Eren suggested, kneeling in front of the broken man, "I'll give five minutes to pray to God, or whoever you choose, ask them to set you free, and if you get out of your restraints, I'll let you go. How does that sound?"

The man's eyes grew ten times their normal size, was this the beacon of hope he'd been asking for? Could he actually make it out alive? There was a fire in him and he swore that he'd live to see the next day. However, Eren had other plans. He wasn't going to go back on his word, if he was anything, it was a man of his word. Although, he knew his victim wouldn't be able to get a singular strap off.

"Yes!" It wasn't just an answer but it was a declaration of strength. If he'd made it this far in life, he could surely come out of this alive, and live to tell the tale.

Eren grinned a joyless grin. Pleased that he'd finally gotten him to stop, and maybe just maybe, he'd found someone who would test his own skills and talent. It had been far too long since he had to actually try, and now he may be able to dust off some of his favorite techniques. He gently patted the man's leg, and stood without another glance, setting his watch for exactly five minutes.

"Now?!" His victim questioned, he was expecting at least a 'go' but then again, what do you expect with a serial killer?

Eren closed the door behind him, the metal lock latching to the wall. He didn't bother to hang around, he'd give him the time he promised, but Eren was a full time grave keeper, before he was a part time killer. Eren sheathed the knife into the waistband of his pants, the tip of the blade making a small tear in the material.

"God damn it, these were my favorite pants," he grumbled, at least now he wouldn't have to be so damn neat since he was going to throw them out anyways.

He made his way up the steps towards the staff kitchen, the room was almost as scary as the basement. The dingy, once white paint was chipping off the walls, counter tops had to be from when this place first opened, at least thirty years ago, and the clock was permanently stuck on 11:32. His one and only employee always tried to change the time, but Eren shut it down. He was a particular guy, and he liked consistency, even if that meant that the time was consistently wrong.

His stomach gurgled, reminding Eren that he hadn't eaten all day, an unfortunate side effect of giving all your spare time to the grim reaper. He ran his fingers through his hair, completely forgetting that his hand had been painted with blood from his own finger, reaching for an apple sitting on the pathetic excuse of a table. He was rather impressed that it was still standing, possibly on its last leg. He chuckled at his own pun, removing the knife from his pants, pressing the blade into the rind of the apple. The juice dribbled down, little drops hitting his shoes. He didn't bother to throw away his trash, just leaving the peel on the table. His employee, Annie, would clean it up when she came in for her shift in a few hours. He sliced the apple with nothing but his knife and the pad of thumb, plopping the pieces of sweet fruit into his mouth.

He had barely finished half the apple when his watch went off, a glint of excitement twinkled in his eyes. Eren didn't experience emotions like the normal person, he only allowed himself to feel when he found it wasn't a distraction. Every once in a while an emotion would bubble up on its own and he'd do everything in his power to suppress it. He found that nothing good came from giving to human nature, so he simply did not.

The steps gave no sound as he walked back down, eerily like a lion scouting its prey. Most people were afraid of what goes bump in the night, but there was nothing scarier than hearing nothing at all. He tapped the steel of his blade against the door, he could hear the man cry out in agony. He knew this wasn't a cry of physical pain, this was a cry of defeat. He now knew that his time was up, and he'd have to meet his maker. Somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that his demise wouldn't be peaceful, it would end in way that mimicked the torture he did to others.

Eren stepped in, leaning against the door frame. He gazed at the utter disgrace of a man. How disappointing, he was just like every fuckhead who found themselves in these restraints. Eren made his way over to the shelves that sat behind the chair of death, it was his 'utility' shelf.

"You know what I hate the most about this?" He asked, grabbing the tarp that was folded methodically, the dust around it only showed that it was never placed in any other area, in any other position.

"People like you spend your lives torturing and hurting other people. You make yourself feel better by belittling those around you, you get off on asserting your dominance over people who can't fight you anyways," he begins to lay the tarp down, placing rocks on each corner so the corners wouldn't lift and cause him to trip, he'd only make that mistake once.

"And then when it comes down to really showing what you can do, to show off how strong and macho you are, you choke. You're not powerful, you never were. I am happy to be the one to tell you this, I want to remind you that you are human and you are not indestructible," he stops in the middle of the room, directly under the light that had finally stopped its dance.

"And you think this makes you indestructible?" The deplorable man spat furiously at Eren.

Eren cocked his head to the right, a smile stretching mischievously across his face. Of course this didn't make him indestructible, but it made him infamous. He'd leave behind a better world when he was gone, and what would this scumbag leave behind? Just pain and misery.

"Absolutely not, and it gives me nothing but pure joy to think that one day I'll meet you again in hell, and get to haunt and torture you for eternity," he reached over to rack of what looked like butchers aprons.

It was time, and Eren was tired of talking. He reached back and made a sloppy farmers loop on the back of the neck with the apron strings, and the same with his back.

"God, I am so sorry for all the pain I've caused, mom and dad, I'm sorry for never being the son you wanted, and to my wife, I am so sorry that I wasn't the husband you needed. I should've been a better man, I could've been. Please forgive me," He wept for all the people he loved.

He didn't even realize that Eren had made his way behind him, the only thing he could think of was his life, and how much he had to do, how much of life he wanted to live. He was sitting in his pity like a sick animal sits in their own feces. Eren had woven his fingers in the man's hair, gripping roughly and with a sharp yank the man's head fell back, exposing his neck.

"There are plenty of bad people in this world, who do things worse than you, but do you want to know why you?" Eren asked, leaning down, his lips dangerously close to touching the man's ear.

Silence, not so much as a nod or a hiccup from over crying. He had accepted his fate, and he didn't care to know 'why him', all he knew was it was him. He kept his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable end.

"Because when you asked for forgiveness, you didn't ask it from the one person you destroyed."

That was it. The reason, the end all be all of this life. His eyes flew open, as the realization hit him. Could he have saved himself if he wasn't so selfish? Could he have undone all the bad he'd inflicted if he would have just apologized and meant it? He was about to speak, to beg for her forgiveness, but just as soon as he gasped, the knife broke his skin, just like peeling an apple.