Shorter Than Me

17 Ecyn

I stare at the water in a stream in front of me. It sparkles in the noon sunlight. The rocks beneath the surface are polished and smooth. Some sunken leaves and pine needles sit between the rocks and I can also see some mud.

I'm in a large grassy field. The grass comes right up to the water and sits beneath it in some places.

I recognize this place as one Briine and I used to go in the couple years before we joined the military.

Sure enough, I turn to see him sitting next to me. He's gazing at the blue and white sky.

I don't know how long we sit in silence before he finally speaks.

"Why did you do it?"

What is he asking? "What did I do?"

"Why did you kill him?" He moves his gaze to grasp mine. In one blink, his eyes change colors.

"Who did I kill?"

I can't hear his response because there's a roar behind me. His expression stays the same, as if he didn't hear it at all, but I turn around and see a huge titan.

Normally fear would do something to me right now, but I stay in the same place.

"You killed him." Briine's words come from behind me.

I stare up at the titan that looks familiar. "Who is that?" I point to the titan. It's just standing there.

"You don't recognize him?"

I stand up to see him better. Suddenly, he shrinks and becomes a normal person. More than a normal person. Dren.

He was a titan and now he's a human.

"You killed him."

He reaches for my face and I let him. It's Dren. He pulls me closer to him and brings me into an embrace.

I hug him back. He's warm and safe.

Pain explodes in my shoulder and I pull away.

I see a gaping wound in my shoulder. The bone is showing. Dren has blood dripping from his mouth.

Dren isn't a titan shifter. He's a human shifter.

"You killed him."

The world goes dark and I'm running underwater.

I can't breathe, I can barely move, and Dren is chasing me.

He wants to eat me.

I killed him.

Two true facts in a world that can't be true.

Dren is dead.

I didn't kill him.

My chest seizes and I choke. Dren was eaten.

I realize this is a dream.

Why is there pain in my dream?

Why can't I see?

Dren is gone. He's not chasing me anymore. I'm not underwater. I'm sitting down in a chair next to a table.

The table has a knife on it.

The knife has blood on it.

"You killed him." Briine speaks from behind me.

"I didn't," I insist.

"Yes you did. Go look in the next room. You killed him."

"I didn't kill Dren."

"Go look."

I stand and walk to the doorway. I look through and see a bloody body.

This time, it's just a whisper. "You killed him."