What Lies Beyond || AOT Boys x Reader

Chapter 21: Guts

When you opened your eyes the only thing present was the overwhelming darkness. A flame of panic surged inside your chest as your mind registered what you saw, or rather, the absence of things you saw. Had you gone blind? Were you dead?

Your old fear wrapped around your heart and clutched it tightly, but as much as you screamed at your body to move, it stayed stationary.

Alone, and in the dark.

An involuntary whimper left you and you clenched the bed sheets....Bed sheets?

Where am I?...

It came rushing back to you in a tidal wave of pain, anger, and sorrow. You remembered blood, so much blood and then falling into Foster's arms as Levi tried stopping the bleeding once you fell. The rest was fuzzy and came back in fragments that made your brain ache so you gave up trying to remember.

Your eyes soon grew accustomed to the dark and made out the shape of a lantern on the bedside table. You squinted at the object and tried reaching for it, momentarily forgetting your fear of the dark to grab the unlit lantern. But the moment you shifted, a stabbing pain tore through you and stopped your movement. You hissed and grit your teeth to replace the loud yelp of anguish that would of left you, but you needed that damn light, so you held your breath and reached out farther for it.

A muffled screech vibrated your vocal chords and you felt tears prick at the corners of your eyes. The salty drops streaked down your cheeks as the searing pang burned through your nerves, your teeth clamping down harshly on your tongue to try and quiet yourself. Your fingertips brushed against the cool material of the lantern, but all you did was make it wobble ever so slightly. You tried to reach it for a second time, but the pain overwhelmed you and forced you to slump back down with a sigh.

Defeated, you stared up at the shadowy ceiling with warm beads of water trailing down your face and tried to focus on the darkened rafters instead of the pain. You knew you were inside the castle but the longer you sat in the dark the more realized this wasn't your room. You weren't too sure, but the messy stacks of paper and open, strewn out books indicated that the room belonged to one of your superiors.

It definitely wasn't Levi's quarters, he would have a fit if his room ever looked like this, and it didn't belong to Erwin. The Commander's room was larger than this and so you settled on the fact that this was Hanji's room, or else a superior you didn't know which made your skin crawl.

A small worm of guilt burrowed into you. The brunette barely knew you and yet she willingly gave up her bed for you and was most likely caring for you.

You grimaced as you shifted on the bed, your mind set on sitting up. You refused to be a burden to Hanji even if you were practically cut in half with tiny stitches holding you together. Probably not the best idea but you never really cared much about your well being.

Eventually you maneuvered yourself up into a sitting position, your bare feet dangling off the side of the bed. Dizziness slammed into your head the second you sat upright and threatened to push you back down, but you gripped the mattress tightly and grit your teeth.

Every single part of your body ached and hurt the more you moved around and when your feet touched the cold stone you nearly collapsed. Your side screamed in protest and begged you to stop moving but your determination outweighed the pain. You gripped the bedside table and hobbled over to the door, your shaking fingers reaching out for the smooth metal knob.

The door opened with a creak, the sound echoing down the silent hallway. You winced at the sound but it didn't deter you in the slightest from leaving the stuffy bedroom. Time was distorted and since the window in the room was covered by thick curtains you had no way of knowing if it were night or day. But judging by the coolness of the castle it was either later in the day or the sun had set a while ago.