The Crimson Harmony (Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan fanfic)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What should we do next?" asked a girl with maroon hair dangling down to her shoulders. She was thinking but then pouted a sigh, not knowing what to do.

"Well, we already played tag so how about hide-and-seek?" questioned an innocent girl with a cheerful smile, having light brown hair. She was grinning from cheek to cheek, her eyes sparkling like glitter while imagining the game.

"I'm definitely going to win!" announced the girl with chestnut hair, pumping her fist up but then accidentally falling down onto the grass. Suddenly, she stared at me with a surprised face, wide eyes and a slightly parted mouth.

Is that... me?

"..... come here for a second," commanded a man stepping out from next to me. I tried to tap on his shoulder to ask what happened, but my hand just went through. Frightened, I quickly jumped back, horrified at what just happened. Wh-who is this man? I gingerly crept up to see his face but it was blurred. He has no face?

I continued to watch everything happen before me, powerless and confused. The man seemed to tell the girl with brown hair something, but then she looked scared and terrified, like everything in the world was bigger than her and would hurt her. Her eyes shook with fear with tears in the corners of them but then she quickly returned to normal. Now she looked completely confident and I could've sworn I saw a smile... or a smirk coming from the man with no face. All of a sudden, he just disappeared, walking into the shadows of the alleys in between buildings. But before he left, he peered to where I was and lifted his hat a little as if he was greeting me.

"1... 2... 3..." The girl who before cowered in fear was now counting while her friend scrambled for a hiding spot.

Who was that man? How did he see me? Where am I? I always seem to never know what was going on. My thoughts seemed to echo and bounce back at me, repeating over and over again, creating a haunting chorus of questions. Clamping my hands against my head, I frantically muttered, "No, no, no, not this."

The girl with light brown hair stopped counting and started to search for her friend. She was skipping with glee as she checked each possible hiding spot while singing, "Here?" First, she checked behind trees, houses, buildings, then in alleyways, next below shacks, and she finally came to a mysterious shed. It was poorly built with wooden beams and a hay thatched roof. The door was made with wood and nails with webs strung all over, decorating the place.

"H-here?" the girl whispered. She cautiously walked towards the door, the wood below her whimpering. The darkness of the shed welcomed her, enveloping in the darkness. However, once she got inside, there was a single candle lit held by the girl's friend.

"So you found me after all. It's your turn now! I thought you wouldn't come into scary places like this," the maroon-haired girl hummed, trying to lighten up the mood in the dark shed.

But the girl didn't look up to greet her friend but instead stared down at the floor, her bangs covering her eyes. After some time of silence, the girl finally averted her eyes from the floor to her friend while mumbling, "Yes. I found you. It is my turn now."

Suddenly, the girl sped forward and kicked her friend's leg, causing her to fall. The candle extinguished before it fell; only leaving an amber tint around the candle's tip. Creepily, the girl closed the door until a thud was heard, making sure her friend knew she was trapped. Although the lack of light caused the friend to be blind, the girl seemed to have better vision. Right away, the girl started beating her friend up, tying her friend's hands behind her back. Then, the sound of metal reverberated throughout the entire shed, causing the struggling friend to be quiet. Steps were heard but stopped right in front of the hopeless friend.