His Secret Keeper [Criminal Levi x Reader] - Modern AU

9. Melancholy Melody

The ten year old you slowly walked out of your bedroom and stared at your father with wide eyes. All the lights were turned off except the television screen, whose radiance danced upon your father's sulky face. Your eyes slowly traveled to the bottle in his hand which was known to be a sign of danger; he looked scary. He drank whatever remained in the bottle and then suddenly threw it aside, shocking you. The glass scattered and the pieces pricked your legs, making you wince in pain.

The only reason you came downstairs was because of your hunger, developed by two days of no food. Your parents rarely gave you anything to eat.

"W-where's mommy?" you managed to squeak. Your dad's bloodshot eyes traveled to you, his face as pale as a dead body.

He suddenly stood up and started taking slow strides towards you, his police uniform looking ragged. You started to take steps back, only to have another broken glass piece injure your feet.

"She left," he said in a hoarse voice and bent down in front of you, his breath stinking of alcohol.

"L-left? She's gone to the s-supermarket, right?" you gulped, trying to shrink yourself into the wall. You had seen him drunk a lot of time, beating your mother for absolutely nothing. But for the first time ever, he was paying attention to you, now that she was gone.

He chuckled, "Why did that slut leave you behind?"

"I-I don't know. Can I g-go back to my room now?" you mumbled weakly, looking at him with scared eyes. You felt really unsafe and all you wanted was to have your grandmother back.

"Well," the monster grabbed your wrist and pushed you on the ground. He slowly walked towards you and rolled his sleeves up. "You've never been punished, have you?"

You gasped as he punched your nose, causing his favorite thing, blood, to flow out of it. "N-no, please stop, dad. I won't disturb you again," you cried while he kicked your stomach. Never had you ever experienced such pain.

Is this how mom felt?, you thought.

"You should be happy I'm not calling my friends to rape you. That would've been fun to watch," he said, slapping you so hard that your vision felt dizzy. Your eyes widened as he took off his leather belt, folded it and smacked it against your bare skin.

You screamed in agony as tears trickled down your cheeks. No one, not even neighbors ever came to help. The belt gashed a deep cut into your thigh, forming a small pool of blood on the ground.

---

Your eyes shot open and you breathed heavily, feeling scared.

Just a nightmare. I'm at Levi's house, safe in my bedroom, you reminded yourself.

The air suddenly felt very cold. You tried to calm down your pacing heart and reached out to hold your glass necklace... but it wasn't there. Petra's annoying face and how she broke your necklace popped up in your brain. Without that necklace, you felt somewhat panic-stricken and unsafe, specially after having a nightmare about your deepest fear. Honestly, a warm hug right now would've melted your heart, but sadly, you were alone.

Feeling thirsty, you slowly got out of your bed and walked towards the balcony to close the glass doors. It was raining outside.

Looking out, all you could see was a long road extending into darkness, lit by street lights. On one side, you could see distant hills, and on the other, the river. You could not see the buildings beyond the river since it was raining.

The river which looked to pretty in daylight, now looked dark, as if emitting sadness; the water looked black. Cold winds blew, making you shudder.