Underdogs

FORTY-ONE

❝A chaotic mix of emotions churned inside him. Relief. Anger. Longing. She was the last person in the world he wanted to see. She was the only person in the world he wanted to see.❞

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Chapter forty-one:

THE HURT GAME

No words cut through the tense silence, but millions of emotions echoed from deep within her heart as minutes ticked by. Her files were crumpled inside her fisted hand, and she could almost feel them pulsating with desperation to see the light finally. Glancing at her companion out of the corner of her eye, Galene bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to stop her frustration from slamming its hand into his pale face.

Levi seemed adamant in keeping his eyes away from her, ignoring her presence as they neared the last corridor that led out of the Underground City. Disappointment crawled in her veins, like a snake slithering inside and making her muscles twitch in an unpleasant way. However, she refused to show it on her face and eventually allowed her hurt feelings to twist into blazing infuriation.

How dared he to give her the silent treatment, after everything she had gone through? Galene could've handled the questioning, the brutality of his expected harsh words or angry hits. But no question had fallen from his lips; they were sealed, forming an impregnable wall between their hearts.

Galene gritted her teeth and hastily turned away from him, desperately looking for something that would distract her mind or appease her raging emotions. And as if on cue, a lonely figure got her attention the moment she abandoned the thick air of the underground.

The streets were dark and empty, quiet and waiting. Night had only just fallen upon the world, yet no soul could be seen in the vicinity — apart from the man who was but an extension of darkness itself.

With a subtle nod in his direction, Galene began walking back towards the Headquarters of the Scouting Legion. Needless to say, she still received no acknowledgment from Levi.

—

Blood splattered on the wall as his head was snapped to the side by her strong punch. A tooth flew out of his mouth, clattering on the gravelly ground until falling into the void inside a sewer. With bloodshot eyes, the former King of the Walls looked up into the shadowed face of his torturer — of the avenger.

The curious moon had found shelter behind thick, laden clouds in the night sky; as if too frightened to witness such a bone-chilling event. It was not long until tears started plummeting, crashing on his deformed face like needles into glass. His knees dug into the hard pavement as he was held in place by the man he had believed to be on his side from the very beginning — a cunning demon that had shook hands with the devil itself a long time ago.

A muffled cry broke free as an ice-cold knife slashed his cheek, again. Tears rimmed his eyes and got lost in the rain, but no mercy would come his way. As a kick was delivered on the middle of his chest and Kenny Ackerman forced him to receive it in its full strength, he was thrown into a fit of coughs. Drops of blood decorated the pavement in front of him; some landed on her shoes, and it earned him yet another kick to the face.

"Piece of shit," Galene hissed in a voice as sharp as the knife she was holding. "Don't go throwing up on me."

"You will be arrested for this," he managed to say between wheezes.

A short, mirthless laugh shook the cold air.

"No, I won't. Captain Levi Ackerman made sure I returned to my room in the Survey Corps' Headquarters without making a scene, and no one's seen me sneak out." Crouching to his level, her brown eyes stared down on him as she twirled the knife in her hand skilfully. "What do you think, Kenny?"