I never knew my father or my mother. All I have left of them is a blue stone necklace. My adoptive mother, Allegra, says it will keep me safe from the monsters.
The Monsters...
What the hell did that even mean? I didn't understand her or any of the adults in Shiganshina. Their eyes were always sunken with dark rings around them - even when they slept well. The gates were locked by nine everyday. No one in or out.
Creepy was the best way we could explain it. We didn't get it. We didn't know... Until that day.
We called it 'Revelation day.'
It had been a "different" day. Reports of dead birds at the outskirts of Titan forest were brought forth. I and my brother, Lei, were on our way to school. The naiveté of a twelve year old child clinging to her baby brothers arms.
"Lara" His tiny squeaky voice rang in my ears.
"Yes?"
"Did Mom give you apples too in your lunch?"
"Of course she did. Is there a reason she wouldn't have?"
"No, it's just. She told me she couldn't sell yesterday, so I expected her to give us something cheaper."
"I plucked these from Rudolph's house. She didn't have to buy this, so don't worry." Cute kid.
"Oh, okay..."
BAAAM
There was a sudden slam. The walls shook and the ground shook and the lunch packs in our hands fell.
DUUM! A slam again.
I grabbed Lei and turned to a nearby alley. Broken glass all over the floor but I didn't care. It would be less likely for us to survive whatever was making that sound than to survive some injuries.
DUUM! Again. But this time screams could be heard. The cries of a baby not very far from where we were.
Suddenly the baby's cries stopped.
The next part, I didn't know how to explain to Lei.
A stroller landed just in front of us, blocking the path into the alley. Broken, bloody and a piece of brain on it.
I threw up.
Inhaling and exhaling, I covered Lei's eyes. He pulled my hands away.
He screamed. "Lara! It's... it's the monsters!" He pointed at something.
I turned to see. I saw. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't scream, move or even cry. A huge eye peered into the alley. Lei tightened his arms around my waist, his face on my stomach. I could feel my shirt soak with tears.
The thing let out a growl so loud a large piece of glass on the floor shattered again.
As the thing stood, it's eye became two eyes and then a nose and then a whole face appeared. A hideous one.
Teeth so sharp and big it poked through it's face. Saliva dripping from it's mouth, mucus in its eyes and dirty hair. It stretched out it's hand and it fell, aiming for us.
I pulled Lei by his collar and ran as fast as I could to the end of the alley. We reached the dead end, but luckily the hand missed us by inches.
I didn't know if it was fear or reflex or courage, but I picked up a shard of glass and stabbed the hand so many times. I grabbed Lei once more and headed back to the path of the alley.
The monster shrieked, shaking it's body and hand as if it were made of jelly. We were free for the time being - well, I thought so.
Before I knew what happened, I flew from the pavement to the middle of the road. Luck, a friend of mine but an enemy to Lei.
I didn't have him in my arms. He was not on the road with me. It had him.
"Lara! Lara! Help me!" I watched him dangle in that things hands.
Right then, the monster took a bite on Lei's right leg. My heart sank so deep it could reach the Earth's core. I dropped to my knees and screamed.
"LEI!" The sound I made shook the walls and the monster shriek once more dropping Lei.
Suddenly, there was a slicing sound and the monsters head fell forward, barely attached to it's body. Lei was in the arms of a man. An aged man with dark curly hair and dark skin almost as dark as mine. He stood tall and statuesque. Paul Grichké.
Of course I didn't know him at the time. He was wearing gear that, frankly, looked unsafe. What I came to know as O.D.M. gear. It was two boxes, each on both sides of his hip held by a belt and they contained blades. On both boxes were air cylinders attached to them and it sprouted grappling hooks for swinging through buildings. Like a spider.
"Kid are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You can give me my brother now."
He scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "You're funny. Hop on my back, we need to get out of here."
"No! That...that abomination you're wearing isn't safe. Thank you for killing that thing but I will be needing my brother back." My hands stretched out.
His eyes travelled from my head to toe. I was sure he was going to say 'This stupid idiot, hop on!'. But he didn't.
He pointed behind me. "You have no choice kid."
Something was running. Speeding in fact. Legs moving without direction but it was still headed for us. It's large stomach bounced as it moved. A smile slapped on it's face. No - not a smile. People smile when they find something amusing. It, however, had a huge grin on it's face. Both edges of the mouth reaching the sides of it's eyes. Blood on it's teeth.
"OH MY GOD!" Though I was a bad jumper, I gladly hopped on Paul's back as he sprinted off. In a couple of seconds we were in the air. The monster just reached the spot we were in. Thank goodness.
"What are those things?" I asked tapping his back.
"Not what - who. We call them Titans. Humans who have been forcefully transformed into hideous beasts."
"What?!" My eyes began to water.
"Mommy!" Lei's cries were cracked and painful to hear.
"The thing is...we ended the source of the Titans So the question is, where are these knew ones coming from. Hell?!".
The better question was, who was doing this to them?
My mind lit up. "Why is the Titans forest called the Titan forest."
"Because that was were they were first sighted. Where they first attacked. Long before we were born. It's why the walls where put up - to protect us from them."
"But...but.."
"Girl! I'm busy right now! Save your questions for later."
My mouth stayed shut.
We swung passed buildings, tall and short, streets, wide and narrow. The smell of blood filled the air. Dead bodies everywhere. Some headless, some half missing, some just intestines left. And the most horrifying...there was a woman, her eyes on the floor above her smashed head. Her legs where her hands would be and her hands shoved on her head like horns.
Terrible.
"Where are we headed to?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. I had to distract my brain.
Paul sighed. "Wall Mikasa. Now shut..."
Out of nowhere a face appeared in front of us. Another titan. It's faced black with motor oil. I must've peed myself. I was sure Lei fainted.
It opened it's mouth wide, ready to eat us whole. But Paul went over its head spinning like some kind of turbine. This man summersaulted in the air while carrying two children. Irresponsible but definitely amazing.
We moved even faster than before. I could see Wall Mikasa clearly. Not up to two a kilometre away. Finally, we were saved.
KRRK. One of the air cylinders faltered and stopped releasing pressure.
"Shit! The cylinders will soon run out. Hold on tight, we'll make it."
Lies. The second cylinder was already running out. Lei needed care quickly. What was I going to do? I was extra weight, preventing him from getting help.
I knew what I had to do.
"Sir. Please I beg you. Get him to safety."
"Huh?!"
I let go of him.
"What the Fuck! Kid!"
Gravity pulled me. I shut my eyes. My end. The end of a story that just started.
But then I stopped falling. I landed on something too soft to be the floor. What was I on?
I slowly opened my eyes, panting like a Christmas sheep. My eyes wide open.
I was speechless. I had landed in the palm of another titan.
This one looked very different from the other ones. Where the others had skinny legs, large bellies and terrifying smiles, she was more like an enormous naked woman.
Long black hair that extended to her curvaceous waist. Her skin like the human muscular system. She didn't stare at me with the dead eyes and smile of the others, rather she had blue eyes and no smile.
Something about her gave me a familiar feeling. Like I knew her.
She folded her fist, turned back and slammed the Titan that had been chasing us. Was she not like the others? Maybe she wanted to save me for herself?
"Lara, are you hurt?!"
The Titan could speak!