Everlasting

Chapter 1

So it's been a while since I've updated but thanks to those who actually read this! I hope you enjoy this actual chapter much more. I worked hard on it.
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"Suffocating at night held in the claws of death trying in vain to break free. Emotions have no place running across my face in the dark and starless night."
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Silence reigned in the ancient stone building, a silence so profound that it could almost be felt, a silence that seemed to breath in the darkness. If an outsider chanced upon this place they would probably considering to be a church due to the many silver and gold crucifixes attached to the wall. The objects gleamed dully in the brilliant moonlight that streamed in through the tall, many paned windows.
The walls were lined with men and women dressed in black, their expressions serious and hardened with time and unpleasant memories. A dais was erected where an altar or pulpit might have stood in a real church and upon it stood three tall figures in long black robes. The man in the middle was clearly the one in charge, his undercut blonde hair was combed neatly to the side and his light blue eyes were fixed intently on the large, ornate oaken doors at the opposite end of the long room. A bald man, slightly shorter than the first and with dark skin, leaned in and whispered something in the first man's ear. The man frowned a little, his thick eyebrows meeting between his eyes as he responded in kind. Suddenly the tallest man lifted his head and inhaled deeply through his large nose, shaking his shaggy blonde hair from his eyes as he did so. The other men immediately turned to face the front again.

The doors flew open and banged against the walls. Two lines of young men and women trudged into the building and lined up in front of the dais. They were clad in white hooded tunics with varying patterns of dark shadows splattered across them. As they came to a stop in the light of the large torches on either side of the dais, the dark patterns turned a deep crimson, some still damp. Blood.
Stepping out of line, the middle man descended to stand in front of the rows of young men and women, stopping in front of a female figure.
"It is my privilege to initiate you into our order."
He pulled back her bloody hood to reveal chin length black hair and serious black eyes. A thin scar marred her right cheek.
"Mikasa Ackermann."
Pulling out a polished iron cross on a chain, he placed it around the girl's neck.
"Thank you senior commander Erwin."
Erwin continued down the line, repeating the process and announcing names solemnly.
"Jean Kirstein. Marco Bolt. Annie Leonhart. Connie Springer. Sasha Braus."
The list went on and on until he reached the final initiate. The young man stood straight, hands clasped behind his back. Unlike the others, his white cloak was completely red, soaked in the blood of his slaughtered prey. There were some murmurs of shock as his state was noticed, but Erwin took it in his stride and didn't falter. He pulled back the hood to reveal a face smeared with blood, green eyes blazing with pride.
"Eren Jaeger."
Slowly returning to his place on the dais, Erwin surveyed the young faces before him and nodded once with satisfaction. They were all strong fighters and would certainly help humanity in their battle against the demons they faced. Clearing his throat, Erwin faced the front and said clearly: "It is my honor to welcome you into our order of hunters. The blood of the vampires you've slain tonight marks you as our brothers and sisters in the cause. Congratulations initiates!"
The lights went up around the room and the serious atmosphere dissolved as cheers broke out among the people lining the walls and the new hunters. Erwin allowed the chatter for a moment, but then he raised his hands for silence.
"Tomorrow you will receive your assigned provinces to help protect and will depart for them. Some of you will remain here to join the training staff and tacticians." He clapped his hands once. "Dismissed!"

Like leaves driven by the wind, the people scattered and exited through small doors in the side of the building. The new initiates streamed out the front doors and across a large courtyard towards a different building where they separated by gender, bidding each other enthusiastic good nights and going inside.
Eren stood and watched as his friends removed their bloody clothes and started for the showers at the back of their living quarters. Adrenaline still raced through his veins, the thrill of his first official hunt setting his heart racing all over again. Slowly, he walked towards the showers and stripped down, stepping into the spray of one and ignoring the icy cold that accompanied it. The water swirling down the drain was tinted pink from the blood that had dried on his body and Eren grabbed a rag and scrubbed himself clean. Thoroughly. Eren always felt the urge to keep himself perfectly clean and presentable, as if he were about to meet someone and wanted to make a good impression. He had always felt that way, but never knew exactly why. Maybe it had to do with that shadowy figure haunting his memories, the figure whose face he could never remember but whose name constantly echoed in his mind. Levi.
"I can't believe that we're full members of this order!" Marco's eager voice broke through Eren's daydream. "It's almost surreal...tomorrow we'll go our separate ways and get new responsibilities...it all came about so fast."
A horse-like snort came from the shower stall beside Eren's and Jean's voice called out: "I don't see any point in getting sentimental, Marco. In my opinion today couldn't have come soon enough!"
Eren responded to Jean's comment: "Yeah I'll bet. Not that you were looking forward to making a difference and fighting back of course; you just wanted the honorable title. I bet you're hoping to be made a trainer since tactician is clearly out of the question."
Eren shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, running his fingers through his hair so it was slicked back. Jean leaned out of the stall and glared at Eren.
"Oh right, sorry!" He snapped, "I forgot that being a trainer or tactician is only for cowards, not brave Hunters like you, Eren Jaeger. You're pathetic. Is it true you signed up for this to please your mother?"
If Jean expected an angry reaction from Eren he was disappointed. Eren felt a wave of grief and turned away, walking quickly into the changing room as he bit his lip hard to keep it from quivering. As he tugged on his pants his best friend Armin walked up to him and touched his shoulder.
"You alright? I heard what Jean said."
Eren nodded and turned to him with a faint smile. "Yeah. He's not completely wrong so I'm not angry at him."
"I didn't ask if you were angry."
Turning away, Eren pulled his shirt over his head. As his head came free of the tangle of fabric, Eren stared blankly at the opposite wall, the world around him suddenly going out of focus and all sound becoming muffled. The living quarters' stone walls and high windows were replaced with wood and small squares of glass. The well made bunks shifted to rough hewn timbers nailed together and the clean sheets grew tattered and yellowed from many years of use. He saw his friends milling about: Connie, Armin, Reiner, Marco, Bertholt, even Jean. But all of them were dressed differently, clothes shabby and patched. Connie's looked a bit too large while Bertholt's seemed too small. He caught snatches of conversation: "Omni Directional Gear...Military Police...big test...titans...The Survey Corps..."
"Eren!"
Startled, Eren blinked and the vision flickered and vanished like smoke on the wind. He looked over at Armin who looked deeply concerned.
"Eren what's wrong?"
Shaking his head, Eren said softly: "Nothing. I was just spacing out."
"That's not true and we both know it!" Protested Armin, "You had another vision or...flashback again, didn't you?"
Eren bit his lip hard and turned away and started walking over to his bunk. "No I didn't. I'm just tired after the hunt, Armin. Let me sleep and I'll be fine in the morning."
Climbing into bed, Eren pulled up the covers and turned his back on the room so he faced the tall window by his bed. The curtain was drawn shut, but from Eren's angle he could catch a glimpse of the sky, the stars almost invisible as their light was overpowered by that of the full moon. The lights in the room dimmed and went out as the initiates turned out their kerosene lanterns one by one and Eren was soon left in the dark. Tired, he shut his eyes and hoped for sleep to come quickly. It did.

FLASHBACK:
"M-mama?" "Hush Eren, hush..."
It was so dark...Eren couldn't see well and he stumbled over the loose floorboards as he followed his mother. Her arms were occupied with carrying a petrified Mikasa, Eren's adoptive sister. A door creaked and Eren was pushed inside a small space, a closet, and Mikasa was set in his lap where she cowered close.
"Whatever you do don't make a sound!" Eren's mother commanded. Eren looked up but he couldn't see her face, just a black silhouette framed in the doorway.
"But mama-"
"Do what I say, Eren!" The fear in his mother's voice was what silenced Eren. Their was a crash from downstairs and his mother vanished, shutting the door behind her. Eren heard the lock click and a moment later the key was slid under the door so he could get out when he had to.
For a moment the only sound was Eren and Mikasa's quick breathing. Then a scream tore the air and everything began to jump and skip. Eren was out in the hall, then down in the kitchen, a tall male figure loomed over a limp female one, the woman, Eren's mother, was dropped hard and she fell to the floor dead, a smaller figure materialized in front of a the male monster and Eren fell to the floor. As his vision faded to black, a hand that felt as cold as ice opened his own tiny fist and took the key from him.

END FLASHBACK:
"Aah!" The strangled cry tore from Eren as he awoke, his heart hammering wildly and his hands trembling. He was drenched in a cold sweat and he took a long, shuddering breath. It was a dream...that dream again...
Glancing around, Eren tried to see if he had awoken anyone. It didn't appear so. Slowly, Eren climbed down from the top bunk, careful not to wake Armin, and laced on a worn pair of leather shoes. Then he slipped across the room and between the beds before finally reaching the heavy oak door. He eased it open, wincing at every creak of the rusty hinges but finally stepped outside and let the door swing shut on its own.
Now that he was outside , Eren broke into a run. He tore across the courtyard, past the initiation "chapel", and through a small side door in the wall surrounding the headquarters of the most prestigious guild of vampire hunters in the world: Les Chaussuers. Feet pounding against a gravel path leading towards a group of trees, Eren veered sharply to the right and into an even more dense grove. There was no path here and Eren caught his foot on a root more than once, falling and scraping his hands and knees. He kept getting up though , kept running even when branches lashed his face and brambles tore at his clothes. Finally, Eren was forced to stop when he came to a wrought iron fence. Panting, breathing ragged, he pushed his messy brown hair off his sweaty forehead and climbed the fence, walking towards a smooth, pale stone set upright at one end of a long mound of earth. Jagged letters had been hacked into the rock: "Carla Jaeger: Loving mother."
Eren stood still at the foot of the grave he had worked so hard to make with the help of Mikasa and a kind neighbor who had taken care of them for a time, Mr. Hanns.
"Hey Mom...Mikasa and I graduated today. I know you're probably worried since this job is dangerous but...we'll be fine I promise." He smiled sadly and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I thought that you'd like to hear the news..."
He stared down at the grass as the dream rushed back at him. It was too much. Tears flooded his eyes and he fell to his hands and knees, pressing his forehead to the grass as he sobbed.
"I'm going to get him Mom! I'm going to kill the vampire that killed you! I'll find him somehow and I'll know who he is the second I see him when I see the key..." Worse memories surfaced and Eren cried even harder as he tried to push them down. "It's all my fault you're gone...I'm s-so sorry M-Mom!"
The moon began to descend toward the opposite horizon, but it still cast its pale, cold light over Eren as he cried bitterly over an empty grave.
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