Work Text:
Levi laid on his back on the couch, his eyes fixed on the medium-sized picture hanging on the wall across him. Several empty bottles of alcohol littered on the table and floor. A half-lit cigarette still burning on the glass ashtray full of cigarette butts. Documents and reports were haphazardly scattered on the table.
It's been two weeks since his mother, Kuchel has passed away from a mysterious disease. Losing a mother meant losing a part of Levi's life. He still remembered the image of his mother on her deathbed. Kuchel seemed extremely exhausted, her eyes were half-closed, her face getting pale, and she rested her hand on Levi's trembling hand. He felt the icy sensation when his mother held his hand. Kuchel looked at him in tired eyes and spoke in a low, shaky voice.
"Levi, please take care of her,"
It's her only last word to him before she left forever. Until now, he didn't know who was the person that his mother referred to.
The doctors have no explanation for the cause of her death. A couple of unexplained large bruises formed all over her pale body. She didn't take any medications or even suffer from injuries. His mother was a completely healthy middle-aged woman. She could even work from the morning until night falls without complaining. Levi was not prepared to lose her.
Kuchel's untimely death was tragic since it arrived without warning. She was gone in the blink. Levi's realization smacked him in the face. He would be alone in his home without his mother. He didn't have any siblings or even a father. The only family he had was his mother.
Kuchel would be disappointed when she sees her son in this miserable condition. Levi then got up from the couch, stretched his arms, and went walking toward the locked door in the dark hallway. He recalled his mother had mentioned the basement filled with her collection. Probably, he could find any memories relating to his mother. Levi rarely went there because Kuchel once scolded him to do so.
"Don't you dare to go to the basement! I know you will throw away all my precious collection, clean freak!"
Levi was indeed a clean freak. Sadly, his cleaning obsession slowly disappeared after his mother's passing. The death of Kuchel completely changed him. In truth, it's hurt to see himself changed into a different person. Nonetheless, life goes on and he must move forward. Levi didn't want his mother to be disappointed with him.
He unlocked the door to the basement and the door swung open. The door led to a narrow, wooden stairway to the basement in complete darkness. Levi switched on the light of the stairway; however, it doesn't help to fully illuminate the area. He then descends to the dark basement as the old wooden stairs let out loud creaked and cracked. In the basement, he couldn't see anything and he even standing and waiting for his eyes to adjust didn't seem to help.
Levi reached his hand to the wall beside him and flicked the switch. The light bulb on the ceiling of the basement started to flicker as it made a buzzing noise. After a few seconds, the light stopped flickering and illuminated the once dark basement.
The basement was surprisingly quite spacious. Black and white framed photographs of his ancestors were proudly hanging on the wall. There were many odd antique collections arranged on the wooden boards. Next to them sat two candle stubs, burnt down to their bases. There was a broken rocking chair and a pile of black plastic bags nestled into the corner. Cobwebs and dirt filled the corners of the basement. It seemed the place hasn't been cleaned for many months.
It was uncomfortably cold down there. A smell of dirty and musty hung in the air. Levi pressed his sleeve over his nose to block out the stench as he moved the plastic bags away. While he was arranging the bags, the chilling sensation started to creep up under his skin. Suddenly, there was a faint knock. Then, a series of loud knocks followed. Levi glanced at the source of the knocking. Beyond the right side of the basement, a discolored wooden wardrobe stood propped against the wall. Leon cursed under his breath and walked toward the wardrobe. He knew it was the rats. Who else would be in the basement?
"I don't know mother took care of a bunch of fucking rats in the basement," He thought.
Levi sensed a voice in the back of his brain urging him to leave, but his curiosity drew him to the wardrobe. Also, he didn't want infectious, fat rats living and breeding underneath his home. As Levi opened the wardrobe, thick specks of dust flew in the air and four large rats jumped and ran away from the wardrobe. However, this time, the rats were no longer his concern.
His eyes looked at the old porcelain doll sitting inside the wardrobe. He didn't know the existence of such a doll in his home. The doll had black, shoulder-length hair and was dressed in an old fashion crimson gown. There was a huge crack on the doll's face. It had an ambiguous smile, pale skin, and a dark glassy pair of eyes.
"What the fuck with this ugly shit?"
Levi picked up the doll by its neck. It was surprisingly heavy for a medium-sized doll. He noticed a little golden bracelet on the doll's left wrist and a name engraved on it.
'Mikasa A.'
Why would his mother keep an ugly and old porcelain doll in the basement? Levi made a mental note to clean the basement next week, where he would receive a week's vacation from work.
Levi put the doll back on the wardrobe and leave the shitty basement.
A hot shower would be nice.
...
After he took his night pills, Levi turned off his bedroom light, shuffled toward his bed, and proceed to lay on it. The air in his bedroom became colder than usual. His eyes started to become heavy as the medicine's effect started to kick in. Levi was standing alone in his dream shortly after falling asleep. He looked around. He was in a completely dark environment. He could hardly move. Someone appears to be holding his feet, yet no one was there.
"Fuck," Levi cursed under his breath.
A foul stench of smell suddenly reached his nostrils. Nausea was rising in Levi's stomach. It has a strong, pungent, and sickening odor that he could describe as smell like rotten meat. He wrinkled his nose and shook his head side to side.
Levi grunted as he kept on trying to move his limbs. The force was too strong. A bright light appeared in front of him. He stared with wide eyes, mouth opened as he saw a ghostly young woman standing in front of him, looking at him with empty eyes. She had pale skin, short dark-haired, and dressed in a long white dress. Levi noticed the woman's dress stained with blood. Her eyes were dull and lifeless like the color of her eyes. There were multiple scars on both of her arms and upper chest.
"What on earth happens to this woman?"
The mysterious young woman's lips parted as she slowly spoke to Levi in a low and raspy voice.
"You...Found...Me,"
Levi raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "Me? What about me?"
Her lips formed into a crooked smile and her eyes never left Levi's face. Levi was uncomfortable with the woman looking at him in a weird way.
"Finally, I found someone who will save me from this atrocious world!" Then came laughter that echoed. "You'll be the death of me, my love,"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Levi asked in annoyance. He was still questioning himself on his whereabouts and the identity of the mysterious woman.
Ignoring Levi's question, the woman instantly strode toward him and strangled his neck. She added more pressure on his neck as she looked daggers at him. Her eyes turned blood red, veins popped out on her forehead and blood started to flow from her mouth. Levi cannot breathe, his lungs frantically searching for oxygen, and he could feel nearly unconscious.
Suddenly, Levi jolted awake from his sleep. His heart thumping so hard against his chest, sweats were all over his body, and his hands shaking uncontrollably. He could feel the cold hands of the woman were still on his neck. Levi glanced at the nightstand. The digital clock indicated it was 4 in the morning. He hadn't had a good rest the entire night after having that nightmare.
There were a lot of questions in Levi's head.
"What was that nightmare about?"
"Who is that fucking woman?"
A cup of hot tea should be enough to calm him.
In that dream, he didn't notice the familiar gold bracelet on the woman's wrist yet.
.......
"Hey, guys! Do you know there's a rumor about the existence of occult in this city?" Hange, one of Levi's work colleagues asked in a loud voice. She nearly jumped from her seat when she said it. Helena was a chatty and boisterous woman, yet she had an outstanding intelligence.
Levi and his three colleagues were eating lunch at their favorite restaurant close to their workplace. Hange's obnoxious demeanor was always a source of annoyance for Levi. He wondered how he had been able to put up with Hange since they were in high school. Thus, he just ignored her.
"Nope," Erwin, Levi's closest friend, said and continued eating his chicken burger. Erwin was also Levi's friend since high school.
Whereas Mike only shook his head, uninterested.
And Levi focused on drinking his chamomile tea.
Hange sighed and began to speak animatedly as if she were a storyteller. "The cult's leader recently passed away. The occultists became panicked when their leader died unexpectedly, and they began to look for a technique to resurrect the leader. Except for them, no one knows who the leader is. Tragically, the occultists have fought among themselves. Then... They began to murder and eat each other."
Hange took a deep breath and continued. "My neighbor told me the occult existed in this city for a century. They have been practicing witchcraft and black magic. When the full moon came, they will hunt someone and sacrifice them for their god. The occults then eat those people together... Crazy, isn't it?"
"Meh, not really," Levi rolled his eyes as he tapped his finger frantically on the table, "It's a common thing that I always see from the books and movies,"
"C'mon! Maybe the rumor-,"
"Just fucking eat your food, Hange. We're running out of time," Leon growled as he pointed the clock on the wall.
"Hmph,"
Then, they ate in silence.
.....
Night came by so quickly.
Levi's hands were holding onto the bathroom sink while staring at his own reflection in the mirror. He just ate two sleeping pills. The number of takings was not recommended by his doctor. He didn't care if he's overdosed. Levi didn't afraid of dying.
He went to his bed and hoped he had a nice quality sleep. Two sleeping pills might help him. After a few minutes, Levi finally dozed off. He was having the same dream again; Standing alone in a pitch-black area. However, this time he could move his body. Levi was walking around, trying to find something in the darkness. The area was seemingly a vast space. His feet get tired of walking for like hours.
Before he could collapse on his feet, there was a blood-curdling shriek nearby. It was a woman's voice, crying hysterically for help.
"HELP!"
"PLEASE!"
"OH-GOD, NO!"
The scream could make Levi's eardrums bleed and burst. It was ear-splitting, and it still rang in his ears. He strode towards the scream while repeatedly cursing in his mind. Then, he discovered the source of the scream. His heart raced faster that he could hear his own heart beating so loud. He felt the hair on his nape and arms lifting, lips trembling, and his breathing became shallow. The figure lying in front of him was the most horrific discovery that he ever encountered.
There, lying on the ground on a pool of blood, a woman's body twisted in a strange position with her mouth wide opened, and eyes rolled back. It's the same creepy woman from his previous dream. Levi felt the acid in his stomach went rising caused by the foul smell of the corpse.
Levi backed away for a few steps as his eyes still locked on the corpse. Suddenly, a soft voice whispering in his ears caused a tingling on his neck. He quickly turned his body and found the same woman again, but now she's wearing a crimson gown. The woman gazed at him in a monotonous way.
"Eh? Didn't you just-?" Levi trembled as he glanced at the dead body on the floor and the woman.
"That was just a memory of mine," The woman spoke in a low voice.
"What the fuck happen here?"
"You're the chosen one. You need to witness that for me, my love," The woman continued as she sat hunched on the ground, "In order to break the curse, I must find my true love. However, they keep on locking me away from freedom. Locking me away from finding my savior,"
Levi noticed there was a familiar gold bracelet on the woman's left wrist. He recalled he had seen that bracelet clearly when he found the ugly porcelain doll in the basement. He can't utter any words. His voice seems to be stuck in his throat.
"Basically, the woman is-," Levi's thought was interrupted quickly.
"Yes, I'm the spirit who haunted the doll," The woman turned her head at Levi and gave him a soft smile. "The name is Mikasa,"
"How did she-?"
Mikasa stood up abruptly and covered Levi's eyes with both of her hands. Again, Levi couldn't move his limbs. There were supernatural forces that kept him from moving.
"This woman will kill me no more than a minute,"
"I'll tell you some parts of my past. This will not be going so smoothly but I'm sure you're going to be okay my love," Mikasa confronted. Her soft voice was soothing in Levi's ears.
In the vision, Levi was lost in the forest at nighttime. He looked at his surroundings. Suddenly, an alarming scream could be heard behind the thick bushes behind him. He slowly crawled toward the bushes to prevent attracting the attention of someone or wild animals.
He spotted a group of six people wearing black robes, their faces were hidden in the hood, and they were encircling a naked young woman. From the hairstyle and facial features, Levi could tell the identity of the young woman. It's Mikasa whose hands and legs were tied by metal chains, her body shaking uncontrollably as she screamed as loud as she could. Tears streamed on Mikasa's red cheeks, and a lot of angry-red scars were marked on her body. The hooded people only stood there, motionless.
Levi marched toward the people to save Mikasa but stopped when he heard a voice behind him.
"You cannot save me there, my dear. This happened five decades ago. I already told you this is merely a memory and a vision of my past," Mikasa indicated, and she took a closer look at her past self.
One of the hooded people was carrying a large execution ax and walked forward to the chained Mikasa, who was lying on her stomach. He put the tip of his ax on Mikasa's nape and put more pressure on her neck torturously slow. Blood sprayed everywhere. The scream of agony of Mikasa's echoed in Levi's head. The image of her getting decapitated from her head, arms, and legs haunted him. He didn't know what's worse than to see a living human tragically decapitated by the hooded monsters.
"That's how I died. Back then, I'm only 19 years old. It's hurting me to witness my own death here. From here, I believe a human is the true heartless creature in this world. An animal kills each other to survive. Human kills each other for their own selfishness. Humans are the ones who create the abomination and chaos," Mikasa said as she clasped both of her hands tight. There was a mixture of rage and sadness in her voice.
The vision gradually disappeared as Levi returned to the pitch-black space again. He felt sympathy for Mikasa's distress over her tragic death but part of him was angry at her for exposing him to the disgusting and horrible images without his consent.
"Why are you showing me those horrid things?" Levi asked in curiosity as he raised his eyebrows.
"This is the only way for me to break the curse they've put me. They had put my spirit on a porcelain doll and to break the curse I need to find my true love," Mikasa replied. "I give you the vision of my death in order for you to understand my situation,"
"W-whoa, that's a very awful thing you did to make me understand you, lady," Levi sneered. "And why would they make you find your 'true love' to break your curse?"
Mikasa let out a giggle and smirk. "It's because...I did seek some help from an occultist to make the boy that I've fallen in love to return my feelings. Then, the stupid occultist cheated on me!"
Mikasa spoke again but now she was furious. She gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "After I died, they'd told me the solution to break my curse was to seek my own true love by my own, not them,"
"The one who found you in a solitary dark place is the one who will save you from suffering alone and the one who will be your true love. You just need to suffer together. That's what true love does." They spoke.
Mikasa laughed hysterically, took a step forward to Levi, and whispered. "And I found my true love which is you,"
Levi roughly pushed Mikasa away from him. The woman continued to laugh while chanting nonsense. That woman was totally deranged. He needs to get out there.
He was abruptly waking up from his sleep and glanced at his side to check the clock. It's 6 'o'clock in the morning. Levi felt the world spinning and his head felt heavier. That nightmare nearly killed his insanity. Also, killed his chances of having good rest.
Probably he needs a cup of tea.
A cup of tea always soothes him.
.......
At the same restaurant at lunchtime with his colleagues, Levi told them about the nightmares that he had suffered since he found the doll with the gold bracelet in his basement. At first, he didn't want to tell them but maybe they knew something to solve. Hange, who was keen on listening to Levi's story, noticed the bags under his eyes were obvious that Levi had not had a good rest since the nightmare appeared.
"You should throw the doll at the river far away from the city," Hange said in a serious tone. It's a rare occasion where she could be serious. "It's a cursed doll,"
That night on a full moon, Levi did what he'd been told. He crashed the porcelain doll into pieces with a metal bat in his backyard, put the pieces on a plastic bag, and drove his jeep to the lake. At the bridge, he threw the plastic bag to the lake without any regret in his eyes.
On the same night, he had a nice sleep without a nightmare.
.....
On the next morning, Levi told his friends that he had already thrown away the doll. Then, Hange happily announced that they will have a new staff joining them. A few minutes later, a series of knocks could be heard on the door. The door opened and someone came in. The morning sunlight from the huge windows of the office streaming over the woman's figure. A young woman with a sweet smile approached them. She was dressed in a white blouse and a black pencil skirt which highlighted her curves. She had milky skin, black chin-length hair, exquisite Asian facial features, and a beautiful pair of greyish eyes. She was indeed an attractive woman.
"Beautiful,"
Levi observed the woman silently. In the back of his head, he felt uneasy and was somehow familiar with the woman at the moment she stepped in.
"Ahh! Ms. Ackerman, welcome!" Hange greeted and shook her hand with the woman. "What a coincidence, you had a similar last name with Levi! Yo Levi~ she could be your relative!"
Levi looked at the new staff from his seat. The woman already fixed her gaze at him with a sweet yet mysterious smile and offered her hand for a handshake. The smile only made him uncomfortable, as she reminded him of someone.
The face, the dark-haired, and the grey irises...
Not to be disrespectful, Levi ignored the thoughts and shakes his hand with her. Her hand was cold as ice. He noticed on the left wrist of Ms. Ackerman, there was a familiar gold bracelet. Levi could feel his head throbbing as his blood ran cold.
"Nice to meet you, Levi. I'm Mikasa Ackerman. You can just call me Mikasa,"
***********************************
"Okay, that's all for tonight, children. All of you need to go back to your beds," A mother commanded to her three children, who lied down beside her.
The kids listened intently to their mother's story. It's weird that the young kids were interested in paranormal stories.
"But mom! I want more!" One of the children complained. He was pouting while crossing his arms. " I want to know more about what's happening after that!!!!"
The mother let out a soft laugh and ruffled the boy's hair. The boy was still upset with his mother and looked away from her.
"My dear...what if I tell you, it was based on a true story?"
"Really??"
"Yes, that's how I met your father,"
The boy only smiled in response.
The End.