PSL / MEME CONTINUATION

[abandonhumanity]

I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine
and rage the likes of which you would not believe.
If I cannot satisfy the one,
I will indulge the other.

Comments

[wintolive]

He's gonna kill the world...

[The shadow's voice takes on an odd tone now; distractable and young, like he's only half-listening to Aubrey.]

Crush them all like bugs...

[As he says this, he takes his little hand and slaps it against the ground, then drags it slowly across. It leaves a trail of blood, thick and nearly black in the dimly lit space. It stinks like it's real.

[The Shadow's head snaps up.]

Don't trust him, Aubrey!

[headhooligan]

[The Eren, both of them—they’re shadows. Figments. Illusions. Why is the blood…?]

[She turns back to the older Eren, almost pleading, as if that’d wake up the real him—a gentler him, the Eren she wants to know.]

He can’t do that. He can’t do that, here. [Right? Because it’s better if it’s somewhere else? Aubrey feels sick. She tells herself it’s the stench of blood.]

[wintolive]

[Another shift in the shadow's voice; this time, an impassioned cry:]

He's a monster! Don't you care?!

[The shadow jumps to its feet; in its hand, a knife.]

Don't worry, Aubrey. I'll kill him for you.

[headhooligan]

[The cry pierces her like a raptor’s screech.]

Stop it! Just shut u— [The knife makes her jump.]

You’re not real. This isn’t real! [She grabs for blade-wielding hand on a stupid, reckless impulse. To protect the illusion that saved her.]

[wintolive]

[The knife is very real, and very sharp. It slices easily through the flesh on Aubrey's palm. The shadow Eren gasps and yanks it away. He has no eyes, but something in the would-be "face" reflects horror even so.]

No! I'm-- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Aubrey...Aubrey...

I-I really didn't mean to. W-we'll get you all cleaned up, okay? I was just trying to help. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose - not in a million years!

[There's a pause.]

No! I'm-- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Aubrey...Aubrey...

I-I really didn't mean to. W-we'll get you all cleaned up, okay? I was just trying to help. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose - not in a million years!

[A pause.]

No! I'm-- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! Aubrey...Aubrey...

I-I really didn't mean to. W-we'll get you all cleaned up, okay? I was just trying to help. I wouldn't hurt you on purpose - not in a million years!

[headhooligan]

[He hasn’t finished the first iteration before Aubrey drops to her knees, clutching the wrist of her bleeding hand. She clenches it, unclenches, grabs at empty air again, an erratic motion that doesn’t help, accomplishes nothing, less than nothing. The blood is very, very real.]

Shut up! Shut up! [Of course he doesn’t.] God, just— please—

[It doesn’t matter. Might as well plead with a wall. Eren’s not here; he’s not going to tell her to lie down, he’s not going to cover her in his coat, he’s not here but he is here, he’s just talking in useless fucking circles, but he really doesn’t mean to—]

[Aubrey wants to scream.] L-Leave me alone…! [It’s a choked sob, instead. Her hands hit the floor, smeared with blood like a healer’s press into an open wound.]

[“I won’t leave you. I won’t.”]

Y-you’re… you’re all I have…

[Just go away....]

surprise!

[abandonhumanity]

What's wrong?

[The lights are back on. The shadow is gone. Eren Jaeger is real once again.

[The thick, dark swipe of blood from the shadow's demonstration still marks the ground by Aubrey's feet.]

[Instinctively, protectively, he tries to put his arms around her, reaching for her injured hand.]

What happened? I was only gone for a second.

[headhooligan]

Get away from me!

[She shoves back without thinking, leaving a smeared handprint wherever that palm lands.]

[Lightning. Aubrey scrambles back to her feet, but still faces Eren, bewildered, shaking, a mess of a cornered animal.]

[abandonhumanity]

[The shove startles him, then angers him. It's clear that she's shaken up, but why has he become the enemy? The way he holds his palms up is almost sarcastic. He takes a step back, gaze hardening into a glare.]

What the hell is going on?

[Fuck this. He takes a step closer again.]

Aubrey, you're hurt. Don't be stupid.

[headhooligan]

Wait, w-wait, I didn’t mean t—

[The rest catches. She steps back, her own palms raised in actual surrender. When was the last time Eren was mad at h—Does it matter?!]

[Aubrey has barely stopped crying; it surges back full force. She should’ve grabbed that knife and—] Please, stop. Just stop.

[abandonhumanity]

[Eren's irritation doesn't fade all that much with the crying, but his heart does tug, and it's enough to disarm him.

[What happened? He was only gone a minute, wasn't he? Is a minute really a minute in this place?

[She's hurt. He forces his voice to be even, quiet. Even so, he doesn't exactly sound patient.]

Aubrey. Let me see your hand.

[headhooligan]

I don’t want to be afraid of you, I-I don’t, I…

[It doesn’t sound like she’s listening. She’s not listening; she doesn’t want to listen. All that softness is gone, gone, gone; was it ever really there? Or, no, it was, that’s what makes it worse, that’s why she wants to—]

I can’t do this.

[Aubrey looks at Eren one last time—nothing but sorrowful. Sorry. Really sorry.

[Then turns, and runs like her life depends on it.

[Just like that, Eren is alone.]