Chapter Text
Relieved for classes to be finished for the day, I speedily navigate my bike through the various streets of NYC. God, I just want to be home already so my bed can put me out of my misery.
Taking my usual route, I cross the busy avenue, marking the halfway point of my journey home. Sighing at this revelation, I don’t bother stopping before biking across traffic.
What are they gonna do? Hit me? Pfft.
Suddenly, blinding light moves into view out of my right periphery. A gasp escapes through my lips, my world shifting around me. The sensation is like flying through a dream, and before I can even comprehend what's happening, my feet touch solid ground.
I am no longer outside. Gone are the familiar skyscrapers and bustling city, replaced by the gentle whisper of a breeze rustling through leaves, and the soft creaking of wooden planks underfoot. I stand in a dimly-lit room, the air clean yet thick with the scent of cedar and …tea?
——
My heart pounds hard against my rib cage, an unknown mixture of fear and anxiety spreading throughout me. I quickly come to the realization that I have no idea where I am or what has occurred in these past moments—when all of a sudden, I hear the sound of a door opening.
Before I even have time to process the individual entering the room, I am thrown against a bookshelf, head bouncing painfully off solid wood as I am stricken by a sharpness digging into the flesh of my throat, as well as the crushing weight of a solid, warm body pressing into mine.
My breath hitches.
I freeze in pure shock and horror—my eyes appearing like a deer in the headlights.
“Who the hell are you?!” a deep, threatening voice growls at me.
I-I what is this?
The pressure on my body intensifies and I wince in response, words evading me.
“I asked you a question, you better answer it before I press any harder.” Piercing, silvery orbs glare murderously at me as I feel a thin line of coolness trickling down to my collarbones.
“I-I m-my name is eh-Ellie. A-are you going to kill me?” I manage to stammer, despite the huge lump forming in my throat. Tears begin to well in my eyes as my body trembles in primal fear.
“What are you doing in my office?!” The man only presses harder into me.
“Yo-your office? I don’t understand.” I stutter, eyes hot with tears.
“Are you stupid, brat?! I’m only going to ask you one more time. What. Are. You. Doing?”
My mouth opens, but no words come out. Suddenly it feels like I can’t breathe—my body tingles and I begin to hyperventilate as tears stream down my face. I’m dying. Or dead. Is that smoke?
“Tch. You don’t want to talk? Oka - what the hell?! You’re a titan-shifter?!” The volume of his voice raises to a loud shout.
I feel something hard come down on the back of my head as my world is filled with black and the sensation of falling surrounds me.
When I awake, I cannot move my limbs. My head throbs, and a cool draft sends chills down my aching spine.
After a moment, I’m able to get my eyes open. Still disoriented, my vision slowly focuses in and out as I begin to take in my surroundings—but my attention is immediately taken to the two men sitting in front of me. My body stiffens as I register the sound of metal chains.
“You’re awake.” says the blonde-haired man.