Revenge

Eren stared at the old tape recorder.

The only thing separating him and his mother's loving voice were a couple of magnetic strips and the play button that rested beneath his thumb.

He took in a couple of deep breaths before placing the earphones attached to the recorder in his ears.

He didn't play it immediately, hesitant for some reason maybe due to guilt or fear. Still, his curiosity won as it wasn't long before he eventually pressed the button.

There was a satisfying clicking sound as he pressed the button. A soft noise from the minuscule machines churning resounded in the room as the tape within spun.

Eren stared at the recorder, waiting excitedly for his mother to speak.

Another satisfying clutch later and the tape had begun to play, spinning forward as static whispers eased into Eren’s ears.

He could hear clumsy movements with a few distant curses before finally, the sound of a warm sigh sipped into his ears and with it came a melodic voice stuffed with feminine charm and grace.

"Um... hello, my little tiger."

Eren had no idea when a single tear ran down his cheek.

"Fuck it."

"Fuck it.”

They said in unison, their shared reaction gained a chuckle out of Eren’s. He could hear his mother's snorting laughter as she seemed to rub the tears off her cheeks.

With a warm smile, Eren did the same, seemed he wasn't the only one who felt a bit overwhelmed.

There was a slight pause before she spoke again;

"If you're hearing this now...I guess I'm not with you anymore... but I hope I haven't been gone for too long... that'll be quite sad." She paused briefly before continuing. “Still, I'm so sorry you have to go through all this without me, I'm sorry I won't be there for you, but I know you are strong and everything I do is to make you tougher than steel so you'll be the stone the awakened dash their feet against instead of the soil they step on."

Eren’s eyes widened a little; What did she mean by that?

"Listen to me Eren, the ruby crystal that sat in my amulet, is more than just a ruby."

'Yeah, no shit." He mumbled.

"It has the ability to awaken dormant humans, and my guess right now is that you have discovered this first stage. I'll kill Silas if you are listening to this without having achieved that."

"Listen if you have truly awakened then you must have noticed that it was incomplete, and if you wish to fully awaken then you need to head to our home. There should be a secret hatch on the basement floor, head there as soon as you get this."

"That's all you have to know, listen, little tiger…I love you more than two worlds and trust me one day you'll see me in the next."

There were a few more seconds of static whispers and a couple of curses before the tape finally short-circuited erupting in a rain of sparks and smoke.

Eren shut his eyes for a bit, his fingers caressing the bridge of his nose. The eight years that had gone by since he last heard his mother's voice rushed through his mind.

'Yeah, you weren't gone for too long.'

"Are you okay Eren?"

The wooden door soon gave way. There was a look of worry on the bald professor's face as he approached Eren, his eyes fixed on the tape recorder that lay in pieces.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Silas considered Eren for a bit before finally asking;

"So umm if I may ask, what did she say? Also, did she mention me by any chance?"

"Yeah she did, she said she would've killed you if you screwed this up," Eren said with a weak smile.

"Ha... that sounds a lot like her." The professor said with a chuckle. “So what next?"

"Well apparently I have to head back to our old place in the suburbs. She said something was waiting for me."

"If that be the case I'll get my aide to warm up the car."

The very next hour Eren and Silas were on their way. The old family house was located somewhere in the suburbs. Eren had never forgotten his way home.

The drive was long but Eren had enough thoughts in mind to keep him busy. Not soon after the car halted before a run-down building with faded turquoise blue paint and what probably used to be white highlights.

"I'll wait for you here, it seems to me whatever you need to do now, ought to be done alone."

With that Eren headed inside his childhood home, a surge of memories flooding into his mind. He could recall all the now seemingly unimportant events that had occurred at all the different corners of the house.

Memories of his mother teaching him how to ride a bike on the pavement, then there were the sweet memories of all the delicious meals she often ordered after work.

Now that he thought about it his mother was often too busy to cook or properly take care of herself. She was too busy providing and nurturing her son that she had forgotten how to cater for her own needs.

As a result, Eren had to develop nurturing traits at an early age. He recalled helping her to bed and tucking her in, cleaning up after her and making sure she always had everything she needed for work.

'We were an amazing team.'

Eren smiled to himself. Unfortunately, the smile didn't last too long as the site of yellow police tapes quickly soured his mood, bleeding out all the good memories and leaving all the rest behind.

The day the lab exploded Eren’s home was stormed by government officials. He was soon sent to a child catering facility the next day.

He hadn't been back since then and now looking at the yellow tapes the government had used to seal his home, Eren couldn't help but seethe with anger.

With his strength, he tore right through any yellow tape he saw.

It wasn't long before he found himself in the basement and wandered around for a bit before finally noticing the draft coming from below.

He squatted, letting his face feel the wind trying to discern where it led. With his arm, he struck the wooden floor, listening attentively for any shallow spot.

Luckily he didn't have to wait too long. When he had found it, he immediately began to push away the counter that rested on top of the hatch.

He pried the wooden panels open and beneath was a metal door of sorts lying in the ground.

There didn't seem to be any handles to open it, but when Eren’s fingers touched the cool metal surface, a loud creaking sound resonated in the room and a ladder leading not less than ten feet underground appeared.

The lights came on automatically, some still flickering while the others refused to switch on entirely.

‘Wow.’

Eren knew his mother was really into science but the amount of equipment he found lying about made his mother's relationship with knowledge seem almost...obsessive.

He walked between the rows of empty files and measured glassware, dust and cobwebs littering the scape.

The room was basically a desert of glassware, each measuring bowl and test tube now fashioned with dust bunnies and spider webs, except the vile of red liquid sitting at the end of the lab.

There was a letter buried in dust that sat beside it, and it read;

"In order for your awakening to be complete you have to consume the red liquid, Tiger."

Eren stared curiously at the strange red liquid. He picked it up, scanning it thoroughly with his eyes. He had his doubts but he knew that his mother would never want to hurt him.

In one breath, Eren popped open the vial and immediately gulped it down.

Nothing happened for a bit, but soon Eren was on his knees, the muscles beneath his flesh pulsating as he felt something course through his veins, altering his very being.

His pale skin had red veins bulging out everywhere, reaching all the way to his neck and eyes. It was only after a while of screaming and rolling in pain that the agony ended.

Eren lay sprawled on the floor heaving and panting heavily. He slowly picked himself up, almost slipping on his own sweat.

"What the hell?!"

Eren cursed as a message prompt appeared before him, black and faintly opaque with red highlights and white lettering.

Eren spaced out as he considered the screen before him and the message it portrayed.

[Do you wish to resume your dream state?]

Two options lay beneath the text, although he assumed he was most likely just seeing things Eren still refused to pick either. A part of him told him it was more real than he thought.

It wasn't like it affected his field of vision anyway. If anything it looked more like a hallucination, so he could tolerate it till he figured out what to do next.

Eren returned to the car with Silas, and while the professor's aide drove Eren and Silas sat in silence.

It seemed to Silas that whatever Eren had seen at the family house was probably something the young lad wished not to share and he wasn't one to pry.

"You said the awakened man that stormed your lab and killed my mother had been unknown at the time, yes?"

Silas stared at Eren for some time before nodding slowly.

"Are their identities still unknown till today?"

Eren asked, his eyes watching the scene outside the car blur away.

"Yes."

Silas could see Eren’s reflection through the window as he shut his eyes, there was a long pause before he spoke again.

"But we know who sent them."

Eren’s eyes shot open, red with rage.

"You do?”

“Yes.”

There was a bit more silence. Then an exhale, and finally the words Silas never dreamt of hearing burst forth.

“Good, because I would want my revenge. I want to avenge my mother’s death.”