Levi's blood froze, but the bundle of warmth in his arms brought him back. The terror and surprise turned into cold rage at the monsters to enter their place of sanctuary, their home. And as if that wasn't enough, their presence would terrify his wife more than anything. She wouldn't find any safety because of them- the rage almost boiled over-
"Ari." Levi gently whispered her name in her fear, and before she could groan, his hand was already over her nose and mouth to cover the noise she would make. Instantly, it wiped away all her groginess. And as Levi expected, her confused eyes turned into fear and horror-
"It's okay." Levi whispered, circling her back, even as they could hear the audible creaks of woods walking around their home. Getting closer to the backrooms, where they were. The only thing stopping them was a carpet that had covered a trapdoor.
"Just as we practiced." He nodded to her, motioning towards one of the hidden exits that was towards the hole in the barn. "Go." Ariana gulped, but nodded.
As silently as she could, she opened a hatch and crouched through, with Levi staying behind, his eyes on the trap door as the footsteps stopped right on top of it. Quickly, Levi brought the light couch right in front of the hole, and went in, making sure the exit was hidden. And then put back the dirt covered hatch back in its place.
In the dark, the dirt covering the hatch made it almost impossible to differentiate from the dirt walls around them.
As soon as Levi was gone, the trap door was discovered under the carpet and the monsters had found one of the safety holes.
…
The morning after, Levi made his way back towards their basement to make sure there werent any surprises. He had forced himself to remember everything's exact place for situations like these. And as he opened the hatch and entered the basement, Levi saw nothing. Everything seemed to be in their place and nothing was moved.
At least, almost nothing. On the couch, there was a pillow that Ariana had started to like, but currently, it was missing. Levi looked everywhere, but the dark blue pillow was gone. Another wave of anger bloomed in Levi's chest, but he pushed it down. Opening the hatch, he made an attempt to whistle, and while it was terrible, Ariana got the message.
While she was making her way back to their house, instead of exiting from the barn, Levi walked up to check the house. Just like the basement, nothing seemed to be taken or misplaced. The only difference was maybe the door was wide open- with something placed next to its frame…
The rock- rune or whatever Boyd called it- there was a nail on the door frame and on it, hanging from a string, was that thing-
"Levi?" Ariana called out, her voice unsure and scared.
"Give me a second." Levi muttered, eyeing the door, jaw clenched.
He walked up to the rock, taking it off the nail, and then went to the door- the lock…
"Levi… what's wrong?" Ariana asked, her eyes not leaving him, as she tried her best to mask her worries.
'Someone picked the lock.' He wanted to say, his eyes on the scratches of the lock and then on the people slowly leaving their houses- 'someone- who?' he asked himself, eyes going from one to another.
"Le-"
"Ariana." Levi called her, finally turning towards her. The rock still in his hands. She had already noticed it, but didn't say anything. Once close, Levi hugged her as tightly as he could, without hurting her. And she let go for a moment, her body shaking and her voice tight.
"What do we even do now?" She whispered and Levi had no idea. But it was time to change somethings, distract the monsters before they found them.
"Hey." He kissed her forehead, rubbing her back in comfort.
"I'll figure something out. Okay?" Levi promised and while Ariana nodded, feeling secure in his arms, she still couldn't hide her worry and fear.
…
A few hours later, Ariana had decided to go to the diner to distract herself, help around, instead of sitting at home, worrying about what they could do. And while Levi hesitantly agreed, he had also given her a task. To look for anyone that seemed on edge or sweaty or dazed.
Levi hadn't told her everything to not worry her, but Ariana had a couple of guesses.
Meanwhile, Levi was walking around town, to see if he could spot anyone that was giving him any weird looks or something. And while there were some who gave him weird looks, it wasn't the same as 'how are you alive?' look.
So, Levi continued searching with his mace. When he didn't spot anything different, he decided to go and take a look at the bottled tree that victor had shown him. While Levi had other holes that he and Ariana could hide in, something in his gut told him that being overprepared wouldn't hurt.