„Seriously, why do I have to come along with you guys?" is a young blond woman complaining while she dragged along two of her best friends. Yes, she's part of the so called Scooby Gang but that doesn't mean she has to participate at every occasion to make her two best male friends so curious to discover. The one was a slender young blond man with a significant scar right above his right eye brow and wearing a single crystal-shaped earring at the left side. The other one was a bit smaller but with cherry blossom coloured hair and constantly wearing a white scarf even in summer time. Both of them were called the Trouble Makers within school. Besides, a lot of the other female students try very often to hit on one of them because of their stunning looks.
„Because we're all in this together, Lucy" is she now hearing the blond now say to her and a sigh leaves her lips. Her other two friends don't seem to be happy to be part on this little unwanted expedition at all. Especially the little blue haired bookworm amongst them named Levy McGarden. She wanted to learn for the upcoming series of Tests awaiting them in the first week of the new school year, when she had called her to come along with them. „Natsu-sama, why at a time like this?" is her other friend Yukino Aguria asking right now. She was next to Levy her best friend since Primary School and the silver haired young woman had even moved into her families house after her big sister got arrested.
The reason why they are stuck in this creepy house at all is because one of the students had told them about a haunted house here in town and that they would be to scared to take a step inside of it at all. So Natsu and Sting decided this would be a nice task for their little gang at the last day of their summer holidays to investigate at and before she could avoid it at all she got tagged along by them. „I should be right now at home by my books" is Levy mumbling when they walked down of the huge corridors and honestly in a way this house really feels like it is alive. When suddenly something started to move Levy, Yukino and herself were clinging to each other because of this eery sound they were just hearing.
All three Girls started to scream when suddenly out of nowhere a shadowy figure stood right in front of them. Even Natsu and Sting are startled by the sudden appearance of completely dressed in black figure. But what shocked Sting more were those ruby-red eyes fixed at them and for him it seemed like they are glowing in the dark. In a way he can't takes his eyes of him at all.
This is supposed to be the scary ghost everyone in school talks about? They got to be crazy. Even through his own Vision isn't the best in the dark, he knows right now he's infront the most beautiful being he's ever met before. „What are you doing in our house?" is a dark and husky voice now asking all five of them and a slight shiver goes down his spine. He does not why but somehow he don't want to leave at all.
„Excuse us" is Yukino quickly saying while she drags him along to leave this place at once. „That was for sure creepy" is Lucy complaining on their way over to her house but he isn't paying any attention at all. Who in the world is he? Those eyes. He really likes the colour of them. Such vivid ruby red colour. But there was something else he had recognized. They are filled with Despair, Repulsion, Loneliness and Pain. They had no significant spark of Hope resting inside of them. So who is he and why are his eyes so lifeless?
************
He had noticed them right from the beginning. Thanks to his inherited gift he's able to follow every single footstep of them without being seen at all. Inside he hopes those strangers leave before he has to make himself visible. On top of them they are humans. The most annoying creatures he ever came across in his life. His own kind was almost extinct.
Only his father Skiadrum and himself are left of the once so proud tribe of Shadow Walkers. They were often misunderstood by humans with vampires due to their tendencies to be more active around night time. But they are related to the dragons that once roamed freely on this planet a long time ago. The Shadow Walkers are originally the Children of the greek goddess of darkness - Leto - who came in contact with a Shadow Dragon from the Far East once before she vanished.
So therefore every single member of this tribe is able to use the skills of their ancient ancestors more or less. Like his father he had inherited a lot of their dragonic ancestor and thanks to the fact they all belong to Leto, every Shadow Walker is granted with a very long life span. But there is a catch to all this. If they reach their twentieth birthday and speak out the words that can bind them to another being, then immortality is granted to both of them.
The tricky part of this task is to find the one who is absolutely sure to stay at his side and to commit his entire love to him. He had once been so close to it, but war had ripped away the one who he had fallen in love with in such a cruel way he never was able to accept the death of his lover at all. Therefore he secluded himself more and more from the outside world. Tempted by the evil shadow lurking constantly around him to say these three words at all so he could be finally in ease with himself.
Multiple times he had to prolong his own life time by consuming the hearts of innocent and pure human beings. Multiple times he heard especially the women say those words over and over to him. He felt immediately how false their proposal towards him was. Therefore he cast away the last straw of hope he'd ever find the one to truly love him.
Right in this moment where he decides to make himself visible he catches a scent that reminds him of someone he had met decades, if not centuries ago. Motionless as he is he stares at the five humans infront of him. The blond one in this group dares to look right at him. Repulsion and pain quickly boils up in him as he is able to look deeply into sapphire-blue eyes. But before he says anything they leave and a deep sigh comes from his lips. Probably this was some test of courage for these Youngsters. What a drag.
************
Once back in his house he isn't able to get the young man all clad in black with his ruby-red eyes out of his head. Since his father had died on the way to a Meeting in Bangkok, he lives with Natsu under one roof. Their mother's are childhood friends and decided to move together when the older one lost his father too. He knows Igneel quite well. A man, who was more married with his job than with his wife. But this man found his time to stick around at least with Natsu. His own father Weisslogia was constantly on the move for a renown company in Asia. Once in a while he was able to see him but like Igneel his father made the best of the spare time to spend it with his family.
„Hey, Sting, what's on your mind?"
„I just wonder..."
is he only saying while staring at the ceiling and in this moment his maroon cat Lector jumps up on the bed. Natsu has a cat on his own too named Happy. He always forgets the name of the breed Happy belongs to, but he knows it has a tint of blue in the silvery fur. Could it be the young man they encountered was at their school as well? If yes, why did he never see him being around school before? Who is he really? Lector lies down next to him purring and he ruffles through the maroon pelt of his feline companion.
He can feel how Natsu is tilting his head in question and the way he looks at him.
„I wonder if he is at our school as well"
„Who do you mean?"
„The one we just saw"
is he now saying while he looks at Natsu and it takes a while for the older one to catch on to his thought.
„You meen that creepy guy with the red eyes?"
„Yes"
„I think we'd noticed before if someone like him was around school"
is Natsu now saying towards him and with a deep sigh he nods in agreement to Natsu's words. Probably he is right in this point. He would have noticed him earlier if this young man would attend the same school as them.
