AU / A random AU that was intended to be a simple one-shot, but after reaching the 14k+ word mark, I gave in and accepted it was to be a multi-chaptered fanfiction. Had this in the works since October last year.
Enjoy, updates will be every Wednesday.
She sighed.
Pulling experimentally at the bonds that tied her hands and feet to the pole, the young women wiggled, hoping for them to be some sort of room to work with. Unfortunately, the townsfolk seemed pretty skilled in tying knots, and even that small movement made the rope dig painfully into her exposed skin.
Biting back a yelp, her head slumped forward in defeat. What more could she do?
Suddenly noting movement, the petite bluenette glanced up towards the crowd of citizens watching her from a distance. The mayor who was a young, stern-looking woman began to stride over, flanked on either side by two largely built men. She glared at them heatedly as the distance between them decreased, holding her head high in the air defiantly and refusing to look away.
"Apologies." The mayor murmured, stopping a few feet away from her. "It seems you've suffered a number of minor injuries. I did instruct them to be gentle with you but I can assure you punishments will be dealt."
Her glaring intensified. The so called injuries relating to the nasty bump on the back of her head where she'd been knocked unconscious with a god damn chair.
She was never trusting kind, old ladies again.
"Rayne, if you please."
As the glint of metal reflected in the dark, all courage she'd managed to hold on to, dropped from her face in an instant and into a pathetic puddle at her feet. Her eyes widened in horror because ohmygod – she was actually gonna get killed by these people.
"Don't worry. We'll make it quick." The mayor assured her as if that would make her somehow feel better, turning as she began to walk away.
OhGodohGodohGod!
Her chest began to heave with her frantic breathing as the knife wielding man began to advance towards her, head shaking and beads of perspiration dotting her forehead as she broke out in a cold sweat. Desperate cries were muffled by the rope tied around her mouth, making the chance of a passing traveller hearing her screams and coming to rescue all the more unlikely.
She could almost see guilt in the man's gaze as he closed the distance, her eyes too focused on the tip of the weapon to give it any more thought.
How the hell had she allowed herself to get into this mess?
NINE HOURS EARLIER
"Ouch! These shoes."
She glared at the offended items as she stopped (again!) in her walking to slide them back on properly, the things had been falling off like this ever since she was a good few miles away from her own town – a distance which from here had taken about two hours on the train and a further one hour walking.
"Just a little further." She reassured herself, spotting the small town ahead in the valley.
That was enough encouragement to get her moving onward, covering the last amount of distance fairly quickly. Entering the town, seventeen year old Levy McGarden felt a smile light up her face at the beauty of the quaint town. And barely five minutes had passed before her eyes fell upon a certain store, a grin surfacing as she quickly walked over to glance in the shop window.
Books.
Her eyes fell on a certain paperback on display and her eyes lit up euphorically. Yes, the journey had definitely been worth it! Her hunch was right, if such an old book on fairy tales and folklore couldn't be found in the big cities, then it was right to begin searching small towns on the fringes of the countryside. This town itself was known for its fascination with folklore and superstition according to rumours, hence why she'd bothered to make the visit.
"Um, can I help you Miss?"
"Hm?" Her eyes slid over to the side to find a young girl nervously watching her from the shop doorway as she wrung her hands.
It was then Levy also noticed she had her hands and face practically pressed up against the window, and tearing herself away she offered a sheepish smile. "Hi, um can you tell me how much this book is?"
The girl's eye slid over to the tome in question. "Oh, erm… I-I'm not sure, I'm just the assistant here, my mother runs the shop."
"Oh…" She deflated some.
"She'll be back later on."
Her smile reappeared. "Ah okay, I'll come back then. Can you hold onto the book for me?"
"S-Sure."
With one last wave at the nervous seeming girl, Levy turned around to walk away...
Only to realise everybody was staring at her.
She blinked, gaze flitting as each passing person glanced at her warily. "W-Why is everybody staring at me?" She asked, taking a hesitant step back.
The girl flinched at her voice. "Oh, well…" As Levy turned her gaze, the girl shrunk beneath it, giving Levy the idea that this girl wasn't very good at socialising with others. "We don't get visitors often…"
"Oh."
Returning her gaze to the town, she bit the inside of her cheek. They weren't openly staring any more, but she could still see the side glances cast her way. It was a bit unnerving being the centre of attention but she supposed it was to be expected when visiting a town so far out from civilization.
Well, she might as well look around some more.
Knowing she'd be staying overnight, she tried finding somewhere to stay. Unfortunately though, the town turned out to have no inns or guest houses what so ever, so she'd either have to find a citizen kind enough to let her sleep over, or – and she really didn't want to do this – she'd have to go all the way back home. She groaned at the very thought of making the return journey in the same day.
After a good half hour of walking around – there wasn't really much to look at since it was so small – she entered the fringes of the woods that encompassed the west side of the town all the way to the distant mountains, choosing to sit down on a boulder as she let her luggage drop to the floor.
Having an entire town paying attention to you was a bit exhausting.
Removing her shoes, the teenager fell onto her back, eyes closing and taking in a deep breathe. Ah, it was nice with the sun shining down on her here. Perhaps she could camp out tonight, that would solve her sleeping problem at least.
She didn't even notice she'd fallen asleep till she rolled off the boulder and onto the forest floor.
With a loud 'thump', the young teen got a face full of leaves, eyes snapping open as she sputtered and sat up, rubbing her rear which had gotten bruised in the fall. "Ow..."
A chuckle.
Levy froze at the sudden sound, head whipping around for the source of it. After many feverish glances, her eyes finally fell on a shadowed figure stood leaning against a tree not far off.
She swallowed thickly.
As his low chuckle faded, he turned his head to stare at her, Levy shrinking slightly under the gaze of the intimidating looking man.
"Who are you?" She murmured.
Pushing himself away from the tree, he folded his arms as he turned towards her. "A valued member of this town." There was a pause before he cocked an eyebrow. "What about you? You're not from around here are ya?"
Standing up and brushing her clothing down, she glanced up to meet his gaze. "No, I'm just visiting."
He snorted. "You stick out like a sore thumb."
"Wha?" She gaped at him, placing her hands on either hip. "What's that mean?"
He gave her a pointed look. "Your clothing for one."
"My clothing?" She repeated, glancing down at herself curiously.
"Yeah. Specifically, your lack of it."
Her face reddened. "T-T-This is normal for where I come from!" She blurted, now self-conscious. Was that why everybody had been staring at her? Personally she saw nothing wrong with it, so what if she wore clothing that flashed her stomach and legs, it wasn't exactly 'revealing' compared to what some girls in her hometown wore.
But then again, this was north so it was probably customary to wear more warmer clothes over here.
"Also." The stranger went on, amused by her reaction. "None of those in the town enter the woods."
She blinked. "Eh? Why?"
"Their superstitious and believe there's some huge and scary monster living in the woods."
"Monster? Like big-foot?"
He let out a snort. "Hardly. Think bigger."
"I don't get it." She retorted, staring blankly.
"Dragon."
"Oh." A pause before she chuckled. "Yeah right, they went extinct centuries ago."
"Hmmm." The man mused, his eyes watching her. Levy fidgeted under his silent gaze, it was quite unnerving talking with somebody who you couldn't even see properly under the shadow of the trees. "Don't stay in the woods too long, return to the town before it gets dark, never know what could come out and grab you here."
She smiled at the comment.
"I'm not joking."
Oh.
The smile vanished.
"O-Okay." She replied. "I'm only staying here till tomorrow anyway… That is if I can get this book." She whispered the last part to herself as an afterthought, glancing aside thoughtfully.
"Book?"
She froze, eyes darting back to him. No way… How the hell had he heard her from so far away?
"Um, y-yeah." She replied, a bit unnerved by his super-hearing. "I like to collect books so I travel occasionally if I'm having trouble finding one in particular. I read a lot."
"You're smart then?"
"Well… I like to think so." She said modestly, blushing slightly. "I-I mean, I'm very good in languages."
"Really?" The man seemed to stand up straighter at this, interest in his voice, "How good?"
"Well… Give me the right books and I can translate ancient languages, runes even."
"Huh." Despite the small reply, he seemed impressed, causing Levy to blush further. She wasn't used to being praised or having people take an interest in her hobby.
"Well, see ya." With a nod and seemingly nothing more to say, the stranger turned and walked off.
Levy almost asked why he was walking away from the village, but then decided against it – she'd had enough conversation with the random stranger in the woods today.
Grabbing her things, she soon returned to the village. It was much quieter she noticed, despite being only early afternoon, the streets were practically empty aside from the odd person.
Maybe that girl's mother would be back by now.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Levy squealed, taking the book in her hands as she handed over several thousand jewels. "Wow, I've been searching for this for ages."
The old lady smiled earnestly. "It's nice to make a customer happy."
She beamed at the elderly woman, who was much more social that her younger daughter. And clutching the book to her chest, glanced outside the shop window. What to do now?
"Do you need a place to stay dear?"
"Hm?" She glanced back. "Oh. Yes."
"Then how about staying here?"
Her eyes widened and she leaned over. "Really?"
"I have a spare room you can use."
She broke into a smile. "Thank you, how much?"
"Oh! No cost… I'm just happy to have a visitor here for once."
This lady was so nice!
"Thank you!"
"Dinner's at 5, feel free to go look at your room. Second floor, first room on the left."
"Okay!"
She never suspected anything.
Her eyes snapped open, body flying upright a second later.
Levy frowned in confusion as she stared at the strange and unfamiliar bedroom, why was she here again?
Ah, right, that old lady offered her a place to stay.
But…
She ran a hand through unkempt hair and lifted the blanket, her confusion increasing when she realised she was still in her clothes. Trying to think back on what she could remember, she attempted to piece together what had happened.
She remembered the lady's young daughter – Emily – showing her room. She read a bit in her room with the book she'd just bought – some interesting tales about dragons. Then there was dinner which was delicious! She told the old lady so… And then…
Nothing.
Nervous at her loss of memory, she climbed out of the bed, suppressing a yawn since she still seemed tired and the bed looked so inviting...
Wait, no!
She had to figure out what was going on.
From the window she could see it was dark out now, meaning a least a good few hours had passed – the sun hadn't even begun setting when she sat down for dinner. Walking over to the window, she peeked through the gap in the curtains, her eyes wandering down the street.
Huh?
She frowned, noticing a fairly large crowd of townsfolk in the middle of the street – infact, they seemed to be waiting directly in front of this place. As she moved to get a better look, one of the men on the edge of the crowd glanced up. Darting backwards, Levy held in a gasp, hoping he hadn't seen her.
Ah, but wait, why did she hope that?
But… For some reason she felt uneasy. She had to get out of here.
She turned around to leave only to come face to face with Emily. The older girl stood in the doorway, eyes wide in disbelief as she stared at Levy.
"Oh, hi Emily." Levy said, smiling.
The girl simply stared in something akin to horror.
It was then Levy's eyes slid down to what she held in her hand, stomach dropping at the sight.
Rope.
Lots of it.
Her eyes flitted towards Emily's face, guilt washing over the girls expression as she glanced to the side to avoid her gaze. "S-Sorry…" She whispered.
She needed to get out of here.
Running past her, Levy rushed out of the room, feet slapping against the wooden floor as she reached the stairs and raced down it. She'd go through the back way!
Reaching the bottom step, voices from outside the front came through, the odd word being caught. Heart thumping wildly as she ran into the kitchen, she reached desperately for the back door.
Locked.
Cursing, she looked around for some keys, eyes lighting up when she spotted them on a hook. Ripping them down, she fumbled for a moment, breathing frantic as she pushed the right one into the lock.
Click.
She'd done it!
Just as that thought registered however, pain exploded from behind her eyes as something collided with her head. Levy stumbled for only a second before she collapsed the floor, head spinning.
"Now, now, dear… You weren't supposed to wake up." A sweet voice whispered from above. "I guess I underestimated the dosage in your meal… Oh well."
Darkness swallowed her.
And now, here she was…
Tied to a pole in front of the forest, a man advancing on her with a knife, and half of the town there as an audience to watch.
And she hadn't even had an explanation of why this was happening.
She could hear the blood pounding in her ears and heart hammering against her chest as the man reached her, adrenaline coursing throughout her body with every step further he came. Oh God.
What about her friends and family?
Would they come looking for her when they realised she wasn't returning?
Would they come here?
Wait. What if they were next?
Just as the blade reached out to her neck, her head shook once more with such force that the rope binding her mouth fell down.
She screamed…
And a roar replied.
