Summary: The ghosts come out; the darkness creeps up on you; horror stories become real; monsters lurk in the shadows; eyes glowing in the darkness. The night that nightmares are real. AU. One-shot.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!
On the last night of October, people dress up and go trick or treating, they have horror movie marathons while they try to sleep, and stories are passed around as shadows blend into the darkness and many little children have sleepless nights, scared to think about what might be lurking under their bed. Some people host events; themed parties and haunted houses.
However what was most anticipated was the theme park that opened when the darkness rose and the moon came out. The park was bathed in darkness, no lights on and people were dressed in black, blending into the night and jumping out at unsuspecting victims as they walked past. Smoke machines fogged the pathways, while workers dressed up as zombies and chased you around.
Rides were going, a different experience if you were to go on one during the day. Stores were covered in fake cobwebs, same plastic spiders sitting in the middle as the store keeper stared at you – their body covered in blood. Jelly filled syringes and blood bags filled with soft drink were hung up all over the place. The smell of popcorn made stomachs rumble and mouths to water.
Workers dressed up as famous horror movies characters – watching you, staring, as you made your way past. Lights lit up the side of the shop buildings, shapes of spiders, skeletons, and other Halloween related things. Workers had knee guards on so they could slide on the ground and pop up in front of unsuspecting visitors.
But what had Lucy's stomach in knots were the mazes that they were lined up for. Her best friend Levy, was beside her and looked around in amazement and awe. "Have you seen Gajeel?" the small blue-haired women asked.
Gajeel, Levy's boyfriend, worked at the theme park and had gotten tickets for her and a friend. Lucy looked around as the maze line started to move closer to the dark opening.
"You do realise that people are covered with make-up and fake blood?" Lucy stated, watching a guy walk past who had a very gory neck wound.
"That's true," Levy sighed.
As the line got smaller, Lucy's hands started to sweat. "A-Are you sure you want to go in there, Levy? Can't we do something else, like go on a ride or something?"
The small women glared at the blonde before bringing her hand to her mouth as she laughed evilly. "Don't tell me you're scared!"
"N-No!" Lucy stuttered as the line grew smaller. Lucy realised that it was their turn next. She hated the smug glances Levy gave her and she watched with horror as the maze attendant cut off the person in front of her. That meant she was going in first!
"Swap with me!" Lucy said as she pushed the smaller women in front.
"Nope!" Levy replied as she turned around the blonde and behind her.
Lucy cursed under her breath as she glared at the opening of the maze and the darkness beyond.
As they exited the maze, Lucy almost cried with relief. That was probably the scariest thing that she had done in her whole life and she was sure that at one stage her heart would have stopped beating. Her hands were trembling and she was sweating like crazy as her friend exclaimed, "That was amazing!"
Lucy only stared at her. "N-No. No way! I am never doing that again!"
"Aw come on, Lu-chan! That was fun!" Levy smiled up at her friend as they walked through another cloud of smoke.
"Maybe for you but it wasn't–" Lucy cut off with a scream as someone jumped out of the shadows in front of her, and in her scared state, flung a fist at the persons face. Her hand met hard flesh and she heard someone curse at her.
As the fog cleared up, Lucy noticed that someone was clutching their nose and groaning in pain. Blood trailed down his face, blending in with the fake blood.
"Crap!" Lucy exclaimed, grabbing the guy by the shoulders. "I am so sorry!"
The guy only grinned at her as he continued to hold his nose and Lucy noticed how pretty his green eyes were in the moonlight. Lucy snapped out of it as another person joined the small circle and Lucy noticed all of the piercings on his face and knew who it was before he even started to talk after he finished laughing.
"I can't believe you got beat up by a girl!" Gajeel laughed out, pointing to the man. "Man, that was hilarious."
The injured guy only glared at him and walked through the crowd. Lucy looked between the retreating figure and the couple before calling out to her friend, "I'm going to make sure he's all right!"
Before levy could reply, the blonde was already lost in the crowd and she glanced at her still giggling boyfriend. She shook her head and turned towards the food section, Gajeel following her in his tight dark clothes and his giant sword, apparently some sort of murderer.
Lucy watched the person storm off, apologizing to people as she ran into them. The guy finally stepping into a lit-up building and Lucy followed through, noticing the Staff sign on the door and ignoring it.
"Oh my," a white-haired lady exclaimed as she saw the injured boy. "What happened to you Natsu? Did you and Gray get into another fight?"
"Actually," Lucy spoke up and two sets of eyes turned her way. "I accidently punched him. In the face. Accidently."
Natsu only grumbled something before turning away.
"I did apologize!" Lucy crossed her arms and turned the other way. "You can't scare people like that!"
"Tha's my hob."
Lucy didn't know what to respond to that so she glanced at him again. His hair was an unruly mess and shiny – probably spray painted to suit his character, and his light green painted skin was well done to suit his zombie look. The ripped clothes allowed Lucy to have a glance at his well-defined muscles.
The white-haired women cleared her throat and Lucy blushed when she realised that the woman had caught her staring – and at a man she just met!
"Just tilt your head forward a bit and keep pinching your nose, I'll quickly get an ice pack."
Lucy watched the white-haired women leave out a door and a silence fell over them. "I'm sorry," Lucy repeated.
"You don have to apologize."
"I know but I feel bad for punching you and… I'm sorry, okay?" When he didn't say anything Lucy realised that she hadn't introduced herself yet. "I'm Lucy, by the way."
He glanced at her through his bangs, "Natsu," he replied.
"I know… the lady from before said your name…"
Natsu just continued to stare at her before muttering, "Weirdo," under his breath.
"I heard that!"
Before she could say anything else, the women came back into the room, holding a blue ice-pack with a small towel wrapped around it.
"Here you go," she said as she handed it over to Natsu. "I'm Mirajane, or you can call me Mira, most people call me that! It's nice to meet you…?"
"Lucy," the blonde supplied and glanced back to Natsu. She blushed when she realised that he was still looking at her. When she turned back to Mirajane, she noticed a glint to the older women's eyes and swallowed. "I, uh–"
"Lucy!" a familiar voice called from the door and Lucy turned around and faced Levy. "The show is about to start!"
"Show…?" Lucy drifted off, trying to remember what her friend was talking about when it hit her. "Oh!" She turned and said goodbye to the people in the room and as she was about to step out, Natsu voice stopped her.
"See you around, Luigi."
"It's Lucy!"
"That's what I said," he said, but the amusement in his eyes said otherwise, "Weirdo."
Before Lucy could retort, she was pulled out of the room with a giggling Levy beside her. As the show started to play, Lucy couldn't help but look around for a certain zombie and she was surprised when she felt disappointment when she didn't find him. As her eyes landed back onto the main act, who had just stuck a hook through his nose and was coming back out of his mouth, Lucy decided that she would come next year, but only for the attractions and not a certain somebody.
So that's the end of my little Halloween one-shot! It's the 1st of November here in Australia so i apologise for being a tad late but for other people it's Halloween so i hope you enjoy! I went to Fright Night at Movie World in the Gold Coast last weekend and it inspired me for this story. But yeah, the part about the maze was based on my experience –The Evil Within as you probably know is a horror survival video game and for some strange reason, decided that one of Movie World's mazes was an exact replica of the game.
And yes, I was the first person to go in and let's just say, if the rest of the small group wasn't holding onto each other by the shoulders, I would have probably ran through that thing like a bat out of Hell. But other than that, it was amazing!
So anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please review if you'd like – tell me what you think of it and what not!
Azalaee