Delays-Ends-Veins

Warning: This chapter contains sensitive subjects.

Chapter Two

The sound of the traffic below me rattled around in my head. Everything seemed unnaturally calm, like what I was about to do wasn't wrong. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Hey." I jumped, almost falling off. A boy with dark spiky hair stood next to me only behind the railing. "I'm Gajeel."

I stared at him, my eyes burning a hole through him. He had piercings all over his face and an aura that said 'I'm going to pound you into the ground'. He was definitely a delinquent. "So what're you doing out here so late?"

"Isn't it obvious?" My voice was shaky. I looked away from him out of shame.

"No." I don't know if he was being stupid on purpose or what but it annoyed me profusely. I sighed and placed my head in my hands.

"I was-" I took a deep breath. "I was going to jump." I could feel my face heat up. I never talked about this with anyone, not even my counsellor; I didn't want them to throw me in a crazy house.

"I guess you're feeling pretty sad and angry right now then." I nodded my head as a couple tears trickled out of my eyes. "If you jump then you wont be able to feel that again." I shot my head up and looked him in the eye. Was he really encouraging me to do it? "You also wont be able to feel happiness or love if you do it. You wont be able to feel the joy of finding that special someone or how you would feel when you hold your first born for the first time. Sadness and anger are only temporary and don't last forever, so even if it seems impossible to carry on, you've got to prove that you can do it. If you can do it then in theory you can do anything." He said this all so nonchalantly that it could've been a regular conversation between regular people.

I stood there and cried.

I don't know how long I stood there but Gajeel patently waited there. Once my sobs turned to soft whimpers I muttered a quiet thank you to him. He nodded his head and once I was back over the barrier he left.

"Levy?" Lucy's voice broke through my memory. I blinked a couple times before remembering where I was. "You've got 04 on your hand, right?"

"Oh. Erm... yeah." I felt a bit disoriented after remembering all that crap.

After I got home last year I searched up Gajeel and found out that he went to the same school as me and that his last name was Redfox. I never spoke or even met the guy again.

"So that means that there are seven people here." Gray said, a bit unsure of himself.

"No duh or can you not count." Natsu said glaring at Gray. Gray just rolled his eyes and Juvia stuck out her tongue at Natsu.

"Okay first thing first, I think we need to search this place as it seems this corridor leads off to somewhere." Erza said sternly.

"Should we split or what?" Lucy said, crossing her arms over her large chest. Why do all the girls except me have giant chests!

"Hmm." Erza thought for a second before nodding her head. "Yes, I think that is the best plan."

"Juvia thinks Juvia should be paired with her Gray-Sama."

"No... No I think we should all investigate singularly and then meet up here and discuss what we've found." Erza has already taken the roll of leader with all of us being awake for around 5 minutes. Juvia pouted and gripped onto Grays arm tighter.

Gajeel put his hands into his pockets and strode off. I bet he thinks he's cool being all dark and mysterious, what a prick. I nodded my head at everyone and hurried off in the opposite direction to Gajeel.

This place was pretty packed. It had a kitchen full of food- which Natsu was probably going to devour in a second tops- a lounge type area that had two long sofas and it even had a full on gym with all the necessary gym equipment. I would say that this place was pretty nice but the whole 'kidnapping' thing has left me a pretty bitter.

After around ten minutes of exploring this half of the place, I went back to the meet up place and found Lucy sitting on the floor. She looked pretty drained from all that had happened. I guess I needed to comfort her somehow. It was a shame that I was terrible at comforting people, probably due to my crippling anxiety.

"H-Hey." I said awkwardly. Lucy grunted something like a reply and I sat down next to her.

"What were you doing before you were taken?" She blurted out.

I took a deep breath before replying. "I was going to the supermarket to get the groceries and I was angry that my mum didn't make my sister go get them." I pulled my knees up to my chin and rested my head against them. "Then a van pulled up and someone jumped out and shocked me. I think it was a taser but I'm not too sure." Lucy closed her eyes, a look of pain ran over her face.

"Someone knocked on my door and I thought it was my father so I opened it. There was a guy in one of those weird plain white masks. You know the ones you can buy at a crafts store. Well anyway hey grabbed me and put something over my mouth and then I woke up here." She had tears in her eyes again. I reached over to her and squeezed her shoulder as an act of reassurance. She smiled at me weakly before burying her face in her hands.

"Guys!" A voice cut through the silence. "Have you seen the kitchen! There's so much food!" Natsu strode up to us with his hands behind his head. Lucy looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Do ever stop talking about food?" Lucy said standing up. I felt awkward, as I was the only one sitting down, so I quickly stood up and looked down to hide my bright red face.

"I also talk about fire."He said too happily.

"Great. We're trapped in here with a hungry pyromaniac." Lucy's voice was dripping with sarcasm that Natsu obviously didn't understand as he smiled even wider at her remark.

We stood there for a couple seconds before the sound of pounding footprints broke the silence. Gray came round the corner; he was half walking half jogging. Juvia followed close behind him. Gray stopped a few steps in front of us. "There's something you guys need to see." The other three of us looked at each other before we began walking the the way Gray came from.

The other corridor led to a garden of sorts. It was still inside the building but there was plant's and vegetation everywhere. Gray caught up to us and shook his head, "Not here. This way" He led us to a grey door hidden behind a tree sapling.

Once we got into the room I understood why Gray brought us here. The room was empty. The walls painted a vibrant white. Erza stood in front of one wall, examining it. She tapped her chin and tilted her head to the side. Gajeel lent against the opposite wall and was looking around the room in disbelief.

"The three of you come here and examin this for me." Erza said, still looking at the wall. I walked forward and stood next to Erza, her height overpowering my own.

Delays Ends Veins

The words were written on the wall in black. My mind rushed hundreds of things this could mean but none of them seemed realistic, all were too fantastical or too morbid.

"Any idea what it means?" Erza said turning towards me. I shook my head.

"Juvia has an idea." Juvia said knotting her hands together. "What if it means that if we delay something-" She paused. "We die."

The atmosphere was tense. Everyone just looked down and thought about it for a minute. Thanks, Juvia, for bringing down the mood.

"Don't worry I'll make su-" Erza was cut off by a click. Lucy rushed to the door and rattled the handle.

The door was locked.

"Shit." Gajeel cursed under his breath. Lucy let out a cry of panic as she continued to attempt to open the door. My heart started beating faster and my stomach was getting knotted up again. I crouched and started massaging my temples as a headache started forming. I closed my eyes tight and pressed my palms into my eyes. The others were saying something but my mind was preoccupied with calming myself down. I felt a hand on my back and I looked over my shoulder to come face to face with Gajeel. I jumped up and he stood up with me. "Don't worry I'm going to try to get us out of here." I could feel my face heat up.

Gajeel ran over to the door and he planted a solid kick on the door. I looked around for the others and saw Lucy bawling in the corner with Erza patting her back. Gajeel kept kicking the door at an attempt to break it down but a metallic clang was heard each time he connected with the door.

The room began to fill with a sweet but chemically smell and I at once began to feel woozy. Juvia was the first to fall to the floor unconscious. My eyelids felt heavy and I fell to the fall with a thud.

AN:

Heyyyy. Sorry the start of this chapter is kind of serious and sensitive.

I hope you liked this chapter!

Also I'm not sure that's what chloroform smells like but that's what the internet says so that's what I put. I also don't intend to smell chloroform so that's what it's going to stay as in this story.

See you next chapter!