I was going to post Red Riding Hood before this, but I have no idea where to go with it so I figured I'd write this to get my creative juices flowing some more before that.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
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The Bloody Child (Ch. 1)
"Guys…please knock it off," Levy groaned as the three idiotic boys, Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray, bickered and argued all the way to Juvia's house at the end of the road.
She, Juvia, and Wendy had to endure their idiotic friends for a few hours. Gajeel and Levy and Gray and Juvia were on a double date and everything had done smoothly until Natsu and his cousin, Wendy, showed up.
Everyone was happy to see Wendy of course, but Natsu…well, not to much. Usually, Gajeel and Gray get along just fine. Maybe there are a few arguments here and there, but no fistfights. It was only when Natsu showed up when everything was a chaotic mess. Natsu would throw in an insult every once in a while and he'd usually throw the first punch unless Gajeel and Gray were too irritated with them and do it first.
It seems Levy's voice fell on deaf ears as she and Wendy turned around to see the three now throwing punches instead of arguing.
"Seriously?" Levy face palmed.
"I'm sorry about this," Wendy bit her lip. "It was me that pointed out to Natsu that you guys were in the movie theater. This is my fault; I should've known this would happen."
Levy blinked, surprised, before turning to look at her, "No, Wendy! It's okay! Natsu just needs to…well, you know."
Wendy nodded, not entirely convinced, before turning around in circles, "Where's Juvia?"
"Where do you think?"
Wendy then looked forward, letting her breath out in a huff, "oh…I guess I should've seen that coming."
Juvia was currently holding Gray's shirt, which he had flung off, and cheering him on on the sidelines.
"I wish Erza was here," Wendy mumbled, giving Levy an idea.
The bookworm snickered before turning to shout, "Hey Erza! Come over here!"
And just like that, the three boys stood up straight like soldiers, saluting.
"Wow, that actually worked," the young blue haired girl commented.
Levy snickered as the boys complained, but luckily, didn't start another brawl. "What were you guys fighting about just now?"
"Salamander here thinks I'm more cowardly than him!" Gajeel pointed rudely like a child blaming his brother for stealing candy.
"That's because you are!"
"I am not!"
"Then why'd you run away from Laxus when you challenged him to a fight?!"
"I didn't run away! I knew I wasn't going to win to I left to train!"
"So you admit defeat?"
"No!"
"How did you get dragged into this, Gray?" Wendy asked, timidly.
"Natsu thinks he's braver than the two of us combined," he answered before snickering, "which is a total lie because he's afraid…" He leaned over, laughing. Gray could barely finish his sentence as his cackling echoed through Magnolia. "O-o-of…o-of t-…t-trains! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"I am not!"
"You're a liar, Salamander!" Gajeel joined in the laughter.
Natsu growled, "Everyone is afraid of something! I'm afraid of trains! So what?! I still get onto trains! Therefore, I'm braver than you!"
They stopped their laughter before Gray spoke up, "how does that prove you're braver than us, Flame Brain?! We get onto trains no problem!"
"Great job, Levy," Levy spoke to herself as she shook her head and sighed, "You got them fighting again."
Wendy giggled.
"I can bet you all I have the guts enough to eat Erza's strawberry cake in front of her!"
They all, even the girls, shivered.
"That's not being brave because you've done that before!" Gajeel said, "If you wanna prove your bravery, Salamander, you have to do something you've never ever done before!"
Natsu smirked, "and whichever one of us turns our backs to the dare is chicken!"
Gray cracked his knuckles, "You're on Magma Breath, Metal Head!"
"This isn't going to be good…" Levy was biting her lip.
"Come on, Gray! You got this!" Juvia exclaimed with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Um…" Natsu tapped his chin, "we've never egged Porlyusica's house before! Let's do that!"
"That's too simple!" Gajeel complained.
Gray paused before speaking up, "How about up at the Heartfilia Estate?"
Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Levy, and Juvia blinked at him confusingly. "You talking about the big abandoned mansion with the Bloody Child Legend?" Gajeel questioned.
"Yeah, as we all wait outside, each of us takes turns staying inside the mansion for half an hour. Whichever one of leaves the mansion beforehand loses! We keep going around like that until two of us loses."
"Gihihi!" Gajeel smirked, "The legend says Jude Heartfilia's ghost roams through the halls, killing anyone to enters. I guess we'll see who dies first!"
"Okay! Time out!" Levy exclaimed, flapping her arms and gaining the guys' attention, "This is a little too far! Dares are great, but no one said anything about dying!"
"That's the drive to see which one of us are the most cowardly," Gray said. "Should we go in alphabetical order?" He and Natsu turned to Gajeel.
"I hate you both."
"Does that mean you're chicken, Metal Head?"
"No! I'll do it!"
"Alrighty then! To the Heartfilia Estate we go!"
"Right now?!" Levy exclaimed as the idiotic boys stomped toward the forest.
"Why not tomorrow?!" Juvia's voice rose, as the three blue haired girls followed.
"I'm already scared," Wendy mumbled, hugging herself tightly.
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The Heartfilia Estate isn't far from Magnolia; it's only half a mile into the forest. The problem is, the estate is so big, it'll feel like hours before you reach the mansion. It was pretty late in the evening when they headed out into the woods, but now the sun is going down. The girls feared they'd be walking home in the dark…that is if they could tear the boys away from the challenging dare that none of them intend to lose at.
It seemed like an eternity before the teenagers reached a pond with a wooden bridge going over it. None of them realized they were on the estate until that point because all the gardens had weeds and trees growing all over, blending in with the forest.
However, it was easy to get there because oddly, there was a path leading straight toward the mansion…as if someone had walked to and fro over and over again…
"Hey guys…I think we're here," Natsu said as he approached the bridge, but didn't cross. "Uh…I can't tell if the bridge is stable…we might have to go around."
"Looks stable enough," Gajeel said as he looked over it.
"Is he volunteering?" Juvia smirked.
"Yes, he is!" Gray shouted as he shoved him past Natsu onto the bridge. "He's first anyway!"
"Hey! Watch it-" They all grew silent as the wooden beams creaked and crackled beneath the tall, bulky man. Gajeel gulped and shifted his bodyweight to see if he'd hear more creaks, but it was silent.
Levy let out the breath she was holding and approached the bottom of the bridge. "Be careful, Gajeel."
"I'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to drown if I fall in," he replied as he took a few more shaky steps before trusting the boards and walking normally across it to the other side. "I'd come across one at a time and I think we'll be okay."
"I'll go next," Levy said as she took a few nervous steps onto the bridge. When she made it to the middle, the bridge creaked and she clung to the railing for support.
"Levy…" Gajeel's voice was low with concern.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!"
"You're halfway there!" Wendy supported, "You can do it!"
Taking a deep breath, Levy was about to push off the rail, but not before glancing down at the water and gasping. "Woah! Guys! Look in the water-"
A large crack made itself known. The railing Levy was leaning against gave out and she stumbled into the water with a scream and a splash.
"Levy!"
Gajeel ran back across the bridge, forgetting the reason why they were crossing cautiously as everyone ran to the shore. That was when they saw what Levy was looking at:
Bodies. Cold, dead bodies with petrified expressions on their faces. The hollow in their eyes made even Gray shiver as they all stared.
"Is this…" Natsu couldn't tear his eyes away, "The Bloody Child Legend?..."
As if to answer his question and Levy surfaced and shouted that she was okay, she screamed as she was sucked back in. A body, that was supposed to be dead, reached up and grabbed her leg.
"Levy!"
They couldn't do anything in fear of getting pulled in themselves, but at the same time, if they didn't do anything, she'd die! The dead bodies moved in the water, but remained frozen in their position. Levy frantically looked around at the corpses circling her as she clawed at the bone-chilling, cold hand grasping her ankle. If she couldn't break free from the corpses' grasps, she'll drown!...She was so scared…
As if it couldn't get any worse, there were fish in the water. And not just any normal fish, but these fish were huge! Far larger than any pond fish should be! And these fish had razor sharp teeth that were the size of kitchen knives! Before Levy knew she was in bigger trouble than she thought, the fish swarmed around her and one of them bit down on her wrist. She could feel the teeth going through her skin and out the other side. It hurt…she screamed underwater as blood gushed out. She was going to die!
"Levy!" Screw it! Gajeel was jumping in! There was no way he was going to stand there and do nothing as his girl was being eaten alive and drowning. If she was going to die, he was going with her!
However, before he did so, he was interrupted.
Natsu, witnessing everything happening, suddenly saw nothing but gold. It took him a moment to realize someone had just ran by him…and jumped into the water…
The blonde girl dove underwater toward Levy. When she reached her, not only did she wrap her in her arms, but her legs as well. She hugged Levy to her like she'd die if she let go…and she probably would, but that meant the strange blonde would die as well!
And just like that, everything was calm.
The corpses froze, falling back into their frozen positions at the bottom of the lake. The fish continued to look like they'd bite them, but they missed every time.
"Lucy….Lu…cy….Lucy…"
Natsu flipped his head left and right. Where were those sudden whispers coming from?! And why were they chanting, "Lucy" under their breaths?! He opened his mouth to ask, but no one was paying attention. They were staring intently at the scene, which Natsu turned back to.
The blonde swam back up to the surface, unwrapping her legs around Levy, but keep her arms in place as they met oxygen.
Levy gasped for breath, coughing and hacking. Neither girls moved until the bookworm was breathing properly again.
"Are you okay?!"
Natsu shivered; her voice was like a melody. He found himself oddly attracted to it, which is something he's never experienced before, but he's heard all about that stuff along with icky romance from Cana and Mira. So it's not like he didn't know what that sudden feeling was. There were only two questions though:
Who the heck is this blonde chick and what the heck just happened?
Levy flinched, not sure how to answer that question her rescuer asked her, but the blonde didn't wait for an answer:
"Hold onto me and don't let go," she ordered and Levy nodded, doing as she was told. The moment they were at the shore, the blonde handed Levy to Gajeel before getting up out of the water herself.
"Ow…" Levy winced as she sat on the ground next to her boyfriend.
"Are you okay?!" Gajeel worriedly looked over her and sucked in a breath as the noticed the bad bite marks: one on her leg, one on her wrist, and one on her forearm.
Juvia and Wendy crowded around her, asking about her wellbeing. Gray simply stared, still trying to figure out what exactly happened. Natsu was staring intently at the girl who rescued Levy, but luckily the blonde didn't notice because she was too busy looking over Juvia's shoulder at the wounds.
"They look deep," Wendy said, biting her lip. She was so scared right now, but relieved Levy wasn't killed.
Gajeel bit his lip, hard. Dang it! He felt so useless standing their doing nothing! He was trying to find a branch to pull her in, but the blonde got to her first! He felt so pathetic!
"It's throbbing," Levy mumbled.
"Those fish are poisonous."
Eyes turned to the soaking wet blonde and she pushed her wet bangs back. "Don't worry though. The poison won't do anything for about another day or so before it enters your bloodstream." She then smiled kindly at them all, "Why don't you all come to my apartment. It's in Magnolia. I have supplies to treat your friend's wounds."
When no one answered, she turned to Levy and held out her hand, "and I'm sure you're hungry. I'll cook you all dinner too."
Trusting her hero quickly, Levy smiled and took her hand, "okay. Let's go."
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I'm such a hypocrite writing a horror story. I wrote a lame one one time and gave myself nightmares the following night…I know, so lame. It doesn't take much to scare me. I hope you enjoyed and Red Riding Hood will be up next.
-zEllie