Lucy stared at the woman reflecting in her mirror – her long blonde hair gently curled to perfection and her large brown eyes emphasised by a generous layer of mascara, topped with a hue of colours. Her toned legs being shown with the long split in her tight, midi red dress, her best asset emphasised with the plunging neckline that would make any guy fall at her feet. She looked damn good if she could say so herself.. so why did she feel like she had just swallowed an egg. The blonde swallowed at the lump in her throat, flattening out her bangs for the umpteenth time tonight, the hair spray not quite keeping her do the way she wanted it. Ugh, of all nights?
Puffing out her cheeks, she spun on her heel away from the mirror- no more of that. She looked hot, she knew it. But…ever since her brief conversation with Salamander earlier that night she had a weird feeling. She had run back to the hotel room – luckily it was not far from her final destination that night, and gotten changed into her best outfit. The red dress was almost a protest to the girl she used to be, confined to the mansion she hadn't called home in years. Where all the tutors and maids, and the finest jewellery and clothes hadn't made her happy. The years of neglect by her father had her starved for normalcy. This dress was one of the first things she'd bought when she ran away from home. The mixed, cheap fabric that clung a little too much around her butt coupled with the large black heels that helped accentuate her legs and the fake diamond earrings in her ears- she finally felt like a normal girl going out. Of course, the first night she'd worn the dress it had been to a bar, much like the one she went to tonight to look for a job, and lets just say a few of the men had gone home with angry girlfriends. She couldn't help it. She was her mother's daughter after all.
Her phone beeped – a message from her Uber driver, alerting her to his presence downstairs. She grabbed her purse (and her pepper spray…just in case) and almost ran out to the street. A passing car filled with young men slowed down and beeped at her, their faces appearing out of the windows with cat calls following their wake but she paid them no mind. She had a mission tonight – impress Salamander and get a job at Fairy Tail. The Uber driver was a older man who seemed to be very uncomfortable in he presence when she entered his car. He stumbled over his questions to her in an attempt to make small talk but she replied kindly.
She found herself staring at her phone as the driver wove through the streets of Hargeon. It was late – almost midnight but she was wide awake now. Downing two redbulls does that to you, she guessed. Her contact list she noticed was extremely short, consisting of three people. Brandish, her childhood friend- although she did torment her for years and Michelle her cousin. The only two people from her past that knew what happened to her. She missed them. Her finger hovered over the third name. Natsu.
She opened his contact ID and hovered over the photo of the two of them. She focused on her face again. At the time she didn't realise it, but she looked so tired in the photo. Her eyes were heavy, her hair looked greasy and her eyes, normally wide and full of energy were duller than normal. She looked over to Natsu's face. His was bright and his smile was wide. She liked his smile, she decided. Sighing, she exited out of the photo. Why was she so fixed on this guy? It's not like she knew him.
After a few minutes, she arrived at the destination. The Harbour. She paused in her exit of the Uber driver's car. That bad feeling in her stomach hadn't subsided. Opening messages, she typed a quick message and sent it.
"Man, I'm stuffed. Haven't eaten like that in a while, hey Happy?"
The cat meowed from next to him, rubbing his face against Natsu's leg. The young pink haired man let out a belch and leaned against a railing. They had made their way from the restaurant where the girl- what was her name again?- bought him a meal and settled in the edge of a park that overlooked Hargeon's impressive harbour. Natsu didn't really understand why she did it. I mean, he wasn't the type of guy to just let that stuff happen. But getting his ass kicked out wasn't really what he had in mind. Then, he got dragged around half of Hargeon to satisfy her need to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Strange girl. He got his ass kicked worst than that when he fought the ice bastard, one little fall wasn't gonna do much. But she bought food for him so he let it go.
His phone chimed in his pocket breaking him out of his thoughts. He read the message quickly.
A few chattering girls walked past and distracted him.
"Did you hear, Salamander is in town and is holding a party on his yacht!"
"Who?"
"He's that that bartender and DJ from Fairy Tail."
Natsu's eye twitched. Fairy Tail?
"Yeah, he's pretty famous. You should see how many followers he has on twitter."
"Wow! I wish I could have gone to his party."
"I know right! It's probably gonna be epic."
His eyes sought though the Harbour until he saw a large yacht docked at the edge of the Quay, the light waves rocking it gently. There. A sudden wave of nausea hit him and he was forced to hold a hand over his mouth. Pushing past it, he scowled, thinking back to the text he just received.
"Fairy Tail, huh."
"You made it. So, it was Lucy, right? What a beautiful name, to match a beautiful girl."
Lucy smiled, hoping it didn't look too forced, as Salamander guided her though the yacht, his hand on the small of her back the whole way. She grimaced when he wasn't looking. She had made it on the yacht with plenty of time to spare before it was going to leave to make its way around the Harbour. Many jealous eyes followed her as she was shown to the VIP section of the yacht, while the rest of the guests stayed in the lower levels. She had to admit, it was an impressive yacht. Her father wasn't much of a sea lover so he never bought anything like this.
The room he brought her to was small, its walls hung with white curtains. In the centre was two couches with a small coffee table in between. He invited her to sit on one. While she went to sit down she noticed a balcony overlooking the exposed section of the yachts lower level. There were girls everywhere. But, no guys that she could see. Before she could investigate further, he passed her a drink.
"Uh, thanks," she said, taking the sparkling champagne glass that he handed her.
"To a lovely evening," the blue haired man said as brought his identical glass up to a toast, as he ran his eyes up and down her figure. She put on her best fake smile, ignoring the shiver that went down her spine. Ugh. Just a little longer, Lucy.
"Yes, and to Fairy Tail," she replied, batting her eyes at him, taking a sip. Funny, this champagne tasted a little strange. Her eyes widened in realisation.
"Who do you think you are?" she hissed, almost slamming the glass down on the coffee table, "This champagne is spiked."
Salamander narrowed his eyes at her, before a horrible grin stretched across his face.
"Hm, never expected you to figure it out so quickly."
He clicked his fingers and the surrounding curtains opened to reveal a dozen men, most carrying a girl over their shoulder. They were unconscious. Lucy's eyes widened. Oh no. Grabbing her purse, she opened it and tried to grab her pepper spray. At that moment, the yacht departed from the dock. The movement swayed her and she fumbled with the spray in her haste and dropped it, rolling away from her. Salamander caught it under his food, smirking.
She grinted her teeth and seethed at him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Salamander smiled, raising himself from his seat.
"Well, aren't you a handful. You'd best keep quiet til we get to Bosco. And don't piss me off," his charming smile twisted in a sinister grin. Lucy grinted her teeth. Bosco? They're going to Bosco?
"You said, you said you'd get me into Fairy Tail."
"Oh, yes. That. That was a lie. It was just to get you here. You and these other lovely ladies will be sold to the highest bidder."
Lucy gulped. Thinking quickly she made an attempt to run past them to the door but one grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully in to her back. She gasped in pain and was forced to sacrum to his will as he led her back to Salamander.
Lucy felt her resolve slipping. This situation was growing hopeless. What should she do? What could she do?
BANG!
The door on the side of the room broke off its hinges and fell in to the floor. Everyone gasped and looked over to the cause, but no one was more shocked as Lucy.
"Natsu?"
Short chapter, sorry! But the next should be up in a few days. :D Please review if you like!
