Lucy used the pillow in her right hand to hit her attacker and their grip loosened for a split second. She quickly used this to her advantage and brought both of her legs up kicking the attacker in the chest. She rolled off the bed and stumbled in the direction of the door. What felt like an iron bat came down on her back causing her to fall to the floor. She tried to crawl forward but a hand suddenly grabbed her ponytail and yanked her backwards.
She couldn't keep the scream from escaping her lips.
"Shoot." The man said. Using her hear he jerked her face towards him until he was only a couple of inches away from her and she could feel his breath on her.
"Where are they?" He asked, his voice dangerously low.
"What?" Lucy gasped unsure of what he was talking about. A hand suddenly struck her across the cheek and only his grip on her hair kept her from falling over.
"What do think?" He asked her.
"I don't what you're talking about." Lucy told him.
"The keys." He told her before he kneed her in the stomach and let go of her hair. She fell backwards and hit her head on something hard. An image of a box with twelve keys appeared in her mind. She curled into a ball as the man continued to kick her in the side.
"Where are they?" He yelled none too silently. Lucy thought the blows would never stop until she heard the door open.
"Lucy, is everything all right?" Levy's quiet voice said. Before Lucy could answer she heard the door was close behind Levy.
"Gihihi." The man laughed and Lucy heard Levy scream before it was cut off.
"Levy!" Lucy screamed and she tried to sit up but without success. Levy didn't say anything. It was silent and for a second and Lucy thought the man had left until she heard him kneel down in front of her. A firm hand grasped her chin and tilted it up so that she would be looking at the man if she could see. He doesn't know I'm blind. Lucy realized.
"Listen here blondie, you've got until tomorrow night to tell me where those keys are or your blue haired friend won't be coming back." He told her. His hand let go of her chin and she heard him stand up. Everything was silent except for Plue who was whimpering softly by the window. Lucy counted to thirty and when the man didn't say anything more she knew he was gone.
The tears that she'd managed to hold in started cascading down her cheeks. She let her forehead drop down so that it was touching the floor. The pain was almost unbearable but the guilt of losing Levy was far worse.
"Plue?" She whispered softly, hoping that the dog wasn't hurt too bad. She heard his paws scratch the floor as he crossed the room to come towards her. He nuzzled the back of her neck and Lucy rolled over so that she could pet him. She heard him sit down in front of her and Lucy touched him softly not sure his he was hurt or not. He suddenly leaned forward and licked her cheek.
Lucy smiled relieved that he wasn't to hurt. A few seconds she heard someone crash into the wall a couple feet away from her. For brief second she thought the man with the bat had come back until she heard the person speak.
"Where is he?" A voice she recognized but couldn't' place asked. Lucy didn't say anything still to shaken from her recent beating.
She heard someone sniff and then ask. "Hello?" Lucy finally got enough courage to say something but a new voice joined the conversation.
"Natsu, you're not supposed to barge into people's rooms." A deeper voice said. "If Erza's find's you she'll make sure you never step foot in a girl's room again." The voice added.
"Shut up, ice princess. I heard something." Natsu's voice said. Lucy remembered Mirajane say something about Natsu but she couldn't remember. Before Lucy could say something the deeper spoke again. "Let's get out of here before whoever's sleeping wakes up." He said
Before they could leave Lucy shakily stood up and tried to yell "Wait!" but it came out sounding raspy. There was silence and Lucy knew they had seen her, then Natsu spoke. "What happened to you?"
"What do you think?" The deeper voice told him.
"Be quiet Gray." Natsu said. Lucy tried to stand up but pain shot through her back and she yelped in pain as she fell forward only to be caught.
"What happened?" Natsu's voice was only inches from her.
"He took Levy." Lucy said as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Who took Levy?" Natsu asked.
"Stop asking so many questions flame brain. She's hurt and we need to get her to the infirmary." Gray said.
Lucy wanted to tell them that her wounds could wait. They had to find Levy right away.
"Natsu. Gray. What are you two doing in a girl's room?" A deep feminine voice asked, startling all three of them. "And the new girl's room, especially." She continued. Natsu quickly dropped Lucy and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out in pain.
"Natsu!" The woman said and Lucy heard her cross the room angrily.
"Waiaiait, Erza. This isn't what it seems." Gray said.
"Really." Erza said and Lucy could imagine her crossing her arms.
"Yeah." Natsu joined in but Erza must've shot him a glare because he immediately stopped talking after that.
"Enlighten me, Gray. Why are you two in a girl's room, you know that isn't allowed at the orphanage." Erza said, or more commanded.
"We were at the lounge and Natsu said he smelled something weird and then he flew out the window so I followed him and we ended up in the blonde girl's room and she said that someone took Levy, and beat her up pretty good." Gray said, way too fast for anyone to understand.
"Please say it a little slower." Erza told him. After Gray repeated it Erza asked "Is this true." Lucy didn't realize that Erza was talking to her until someone nudged her with their foot.
"Yeah." Lucy said, exhaustion beginning to take over even though she was still in pain. Gray whispered something to Erza which sounded a lot like "Go easy with her, she's blind and some guy just came in and beat her up."
"What's your name?" Erza asked nudging her with her foot.
"Lucy." Lucy told her. There was silence and then Erza said. "Natsu, go get Master Makarov, Gray go get Porlyusica. I'm gonna take Lucy to the infirmary. I'll let you off this once, because you were trying to help but if this happens again I will take the situation into my own hands." They hurried off and then Erza asked her "Can you stand?" Lucy nodded and stood up, and then with the help of Erza they made their way towards the infirmary on the first floor
Lucy felt herself drifting off when the door to the infirmary was opened.
"How is she doing?" A man's voice said.
"Porlyusica says she'll be sore for a couple days but that's about it, apparently she didn't break any bones which is surprising with the beating she took, Master Makarov." Erza explained.
"Good, could you leave us for a bit?" Makarov asked.
"Of course." Erza said and Lucy heard her make her way out of the room before closing the door behind. The Master didn't say anything for a while and Lucy wondered if he thought she was asleep. He sat down in the chair Erza had been using and then spoke.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm alright." Lucy told him. She debated on whether to tell the master about the keys that the man had mentioned.
"Do you know why the man attacked you?" He asked her. Lucy chewed on her lip, unsure of what to say. To avoid his question she asked one of her own.
"Not exactly, but do you know who attacked me?" After several moments of silence Makarov spoke.
"We have an idea, but since you couldn't see the man who attacked you we can't confirm it. But don't worry, you'll be moving into a room with Erza, so you should be safe." Lucy knew he was trying to comfort her and it worked.
"Now, back to my first question, do you know why he attacked you?" He asked again.
"No." She said before she could really think about it. Lucy knew the lie didn't sound convincing but it seemed to work.
"I'm going to go report this to the police, so I'll leave you so that you can rest." He told her she could hear him leaving when she suddenly remembered.
"How about Levy?" she asked. The old man stopped in the doorway.
"We have people out looking for her, but I can't guarantee we will find her." He told her and then he closed the door behind him. Lucy slammed her fist down on the bed, frustrated more with herself than anyone else. Why couldn't she just tell the old man what she knew? But she already knew the answer. As much as she wanted to she didn't trust these people. Even though they'd been nothing but kind. She hadn't even known them for a day and she couldn't trust people she just met.
Rolling over she pulled the blanket up over her head hoping to block the thoughts about Levy and the man with the strange laugh.