A/N: The next installment on the edited chapters! Just reminding everyone that I am editing these chapters, not changing the overall story. Some will be edited more than others. Enjoy!
"This is all your fault, Mr. Rebel! We should have gone back right away, not waited this long for her! She could be dead by now!" Lucy cried out, berating the pink haired boy in front of her. Every sentence brought another flinch from him. She brought her hands to her face, her whole body tensing up for a moment, before she dropped her hands and looked as thought she was trying to grasp onto something… anything in front of her. "No, actually," Lucy turned on Natsu again, desperate fire in her eyes, "we shouldn't have done this in the first place."
"You didn't want to go back until sunup either!" Natsu shot back, trying to defend himself as he smacked a branch out of his way, "and it was your bright idea to not call anyone about it either."
An offended huff, half sputter, erupted from the blonde, "Did you want to make that call? 'Oh yeah we went and trespassed in this top secret building and found a monster and it might have killed our friend.' That would have gone over so well." The sarcasm was biting, enough to beat down Natsu's head a little further on his shoulders.
Sure, they had gotten into hairy things before(usually Natsu's idea), but this was the first time… really the first time they had gotten into something this serious. I am too young to lose my best friend!
Natsu finally mustered up the bravery to look back at his blonde companion, fists balled at her sides and puffy eyes staring down at the ground in front of her. A deep frown creased his features and he grabbed her small fists in his hands.
Lucy looked up finally to make eye contact and Natsu tried to give her a reassuring smile, but did a remarkably poor job of it. Still, Lucy released the tension in her fist and intertwined her fingers in his. The lopsided, awkward smile did manage to distract her for a second. He squeezed her hand gently, trying to impart some courage on her, before they pushed forward to follow the same path they took the night before.
Their pace and the daylight brought them back to the facility much faster this time. As the brush and threes started to clear, the threatening fence-line came into view. Just down the border, they saw her.
"Levy!" He shouted, no response. Natsu ran to her side and hovered over her, not sure where to put his hands. His eyes wandered to the bloody branch by her head and the sight of red shot tension into him.
"She must have been right behind us… she must have," Lucy choked out, leaning down next to Natsu, "Is she…" It came out barely as a whisper, and she shut her eyes tight, hiding from the answer.
"She's breathing." Natsu replied quickly to dash her building dread, and he reached out to gently shake the unconscious girl's shoulder. "Levy…!" He called to her, but nothing. Wrinkling his brow in determined concern, he moved then to scoop her up in his arms carefully.
"She's going to need stitches…" Lucy tried to keep her voice steady, but the crack in her tone as she bit back tears of relief was clear as day. For her sake, Natsu pretended not to notice and hummed in response.
"At least 'we were being stupid in the woods and she hit her head' is a better story…" he commented, and Lucy huffed a mirthless laugh.
Ugh….so bright… Honey-colored eyes blinked open, squinted painfully and closed again. "Nnnh…." she groaned and smacked her lips together, trying to wet them again. A few more minutes. Just a few more.
"You're awake!"
The shrill, eager voice shattered what sleep she had left in her and instead stoked the flame of a throbbing headache.
"Levy, can you hear me?"
"Luce…" Levy croaked, her tongue dry, "I hear you." The girl licked her lips to try and wet them, pausing to try and gather the energy to speak again. In that pause, her wits started to return to her, and the understanding of where she was… rather, the lack of understanding caught up. Levy opened her eyes again suddenly and tried to sit up, "Where—"
"The hospital, don't worry you're okay." Lucy said quickly, handles gently pressing against her shoulders to ease her back down. "Hold on, don't hurt yourself. They said you hit your head pretty hard, but no concussion," the blonde explained. "Natsu would have stayed but he said he needed to go make a cover for us not coming home last night."
You talk so fast… Levy thought, but nodded in understanding. "Help me up. Slow," she asked, trying to slowly ease herself up. A supporting hand pushed her up the rest of the way, and Levy smiled gratefully to her friend.
She took a second to steady herself, before reaching up to touch the gash on her head. But instead, she found that it had been covered over by gauze and tape. "How long have I been here?"
"Only a few hours," Lucy answered. "You needed stitches, and the nurse said something about head wounds bleeding more than usual so you probably passed out after losing enough blood. They don't even think you needed pain meds aside from anything you can buy at the store, just rest. She said you could be discharged as soon as you were comfortable enough to walk," she explained.
Levy sighed in relief and nodded, but the elephant in the room was unmistakable. She was fully awake now and there was no real way for them to ignore what they had been through. With Levy's side on it now as well, it was even harder to ignore. But could Levy even say anything about it to Lucy? She was her best friend, she could tell her anything. But this… this was something else entirely. Her expectant glance from the corner of her eye must have cued Lucy off.
"Levy…did, all of that really happen? What was the last thing you remember before blacking out?" She asked quietly, glancing to the door. "We found you just outside the fence."
Levy lifted her eyes in surprise. Outside? "I remember…" The image of red, glowing eyes flashed through her mind. I remember seeing the stairs but that's it. How did I get outside? She knew, fuzzy as everything was, that the last thing she saw were the stairs. She couldn't say thing to Lucy about it; of that she was certain. "I remember following you and Natsu. Then I think…I think I hit something. It's fuzzy after that." Lie. It felt awful to lie to her.
"What do you think that thing was, though?" She pressed, seeming to buy Levy's story. The fear, the derision was clear in her voice; and for some reason it bothered Levy to hear the man referred to as such.
"No idea," Levy answered. "It is almost Halloween. Maybe it was just some guys playing a prank." She suggested, and Lucy shot her a skeptical look. "It's possible. You've met some of Natsu's friends," Levy tried to smile. That point in particular seemed to sell Lucy a little on the idea. "Whatever it was, I think it's better if we don't tell anyone about it. We technically shouldn't have been there in the first place…"
Lucy brought her hand up to her mouth, pinching her lip between her thumb and forefinger in thought. "Yeah," she conceded. Levy did have a point. Like she had told Natsu earlier, it's not like anyone would believe them or hear anything other than the fact they trespassed in a highly restricted area. "I'm perfectly fine never thinking about that place ever again!" Lucy declared, met with a 'shushing' motion from Levy.
"Careful," she cautioned. Lucy looked abashed, putting a hand over her mouth. "It's agreed then," Levy added finally, "And I really, really want a shower. Get me out of here."
Levy spent the rest of the day splayed out on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her damp, wild waves created a halo on the comforter beneath her. A delicate finger twirled a lock absentmindedly, trying to add a tempo to her thoughts.
Her house was empty and quiet…like always. Only the muffled sound of birdsongs brought life into the place.
The house was small, simple, and easy to maintain. Her particular neighborhood was a bit outside of town, which brought the luxury of having more greenery in the form of old-growth trees that she often found herself reading under. The forests surrounding Magnolia edged up on her back yard, and quietly hugged the little neighborhood.
Between a part-time (turned full-time after graduation) bookstore job, and a modest inheritance, she could pay the bills comfortably. Truly her only real expenses were books and something to decorate the place a little more here and there. It had helped that the house was left to her as… well, gift doesn't really seem to be the right word. It might be best to just say, 'left to her.' Left behind.
Many of her former classmates lived very close, Natsu and Lucy included. In fact she could walk quite easily to both of them and they all kind of fell on the same street.
Lucy had been begging her for the months leading up to and after graduation to move in with her, but Levy couldn't bring herself to leave the house behind. In a manner of speaking, she felt it was her responsibility to keep it. And Lucy knew she couldn't ask to move in; the extra bedroom was off limits.
Levy understood Lucy's motives, but the girl slept over so often and vice versa, that they may as well have been living together. Lucy had a drawer and a toothbrush here, even.
She tried again to close her eyes, trying to quiet her thoughts, but the same vision came to her and set her on edge. Levy had tried to sleep, to close her eyes and get the rest she knew she needed. But every time she closed her eyes, she could only see those red eyes. All she could think about was that creature…man. His face, filled with so much anger and the most intriguing touch of fear. Levy had a hard enough time figuring out why she was still alive, it gave her even more of a headache to try and figure out how she had gotten outside. The possibility that he had done it came to her mind, but it was too much of a stretch for her to entertain.
Eventually, her train of thought slowly moved in a different direction. Levy wanted to know what happened to him. Her curiosity burned like a vicious fire in her chest: what made him like that and what happened in that lab. Maybe if she had gotten a hold of any of the books or journals she had hoped to find there in the first place, she might have gleaned some kind of answer. Just like that, the original reason they went there came back up and she found herself just as painfully curious as before.
Levy frowned and rolled over to prop herself up on her elbows, looking now at the light filtering in through her window. Her brows knit, and she nibbled absentmindedly on her fingernail. Should I… she started to think, before she glanced to the side at her phone, where a message from Lucy lit up the screen periodically. "Let me know if you wake up early, I'll come over and make dinner! 3″
Levy looked now to the clock on the nightstand. Four fifty. Some daylight left, but not a lot.
Am I…
The blunette closed her eyes, gnawing anxiously on her fingernails still. Okay but what if…
A small, defeated groan escaped her. There was no use fighting this; she knew herself well enough than to bother trying to tell herself she didn't want to seek the answer to a question.
I'm going to.
A deep breath in, a slow exhale out, and she sat up with purpose and pocketed her cell phone. "I need another flashlight. And a backpack."
Levy tried to stick to the same path they had the night before, and the remaining daylight provided some more assistance than they had the night before. But still, she knew far better than to let herself get comfortable in any capacity, and remained ever alert. In terms of wilderness, she knew she was not alone in these woods. That should have deterred her, or any reasonable person like her friends.
Soon, the trees began to thin and she came to the chain-link fence again. The déjà vu crashed down upon her suddenly, stopping her mid-step and catching the breath in her throat. What are you doing?! Her more rational self berated her. The lab loomed beyond the fence, windows dirty and dark. Her tiny hands gripped her backpack's straps and she bit her lip, taking a small step backwards. It had taken this long for her thoughts to actually catch up to what her impulse had pushed her to do, and now the final choice was too daunting.
I'm…I'm here now. And I won't ever get it out of my head until I know more, she steeled herself. Levy swallowed hard, nodded, and pushed ahead along the fence. She had maybe an hour of daylight left, and she may as well take advantage of it outside where the light could actually reach. Ducking through the opening in the fence, her eyes continued to dart around the expansive, overgrown grounds of the facility, checking for any movement.
With a pop in her step, Levy quickly darted to the front of the building, getting a better look now at the smashed doors. Could he really have done this? And all I came out with were four stitches?
The girl slipped one strap of her pack off her shoulder so she could rummage around inside and pull out her light. She made sure to tuck a wrapped item carefully at the top of her belongings before she zipped it up and slid the strap back up. Levy swallowed hard again, before pushing herself inside, treading carefully. She wasn't entirely sure where she planned on going, and thought that maybe she should head back downstairs where they first found him. The stairs were wrecked though, I remember that much. So that wasn't likely to be an option, okay. I may as well try looking around more.
Her flashlight's beam swung across her path, illuminating countless abandoned desks. She could now appreciate how different this floor looked as opposed to the basement. Sure, the unidentifiable machinery was still littered around, but between what looked like potted plants(that died who knows how long ago), assorted desks and large, dirty windows, this floor looked more like a showroom than anything else.
Her fingertips trailed lightly along a desk, shuffling papers that had nothing of real interest on them. Looks like menial desk work. she thought, disappointed. There was still, however, the floor that she had not get gotten to. If the basement looked as horrific as it did, it made sense that was where the work was done. This was the floor shown to donors; she could only imagine the back rooms having large projector screens and scribbled upon whiteboards. Then then top floor could have been any number of things. Could have been another experimental floor.
Not likely. Levy shook her head. The next option was record keeping. Sure there were probably scribbles in notebooks downstairs, but there had to be somewhere they kept actual records. And the top floor seemed really promising for that. A prick of excitement flared up in Levy's chest, and she turned from the desk abruptly with an established decision in mind.
Instead of illuminating the once open room behind her, it reflected off what looked like a wall of metal. A wall that started to shake with a deep, threatening growl.
Levy stumbled backwards and knocked right back into a desk. The sudden sensation of being cornered, again, washed over her. Her honey-colored eyes flew up to meet very red, very angry eyes. And again, she felt the words rising in her throat faster than she could think to stop them.
"I have sandwiches!"