(A/N) Yet another dark chapter in this particular fanfiction...don't worry I'll have a change in tone soon enough. By the by, if you want to listen to a song while you read this chapter try Diary of a Deadman by Five Finger Death Punch...it fits this scene perfectly. Anyway I hope you enjoy chapter 4 of This Strange New World.

Jake ignored the strange looks the people of Magnolia were giving him. They probably didn't see a Fairy Tail member walking down the street drunk with a newly bought knife in his hand every day. He knew what he needed to do, he just had to find an alley far enough away from the guild house…he didn't want Kyle and/or Paige to find him until it was too late. This looks good enough, he thought. He then walked to the back of the alley and sat down with the knife hovering over his wrist, just like he had done so many times before with a razor or a pocket knife. This time was different though, he put his shirt in his mouth and bit down on it and slit his wrist and just as he had imagined blood immediately started to pour out of the new cut.

Well I may as well think about the events in my life that led up to this. I guess I'll start with those who were out to get me from the beginning.

14 years ago…

A much blonder three year old Jake sat crying, tied up in a swing set, the older kids in his old neighbor laughing at him. There was one blonde kid about four years old who was desperately trying to help him...but his peers wouldn't let him. The kid finally broke through and untied a bawling Jake and whispered reassurances to him all the while glaring at his peers, just daring them to say anything.

12 years ago….

A now slightly older Jake was getting bullied by a few fellow kindergarteners…however this time instead of crying he yelled at his peers. He had forgotten that in this class he had a teacher who hated him. This bitch of a teacher took the opportunity to send him to 'Antarctica', the time-out chair in the class without even giving him a chance to explain himself.

10 years ago…

A now seven year old Jake was once again getting bullied. The bully, a brown-haired boy named Tom, kept telling him "You're in a dream… I'm Jake and you're Tom." Jake hated this he knew Tom was just being rude, but he couldn't help but be pissed. He swore to himself that year he'd never let himself be or be anything like Tom.

4 years ago…

Jake, now 13, was getting called a nerd by a large group of boys in his gym class. Kyle was there too also being called a nerd by these boys. "These two are always together…they must be gay," said one of the kids, a tall Hispanic boy, with a sadistic smirk on his face.

Present day…

Of course if I were to be honest with myself I've never been a saint, Jake thought to himself as black spots started to dance in front of his eyes, The events of that day are some of my biggest regrets.

10 years ago…

Seven year old Jake sat next to a seven year old Paige in an assembly. The two them, who at the time only tolerated each other because of similar interests, were arguing about something Dragon Ball Z related. Bipolar seven year old Jake got a little too upset at something little Paige said and started to choke the poor girl. The teacher saw him not even ten seconds in and then took him down to the principal's office where he was told he was to be suspended for a day.

Back in the present day…

Then again there were always those who stood with me in everything I've been through, Jake thought as the world began to blur

The images flashing through Jake's mind…

A 17 year old brunette version of the four year old who saved Jake from the older kids. Paige and him laughing at something stupid one of them said. Kyle with his typical goofball smile plastered on his face. Kyle and Jake's friends who they used to get together with almost every Saturday all together. The blonde, curly-haired hipster, who was always so kind to him, placing his hand on Jake's back and asking if he was okay. His blonde-haired mother with a concerned look on her face as Jake poured his heart out to her.

Again in the present…

There were so many people he would never get to say goodbye to. Is this how it ends? All the tears all the blood, its all been for nothing. The candle of my life is starting to dwindle and flicker out…Is this the end? At that exact moment Kyle burst into the alley to find Jake lying in a pool of his own blood. "K-Kyle…" Jake managed to croak.

"Jake," Kyle said gripping his friend's slit wrist, "Don't you die on me…shit you'll lose too much blood by the time I can get you back to the guild. This is going to hurt a lot and you'll probably pass out due to the pain." When he didn't hear a response Kyle proceeded to sear his friend's wound shut. That was all Jake remembered before his world went black.