"Hey I've got an idea." Mystogan said shortly after they arrived back at his house. "Why don't we watch a movie and fix some popcorn? Grandpa is away at bingo night so he won't be here to complain about the noise."
"That sounds great." Wendy said.
"Alright you go pick out a movie and I'll get started on the popcorn."
Mystogan went into the kitchen to fix some microwave popcorn but he soon discovered that they were all out. So he decided to make some from scratch. There was a jar of kernels on the top shelf and a popcorn maker in the garage. With that plan in mind he went outside to the garage and searched for the machine. He had to look through various boxes that had been stashed away but eventually he found it. However when he tried to get back inside the house he couldn't because the door was locked.
"That's weird." He thought. "I'm sure I didn't lock it."
He went around to the front and the back, trying out both doors but both of them were locked. He knocked on the front door to get Wendy's attention. She had just picked a VHS tape to watch when she heard the knocking sound.
"Who is it?" She called from behind the front door.
"Wendy it's Mystogan. I'm locked out." He said. "Can you let me in?"
"Yeah sure."
Wendy turned the door latch in the opposite direction to unlock it but oddly enough the door still wouldn't open. She tried it three times, only to get the same results.
"Uncle Mystogan something's wrong with the door." She said. "It won't unlock. It's like it's stuck or something."
"Alright let's try the backdoor."
She moved to go toward the backdoor but stopped when the power suddenly went out and a feeling came over her. One that told her that she wasn't alone in that house and that there was another presence. She recognized the presence as something from beyond death like when she felt the presence of Gray, Juvia, Natsu, and Lucy that first time but there was something different about this one. This one was like her friends's.
Her friends, despite being dead gave off a depressing and sad aura but it was also one that was warm and kind. In other words she could sense that despite their decaying and frightening presence, she could also sense that they were goodintentioned and would never hurt her. But this presence was the total opposite. Yes it was the same kind of decaying and frightening aura but it was also sadistic and cruel. An aura that made a chill run down her spine and want to get out of the house as soon as possible.
In fact that's exactly what she would have done had the floor not started to shake and the electric appliances not started to moving on their own and toward her. Wendy screamed, Mystogan heard her and saw what was happening from the window. He immediately tried to break the door down but was thrown back by an electrical shock. He then tried to break a hole in one of the windows but the glass just restored itself instantly. Wendy made the same attempts to escape but she got the same results of her uncle. It was no use. He couldn't get in and she couldn't get out.
Scared and desperate beyond all reason, Wendy could only think of one thing to save herself. She raced back to the guest room she was staying in, the machines chased her. She slammed the door and pushed a heavy chair in front of it to hold them off. She knew it wouldn't hold them for long but hopefully long enough for her to do what might save her life. She began to search her bag for something while praying to God that she hadn't of lost it or left it at home by mistake but to her relief she found it.
It was the stone with a hole in the center that Gray had given her. She had just grabbed the stone from her bag when the machines broke down the door and latched on to her with their wires and plugs. She fell to the floor and dropped the stone, the machines started dragging her but she struggled and fought the best way she could while reaching for the stone. By the glory of God she managed to grab it again and after summoning her strongest breath, she whistled through the stone's hole.
Back at Wendy's house Natsu was still in the In-Between trying to see Cana, Lucy was still in her room trying to sort of her feelings and memories, and Gray and Juvia were just sitting across from each other in the empty flat. They were not speaking to each other, he was just reading a horror novel while she was doing some cross stitching. In truth they were trying to distract to each other from how awkward they were feeling about each other since that dance and little kiss they shared in the snow.
Now it's not like they were now uncomfortable with each other it's just that moment made them both feel so strange, unsure, nostalgic, and familiar. They didn't know what to think of what happened and what it meant. They had both written it off as completely meaningless but deep down they knew that it was a lie. It did mean something because Gray had never been known to be very emotional or show any romantic interest in the opposite sex yet he had kissed her and that had triggered a few tears for Juvia along with a very bittersweet feeling. She had wanted to talk to him about it but she didn't know how to go about it.
Then the moment of awkward silence was broken when Gray just suddenly stood up from his chair and dropped his book.
"Gray what's wrong?" Juvia asked.
"I hear it!" He replied.
"Hear what?"
"Wendy whistling. She's whistling through the spirit stone. That means something's wrong and she needs us. Come on."
He took her by the hand and pulled her toward the shadow of a chair that had been projected on to the wall. In a flash they were both gone and traveled to Mystogan's house through the shadow of Mystogan's lamp. They heard Wendy screaming and followed the screams into the kitchen where the found the terrified girl being dragged to the firey oven which had grown in size and developed a consciousness.
"Gray! Juvia! Help me! Help me!" She screamed with tears of horror streaming down her face.
Using her telekinesis powers, Juvia attempted take control of the appliances and force them to release Wendy or at least stall them from destroying her long enough for Gray to get her loose. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled as hard as he could.
"Gray it won't let go!" Wendy shrieked. "Gray it's going to burn me!"
"Hold on!" He shouted while tightening his grip on her. "I got you!"
"It's hurting me!"
"Gray hurry! I can't hold them off much longer!" Juvia cried.
At last he pulled Wendy from the wire's hold and they both threw their arms around her as they willed telekinesis and the shadows to crush the machines and burst into an explosion which they shielded her from.Then the chaos finally ceased.
"Wendy are you alright?"Juvia asked gently. "Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see."
"Anything broken?" Gray asked. "Were you burned or cut?"
Gray and Juvia began to check her body for injuries but luckily she had sustained none.
"Wha...What was that?" Wendy asked while trying to keep anymore tears from being shed.
"We don't know but it's gone now." Gray said. "We got rid of it."
"But what if it comes back?" She trembled. "It might come back!"
She broke down crying.
"Don't cry Wendy." Juvia said before softly wiping her face with a handkerchief. "You're safe now. We're here and we won't let anything happen to you."
"We promise." Gray added.
When Mystogan finally made to get inside he was scared out of his mind that the explosion he saw either killed or seriously injured his niece. Imagine his great relief when he found her alive and unharmed.
"Wendy!" He picked his niece up from the floor, unaware that he had also taken her from the arms of two people who were afraid to let her go. "Thank God you're okay! I mean you are okay right? You're not hurt are you?"
"No."
"God be praised. Come on we're going to get Grandpa and go to a hotel. I'll call your parents and tell them what happened."
He took her outside to his car. Gray and Juvia followed, taking a seat in the back and keeping their eyes open for anything that might suddenly spring time life and harm the girl in the passenger front seat.
