Eyes Closed
Summary: When Lucy is home alone with Wendy enjoying their Friday night when she soon overhears that a renowned serial killer had escaped a nearby mental ward. The blonde attempts to protect the young Wendy from the possibility of danger, as Natsu races the clock to get back home to his younger sister and best friend. He wasn't about to let anything happen to girls, not ever. HS AU
Rating: T for gruesome mentions, mildly mature themes, and some adult related situations
Author's Note: This fanfiction began as a random idea that stemmed from watching a Pewdiepie video of a babysitter horror game in middle school and since the time I began this fanfiction, I am now an adult so a lot has happened since I first established the concept of this idea. It will include mentions of violence, assault, murder, and a lot more themes that may end up pushing this story to a mature rating in the end. I'm not 100% how dark I intend for this fanfiction to go, and I don't intend on spoiling it either. It will be slow, with a lot of flashbacks to further establish the main couple's relationship at the current point of the story. Chapters won't be long, because I want to spread the events along with many chapters. It won't be a super long story, but it will be great. Buckle up and enjoy the ride of my horror-isque, suspenseful, action-packed NaLu highschool AU.
{Formally named: IABS GMOOH (I am a babysitter, get me out of here) by Chikachoo}
Chapter 1: Scary Movie
"The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long."
-Natsu Dragneel
Lucy
Delicate fingertips tapped against the wooden coffee table, as the blonde girl listlessly glanced at her phone. There wasn't much to view on her small handheld device besides the usual posts from people she followed on social media. That of which included pictures of nature and images of her friends from high school.
"Lucy, do you know what time Natsu will get home?" A soft voice called out from in front of the girl, causing her to shift her eyes up to view the small twelve-year-old, Wendy.
"He should get home around 11 pm or midnight, he said he had to work a late shift tonight," Lucy replied with a sigh, referring to the younger girl's older brother.
Natsu Dragneel was one of the town's hotheads who was always known for getting into trouble wherever he went. Whether it was starting a fight with anything with legs, or occasionally setting things and people aflame. Everyone in the small city of Magnolia knew the pyromaniac, having earned him the title, "Salamander."
The reason Lucy was at the Dragneel's family house was that that Friday night, Wendy's parents Igneel and Grandine had gone off to their weekly date night. Although they insisted they wouldn't be gone long, the blonde teenager knew they were planning to stay the whole weekend out of town for a well-deserved break from their hot-tempered son.
The blonde's day had been a slow one because it was summer vacation which meant no school for her. The seventeen-year-old girl was enjoying the leisure time though and didn't mind making a few extra bucks while she was at it.
It wasn't even much of an inconvenience for Lucy to watch the young girl, because she spent most of her time at the Dragneel household anyways. They'd always been close family friends through Natsu, which his parents accepted as their second daughter upon meeting her.
She'd been struggling to live alone after her father's death, leaving her an orphan. Lucy had bounced around hotels for a while before settling at a cheap place to stay. Despite her affordable one-room and bathroom apartment, she spent a lot of her time with the four-member family a lot while staying in their guest bedroom.
Despite paying for her own place she always felt comfortable being with the family, the Dragneel's made her feel less lonely. It felt as if she had a loving supportive family with her.
"Lucy, do mind if we make some popcorn? I'm excited to watch the movie, but I'm feeling kinda hungry." Wendy asked with a sweet smile adorning her face. With that kind of expression, how could her babysitter say no?
The teenager got up with a smirk of her own liking the idea, muttering a reply of approval to the girl before walking off into their kitchen.
The Dragneel household wasn't the fanciest, to say the least, seeing as Lucy spent her young years growing up in a giant mansion owning over ten-thousand acres of land in her family name. However, something about the small house she was currently in was cozy and friendly. It was a home fit for a loving family.
As soon as Lucy grabbed a bag of popcorn from the box and placed it in the microwave, a notification sound from her phone caught her attention. After she clicked the popcorn button on the microwave, she then went to check her messages.
Natsu: How are you two doing?
Lucy let out a soft audible giggle upon reading his message. They both knew very well he wasn't allowed to text during his work hours, but it was just like her best friend to always worry about her. He was one of the most caring guys she was glad to be close with.
Lucy: We are fine, just making popcorn for the movie :)
After sending the reply, she let out a soft sigh listening to the popping sounds of the kernels go off in the microwave. She silently counted down each second of the microwave timer in her head. Even when asking small questions and making light conversation the pink-haired boy always seemed to make Lucy's mood instantly become positive.
He always seemed to be the one person who could truly make her happy for how sweet he was, even if his true kindness was normally hidden behind his rambunctious behavior.
Natsu: Good, well I'll be home as soon as Ice Freak and I finish closing up this place. It shouldn't be too long, then we will finally get the party started at home.
He replied with a bunch of fire emojis after, but that was Natsu for you. The nickname being for his childhood friend, Gray Fullbuster, whom he was currently with. The ice-related nickname being for the fact the dark-haired boy was pretty cold, to say the least. That and he had an obsession with frozen treats.
The way he replied to her message revealed how he would typically act. He would usually show his true sensitive emotions just to cover them with a comment that was light-hearted and silly. Although, that's what made the pink-haired boy Natsu, by avoiding any true emotional conversation. In this case, him being worried about his girls, and then covering it with a comment about his coworker.
As soon as the microwave timer went off, Lucy rushed over and removed the steamy hot bag to cool down. After she set the bag down newly opened, she grabbed two bowls to divide the popcorn between the two, ensuring a fair amount.
She then grabbed the bowls and her cellphone before heading back over to the living room. As soon as Wendy's childish face lit up in excitement upon seeing the snack, Lucy couldn't help but smile in return. It was amazing what the sight of food could do to all the members of the Dragneel family.
"Thank you, Lucy!" The darker-haired girl cheered, upon grabbing her hot bowl of buttery popcorn.
"No problem, Wendy," the blonde replied with a soft smile. Once the two were both situated comfortably on the couch, they began the horror movie they had lined up after the previous flick had concluded.
The twelve-year-old wasn't exactly old enough to watch scary movies above the PG rating. However, Lucy was in charge then, and what was the fun in watching kid-friendly movies late on a Friday night?
The dimmed lights in the living room added to the suspense of the horror flick, having both normally timid girls at the edge of their seats. As the orchestrated notes sped up from the sound of the movie, Lucy and Wendy's heartbeats increased at the same rate. They knew the music was signaling that something was about to soon pop out and jump scare them. At that exact moment the apex of the scene hit, a noise went off in their house causing the two to scream.
The two frightened girls looked at each other with terrified looks having abandoned the popcorn to a mess on the ground. They both finally realized the sound hadn't come from the movie once that scene ended up being very anti-climatic. The sound had been from Lucy's phone alarm, stating to her it was 11 pm, the time Natsu should be arriving home.
The two let out a giggle, having paused the movie. They both found it hilarious how they had been more scared from the phone's ringtone than the actual movie.
Lucy immediately dismissed her alarm and went to check her recent messages she'd been ignoring during the movie.
59 new messages
Her eyes practically jumped out of her head upon seeing that number. She was lucky enough to have two messages half the time, much less than many. The blonde was initially shocked with the fact she hadn't overhead the notification for any of them before she remembered her texts were muted.
She immediately opened her messaging app and began scrolling through the conversations, first viewing her group chat with her friends Erza, Gray, and Natsu.
Erza: Hey guys, I just saw on the news that some guy escaped a mental ward.
Gray: What about it?
Erza: The guy is known as the mass murder Jackal.
Gray: Are you serious? They let him escape!?
Erza: He was the guy who killed all those innocent girls a few years back, but they placed him in a mental hospital since he claimed everything was under his god, Zeref.
Natsu: Zeref. I feel like I heard that name before.
Gray: I think he's the guy that had all those occult worshippers serving him. But that was so long ago.
Erza: Well anyways, stay safe guys. He is a mass murderer, and he is on the loose in our city.
Gray: Will do thanks Erza.
Natsu: Yeah, thanks.
After reading the rest of the full conversation, Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion as to what was going on. She'd read about people escaping prison cells to go into people's homes in novels and horror films, but never did she expect to be in that situation of her own.
As soon as she finally realized that it was all real, she quickly switched over to see the spam of messages Natsu had left for her.
Natsu: Lucy, are you two okay?
Natsu: I should be home soon!
Natsu: Don't worry about what Erza said. I will protect you both.
Natsu: Why aren't you answering?
Natsu: Please tell me everything's alright.
Natsu: If you don't answer soon I'm going to call Wendy, so please answer.
Natsu: Lucy...I'm serious.
Natsu: Goddammit, why won't they let me just go home already!
Natsu: Of all days!
Natsu: Gramps said it's unsafe to leave, but that's the whole reason I want to get back home!
Natsu: Ugh, just don't worry. I'll do what I can to get back as soon as possible.
Lucy immediately felt bad for not responding earlier to the boy who was caring so much about her and his little sister. She probably had him worried sick, so the young woman quickly responded before he could freak out again.
Lucy: Don't worry, we are both fine just waiting on you to get home.
She let out a sigh in relief, seeing as at least he was safe himself when he responded with a bunch of happy emojis and flames. The blonde knew he was just trying to cheer her up with emoticons, and he was probably still very worried. Everyone knew Natsu had an extremely protective nature, so she didn't even expect him to be calm until he got home.
"Wendy, let's make sure and lock up the place for good this time. It looks like there's a crazy guy on the loose, who might put us in a plot of our own scary movie." Lucy told the girl with a light laugh, hoping to not freak out the younger girl but still aware of the situation.
"Okay, Lucy," The purple-haired girl replied with a smile, about to get up to double-check if the doors were locked.
As soon as the two girls stood up, the lights in the house immediately flickered off as if the whole domicile had lost power. The two young girls shot each other a frightened look, obviously confused about what had just happened.
What was going on in their small city of Magnolia, and what was going to happen to the two girls?