"You all shouldn't be here," Silver Fullbuster grunts with arms crossed as he waits for the group of teenagers to reach him after making their way up the driveway. "I thought I specifically told you to stay away from this place," he then asks, directing a pointed glare at Gray who ducks his head sheepishly.

"We just wanted to see if there was some way we could help with the search?" Erza states from near the font of the group, "Sitting at home doing nothing and waiting for answers is becoming too much to bear."

Silver gives the young woman a poignant look before the corner of his mouth rises into a knowing smirk. His eyes tighten as he lifts his chin just slightly to look down at the group leaving them feeling small.


Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!


"Sitting at home doing nothing huh?" he asks while looking pointedly at each teenager who all immediately look away from the male's intense gaze. "Last I heard you brats have been taking turns skipping class and heading up to Onibus without parental supervision for the past week," he says while landing his gaze on his son, his smirk disappearing, "Why are you all skipping class and going out of town without informing anyone?"

"No one has been skipping class. Where'd you get that misinformation?" Gray asks, trying to sound aloof, but Silver doesn't miss the sidelong glance Gray gives to Gajeel who looks away sheepishly, "And who said anything about us leaving town to go to Onibus?"

"Gray, you're the chief's son. There isn't a thing in this town you can't do without either me or your mother finding out," Silver states matter-of-fact, "That goes the same for the rest of you kids. Now you're lucky the workers at the train station came to me and not your mother because you'd be getting the punishment of your life for sneaking out of town without permission."

All of the teenagers quickly trade glances with one another at the news of there always being eyes on them. They shouldn't be surprised, what with Gray's parents being the top ranking officers in town, Ur being chief at the local precinct with Silver being top detective. It didn't help that Erza's parents were also a part of the force who kept tabs on the kids from time to time to make sure they were all safe.

There was also the matter that their entire friend group should undoubtedly be under constant supervision due to the destruction they tended to make from time to time. All because they were all hot-headed and short tempered with a fighting spirit that got them to get into plenty of fights. Natsu was the infamous one of the group, getting into more fights than anyone they've ever known. He even spent a night in detainment along with Gray and Gajeel for destroying a local flower stand after brawling over something they no longer remembered.

Figures that they would be constantly watched, especially now with Natsu missing under such strange circumstances.

"Umm… Mr. Fullbuster, the only reason we were going to Onibus was to study for our upcoming finals," Levy chimes while stepping up through the crowd so that Silver could see her, "We've been studying at the university's library working on our essays and other work; however, it's only been me, Gajeel, and Juvia who have been going," she explains.

"Our parents also know that we've been going after school," Juvia states, "You can ask our father the next time you see him. Also, we haven't been without adult supervision. Our cousin Jellal has been with us every day since Natsu's disappearance while my father has been busy helping with the search."

Silver eyes the teenagers suspiciously before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, say I do believe you, that doesn't mean that any of you should be anywhere near this place."

"Bu-"

"The search group has found nothing in the surrounding area. No trace of the boy anywhere, so the search has finally moved to inside the building. It's taking time to get through since the building is so old and dilapidated. It's falling apart and unstable in so many parts. Some of the floors have even caved in making it difficult for the search to go smoothly. The last thing we need is one of you going in getting lost or caught under rubble, so go home."

Everyone looks at one another before nodding and starting to head back down the way they came. Silver watches them all slowly turn to leave feeling a little bad that there was nothing else he could ask them to do to help. He could only imagine how his son and his friends have been feeling not being able to do anything to help.

Silver knew that they blamed themselves for what happened. Gray had told him and Ur about the dare he had Natsu do and it was understandable if it was eating him alive. There was only so much Silver could do to try to bring a bit of peace into his son's life, and full peace could only be brought once Natsu was finally found safe and sound.

Once the teenagers are out of sight, Silver returns back towards the manor to see what else needed to be done to continue on the search towards the second floor.

"So now what?" Erza asks Gray who had stopped halfway down the driveway to peer through the trees to watch his dad make his way back towards the manor.

"We have to come back when there aren't that many people around. Usually at night they only have a few lookouts watching the front entrance," Gray explains while surveying where the tents holding the volunteer's equipment were at.

"Are you suggesting we come back at night to survey the place?" Mirajane asks, looking a little worried at the thought of returning to this place again at night. She had barely even wanted to come back during the day, but retuning during the night made her want to puke.

"It's the only way. None of the adults will let us go into the building any other way."

"But Gray, what if we just tell your dad what we found on the blueprints. He can then coordinate the others in the rescue party to search this new discovery," Levy suggests, agreeing internally with Mirajane with not wanting to return to the manor during the night.

What if what happened to Natsu happened to one of them?

What if the building caved over them causing them to get seriously hurt or worse?

"We'd have to explain to them how we got this information and why. No offense babe, but I don't think the cops will believe our ghost theories," Gajeel interjects while turning to continue down the driveway towards the open gate.

"You guys don't have to come back with me when the time comes," Gray says stopping the others who were already beginning to follow Gajeel, "I'm the one who got that idiot into this mess, and I'll be the one to get him out. I'll be coming back soon once I've got a plan so don't you all worry. I'll get that flame brain back."

Smiles greet him along with a light smack on the back of his head.

When he looks back up after the slight pain subsides, Gray finds Erza looking at him with a soft smile on her face as she states, "As if we'd let you go on your own. You're dumb enough to get yourself stuck along with Natsu wherever he is if you go on your own."

The others laugh, agreeing with the red head, before turning to continue their trek back towards town. All the while they start thinking up of ways that they can return in the night to get up to the third floor where the blueprints to the building stated there was a hidden passage somewhere.

For now the group would have to wait until the second and third floors were cleared. This meant that they would have to keep their ears open for news on progress and see if the searchers find anything while they continue to plan.

Anything could go wrong once they entered the old manor, and they needed to be prepared.

Hopefully Natsu could hold out long enough for them to go and rescue him.


"LUCY!"

Rushing down another corridor, Natsu stops to sniff the air and strain his ear for any sign of Lucy, but he finds nothing except her faint scent. Wherever the dolls had taken her they were too far now for him to hear them, and with whatever speed they were going at it was making it hard to track Lucy's scent.

The building still smelled of mildew and dust making Natsu's nose itch as it tried its best to track down Lucy. Not to mention that when he did catch her scent he'd quickly lose it after chasing it up or down staircases that he came across. It terrified him to search for her for too long because he knew that the dolls only came out at night, and if day came it would be impossible to find the blonde any time soon.

"DAMMIT!" Natsu furiously roars while jumping two flights of stairs when he hears the familiar childish giggling of the dolls that have tormented him in his nightmares for months. "Give her back!" he yells while throwing a vase he randomly gets his hands on when he finds a giggling doll rushing away from him down the hall.

He misses the doll as it disappears around a corner, howling in childish laughter, while the vase shatters against the wall.

~pLaY wItH uS nAtSuUu~

~PlAy WiTh Us~

~pLaY wItH uS~

The dolls continue to chant once Natsu finds them and chases them through the corridors while others chase and try to catch him. He's able to dodge out of their grasps and prevent them from grabbing hold of him, but they're just as good at dodging his attacks. They only seem to laugh harder with glee when they escape him at the last second as if this was all just some stupid game. It angered Natsu because all he wanted was to get Lucy back.

"Get back here you little…" Natsu lunges at a baby doll trapped in a corner, ready to strangle the misshapen toy when it slips past him giggling as it went. "Dammit! Tell me where Lucy is!" he demands but they tell him nothing. They only repeat for him to play with them in that disgusting distorted voice while laughing around him.

They were taunting him and Natsu could not figure out what to do except attack them to no avail.

No one was winning this game of cat and mouse and it was starting to make Natsu panic. He didn't know how long he had now until daytime and the more the dolls evaded and disappeared around corners the more his chances of getting to Lucy quickly were diminishing.

The truth is in the dolls…

Natsu's mother's words come back to him when he swipes the air to try to snatch another doll succeeding in only ripping off the wooden marionette doll's cloth shoe before it escaped again; however, Natsu still couldn't figure out what she meant by that. What truth did the dolls have if they wouldn't even tell him where they had Lucy. What other truth could be more important that that?

Still, Natsu knew that the advice given to him by his mother was probably something she was going to tell him before Lucy was taken. This meant that the dolls had more significance than he thought and Natsu needed to find another way to get them to cooperate with him.

All he knew about the creatures is that they were dolls of varying sizes and types ranging from baby dolls, marionette dolls, straw dolls, porcelain, and many others. Another thing about them was that they sounded like possessed children and constantly asked him to play with them. Even now, when it could technically be said that he was playing with them, they were still asking him to play.

"What would the others do at a time like this?" Natsu asks himself as he tries to catch his breath while a few dolls drift around his head continuing to taunt him.

He's losing energy and fast. He doesn't think he can keep up with them much longer, not to mention that their numbers have started to dwindle. Daylight must not be too far off now so Natsu needed to think up of something and now!

For some odd reason all Natsu can think at that moment is his younger cousin Wendy. She is Jellal's younger sister and they rarely got to see one another because of how far she lived with her mother. Only during the summers or winter breaks did they ever get to see one another.

Being the youngest, Wendy hardly ever got the attention from the others when she wanted to play. Sometimes she'd go for hours trying to convince the others to play a game with her only to be shot down time and again. Gajeel had no patience for her, Juvia liked to be alone most of the time, Jellal was too old and Natsu would get busy. She was alone and would do the only thing she could do to get any of them to play with her. She'd whine.

It tended not to work too well with the others who would often yell for her to stop only for her to run off crying. When she would do it to Natsu, however, he always found himself caving. He'd let her take him off to play and sometimes he would even rope in the others just so that they could spend some time with the small girl too, much to Gajeel's chagrin. Looking at the dolls now, flying around him, asking him to play with them, he can't help but slowly feel himself start to give in to their demand.

Natsu opens his mouth to tell them that he'll agree to play when they all freeze up and the corridor gets suddenly quiet. They each look in the same direction before turning and floating away down the opposite way as if trying to get away from something all while whispering urgently amongst one another.

Daylight.

Panicking Natsu runs after them when they round a corner and is relieved to see that they're still within eyesight before he reaches up and yells out a desperate, "WAIT!"

They thankfully pause halfway down the hallway to turn to look at him watching silently with glass eyes as Natsu pants. They wait patiently to see what he will say or do when he straightens up and with a determined look heaves a heavy sigh.

"Fine… let's play…"


Just a tad late with this chapter due to a busy weekend, but I finally got to post it!

It's a bit short because I did not want to drag it out too much and really liked where I ended it. I hope you all enjoyed it and I've got to say it's really good to be back! Definitely missed you all so much.

Shout Outs

Great amazing thanks to my Fanstastic Favorites...

- Ushindi

- Ferociana

- Otaku444

To my Fabulous Followers...

- Ferociana

- Otaku444

And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...

- shootingstarssel = Thank you, it's good to be back on the ball again! Hope you've been well and that you enjoyed this chapter!

- Ushindi = Thanks, tho this time I'm really trying not to make you guys wait so long again lol. Also, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!

- DecemberRome = What can I say. Cliffhangers are my Kryptonite that I always find myself parting in again and again lol.

- stranger1999 = Thank you! It's so good to be back! I'm also glad you liked the chapter. It definitely kept me stuck real good there for a while but it was all worth it for you guys.

- Sele de la Luna = I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the last chapter. More angst coming right up!

Well that's all the shout outs for today.

If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.

Until next time my ghoulies!