The demon inside.
By: LemonSherbert
Chapter 18: Unstoppable.
I do not own any of the characters in this story, they are owned by the creator of Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima, do enjoy and don't forget to review.
Levy watched the stream disappear under the bridge that they neared, the rain was slowly dying down though it was still quiet heavy and she sighed. They hadn't spoken the rest of the way, occasionally she opened her mouth to speak but threw the idea away, sometimes it was just better to stay quiet. Gajeel stepped over the threshold of the bridges shelter and he stopped walking, prompting Levy to do the same and she watched curiously as he closed the umbrella and shook away the rain drops.
"Let's just... stay here for a minute..." he grumbled as he walked over to the wall and leaned on it, Levy nodded though she stayed by the bank of the stream, watching the water rush against the rocks. "Are you scared?" Gajeel asked and she looked up from the water before turning to face him. He was watching her, his blood red eyes not leaving her as she bit her lip and nodded.
"Yes... I'm terrified, I don't know if I can do this, I'm weak and small... I don't stand a chance in a fight like this..." she answered truthfully and Gajeel scoffed as he kicked a rock into the water. Levy's golden eyes followed him as he knelt down, his knees not touching the floor and the umbrella between his legs as he placed his chin on its handle.
"I've watched you get up, bloody, bruised, then just walk away as if it's nothing, I've seen you fall from a building and then pretend that you were perfectly fine, your brother died, your friends could die, you could die and you still want to fight, I don't know about you but to me... that makes someone pretty damn strong..." he told her and she felt her cheeks burn as she looked away. "Strength doesn't mean how much you can lift or how well you can take a punch, you can be the weakest fighter in the ring but if you keep getting up after every blow then you're stronger than everyone there because you don't give up" Gajeel said, his deep voice slightly echoing under the bridge and Levy knelt down, keeping her knees together as she dipped her hand into the freezing water, watching her distorted reflexion.
"I'm still not strong, I just want to run away, I want to hide... I'm scared, I want to cry and scream and hit something, I'm not strong enough for this... everyone has so much hope in me being able to do something but I can't!" She sniffled as she stood up, tearing her eyes from the monstrous, blurry reflection of herself and she looked up at him, her eyes were sparkling, ready to flood with tears.
"They have hope because they know you can do it...I know you can do it, if you can fight your brother then you can fight this guy... fight for your brother for fuck sake, even if I wanted to kill him, let that anger go and just destroy him, rip him apart, lose control for once!" Gajeel exclaimed and stood up, clutching the umbrella and she shook her head. That wasn't an option, losing control would put to many people at risk.
"I can't do that, I can't lose myself... I've done it before and... It doesn't matter, I just can't lose control!" She argued and he glared at her as he stepped forwards, his strides covering the distance between them instantly.
"What happened... what made you so afraid of losing control, what made you so disgusted to feed from humans?" He asked and she looked away, it was a memory she didn't want to relive, something she pushed right to the back of her mind. "Levy..." the touch of his hand on her cheek made her flinch and he gently turned her face to make her look at him. "Tell me... what happened" he said though it sounded more like a soft worded order. She searched his eyes, they were the colour of freshly spilled blood and she shivered as she closed her eyes.
"Fine..." she breathed as she turned away, watching the stream racing through the end of the town and if it was possible, her eyes glazed over, like that of a dolls. "I was seven... my dad had been trying to teach me how to keep my Demon aura hidden all day... it was exhausting and made me... it made me hungry" she explained as she held her arms. "When he went to work... my mother was making tea and... she accidently cut her hand on a knife, everything became such a blur, I was so hungry and it smelt so sweet, I tried to stop myself but I was too weak to resist..." her body became stiff as the screams echoed in her head. "Even though I was so young, she still couldn't fight back... I attacked her, I bit into her wrist... I was so close to hitting her artery, I began slashing her and attacking her..." without thinking she stared down at her shaking hands. "A neighbour heard and saved her... she begged them not to tell anyone but they moved away a couple weeks after anyway... I could have killed her if they were to late... she had to have sixty five stitches and... After, she's just never looked at me the same, that's when I stopped really wanting human blood" she sighed, wiping away the tears in her eyes. "She tried to give me some of her blood when I was sick but I just threw it straight back up... that's why I can't lose control, why I can't have human blood" Levy finished and she took a deep breath in, calming herself because she didn't want to cry anymore. She turned to Gajeel who was staring at her and she bit her lip, looking down at her muddy, wet shoes.
"What makes you so sure you can't have human blood... have you tried it since then?" He asked and she blinked, it was a valid point but wasn't he listening.
"Well... no but just thinking about it makes me sick, I don't want to drink it either!" She answered and he shook his head with a smirk. What did he find so funny? She certainly wasn't finding anything amusing.
"Then how can you be so sure that it still makes you sick... here, try it" Gajeel said and her eyes went wide as he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and used his fangs and bit into his wrists, the instant smell of iron filled her nose and she supressed the urge to gag. He looked up from his wound with his mouth closed and she watched as it began to heal before her eyes. Gajeel grabbed her arm and pulled her forwards, making her squeak the blood on his wrist was red but it was still too dark to be human and she stared up at him.
"Gajeel I can-" he cut her off quickly, pressing his lips against hers and she made a muffled noise of surprise, her hunger stirred painfully, god he smelt so divine. His scent was filling her nose, almost making her dizzy with need and her starving stomach twisted inside her. She felt his tongue slide along her lips and she closed her eyes, opening her lips for him and she instantly wanted to pull back. Hot, metallic tasting liquid filled her mouth and slid down her throat, leaving a burning trail as she tried to push against him but he wouldn't budge. She could feel her stomach unwind with a sigh and bile began rising in her throat but she pushed it back down, not wanting to throw up on him. Her heart was doing summersaults in her chest and her inner girly girl was squealing with glee as her cheeks lit up red.
The fact that he had tricked her made her angry though, she was more angry than she was surprised, relieved, completely infatuated and over the moon with joy and even though his lips were amazingly soft and gentle, she shoved him. It was as if she had some new found strength and he stumbled back as she panted, glaring at him and her tail flicked at her side the way a cats does when it's angry. "How dare you do that, what were you thinking!?" She yelled and he chuckled as he wiped the small trail of blood from his chin.
"You drank it didn't you... you didn't throw up and you didn't lose control..." he grinned and she stomped her foot with a huff of annoyance.
"That isn't the point, I could have and I would have hurt you, you took an unnecessary risk!" She shouted at him, practically shaking with anger and she felt like electricity was being pumped through her, she'd never felt so... alive.
"It kind of is the point shrimp... and I think it was very necessary, you're weak, you won't stand a chance against this Demon unless you buck up and start feeding, one big feed on a battlefield won't keep you going!" He argued back and she crossed her arms against her chest. She hated that he was right, even if she drank enough, it wouldn't give her enough strength or stamina to keep up with Acnologia.
"W...well next time, j-just warn me and don't stick your tongue down my throat!" She snapped, her cheeks slightly flushed as he opened up the umbrella and ushered her to follow him.
"You know you loved it and for the record, there were no tongues involved... this time" he teased and she pouted as she followed him out into the drizzle and he held out his hand. Levy stared at it for a moment, not knowing if she should take it but she decided to throw caution to the wind and linked her small, delicate fingers between his. He hand was warm and solid, she felt safe next to him, like they were unstoppable and she hoped... when it came to it, that it was true.