WARNING: Graphic chapter ahead. The squeamish, can skip ahead.
He was restless.
After leaving Lucy at her door, the demon boy had felt on edge. He still felt rage boiling at the surface. The colouration of the bruise forming on the blonde's cheek had been permanently emblazoned in his mind as he hopped down the steps of her front door, storming down the empty streets.
It took every ounce of will power Natsu had to keep him from storming back up those front porch steps and into Lucy's house to murder that son of a bitch. But he knew Lucy would never forgive him, let alone accept him after she knew what he truly was.
A monster.
He was used to hiding his true nature; a master at avoiding any unwanted topics of conversation or questions. But Lucy had found her way into his thoughts. She had found a way despite everything Natsu had tried to do to prevent it from happening; though, he had to admit, he had not tried very hard at keeping her out.
The demon was interrupted from his thoughts when someone crashed into his shoulder, knocking him to the side. Natsu shook his head, surprised that he had been that distracted enough not to notice the person at all. The boy glanced back in time to see the man stumble back up and continue on his way, saying nothing and not even acknowledging the pink-haired boy.
But Natsu noticed him and, boy oh boy, was it his lucky day. Natsu's lips curled up, showing off the fangs that were slowly protruding out.
It was Lucy's drunk father who was stumbling his way back to their place. The smell of alcohol hit his senses hard and only made Natsu growl. He cracked his knuckles. It came as no surprise to him that his body was answering the call that was pounding through his veins.
Kill.
He felt the familiar prick of his sharp canines becoming more pronounce, springing to life with the adrenaline and anticipation of the kill at his finger tips. Natsu's normally deep black eyes shimmered with the red of murder and the smirk he now wore showed his eagerness. It had been quite some time since he had been able to enjoy this.
Any thoughts of Lucy and her potentially disapproving thoughts were gone as Natsu turned to follow the man. The drunken slob was completely unaware of his new company as he fumbled for his keys at the front steps he and Lucy once occupied only moments prior.
Natsu was patient.
He would wait for the perfect moment to take this miserable excuse for a man's life. It would be a glorious day and he would take extra pleasure in feeling this man's last heartbeats and feel his warm life pour down his throat. The man was entering the apartment and stumbling along, taking his shoes and jacket off. Natsu took this opportunity to rush in before the door closed.
"Hello dearest father."
The older man was startled at the sound and turned to finally realize Natsu was right there at his doorway, "What the fu-get out of my house!"
Natsu watched the man become hysterical at seeing him. The demon remained stoic despite the man's rising voice. The demon smelled Lucy was somewhere in the house so he would need to deal with this quickly and leave before the blond heard anything and get curious enough to come downstairs.
The man was turning red, whether from his previous alcohol consumption or the one-sided screaming match he was sending Natsu's way. The pink-haired demon had had just about enough of this. Stepping towards the man, effectively making the old man take a few steps backwards, further into the house, and shutting him up. Natsu was grateful for the new silence, allowing him to listen for the erratic heartbeat and pulse of the man before him. His mouth began to water in anticipation.
Wasting no more time, Natsu was on him, sinking his fangs into the man's neck. The immediate taste that hit Natsu's mouth was what sent him over the edge. It had definitely been way too long since he had fed directly from the source, the veins and arteries. His mind shut off and his body turned on as he ripped the man's neck apart.
Feeling the heartbeat through the man's jugular, Natsu took this opportunity to bight further, grabbing and tearing at anything and everything he could get his fangs on. Her father's outright cries and shrieks were silenced as the man's throat was destroyed by Natsu's canines. The old man was left helplessly with his eyes wide open, watching as the monster ate him alive. Natsu felt the exact moment when the man's heart slowed as the man bled profusely. The pink-haired boy was drenched in the liquid, his face still attached to the man's throat. In the heated frenzy though, the man's throat was practically detached. Natsu growled as, out of the corner of his eye, the dead man's head hit the floor, rolling. This always happened despite Natsu's best efforts to keep the victim in one piece.
But that was beside the point because he needed more. The cleanup he could deal with after.
Using his claws, Natsu ripped through the man's gut, pulling out whatever he could, grabbing the man's intestines in all of his excitement. Natsu's mind was gone, any desire to keep this a clean kill were gone, replaced by his burning hatred for anything that would hurt his Lucy. The demon dropped to the floor with his kill, savagely devouring all he could of the man. Even his dick was hardening in all this excitement, twitching as Natsu swallowed every drop of blood he could get from the man. This was glorious!
Once finished with the body, Natsu took his relatively dry jacket sleeve and wiped his mouth. It did nothing to reduce the bloody mess that was his face however. Looking down at his masterpiece, the monster stood from his place on the floor, feeling quite satisfied, before hearing a familiar creak in the floor boards above him.
His senses came alive once more as he realized Lucy was on the move upstairs. Realizing that he had made a mess was an understatement. The boy had knowingly killed-no, slaughtered-the girl's father; if anything, he was not prepared for the subsequent events that were going to occur after this. So in order to prolong the inevitable and to quell the rising guilt of leaving this scene to Lucy, Natsu settled himself down before running out the door.
Lucy felt her lungs burn as she ran through the dark winter's night but she kept pushing herself on; images of her father's mutilated body egging her on towards her target.
The boy was truly frightening, surprising Lucy every step of the way in their oddball relationship. He had kept nearly everything about himself a mystery from her and although on one primal level she found it god damn sexy, it was driving her mental on another. The thought would not leave her mind, however, as she felt her legs push her further on.
Was this all his fault? Was he capable of killing? And why had she immediately assumed he had somehow been involved?
Lucy did not want to believe it but the almost murderous look he had sent her way when he caught a glimpse of her bruised cheek told her something else entirely. There was more to this boy than he let on and it was slowly breaking her.
Despite everything telling her to stop running and call the police, Lucy pushed on towards the park. Her legs and lungs were burning and the stupidity of running towards her father's murderer rather than away was not lost on Lucy as the blonde approached the quiet residential playground.
She spotted him immediately, his back facing her. Lucy knew it would be silly to look for the boy here, but realizing she still had no idea where he actually lived, Lucy had been left with no choice. But actually finding him here left her wondering if he had already known she would connect the dots between the horror scene that was her kitchen and the boy himself.
With all of the racket Lucy had made upon her arrival, she knew he had realized she was there, "Natsu."
The boy turned at the sound of her voice and she let out a gasp at what she saw. Instead of the normally beaming teenage boy she had come to love there was a bloodied and murderous monster in his place. Where was the boy she had known this whole time? Suddenly the blonde regretted not calling the police.
"What's the problem blondie?" Natsu smirked, turning completely towards her, "Scared of the real me?"
Lucy gulped at the familiar mischievous glint in the boy's eyes despite all that had happened. She knew she was shaking and that her heart was pounding away in her chest but she still felt the almost physical pull guiding her towards the boy that came every time she saw him. He was like a magnet, pulling her oh-so gently towards him. The blonde felt herself taking steps towards the boy, shocking even Natsu when she found herself directly in front of him. The smell of death and blood that still clung to him and smeared his beautiful face hit her full on and she almost gagged.
"Natsu..." Lucy whispered, raising her hands up towards the boy's face, caressing the bloody mess that was his face "Who are you?"
Her eyes took in all the confusing and mixed feelings going through the boy's eyes. Natsu was not the only one confused at her actions, however. Lucy was just as shocked as she was by her reactions. What she had intended to be a confrontation was turning more and more into something else entirely.
"What do you mean?" Natsu replied, losing his original confidence, "I'm right here in all my glory. This is the real me, Lucy. I'm a monster."
Lucy began rubbing at the blood stained cheeks, trying to make sense of it all, "You killed him, right?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She knew he would confirm her greatest fears. The next words out of his mouth would most likely be the end of her.
So why was she still there waiting for them? Why were her fingers now grazing the very lips that would be her end?
"Yes."
And with that, he kissed her.
A/N: Lemme know how this chapter played out for you! One more chapter to edit and then a potential addition.
