Lucy was tired, the kind of tired that seemed to seep into your bones and weigh you down. Everything that had happened this past week had almost seemed like some kind of blur.
She had done so much work for this case, yet it all seemed to blend together by the end of the day. Maybe it was just that her brain turned to mush by the end of the day since she had been taking on a larger workload then normal.
By the time the case was over and she was back to ancient remains she probably wouldn't feel this tired and maybe her brain would be less frazzled by the end of the day.
Turning the knob in the shower off, she stood in the warm leftover steam for a few extra seconds before wrapping a towel around herself and stepping out. Pausing in front of the mirror for a few seconds she noted that she seemed to have noticeable dark circles under her eyes.
She had been losing a lot of sleep these past few nights due to her laying awake at night in bed trying to figure something new out, to try and piece together a new idea to figure out how to solve this case or to put a spin on any of her findings. Her job was to simply look at the dead bodies and tell Natsu what she had learned from them. Her results were to help guide him, she probably wasn't supposed to be helping him out in the extra ways she has been.
But she couldn't help but crave the thrill of solving a good mystery and she was quickly finding out that the best way to quench that thirst was to work with Natsu.
Walking into her bedroom she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. Leaving her towel on the floor she flopped down onto her bed and curled up into a ball.
Even though she had done her best to seem calm, cool and collected towards Natsu when she told him about how Marde had seen her that was far away from what she was actually feeling, and Natsu questioning whether or not the person Marde had been talking about in the recording was her didn't help either. She was honestly a little scared that Marde somehow noticed that she had been snooping and was now sending someone out to get her.
Lucy wasn't so sure what getting her would entail but she figured it couldn't be too good. Pressing her knees against her stomach Lucy hoped she'd be able to get some sleep tonight.
She was beginning to drift off when she heard a noise, like a soft thumping noise. Normally she would just ignore it and just write it off as the building moving or a tree or even her neighbor's. But for some reason, probably her fried nerves, it sent her wide awake.
Sitting up in her bed she strained to hear something else, another soft thumping noise sent her senses off. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed towards her bedroom door.
Looking over at her phone she wondered whether she should call Natsu, but shook her head at the idea. If it turned out to be nothing she would feel ridiculous, but if it was something….
Grabbing her phone she cracked the door open to look out to see if she could see anything. She had forgotten to turn the light off in the room so at least she could see everything, and nothing seemed out of place.
"Is anyone there?" Lucy asked before mentally slapping herself, as if a murderer would answer her question.
Stepping out into the other room she scanned to see if she could see anything that set off enough alarms for her to call Natsu. She was just about to just chalk it up to an overactive imagination when she noticed it, an open window.
Lucy could feel her blood run cold as she tried to open her phone to call someone, but it was already too late for that. She felt an arm snake around her neck while she felt a hand slap itself over her mouth.
"Drop the phone dear" said a honeyed feminine voice that Lucy figured must belong to her assailant.
Lucy could hear her heart beating in her ears; the sound seemed deafening, muffling the assailant's voice. Gripping her phone tighter she wondered if she would be able to open it enough to hit the emergency button. Maybe if she was nonchalant about it she could do it.
Her finger ghosted over the power button of her phone as her assailant's grip on her tightened.
"I'll tell you again" the assailant hissed, all her fake sweetness gone. "Drop the phone, or else."
If Lucy had been in a better mood she might have said something stupid back that in hindsight might have gotten her killed. But before her brain could even come up with a smart comeback she felt something cold being pressed to her neck.
"I'd be careful not to move princess" the assailant said. "The slightest move might just slice up your neck, and unfortunately I'm not very good in first aid."
Lucy tried to keep her breathing steady, it was best to try and stay calm in this kind of situation. From what she could figure the knife was pressed right on top of her jugular. The slightest movement that could cause a slip of the knife could result in cutting the large vein in neck; she would be dead fast if that happened.
Letting her phone slip out of her hand she hoped that listening to the assailant's request would leave her alive. She heard it clatter to the floor before skidding away from her, farther than she had hoped. If she had been able to get away from the assailant she had hoped to be able to grab her phone quickly but it sounded like it had moved too far away.
"Good girl" the assailant cooed into her ear. "Now then, you have to promise me you won't scream when I take my hand away from your mouth. We're going to have a little conversation, okay? If you make so much of a squeak without my permission this knife will dig a little deeper into your neck. I don't know how much pressure is needed to slit your neck enough to kill you but I'm sure I can figure it out."
Lucy felt her mouth go dry as her heart continued to pound; it was beginning to sound like she wasn't going to get out here alive without a miracle. All she could do now was hope that as long as she did everything the assailant wanted then maybe she would get out of this alive, maybe, hopefully.
"Now then" the assailant said, taking her hand away from Lucy's mouth. "Lets exchange names, well actually I already know your name, Lucy Heartfilia."
Lucy had to hold back a gasp as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on if this person knew her name, was it someone she knew? Or was it someone hired by Marde or Jackal to silence her or whatever? Lucy was beginning to feel her chances of making this out alive were slowly dwindling.
"My name is Seilah" the assailant said, now with a name. Lucy felt something click in her brain; she had heard this name somewhere before, but where?
"You're probably wondering why I'm here with a knife pressed to your neck, huh?" Seilah asked though Lucy wondered if she was meant to actually answer it.
"Y-yes I suppose" Lucy said as her voice wobbled with the uncertainty of how Seilah would react.
"Well you see Lucy" Seilah said as Lucy let out an internal sign of relief. "My boss told me you were sticking your nose in things you shouldn't be, so he asked me to…punish you for this. You're lucky he was feeling generous today when he gave me this assignment, he gave me two options of how I could punish you. The first one was quite to the point, kill you. But you see, that isn't really my style. I'd rather convince you to kill yourself or something. Now my second option was a lot more fun. So as long as you behave that's what I'm going to do to you."
Lucy wanted to know what this second option was, or to be more specific, what was going to be done to her. She could only vaguely remember hearing the name from Natsu but for what she couldn't quite remember. At least now she knew why this was happening, Marde had figured out she had snooped through his stuff.
"Listen to everything I say and you have a chance to live, okay dearie?" Seilah asked as her hand that had been hovering in front of Lucy's mouth, in case she screamed, was finally taken away.
"Okay" Lucy said as she stood rigidly still, her legs were beginning to shake and with each passing second she worried that these tremors would reach the rest of her body.
"Good, you're such a good girl Lucy" Seilah said as her grip around Lucy's throat tightened. "Just listen to everything I say and you'll live, but if you don't" Lucy felt the knife push against her skin, the coolness of the blade was in sharp comparison to her burning skin. "Well, I think you know what will happen."
Lucy could hear a metallic clinking noise as she waited for Seilah's next instructions; she hoped it wasn't another knife or even worse, a gun.
Something shiny and circular dropped down from in front of her, entering her vision before stopping right in front of her face. After a quick examination she saw it looked like a pocket watch, and an older one at that.
Something about the watch set something off in her brain and what Natsu had told her about Seilah came rushing back to her like she was getting smacked in the face. Seilah was known for hypnosis and mind control, what the hell did she have planned?
"Now then Lucy, I want you to keep your eyes on this nice watch" Seilah said before she slowly began to swing the watch back and forth.
That was most likely the worst thing Lucy could do in this situation but she wasn't sure how well she could avoid looking at the watch without Seilah noticing. She kept her eyes forward but didn't follow the watch; Seilah was behind her so she shouldn't be able to tell whether or not she was moving her eyes.
"When I said keep your eyes on the watch I meant to follow it" Seilah hissed in her ear, and it was all Lucy could do to not jump in surprise, how did she notice? Seilah pressed the knife against Lucy's throat more, it still didn't have enough pressure to actually cut the skin but if she didn't follow another one of Seilah's directions then it would definitely cut skin
"Now your eyes better be following the watch or else" Seilah said as she sped up the swinging of the watch. "Now then, take deep breathes, okay?"
Lucy didn't respond but she followed Seilah's instructions.
"Good girl" Seilah said, her voice becoming calm and almost serene. "Now, let my voice wash over you and take my words to heart. Relax and listen to what I have to tell you."
Lucy wasn't sure how she was expected to relax with a knife pressed to her throat while being held almost hostage in her own apartment but she tried her best to calm her heart.
"Good" Seilah said. "Now keep your eyes on the watch. You are letting yourself slip deeper and deeper into a peaceful trance where you will hear and believe everything I say."
Lucy found that hard to believe considering she knew exactly what Seilah was trying to do, but she couldn't help but notice that her eyelids were getting heavier. It had been a long day and she was tired, even a knife to her neck couldn't keep her awake it seemed. If she kept her eyes on the watch there was a slim chance she could get hypnotized but at this point she had no other choice but to listen.
"You know Lucy, you and I don't need to be enemies here" Seilah whispered as she placed her head on Lucy's shoulder.
Lucy wouldn't help but think otherwise, someone who was threatening you with a knife was normally not considered a friend. She stayed silent though, biting back any comment she had about that statement.
"In fact" Seilah said, her breath hot against Lucy's ear. "I think we should be allies considering, well, him."
"Who's him?" Lucy asked, could Seilah be talking about Marde, had she for some reason decided she wasn't on his side. Her eyes were becoming hard to keep open but she was doing her best to keep them open, she couldn't go falling asleep while being threatened.
"Why your little friend of course, Natsu Dragneel" Seilah said sweetly into Lucy's ear.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked aloud, what was Seilah talking about, was she an undercover cop or something?
"Yes, him" Seilah hissed, her voice dripping with hatred before quickly switching back to her sugary sweet voice. "He isn't what he appears to be. He isn't some federal agent that does his best to protect the people and punish those who threaten the safety of them or whatever it is he claims to do. That's all a little act he puts on for show."
Lucy could feel her heart beginning to pound again, what was Seilah talking about, something about that sweet voice almost made Lucy want to believe her. It was like Seilah was acting like a good friend who was telling you that the guy you liked was crap and wasn't good enough for you.
But, of course, there was no way she could believe this woman. Natsu was nice, albeit a bit goofy at times, but he was a good person at heart. This all had to be some trick to mess with her mind and trick her into not trusting Natsu which would end up ruining the investigation or something along those lines.
"Listen to me Lucy" Seilah purred. "Every word I utter is putting you faster and deeper into a state of relaxation, every word I utter is going straight to your heart, and every word I'm saying is true."
Her eyelids were beginning to felt like lead and were weighing her down; she really wanted to just close her eyes.
"Natsu is your true enemy here, not us" Seilah whispered. "We just want to help you, to show you the truth of your friend. Natsu Dragneel is hiding a dark secret not just from you, but from everyone. You can't trust him. The only thing he knows how to do is feed off of someone's kindness before stabbing them in the back. Don't be his next victim."
Lucy's throat felt thick, she wanted to open her mouth and say something to defend Natsu. But her words failed her, all she could do was stare straight ahead at the watch, her eyes' were transfixed to it, not wanting to take their gaze away even for a second.
Lucy could slowly feel herself drifting out of consciousness. The movement of the watch was lulling her into a sort of trance. This wasn't going to end well, what was Seilah going to do once she was knocked out? Would she kill her, or would she kidnap her?
Seilah must have noticed her fading consciousness as well, the knife that had been pressed up against her neck had been pulled back slightly so that it was no longer resting on her skin. She had taken her head off of Lucy's shoulder as well, maybe her goal all along had been to knock her out and not hypnotize her.
Lucy was about to lose all consciousness when suddenly a loud cracking noise woke up all her senses. Taking her eyes off the watch she turned her attention to where the noise had come from and felt her heart squeeze with relief, Natsu was standing in her doorway.
The next few seconds passed quickly, so quickly that Seilah herself didn't have time to react. She had only been able to manage a strangled noise of surprise before a loud bang invaded Lucy's hearing. The arm around her neck fell away and the knife clattered to the floor.
Natsu took a step forward into the apartment, his gun still trained ahead of him with it pointing in the direction of the floor behind Lucy.
Lucy didn't want to look behind her despite her gnawing curiosity, she knew what she would find but she still didn't want to look for fear that Seilah would spring back up and slit her neck.
Natsu had pulled the trigger quick enough before Seilah could even consider using Lucy as a shield or slit her neck.
"Lucy" Natsu said, filling the stifling emptiness in the room as he crossed the space that separated the two of them, placing his hand on her shoulder he asked "I know this is a really stupid question but, are you alright?"
Lucy didn't know how to respond, she opened her mouth but nothing came out. For the first time that night she allowed herself to cry, to let the tears she had been holding back loose. She didn't bother trying to hold back the loud sobs, all she cared about at this point was that the knife was no longer pressed to her throat and that Natsu was here and she was safe.
Natsu didn't say anything, he just wordless nodded before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck as she brought her arms up to wrap around his waist. For some reason, at that time and moment, Natsu's arms felt like the safest pace she could be.
"You're going to be alright Lucy" Natsu said as he patted her back. "I promise, I won't leave you again until this whole thing is over."