Hey everyone! So, I finally got an idea for another story :) I'm super excited that even during this frustrating semester I can still find time to write.

Just to let you know in this story I am still using OCs from my first story (Lost and Found another Fairy Tail story). Also just like that story I do not own anything from Fairy Tail nor will I ever *sigh*

"Run…" it was a sinister whisper. "Run faster…" a whisper that has been echoing in my mind for weeks now. "You'll die…so very soon…" I ran and ran until my lungs burned and then I continued to run. I never dared to look back that would only seal my fate sooner.

'Run!' my mind screams as I go careening over a cliff. 'Run!'

"Man why do you always drag me on such awful missions Natsu?" I scream as another monster picks me up and throws me unceremoniously to the ground. "You owe me big for this one!" I manage to call Loke and drag the monster down with my whip.

"Yeah, yeah Luce I hear ya! Isn't this fun?" Natsu howls with laughter as he punches the biggest monster.

"Natsu-san! Lucy-san!"

"Wendy?!" We both yell at the same time as we watch one of these beasts swallow Wendy whole. Charla is screaming and flying in circles over its head while Happy attempts to beat it with a rock.

"Give Wendy back you giant hairy freak!" Natsu charges the monster while I hold back the other two with Loke and Gray. "Eat this!"

"Lucy!" Ezra calls out to me before the big one can crush me under its foot.

"Thanks Ezra!" I manage to roll out of the way as Gray uses his ice cannon to finally bring the thing down. Ezra gets the second one so we all turn to help Natsu get Wendy back. "Natsu move!"

"Huh? Lucy?" he jumps back just in time because I summoned Virgo to help Loke and I beat the monster. "Go Luce!" it took all my effort to time the attack, but we did it. The monster fell and Natsu cut it open to pull Wendy out, the poor girl was covered in blood and guts and looked absolutely horrified. "Wendy you okay?" Natsu is such a worry wart.

"Y-yeah…" she stutters. "I just need a shower. A really hot shower." We all laugh in relief.

"Let's go get our reward huh?" I offer as they stand up and try to brush off as much monster insides as they can.

"Aye sir!" Happy proclaims as he lands on my head.

Once in town Lucy and Ezra go to claim our reward for a job well done. Gray and I help Wendy back to the hotel that the towns chairman let us stay in. While she took a shower Gray and I packed up everything.

I pack Lucy and I's things while Gray and Happy work on shoving all of Ezra's crap back into their various boxes. Charla has her and Wendy's things taken care of and is quietly watching us pack the rest. Wendy comes out a little while later.

"Wendy do you feel okay?" Charla asks the little girl.

"You smell better kid," I offer and she blushes.

"Charla I'm fine now thank you," Wendy moves to check her stuff and help us with Ezra's mountain of things. We quieted down as we continued to pack and shove things everywhere. However, what was supposed to be a quiet little one-horse town all of a sudden erupted into an uproar right outside our window.

"Don't touch her!" we heard one man yell.

"Oh god somebody do something!" another lady screams.

"What the hell?!" Gray runs to the window with Happy to see what the disturbance is all about. "Oh Mavis…come on guys!" Gray doesn't explain anything before he jumps out the window down to the street below.

"Gray!" we hear Ezra yell as Wendy and I, along with our exceeds, jump to the ground as well. "They say this girl is cursed, but she looks scared to me."

"Yeah I agree what the hell are they doing?" Gray asks flabbergasted as we watch townspeople throw rocks at something.

"What's going on?" I complain. "I can't see anything!"

"Natsu!" Happy says as he grabs the back of my shirt and lifts us up over the crowd. Wendy and Charla follow us.

"Oh no!" Wendy gasps as we take in the scene below us. "Charla take me down!"

"Wendy I don't think—" Charla protests.

"Take me down there right now!" Wendy cuts her off. Happy and I follow them back down into the middle of the crowd. We land right next to the person causing such a spectacle. A young girl, who can't be older than Lucy and I, is limping down the street covered in blood and dirt. "Are you alright?" Wendy approaches this girl without a second thought as the crowd continues to scream obscenities at us.

The girl turns her eyes towards us, they are red. Blood red and dull, no life to be seen inside of them. She opens her mouth but only more blood comes pouring out onto the bricks her eyes lose even more coloring if that's even possible.

"Natsu!" Lucy calls out to me.

"Wendy!" Ezra yells as they try to fight their way through the crowd. Before either of us could respond the girl collapses on the ground with a dull thud. Just then our friends break through the crowd.

"Oh my god!" Lucy cries out as she rushes to the bloody girl's side. "Wendy can you do something?"

"I'll try," Wendy knelt down beside Lucy and begun to examine the now limp body. It doesn't take long before she gasps out in surprise and calls for immediate medical attention.

"Natsu-san we have to get her to a hospital quickly!" Wendy looks up at me with panic clear in her eyes. "She has massive internal bleeding and has lost too much blood!"

"Let her die!" everyone turns their head to see the chairman standing at the head of the crowd.

"Mr. Wiley you can't be serious!" Lucy protests.

"She is a demon child, spawned by black magic and hatred. It is kinder to kill her," the chairman said gravely.

"What do you mean demon child?" Gray asks with a sneer. My friends and I close a tight circle around the bloody girl.

The chairman looks down at the dirt and clenches his fists. "She isn't the first one—" he was cut off by an unearthly scream.

"What the hell?!" Gray and I say at the same time. The bloody girl was withering and lashing out under Wendy. "Wendy!" we both dive in to hold the girl down. The struggle couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but it felt like eternity. The girl quieted down and finally stopped thrashing, but her breathing remained erratic and her eyes shifted from side to side. "Wendy?" Gray implored with weary eyes. "What the hell is going on?"

Wendy didn't answer she only continued to look after the girl while the chairman started to speak again. "She isn't the first girl to come wandering out of that forest dirty and covered in blood. They all waltz into town, accept no help, scream like she did, and then…" he trailed off with a pointed look at the girl. Just then the girl convulses, spits out more blood, and goes limp.

"No!" Wendy roars as she desperately pours her magic into the girl. "No! No! No, no, no, no, no!"

"And then they die," the chairman says with little emotion.

"Run…faster—faster!" the only sound in the still night air is the sound of my footsteps stomping over the forest floor. My breathing is coming out erratic and in short bursts and I can feel my lungs burning. The cuts on my bare feet have long since become numb as new cuts formed from each branch scratching my already swollen skin. "Death will only be your beginning," the voice hisses through the trees.

A cold shiver runs down my spine and causes me to trip, stumble, and fall on my face. 'Run! Run…' I pick myself up as I continue on into the cold night. The darkness closes in around and all I can do is continue to press on.

'Natsu and Gray sure have been quiet,' I muse to myself as we continue on our way back to Magnolia. 'Wendy seems even more depressed…' Charla is folded into the little girl's arms as they quietly walk next to Gray. Happy rests on her head for comfort. I steal a glance at Ezra who seems to be in deep thought as she gazes out into nothing. I sigh in discontent as I relive those last few horrible moments.

'Natsu and Gray hold that little girl down while Wendy looks on in horror…Ezra holding back the crowd who were ready to kill that sick girl…and then there's me,' I rub at my aching temples in frustration. 'Useless as always.'

"Oi Lucy," Natsu throws me a look over his shoulder. "Come here," he holds out his hand to me. Ever since our last Grand Magic Games he and I have been a lot closer. Sure we were dating before, but after those Games we made it official. I walk quickly to catch up to him and warp my hand inside his warm one. His grip is tight as he continues to look ahead, Magnolia isn't very far now. Maybe another mile or two before we see the town.

"It's going to be dark by the time we get home," I comment hoping to start a conversation.

"Mhm," he mutters in response.

"Do you just want to go home when we get back?"

"No, we have to talk to master about this." I don't respond to this, so we continue on in silence.

"Welcome back!" Mira-chan sings out to us from behind the bar. "How was the mission…?" she trails off after really looking at us.

"Ezra?" master calls out to me from atop the bar. Laxus and Cana are sitting with him. "What happened my child?"

"We completed the mission master," I reply with little enthusiasm.

"Well that's great isn't it Lu-chan?" Levy asks as she walks up to us.

"Mhm," Lucy agrees. "But something happened…something not so great," she says sadly while holding fast to Natsu.

"What happened?" master inquired. By now everyone has stopped to listen in on our conversation, Waynoka and Evergreen have come to stand by Lucy and Natsu while Romeo and Nikki rush over to Wendy.

"We completed the mission, but…but this girl…" flashbacks of her bloody corpse makes the words die in my throat.

"A girl covered in blood and dirt wandered out of the forest around the town. The chairman said that this was not the first time. She—she died and I couldn't save her," Wendy says through gritted teeth. "All of her organs had been ruptured and she died from massive internal bleeding and blood loss. All of this I learned post mortem along with the fact that she was the eleventh girl this month and the thirty-eighth this year. The townspeople call them demon children and throw stones at them until they convulse and die!" she slams her hand down hard on a tabletop.

"Wendy," the calm voice of Mira rings through the hall. The air has become thick with anxiety and apprehension and yet she always manages to seem so flawless. She walks around the bar and moves right towards the little bluenette. She wraps her arms around her and Wendy breaks down into tears I even hear Lucy finally crack. "Ezra?"

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" her eyes hold such sincerity that for a moment I felt like crying as well.

"Yes," I reply.

"Can you tell me everything?" she asks after her and Lenore calm Wendy down.

"Yes."

Reviews and ratings are welcomed as always and thanks for taking time to read my stuff it is greatly appreciated.

As always keep it sparkly!

xoxo

Sparkles