This has no inspiration. I put my hands on the keyboard and this just came out. I never use names, but it's Natsu and Lucy. I liked it better this way, not sure why.
Warning: This is dark.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.
Breathe.
She ran as fast as she could, legs burning in protest, chest too tight to take in a full breath. Tripping, cursing silently, she ran through the halls searching for a way out. Eyes stinging from tears and sweat, she ran like her life depended on it.
Because it did.
Breathe.
She kept the thought going through her mind like a mantra. To keep herself on task, to keep her mind from wandering, to keep her emotions from overwhelming her and her heart from breaking, she focused on that single word, that single action. Anything else that tried to break her focus she ignored.
She ignored her shirt sticking to her skin, coated in blood from where they'd cut her.
She ignored the eerie quiet of the hallway, broken only by the pounding of her footsteps.
She ignored the images that danced before her eyes, of what he'd done to try and protect her.
Of the things they'd done to him in turn...
Desperately, she tried to ignore the way her vision blurred and the black closed in from the sides, but she couldn't. Dashing into an open doorway, she made sure she was alone before shutting the door as quietly as she could.
Breathe.
After ripping off her shirt, she quickly wiped at the blood dripping down her arm before twisting it and tying it around the cut near her shoulder. It was deep, but she didn't see bone, so she considered herself lucky. They'd needed her to bleed without killing her, and they'd done a good job, missing any crucial arteries. She wrapped one end around the strap of her tank top to ensure it wouldn't slip, before she focused on her breathing. She needed to keep moving, but more than that, she needed to make sure she didn't pass out first.
Breathe.
Unbidden, memories surfaced.
"So you think you could beat me, huh?" He grinned as he adjusted his gloves, his sweaty skin glinting in the gym's lighting. "I'm game, let's do it!"
Her breath caught in her throat, threatening to choke her.
"Oh come on, you promised no more romance movies when you get to pick! Rom coms only!"
Her vision blurred as tears fell.
He squeezed her hands, the moon barely breaking the shadows to light up his eyes. "This is going to be dangerous, are you sure you want to come with me?"
Breathe!
Hot breath on her neck had her whipping around. Gasping for breath, she could see through her blurred vision that she was no longer in the room she'd hidden. When had she moved? When had she left?
She sobbed when she realized what she was looking at.
They'd gotten him.
She'd had to come, she'd had no choice. They'd taken her brother, and she was the only one who could save him! She'd insisted on going alone- she'd known what they were really after, and had insisted that he stay behind, that he let her get her brother back on her own, but he'd ignored her.
They'd taken her brother because they knew he would come.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, a hiccup catching in her throat. "I'm so- so sorry."
Her sobbing made the creature pause, newly clawed hands raised in front of him as he waited for her to move. She knew that's what he wanted, to play cat and mouse- they all did. Demons thrived on the game, playing with their prey as they scared them and made them bleed; made them hurt.
She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't give those heartless bastards the satisfaction of turning the man she loved against her and watching as she played their game. She wouldn't do it.
"I love you," she whispered. "I know you don't mean it. I know this isn't you." She wiped her eyes, clearing her vision so she could watch him as he stalked forward, looking annoyed. "I love you, and I'm so sorry for what they're going to make you do. I wish I could save you from it."
When he was close enough, his tail came out and hit her across the face, the barbs cutting her skin and splattering the floor with blood. She gasped at the pain but refused to move. She grit her teeth as she fought against her body's desire to run.
When he hit her again, this time with his hand, she fell over from the momentum. She continued to speak to him, whispering that she loved him, apologizing for not protecting him better. Reminding him that it wasn't his fault.
And as he continued to attack her, he watched the light fade from her eyes, his dark orbs glinting with satisfaction. When she was nearly dead, her chest barely rising from her pathetic attempt at breathing, he stilled.
She couldn't move, couldn't close her eyes, couldn't do anything but mourn the life of the man she loved, the man who'd been her whole world, as he stared back at her with a gaze devoid of any warmth, any affection, any love.
Breathe…
She tried, but she just couldn't anymore.
He watched her with intensity, a sadistic grin spread over his face, as she breathed her last. A slave to his new desires, his emotions dark and twisted, he walked over her corpse without a care, intent upon finding a new target.
As he left, a tear slid off her face, falling into the pool of blood around her and rippling out. A tear meant for him- caused by him.
A tear he never acknowledged, as he left to make more.