Vermillion's Cub

Chapter 12: Trapped

Chapter 12: Trapped

(A little heads up; this is the last update until after the New Year. Frankly, with finals, Christmas, and New Years, my schedule is packed. I will be posting again after.)

3rd Pov:

Natsu sat up, her body finally registering the pain that was running through her skull. Unsure what to do, she goes to the desk and hides under it. Although, she knew she was forced to burn the dress; it still hurt knowing that her father was disappointed in her. That heavy feeling was almost enough to make her forget how much she had to deal with.

"It's only been a few hours, why did you have to leave Leona?" she quietly asked, If her aunt had not left, her mother would have been too afraid to even show her nasty face. Unconsciously she started to pick at her bandaged hands. They were almost healed, but she was told that they would scare and that's what scared her the most. Those scars would be a constant reminder of her failure, one of the reasons she still hasn't seen them.

Unsure of how long she was under the desk she crawled out, her head still swarming but her body aching from the crouching. However, as soon as she stood up and popped her back, the door slammed open and closed instantly. Marzia stomped over, "You little imbecile." She grabbed Natsu's arm and pushed her to the ground on her stomach. Before Natsu could stand up, the heel of her foot slammed down on her right hand, further injuring it. Natsu cried out and started to try and push the foot off, but the more she tried the harder the pressure was.

"I told you not to tell anyone," She paused, noticing the bandages wrapping her hands. "I didn't, I swear!" Natsu tried to deny begging her mother to get off her hand. "What are these?" Finally, Marzia lifted her heel but grabbed her daughter's wrist examining the bandages. Natsu didn't answer, too focused on the pain resonating from her hand.

"Hello." Marzia knocked on top of Natsu's head, "Is anyone in there I asked you a question." refusing to look her in the eyes, Natsu answered, "I got them from when the village burned down."

"You mean when you killed my parents?" a sinister smile spread across the older woman's face. She suddenly pulled the young girl to the bed and sat down. She opened the bedside drawers looking for something all the while keeping a tight grip on Natsu's wrist. At the bottom drawer, she spotted a med kit and some sterile scissors. "What are you doing?" Natsu panicked when she saw her mother grab the scissors. She then started to try and pull her hand away.

"Stay still, I just want to see what it looks like." she slid the scissors into one of the finger openings. Natsu gave a hard yank and yelped when she felt a cut on her finger. "See, told you so." This didn't stop Natsu from continuously trying to get her hand away, gaining more cuts on her fingers.

With a huff of accomplishment, Marzia hastily pulled the bandages from her daughter's arm. "Oh, that's so gross looking," she touched the raw pink scares not noticing how the resistance from the child had stopped. This was the first time Natsu saw her hands and she was right, she didn't like it. Looking at her, she could feel the pain she felt when she watched the house come down. Funny enough she couldn't feel her mother's fingers prodding and poking at the rough flesh. Though she was sure they hurt, she just wasn't processing it.

Unbeknownst to her, her mother dropped the hand and started doing the same to her other hand. But, at the time she was too busy observing the burns to protest. The burns covered her entire palm and reached up to the first part of her fingers. It was a dark reddish pink and a darker brown in the center. It looked soft but she could tell it was calloused.

"Wow this one is the worst, I would be so disgusted if I had these." She barely heard her mother bluntly state. Subconsciously Natsu brought her other hand, Marzia was right, the wound covered her entire palm and the complete underside of her digits. It looked almost like a slab of burnt steak; brown and tough with little dimples covering the area where the heat ate her flesh. She noticed there were some fresh cuts, 'from the scissors..' but they didn't hurt. She knew they would look bad, that was another reason she never wanted to look at them.