Cross my Heart, Hope to Die [Nalu]

Chapter 4: A Partial History Lesson

        It was a slow morning for Lucy. It was already past the normal time for her to wake up and that made her drowsy. Natsu had already left for the guild most likely not hearing any loud noises or crashes coming from the kitchen. Her entire body ached and she felt sluggish as she trudged into the baby blue bathroom. Reluctantly peeling off her sticky clothing from her body sweating last night she checked her neck in the mirror, the bruises were slightly gone but not much, just more green instead of purple. Poking it with her left index finger she cringed in pain, you already knew it was going to hurt, so why do it? She said to herself as she turned around and started to fill the tub with hot water.

      A bath always relaxed her, and it gave her time to think about things she had been avoiding, As the steam filled the cold room Lucy pinned up her hair in a bun, dipping her toe into the water the temperature was just right as the rest of her body slid into the steaming calm water. The brick tub kept the water warm for some time and surprisingly created a very nice angle for Lucy to tilt her head back and relax while the rest of her stretched out. Heaving a voluminous sigh she closed her eyelids and began to think.

      The man that had attacked her had said she would be perfect for something, but nothing had happened yet, right? Or had Natsu not told her something when they were talking last night? Her chest hurt at the thought of being lied to, or just blatantly not told something. Lucy would have to ask him when she went to the guild later today. Speaking of which, why had the guild acted so peculiar towards her yesterday? She was the same Lucy that was there 3 weeks ago, minus the bruises, and the blisters she couldn't figure out where they came from. Only Happy seemed like he cared that she was back, and Leo, though he was also acting strange. What had happened to everyone while she was gone? Had the mysterious man come back and done something to the guild? Sure they would be able to handle it, Erza would have been there and Master.

      Noticing that the water was getting cold Lucy opened her eyes and froze in horror. Everything was red. The walls, the lights, the ground, the water. Oh god, the water was red, scrambling to get out of the tub she noticed the liquid wasn't moving like it was supposed to. It was thicker and had more viscosity, it was then when she started to scream. The water wasn't even water, it was blood. How had so much blood gotten in here, just a minute ago she was taking a bath? This wasn't possible.

       Her breathing become ragged and short as she grabbed a towel and tried wiping everything off her body, another shock of horror went through her as she noticed the white towel was now covered in streaks of blood from her body. Seeing that wiping wasn't going to work she stumbled over to the sink and turned on the water, only to discover the water was just as bloody as the bathtub and quickly pulled out her now bloody hands. This was too much. Lucy gripped the edge of the sink until her knuckles turned white as she shut her eyes and squeezed them contorting her face. She knew she must be hyperventilating by now, her head was foggy and she felt like she was about to fall over, and the sound. There was a sound in her head—almost like a heartbeat. It made her want to vomit and scream and claw at her head to make it go away. Lucy didn't know how long she could last like this, her entire body was shaking and she couldn't string a single solid thought together. This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real.

       Everything stopped. Opening her eyes hesitantly the room was back the comforting baby blue and the bathtub was half drained with water as the faucet was spewing out ice cold water. Tears started running down Lucy's cheeks as her legs gave out and she tumbled down to the ground. What just happened? Was this because of him? Carefully standing up, she brought her hand up to the edge of the sink to grab hold of as she feebly walked forward past the bathroom curtain into her room as she sat down her bed. The shaking had not left her body yet and neither had the tears streaming down her face.