Mending Her Beast (A NaLu FanFiction)

Chapter Five: The Boy

Chapter Five: The Boy

Lucy debates whether to go back down into the basement. Back down to where the boy is. Glancing at her watch, just like she had the first time before she ventured down into the darkness, she sees there is still more than an hour before Jude is due home.

But a strange terror fills her chest, gluing her feet to the foyer floor. Staring at the plain white door, her body trembles with unknown fright. Lucy isn't sure what she is scared of. Is it because there is a boy down there? Because he's trapped? A prisoner? Or is it because of Jude? Lucy knew in the back on her mind, that Jude is a force she has never planned on messing with. His hard stares and dominating aura has kept her curiosity at bay for as long as a month. And then he went ahead and told her that chains scraping against the cement of the basement floor was merely a family of possums.

Seriously, does he think I'm an idiot?

Her hand hesitates, hovering over the handle. She hadn't locked it when she had run out earlier, so the handle was still unlocked. Something she needed to make sure she fixed before her father came home.

What do I do? Do I speak to him? Should I try and unlock his chains? Or is there a reason that he is shackled? Is he dangerous?

The idea of the strange boy being any sort of danger draws Lucy's hand away from the handle. Never in a million years did Lucy ever think she would find herself in a situation like this... She starts to wish that she had a friend she felt comfortable talking to about this. That she new she could ask for help. But she doesn't know anyone in Magnolia well enough to trust them with a secret like this. What if word gets back to Jude that I found a boy chained up in the basement? He would know that I went down into the basement. The thought of Jude discovering her disobedience rattles her bones. She doesn't know her father well enough either. She only knows that there is big enough reason that her mother took her away when she was little.

And Lucy knows it is a reason she is better off not knowing.

Instead, Lucy tries to think about her mother. What she would say. What she would do. But she doesn't like her minds answer.

Lucy shakes her head, "He's down there by himself, Lucy. He's cold, and lonely, and probably the reason it smells so horrible down there. Woman up already!" She chastises herself quietly. Reaching out before she has the time to stop herself, she grabs the handle and twists, pulling it open to reveal the dark stairwell once more.

Taking a long, deep breath, Lucy descends the stairs slowly, her eyes focusing on each step. She hears the sound again, the rattling chains as they scrape against the cement. It grinds against her already sensitive nerves, unsettling her stomach and spiking her heart rate. Taking the steps even slower now, she tells herself that she does so, in consideration of the boy. But she is just as terrified as he is.

When she reaches the bottom of the steps, her eyes immediately focus on the figure across the damp room. Even though she can barely see past the dark shadows, she knows he is looking at her. Another thing they share. Curiosity.

Slowly passing the strange machines, she makes her way back to where the boy is chained. With each small step that she takes, the boy starts to shuffle back against the wall, away from her advances.

Even slower, Lucy raises her hand, palm out towards the scared boy. "It's OK," she whispers, her voice soft. The boy flinches back, whimpering and growling in response. They are strange sounds, that continue to worry her. I'm an idiot. I still don't have a weapon.

The darkness begins to fade into a dank light, as Lucy's eyes continue to adjust to the lack of brightness. As she continues towards the boy, he makes a strange growling noise at her, his eyes wide with alarm. Lucy stops.