ACT II

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#04 Sunset

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"Arrrrrgh, what's taking him so long?" Natsu groaned, currently laid on his stomach upon the grass. The sun had almost completely set by now, taking with it the last remnants of sunlight that had helped in making the manor not seem as haunted as rumours said. Now however, in the increasing shadows, the three young men felt anxious just being near it.

"What if Gajeel injured himself?" Jellal asked, a frown marring his face as he stared at the building ahead. He'd been silent ever since their fourth companion left, leading the other two to flinch in surprise as he spoke again so suddenly.

After an exchange of looks, Gray rolled his eyes and gave a small shrug. "Well, decide what we're going to do soon. I have five texts from Erza, and she's getting impatient. We were meant to be back half an hour ago."

"I'll take the haunted house over Erza, any day." Natsu murmured, moving to stand up and stretch his arms above until he heard the distinct sound of the popping of his joints. Rolling his shoulders, he offered a wide smile as he began walking on. "Cm'on, let's go rescue Gajeel then." He was unable to hide the grin at the prospect of teasing the older boy at having to be aided. Oh, the fun this would be.

"Don't let her ever hear you say that!" Gray yelled in response to the former part, following as Natsu lead them towards the looming manor. Jellal fell into step behind them, eyes flickering over the windows for any signs of movement.

He didn't have a good feeling about this.

#05 Shove

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Cursing loudly, Gajeel hastily jumped back as the wooden flooring abruptly crumpled beneath his feet, opening up a gap which seemed to only offer darkness below - god knows how far the drop was if he fell through that.

He'd been wandering around for five minutes now without any sign of the staircase that had brought him onto the second floor – seriously, he could have sworn he should have come across it by now - and this unfortunately wasn't the first instance the floor had decided to haphazardly break below his weight. (This building was in serious need of refurbishment, or just simply being knocked the hell down already. He was personally more fond of the second option considering how much aggravation the place had caused him already).

The last hint of daylight had faded away completely now, taking with it what little warmth there was left in the manor. Now, Gajeel wasn't one to complain about being cold, but fuck was it freezing! It didn't help that he was wearing only wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt, really.

Add to that the fact that it was utterly dark by now and he had to deal with the flooring caving under him as well, it all lead to a rather unhappy and grouchy Gajeel.

"I'm gonna punch Natsu's face in when I see him."

"Heh."

Gaze widening, he span around instantly, ruby eyes falling on a figure stood at the far end of the corridor. The window behind them was boarded up, but held enough gaps between the panels of wood to filter through moonlight that illuminated the short and ruffled... pink?... hair.

Ah, ha!

"Naaaatsu!" He growled, bringing his flashlight around to shine it upon him. "I'm going to freaking kill-"

Illuminating their face, he froze.

"-you..."

Going still, Gajeel blinked as he found himself staring into the face of a kid. A kid with pink hair. Taking a moment to get over his initial surprise, he schooled his face into a glower.

"What the hell are you doing in here, brat?" He snapped, taking a step forward. The girl could barely be in her teens judging by the roundness of her face and short stature. "How'd you get in here, anyway?" Well whatever, he was more preoccupied with finding a way out. Whether or not some preteens were breaking in here in the middle of the night was of no concern to him.

Smiling innocently, the girl lifted an arm, finger pointing over his shoulder behind him.

Lips tugging into a perturbed frown, Gajeel glanced over his shoulder, eyes seeing nothing other than an empty hallway behind.

"Meredy, don't!"

At the sudden yelling of an additional voice, the young man returned his attention forward only to come face to face with a pair of bright green eyes staring into his own. He only had a second to wonder how she was face-to-face with him when she was so small, before a pair of dainty hands rammed into his chest.

Stumbling backwards, his feet back-pedaled several steps before they met thin air and he plummeted downward.

Falling straight through the hole in the floor, Gajeel would partially blame it on the surging panic, but he could have sworn as he stared up above, that the mysterious girl was floating as she stared down after him.

But… that was silly, right?

As he hit the floor, a sickening crack reached his ears before everything went black.

#06 'Gajeel'

. . .

"Meredy!"

The pinkette glanced over her shoulder as the two men came running towards her, only offering them a playful smile in return before she abruptly vanished into thin air.

Reaching the spot she had been stood in, the shorter of the duo cursed. "Goddammit!"

"Is he alive?"

Glancing at his dark haired companion who was staring through the broken floorboards, the young man followed his gaze. Keen eyes making out the form of the human who had fallen below, he observed him for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, he only fell one floor. He didn't go through to the basement."

There was a pause.

"Jet… The sun's set."

Lips twisting into a grimace, the auburn haired man gave a small nod. "Yeah."

Turning to look at his friend, the man went on, desperation and fear lacing his words. "Everyone will be becoming active now. We were too late, Jet. Let's leave him and just get out of here before she comes."

Scowling, Jet's face darkened as he stared after the unconscious man one floor beneath them. Droy was right, they had done everything they could to have the man get out of here before nightfall – it was his own fault for loitering around that he hadn't gotten out in time.

"Oi Gajeel, can you hear us!?"

Both men froze.

"Gajeel! Come on out you asshole!"

The pair locked gazes, a distraught expression crossing their faces at the sound of additional voices entering the manor.

"Jet…" Droy murmured, eyes wide with despair.

Lifting a hand, the young man bit down on his thumb hard enough to pierce the flesh – though no blood escaped out - as he inwardly debated with himself. Eyes darting down once more to the dark haired trespasser, he thought for a second more before finally giving a grave nod.

"Let's go."

Relief washed over his companion's face, though it was quickly replaced with guilt before they vanished, leaving the four men to their own devices. There was nothing more they could do.

Meanwhile, as the two winked out of sight, a pair of golden eyes watched their disappearance through the crack of an open door. Hearing the voices of the three men as they yelled for their missing friend, the person moved out into the hallway, slowly stepping forward towards the gaping hole in the floor. Crouching down, they propped both elbows on their knees, hands cupping their face.

"Hm." Blinking, they stared down at the dark haired man, cocking their head a fraction to one side as they studied him.

"Gajeel, where the hell are you already!?"

Breaking into a wide smile, the figure gave a small giggle, one hand moving to fiddle with a lock of blue hair. "Gajeel..." Testing the name out on their lips, they pondered over the sound of it for a moment before their smile widened.

This night would certainly be interesting.

AN: Aaand okay, slightly shorter chapter. Next chapter is where the main action starts, and things start becoming a bit... violent-y.

Also, I've now made a link to a fanart piece on my main profile that first inspired this piece if you're interested at all .