Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima. Image belongs to its rightful owner.

Chapter 3

The Reason They're Here

"Pssst." At first the blonde did not respond. She was still as sleep, slowly taking her time to wake up. "Pssst." She was sore from sitting on the chair all night, her legs were all numb and her neck and spine were in pain.

"Hey, are you okay?" She slowly began to open her eyes. At first it was foggy for that she had yet to rest appropriately after the kidnapping. Her eyes opened up further, and while expecting to see a dark space that she was in before, it was actually very bright that it gave her an eye sore at the sudden change. She lifted her head off of her knees and looked around, her vision still trying to adjust.

"Is she awake?"

"Can you hear me?" once she came to, in the near distance a girl with shoulder length dirty blonde hair came to view. She had a concerned look on her face.

"Wait, wha-?" She managed to mutter. She was very tired.

"Oh good. You're awake. Are you feeling okay? You were knocked out we were worried."

As she said the word we, Lucy turned her head and noticed down the row from the girl were another four, all of them tied up in chairs, just like she was. They must be the girls that she saw last night she thought to herself. She took her time to stretch her spine as she sat in perfect posture. She extended her legs to get the blood circulation going and with a yawn she turned her attention back to her fellow hostages. "I should ask you guys the same thing." Confused by her statement they all looked at her blankly. "You were the ones that were blacked out last night. I was just sleeping."

Sadden expressions crowded their faces. She already knew that she wasn't the only one dealing with a kidnapper. They were in the same situation as she was. They were confused and scared. "We were drugged." One of the girls finally said. She look over to her, third in the row and was in complete shock. Her eyes widened in her surprise, her jaw hanging ever so slightly. "What?" It then occurred to her that she had not replied and was just stupidly staring at her. But how couldn't she. It was the most bizarre thing she had ever seen.

"You… look exactly like me…" And that was no exaggeration. Her hair was shoulder length blonde with the same haircut. Their eyes, their mouth, their nose, they were all the same. "How can th…?" she wasn't even able to finish her sentence for it was far too unreal to even consider the idea.

"Oh you just now noticed?" She laughed a little. "I guess I can't judge you though. You did just wake up and are in the middle of a kidnapping. Everything will seem weird like this." The girl noticed that Lucy still had a confused expression. "Calm down, would ya? There are look alikes in this world everywhere. Stop looking at me like I'm a freak!"

"Maybe it be better if we knew your name? That way there would be some kind of difference." A girl in the farthest seat of the row smiled.

"Maybe then she'll chill a bit." she looked over at her, a snarky grin on her face. "Sup, newcomer? My name's Lucy Ashley and I've been here a week."

"Wha?"

"Wait don't tell me your name is the same?" She scoffed in irritation.

That wasn't at all what was bothering her. In fact, she didn't pay attention to it. "No, no. My name is Lucy, but not Ashley. That's not what is concerning me right now?"

"Then what is it?"

"You say you've been here for a week?" who wouldn't question it?

"Well it's not like I've been here the longest stupid."

"Hey Lucy calm down! It's not polite!" The remaining girl scolded her. She was a rather petite girl with short white blonde hair.

"Shut it, Natalie!" It seemed to her that this girl had a very foul attitude, the kind that she could not stand. Rude, obnoxious and a know-it-all. She wanted to refrain from speaking to her anymore but it seemed that all the other girls were fine with being with her. They didn't seem bothered by her. It was obvious she wasn't in a situation where she could willing pick her friends. She needed all the support she should get, even them.

"So... Lucy…" The first girl that she woke up to broke the awkward silence with a smile. "do you know why you are here?" It was something that she desperately wanted to know. She tried so hard to get it out of him and tell her why he had brought her here, but she still had no answers. She just shook her head, sadness evident on her pretty face. This made the questioning girl feel guilty. "I'm Elie. I've been here for 5 and a half months." She smiled again. "I don't remember much from my past. In fact, I don't remember anything before my arrival here." Not only Lucy, but all the girls were appalled by her confession. It was scary to think that she didn't remember anything. It was basically like her whole reality was just her sitting in a chair tied up with no freedom whatsoever. "It's scary I know. But I try to look at the positives. Its not that hard to think about. Nothing ever came from sitting around and being scared. I know I will one day get out of here. I won't just see the light of day from those windows. I will see the world, I will see nature again, and even the ocean. I'll see it all."

That speech seemed very childish and so naive. As expected from a girl who's whole world was a prison. even though it seemed very ridiculous, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little more hopeful.

"I'm Natalie." The petite girl said shyly. "I've been here for 2 months and 3 days. Or so I think." she seemed troubled at what else to say. "I-I'm 15 years old and I just finished freshman year. Um-uh… My mom had just died, so I just moved in with my dad who loves me a lot. He has a big house and on my birthday, he got me a puppy that I always wanted." A tear seemed to had flooded her eye, but she kept it from falling. "His name is Patrick and he's a husky. He's waiting for me at home and I will be there to see and play with him again!" even at the break of tears, she still shared a smile with all of them, and they smiled with her.

"I'm Jenny. Im 25 and I've been here 7 weeks. I have my own apartment and I always dreamed of being a model. In fact, I've been on the cover of countless magazines. I love my job, but I do grown tired of people always following me and bugging me, but it comes with it and I can't complain. I thought I was here for that very reason, but i believe I was wrong."

"Hey, I'm Penelope. I'm 17 and I've been here for 3 months and 23 days. I do not have the best relationship with my parents and that inspired me to run away. I was okay for a good amount of time. but what bothered me was even when I was gone, my parent's didn't care. I don't either. I'll be eighteen soon so I'll be my own person. Yet I still wish I was back home with my parents. I will not complain that I am here, for it was my fault-"

"Don't say that!" at the sudden interruption, everyone turned their eyes to Elie who wore a hurt expression on her face. "Don't you ever say that! Its nobody's fault we are here. Not ours, not anyones!"

"Am I at least allowed to say it?" Immediately after, all eyes were on the other Lucy, confused at her question.

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked.

With her smirk and her cold eyes, she looked at her look a like and answered the question that sent chills down everyone's spine. "You're the reason I'm here blondie. You and your face."

Lucy was absolutely speechless. How could this person, the same faced person she had never met actually blame her for being in this mess. "Hey, look, we might have the same face, but you can't just talk to me like that. How is it my fault you are here?" She couldn't help but yell in her own defence.

"Like I said. It's your face the reason why we are here." She said again in irritation.

"Have you thought maybe it's the other way around?" She spat back.

"No because if he was really after me, he would go out of his way to keep kidnapping the rest of you." She did have a point.

"Maybe he's not only after one person, maybe he's after all of us. Maybe he's looking for ransom from all of us. Maybe he's looking to sell-" Lucy immediately shut her mouth before she could say another word. There were children in this nightmare as well. She didn't want to scare them any more than they already were.

"Look blondie-"

"You're blonde too, so stop calling me that!"

"Just shut up and listen to me, you idiot. If he was looking to do anything with us, he would have done so already." Lucy wanted to keep arguing, but she had nothing else to say. The other Lucy was here longer than her, she had to know more about why they were all here. "When he brought me here, he kept questioning me about my identity. Kept trying to make me admit my name was Lucy Heartfilia." At the mention of that name, Lucy's heart stopped. "Ring any bells?" She wasn't joking or making all of this up. There was truth to what she was saying.

Lucy's muscles began to stiffen, her head became dizzy and her breathing began to hyperventilate. "You do know what I'm talking about!" The other Lucy laughed. "I tried to tell him my name was Lucy Ashley, but he was so convinced I was lying and that I had my name changed. For five days this was going on. Patronizing me to make me admit I was you, but two days ago, he stopped. We hadn't seen him since. Until now, when he brought you in." All the amusement she was letting out was gone by the end. Sure the mix up between the two of them can be seen as funny, but she knew in then end, it was no laughing matter.

"Okay fine, you're here because of her, but why us. We look nothing like you guys." Jenny complained, obviously irritated about the whole ordeal.

"That is a lovely question." The air grew cold and fear took over the girls' minds as they heard his voice in the distance.

"Care to explain then, you fucker?" the other Lucy yelled. It was stupid of her, but she had her reasons.

"Now, now. There's no need to be mean to others because you woke up on the wrong side of the chair." He laughed. He started walking towards them. "I see you finally figured everything out then?"

"What do you want with us?" little Natalie cried as she trembled in her seat. With each step he took, he came closer and closer to the five girls that sat in a row. He stopped as he was right behind Elie and placed his hands on her shoulders which made her twitch.

"Why do you question it. Don't you enjoy being here?" He chuckled.

"Fuck no! Now let us go before you regret it!" The other Lucy snarled. She was fearless to say the least.

"But why? I think we are having loads of fun. Wouldn't you agree?" He lightly squeezed Elie's shoulders making her cringe a bit. From behind, he hovered over her ever so slightly, eyeing her. It was as if her was examining her. He then released her shoulders and continued to move to the next person. "Too plain." Next he approached Jenny. Instead of grabbing her shoulders, he grabbed a chunk of her long blonde hair, and with his fingers, he gently brushed it until he had the look of dissatisfaction on his face. "Too posh." His next target was Lucy Ashley. Before he could even lay a finger on her, she turned her head to at least glare at him. "Too aggressive." Natalie was already shivering in her chair and lightly sobbing. The second she sensed his presence behind her, she let out a small cry even though she tried to contain it. Fortunately he let her be and moved on to Penelope "Too young." Penelope still showed no emotion. Even with a psychotic man right behind her, she still kept a calm composure. He placed his hand on her blonde head and still kept calm. He slowly tilted her head right to left, up and down, yet no reaction whatsoever. He simply just left her be with an unamused expression on his face. "Too boring." He made his way around her chair, totally ignoring the girls and made his way to Lucy.

Fear struck her hard, she didn't know if she should react or keep calm. If he was really after her, the Lucy Heartfilia, then he must be affiliated with her father. But why would he kidnap all these other girls too? Why was he labeling them the way he did? Was he doing this for his own amusement? Was he intending to use them to satisfy sexual needs? His own, someone else's? She almost mentioned sex slavery before, but she didn't want to worry the little one with such thoughts. Was it for real though? Hundreds of other thoughts ran through her mind at the same time, but nothing made sense 100%. There was something missing.

The pink haired man was finally right in front of her once more. "Just right." Bingo. Was that what he was after this whole time, she thought to herself. Was he only using the other girls until he finally got to her? Might as well give him what he wants she admitted.

"Like what you see?" Lucy tried to sound slightly seductive. She didn't want to go overboard.

"You're the real deal, aren't you?" He said as he played the same game she was.

"Why don't you come over here and find out." She said, pushing it a little harder with a seductive smirk followed by a little giggle. This made him come to her a little closer, slowly leaning down and resting his hands on her chairs armrests, both of them now facing eachother, just inches away.

"Oh give me a break! Are you fucking serious?" Lucy Ashley groaned.

Lucy broke her eye contact with her kidnapper for only a second and shared a look with look alike. "Don't be so jealous, Lucy. Just cause he didn't want you doesn't mean I can't have a little fun." she teased and went back to looking into his eyes.

"You bitch." Lucy Ashley was so appalled in Lucy's actions, she just scoffed it off and simply ignored at the scene in front of her.

The stare between the two was intense. She looked into his deep green onyx eyes and he looked into her brown doe ones. Lucy noticed something different however. He wasn't looking at her with just lust, but also with caution. With a smile, Lucy lightly liked her lips and for just a second her eyes broke off from his to just sneak a peek at his lips, signaling him for a kiss. He gently closed his eyes and slowly leaned in. Just before their lips met, Lucy quickly slid down her seat and with her right leg, she kicked it up to her left side and pushed the man to the side. He lost his balance and found himself on the right armrest, pinned down by her leg. then with her left, she went over her right and with her heel, she hit him on her head. She knew working on her flexibility all of those years would pay off somehow.

Her leg alone couldn't keep him down for long. With a push, he broke away from her trap. He stepped back a few feet, gently rubbing the back of his head. She expected him to snap. Instead, to her surprise, he let out a small chuckle that turned into laughter "You're clever, you know that?" His reaction confused her, but she couldn't let her guard down. She needed to fight back. She had to look out for the others as well. She would gladly take any punishment he had set for her, just as long as they were safe from him.

"Yeah that's what I'm talking about! Girl's got balls! I knew we shared more than a face." Lucy Ashley laughed, resulting in the others to let out small giggles at the scene that just took place in front of them.

"Do you find it funny?" The man laughed with them, making it sound even creepier and more confusing of what was going on through his head. The girls immediately shut up, scared of what he had planned next. "You, with the short hair." Penelope responded by looking at him, trying very hard not to laugh again. "You finally laughed. How does it feel? Good yes?" A moment of silence passed as he made his way back to the teenage girl. He placed his two hands on either side of her face and slightly squeezed her cheeks. "Hey, where did it go?" He continued to squeeze her cheeks, but she would not smile. She was too afraid to smile. The man then stopped squeezing and his face darkened in an instant, finally getting a terrified expression on the young girl's face. Within an instant, he turned her head to the side and the sound of bones breaking echoed in the air.

*crack*

Oooooooohhhhh, suspenceeeeeee!

And with that I am indeed a terrible person. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm going to be making a change. When I first started writing this story I wanted to do something different, as in writing in the 3rd person, just to change it up. But I now remember why I hated it in the first place. It might be awkward to change it, but I feel I can write so much better in 1st person. Plus, now every sentence won't begin with She and He all the time. hahah

Bye Loves. Enjoy!

-Avgi