(For the ghosts who are never gonna catch me)

I don't know who was the name of the first ghost I ever met. At so young an age, I couldn't tell a ghost apart from a human. A ghost wasn't a white, floating spirit. It looked and felt just as a human, you'd ever see on any given day. The only difference was that the ghosts followed me around and whispered strange things in my ears. They were also invisible to every other person but me.

As a child, I could never understand what they said to me. I didn't even know that I was the only one seeing them. I never spoke to anyone about them because I thought everyone could see them. No one ever mentioned them, and that did not surprise me. I was in a childish ignorance that we are all born with.

When I reached the age of five, I remember stepping out of my car, my parents bodies still, and cold. Their shirts were covered in red pools and shards of glittery glass that reflected the stars, dug into their skin, and buried themselves into their hair. During the crash I had hit my head on some object in the car, creating a large gash on the side of my head. A piece of broken glass had also wedged itself into my neck and I bit back tears. My mother and father were dead and I was alone.

I couldn't be the big boy my father's last words had pleaded for me to be. I wailed, huge sounds that echoed in the empty silence. I was surrounded in glass and metal and blood and I could not find the strength to leave.

When I had finally calmed, I finally noticed the ghosts of my parents wrapping their arms around me. They whispered soothing words that made me feel warm and safe.

I looked at their lifeless bodies and back at the people hugging me, and I knew then, I was seeing ghosts. For some unknown reason, I was seeing the dead. I screamed.

When the sirens finally reached the wreckage, the men called out to me and I ran to them in fear. Flashing red, blue, and white lights meant that the police were here. I felt at the least, a little more safer, now that they were here. I was screaming about ghosts and dead people, and I was surprised no one understood me.

One man with long red hair, tied back in a ponytail, was smoking and watching me. He made no sound as I screamed at everyone to help me. When I finally reached him I was struck with the sudden feeling that I should be silent. I stood before him, looking up at his towering height. He flicked an ash off the end of his cigarette and squatted, so that his eyes were on the same level as mine.

"What did you say about ghosts, kid?"

He smelled like fire and cigarette smoke, which was somehow comforting.

"They're real. I bet you don't believe me."

He blew a puff, the smoke swirling in pretty patterns in the air.

"Doesn't matter what I think, what matters is what the truth is."

The look in his eye intimidated me, as if he was looking at me like I was a man, and not a child.

"I see them. They follow me around and tell me stories. I saw my mom and dad, but they're dead aren't they?"

From the dark of the night I could barely see the flash of recollection in his eyes before he sighed. He was scratching the back of his head in thought.

"Yeah. No sense lying, since you've already seen their ghosts."

My heart sped. I wasn't crazy, someone else saw them too.

"Can you see them? Do ghosts follow you?"

The man stood, crushing the cigarette butt in the ground before shoving it back into the pack. (He was a man of the law, he might as well follow it by not littering.) He grabbed my hand and took me to the paramedics truck.

"Something like that."

He grabbed my shoulders and looked me sternly in the eye.

"Listen, kid, what's your name?"

My voice squeaked in a very girly way.

"Natsu."

"Well, Natsu, you can't tell anyone about these things, alright. It will be our little secret."

I gulped and nodded my head.

He clapped my back before walking away. I listened to the soothing words of the paramedic as they cleaned the blood off of me. After awhile, I forgot they were there. I was listening closely to the ponytail man's conversation with another officer.

"What are we gonna do about the kid, Igneel?"

Said man, answered without hesitation.

"I'll take him home with me."

The other officer, a fat man with greying brown hair, laughed, his beer belly jumping with it.

"You can't take home a kid who recently lost his parents, just because you're a little lonely."

Inside, I was leaping for joy.

"I can do what I damn well please, and it has nothing to do with me. I see a little bit of myself in him."

The other man patted Igneel's back.

"I understand. Though, if I ever brought a stray kid home, Marie would have my throat. But then again, your woman is gone isn't she?"

The man with red hair didn't speak.

"Thanks for this Igneel, it clears up a lot of extra paperwork and overtime on my part."

The fat man walked away, chuckling to himself.

Igneel turned back to me and caught my eye. He smirked at my immediate reaction of jerking my head away.

"You know, if you're going to eavesdrop, you could certainly do better."

I tried to act as if I didn't understand what he meant.

When the woman finished bandaging my neck and forehead, she told me I was good to go. Where was I to go?

The man named Igneel grabbed my hand and tugged me away. He took me to his car, buckling me in the back.

When the car started, and we drove away from the scene, my eyes catching the last sight of my parents ever, I couldn't help tears forming in my eyes. Their ghosts waved, smiles etched into their faces. I was no longer their son.

I turned back around and caught Igneel's eyes on me from the mirror.

"Where are we going?"

His eyes flickered back to the road. I noticed the clock on the dashboard read 2:37 AM, way past my bedtime. Even with the circumstances, I felt my heart get a little excited that I didn't have my parents to tell me when bedtime was. I felt that this man I had just met, would be fun.

I heard him say a word to me that hit, every time I remembered it. A new adventure was waiting for a strange child like me.

"Home."

That was how I came to claim Igneel as my father, and how my life slowly spiralled in crazy ways after that.

Hello readers. Welcome to my world of sadness. Yay. You just signed up for something dangerous.

Anyway, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule and reading my trash.

I think you should stalk me and check out my other fics because they are so much better than this one.

Updates are coming soon, don't panic. Lol.

Review, and tell me how you felt about it.

Even though its at a currently boring stage.

-Brannasaurus Rex