"Do you really want to be my friend?"

Summary: On the way to join the Fairy Tail guild after Ul's death, Gray comes across a little girl about 2 years younger than him who is full of scars and wounds. He decides to help her and become her friend, but there is a reason behind her pain. Even just being her friend could kill him. Gray x OC

Rating: T {I'm paranoid!}

Warnings: I don't really know… other than Language. And GRAY/OC.

Notes: I'm here with yet another story! WOOT! Only this time… with Fairy Tail!

Do you really want to be my friend?

Chapter 1: A Mysterious Girl

Run! Run! You have to escape!

Her thoughts were the same. She thought of nothing but escape. She can't take it anymore… the torment, the insults, the tears… she can't take it anymore…

"STOP RIGHT THERE! ERICA!"

"COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"THE WORLD WILL COLLAPSE IF YOU RUN ON THE LOOSE!"

The shouts got fainter as she distanced. Triumphant smile on her face, she sprinted into the forest. I'm exhausted… she thought, taking a seat near the river.

She gasped as she looked at her reflection. The girl in the river was covered in blood, wounds, some dry some fresh, all over her face and body, her clothes ripped and blood-stained… Suddenly, her head felt light and dizzy, her wounds took so much blood from her…

Knowing her past life and cause of torment was way too far behind, she allowed herself to collapse. She needed some rest. But still… the river was taking her blood along with its current… She didn't care. She was safe.

'Ul…' thought Gray Fullbuster with a mournful face. His features consisted of spiky black hair, dark blue eyes and somewhat pale skin. The dark-haired boy's dear mentor, Ul, had recently sacrificed herself in order to put a stop to the beast Deliora. It had been two weeks already, but Gray was still depressed.

Gray was walking through a town, on his way to a guild called 'Fairy Tail.' Now that he thought about it, he's been walking for a while now, maybe he should rest.

He sat down by the river, watching the fish swim by, the water currents pull around some tiny stones and leaves… and blood? "Blood?" the boy muttered, glancing to where the blood flow seemed to come from.

What he found was the unconscious, bleeding form of a girl.

"Hey, wake up." Gray pleaded, shaking the girl's shoulder. He had pulled her out of the lake hours ago and she had yet to wake. It was worrying him.

Almost as if on command, the girl's eyes opened, revealing them to be a blood red color. "Great! You're awake!" Gray smiled.

By instinct, maybe, the girl held her hands to her head, her form trembling, "P-Please don't…hurt me…" she pleaded, her voice weak and hoarse. Flesh blood oozed from her wounds as she trembled.

"H-Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, don't worry." Gray said reassuringly, smiling gently to calm her down. "I'm Gray Fullbuster, who are you?"

She merely looked at him fearfully, as if she feared everything he did… as if she feared the world. Gray raised an eyebrow at this, "Hey, are you okay?" he put a hand to her shoulder. That caused her trembling to grow stronger and her grip on her head to tighten, a small yelp escaping her lips.

"I'm not going to hurt you, please calm down." He said, "I'm just asking you for your name."

She looked up to meet his eyes, "E… E…" she stammered, either it was her fear or the hoarseness of her voice, "E… ric… a…" she finally managed to muster out.

"Erica? That's your name?"

She slowly nodded, allowing her form to relax a bit. "That's a nice name." Gray commented, hoping to get her out of her fearful state, "If I can ask, why are you so beat up?"

Erica, again, curled up into a ball, shaking. She obviously doesn't want to recollect those pain-filled memories. Tears built up in her eyes, but they were crimson red, "I… I… Don't want… to get… hurt…again…" she muttered. "They hurt me… every…day… for fun…"

"Huh? Who's 'they'?"

Her trembling only got stronger. "…Forget I asked then." Gray sighed. "I found you unconscious in the river, what were you doing?"

"I… was… running away…" she said, "…f-from them…"

"Why? What did…'they' do to you?"

Erica screeched in pain. The hard leather licked her skin hard. "You demon spawn! You should never have existed! You'll bring the end to all life!" the holder of the whip shouted.

"B-But I didn't do anything!" Erica muffled out despite the gag over her mouth. "How can you be so sure I'll kill everyone?!"

She got another hard whip to the shoulder, "This little insignia on your arm!" the whip hit hard on the mark on her shoulder as its holder hissed, "It's the mark of the devil!"

"B-But-!"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME! KNOW YOUR PLACE, DEMON!" a hard whip to the forehead is what Erica received.

"BUT WHY AM I A DEMON?!" Erica hissed, "All I did was exist! You mark me a demon when all I did was exist!"

She's tired of it. Every day for as far as she can remember, she would be continuously beat in the day, here in this dark, damp cellar, given little food, mistreated and cursed at, then when night finally came they would sear her skin with a knife then leave her bleeding in the dark, coming back as soon as the sun came up. And all she ever did was exist!

"KNOW YOUR PLACE!" A very hard whip to the side.

"WHAT DID I DO?!" Erica demanded, venom in her voice, "WHAT WRONG DID I DO, MOTHER?!"

Erica's mother twitched her eye in irritation. "SILENCE, BRAT!" she spat venomously, whipping the child hard in every place possible, "NOT A WORD OUT OF YOU UNTIL YOU KNOW YOUR PLACE!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out the door, "Sit there and starve to death, brat!" she screeched.

With that vile woman gone, Erica sighed with relief. But she soon coughed, her wounds were deep… But not as deep as the pain her mother caused her earlier, "All I did was exist…" Erica softly cried, tears mixing with blood, "What did I do wrong?"

"I see…" Gray muttered, glancing at her right arm, right enough, there was a mark on her right arm. The mark was a star within two circles, the outer circle was lined with cross-hatchings. It was painted black, but the star was bright red. "You're like this because of that birthmark?"

"Y…es…" Erica muttered weakly.

"But why? It's a birthmark, not a curse."

"It's… the mark…of the de…vil…you…see…"

"Your voice is so hoarse… why don't we stop talking first and rest? Is that okay, Erica?" He said as he stood up, claiming his stuff from the ground and slinging the bag over his shoulders.

Erica tried to stand up, but stumbled down quickly. "I take you can't stand…" Gray sweat-dropped. "It can't be helped then." He sighed as he tried to help her up, slinging her arm around his shoulders. He glanced at her wounds, both the old and fresh, which bled profusely, she needs help… fast.