Paranormal, a sister fic to Invisible

Natsu x Lucy, with gajevy

Words: ~6,400

Media:

Tex Talion / Epic North

Zero Hour / Future World Music

The Time Has Come (no vocals) / Gabriel Shadid & Tobias Marberger

Viral Outbreak (no vocals) / Gabriel Shadid & Tobias Marberger

(the songs set the mood, it's suggested to listen to them)

*No character was killed in the writing of this story.

This contains triggers, mentions of firearms, demons, suicide, and others. Reader's discretion is advised.

nalufever (tumblr), you have given me permission to go all out. Here We Go...

Reflection

a NaLu one-shot

halloween edition 2017

Sister Fic to Invisible

By CapAleran2

For nalufever

The red light began flashing on the side of the video camera. He aimed it towards the decaying building, focusing on the main section that used to be the front entrance. He slowly walked backward and kept the camera steady as the shot widened to show the rest of the abandoned place. Natsu finally halted and pressed the zoom out button. The display screen showed Lucy standing off to the side, facing their next location challenge.

"This will look awesome with the creepy edits," he said as he pressed the stop button. He held his hands in the air and looked through the square they made to gaze excitedly at the mansion.

"Creepy edits?" Lucy asked, twisting around towards him.

"Yea. Like the filters that'll darken or lighten it. The footage will look great."

Lucy grinned and turned back to the large old mansion.

It was clear it had been unoccupied for several years; the siding was all but gone and what was still attached was discolored, the bricks in certain areas were crumbling, the long, wooden porch floor was caving in, and most of the windows were broken. The front door was the only part they could see that was still functional. There was a barn and a shed in the same condition.

She twisted her lips as her eyes scanned the old wreckage. "It may not need it, the place already has that feel in the dusk hours," she commented, glancing up to the rapidly fading daylight. "Though maybe a filter would enhance it."

"And we haven't even seen the inside yet." Natsu came up beside her and placed his arm on her shoulder, leaning slightly onto her with a smile.

She gave him another nervous grin. It wasn't her first time investigating reportedly haunted sites alongside Natsu, or even with her friend Levy and Levy's boyfriend, Gajeel. In pairs, the four of them had debunked several locations prior to having been contacted for this particular one. She was used to exploring abandoned factories and hospitals in the darkness. It was a thrill of which she had become addicted.

"You thirsty?" Natsu asked as he turned. He marched over to their black Cobalt parked in the drive and set down the video camera to open a cooler filled with ice. He held up a soda.

Lucy joined him as they patiently waited for the other two who would be locked in with them. She pulled the tab at the top and took a sip, glancing towards their objective. "What do you think the history is on this place?"

"I dunno. I asked Levy to gather what she could on it. She's supposed to bring what she's found. All I had to go on was this." Natsu fished out a folded up piece of paper from his pocket to hand to her. It read:

'Heard you're an investigator. main building on the Brookevale property has something in it. During the day it's just another piece of history, but things like to go bump in the night. If you go, don't go alone.'

"That's it?" Lucy asked. She flipped the paper over a few times in her hand. "No one signed it? No other information at all? Where did you get this?"

He threw a thumb over his shoulder. "It was under the wiper blade one morning. I guess whoever did that wanted to remain anonymous." He shrugged and took another sip from his soda can.

"Natsu, this is extremely sketchy," she cautioned, holding it up for emphasis. "We don't know anything else. We'd be going in there blind as a bat with this scanty information and no one would know where we were, especially if this is some sort of cruel prank."

"Just look at it. I don't think it's a prank. Let's just see what Levy dug up before we abandon the place," he snorted as he took back the paper. "Get it, 'cause it's an abandoned property…"

"Yes, I get it." Lucy deadpanned. She finished her drink, but when Natsu turned his back to her, she couldn't stop her mouth from forming an amused grin.

Natsu's phone went off at his side. He swallowed his mouthful of soda and glanced at the ID before answering. "Hey, where are ya?"

"Just turned into the drive. This is one hell of a place to find," Gajeel said.

Natsu leaned his backside on the car's trunk and watched the spot in the drive where his cousin's truck would appear from out of the tree foliage, which covered the first half of the long, winding drive like a living tunnel. Solid sections of trees lined the property perimeter like ancient soldiers.

"Did Levy get anything?"

There was a slight pause before Gajeel spoke up. "Yea. She's got something alright." He ended the call as the truck rounded the bend and came into view.

Lucy walked around to the passenger side as the truck came to a halt behind the Cobalt. Levy stepped out and smiled as she slammed the door shut. "Hey. How long have you been here?"

'Maybe ten minutes. Natsu just now showed me the paper."

They stood in front of the immense, dilapidated mansion. Levy gave the building a once-over, slightly grimacing. "Yea. There's definitely a history here," she supplied. She waited for Natsu to come near so he could hear. "I looked up the property by name. It was built in the late 1800's. You know that Winchester Mystery house?"

Lucy's eyes squinted before they popped open. "No way. This is a sister house to that original construction?"

Levy nodded. "Same design, different architects."

"It gets better," Gajeel said. They all stared at Levy.

"I also looked up the owner history. Everyone who had ever owned this place," Levy swung her arm out to the side to indicate the entire acreage. "Eventually up and left it or died, and as a result, it hasn't been lived in since the 1920's. The local real estate agencies don't want anything to do with it."

Lucy swallowed a gasp and tried not to glance back at the place they planned on locking down. "Can they even do that? I mean leave the property without a buyer?"

"This bitch's been empty for several decades, the laws in place way back when didn't have anything about just leavin' a place to rot. It was built while men still carried Colts, anything that needed to be settled could be done under gunmetal," Gajeel interjected roughly.

"Who was the last owner?" Natsu asked the bluenette.

"A Nathan Proctor."

"What happened to him?"

Levy shrugged. "What Gajeel said. The West was won with guns. The public records run deep, but there's no mention of what happened to him, of whether he ran or died. He simply vanished."

"Wow, how weird. It's a wonder no one has torn it down since. Or that it's in as good as shape as it is." Lucy turned to Natsu, who was gazing at the large building with a new perspective.

"I'm guessing with its age, someone has gone out of their way to fix it up. Or…"

"Or what?" Natsu asked, turning towards Levy once again and half hoping it was what he thought she'd say. The only other explanation, however illogical it seemed.

"Or there's something otherworldly keeping it together."

They were silent, each taking that as they would. The sky above had dimmed with the dusk fading into night. A few stars were now visible in the darkening atmosphere.

Natsu voice calmly broke the silence. "Well there's only one way to find out "

He looked towards Gajeel. The tall man had his arms crossed over his chest. "What's our plan of action?"

"Do you want to place static night cams before we lock down, or go in with handhelds? Either way, we'll have a lot to review later," he replied.

"We should do both," Lucy said. She picked up a flashlight out of the backpack by the Cobalt's back tire and tested it before picking up her video recorder. "If this is anything like that Mystery house, there will be a ton of things that happen without us knowing. If there is something paranormal in there, we'll get something with the static cams, while we're all in separate rooms."

"Maybe it's connected with that house. Like the portals they created while communicating with the dead," Natsu said. He picked up his camera and dug around in the backpack, while Gajeel and Levy did the same with theirs.

"Maybe. If that's what's going on. I doubt anyone would be talking with actual people. There's no way of knowing if you're talking to Aunt Debbi or a demon impersonating her."

"I thought you didn't have an Aunt Debbi," Natsu commented, turning to face her as he set the recording device carefully into the front pocket.

She rolled her eyes towards him, speaking calmly. "I don't. I was using an example."

Gajeel glanced at his phone for the time. "It's 8:30. Let's get the cameras set up first, then we lock down."

They spent the next half hour setting three tripods for the static cameras in different rooms on the ground floor, ignoring the second, third, and attic floors for their exploring later. The air in the house was light and it was easy for them to feel comfortable despite the house's eerie condition. There was hardly any furniture, and what was there looked as though it should be in a museum. With the floodlight in the main room and their own flashlights to add, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a normal but abandoned building.

Creepy with how old and rundown it was, yes. But that was all.

While Lucy and Levy were at the vehicles getting the backpacks full of investigating equipment, Natsu peered inside the dark house from the open front door. His feet were planted on the threshold as he began to lean inwards, towards the nothingness.

There was something off about the place.

Sure, they hadn't had any problems while they set up the cams. He had watched while Levy activated each one to relay the footage filmed throughout the night to the laptop locked inside the truck. Nothing had jumped out at him as being scary or abnormal. However, there was always something unsettling about the locations they chose to enter in hopes of finding something significant or to debunk the paranormal claims.

The old wooden porch vibrated against his feet, and Natsu turned to see his cousin step towards him from the porch edge. He could hardly see his face in the evening's dimmed lighting, but as Gajeel neared, he could detect a bit of unease in his eyes.

"You ready?" Natsu asked. He twisted to face him, turning away from the open doorway.

Gajeel nodded, his eyes lingering on the black void beyond inside the threshold. "Yea. But there's just something…" his voice trailed off.

Natsu frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's wrong?"

"Here," Gajeel murmured, pulling something out of his waistband from behind his back, checking to see where the girls were in the process. "In case."

In his hand was a black 9mm Beretta. He quickly dropped the mag from the bottom into his other hand to show Natsu it was full, fifteen rounds in total. He roughly shoved it back in and handed it to him. "Don't tell the girls. I don't want them to spook."

Natsu took it. He was familiar with firearms, though it had been a while since he and Gajeel had gone to the range for practice. He expertly gripped the handle to get a feel for it and pointed the barrel down to the ground. "Thanks, but do you think we'll even need it? It's not like it's a war zone."

"Can never be too sure. I've got one too. I'm sure we'll be split up in there." Gajeel gestured to the waiting dark.

"Ok! We're all set!" Lucy's voice was closer than it had been moments prior. Levy followed her up the few porch steps, throwing the other backpack over her shoulders.

With Gajeel as cover, Natsu stuffed the weapon into the waistband of his jeans, giving the man beside him a knowing glance as he did so.

"Everything's ready to go." Lucy handed Natsu his camera and flashlight She gave him a nervous but excited smile, wrapping her hand around the crook of his elbow.

Natsu was relieved to see that she was oblivious to the firearm covered only by his grey t-shirt. He kissed her forehead as she turned on her camera's night vision, then glanced to Gajeel.

The large man held up the key to the lock device, waiting for the other three to go inside first before entering the building himself. Levy turned the floodlight on, giving him some light to place the locking device around the doorknob -something similar to the locks on vacant, on-the-market homes- and insert the key.

With the entire front room lit, there were very little shadows. Natsu could see all the way through the hall directly ahead of them and the stairs to the second-floor landing. The front rooms on either side of the stairs and hallway were halfway illuminated.

Gajeel turned to them, readying his own video camera. "Alright."

Natsu lifted his camera, getting the first shots of the rooms as he panned around. "It's just after 9:05 pm, the four of us, Natsu, Lucy, Levy, and Gajeel, have begun the Brookevale property investigation, Tuesday, October 31st, 2017."

"Oh yeah, it's Halloween," Levy murmured.

"Shh," Lucy hushed her. She reached over to switch off the floodlight at Natsu's request.

A deep, black void engulfed them instantly.

None of them saw anything before their eyes began adjusting to the sudden darkness. They stood there taking in the silence, hearing just their own heartbeats. Only the viewfinders' dim screens of the cameras in hand were their source of light.

"What now?" Lucy asked, glancing up from the device as she inched a little closer to Natsu.

"Me and Levy'll take the main floor, you two can go up," Gajeel replied.

Levy nodded. "Just be careful. Treat the place like it's the actual Mystery House. We know next to nothing about this mansion."

"Don't have to tell me twice…" Lucy began, trailing off as she and Natsu cautiously closed the distance to the stairwell. She entwined her arm around Natsu's.

The hallway that led straight from the foyer was narrow, providing a width just big enough for both of them to walk side by side. With each slow step, the old dusty floorboards creaked and groaned. Out of curiosity, Lucy twisted around to get a shot of the hardwood flooring behind them. Their two sets of footprints left distinct tracks in the -until recently- undisturbed environment.

Natsu halted, lifting his video camera to the wall near the bottom stair landing. On the wall was what looked like a large picture frame without a picture. The rectangular frame was hanging crooked, the glass front cracking from one central point in a webbing pattern.

Moving his camera to the left and bumping into Lucy, he saw a thick layer of cobwebs spread down from the ornate stair post to the floor, an opaque white with a sort of sheen to it when viewing it in the display screen.

"Geez, this place is shoddy, Luce," Natsu murmured, breaking the silence.

"I've noticed," she whispered. Her arm loosened from its hold on his arm.

Natsu stepped onto the first step, the creaking growing louder as he put all of his weight onto it. A soft breeze flowed from the rest of the stairs above, brushing past them, enough for the two of them to feel the temperature difference.

Lucy froze before remembering she carried a temperature gauge in the backpack. The colder air was gone then, almost as quickly as it had come. She looked up at Natsu, seeing only rough features in the dark. "Did you feel that?"

"Yea. There's probably a draft up there. Remember the windows were in bad shape."

Lucy frowned, hoping that it was just a draft. They had never encountered any real evil in all of their investigative days. A small part of her had wanted there to be, just for her to be able to say that she'd seen something... netherworldly. Something malevolent. But a large part of her knew logic was on their side. And if she cared to admit it, a tiny portion was terrified logic would abandon them.

"Right," she said instead. It wasn't the time or place to start telling her long-time boyfriend her concerns. And wishes. There was a job to do.

Natsu held out his hand for her and together they made their way up a set of wide, old steps. Several steps ahead was a middle landing, with the steps continuing up and to the left. Once they were on the middle landing, they noticed the air again.

"The air's cooler than the main level."

"Again, it's possible if there's a draft."

Natsu took out a small recording device out of the backpack on Lucy's shoulder. "I'll be rolling until we get to the second floor," he warned. The red light blinked on the handheld as it began recording. Hopefully, it picked up decibels they couldn't themselves hear. Maybe voices from other dimensions.

There were more, larger picture frames hung on the bare, dusty walls. Each one they came across had no pictures and the glass was broken. Both strained their ears in the silence, glancing over their shoulders as they made their way to the top.

Ending the recording session, Natsu tucked the recorder into his pocket. "I hope there was some evidence on it. Something usable."

"You know it's unlikely," Lucy commented in a near whisper, giving him a semi-playful look. None of their investigations had supplied them with any proof of the paranormal.

As she walked forward and opened her mouth to speak again, something lightly brushed her face. She let loose a quick shriek, jumping to the side and reaching for Natsu.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer, while glancing around at the unfamiliar darkness, trying to calculate if there was an immediate danger. Turning to her, as close as she was, he could see the plain fright on her face. She felt the place on her cheek where she had been touched.

"You're ok, there's nothing here," Natsu murmured quickly. His fingers brushed hers and felt something stringy and sticky.

The walkie clipped to his belt made a sudden tone, making both of them jump. He reached to pick it up as Gajeel's voice came through. "Are you guys alright up there? We heard a scream."

"Yea. Lucy walked through a spider web. It's all good."

"Gihi, 10-4."

Lucy took a deep breath, running her hand down her goosebumped arm. She felt silly. It had just been a harmless cobweb. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Natsu squeezed her and then readied his video camera so they could continue.

Before them was a dark and dank hallway. It went straight and to each side. It reminded Lucy of what used to be a grand hotel. Not a sound was made save for their breathing.

"I want to place a laser grid here." Lucy pulled the backpack off to retrieve the device.

She flipped the switch on the bottom and small green dots were suddenly on everything in sight. They lined the entire space. Natsu moved his hand, and it seemed like the dots were moving in a wave.

"Since the stairs can be seen from all hallways," Lucy supplied. Her boyfriend nodded.

"Good call." He bumped her arm with his and there was a slight play in his voice. "Maybe we should split up."

She glared at him even though he wouldn't clearly see it. Shouldering the backpack, she grabbed Natsu's arm, tugging him forwards to enter the hall across from the stairwell.

The floor there groaned worse with every step than the stairs had. Lucy prayed the bottom wouldn't give out to plunge them to their death. The air was cold. They examined each room looking for something that could cause the temperature inconstancy.

In every one, however, not even a window was cracked, or a hole in any wall. The house upstairs was intact. And it didn't make any sense.

Perplexed, Lucy exited the room they were in, leaving Natsu for a moment. Her eyes flickered to the end of the hall, towards the stairs.

She froze.

Coldness hovered around her. The steady temperature where she stood had dropped further. She focused on the second-floor landing, where a dark figure had appeared. It was blacker than the darkness surrounding it. The black void took a step -more like a glide- and the green laser dots rippled.

The hair on Lucy's arm stood on end. She sucked in an inaudible gasp. So transfixed on the object that she forgot Natsu was in the room to her right. Her boyfriend bumped into her shoulder.

He noticed her frozen stance and followed her gaze. As soon as his eyes landed on what had trapped her vision, he lost sight of it. The figure had quickly vanished, leaving the grid pattern completely.

"D-did you-" Lucy stuttered.

"Yea," Natsu said. He started forward, pulling Lucy's arm with him. "Get your camera rolling."

He led them back to the landing. Choosing the direction he believed he saw it go, he turned to the left, down another hallway. They had no protection in the pitch darkness and were at the mercy of the mansion's creature. If that was indeed what their eyes had witnessed.

It was slow going, but the two of them braved the void together. They ended up at the far end with only a few rooms on either side until they would have to turn around and head back towards the main staircase.

Lucy was about to speak, but a child-like laughter cut any word-forming thoughts from her mind. The laughter was innocent as it was creepy, she thought she would pee right where she stood. Her hand was tightly squeezed.

"What the hell?" Natsu whispered, drawing out the first word as his mind tried to connect the dots with his own experiences that flashed through his mind. Trying to come up with some sort of explanation.

They both knew there was none.

The laughter grew in volume, which caused the couple's gaze to dart to the entrance of the nearest room. Neither wanted to move, but they knew they had to. They hesitantly entered the cold dark, fully expecting the worse. They held each other close.

The laughter silenced. Their only light source bounced back at them, reflecting from many shiny surfaces. Natsu quickly clicked on his flashlight

Mirrors.

Many mirrors of different sizes and shapes surrounded them. Each one reflecting the same image of Natsu and Lucy standing in the middle of the room. Some were cracked with spherical webbing, but none were completely shattered as to horribly distorting the picture reflected.

It was then that Lucy began to shake. She had done so prior to this section of the house. But not as violent and with as strong a conviction that they were in trouble. "N-Natsu, I don't like this. I really don't like this…"

"Why just the mirrors," he commented to himself, looking very confused.

Her fingers brushed up his arm, feeling his familiar, muscular arm for security. There were raised bumps, a tell-tale sign of his discomfort. So it wasn't just her.

"Luce," he said. His usually warm hands were ice cold on her skin. "This feels bad."

"Well now don't tell me that!" she hissed. Her face pressed into his chest.

"I didn't want to believe those stories. But it feels like they were true."

"W-what stories? You're scaring me."

Natsu glanced around at all of their reflections. The same thing. The two of them standing and staring, unable to move and unsure of what to do next. He turned them so he would attempt to count them, but there were too many. "Stories of portals to other dimensions where the demons are. All they need is your face."

At that, Lucy whimpered.

Neither of them remembered to do any other testing aside from their video cameras recording everything. They were not aware of the barest of voices, whispering in the blackness. Some were child-like, others were of women. And a few were deep, distorted. Ominous. Laughing.

"Alright, I'm gonna call Gajeel. I want him and Levy to check this out. It's too weird." Natsu grabbed the walkie to press the talk button, but the request wouldn't go through the channel.

"Gajeel. Gajeel? Can you hear me?" Natsu said loudly. He hit the device with his free hand. "Dammit, this can't be broken, it's brand new… It's gotta be the batteries."

"I put brand new ones in them just before we started the lockdown," Lucy argued, feeling a frown replace her fright. The flashlight should work.

A quick deep rumble vibrated their chests like the bass at a metal concert, and then it was gone. There was a shuffling sound, a clicking of glass on glass.

"Oh my g-" Lucy began with a swift rush of breath but was cut off as another voice spoke. It was incoherent, but a voice nonetheless.

It was clear the muffled voices had belonged to more than one person and of different pitches. The conversation between the voices was intermittent, as though the pair had accidentally stumbled upon a normal, invisible family.

The blond's hold on Natsu's arm was as tight as a vise. "I want to leave," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear. She had never felt fear running as rampant within her as it was in that room.

The subdued laughter from earlier started again. It multiplied and resonated through the mirrors, from one side to the other in a seemingly domino effect. Wide-eyed, Natsu could only stare as a transparent wisp floated out from a long, unbroken mirror facing him.

He wasn't sure if it was real or his eyes playing mean tricks on him. His next breath caught in the back of his mouth. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Keeping his arm around Lucy's shoulder, he turned on the flashlight again, aiming it down to the floor as to not blind them with its reflection.

He let out a guttural cry when he saw the black figure from earlier hovering behind them. His sudden, fierce reaction caused Lucy to let loose a brief squeal. She hopped beside her boyfriend as she did, greatly wishing they were elsewhere. Anywhere.

Spinning his body around, Natsu faced the figure and aimed the light beam at it. The moment the beam hit it, it vanished as if it hadn't been there the entire time.

"...get… ouuut… nooo..." a low murmur rolled, followed by a menacing, rumbling growl akin to a lion.

The pink-haired investigator grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her with him out the door. They tripped into the hallway and booked it, risking all potential injury they could sustain in the dark. The passed into the laser grid and abruptly halted before the staircase.

A dim light flashed in the room from where they fled.

"What the hell was that?" Natsu managed. He tried to regulate his breathing as they swiftly glided down the steps.

"I got it on camera, I know I did."

When they neared the bottom, they saw Gajeel and Levy's forms suddenly appear around the banister. The two of them had concerned expressions etched into their faces as they watched their friends rapidly descend. Gajeel shone his flashlight in their faces. Levy looked at Lucy's redden features, horrified at imagining what had happened.

"Lucy? Are you guys ok?" She grabbed her friend's hand and squeezed.

"We heard a scream and some running," Gajeel pointed out, his eyes creasing at the corners. "We were about to get you. What the fuck's going on up there?"

"I tried… to reach you on the walkie," Natsu supplied breathlessly. He touched Lucy's bare arm in an effort to help calm her down. "It wouldn't work… like it was dead."

Gajeel promptly grabbed the other walkie secured on his belt. The talk button functioned normally. He gave his younger cousin a curious stare.

Raising her recording device, Lucy nodded to it. "I was filming the whole time."

"You do any other kind of investigations?"

"No, only the camera. It happened so fast. It was unlike anything I've experienced."

"But you are ok, right?" Levy asked, receiving a nod in return. When Lucy admitted a certain kind of defeat, it was serious. Maybe this house was too much like the Mystery House. Maybe someone had summoned too many paranormal beings in the past. She turned to her tall boyfriend.

Gajeel firmly shook his head once, knowing what those eyes conveyed. He pointed up the stairs with his finger while looking at Natsu. "There really something up there?"

"No, no there's nothing up there. We just decided to hightail it in the dark hoping we'd trip," the pinkette gave a sarcastic remark. He held up his walkie. "I was gonna have you come up before it got too disturbing."

Gajeel and Natsu led the way back to the mirror room, now alert for any signs of the dark figure or any other spirits lurking about. They weren't sure with what they were dealing. Did these things have the capabilities of physical manifestation so far as to touch them? If so, that could lead to extremely dangerous conditions.

And on the other end of the spectrum, that it wasn't anything otherworldly at all and turned out to be an evil prankster taking a Halloween joke way too far, they would have to be swift in calling the police for help. They were working without electricity and would have to rely solely on the service on their cell phones.

The four of them neared the mirror room. It had gone dark, no transparent wisps or voices made themselves known as they entered through the spacious entrance. They slowly crept inside, Gajeel holding out a rolling voice recorder. Levy and Lucy hugged each other and stood among the men.

"What's with all the damn mirrors…" Gajeel murmured to no one in particular. He scanned the room, glancing at each mirror. The light from the reflection of their cameras gave them enough light to see around them through the warped perspective of each glass.

"I dunno, but a figure appeared before we left." Natsu turned, his Adam's Apple bobbing slightly as he spoke.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at him and heard Levy's small intake of breath. "Transparent or dark?"

"Transparent, er, dark. There was both," Natsu replied unsteadily. He was unsure if the wisps had been something, but he was positive on the figure that had about scared the living shit out of him. "There was definitely a dark one."

A deep reverberation grew from seemingly nothing. All four of them quieted their breaths to listen. It was awry like something wasn't connecting into a smooth sound. It gave an eerie atmosphere to the mirrors.

Stopping the recorder, Levy's boyfriend played back what the device had just been recording. They heard their own voices in conversation. And in between their pauses were hushed whispers, barely audible to their ears even in the recording.

"That's very disturbing." Lucy dared not to breathe. She stared at the handheld device in shock. She had expected some time of residual playback, but these were almost intelligent.

The hushed voices seemed louder when they were quiet. A rattling caused Gajeel to stop the playback. The mirrors' frames were rustling against each other, though no one was near or touching them. There were no other visual signs that it should be occurring. The invisible interactions made Lucy let go of her friend to latch onto Natsu.

A low growling began. Gajeel and Natsu exchanged a cautious glance. The loud bang of Lucy's camera falling to the dusty floorboard in the silence was deafening. The girls squealed in fright.

"What happened?" Natsu asked, bending to pick it up. He felt her ice cold hands when he gave it back. "You ok?"

"N-n-no, that wasn't me. I was gripping it," Lucy stuttered. "It was r-ripped from my hand!"

Natsu's frown deepened. It wasn't normal. The things happening in the moment were too odd, too weird. The air itself felt heavy, as though there was too much moisture. He found it difficult to draw in that satisfying, deep breath. The emotions they had would soon give way to anxiety and paranoia.

His eyes flickered to his cousin a few feet away. Behind him hovered a black mass. Blacker than black. "Dude-"

At Natsu's reaction, Gajeel turned his head. He immediately flinched and swiped Levy towards the other two with his arm. "The fuck!"

This time the figure did not disappear. It seemed to be mocking them with a deep, rich yet quiet grumbling meant to be laughter. A child's echoing giggles rolled in with it, sounding demonic in nature. It was not the kind of child one would want to encounter alone.

The transparent tendrils tinted with a milky white flickered out from the glass on the walls surrounding them. It was a distraction long enough for the black entity to disappear.

"Guys, we should leave. Now," Levy said quickly, firmly. She hugged Gajeel's arm, trying to hide her face from the darkness. She couldn't keep the fear from her wavering tone.

Lucy's gasp and Levy's startled yelp after a metal slide registered on him. Gajeel looked around for the figure, but when he turned towards the others, the sight froze him in his tracks.

The girls too were unsure where to stand. Natsu's expression had dramatically changed from certain fear to one of ease, of calm. In his hand held the cold metal of the pistol his cousin had loaned him. He knew the weapon was hot.

Gajeel's eyes widened and he slowly moved his hand down in the air. "Hey, man, put the gun down."

Natsu kept his position, his arm slightly below perpendicular to the rest of his body. He stared at Gajeel, ignoring the girls completely.

"Natsu, please do what he says," Lucy pleaded. She gazed into the dull light in her boyfriend's eyes. "Please. Y-you're scaring me."

She had no idea where he had even gotten his hands on a weapon prior to coming to the location. Confusion clouded all of her motioned to the gun. "How did he get that?"

"I gave it to him," Gajeel said with a small huff.

"What?!" Lucy fumed, stamping her foot and creating a wider footprint in the dust. "Why the hell would you do that, idiot?!"

Gajeel defended himself. "He told me he found out about this place through an unsigned post-it. What the fuck was I supposed to do, let you guys die in here without a defense? That is not a normal way of contacting-"

"And you call shooting a spirit a defense?!" Lucy cried. She shot Natsu a dirty glance, then faced Gajeel with a finger pointed at him. "Wait, he told you about it and not me!"

A louder, darker snarling chortling interrupted them. Levy pulled her friend towards her as the space around Natsu seemed to darken further. A black void made the man's body seem outlined. It looked as though it was directly influencing him.

"We gotta get him out. All of us out before some bad shit goes down." Gajeel stared hard at his cousin and the black mass, his voice intended for the girls.

Levy had been observing the situation with extreme focus. Every time the other two fumed at each other, the demonic laughter increased in volume. Natsu's hand repositioned on the trigger. And she knew the two men went to the range on occasion; Natsu was accustomed to proper trigger control. It was not right. He had his finger on the trigger and not on the outside it at a right angle.

"Guys," Levy tried interrupting them. "Look."

Lucy and Gajeel followed Levy's gaze to see the entity behind the pinkette. The hand holding the pistol began to turn away from Gajeel and inward.

"Whoa, whoa," Gajeel let out a concerned yell. His focus shifted from Natsu's twisted expression to the darkness beyond him. "Don't you dare, motherfucker!"

Lucy's eyes began to tear up. She now knew why some of the mirrors were broken. Why there were children's voices and whispered giggling. Her blood chilled within her veins, her hand covered her open mouth.

The paranormal entity was indeed demonic. It lured people who flirted with the dark side of the night, who lived on the adrenaline and the fear they continually -habitually- searched for. It forced them to murder others before committing suicide.

The realization she felt deep in her gut in that moment was also felt by Gajeel and Levy.

"Natsu! Stop!"

The barrel closed the distance between her boyfriend's hand and head. Before Lucy could reach for him herself, Gajeel all but leaped at him in a desperate attempt to stop him from killing himself or the girls.

As Gajeel dove for the man's outstretched arm. The ear-splitting thunder of a bullet firing echoed powerfully in the room. The shattering of glass and the girl's screams filled the place not one second later, drawling out in the confusion and terror.

"Gajeel!" "Natsu!"

The two friend's screeched in unison. The flash of the gunshot temporarily blinded had no idea in the pitch darkness if their precious significant others were alive, hurt… or dead. Stumbling in the dark and trying not to topple over the struggle of bodies on the floor, they went only by the sound of the men's muffled voices.

There was a strong force of laughter, both the creepy children and the diabolical growling seemed as though it was right next to their ears. Taunting and tormenting them. Lucy screamed alongside Levy, their high-pitched voices piercing into the night...