"Wahh!"

A cry escapes into the air. Not like a cry-cry, but like a baby's cry. The wailing yearned for its mother to come running and love it, nurture it, it's mother warmth and haven within her arms.

My soul is grounded, keen on confronting the baby. I'm completely magnetized by the cry.

It shakes me, why is there a baby here? In my apartment? I haven't had my baby quite yet, I'm not until a month or three. I don't know what I'm doing exactly. I'm standing in my apartment all of a sudden and it's strange. Very strange. My furniture, pictures, décor. From the ceiling to the wall meets the carpet, it was all bare and empty. My recliner and couch, gone. My writing desk, gone. My books and most treasured pictures, gone. The kitchen, it's dead clear too.

May I just say I know I must be dreaming? I'm not able to move a medium bag without being scolded for "straining myself", much less my entire house.

What the hell is going on?!

My mind is whirling, but apparently, my body doesn't seem too concerned.

"A baby? Is someone here? Somewhere...?" A voice asks and I look around to see if there were anyone else here, but I see no one.

It takes me a second to comprehend that the voice is mine. It's absolutely crazy, not knowing the sound of my own voice. Oh, great, I'm finally going crazy.

The baby's wail continues to echo throughout my apartment, and suddenly, it sounds more desperate. I can see the baby's face now, it's crying so hard, its face and collar are soaking from the tears, its skin turning red by the second from lack of oxygen.

My feet move on their own, and I'm finding myself heading toward the hallway, hands on my swollen belly protectively.

"Yukino? Cobra? Sting, Rogue? Please let this be a prank or I'll have your heads!" I call out, peering down the narrow hall. "H-Hello?"

Right, just give away your position, Lucy, real smart. It could be a serial killer using a baby to lure us. Classic me.

As I pad down the hall, my bedroom door eerily creaks open, lighting splitting through the shadows, and suddenly, the cries stop. Every nerve in my body screams at me to leave immediately. My heart hammers in its place, sweat begins to form on my temple.

I want to leave. I try, I can't. My feet are glued to where I stand.

My hands tremble while I reach for the door.

A smooth coo bounces through the air, a coo full of content and happiness. Happiness thumps through me like the blink of an eye and the weight on me lifts. I release a shaky breath, the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding until the pressure reared in my chest.

The hinges creak whilst the opening gets wider and the light consumes me and the hall I'm in.

In my room, it's completely empty. It should raise red flags in my head, but there's no danger sensor going off.

Well, all except the rocking bassinet Yukino had bought me. It swayed gently, luring the infant into a soft sleep. The coos resume and lure me into my room. It's sweet and soothing, so innocent and serene.

As I enter the doorway, a warmth overwhelms me. I have to pause a second, realizing my hand is rubbing flat, not round. My heart leaps into my throat, my eyes frantically peering down.

My baby! My god. Where's my baby?!

I swab my abdomen with my fingers and palms, breath hitched and shallow. My fingernails snag and tag at my shirt.

What happened?! Where did my baby---

The cooing reenters my ears, I pause uncertainly.

No...it couldn't be possible...could it?

Is this...my baby?

With a dry mouth and clammy palms, I approach the basinet with wary steps. The blood pounded through my ears, my pulse increased with each step I took.

I almost feared what I'd see in the crib.

Pink curls spoil the white sheet, wide ocean eyes stare up at me curiously. The baby, in my sincerest opinion, reminded me of my baby pictures. A baby Lucy with pink hair and blue eyes. I couldn't tell if the baby was a boy or girl, which makes me feel awful with my terrible observations skills. The baby is dressed in a bear onesie I remember Yukino excitedly flaunted.

"H-hello there, little one~" I say, a smile involuntarily stretching across my face.

I bend forward, my hands on the basinet as the baby giggles gleefully, outstretching their little limbs and giving me a gummy smile.

My...baby?

The thought crosses my mind. This is my baby, isn't it? My baby, I kept repeating within my mind. I lean to pick the infant up, as softly and gently as I can. I move my left palm under the baby's head and my right arm curled around its body.

The baby giggles once more, cuddling closer to my breasts.

"Oh, no, no, Love, " I say softly. "I can't give milk yet." Right, and I'm talking to a baby like it's going to say something back.

The baby just stares up at me, shoving its fingers into its gums. My heart!

I've always wanted a baby with blue eyes...I think my wish has come true. Tears leak from my eyes, my bottom lip quivers. I reposition the baby to my shoulder, steadily making sure I have a good grip.

"You're perfect."

I'm so caught up in the moment with my baby, I hadn't noticed the extra presence in the room until they speak.

"Look what we did. Lucy, " He said, his voice cracking almost with glee. "Our baby."

My blood turned cold. Sweat forms at my temple, trickling even.

Our?

My body locks up, I'm unable to move. Fear overwhelms me, I'm too stiff and scared to even look at the monster as he gazes at me with his soulless pupils. His stare burns through me.

"No!" I scream out, my baby disappears into smoke and ash, my arms flailing through the air as the empty room suddenly morphs into my old apartment on Strawberry Street.

When everything went to hell.

My heart nearly falters. What am I doing here....? Please, God.

NO!

I snap my focus on him, Natsu who suddenly becomes tall and broad, his body emitting enormous heat and power. I can feel my muscles tremble from the shock.

"You're not real! Go to hell, bastard!!" I scream at him, instinctively reaching for my keys, only to find them not on my belt, and the fear flares up heatedly.

"I'm very real, " He says, stalking closer. "And so is our child."

Natsu's voice suddenly becomes more rough and animalistic. From what I allow myself to see, his face is covered in red patches, they glimmer in the light. He had fangs poking out from under his lips, and in the light, I made out blood-stained them. His eyes, despite his teeth colored red, were more predator than any feature he had. They had no white, which crimson replaced and golden slits split vertically through his eyeballs.

"It's not yours! It never will be yours, you bastard!" I yell, backpedaling so quickly, the back of my heels catch on something hard and I go down. "AH!"

I crash onto the floor, the breath knocked out of me briefly.

"The child is mine." Natsu growled, suddenly crouching over, his hand seizing my throat and roughly pulling me up. Our faces are so close, our noses are touching. He smells like brimstone, like ash and burning flesh.

I cry out, trying to escape by hitting him and kicking him with my knees. The more I fight, the more futile my escape becomes.

"It doesn't matter if you run away from me, " Natsu slams me onto the floor, fireworks explode behind my eyes and I see dark temporarily, the pain rears an ugly headache. His lips graze my left ear, almost as if he were trying to whisper sweet nothings to me. "I will always find you because you are mine."

"NO! Not again! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME!!" I use every ounce of strength I have to fight.

"Mine." Natsu growls again, baring his teeth.

His hand snatches my jaw, forcing me to turn my head toward the left. I can feel with his other hand, removing my hair from my neck. His nails begin to hurt my flesh.

"Forever mine."

Pain engulfs my entire right side, the fangs piercing my flesh and heat burning my veins from the inside out.

I scream out.

"LUCY!"

I'm being held when I come to.

"No! Let me go!"

They're holding me tight as if I've been thrashing around. I panic more, crying out, trying to escape. My muscles ache the more I struggled and the more I was held tighter.

"Lucy, wake up!"

I can feel the heat rush through my eyes and my body goes slack. My lungs squeeze, unable to forget how Natsu tried to press the air out of me that July evening. My fear is never-ending.

He found me again and again.

We'll never be safe!

"You're okay, Lucy, you're okay, " A hushed voice tries to soothe me and the paranoia growing inside me. "You're safe. It was just a dream."

I hiccup, my hands trembling as I grip the person's sleeves.

"It wasn't a dream, " I hiccup over the growing lump in my throat. "it was real."

"Rogue, we heard screaming, what---Lucy?!" It was Yukino. Her tone went from concerned to also panicked.

Rogue? Is that who's holding me while I hyperventilate?

"I was checking on her and she just started screaming, " Rogue never pulled away, he kept me within his embrace. "It was a nightmare."

"...coming..." It slipped past my lips almost inaudibly.

"What?" Another person asks.

My focus is too centered on relaxing my racing heart. I felt no magical heat, no pain. No fire at all. My child must think there is no danger, no way harm could be done.

I curl my knees to my chest to the best of my ability, feeling the tiniest bit of movement from my baby. A sob leaves my lips, more tears falling from my eyes as Rogue tries to adjust his hold on me.

"He's coming....he's coming..." I sob out in near hysteria.

"Who is, Lucy? Who's he?"

I refuse to speak anymore, I don't want to. I'm too afraid to. I shake my head and bury my face into the crook of Rogue's elbow.

Why does he still haunt me?