(Editing) Hide and Seek: Taken Series Book 1

Chapter Five

Finished - Mar 30, 2021 

Word Count - 1082 

Music - Marcus Warner & Fatma Fadel - Wintersong 

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Lucy was floating, the world around her deep and black. Yet a galaxy of stars danced just beyond her reach. Her body felt weightless as she continued to drift in the bleak nothingness. She could still see her own body and move her appendages, but if she tried to walk or swim she made no progress.

It was a very similar experience to when she was stuck in the Infinity Clock. Floating in space, unable to move. Except this time she couldn't hear, see or even sense anyone beyond her predicament. She tried calling out, but her voice seemed to bounce off invisible walls and echo back to her. Lucy felt entirely alone and cut off from the rest of the world.

Without warning, Lucy felt her body being rushed forwards, like she was suddenly falling. The stars passed by with exceeding speed as she fell towards a bright light. Lucy held her breath as this blinding white consumed her.

Falling face down Lucy tried to catch herself, but found her arms were bound behind her back. Meaning her front fell freely down to the floor. Fortunately it was a softer landing than she had anticipated. Unfortunately she was hit with a bitter cold.

Lifting her head up she was still consumed by white, but a more familiar white of snow.

Before Lucy had any time to regain her bearings she was pulled up by her tied hands, making her stand up straight. Looking back she saw the same person who had attacked her last night. A tall, white cloaked person. Looking closer she realized that their figure was masculan and foreboding. They kept their white gas mask on to conceal their facial features.

"Let me go!" Lucy tried to struggle from their grip, pulling against their strong hold on her hands.

Her advisory remained silent and pushed her back down to the snow.

"What do you want with Fairytail?" Lucy sat up.

"I could care less about Fairytail." The voice sounded male and almost amused by her question.

This seemed to confuse Lucy, she did not understand their motives if they were not interested in the Guild. This was apparent when Lucy did not respond to his mock.

"It is you I want." The man grabbed her arm and led her further into the snow.

He wanted her? Why? Did she know this person? Why would they want her? Countless questions flooded Lucy's mind as she walked further through the blizzard. However her attention was soon brought to the obvious fast that she was freezing! Because she was taken in the middle of the night Lucy was wearing her Pajamas. This meant the only things protecting her from the cold were her sweatpants and tank top. Not quite the winter attire she would have picked.

After a minute of trudging through the thick layer of snow, Lucy could make out a cave. Since visibility was extremely limited, the cave did not look too far away. Sheltering them from the wind they entered the icy cavern, yet it was no warmer than the outside.

Already Lucy was shivering, but she refused to show any weakness to her captor. She tried to contain her body's natural instinct to shake, but was doing a very poor job.

"My friends will find me." Lucy spat confidently.

"I know. I am counting on it." The man laughed. "I know all about your friends. Erza Scarlet, the Fairy Queen. Grey Fullbuster, the Demon Slayer. Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon slayer. And of course...Natsu Dragneel, Salamander, or END."

Lucy was speechless, the fact that he did his research scared her. This was no random band, this man was smart.

"They will find you. But they will not take you away from me."

"You won't get away with this, I have complete trust in them!" Lucy grinned.

"That is something that will change."

Lucy did not want to listen to another word he said, at this point she was annoyed and enraged. Of course her friends would come, Natsu would come. It was not new for Lucy to be in a hostage situation, it was not new for any Fairytail member to be captured and held as ransom of bribed for Guild information. This was no different, she simply needed to keep her wits and be patient. Of course Lucy would do her best to escape as well, but she also knew her friends were not far behind.

"Sorry about this, but you can not move while I do this." The man spoke sternly.

Lucy was about to question what he was about to do, but before she had the chance he placed a cloth roughly over her mouth. She screamed and kicked his shin in an attempt to remove the cloth from her face. But this man was strong and gave her no room to run away. The toxic smell bombarded her senses as she pulled desperately on her restraints. Swinging her head around to try and avoid the man's hand proved useless.

Soon Lucy felt her body go limp and her weight fell into his arms. Her mind was wide awake and screamed for her to move. But she was completely paralized, the stench making her unable to function her muscles. Even her eyes couldn't look around, her vision was fixed, starring straight forwards.

Therefore she could only watch as she was set down on the floor. Her vision was mostly white as Clovens boots blended in with the environment. But from the corner of her eye she saw the ceiling start to move, ice clumped together and started descending towards her. As if a giant icicle was growing at a rapid pace directly above her. But just before the ice touched her, the large icicle split and spidered out and rooten itself into the floor around her. Creating a tree shaped icicle to entrap her, with very little room to move around.

"Goodbye Lucy Heartfilia. I will see you soon." Lucy could see the man jiggling her keys just out of her reach. Enraged by the fact that this man held her friends and family, she willed herself to move. With every fiber of her being she screamed and kicked in protest, but instead her body lay there like a doll. Staring into space, unable to do anything to stop him from walking away.

The man left without another word, shaking her keys with every step. Leaving Lucy frozen both physically and in temperature.