We Sleep Forever

AN: Ohhhhhhhh I’m so excited about this chapter! Though it is shorter than the previous ones. Much..... Starts off when Mello left the crime scene.

Suggested Listening: 'We Sleep Forever' by Aiden; ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’ by Coldplay

Chapter 9: Duality

~Mello~

I left the apartment and had to call a cab again, I wasn’t walking all the way to Jasper's. Normally I wouldn't even have the home address of one of my contacts but Jasper was closer to a friend in some ways. As close as I cared to let anyone get.

His phone call couldn't have come at a worse time, though with the way it sounded I was going to need the extra time away from J and his lackeys. If Jasper was worried it was never a good sign. The trip took just over a half hour.

Like myself, Jasper didn't exactly live in the best of neighborhoods, though neither of us could really afford to go to something ritzier. Mainly because of our lines of work; rick folk were nosy fuckers.

I knocked on the door and waited until I heard the deadbolt slide free before I opened the door. “So what is so important that I had to be dragged away from the crime scene?” I muttered and followed him to his kitchen.

“This.” he pointed to an unassuming white box on the table that was missing its lid. A few things were scattered across the table but I paid them no mind. The lid which was propped up against one side of the box had a printed message on it.

'Detective ~M~'

That definitely would have landed me in some hot water concerning the police and J. Glancing away from the lid I peered into the box and did a double take. Inside the box was a bag of fingers.

“You see why you needed to get here?” Jasper asked quietly. They had to be the latest victims as I didn’t remember any of the other victims missing any.

From what I could see, each finger was numbered, one through six. I shook my head. This guy was seriously messed up in the head. I then turned my attention to the things scattered on the table.

Things that should not have been there.

They were pictures of the crime scene, pictures that not even the police would have. Because in those pictures, the victim was still alive. One showed her clutching a bloody hand; the one that had all but the thumb cut off. Another showed her laying face down on the floor. I looked up.

“Did your friend move the body?” I questioned. Jasper nodded. “Why!? J will certainly notice if his two proxies’ don't.”

“Look at the next photo.” I did as suggested and the next one was a close up of her back.

“Detective.” I whispered. My heart thudded painfully in my chest. When they did the autopsy, or maybe even sooner, J would certainly see this. He would figure out that the message wasn't for him.

Glancing at the next photo my blood ran cold. I picked up the photo and held it close to my face as though the image might change.

“How the hell did he get this?!” I snarled. I was holding my own fucking picture, a picture that I had stupidly left at Whammys. Jasper shrugged his shoulders with a grim look set into his features. It was bad when I thought he was able to hack into Whammys but it was worse if he could somehow get into it.

It was the only option as no one there would have given an outsider something like this. They wouldn't have even made it to the front door.

I ran a hand through my hair and sat down.

“Are you going to tell J?” I looked up sharply at Jasper.

“No.” my eyes were narrowed and cold; Jasper turned away from my gaze and sat across from me at the table.

“This makes no difference now, there is only one victim left and J learning about my involvement won’t do any good.” It wouldn't do any good but it might be nice if more than one other person knew what was going on.

This was just turning out to be one shitty year. Broken promises, lies, sex, murder, eating disorder... At least I’m not doing drugs, I thought to myself. I snorted and pushed myself away from the table.

“I have some things to do, you mind if I use your computer?” Jasper shook his head and I headed into the living room where I had spotted a laptop on my way in earlier.

“I'm going to make some coffee, you want any?”

“As long as it's not that instant shit or those pods....” I heard stifled laughter and frowned.

What was wrong with liking actual coffee?

Deciding that anything he did to irritate or piss me off would be coming out of his pay, I ignored Jasper. Instead I got to work on what Emerson had suggested to me; J had probably said something to him beforehand.

“Here's your coffee.” Jasper announced to me a few minutes later.

Glancing at the cup I smirked. We had known each other, and worked together, for so long he even knew how I liked my coffee. Black with chocolate. Swirling the spoon around I pulled it out and licked off the chocolaty residue before letting it drop back down into the cup. Taking a sip I sighed softly before going back to work.

“Shouldn't you be meeting up with J's people soon?” Jasper asked me some time later. Glancing at the computer's digital clock I noted how much time had passed.

“I suppose, it's not like I really learned anything new.”

“Nothing that you would care to share with them at any rate.” I flipped Jasper off before deleting all my previous work and exiting my e-mail. Leaving the laptop on stand by I vacated the plush chair and headed for the door.

“Wait a second and I’ll give you a ride.” I gave him a look that clearly said why.

“You’re not exactly made of money; you can’t afford to be taking a taxi everywhere.” I smirked, he had me there. I had just used my grocery money with the last two taxis. Not that it mattered much this week...

“Whatever.” I shrugged but halted my movements and waited for him to grab his keys and a jacket, because it was fucking cold out, before following him out the door. His car was an old sports car but it wasn’t bullet ridden like Emerson's was.

The night was freezing and the winds had picked up moving through layers like they weren’t even there. I forced myself not to shake as we sat in his car, heater on full blast, with the radio on to the weather.

“Snow? Oh that's great!” Jasper yelled sarcastically. And snow would lower the temperature even further.

He pulled up right in front and I grunted a goodbye as I shoved the door open and stepped out into the cold. I hurried into the smelly building and up the required amount of stairs before getting to the correct door.

The door was usually unlocked so I just turned the knob and walked right in like I owned the place. Emerson was sitting on the couch directly in front of me and it reminded me of the first time I had seen him...

“Did you find anything?” he asked in a slightly bored manor. My mind instantly flashed to that small white box before I dismissed it completely.

“Nothing that we didn't already know. He started calmly and with each murder the violence increased; though he took a nose dive with the last one.”

I suddenly had a craving for chocolate and rescued the one from my inside coat pocket. Pealing back the wrapper I sank my teeth into the cold confection and was satisfied with the loud snap that overcame even the blaring music.

I walked over to the couch and sat down beside Emerson; I propped my feet up on the coffee table and continued to devour my treat.

I was silent for a moment before I voiced my thoughts.

“We're losing.” Emerson looked at me but nodded. For people so smart we were fucking this up grandly.

“I'm getting coffee; I expect it to be a long night.” he stated as he got up and left the room. I watched him disappear into the kitchen but then decided to follow. He was searching through the cabinets for coffee but upon seeing his choices took the instant coffee. He filled a cup with water and stuck it in the microwave.

“You call that coffee?” I raised an eyebrow. How could people actually drink that mud was beyond me. “It’s better than that bagged stuff Miranda bought. I probably can’t even pronounce it.” I laughed and leaned against the opposite counter.

'My cock is much bigger than yours, my cock can walk right through the door-' I gave Emerson a wicked grin as his eyes widened in surprise at my texting ringtone. The tone was specifically set for Near.

The grin slipped from my lips and I stared at the words before me.

“Matt- oh!” I barely registered the sound of shock in Miranda's voice as she said that. The phone was clenched tightly in my fingers; the lone text message still displayed across the screen.

-J, is Matt. ~Near

It was the answer to J's identity that I had been waiting for; but the answer was something I hadn't expected. I took a deep breath and looked up from my phone. Emerson was J. And Matt was supposedly J.

I stared at the man before me for a long moment, searching his features for anything familiar.

“Jesus Christ.” I whispered. It had been staring me in the face this entire time, Matt had been staring me in the face this entire time.

“I'm going to go...” Miranda mumbled and backed awkwardly out of the room and shutting the kitchen door.

“Mello...-” he started to say.

“Don't. Just don't.” I cut him off. He had known it was me from the moment I walked through the front door, which was why he had looked shocked as I watched that guy fuck him. He had fucking lied to me again, deceived me purposely. I shut my eyes and shook my head.

“You fucking bastard.” I hissed.

“Mello let me explain-”

“Let you explain?!” I exploded.

“Let you explain why you fucking lied to me again? Why you hid your identity from me?” he looked guilty for a moment, his eyes sorrowful.

“You didn't want me in your life, and I didn't want to get hurt again.”

“Didn't want you in my life?” I murmured quietly before I completely lost it.

“If I didn't want you in my fucking life I wouldn't have been searching for you ever since you left Whammys!” I screamed at him and threw my cell phone at the wall. His eyes widened.

“Mello ple-”

“I can't deal with this right now. I can’t deal with you, right now.” I shook off his hand and with what felt like tears prickling at my eyes, I practically ran from the apartment.

It felt colder outside than I remembered it being only a few minutes ago. But I did nothing more than wrap my arms around myself and continue on down the deserted street. Not even the hookers and drug dealers were out on such a night.

I was a fool. I had maybe ten bucks in my wallet, no phone and I was walking in pre-snow weather. I felt my cheeks warm before a chilled sensation settled over them.

And apparently I couldn't control my emotions as good as I thought. I wiped angrily at the tears but only succeeded in smearing them across my face.

“Fucking Matt!” I growled. After all these years... and he was with me for a week and I didn't even know!

My leather was cold against my skin and I shivered. Stopping, I looked around to see if there was a coffee shop I could go into or even a pay phone around to call Jasper. There was a slight breeze behind me before I felt cold metal press harshly against my head and I stood completely still. I knew all too well exactly what that was.

“Hello detective.” my blood froze in my veins. The man laughed.

“Your posture tells me that you do know who I am.” my thoughts whirled, why now of all times? Matt wouldn't even think to look for me and by that time-

“Whatever you are thinking I suggest you stop. You wont be escaping anytime soon.” a hand snaked its way in front of me and I tried to disarm him the second I saw the white cloth.

“No, that won't do.” with a bang my arm exploded in pain but I ignored it in favor of knocking the smoking gun from his hand; but it still wasn’t enough. He forced me to the ground with my wounded arm twisted behind my back.

“Fuck!” I snarled. The hand came back and clamped over my mouth. I can't believe I let my guard down....

The heavy smell of chloroform shot over my senses and I could feel my eyes droop. There was no second chance for me. I was at the end of the line, and I had a sick feeling that I would be dragging Matt down with me.

-End Chapter 9-

AN: how’s that cliffhanger for ya? Hehehe! Well I know the chapter is shorter but I hope the ending made up for it. So comments, feedback? Tell me what you think, really it does help.

Next chapter will be split between Matt and Mello. Enjoy. :)