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Annals of Fear II	By : DeathNoteFangirl Category: Death Note > Yaoi-Male/Male > Mello/Matt Views: 5803 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note and I do not make any money from these writings

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
"Fenian, no!"   Deontic raced down the concrete steps after them.   "You can't go."   Fenian frowned, staring back up at her, but Kiana had paused too.   The relentless wind surged against them, tugging at Kiana's wrap and throwing her hair about her face.   Deontic drew level.   "You can't go!"

Fenian held up the tracking device, which he had still got in his pocket from earlier.   "We're covered and it's better than Mello going."

"No." Deontic shook her head.   "Your parents were killed in a car crash.   You told us in Greece."

For a fraction of a second, Fenian felt it.   That heart-wrenching instant of the car overturning.   He had been in the back seat at the time.   But then it was gone, buried in his past.   "So what?"

"So the bottle is out and you should keep away from all vehicles for the duration."   Deontic glanced past him, appealing to Kiana.   "The house tried to drown me.   My parents died of cholera after a monsoon burst the river banks and trapped us.   Century's parents were shot dead and he had a heart-attack after believing that he was being shot at.   You have only witnessed a taste of what that house is capable of.   Fenian, do not get into a car."

The wind was icy.   It was roaring in across Cardigan Bay, carrying with it the chill from the Irish Sea.   Fenian reached for Kiana's hand, then took Deontic's arm.   He led them back up the stairs and along the exposed concrete balcony around to his own upper chalet.   Kiana dug into her handbag to find the key and let them in.    As with the computer hub, this room was also missing its bed.   A huge ordinance survey map was tacked up on the wall, while one medium sized table held a tray filled with boxes of individual rocks.    Another desk held a desktop computer and a television.    There was another, large box crammed with books, with such subject matters as the Aberystwyth Grits, Gantref Gwaelod and various titles utilising the word 'geology'.   There was a pile of climbing equipment and a First Aid box behind the door.   A basket there held disparate items, like a dagger, several candles, a figurine of a well-endowed lady and yet another large rock.

"Keep talking, Deontic."

The Malaysian woman stopped looking around the chalet and faced him, "I might be wrong, but is it worth the risk?   Besides you're better off here.    To stop Mello if he starts becoming violent again."

"Liam is not Mello's whipping boy."   Kiana stated calmly.   "But you honestly think he's in danger, if he gets into a car?"

Deontic nodded, "I think it's a distinct possibility."   She grimaced. "I don't know. That's the fact of it. We're quite far away here, but it still managed to reach Mello and Matt."

Fenian dismissed that, "They were connected. They were linking into the place."

"But you are attempting to drive right into it.   Would you let me go by river?"

Fenian stared long and hard at her. "Fuck it!"   He roared, his fingers drumming on the table top.   "What are you proposing?"

"Hal and I go."   Deontic tried not to show how anxious that made her feel.   It showed in her eyes anyway.    "I witnessed Century put it back the first time.   I know where it goes."

Kiana tutted, "It doesn't matter where it goes.   It just has to be under the fucking tree."   She pulled her hair back and replaced the slide in it.   "I warrant that I'm the only one here who fully understands the lore behind it.   Liam, let me and Hal go.   It makes sense."

"How does that fucking make sense?"

"It will keep you safe for a start."   Kiana smiled.   "And Deontic doesn't really want to go.   Plus this is my forte. You get sent into holes in the ground; I get sent to haunted houses. It's the way of the world." She bent over the basket and pulled out the dagger.   "You don't blink when I wander out into the bog at night alone.   Not a fucking word when I took that trip down to Kerry. Nor when that fucking thing was hurling crockery around in that house in Donegal."   She walked across and kissed Fenian's lips.   "My realm, an buachaill ban."   She marched over to the chalet door and left them to it.

Deontic raised her eyebrows. "Why has she got a dagger?"

"It's a fucking athame." Fenian frowned.   "Fuck."   And raced out after her.

In the computer hub, Hal was crouched down beside Mello, one knee down on the carpet to keep her balance.   Century stood in front of them.   Mello was trembling like a leaf in a gale, one arm looped around Matt's right leg, the other hand gripping his rosary tightly.    His terror had come down a notch, but the net effect was negligible.   He was still very scared.   Above his head, Matt had blanked them all.   He kept on playing the same flash Mario game, right to the end, then starting again from the beginning.   From what Century could tell, it was a very basic game; the sort of thing that Matt could complete in his sleep.    But it was keeping the redhead absorbed and relatively calm.   Though it was impossible to know what Matt was thinking and feeling.    The little Spaniard was closed to the public.

Even Mello's voice shook, "So what's happening now?" He asked for the fifth time, though he kept being told.   It was as if he couldn't retain information even for a few minutes.   "What we need is sanctuary.   Strong sanctuary.   We need God. O Boga, we need help so badly."

Hal, with infinite patience, replied, "Kiana has put some kind of psychic shield around you.   You said that it made you feel better.   Remember?"

"Yes! But can God find us in here?"

Century sucked on his lollipop.   He had never seen Mello so irrational.   "You're safe in there, Mello.   Whatever is after you is Welsh and, as a Welshman, I can guarantee that you and Matt are safe."

Hal smiled, reassurance edging every look, gesture and word, "We are going to put the witch bottle back.   Then this will stop.   You recommended that, because you're a clever sod."

"Don't fucking patronise me!" Mello hissed, but his features were breaking into tears again.   "O Boga, what are we going to do?"

Century glanced at Matt, but there was little to see of the redhead's face, bowed over the screen.   He returned his attention to Mello, who alternated talking with whispered, urgent prayers in the Croatian language.   "Mello, can you tell me what you think is coming?   I just want to know how close this is to what I experienced."

Mello peered up at him and his expression drained all hope from the world, "It's dark."   His gaze was everywhere at once. "O Boga, it's dark."

Hal visibly shuddered and Century didn't blame her.    This was a man who single-handedly went after Kira and who apparently held his own in the Mafia.   For something to frighten him this badly was a mind-fuck all on its own.    Century glanced at his watch.   Siân had been on her own for about twenty minutes now.   He just wanted to get back to her.   He hadn't seen her for four months before today; and, on the rare occasions that they met up prior to that, she always had the gang around her.   There were woots and cat-calling whenever Century and Siân kissed.   There were giggles and 'awww, that's nice', coming from behind them, as they walked hand in hand through the ancient streets of Conwy.    Now he had her alone and the timing was not brilliant.

The door opened and Kiana slipped in.   "Hal, would you be ok with you and I going?   Deontic doesn't want Fenian in a car."

Century sucked in a breath.   That hadn't occurred to him.    Deontic was going to end up taking this case off all of them, just through sheer focus upon it.    Century quickly nodded, "Yes, that makes sense.   I was going to suggest it myself."    He looked up as Fenian arrived, looking pissed off.    "Fenian, we could do with you here anyway.    Doing Catholic things."

"What?" Fenian cast him a withering look.   Hal gave Mello a hug, which he didn't shrink away from.   His head rested on her shoulder and he shivered.    "Ki, can we discuss this?"

Hal rose.   Her 'phone immediately rang in her pocket and she gave an apologetic look.   "Yes, I'm fine with that, Kiana."   She moved to the back of the room to answer the call.

Century found himself alone in the vicinity of Mello and Matt, as Fenian and Kiana took their conversation into whispers by the door.   Deontic, at least, had returned, looking once around the room to apprise herself of the current situation.    Century caught her eye, "Dee, could you look after these two, while I check on Siân?"

"No." Deontic frowned.   "Unless Fenian is staying too.    Mello is physically too strong for me to handle."

Hal closed her 'phone. "The delivery man is up by the hall.   I've asked him to bring our food down here.   I'll just have to go and pay him."

"I'll go!" Century declared, moving before anyone could stop him.   He could grab the food and rush to see Siân, maybe bring her back to the computer hub.   He would work it out when he got there.

Hal's appetite had diminished with all that had happened.    Nevertheless, the imminent arrival of food rekindled her hunger a little.   She resolved to grab a box of pizza on the way out. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd eaten in the car on the way to an assignment.    She let her gaze linger on each of these Watari geniuses in turn, trying to ascertain precisely who was running the show at the moment.     Century had looked like he couldn't get away fast enough.    Hal was not expecting him to hurry back with the food.   Nor, she guessed, did Fenian, who had scowled into Century's wake.    Kiana was murmuring words to her boyfriend, her hands rubbing his arms and back. Hal made out, "Liam, they need your genius here; and your Catholicism; and your brawn.   Come on."   Then Kiana glanced and saw Hal listening.   The conversation shifted swiftly into Gaelic.

Deontic was encased in a fierce professionalism, moving from EMF reader to the heat sensor data, noting the readings with a brisk efficiency.   Hal doubted that either said anything different to before and that being that the house was buzzing with phenomena.   Deontic was displaying, as much as any of the men, her right to be taken seriously in this environment.

There was Matt, alone in his world, with only his fingers on the arrow keys signalling that there was sentience going on inside.   Hal had never witnessed him like this before, but she had read about it in his file.   As a three year old, newly arrived at Wammy's House, he used to exhibit precisely this behavioural pattern.     If they took his game from him, he would just freeze into the position he had been in when it was taken. The game could just be slotted back between his hands and, as if he had personally been reactivated, he would continue playing.   It was part of the range of indications that had caused Roger to test Matt for autism.   The results had been negative.   The behaviour was psychosomatic, triggered by stress and anxiety.   As Matt had grown older, drawn out of his shell by Mello, he had stopped doing it.   He might ignore people, even Mr Wammy if he thought he could get away with it, but there was always awareness.   Just another tragic legacy of infant neglect.

Mello, still on his knees, was looking lost amongst the chaos.   Everything seemed stripped from the beautiful man.   That edge of Mafia violence, which always sparked around him, was gone.   His smirking charm; his burning intellect; his steely determination; none of them were in evidence at all.    He appeared ten years younger.   Tears brimming, then falling; his bottom lip quivering on the brink of sobbing aloud.   His gaze trying to make sense of everything he was seeing and feeling, yet ending in bewilderment.   His arm was snaked around Matt's thigh; his hand pressed against the inside of it.   But there was nothing sexual there.   Mello was tucked up against Matt's leg like a child with a comfort blanket; and Hal no longer thought that that was entirely for Matt's benefit.   She had also read Mello's file and searched in vain for the bright glaze of madness.   Mello wasn't insane.   He was just very, very frightened.    Hal wondered how much longer that could be the case, before his psyche snapped, as it had before.

"Hal." Kiana broke away from Fenian.   "Let's go."   Fenian moved across, towards Mello, but there was a look of resignation on the Irishman's features.   Deontic looked slightly alarmed though.   Hal just sighed and shook her head.   If it came to fighting again, Deontic and Century would just have to cope.   As they watched on, Fenian reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.   From a section inside it, he pulled out a small string of rosary beads, in stainless steel and black jet.   A smattering of greyish dust came out with it and spilled onto the carpet.   But Kiana was beckoning, anxious to be gone, so Hal flashed Mello a last smile of encouragement and hurried on.   He didn't seem to notice.

The two women pushed out into the night, fighting the elements all of the way to Kiana's Land Rover.   There was no sign of Century, but for the light on in his chalet and shadows of movement behind the closed curtains.   Hal climbed with relief into the passenger seat of the Land Rover and slammed shut the door behind her.   She hadn't meant to shut it so forcibly, but the wind had taken it.    She glanced at Kiana, whose lips were pressed together in a slit, as she reversed out of the parking bay.   "Sorry about that."

"Eh?" Kiana snapped to attention.   "Sorry, miles away."   They drove off down the road, with the sea, to their left, a broad expanse of darkness.

To Hal, who had been raised far inland, the sea felt strangely sinister in its vastness and in the rushing crash of waves upon an unseen beach.    There was a stone pier out there.   The lighthouse on the end of it flashed rhythmically, hypnotically, illuminating swatches of moving tide.   Instinct or imagination supplied the sense of depth, that here was an uncontrollable force of nature, magnificent in its majesty, which could overwhelm and destroy them at a moment's notice.   Which brought her thoughts back to Mello.   "Shall we compare notes?"

"What?"   Kiana turned the vehicle away from the coast, up past the lesser marina and towards the showcase one.

Hal shrugged grimly, "One thing I learnt working with Near is that you have to occasionally talk about it, or you start to go a little crazy.   Steven, my colleague back then, and I used to meet up for a coffee and a chance to let off steam."

"Liam's talked about Near.   Not much, but I think he respects him."

Hal nodded, "Near is one of the most exceptional people that I ever met; but, like all of them, he can be impossible at times."   She risked a glance at Kiana. "Are you experiencing a bit of an eye-opener seeing them together?"

Kiana misunderstood.   "I've never met Near."

"I meant with Fenian."

Kiana put her foot down now that they were on a main road.   It was still a narrow highway by Hal's standards, but Kiana appeared at ease driving on it. The speedometer crept up to 60mph.     "Ok, I have one question."

"Shoot."

"Were they sexually abused too?"

Hal blinked, not expecting that.   "Who?"

"The children in that orphanage."

"Not that I'm aware of."   A cold suspicion ran down Hal's spine.   "Why? Has Fenian said something to make you think that?"

"No."   Kiana spat, to Hal's relief.   "But they were obviously emotionally abused and Liam was physically abused too.    I'm talking about Mello.   Liam has changed personality since he's been here and it's fucking..." Her mouth clamped together, like she couldn't summon a strong enough word to describe her emotion.    "He's always had a competitive streak, but it's not like this. He wants to be the first to open up a new cave or passage.   He wants to go further underground than anyone else.   He wants to map uncharted crevices.   But that's it.   Here, it feels like he's trying to be the first and best in fucking breathing.   Every tiny, minute thing he can fight over, he's going for it.   It's really fucking annoying."

Hal had been wearing a faint smile throughout this.   "They are all the same. It's how they were raised.   That's why they can't happily work together, even when it would benefit them.   They have done it and when they do, they create stunning results. But it can't work in the long-term.   They've been trained to view each other as deadly rivals and giving way means dire consequences.   That's why Fenian's changed on you.   He's threatened."

"Too bloody right, he's threatened."   Kiana growled.   "I just wish you could see him as he is.    The men around by me are all fishing, hurling, football, fights on a Friday night and how much alcohol they can pour down their fucking necks before they fall over.   Then there's Liam.   Oh! He likes his drink and sport, don't get me wrong, but I've seen him go out in a fucking blizzard to hunt for a cat lost on the bog.   He sits for hours, patiently helping my nieces and nephews with their homework.   Sensitive, sweet, eager to please."   She snorted in derision.   "Now I know why!   He's never been able to fucking please anyone."   She glanced at Hal. "You should see him when I praise something that he does.   I don't think he knows that he does it, but his whole face lights up.   He massages my fucking feet, when I've been out walking!"

"Does he?" Hal tried to marry this up with the impression that she had so far formed of Fenian.   "He's always struck me as a very angry, young man."

"Well, he's not." Kiana countered and it didn't sound like she was in denial.   "Not before we came here anyway.   He can be quite laid-back.   If he gets stressed, then yes, he's highly strung, but that's rare and only when Wammy's House is mentioned.   I have never seen him get angry before this."

They had passed through Aberystwyth and were starting to climb a narrow road up the foothills of the Cambrian Mountains.   Trees lined the ways, with the fields dark behind them.   Hal experienced that same stab of hyper awareness as before.   Just as the sea had seemed so large, then she sensed the hulking mass of the earth around them.    It was hard to determine whether it felt hostile or just there.   She could see the outline of rounded ridges, through the passenger side window, severing the lights of distant towns.   From the front window, they moved in a beam of light thrown out from the headlamps. The green and grey of tarmac and the trees crowding in, their topmost branches arching over to form a tunnel; disappearing into the darkness beyond, as the Land Rover climbed.    Hal twisted her head.   She could just make out the brighter lights of Aberystwyth falling away below them.   It was a vague comfort.

"You're a city girl?"   Kiana smiled.

"Pardon?"   Hal turned to look at her.

"Nervous out here in the countryside."   Kiana winked. "You'd hate my place.   Middle of fucking nowhere, just as I like it."   She sneaked another look at Hal.   "In how much danger is Liam?   If he continues to refuse to work for Watari?"

Hal shook her head.   "He's not.   They're not all detectives.   We have a very successful artist for one."

"He seems to think that one day there will be a knock on the door and men in black coming to take him away or something."

"That won't happen."

Kiana nodded, reassured. "And me?   Before that clause got introduced, would we have been in the shit for me knowing about the institution?"

Hal grimaced, "It's a grey area."   She bit her lip.   Something small and white darted across the road in front of them.   Kiana slowed, but it was fast enough and was soon gone, into the blackness of the hedgerow.   Kiana appeared unconcerned, so Hal put it from her mind. "If you want the truth, I think that the administration was largely making it up as they went along."

"What?"

"I haven't found anything like the constitution that we're in the process of getting passed.   I believe that policy in the past has largely been the result of L and the founder reacting to individual situations, or causing them.   I don't think they envisaged anyone not wanting to be L, so there was nothing in place to deal with that scenario."   Hal studied Kiana's profile.   The Irishwoman looked both furious and relieved in equal measure.   "Roger is a good man, but he was not in his natural element." Hal contemplated it.   "To be fair, who is in that place?    He's like a bumbling professor, who was a bit lost after L and Mr Wammy weren't around to direct proceedings from afar."

Kiana nodded. "Liam went to see him about Mello.   Roger told Liam to just work harder to beat Mello, though he did give Liam some sleeping tablets."

Hal gasped, "Sleeping tablets? You are joking!   How old was he?"

"Eleven, twelve," Kiana shrugged.   "Only enough for that night, but that was his answer.   Get some sleep tonight and work harder tomorrow." She shook her head, angrily.   "What Roger didn't realise is that it had taken Liam three fucking months to pluck up the courage to ask for help!"

Hal nodded sympathetically, while inwardly cringing, "Kiana, I will deal with Matt. I promise."

Kiana gave her a withering look, "Matt's just as fucked up, isn't he?"

"Yes."   Hal sighed.   "Honestly?   Matt's worse.    And no-one can get close enough to him to find out just how bad, because Matt doesn't want that and Mello will fight to the death to protect him." She surveyed Kiana carefully, noting the conflict in the woman.   "I'm glad that Fenian has you."

"Thank you."   Kiana signalled and drove them into a track.   The drystone wall cloistered in on either side.   There was a cracking sound as weeds were snapped and uprooted by their passing.   "We're nearly here, get ready to open the gate."

Hal nodded.   She had been so wrapped up in the Wammy House alumni that her mind hadn't even flitted onto the task ahead.   They had both been privy to the reports and testimonies of those who'd gone before.   Hal had witnessed the turmoil of the night that all four screamed for help and the second night, when all emergency services were activated and Century nearly died.   Fear flashed, but was quickly repressed.   She had a job to do.    "You drive up to the tree.   I'll jump out and..."

"No."   Kiana interrupted.   "Let me deal with the bottle.   I'm the witch here."

Hal gestured her submission on the issue, as the gate came into view; shining a dull silver in the Land Rover's lights.   The wall had widened enough for her to jump out and she did, as soon as Kiana stopped the vehicle.    Perversely, it was less windy halfway up the mountain, than it had been at the head of the beach.   Hal assumed that the coating of trees was offering some protection.   She hurried out. Knowing where to look, she could just make out the edge of the manor, just around the corner.   The sight chilled her more than she had anticipated.   Hal batted the feeling away.   She was spooking herself.   She opened the gate and stepped back, while Kiana drove on through.    The clang of the gate closing sounded loud in the night.

Kiana didn't wait for her.   It was only a short jog to where the Land Rover came to a stop, with the engine still running and the lights pooling around the roots of the old yew tree.    Kiana leapt down and glanced back to check that Hal was coming.   The Irishwoman had the carrier bag in one hand, while the other was lost in the folds of her wrap.   The house looked squat and predatory, like it could pounce at any second.   Hal caught herself scanning its windows and stopped for fear of spotting someone looking out.    "Got it?"

"Yes."   Kiana unwrapped the witch bottle and handed Hal the plastic bag that had held it.   The rain fell in a misting drizzle, barely noticeable until it soaked through clothing to the skin beneath.    Hal took the bag. Her gaze kept being drawn back to that house, fascination and horror colliding irresistibly.   Hal was gratified to see that Kiana was doing precisely the same thing. The Irishwoman's face was pure white, in a world which seemed devoid of colour; she shivered violently and forced herself to traipse around to the yew tree.    There she gave a start, but quickly bowed her head.   "Ní ciat súli ní nach aiccet."

"Pardon?" Hal rounded the Land Rover to be with her companion.

"Nothing."   Kiana said, brusquely, though her expression gave the lie to that.   She crouched onto the Earth and held up the witch bottle between both hands.   Pressed against it was a knife, that shone in the reflected light of the headlamps.   "Bennacht dé ocus ainde fort! Crích i mbéo, bith cen tríst. A twyleth teg bennach ar sét, nachar·tair bét."   She placed the witch bottle onto the soil next to the tree roots, then her knife traced a symbol into the air before the gap between them.   The witch bottle was inserted deep inside the hole.   The knife traced the symbol in reverse.   "Bíodh sé."    She stood, practically running back around the Land Rover to yank open the door.   "Let's go, Hal."

Hal, shivering in the rain and atmosphere, didn't need telling twice.    She pulled open the passenger side door and hopped in.   "Really gets to you, this place, doesn't it?"

Kiana nodded mutely, driving forward and turning the vehicle around as fast as she could safely manoeuvre it.   Their light swung across the buildings, illuminating, then plunging into darkness the kitchen and one of the outhouses.    "Oh fuck!" Kiana cried out, actually ducking in her seat, though Hal saw nothing to prompt it.   "Brigit limm fri fuin, Brigit limm fri fáir!"   She put her foot down, only remembering the gate at the last moment.   The Land Rover screeched to a halt, but for a fraction of a moment, Hal was too freaked to get out and open it.   Before associated fear could really take hold, she pushed out of the vehicle and ran to let them out.    Kiana shot forward and Hal crashed shut the gate.   It sprang back open and she had to rush back to do it properly.

Kiana looked a little calmer by the time Hal was in the seat beside her again.   They still drove too fast down the track, with no obvious reason for their flight.    Eventually, halfway down it, Hal offered a tentative, "Are you alright?"

"Yes." Kiana replied, too quickly.   "Just a bit too psychic for that place."   She risked a smile, that appeared more as a grimace. "I..."   Her 'phone rang, startling them both.    "Sorry, Liam," she told her handbag on the floor, "I'm not pulling over for nothing right now."

Hal swallowed through her dry mouth. "Would you like me to get it?"

"Please."

Hal reached into the bag and found the 'phone by its flashing.   The caller ID read Liam Tighe.   She smiled and answered it, "Hello, Fenian, it's Hal. Kiana is driving."

There was only the briefest pause.   "Everything alright?"

"We've just put the bottle back under the tree and we're on our way to you now." Hal informed him, more brightly than she felt.   "What's up?"

"Mello's back."   Fenian replied darkly.    "And the trackers told us that you were up there."

Hal felt a jolt of relief, that washed away all negativity, "Back?"

"Yeah, back." There was another pause.   "Ok, hurry home. I'll speak to her when she gets here."   He cut the connection.

Kiana was glancing quizzically at her.   Hal smiled.   "He said that Mello is back."   She sat a little straighter.   "Presumably that means that he's not so scared anymore."

Kiana nodded, then accelerated.   "As long as he's leaving Liam alone, I'm good."

"The two have got to be linked then."   Hal frowned.   "The witch bottle and the music.   How can it just," she scrambled for the word, "plug the effects of the music?    It's a jam jar full of urine."

"Oh, it's much more than that." Kiana replied, coldly.   "But what it actually is is going to take a bit of thinking about."    She put her foot down and they sped off down the mountain.
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Annals of Fear II