The Annals of Fear

The police officers were there first, but Hal wasn\'t far behind. It would take a fighter jet to get her from Winchester to the Cambrian Mountains quickly, but Near could command one and Hal commandeered it. A helicopter took her from city to jet, then another from Abergavenny Military Airfield to the mountain above the house itself. She could see a second helicopter tracking along the river, its Nimrod searchlight illuminating the whole area in its blinding beam. As soon as it was safe to approach, a Land Rover met her and conveyed her down the slope to the house.



Hal spotted Mello and he had never seemed so small. A blond waif, appearing caught between fury and devastation. He ran at her, the moment he spotted her and sheer instinct made her open her arms. Eyes, red-rimmed and flashing, locked onto hers and rasped, "I can\'t find them! None of them!"



Hal let calm professionalism take over. This was not any Mello that she recognised. "Listen to me. They will be found. We have people scouring the terrain." Right on cue, a police sergeant hurried towards them. Hal tightened her grip on Mello\'s thin back. "Yes?"



"Ma\'am, we have picked up a woman by the river."



"Name?"



"I\'ll find out." The sergeant hurried away again.



But Mello yelled after her, "Alive?"



The woman nodded, "Yes."



Mello nodded, looking shell-shocked, then he all but shook Hal. "You have to go. Get away. You shouldn\'t be here. You\'ll take it back to Wammy\'s House!"



Hal looked at him coldly, "Mello, calm the fuck down." She released him but he kept a hold on her arms. "What happened here?" She didn\'t expect him to bolt, but he did, racing away towards the house, just as the sergeant was returning. Hal ran after him, pausing only long enough for the message to be communicated that it was confirmed that Deontic was the woman rescued. "Take her to the airfield." Hal barked, rushing on after Mello. "Get her anything that she needs."



The house was full of police officers and Mello had come to a stop in the centre of a large dining room. He yelled at the top of his voice, "Mail!"



Hal waved away the policeman coming to restrain him. She was obeyed. "Is he in this house, Mello?"



"I don\'t know!" Mello looked frantic. "I searched it! I even tried the roof! The music was playing and I ran through it. They\'ve put the floorboards back and...." He turned, gazing about himself wildly. "Mother of God, they shouldn\'t have opened the floorboards. It let it out."



"Let what out?" Hal demanded. "Mello, you\'re making no sense."



"Maybe he\'s with Century. Does Deontic know where he is?"



Hal stared at him. She had never seen him this flustered. "Do you want me to find out?" But he was darting away to the window, peering out with his hands cupped around his eyes. "I don\'t even know what state she\'s in. She was hysterical when she called me."



Mello turned and Hal knew that she would never forget the look on his face. "I brought them here, Hal. I did this."



"Mello, just stop."



In response, Mello leaned back, arms wide and yelled, "Mail!"



A police officer on the stairs called out, "Everyone quiet! I heard something!"



Mello snorted out a noise that was a cross between a sob and a laugh. He sprinted to the man\'s side. "Oh! You\'ll hear a lot of things in this place." He took a deep breath and bellowed out, "Mail!"



Hal, at his side, heard the answering call. Muffled and faint, "Mello!"



Mello jolted, as if struck by the lightning still flashing overhead. He careered up the stairs, jostling with the officer, who ran up too. Mello\'s head moved from side to side, his gaze searching. In the room behind him there came a series of thuds. Mello turned slowly, horror stark on his features. "Oh no. Oh no. No!" He took off into an empty room, stripped down to the bare floorboards. A toolbox lay open and a camera was toppled onto its side. Mello fell to his knees close to the wall. "Mail! Mail are you down there? I came in here! There was music! It was too loud! I didn\'t think. Shit! I didn\'t think! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"



Matt\'s voice, stilted and soft, replied, "Mello, get me the fuck out."



As the officer raised the alarm, Hal hurried to his side. Mello had barely paused. He upended the toolbox in a clatter of metal on metal and wood. He wielded a claw hammer and brought it down with such force that wood splintered several inches off the boards. Hal stared. "Under the floorboards?"



"I\'m getting you out, Mail. I\'m fucking getting you out!" Mello whacked and clawed with nothing of precision that Hal could see, but the damage was being done to the floorboards. She longed to take it from him, because she could see what precise leverage should get them through more quickly, but Mello\'s expression kept her back. He looked like a man possessed. Officers were pouring into the room. Hal turned and automatically began the crowd control. Mello snarled. "I said I would always come for you, guapo." Yelling out the last, "I said I\'d come!"



The floorboard split right down the middle and Mello jabbed in the claw end of the hammer. He yanked and twisted until a whole section came loose, then pulled it up with both gloved hands. He kicked and stamped at the remainder, with his army boots, until Hal had had enough. She practically rugby tackled him against the adjacent wall, shouting the order over her shoulder. "Get those floorboards up!" In her grasp, Mello was struggling, but Hal had him deadlocked, unable to move for fear of breaking his own arm. "Mello, they will get him out faster. They are getting him out."



Mello growled, "I have to be the one to do it!" He struggled some more. "Hal! Fucking shit! Fuck!"



"Mello, I will let you go but...."



He screamed at the floor, "I have to be the one to do it!" Sensing the urgency, three officers were working together. Both boards were wrenched free and the ladder was revealed in the glow of torchlight. Hal released Mello, just as Matt started to climb. Officers were reaching down to help him, but Matt retreated out of their grasp. Mello dived between them. "Matt! I\'m getting you out of there!" He gasped loudly, even as he stretched out his arms. Matt rose, his face covered in blood. He stunk of urine, so much so that Hal\'s gaze dipped to Matt\'s groin to see if there was a wet patch. There was not, but his hair and shirt were damp. He glinted with shards of glass stuck to the same. Mello didn\'t care, he had him engulfed in his arms and hugged Matt so tightly. "Baby. Oh my God! Baby! What did they do to you?"



Hal had to intervene, "Mello, look at him. He\'s covered in glass and...." A nail fell from Matt\'s hair, onto the floorboards. "He needs medical attention."



Matt was silent. His gaze held Mello\'s, but his lips didn\'t move in any kind of reassurance nor explanation. Watching them both, Hal had the feeling that she didn\'t want to know what had happened. A deep shiver passed through her and she simply stepped forward. "Mello, Matt, come on, let\'s get you out of here. Let\'s get you some help."