The Annals of Fear

Mello stomped out of the backdoor, onto the gravel at the back of the house. The other three were exactly where he had left them, he noted with an unreasonable pang of chagrin. He had expressly told them not to follow him. He\'d threatened them consequences if they did. He rationalised that he should, therefore, be pleased that they hadn\'t come after him. Even if it was dangerous and he\'d been in it alone. Deontic and Century both followed, with their eyes, his progress around the cars. Matt didn\'t look up, even when Mello stood right next to him. "Matt, a word please?" Mello said it sassily enough, but his gaze slid towards the laptop to see what Matt had been looking at. It showed camera feeds from the house, in quarters. They showed, clockwise, the kitchen, the sitting room, the top of the stairs and the empty room with all of the activity. Mello understood that his sojourn in there had been witnessed. Matt, himself, was pure white, though whether in fury or upset, it was difficult to tell. "Matt."



Deontic took a deep breath, as if to speak, but the words didn\'t make it past her lips. Century just looked ill, though he\'d arrived like that and his dark blue eyes held a hint of disgust. Matt slowly stood and carefully placed the laptop on the seat. He closed the lid and then closed the door. His head was bowed as he trailed after Mello, towards the gate. Mello didn\'t attempt to take his hand for fear that it would be rejected. At the bend in the drive, a huge yew tree cast a heavy shadow in the summer sunlight. They stopped there. Matt turned his head away, staring at last year\'s dead yew leaves carpeting the track.



"I didn\'t want you to follow me." Mello stated softly. "I said whatever it took to stop you. I didn\'t necessarily mean it." His husband radiated cold. Mello sighed. "I really hurt you with what I said. I\'m sorry. It wasn\'t fun for me either."



Matt\'s lips formed a whispered, "Fine." And he took a step to return back the way they\'d come.



"Mail." Mello caught him and wrapped both arms around him. "I said that I know that I hurt you." Matt felt like solid ice in his arms. He wouldn\'t even meet Mello\'s eyes. Matt nodded, but didn\'t say anything else. Mello moulded his body around his husband\'s. His tongue bobbed out to lick Matt\'s lips. "I\'ll make this up to you."



Matt just frowned dismissal. He neither hugged back or tried to wriggle out of Mello\'s grasp. Mello would have preferred if he had. This felt too much like Mello fading out of existence. His hand travelled up Matt\'s spine to seek out the back of the collar. "Mell." Matt warned. At least he pulled away this time, though Mello held him tightly.



"Mail." Mello ducked his head the few inches to peer under Matt\'s fringe, in an attempt to see his eyes. "I am never going to leave you. The truth is, I\'m too deeply in love. You\'re my rock. I\'m not spending the rest of my life without you, so you\'ll just have to get used to me in your vicinity. You\'re mine and I\'m keeping you."



Matt surveyed him coldly. "You threatened to harm Century\'s girlfriend, then left me with him. What kind of logic was that?"



Mello\'s eyes widened, startled. "Did he hurt you?" He turned his head to glare back at the Welshman. Matt just snorted his disdain, which caused Mello to return to looking at him. "What?"



"Just saying that you handed the opportunity to him." Now Matt was staring into Mello\'s eyes. His gaze contemptuous and icy beneath the orange tint of the goggles. "Pre-emptive strike and all."



"So he didn\'t hurt you?" Mello wanted clarifying. There was a stand-off, both staring at each other.



Matt replied eventually. "No." He watched Mello nod. "But that really isn\'t the point. You went for the fucking jugular with me. You know my weaknesses, so you used them against me with our peers watching. Then you left me, your partner, alone with a lad whose partner you had just threatened." Matt exhaled angrily, as Mello bowed his head. "Then you think you can just put your arms around me, all that romantic shit, and say sorry. Then it\'s ok?"



Mello considered it. "It kept you out of danger."



"No, Mello, it put me in danger."



"Against Century?" Mello shook his head. "You could beat Century when he\'s well. Now he\'s ill, you\'d probably kill him. There was no danger there." He reflected upon it some more. "It was a reasonable decision to make."



"Will you please stop trying to cuddle me?" Matt took a step backwards, but Mello just followed. "You\'re being a fucking twat."



"I thought you liked me like this." Mello purred. "All Mafioso and dominant. Look! You got the real thing back." Matt stared at him, fury flashing through. He squeezed both hands between them and pushed until Mello moved back, away from him. The hand was still on his collar though. Matt nodded, his lips pursed. He twisted away, turning his back upon his husband. His fingers fumbled at the lock. Mello frowned, "What are you doing?"



Matt\'s voice was glacerial. "It\'s only four numbers. There\'s a limited sequence that it could be."



Shock resounded through Mello\'s whole psyche. "You\'re taking it off?" His fingers involuntarily gripped the collar harder. "Mail. Don\'t." There was no response, but a genius mind decoding the combination. Mello sighed and let go, but only long enough to walk around so that Matt was facing him again. Mello reached out, a hand on each of Matt\'s biceps. All glamour had drained away. Earnest sincerity filled Mello\'s tone and demeanour. "Baby, don\'t. You\'re angry. You have every right to be angry. But you\'re doing your own head in to get back at me. You\'re tired and I\'ve fucked with you. Don\'t do this to yourself." He could see Matt\'s face and hear his breathing. "You\'re starting to hyperventilate. This house is finally getting to you too. Calm, infallible, unflappable Matt."



"Fuck off." Matt breathed, but he was starting to see stars and the world in black and white. He began wheezing like an asthmatic and didn\'t struggle when Mello pulled him into a hug. Mello rubbed his back, holding him close, kissing his head. He didn\'t try to say anymore. Matt fought against the urge to pant, knowing that his problem was too much oxygen in his body. He was panicking, but he resisted all instinct and instead held his breath. There were tears in his eyes and he hated himself for this. Mello just held him. Matt\'s heart thundered, but it was no longer palpitating. He released a breath, then held it again for another fifteen seconds. His system was starting to return to normal. Then it occurred to him that maybe this wasn\'t hyperventilation at all. It could be a build up of calcium ions. He could be having a heart attack. "Oh God. God." Matt fumbled in his jeans pocket and found his cigarettes. "I\'m having a heart attack."



"No, Mail. You\'re hyperventilating." Mello replied calmly. His gaze flickered to the cigarettes, but he didn\'t stop Matt lighting one. He drew in the smoke like a drowning man gasps at air. Remarkably, it did the trick and Matt\'s breathing returned to normal. "Better now?"



Matt nodded miserably. His hand rose again to the collar and stared into the middle distance, though he made no other move to unlock it.



"Good." Mello smiled. "Now can we start this conversation again please?" When Matt shuddered slightly, Mello pressed on. "I fucked up. I was wrong. It got the result that I wanted, but I shouldn\'t have gone that way about it. Apology accepted?" He waited until Matt nodded. It seemed to take an age to happen. "Thank you." Mello took Matt\'s hand. "I was lying before. I couldn\'t leave you. That\'s the truth. I love you."



Matt gave the briefest of nods. He exhaled smoke and spoke softly, "When you were in that house, chocolate flew through the air and it was eaten by thin air."



"That was Sidoh."



Matt stared at him. "Oh."



Mello gave him an apologetic smile, the Mafioso glamour rising again as a shield around him. "I used what I had to use and I\'ve nearly solved this case. The sooner I can do that, the sooner we can get fuck out of here." He leaned in. "Do you trust me, Matty?"



Matt gave him a long, appraising look, before answering. "To solve cases? Yes."



"Good." Mello wheeled around to stride back to the other two, towing Matt behind him, "Who is after my case?"



Century and Deontic both raised their eyebrows. Matt was the only one who replied, "I\'m not. I\'m mostly after going home."



"Fine." Mello smirked right back. "Now we all know where we stand. Second question, what is the solution?"



They all frowned at him now. He seemed too confident, like he had already got the answers. Century sucked on his lollipop for a long time before responding. "Surely that is what we\'re in the process of working out."



"No." Mello wore a serpentine look. "Oooh! And this is why I was higher than you all." He let go of Matt\'s hand to circle them, always keeping them in his sights, like they were the prey. "What is the solution?" Matt had winced a sardonic smile, but both Deontic and Century merely looked impassive. That was practically Wammy\'s House shorthand for worried. "I\'m asking you. Surely you knew it from the start?"



Deontic gave it a valiant shot. "It\'s something to do with fear. Whatever it is creates the circumstances within which there is fear. Perhaps the chemical changes in the body give it something to feed upon, in life or after death. Or the altered atmosphere. The chi..."



"No." Mello replied curtly. "That\'s just a symptom." They blinked at him. "How do we solve this case?"



Century sighed. "Trick question. He\'s not asking what the answers are, just what the criteria for solution is."



Mello grinned. "Finally." He stopped in front of Deontic and Century. "The answer is that we need to know what is killing people, which we already do. It\'s a song called \'Banshee\'. We furthermore need to stop that happening." He blinked. "Oh! Yes!" His fingers snapped in the air. "God sent me the perfect task force for this job. However you came to be here." He chewed happily on a square of chocolate. Bits of it splintered the air as he spoke. "That is enough to solve the case. It is alright to just shut this house up and refuse entry to anybody. Watari owns it. We can do that. But that would just be adequate. Century, you\'re working with me. Your job is to use all of that historical knowledge and passion to convince me not to just burn the place to the ground. The purification of fire." He smiled sweetly. "Matt and Deontic, you are working together. Your job is to remove that song from the internet."



"What?" Matt stared.



"You understood, Matt."



"You have got to be kidding."



"No." Mello smirked, staring at his husband. "Are you telling me that you don\'t have the skill? Only I could hire a professional hacker if you haven\'t."



Matt\'s jaw dropped. "What?" His fist actually clenched.



"Deontic has extensive knowledge of the philosophy of humanity. If anyone can create a social scare or else work out how to curtail one, she can." His gaze flickered to Century, who was just glaring. "Deontic, you need to work out how to make this album less attractive to be heard. Matt, you need to find and destroy any copies that you can, whilst also putting into practice Deontic\'s recommendations. Go! Go! Go! Cyberspace is where this war will be fought and you\'re the general."



Century finally found his tongue. "You are not burning down a 15th century manor house. There are elements here from the 13th century!"



"Has it got great historical and social importance? What happened here? It didn\'t even get a visit from a king."



"Ordinary people lived here!" Century gasped. "History is not the preserve of the rich and famous. The majority of history was not experienced by monarchs and great explorers. It belonged to everyone else too. Your ancestors and mine. The antedecents of everyone in the valley below. How dare you say that all that matters are the lives of leaders." He spluttered out. "You might place much more store in the monarchs in Yugoslavia, but not here. Not in Wales. The very fucking word for Wales means \'brotherhood\'. Cymru, the brotherhood. Y Cymraeg, the brothers."



"Brotherhood and unity." Mello smirked. "Incidentally, Yugoslavia was a Communist country."



Century blushed. He\'d known that. He\'d let his mouth gabble on ahead of his brain. "Even so..."



"Yes." Mello raised a hand. "You are the perfect person to come with me and determine how to eradicate the threat of this house. Because I personally see the future as far more important than the past. Come and balance my opinion." He started walking towards the house aware of Matt\'s gaze burning into the back of his head. He half-turned and held out his hand. "Matt."



Deontic swallowed. "We\'re going in there? All of us?"



Mello held Matt\'s gaze, but the redhead had not come forward to take his head. Mello nodded, "Yes, Dee. Unless you want to leave." She hesitated, then closed the car door and walked across to where Century was now leaning against the wall beside the backdoor. They stood watching the couple by the cars. Mello waited. Eventually he spoke, softly, "Please Mail."



"You\'re a cunt."



Mello nodded, "Yes, I am." He did not withdraw his out-stretched arm. "But I need you."



Matt looked away. He started forward. "I\'ll do what needs to be done in cyberspace."



Mello caught him as he passed. "No, Mail. I need you." He kissed him fiercely, possessively, holding him so tightly that he felt the bones move in his lower back. Mello leaned back slightly, spittle on his lip, his eyes flashing with passion. "I need you." His left hand whipped up to grab the front of Matt\'s collar. With his thumb, Mello span the dials again, scrambling the number. "And I\'m not prepared to lose you. You and me together. Always. Whatever the bastards throw at us." He breathed heavily, taking another kiss while the emotion flickered briefly in Matt\'s gaze. "I am sorry that I fed your paranoia. That was incomprehensively wrong. I apologise. But you are mine and I need you. For yourself. You." He watched the anger starting to fade in Matt\'s expression. "Te amo, guapo. Understood?"



"Understood." Matt whispered.



"Good boy."