The Annals of Fear

"This is doing my fucking head in!" Deontic shrieked. She was with Matt rushing from one laptop to the other, taking readings and checking monitors. But there was too much to take in. Even Matt looked flustered and she had rarely seen that, let alone with regard to computerised equipment. She glanced at Mello, because he always seemed to be in charge and right now she needed a leader. But Mello was looking stunned as he tied another piece of cord around that already fastening the wardrobe door handles together. There was knocking sound coming from the other side of it. Deontic turned to look at Century, who was ashen on the settee. "Century\'s going to die and it\'s all going to be our fault!"



Century\'s head shot up. "What?"



"Dee!" Mello strode back. "Stop it. You\'re letting it get to you. Follow your own rules, woman." He stood beside the mattress and stared at the ceiling. Everything was happening. The music, the running feet, flashes of light outside in a stormless sky and, all around the house, the warning howls of foxes. The temperature in the kitchen had dipped dramatically, sounding an alarm through Matt\'s programme, but when Mello and Matt had raced in to see, there was nothing there. It was not raining, yet they could hear water cascading down outside. They had twice heard gunshots. "It\'s sentient. It\'s got to be sentient."



Century swallowed. "It tried picking us off one by one. Now it\'s trying everything together to see..." He faltered. "See..."



Mello pointed at him. "To render it so that we are all simultaneously on edge and therefore can\'t strengthen whoever is going under." He nodded emphatically. "Clever boy, Century." He span around. "Matt..." But then the metallic banging started and Matt physically tensed. Mello reached him in two strides and curled his gloved fingers around Matt\'s collar. He yelled at thin air. "You leave him the fuck alone!"



"And it\'s working." Deontic muttered darkly, shaking as she resumed her duties at the computers. "We need to get Century out."



"Why are you singling me out?" Century demanded. "It\'s after all of us! None of us are any safer out there!"



"Because you had a heart attack!" Deontic snapped at him.



Trembling, Matt attempted to pull away from Mello. The panic was an undertone in his voice, though he was trying to be brave. "Mello, I\'ve got to see to this. I\'ve got to..."



"You haven\'t got to do anything." Mello growled. Both of his hands cupped Matt\'s shoulders and held him still. "Look at me." Matt turned his head towards the monitors, so Mello gave him a gentle shake. "Mail Jeevas, look at me. At me!" He shook again, until Matt met his eyes. "You matter. You matter more than anything in my world. You do not have to do anything. You can help us out, but that is of your own free will."



Deontic gasped, turning on them. "What do you mean? He doesn\'t have to do..." But Mello reached out with one hand and grabbed the lapel of her cardigan, yanking her towards him. "Mello!"



"Pek Wan, you also matter. While there is breath in my body, no fucking phantom monsoon is going to get you. Understand?" He was glaring fiercely from her to Matt.



"You\'re hurting my shoulder." She replied, quietly.



Behind them, Century had stood and, giving them a wide berth, circled their group. He was muttering, half under his breath, "Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi. Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi." As Mello opened his mouth to speak, Century grit his teeth. "Don\'t bother with the pep talk. It\'s all shit anyway." He continued on into the kitchen. "Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi."



"Yes!" Mello declared, releasing Deontic, but keeping a firm hold of Matt. Mello yelled at the rafters, "Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi! Am I pronouncing it correctly, Century?"



From the kitchen came the sound of running water, as Century filled his water bottle. Deontic hurried to be with him. "You\'re not a Pagan, it\'s not the words. It\'s the memory of your grandfather. He promised you that you\'d be alright if you said that and he was one of the last people that you truly trusted, Century. That\'s what\'s going on here!" She had been followed into the kitchen by Mello and Matt. It was to them whom she turned to next. "And Mello is seeing an omen in the meeting with Flight Lieutenant Lees. It\'s a sign from his God or something. He\'s decided that it means that nothing that happened in Gorskica can touch him here and so it isn\'t! It\'s faith! It\'s hope! That\'s what\'s fighting it! That\'s why Matt and I are losing it and you pair aren\'t!"



Century snorted humourlessly from the sink. "I\'m losing it. Trust me on that. I\'m just not making a big song and dance over it."



"Oh!" Deontic was on the verge of tears. "Please be careful of your heart. I can\'t lose any more of you." Her hands rose, raking her hair. Her finger caught on the slide in it and knocked it out. "All of us in that place and now look at us! Lamond, Nathalie, Jonny, Mairoo, Hollow, all dead. Luigi having periodic attempts at it. Linda going under. Near locked away behind his barricades, where none of us can get to him. And, oh! They hurt you so badly, Mello. Your poor face!" Her tears were in freefall. "And Fenian, Chrissie and Salvo, I never see them. They could be in big trouble for all I know. And Matt, I don\'t know what to make of you. I really don\'t. I know you say that you like it, but do you have to always be so bruised? And now little Century..." She pulled off her glasses and leaned over the table, her face against her forearms. "What can I do? What can I do to save what\'s left of us? What...?"



"Here." Century had carried a glass of water across the kitchen and he placed it in front of her on the table now. "Now stop your blarting. I\'m ok."



Mello looked dubious. "For a given value of \'ok\'? To be fair, you look like you\'re about to fall down." His gaze travelled from Matt in his arms, to Deontic, who was still crying at the table. "She didn\'t get much sleep last night."



Deontic sobbed through her arms, "Stop putting this on me! You\'re making me feel guilty!"



"Why?" Mello frowned. The metallic clanging was still going on. Mello spooned his body against Matt\'s back, holding him as tightly as he could. He murmered into Matt\'s ear. "Está bien, ya no estás solo. Te tengo." Matt just nodded, looking ill. Mello kissed his head. "Estoy contigo."



Century sighed heavily. "Deontic, no-one is trying to make you feel guilty. You keep going on and on about how this house is pushing negative emotions onto us. Now who\'s falling for it?" He turned his back onto them, foraging in the grocery box for lollipops. "I\'ve never seen you blart so much in your life. You\'re normally the bloody ice queen."



"Century." Mello warned. "Don\'t add to it. Just let her sort herself out."



The teenager started to turn with a withering look at Mello, but just then another gunshot rang through the night outside. Century\'s legs crumbled from under him and he clutched the worktop to stop himself falling. He ended up sitting, with his back against the side of the unit, and his knees drawn up to his chin. They all watched him but no-one moved. Over the reverberating clanging of struck metal, Matt muttered, "It\'s closing in."



"Century." Mello gulped. "It\'s an hallucination. No! It\'s a play-back. We all heard it. It\'s a play-back. It\'s not real."



Deontic lifted her head, desperation in her eyes. "It\'s possible! We can get along with each other! Linda and Jonny proved that. Chrissie and Salvo did!" She fixed a stare that was almost accusation at the couple behind her. "You and Matt are proving it right now! We don\'t have to fight. We don\'t have to fight!"



"We\'re not fighting, Deontic." Mello replied kindly. "Whatever you\'re thinking, it\'s something conjured from your own head. It\'s something you want or need or you\'re afraid of; it\'s amplifying it and making you think it\'s real. It\'s not real. You worked this out already! Brilliant, genius Pek Wan, you worked this out right at the start." He eased Matt closer towards the table. "Century, get up. You\'re going to be ok. Deontic, come on."



Matt whispered so quietly that no-one heard what he said. Mello leaned forward to and Matt swallowed, "Make it stop."



Mello blinked. Self-doubt raged through into the void of his own twisted emotions. He grit his teeth and barked at the house. "Bring it on! You can\'t touch me! I have the mark of Cain! Flight Lieutenant Lees came into fucking Hell for me and he\'s here now. He reminded me that I can survive! And fuck you! I will survive and I will keep my people with me! Do you hear me, flyer?"



Deontic shook, "We\'re all going mad. We\'re all finally..."



"I\'ve got it!" Mello roared out his victory. He released Matt and stomped around the table. Triumph blazed from his eyes and he laughed. "Century called it! Century fucking called it!" He descended upon the teenager, hauling him to his feet. "You have to trust me! I\'ll explain later! Say it, Iestyn Jones! Scream out what your grandfather told you to say! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi!" Mello kept on yelling it into Century\'s face until the teenager took up the chant himself. "Da! Keep it up! Over and over again! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi! Deontic, help him! Learn to say it quickly and say it with him!" He pulled Deontic from her stool and practically threw her into Century\'s arms. "Come on! Come on! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi! Loudly!"



"Mello? What....?" Deontic began.



"Just trust me on this, I was nearly L and I\'ve got it. No time to explain. Do it." Mello had rounded the table to capture Matt again. The redhead was rigid with fear. "And you, you fucking sexy creature, you\'re with me. Come on! Tool box!" He didn\'t wait for Matt to pick it up, but grabbed it himself. Mello held Matt\'s arm and towed him into the sitting room, calling over his shoulder. "Century! Deontic! I can\'t hear you! Come on! Come on! Elen Llwyddog, helpu fi!"



They were doing it, following Mello and Matt through towards the wardrobe. There was doubt in their eyes, but it was mainly worry that they hadn\'t got \'it\' when Mello had. But Mello had history on his side. There had been many classroom moments just like this, with Mello crowing his intelligence, kicking academia in their faces, while they raced to keep up. That Mello had the solution was obvious. All they could do was swallow their pride and let him lead them to his conclusion.



Mello dropped the toolbox with an almighty crash. A step behind him, Matt flinched bodily at the sound. Mello grabbed him and pushed him up against the wardrobe door. The knocking from within it had stopped, but that did not salve the sensation that something waited there. Just half an inch of oak boarding seperating them. Still the clanging went on, as if upstairs, and in the next room, and outside front and back, and up on the mountain, people were hammering on an old oil tanker with their fists. Mello smirked at his petrified husband. "I thought I was your princess, Toad." His kiss was harsh, penetrating. He drew away, grabbing up the clawhammer with a flourish. "So where\'s this fucking Rainbow Road?"



"W-what are you doing?" Matt stammered.



"I\'m opening up the staircase." Mello grinned. "It was brilliant! Pure, fantastic genius, worthy of your unbelievable mind; but it\'s not the solution. Help me take down the barricade, Mail." He pressed the hammer into Matt\'s hand. "Take it down."



Matt held the hammer in trembling fingers, close to dropping it; his other hand touched his own collar. But Mello had already scaled the wardrobe with a crowbar in his hand. "Mell." Matt said, softly. He tried again, but his tongue failed. He looked at the hammer in his hand. His lips formed around the words, \'I know what you\'re trying to do\', but there was no sound there. He coughed. "Mell."



Mello had prised a board out already. He peered through at the staircase, straight into the souless eyes of Maja Gustafsson staring right back from the landing beyond. Mello cheered, "Just as I thought! It\'s empty! Nothing there! Open that fucking door, Mail Jeevas!" He turned, grinning down at them. His gaze took in the sheer terror of Matt, but his grin never faltered. "Trust me. Just trust me, guapo. Century! Deontic! Help him and keep on chanting! Can\'t you see that it\'s working!" He turned, squatting on the top of the wardrobe. "Would I have my back so exposed if there was anything there? There is nothing in this house that is real! Deontic! Help Matt. Century, there\'s a piano over there. Play me something by Coldplay. \'Green Eyes\' will do."



Century frowned, "Elen Llwy... what?"



"He knows. He was full of oxytocin when I told him." Mello eyes glinted. "Now do it!" He turned and rammed in the crowbar again. This time, when he repeated that there was no-one there, Mello told the truth. "Love you, Mail. Love you so much."