A\N: English is not my native language, I'm sorry for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes that might be ahead.

It's a *fan*fiction, therefore- I'm a fan and not the actual owner of No. 6.

Chapter 2: Lilith

"And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster (לילית, lilit) shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest." Isaiah 34:14

Nezumi ran.

He ran as fast as his body could carry him. He ran, drunk with fear, clouded by terror, as the streets of Lost Town became more and more blurry with speed.

Nezumi knew what happened.

Even though he could barely see where he was, he knew he was getting closer to Karan's bakery. It was an evening of late autumn, and the streets were burning with dead, crimson-colored leaves and twilight skies. Nezumi could see Shion's blood-stained face as he stood next to Rashi's body.

Nezumi… I… killed him.

Damn it Shion, get the fuck out of my head.

There were so many people on the streets. They were talking, laughing, yelling, crying, buzzing in Nezumi's ears as he passes them with a run.

Nezumi knew what happened. He knew and he refused to believe it.

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please. Don't do it. Please tell me you didn't fucking do it. Please, I need to hear you say it. With your own voice, please.

Since Nezumi did not believe in any sort of god or higher power that can answer his prayers, he prayed to the closest thing he knew. Elyurias, Safu, if you can hear me, I beg of you. Don't let him do it. Another memory flashed before him. The gun that shot Rashi twice moments ago was now pointed at Shion's temple; the same slender fingers wrapped the trigger again, getting ready for another fatal shot.

Bloody hell. This is all my fault. I knew that would happen. I knew that this place would destroy him but I brought him with me anyway. And then I left him to handle the horrors he brought with him from that… hell all by himself. Damn it. Damn it all.

Nezumi arrived the bakery at last, the bloody skies illuminated the abandoned-looking shop with an ominous light. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Fuck. He looked at the showcase with frustration. Goddamn it, this is going to hurt. He took a deep breath and broke the window with his elbow, then entered the shop quickly, storming into the storage cellar that used to be Shion's room.

And there he was, smiling at him with this special expression that only Shion could make. Welcome back, Nezumi. Nezumi collapsed. Shion's eyes beamed with happiness, making the voice in Nezumi's head sound so right, so real. But it was not real. Something else was, even if it was unfortunate, even if it seemed too wrong to be real. And the reality that stood before of Nezumi's eye was Shion laying on the floor, with a gun in his hand, his snowy hair now colored red, and the content of his skull was-

Nezumi sat up suddenly. His breath was heavy and his body was covered with sweat. He shivered as the image of Shion's body surfaced his mind again, then a wave of sickness washed him, causing him to vomit to the side of the bed. After recovering, Nezumi looked at the room, trying to remember where he was. It was a small room with nothing but a bed and a big window leading to a balcony. On the bed, next to Nezumi, slept a woman covered only by a blanket. Her back was facing Nezumi, and she was shaking slightly because of the sudden cold that hit her when Nezumi broke their cuddle. Nezumi started looking for his pants in the dark, and then carefully made his way to the balcony.

No. 4 was beautiful. It truly was. Nezumi got lucky tonight, and managed to get lodging with a full view of the city. He could see the poor district, which was about the same as the West Block, just inside of the city. Next to it the entertainment district, where he currently was, then the upper-class district and the residential district. It was very similar to No.6, thought there was no restriction on transition, neither inside nor outside of the city. Where should I go next? He wondered. He needed money, so he decided he would wander in the district for a while, looking for a card game he could easily win or wait until the morning when he could perform on the streets. While he had… certain troubles performing on stage, he had no problem with doing so on a sidewalk, a train station or any of their likes.

The sound of the woman turning in bed interrupted his thoughts. I should really go before she wakes up. He walked back into the room and gathered the rest of his clothes, then left the room knowing he'll never see it again. As soon as he was out of the room Hamlet and Cravat ran toward him and climbed onto his shoulder.

"Where have you guys been?" Nezumi asked, even though they could not respond in human tongue.

Squeak squeak

Nezumi did not need words to understand their intentions.

"Well, you don't like anyone I… hang out with." he said, considering his words carefully, knowing that his mice were smarter than most humans.

Squeak squeak

Nezumi sighed without even noticing he did so. He did not want to answer that, knowing what they would say if they could speak.

We liked Shion.

Well, Shion's a man of the past, deal with it.

Shion once told him that it sounds as if Nezumi's talking to himself rather than to Shion. Nezumi knew that, again, that was the case, but he would never admit it.

Nezumi was used to having nightmares; he would wake up countless times remembering the flames of Mao. He had plenty of methods as for chasing those nightmares away. When Shion entered his life, he would crawl closer to him, looking for something that could remind him that some types of warmths were pleasent. Now, however, it seemed as if Nezumi lost his ability to handle nightmares, and it was Shion's fault. Not only because of the missing warmth, but because Shion was the one who haunted him now.

Nezumi would dream of an empty No. 6, and Shion crying tears of blood saying he had no choice but to kill those who opposed him. He would dream of young Shion handing him over to the Security Bureau. He would dream of Shion forgetting him, claiming he never met him before. But the worst were the dreams where they were simply living together in the West Block. He could not handle the crushing disappointment that hit him when he woke up without Shion on his side. Nezumi knew that if Shion really was a man of the past he could not haunt him like this.

"Oi! Eve!"

A shout cut Nezumi's train of thoughts. He looked up, noticing he was already deep inside the entertainment district, and looked for the source of the call. It was an extra in one No. 4's theaters, where Nezumi performed once, only once. The extra approached Nezumi, bringing with him a strong smell of alcohol, which did not surprise Nezumi: It was 3AM in the entertainment district, in this time and place sober people like himself were the exception while people like the extra were the majority.

"Wha' ya doin' here? Thought ya left 4 weeks ago!" he said.

"Well, you were wrong." Nezumi gave him a forced smile full of disgust, and then turned around, hoping this was the end of their conversation. He was wrong of course.

"If ya still in 4, why haven' ya showed up in the theater at all? Director freakin' liked ya, ya know…" the man asked, barely managing to stand.

"I wasn't looking for a permanent job." Nezumi replied, trying to get as far as he could from the drunked.

"But ya were so gooood, no'ady ever managed to ge' a speaking par' as their firs' role, ya know… Ya have a futu'e!", he said happily, "No'ady thought ya'll quit afte' one show, tha's for sure!"

"Thank you, I guess, but I have no interest. Now if you'll excuse me..." Nezumi tried to escape again.

"But Eveeeee!" the man grabbed Nezumi shoulder trying to stop him. Nezumi, partly out of instinct but mostly because he was sick of talking with this intoxicated clown, caught the man's arm and pulled him, quickly putting his knife to the his throat.

"Please don't call me that." Nezumi whispered, "Actually, don't call me at all." The man collapsed on his knees, he was absolutely frozen with fear, unable to speak or even think. Nezumi let go of him and immediately turned away, trying to get as far as he could from any creature that was able to converse with him.

Eve.

Nezumi never thought of names as significant or meaningful. He has not named his mice until Shion showed up. He was performing under the stage name Eve. He was living his life under the 'stage name' Nezumi. But ever since he left No. 6, he came to loathe performing and everything that was connected to it. And it was Eve's fault. Eve. He thought bitterly. Until then, Nezumi and Eve shared the flesh of the same nameless man, but now, Nezumi felt like Eve was getting her own personality, and it was driving him mad.

Eve was a diva. She was not willing to compromise and perform wherever Nezumi told her to. She stubbornly refused to bend her desires to the arrogant will of the nameless man who needed money to survive in this world. Eve would not read, recite or sing anything that reminded her of Shion, and everything reminded her of Shion. She knew better than Nezumi that Shion was not a man of the past, and she hated the fact that she had to share a body with a man that knew his own desires and chose to ignore them, just because he refused to admit they were true. Eve wanted to go back, but she was unable to break the chains of flesh that shackled her, forcing her to stay with Nezumi. And so, Eve simply refused to do anything. Not until she will get to see the other man, the one she wanted to see, the one that the nameless man wanted to see, the one Nezumi wanted to see.

Shion.

Nezumi could not help it but to sigh, then swear, for both the sigh and the way in which Shion managed to sneak into his mind yet again. Shion is a man of the past, and you are nothing but a stage name, Eve. Nothing good will come out of your stupid games. You can pretend to be independent as much as you like, but you are, and will always be nothing more my... My what?

Nezumi's mind turned blank. It was suddenly so quiet... too quiet. He did not know the answer to the question and it bothered him, but he was unable to think. It's dark. He managed. Too dark. Was it always that dark? I wonder if Shion can see how dark it is. Nezumi sighed again at the understanding of what he just said in his mind. But since Shion was already in his thoughts, there was no point in fighting it. Damn it, I'm kneeling under Eve's will. But he did not care anymore, he just kept thinking from where he left his thoughts. Shion probably can't see this. He's definitely asleep. That's how Shion is. No, it's the other way around. Shion is doing the normal, rational thing. It's me who's being abnormal. It's me, who's wandering at night unable to sleep. It's me, who broke Shion's heart, and my own heart, looking for freedom. It's me who's paying the price by carrying my regrets wherever I go. Shion will wake up in the morning, and look at the window waiting for me. He won't see me out there. He might never see me out there, but at least he will wake up in the morning and in the morning after that, and every morning he will see the sunlight. I, however, will wake up haunted by my own decisions, and will see nothing but darkness on the other side of the window. I chose to leave, and by that, I doomed myself to become a monster. A night creature.

Nezumi passed a noisy building. An inn, by the look of it. Nezumi rarely paid for a roof over his head. He spent many of nights out in the wild while moving from city to city. During his visits in populated areas, he would either sleep on the streets or find his way to a club or a pub or any other place that had a large amount of people whose judgment had been corrupted by booze. It was easy to manipulate people with no judgment, especially with voice and looks like Nezumi's. He was able to charm everyone, regardless of personality, wealth, and gender. Nezumi, however, was not fond of this method. He related it to the fact that he hated being around most people. He avoided this method as much as he could but sometimes, Shion's memory hurt him so much he could not handle it without borrowing some warmth from another person. But it only made it worse.

A wave of laughter came from inside the inn and Nezumi found himself walking toward the voice. He looked through the window. The people in there were dancing in a circle, laughing, singing, eating, drinking... They were happy. Even if it was fake, momentary happiness, they were happy. To Nezumi, it seemed rather odd. He continued walking. How come they're happy? Their problems are definitely still there. The fact that they forgot them at the moment does not change the fact that they have problems, and that they can't be happy. I don't have any problems, not anymore. Then why? Why can't I be truly happy now? Why are they happy while I can barely sleep? That was when he found an answer to the question that bugged him earlier. Emotions. That is everything Eve is. She is good at mimicking feelings, and making people believe I feel things I don't really feel. But in the end of the day, she's just a big, messy piece of emotional wreck. Junkyard for everything I ever felt and ignored, felt and denied, felt and threw away. Eve did an amazing job, however. Nothing shook her, not until now.

Frustrated, Nezumi sighed again. He sighed and didn't give a damn about it.

Shion, I did not turn myself into a night monster, I only uncaged it. I ignored my emotions stubbornly, but Eve was able to process everything I threw at her. I left you, both of us, actually, looking for false freedom. But you are the only one who could destroy and then rebuild everything I am, or at least everything I was. You are the only one who managed to break Eve. You are the one who's denying my freedom from me.

Shion, you ruined me. And the worst part is that you changed me so I won't even care.