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It had been over two weeks now since anyone had seen Light Yagami, including his parents. A full investigation was now underway as to where he had disappeared to. Foul play was suspected, since he hadn't left any indication that he might be leaving, all of his personal belongings were still in the dorm, and most convincing of all was the fact that his car was parked in its usual place in the upperclassman honors lot. Light Yagami had vanished without a single clue about what might have happened to him. And Mello was a hadn't left her dorm room since she found out. Her friends had been bringing by her homework and picking it back up. A few officers had come by a few times to ask her a series of questions, and she felt sick when she realized that she of all people was a suspect. But of course she had an alibi, and Matt was always there to back her up. She hardly slept, and only ate when Matt made her, staying until she finished it all. The guilt made her chest ache, and crying was the only thing she found fit to do. She'd thought awful things about her boyfriend because he hadn't called, and now this had to happen.
Matt carried a plate of food to his friend's room, sighing when he found the door unlocked. Ever since Light disappeared, Mello had completely forgotten about her stalker, and wasn't even bothering to keep her guard up anymore. All she could focus on was feeling guilty and worried, even though the stalker had been getting more and more bold with...whatever he was trying to accomplish with all this. Mello would find a new note almost every day, stuck under her pillow or in one of her dresser drawers, and occasionally just shoved under her door."Mell? I brought dinner."
She sat up tiredly, her hair matted against one side of her head. She knew she was a mess as she wiped the sleep that never came from her eyes. "Thanks..." She didn't feel like eating, which Matt knew of course, but that wouldn't stop him. "I got another note today." She said as she watched the redhead unfold the little table and set it next to the bed.
"You're welcome. I figured you would...what did this one say?" After putting her food down, he grabbed her hairbrush and sat next to her, working on getting the tangles out of her hair. "You need to get out of bed for a while. You can't just stop taking care of yourself, Mell."
"I just...I should've done something. Called his parents or...I dunno. Anything except what I did; nothing." It was just getting to be too much for her, the police, all Light's friends asking if she had seen him, her own friends curious about what she knew. Matt was the only one who cared more about her than knowing what happened to Light. "Anyway, the note says it's our three month anniversary. Has it already been that long, Matt? This guy hasn't lost interest after three months..."
"It isn't your fault, you had no idea something happened. And I guess it has been three months...we need to do something about this guy, but the police are gonna be too focused on finding Light to do anything. I don't know who we can go to," he said, putting the hairbrush down. "Eat, your food's getting cold."
She took a bite of noodles from the lukewarm Chinese food before picking up the letter again. "The past few letters have been handwritten. He has beautiful writing. It doesn't seem right, does it? He said he has a present for me, and that he's not mad that I didn't get him one because seeing me is all he needs to be happy." She could hear her voice wavering more the longer she spoke. This was just too much. She wasn't going to at first, but after thinking on it, she decided to go to the place the letter described and pick up whatever gift her stalker had bought for her.
"Something's seriously wrong with this guy." All this was making Matt more and more worried. Mello needed to start remembering to keep her door locked before something awful happened to her.
"Will you come with me to get my present? I don't feel safe going alone, but maybe it could help the police catch this guy." Mello was tired of all this, she was too exhausted to give a damn anymore and she just wanted to get some sleep.
"I don't know if it's a good idea to go anywhere he tells you to, Mello."
"I wanna end this, I really don't care how at this point." Forgetting her food, she got out of bed and opened her closet, grabbing the first outfit she came to.
"But he could be dangerous! What if he tries to hurt you?"
"That's what I'll have you for." She hoped that just having Matt with her would be enough to keep the man at bay if he happened to be waiting for her. She used the door of the closet to shield herself from Matt's view while she changed, really not feeling up to teasing him at the moment.
"And what if he has a weapon, Mell?" This wasn't sitting well with Matt at all, but once Mello made up her mind about something, it was all but impossible to change it. "What if I can't protect you?"
"Then just get out of there, I can protect myself if I have to." She put on a light jacket, since the chill of fall had crept in since Light had been missing. She grabbed her keys and looked at Matt expectantly.
"I wouldn't run off and leave you alone," he muttered, walking into the hallway. "Lock the door."
"I'm gonna." She locked the door, making sure to check it before she headed off towards the school's old gym. It was still operational since there were a few classrooms in it, but the place was usually dead on the weekends. It gave her the creeps, too; a perfect place for her stalker to hang around. She headed down the hallway to the girl's locker room. The place smelled damp like mold. Only one light still worked, and illuminated barely half the small room. She glanced at Matt before taking the note out of her pocket. Locker number 149, the only locker that actually still had a lock on it, was located right under the now flickering light. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she slowly put in the combination she had been given. The creak of the small door prickled the skin on the back of her neck. She couldn't do it and stepped back."You gotta look in there for me." She knew Matt didn't want to do it either, but of course he would for her.
Following closely behind her, Matt could barely hide how nervous he was. Nodding at Mello's statement, he reached into the locker and almost flinched when his hand came into contact with something before quickly pulling it out. "It's just one of those boxes of chocolates," he said, feeling a little relieved.
"Are you serious?" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She'd gotten so worked up over nothing. Maybe this was just some big prank like she had thought. Her stalker was probably laughing at her. There was nothing horrifying in the locker; no nude pictures, dead animals or death threats. She felt so silly. She laughed as she gave Matt's arm a playful slap. "You should've seen your face."
Matt couldn't help laughing with her a little, rubbing his arm. "You were more scared than I was. I hope you're not planning on eating this, you chocoholic."
"Tch, you bet I am. I deserve it after all this." With another laugh, she took the lid off of the small heart shaped box. Inside was not the delicious chocolate treats she had been hoping for, but rather the bloody finger of Light Yagami. Easily identifiable by the class ring with the name carefully engraved on the side. Light never took that ring off.
Matt froze for a moment before grabbing the lid out of his friend's hand and shoving it back onto the box. "W-we need to go. Now," he said, already pulling her towards the exit.
Everything that happened for the next few hours was a blur. Being pushed into the passenger seat of Matt's car, the trip to the police station, the interview where Matt did most of the talking, everything. Mello just stared, stared at whatever was in front of her. He stomach was in knots, and she felt as if she might burst. Things like this just didn't happen to people like her. She was normal, nothing like those people she was always hearing about on the news. This just wasn't happening.
"Mello, are you listening to me?" Matt had been trying to get his friend's attention ever since he managed to get her out of the police station and back to his car, but with no luck. It was like she was just looking right through him. "They're letting us go back home."
She didn't answer, she couldn't keep up. Matt was just talking too fucking fast. She slumped lower into the over stuffed seat, the dashboard the only thing she was focused on right now. She vaguely noticed Matt trying to get her to eat something, but she ignored it. Eating would be impossible for a while, the image of Light's dismembered finger still fresh in her mind. Her stalker, a murderer, had a sick way of showing his love. When would it end?
"I'm just gonna take you back to the school...you can stay with me tonight," he said with a sigh, putting the candy bar he had offered her down and heading back to the school. Everything hadn't really hit him until he had told the police, and now he was just...tired. After trying to get Mello to get out of the car on her own had no effect, he ended up carrying her to his room.
The strange looks sent her way as Matt carried her went unnoticed. The walls of the dorm were so white, they were blinding. Her eyes hurt, hurt like Matt's did when he played his games for hours on end, hurt like when she studied all night before a big test. Everything just hurt. Matt could've taken her anywhere at that moment, and she wouldn't have cared. Feeling the cool sensation of sheets against her cheek, she came out of her reverie, glancing up at Matt's tired face. He was hurting, too.
"It's gonna be okay. Please talk to me." Making sure the door was locked, he turned the light off and laid next to her on the bed, hugging her tightly.
"I wanna go home." Her own voice sounded foreign to her, as if she hadn't heard it in ages. Home…she hadn't thought about going back there even once since she'd come here. A group home really wasn't a place she could go back to anymore, anyway. Once you were eighteen, no one cared about you anymore. You were someone else's problem at that point. Not like they had really even cared in the first place. Being in that place had been an embarrassment. She curled into Matt, feeling safe for just a moment, although Matt couldn't really protect her if she needed it. He was too gentle, too timid to hurt anyone. As popular as she was, it was times like this when she felt utterly alone. Even with Matt, her best friend, so close, she felt lonely. But she was never alone; he was always watching. Chances were that he was watching now. Mello just cried.
"We can't go back," he replied quietly, sure she wasn't hearing much of what he was saying at the moment, anyway, as he ran his fingers through her hair.
The comforting sound of Matt's voice and the feel of his skin on hers put her at ease. It wasn't long before exhaustion took over, putting her into a dreamless sleep where she would be safe, if just for a short while.
The next day, Matt let Mello sleep in for a little while as he quickly went out and grabbed them some breakfast. After letting himself back into the room, he set the food down on his dresser and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking her a little. "Wake up."
With a startled flinch, Mello opened her eyes, letting out a breath of relief when she laid eyes on her goofy friend. "Is it morning?" She sat up, feeling as if all the events of the previous day had just been some awful dream.
"Yeah." Matt opened the curtains, brightening up the room a little. "I got us some oatmeal. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts." She groaned as she picked up the still warm bowl. Oatmeal wasn't her favorite, but her grumbling stomach wasn't about to protest.
"I'm sorry. You want an aspirin?" He took a few bites of oatmeal and sat on the bed, glancing at her. "How much do you remember about last night?"
"Yeah." She bit her lip. "I wish I didn't remember anything." And then, just like that, her food was unappealing. Flashes of yesterday's reality creeping back into her mind's eye.
He grabbed a drink for her and put an aspirin in her hand, sighing. "The police said they'll call is if they find anything out or have anymore questions for us."
Popping the pill in her mouth and following it with a long drink of water, she sighed. "They won't find anything..."
"You can't do something like this and not leave any evidence behind."
"Well maybe who ever he is, he's just that good. I guess this proves that Light isn't the stalker like you thought he was." He words sounded harsher than she had meant them to be, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment.
Matt looked at his bowl guiltily, poking at the oatmeal with his spoon. "It's not like I wanted anything to happen to him..."
"It doesn't matter now anyway, since he's probably dead." Mello wasn't going to avoid it anymore. Any hopes that she may have had that Light could still be alive were gone. That finger could've been a heart for all it mattered. Light Yagami was dead, and she would never see him again.
"I'm sorry," Matt replied, not sure what he could even say to that. "I'm worried about you."
"There's nothing to worry about. I won't let this guy kill me, I'm not that weak despite what you think." She decided that this man wouldn't beat her. Whatever he was trying to do, he wouldn't win.
"I never said you're weak...you take everything the wrong way. This isn't the time to be acting tough, we don't know who we're dealing with."
"I deal with creeps all the time, they're all the same. I'll lure him out. Make him think that this shit turns me on or something. I just want to be done with it, I don't care how I have to do." Mello was still scared out of her mind, but acting was all she had right now.
"You don't deal with murderers every day! You need to let someone else handle it for once, Mello!"
"That's what I've been doing, and nothing is getting done!" She sighed, shaking her head. "What time is it? Can I still make it to my criminal justice class?" The only reason she was even considering attending class that day was because ever since she'd met with Professor Lawliet they'd formed somewhat of a bond. After getting to know the man, he wasn't half as strange as before. Still strange, mind you, but she actually enjoyed his class now. He would email her the notes for every class period she missed; he'd been very understanding of the situation, and she figured she owed it to him in a way.
"Just listen to me and don't try to mess with this guy. Please. You've got 15 minutes before your class starts, do you want me to walk you there?"
"No, you don't need to." She raked her fingers through her hair as she walked out the door, trying to make herself halfway presentable. She didn't bother to go by her room to get her notebook. L would understand. She sat in the back of the class, hating the way people stared at her recently. Almost everyone had heard about Light by now, and they all knew they had been dating. It was only natural that people were curious, but she still hated them for it.
As soon as class began and L started going through the same monotone lecture he had done for three other groups of students that day, he noticed Mello for the first time in a couple of weeks. He was surprised she had actually showed up, with the way he had been giving her so many chances to miss class. Most students would have taken advantage of it. As soon as exactly 50 minutes had gone by and almost every student's hands were about to cramp up from note taking, he dismissed the class. "Melony, I need to speak to you for a moment before you leave."
Mello was in a daze; not from the lecture, she had long since been able to survive them, but just...because. Because being unaware was a much easier way of dealing with things. Her head snapped up at hearing her name. When had class been dismissed? She got up from her seat and walked over to L's desk. "Yeah?"
"How has the investigation been going? This is the first time I've seen you in quite a while."
Mello shrugged. "Nothing's really happening. Did you hear about yesterday? I don't know if it was released or not." L was becoming more than just a Professor to her, she trusted him. L and Matt were the only people she had spoken to about the incidents, and only through email with L. This was the first time she'd spoken to him about it in person, but it was turning out to be easier than she expected.
"I haven't heard anything, but I apologize that the investigation isn't going anywhere. Would you like to tell me about it?"
She leaned against his desk, her hands behind her for support. "Yesterday," she paused, not sure how to begin as she took a deep breath, "I got another letter from, you know. He said he had a gift for me in the girl's locker room of the old gym. I took Matt there, and we found Light's finger." She had to pause again, feeling her eyes sting and her throat tighten.
L gave her the most concerned look he could muster, frowning. "I'm very sorry. But whoever did this can still be caught. I would advise you to not put yourself in any more danger. And...I was going to invite you to have dinner with my brother and I, but I suppose that wouldn't sound very appealing to you at the moment."
"Actually..." The thought of doing something so normal right now sounded ridiculous, and she wanted nothing more. "It sounds great, is the invitation still there?" She had no idea that L had a brother, and she vaguely wondered if he was as strange as L.
"Of course it is. Does tomorrow night sound alright?"
"Sounds great." She smiled tiredly at the man before saying her goodbyes and heading back to her dorm.
