AN: Okay. I'm still alive… What can I say? I'm sorry….really sorry….and just last chapter I promised a faster update…..well, months certainly isn't fast. Yeah, I'd say that something came up…but I can't really use that as an excuse. Well, I kind of had this chapter for a while…I just never got to posting it…the horror called real life got in the way. So sorry to those of you reading this little fanfic of mine…
And also, the rest of the chapters might come at a slower pace (not THIS slow), I'm just suddenly very busy.
Chapter 6: Search
Wammy's House, September 17th, 2008, 11:32pm
"Checkmate."
"…That's an illegal move."
"It is legal for this plane."
"…No. It isn't. It's legal for the third plane. You're using the fourth."
"Whatever do you mean? This is the third plane."
"Right before left."
"And I am counting as such. Do you not agree that this is my right?"
"…Labels, L."
"I do not see any labels."
"Liar."
"I'm hurt. You accuse your own brother of lying?"
"Make your move, please, dear, unfortunately visually impaired brother."
The man across the board shrugged, his pale hand moving toward a glass bishop. L set down the selected piece into its desired position, the sound unusually loud for glass being set on glass.
Unusually loud, perhaps because of the added extra soundtrack of a door opening. Both raven-haired humans turned to their left instinctively, to watch a dark brunet enter.
"Hey, does anyone know where Near is?"
"I'm afraid not, Matt. Is he not in his room?" asked L.
"I…no. Any ideas on where he might be?"
"Anywhere concerning toys is a very likely destination," offered the figure hunched over the chess board…ish set. Jaylin observed in silence. It didn't seem like her contributions to the conversation were necessary.
A frown came over the brunet's face, visible because his goggles hung limply around his neck as opposed to covering his eyes.
"Alright, then…" He turned around to leave, something about his movements seeming a bit off.
"You could ask Mello. I think it's safe to assume that if Near is not anywhere within…a camera's view, he is most likely with Mello, to further their competitive sense," advised the detective.
"…No. That's why I'm trying to find Near…"
Understanding and confusion came to Jaylin in the same moment they went to L.
"Was he not with you earlier?"
Matt turned back to them.
"Yes."
"Please elaborate."
"Well…he went off for chocolate, an I took the car somewhere else, and I was supposed to pick him up, except when I did, he wasn't there. I thought I took too long, and he just took a bus back to Wammy's or…uh…borrowed…another mode of transportation. He could have decided to walk over to where I was, but when I called him, he didn't answer…so I assumed that he was already back at Wammy's."
"He isn't, then," stated L confidently.
"Yeah. I can't…find…him."
Both brother and sister saw the implication.
"Did you forget to unghost a camera?"
"I…no."
"Hm. I'll take your word that Mello wasn't at the location where he was suppose to be."
Matt nodded.
So Mello's whereabouts were unknown.
"Call the phone he had on him," ordered L. Jaylin understood, her brother could not afford a missing successor. Especially not one who knew so much about L and the orphanage.
Matt did as he was told.
They waited in silence for faint ringing from the red cell phone in the brunet's hands.
The ringing didn't come. Instead, Jaylin heard a faint, indiscernible jumbled of words.
After a few seconds, Matt snapped the phone shut, face troubled.
"It's…blocked."
Blocked?
"Does he normally do that?"
"…No. Not when I called him two times earlier. Not even to Near. I didn't even know he knew how to, without the proper equipment."
L sat in thought.
"Who else contacted him recently, on that cell phone?"
"I did, with Drake's, and I think Roger did as well, when I forgot to ghost him wandering down the halls in the middle of the night."
"I see." The detective's thumb traveled to his mouth. "Matt, contact the same number with Drake's phone. Jaylin, I believe that we should go find Roger. Come to Roger's office immediately after, Matt."
He nodded, and left.
L turned to his sister.
"I fear that we're headed for a tad bit of trouble."
"Yes…I think it's reasonable to assume that Mello...isn't in the safest position at the moment."
"Shall we go?"
Jaylin nodded once.
-
Roger seemed rather surprised to see them at his office, but he kept his mouth shut. He seemed even more surprised when L asked for the usage of the phone he called Mello with. But, of course, he didn't object.
The dark-haired man tapped his index finger delicately on the numeric pad.
After a few seconds, he set down the phone, and spoke.
"It's blocked," he stated grimly.
"L?" Roger asked in incomprehension.
"We're afraid…that Mello has disappeared, and not of his own accord."
"Mello?" he echoed, surprise dotting his aged face.
"Yes, that is what I said," stated L.
Roger began with a launch of questions, all of which L answered shortly and briefly, not bothering to go anywhere near detail. Soon, the expected and anticipated knock was heard.
The door was opened, and Matt came in, wearing a blank face.
"Blocked," he said simply.
L nodded.
"As I suspected."
"What now?" came the question that L must have heard many times over.
"Finding Mello should be our first priority," started L. "Let us assume that he was…attacked, per se? It would not be in a public, open area, or in other words, the mall. But I believe that it would be close. However, no matter how close, there is a very large number of possible places that Mello could be. If he were simply left unconscious, then there's a chance that once he wakes up, he'll be able to find his way back. However, that would be highly unlikely. The longer we give his attacker, the better the chance that he'll put Mello in danger. Our best bet would be to go for the traditional method; a search party."
"Listening."
"I do not want word of this to get out to the other students. Therefore, our search party will consisted of a limited amount of persons. That is, all of us in this room…and two more."
"Two more?"
"Yes, Wammy and Christopher. Roger, if you could retrieve them for us?"
"Certainly."
"If you could meet us outside…"
Winchester, Great Britain, September 18th, 12:35am
They had split up.
There were six of them that formed the 'Mello search party,' and after a few minutes of talking out their plan, they had reached a final decision of each going in their own direction.
Jaylin knew that L viewed what they were doing as below his usual style, but sometimes, tradition was the best way to work things out.
She glanced around her, the faint light of the moon acting as a flashlight, since she deemed it most tacticious to leave off her own, for fear of drawing attention in the case that Mello wasn't simply left unconscious.
It was dark, where she was searching. There weren't many houses, and the ones present were built with an older style. The streets were…almost nonexistent. This was the less-city-like area of Winchester. If there should be any outlaws or illegal attackings in the area she was investigating, they would be here.
She strolled past a few sparse buildings, inspecting any possible crevice that would give her a clue as to where their lost acquaintance might be. Maybe the bushes harboring who-knows-what, and the lack of awake people should intimidate her, should prevent her from venturing further into the dark, unfamiliar area, but…they didn't. They didn't as they normally would have to her.
There were quite a few old, ancient buildings, but, even in an area like this, there was the possibility that they were inhabited.
A very slight possibility, she thought as see passed an especially ancient, haunted-looking house. She continued around it, sidestepping unruly placed rocks, sticks, and stones.
It continued like that for a while, with Jaylin wandering around with the faint hope that all this wasn't for nothing. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of investigating, she found no one. No blond haired Mello dressed in black leather. Really, why did he have to pick black? Why couldn't it have been a color that didn't fit perfectly into the night, like yellow, or bright green, or pink, or red—
Red.
Her head snapped back to where it had glanced a fraction of a second ago. There was red. A flash of red through the window of the especially ancient house that she had passed earlier, now passing again on her way back to the car.
But…it wasn't just red. It was…a pair of eyes. On a pale, pale face.
Red eyes…what human had red eyes? Was it even genetically possible? …Yes, of course. Albinos. Pale skin, red eyes…but…not black hair. And the eyes weren't simply red…no, they were crimson. She had seen those eyes before…
…Should she look inside the houses for Mello?
It was possible that he was being held captive inside one of these houses, but…no. No, she decided. But…if there was even a slight possibility…no matter how slight.
A rush of cool, midnight air drew itself into her lungs, and Jaylin began towards the haunting building. A house, simply, but along with it, came a wisp of terror. Not the house itself, but the possible inhabitant.
The steps creaked slightly, and the black-haired girl hesitated at the door. To knock, or not to knock? To not knock…well, the inhabitant would know that she was coming anyways. So, then, in the case that the owner of the house was an innocent, half-crazed grandpa, she would knock.
Her hand met the door with the force needed to create adequate noise, but, instead of the desired, or rather, expected outcome, the door gave way. The damp air gushed out from inside, the perfect picture of a horror movie. But, unlike the characters in a horror movie, Jaylin had brains. And she also had incentive.
In a typical haunted house, the door would close on the person who enters, but Jaylin knew that by the weight of the door, the wind could not do that. So…if the door closes, then it is by courtesy of a human…and if a human would even want to lock her in, then it was either a childish joke, or…she was on the right track to…something.
So, she took the risk, and left the door alone. Inside, there was a light switch, which, unexpectedly, worked. A bright, and apparently used electricity system, lit the halls. The interior was different from what she had expected, really. Dirty, unkempt, yes, but not…creepy. Like a very untidy L without a Wammy decided to live within it's walls. Carefully, she walked in, and, to her relief and disappointment, heard no click of a shutting door.
Well, it was too much to ask for anyways.
Quickly, she made a small tour of the house. Everything was the same, like the entrance halls, as if a very unkempt L lived here. In the living room, there was a perfectly working television, a couch, and papers strewn all over the place; nothing important on them. In the kitchen, there was a whole bunch of…strawberry jam. In the bedrooms, beds, desks, clothes, chairs, laptops. The typical. Nothing seemed out of place, except…there was no one inside. She knew that the red eyes were no hallucination, she knew that. But where did the person go? Why did they go?
Mello didn't seem to be here, and, yes, the disappearance of the black-haired albino-like guy was strange, but Mello was her first priority.
Down the stairs, towards the door she went, the next possible destinations flooding her mind. Her hand went towards the door, pulling it open further—
Immediately, she moved the door into a closed position. Behind it…was a blue sketchbook. A blue sketchbook, nailed on the door.
Her blue sketchbook.
The one she thought she had left in New York…the one she went to look for in the car when they first arrived at Wammy's. How the hell did it get here?
Carefully, she flipped through, prying the pages from the nail. The same. Everything was the same as she had last seen it. Except…
The most recent drawing.
It was not hers.
Jaylin's heart began to beat faster, as understanding flooded her mind.
Because in the sketch, there was a rosary. A rosary lying in the middle of an area similar to the one Jaylin was in now, one with less…ancient and haunting houses, but rather street-less at the same time. And the only visible lettering…the number on the house closest to the rosary. 9678. And a rosary…Mello.
9678…Six, seven, eight, and a jump to nine?
What could—no. There was more to the sketch…a small piece of paper? No. The map to a shopping outlet. Jaylin recognized the name across the top – Junction Outlet. But what does that have to do with…? They weren't even close to any outlet, Mello could not possibly be all the way in Briersfield, so why the outlet map?
Why the sketch, even? It was a very quick sketch, one made in a matter of a few short minutes, so the inhabitant of this house made it when he saw her? But…how would he even know who she was? How would he…know about Mello's whereabouts? Unless…
No. Not yet. Mello was their first priority.
So…numbers and an outlet map…numbers and an—
Outlet map.
Each outlet was identified by a number, to be matched to its position on the actual map. Not just outlets, but zoos and large buildings and tour guide books, and…
Junction Outlet. A shopping outlet. So…she had to match the numbers to a store of a sort.
Time to get out of here.
