Chapter ten:

It is now closer to the afternoon.

Near stares at the scar in a mirror letting the scene play out in front of him again. He shivers as he remembers the pain and the blood.

Meanwhile Mello looks up from his valentines day planning only to not see or hear Near as he hasn't for about the amount of time in which could mean something is wrong.

He gets up putting down the pen going to check on him. He tries Near's room and knocks on the closed door. "Near? You ok? Do you want to talk about anything?"

Suddenly Nears knife slams into the door smashing through it as half of the blade can be seen with a little space above it that is a part of the since by Mello who jumps back in fright at this since it's so sudden.

"Sorry Mello." Near says leaving the knife there. "I don't want to talk right now."

Mello turns away getting ready to head away as he looks to the door still a little shaken from the attack on the door and also in worry for the other. "Ok. Come out whenever you are ready. Come talk to me if you need to when you're ready." He heads away back to his planning.

A little later there is a knock on the door.

Mello goes to answer it and he opens the door to a surprise visit. "Ah hello L and Light." He greets. "Come in." He steps aside allowing the two to come inside.

The two move inside the home and Mello shuts the door behind them. The two take off their shoes politely.

The three move to the living room.

Light glances around. "Where's Near?"

"In his room. We need to leave him alone." Mello says as he cleans up his planning making his back facing L and Light.

L frowns slightly. "Shouldn't you try to talk to him?" He asks.

Mello straightens from bending over to clean up his planning. "I don't feel like ending up like the door." He responds slightly turning to look to the other two.

Light and L don't ask anymore questions about the subject.

Mello sets his planning on an arm chair that is by the TV. "So what can I do for you two?" He asks.

"Well we are actually here because there is someone brutality beating people to death in the area." L explains. "A case we are working on."

Mello pauses for a moment then turns around to the two. "Is that so?"

"I take it you haven't heard or seen anything then." Light says with a slight frown.

Mello shakes his head. "Nope neither me nor Near have seen or heard anything."

Light looks thoughtful. "Hm. I see."

"The body count is twelve so far." L adds.

"Do you think….." Mello begins as he glances down in thought. "That it might be a rouge trying to throw everyone off track?"

"We are not sure yet." L tells Mello.

Mello looks up to L. "Well you should still be cautious." He says. "If it is a rouge that has broken away things can get very dangerous."

Mello nods. "I know." He assures them.

"Well we should get going." Light says. "Thanks for at least giving time."

"No problem." Mello nods.

L and Light leave after saying their goodbyes.

Mello turns to a window in slight thought. "A rouge… If it is a rouge then hopefully this will be resolved pretty quickly." He says to himself.

Light is the one driving as the two of them head back to their place. "I have a feeling we will be back here no later than tomorrow to finish business."

L turns to look out the window as the thunder storm is starting to calm down and he slightly leans his head against the glass. "Probably. Especially if it is a rouge. A rouge can become very dangerous the longer said rouge is left alone."

Light hums in agreement.

Mello sits on the love seat with his elbows on his knees and he sits there just thinking about what L and Light told him. "Beating… So many victims probably in a short amount of time….." His eyes flicker slightly side to side in thought. "How can it not be a rouge?" He continues talking to himself.

….

Linda hums as she paints while Matt is playing a video game.

Matt has a towel draped over his head so he can still see while Linda is wearing a towel around her neck draped to keep her clothes from getting wet by her hair.

After all when you go outside in a thunderstorm you get wet.

Linda hears that only weak thunder seems to be left. She pauses in her landscaping painting to turn to look out the window. "Seems the thunderstorm is almost over."

Matt's only response is a sound of a 'mm.' in a 'that's cool.' Kind of distracted tone.

Linda turns to look to the gamer only to sigh shaking her head then goes back to her painting. "Maybe I should start limiting your gaming time."

"Then you need to limit your painting time." Matt counters.

Linda huffs. "Fine you win this one." She continues on her painting.

Matt has a victory smirk on his face. He shifts as he slightly bites his tongue to try to get past a particularly hard boss battle and he can feel his gun , that he sometimes has to use to help with kills, in his pocket press slightly into his stomach softly. He ignores it though as he continues gaming.

After all it's not like it's just going to fire all on its own even with the slight press on the back of it.

The two remain silent with the only noises being that of the clicking of buttons by Matt, the sounds coming from Matt's video game and the occasional weaker than before roars of thunder coming from outside.

You really don't need to talk all the time after all.

The two become lost in their own worlds.

Matt lost in the fantasy world of gaming and Linda is the creative world of painting.

This silence remains for the rest of the day.

Linda adds the final brush stroke to her painting then she pulls the paint brush back to examine the painting.

It makes her smile and nod with satisfaction and she puts her paint brush down on her easel.

"Matt." She turns to the other only to stop when she sees the other laying on the floor with part of the towel kind of acting like a makeshift flat pillow.

On Matt's game it is waiting for him to choose an option.

Linda shakes her head with a smile then gets up going over to Matt. She kneels next to him only to reach over to gently shake him. "Matt. Matt wake up."

Matt groans then mumbles something that sounds like a no.

Linda slightly sighs then shakes him harder.

Matt mumbles something between 'let me sleep' and 'five more minutes'.

Linda growls in frustration. "Matt! If you don't get up right now your game will pay the price!"

Matt shoots up to a sitting position instantly as he leaves the towel on the ground. He looks to Linda. "You had to do that?" He whines.

"You weren't getting up." Linda says with a glare.

"You're mean." Matt sighs softly.

Linda smiles. "Being a part of the organization has changed me and don't forget the organization always leaves a changing impact on people who become a part of it." She says then gets up knowing Matt knows that it is very true that people are changed even just by a little bit after joining the organization. "It's night. It's time for bed." She goes to grab her paint brush to go clean it as well as dump the cup of water she was using.

Matt turns to his game and finishes the scene before saving. He finishes just in time as Linda finishes what she needed to do herself.

Linda looks to Matt. "Ready?"

Matt nods then follows Linda as they head to go to bed. He smirks and moves closer to Linda only to lean forward to whisper in her ear. "But we don't need to sleep."

Linda jumps then spins around to face him. "Matt! You need to get your mind out of it's dark places!" She then turns and runs off to go to get ready to sleep.

Matt is left standing there then he shakes his head softly. "The organization changed you sure but this is once again confirmation that there is still the old you in there." He then decides to head to make sure the doors are locked not wanting someone shady coming in.

Safety is very important especially in survival.