Okay, questions shall be answered in this chappie!

Warning: Torture, lying, swearing and vampire activities.

Winchester, England August 4, 1671

He felt absolutely awful, which wasn't too big of a surprise, since he'd been tortured for…he didn't know how long, but knew it was a long time. He could only think of the elder boy who he'd befriended as a child. All the kindness and happy times they shared was all he wished to remember. But the memories did little to help him as he awakened to the worst dream of all time. That dream was the harsh reality he lived.

"Mello?" Near mumbled only half conscious.

Water dripped off in the distance.

It echoed as it hit a puddle of water below it.

"Mello?"

After a few minutes Near let out a heart shattering screech of sorrow and agony. A long length of chan was lashed across his back. Then a knife slid into his stomach, but punctured none of his organs, as it was skillfully wielded. Near shuddered when he felt freezing cold fingers gently brush against his innards. He whimpered when the touching stopped and he screamed as he was sewn up. He was then left alone for several hours. Probably because his tormentor had ran out of tortures. Just about everything had been done to him, except for rape. He'd been beaten, cut open, burnt, almost drown, poked, prodded and touched, but not raped.

That was the only bright side he saw.

He eventually fell asleep, but his sore, aching body woke him so many times until he just stopped trying to sleep. His chains rattled as he tried to move. The blood-spattered ground beneath him was warm with his blood. He sobbed as he realized that his wounds were reopened and bleeding. He unexpectedly felt a knife blade rip into his leg and he screeched. He heard someone laugh in the darkness. He could not see them. He could not see anything. His sight had been taken from him several hours ago.

And yet…

…he still blacked out falling into a deeper black.

Near opened his eyes but only saw darkness.

Was he blind?

Yes.

He remembered his last few moments of sight were spent staring at a horrendous, bloody scene. He began to panic as he felt around, ignoring his sore and aching body. He only felt wooden walls and a wooden floor and a wooden ceiling. He started to scream and cry out but stopped after a while knowing that it was unlikely someone would hear him.

He inhaled deep breaths. Where was he? What was happening? He knew he was in some sort of wooden box, no, a coffin, but he couldn't think of any reason why he would be there unless he were being buried alive. He knew that possibility was more than just likely. After a while he inhaled a weak breath of air. He was running low on air and felt his bangs stick to his sweaty forehead.

Suddenly he heard a thump. It was dull and above him. There was another thump. He realized quickly that someone was knocking. He raised a hand weakly and knocked on the wooden ceiling above him. Another knock came back to him. He knocked again feeling weaker than he previously did. He wheezed in a mouthful of hot, stale air.

He was suffocating and couldn't knock the next time.

Muffled voices spoke from outside his wooden box.

After a few minutes the lid lifted up and light poured in over him. He inhaled the fresh air, and then drifted close to the edge unconsciousness. "Damn, you're as beautiful as I remember." Someone said caressing his face. He shivered. The hand was ice cold. Lips met his and Near shivered. The lips were freezing cold as if they belonged to a corpse. Fighting off the darkness that tried to swallow him Near felt something drip into his mouth.

It was metallic and bitter.

He hated it.

Then something sank into his neck narrowly missing his jugular vein. "You should thank me," the voice whispered. "I could've killed you, but I haven't…at least…not yet…."

Near gasped as something sank into both his wrists and he felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He felt the side of his neck get bitten and whimpered weakly. He'd been tortured since the first day he was captured, but he couldn't really remember much, except for pain.

That pain was nothing like this. The feeling of the vampire's fangs sinking into his skin burnt. It felt as if his skin was burning and withering away. He squealed from the agony and heard the cruel laughter of his tormentors. He felt as if he were burning from the inside out. Blood gushed from his nose and soon poured from his mouth as his body convulsed involuntarily. Tears spilt from his eyes and he felt like he was biting his tongue in half. The agony was unbelievable. It was unlike anything he'd felt. It was like every tiny fiber of his being was in pain. He opened his mouth to cry out but no sound came out. Only blood came from his mouth staining his paper white skin and the stone floor.

Soon blood drizzled from his beautiful silvery eyes, which were soon glassy and filled up to the brim with unshed blood. He thrashed about for hours screaming and straining to breathe. It was so hard for him to inhale and exhale without feeling as though he'd suffocate. He whimpered when his nails cracked and broke. Near slammed his head back into the stone floor sending a new wave of anguish and ache throughout his body and soul.

After what felt like an eternity the awful, unbearable pain that had ravaged his entire being like a disease stopped and he sobbed while gasping for air and trembling in terror as to what he'd be put through next. His agony was replaced by weariness and it took only seconds before he fell asleep. His captor smiled stepping into the room. He cradled his newborn in his arms and knew that it was time for him to dispose of the other 'useless' defects. He had Nate, now. Why did he need any of those fools?

That night cries of distress were heard by no one except a half conscious Near.

Opening his eyes to bright sunlight Near gasped. He looked around and saw that he was in some alley. His stomach cramped and growled with hunger. He clenched his teeth and looked around. Stepping from the alley he looked about to see people walking up and down the streets. His stomach growled fiercely. He smelt something…good…it smelt really sweet yet had a bitter edge to it. Not too sweet, but not too bitter. He looked around for whatever it was but only saw some small boys playing tag.

After a while of just walking about he stopped.

He felt too weak and the cramps in his stomach were torture. He gasped as a headache came to him. It was the worst headache he had ever felt and with it came several images. None he wished to see, for as far as he was concerned, they were only a nightmare.

His stomach and head joined together and the pain they created was unbearable. A hand touched his shoulder and a kind voice asked if he was all right. He couldn't take it anymore! With the instincts of an animal he silenced the unknown person, forever with a single movement. He smelt a wonderful smell as soon as the body hit the ground. Falling to his knees Near saw that he'd slashed a young woman's throat open, but he didn't care. He lapped her blood up like a dog and savored the taste. Once his senses were back he let out a cry of horror and backed away from the corpse. He didn't know how or why he did it.

It just seemed to come as natural, which only made it that much more frightening. He turned and ran, but within the blink of a human eye he found himself miles away and lost. He was needless to say frightened. What was he to do? What had he become? It was obvious that he was no longer human…so that must've meant he was only a monster. A mistake. He didn't want to think that but Near was so afraid that he felt as though he'd drown in his emotions. He finally decided to just stay away from people, but he didn't know how he'd do that since people were everywhere, so ultimately he simply hid.

It was fortunate he did because the Executioners were after him and his master.

Mello woke up with a start.

He'd been having nightmares for weeks. He was (A/N: as most have probably guessed) a vampire, now. It wasn't a very pleasant process and he still had nightmares about his transformation, which L had said was always painful before, during and after it was finished. Oh, how the blonde wished he were as screwy as Beyond during the process, because the red-eyed vampire hadn't cared much for the pain, but was able to handle it.

His muscles still ached and his head hurt.

He was hungry and wanted to kill everyone who came near him, save for L that is, but Beyond and Matthias…he wanted to rip them apart! They argued so much that it was like they were quarrelling siblings or something.

Long story short they pissed him off.

He sat up in bed and inhaled deeply. He looked beside him and remembered that the boy he cared for so dearly was gone. He really missed Near. The boy had had such a tragic life, sure Near didn't go into details, but Mello always knew that the albino had gone through hell. He remembered everything from childhood to teenager, Near had led a miserable existence. And now he was probably dead or running around as a defected vampire, which was actually worse than death. Worse because Mello knew he'd be killed for sure, either by the Executioners or by L or B or Matthias or A….

Or God forbid himself.

And even worse, because Mello knew that it wouldn't be Near. It'd be his body, but the sweet, shy, intelligent kid he'd loved wouldn't be there in said body. The blonde didn't want to think of what Near would look like as a defect. Body soaked in blood, an insane, yet evil smirk plastered on his face and eyes feral and wary and rabid and crazed all at once. He didn't want to see anybody like that. Especially not his precious Near.

He'd rather Near be dead. No, he scolded himself with disgust. He isn't dead, he isn't a defect…he's okay…. And yet he just couldn't convince himself that he was right. The chances just weren't very likely. Hell, they were very low at him being okay. Saddened and worried Mello got up from bed and got dressed. Everyone else, save for A and B who were playing a French child's game called, tic-tac-toe. Mello needed to clear his head, so he decided he'd take a walk around the city. The fresh air would do him good.

Well, he hoped it would, mostly because of the pain and nausea he was feeling.

He walked around aimlessly for hours before actually coming into contact with another creature, which was unfortunately a vampire. She wasn't a defect but Mello didn't like the looks of her. She appeared…sweet…too sweet. Her hair was chestnut brown and her eyes were a dull blue color. She wore a green and white lace dress with pink ribbons tying her hair into ponytails and she appeared to be of French blood. She stopped her walking and flashed Mello an innocent, friendly smile.

"Hello." She greeted.

"Who're you?" Mello demanded rather shortly. "I've never bloody seen you around here before, bitch."

"You're not very nice!" she snapped sounding hurt and angry. "Anyway, my name is Linda, well, not really, my real name is Leona. But I'm a vampire, you know, I've got a new life to live, so I've renamed myself. And my name is Linda." Mello rolled his azure eyes and figured he might as well question the little witch. He really hated her. He didn't know why but something told him he really hated her. So he agreed and so he greatly disliked this…this…this…Linda. He thought she was disgusting, not at all intelligent.

"Listen, Linda," Ooh, her name was acid in his mouth! "Have you seen an albino vampire, possibly a defect, he should look about two or three years younger than I? And he's a newborn like us. Have you seen him?"

"Nope. I've seen nobody who looks like you've described."

"Ah, sorry to waste time." Mello said with disappointment. "Have a terrible night." With that said he used his new inhuman speed to vanish.

Linda let out a sigh of relief once he was gone.

The last thing she needed was for that beast to find her new friend. The blonde seemed untamed to her and seemed like the type who'd kill defenseless newborns like Near, so she lied to protect Near who her master and she were housing. She knew Watari would never let anything bad happen to Near or herself for that matter, so she trusted the elderly looking vampire to care for them both. Disappearing herself, Linda headed back for her home.

Unknown to her, however, a shadowy figure hid in the darkness, following her.

Smiling that he'd soon find his newborn.

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