(...or need or the place in her heart for the frail smoke from the burning incense...)

.

Anna sighed as she stuffed her hands in the pockets of a jean coat, immediately regretting not changing out of her shorts into a pair of skinny jeans. The day might have been exhaustingly warm, but as the sun was lowering and painting the sky a rosy pink the wind has picked up its pace and she found herself shivering as she dodged out of the way of chatty teenagers and lovey-dovey couples and flocks of people rushing to their homes to get ready for a Friday night out.

The phone buzzed in her pocket as she entered through the gates of the central park she didn't bother to check the reason for it. The device felt strange in her arm – not that she never owned a phone, she simply found little use for it – and she knew the only person who had the number was Beyond and she didn't bother checking what he said if she was to see him soon either way.

She slowed to a snail-like pace and looked around, her eyes searching for the black haired man that dragged her outside to begin with, when she was fully contempt with burying herself under every blanket she owned. Maybe after napping for a few hours she would have not protested to even letting Beyond into her make-shift fort.

The brunette frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

Strange.

Where did that thought come from?

She did find the man in question soon enough, immediately stopping mid-step, growling.

Beyond was sitting on a bench with his knees to his chest, waving with his arm in the air like a madman and yelling her name at the top of his lungs.

Anna yet again had that unbearable urge to turn around and walk back the way she came from. She almost did too, when a passing woman noticed the black haired mad waving at her and gave her a suggestive smirk.

She bent her head so her hair casted a curtain between her and the passers-by and hurried towards him, her jaw tense.

"Oh, I had no idea you were going to be at this park, my dear," Beyond started when she got within a few feet of him. "What a pleasantly surprising coincidence!"

Anna raised an eyebrow, deciding not to greet him in return, untrusting of her own mouth not to call him out on his bullshit. Suddenly she realised that three mugs of coffee was not enough to raise one's level of tolerance.

Beyond scooted to one side of the bench, a thumb to his lips, and patted the space beside him with a smile. "How was the visit to the good old Dr Richards?"

Anna didn't take the seat, tilting her head curiously to the side. "How do you know her name?"

"How could I not know?" the black haired man exclaimed, as if offended that she would even suggest that. He wrapped his arm around Anna's wrist and pulled. Anna yelped and clumsily fell into the seat next to him, banging her head against the bench's backrest. "Your old doctor apparently thought it would be a good idea to kidnap his son and flee the country as a result to losing his custody battle. There's a man hunt and everything. Don't you watch the news?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded turning around and throwing him a glare. And how was she supposed to have watched the news with the television that he had broken. She rubbed her aching head with a growl.

Beyond ignored her, shaking his head at his own previous statement about Anna's old family doctor. "Some people just can't handle defeat. "

Anna laughed sarcastically, raising her feet onto the bench so she could sit crossed legged and lean back comfortably. She shook her head at his words, rolling her eyes. "As if you could handle any form defeat…And why are you set on acting out your 'Tom McCoy' personality again? You do realise your beloved audience is absent, right?"

Beyond didn't answer, putting a pale hand to her shoulder, watching with interest when the girl didn't jump as he expected but instead rolled her eyes and slowly turned to him with her eyebrow twitching. He grinned, biting down on his thumbnail.

"What are you smiling about?" Anna asked with annoyance, glaring between him and the arm that was touching her coat.

"You're getting used to me," he muttered under his breath observingly, more to himself than to her.

Anna released a disgusted scoff, picking his wrist up with two fingers and dropping it into his lap as if the limb was infected. "Sure. Why, I'm as used to you as a cornered mouse gets used to the cat."

She realised with little surprise that the headache and the uneventful visit to the hospital made her rather irritable.

Beyond stuck his tongue out at the comparison. "I think we established long ago that you are no longer my captive, Anna."

The brunette's eyes flashed before she straightened, a curiously challenging look on her face. "Really? Well I don't really have any obligation to be here then, do I? Good evening, sir."

With that she was off in a confident stride towards the direction of her home, her nose stuck in the air. But she was unable to get more than five steps away before Beyond threw his arms around her waist and whirled her around, steering her deeper into the park. "Don't act ridiculous, we have very important matters to discuss."

A sneer. "And what matters are those?"

"How the hospital visit went and whether they found out the reason for your languishing condition." His hold on her waist tightened, as if he was afraid she was going to try and run away again.

Anna barked a laugh, not even sure as to why she decided to humour him. "Let's see: first the doctor decided to spend ten minutes convincing me I had Celiac disease and then downwardly progressed into diagnosing me with Encephalitis and thus ordering an MRI scan which drained what little energy I had and had me leaving the hospital with even more questions than I had before."

Okay, so she was exaggerating.

Somewhat.

Beyond raised an eyebrow, frowning at her words. "I don't believe you have any of those conditions."

Anna threw her hands in the air, her shoulder bumping with Beyond's when he turned them to the right when the road ahead forked into two pathways and the left road was filled with rowdy teenagers. "Neither do I, but at this point I am starting to believe any explanation if there's even the slightest chance of making this go away."

The man by her side shivered, turning to her with a disturbingly serious expression on his face. "You're actually feeling that bad?"

Anna had half a mind to tell him no, she wasn't: her life was filled with nothing but sunshine and unicorns. Instead she threw him a 'really?' look with her eyes, shaking his head when his lips twitched.

"I did think so at first," he admitted, answering the unvoiced question. He turned back to the road ahead, sensing when Anna's gaze flickered to him and she observed him through the corner her eyes. "That it was just a way to get away so you could run to the police. But then that incident at the Glass Station…" Anna managed to gag in distaste at the memory before Beyond's eyes focused on her. "And the incident at your home when you almost died if I was not at hand…"

"So you believe me now?" She said the rhetorical question with raised eyebrows and a mockingly expectant smile. Her head protested at Beyond stating he saved her life but she didn't have the heart to say it out loud.

He smiled too, his gesture honest, before his eyes flickered to above her head and he frowned again. "Yes I do."

Anna didn't miss the action and turned to look around her, her eyes squinting when she didn't see anything that could have caught his interest. She turned back to him with a questioning look in her eyes. "Why did you do that? Look above my head like that?"

"I'm very worried."

The words caught Anna off guard and she tripped over her own feet, stopping the both of them. "Worried about what?"

Beyond turned around with his eyes closed, having realised he spoke out loud. When he opened them, he tilted his head to the side. Anna stood with the park street lamp right behind her, the light contouring her form in a golden glow. "Worried about you."

Anna laughed, crossing her arms. "About me?"

Beyond nodded and took a few steps towards her, silently thankful when she didn't back away. "I'm worried because I feel like I have very little control over your fate. I know when every single person will die. I used to think I know when you will die too. But that's gone now and I am unsure – and I am never unsure of anything!"

The brunette tried to focus on the man's voice but they mostly flew over her head – the very direction Beyond's eyes were trained on. Her eyes were flickering from his thumb in between his lips to his eyes. The make up under them was smudged and she felt an urge to wipe the imperfection away with her thumb.

His words soon began to lose coherency and instead he was spitting half mumbled sentences in a rush, half of them lost between his teeth and the rest yelling, as if they were on top of a mountain and unable to hear each other through the wind.

"And that frustrates me the most: the fact that I care. Emotional investment was not something I was planned to ever exhibit, let alone to someone who I was supposed to extort to my needs."

The end of his sentence was drowned out with an indignant "hey!"

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around Anna, the girl yelping when she was thrust into the hug, Beyond gripping her shoulders so tightly she was almost set on accusing him on cutting off her air supply.

"I just care about you and I don't believe I've even cared so much about anyone. At first I thought it was that feeling of friendship, but I know what I felt towards A was friendship and what I feel when I think of you or am next to you is not only stronger but more painful too." He momentarily pulled away, holding her at an arm's length. Anna opened her mouth before she was sure of what she was supposed to say, her mind struggling to catch up with his words, and so she merely gaped at his hair, unable to bring herself to look into his eyes. He sighed and pressed an awkward kiss on the middle of her forehead, the girl's ears immediately flushing and her stomach flipping at the uncomfortable feeling which almost immediately brought on a wave of a sharp pain the spot where Beyond's lips were pressed against her skin. He pulled away, taking in a deep breath, before burying his head in her shoulder and squeezing the life out of her as if to finish his words with his actions rather than his mouth.

"I don't think I can bear losing you," he finally finished but his words were muffled by her jacket and he loosened his grip, his fingers pulling at fabric.

Beyond pulled away from the embrace with a soft smile and poked her nose, before he resumed walking, motioning for Anna to join him by his side.

It was like something out of a romance novel.

Anna wanted to throw up.

She shook her head and followed him, awkwardly rubbing her arms and making a point of keeping at least a foot away from him, her shoulders still burning where he gripped them.

After their third lap of the park Anna slowed to a stop, rubbing her tired eyes with the palms of her hands. "How longer are we going to be here? No wait-"

She interrupted herself, squinting at the joyful look on his face. "Why are we here?" She held a finger into the air, squinting at a street lamp as she passed it, moving out of the way of a toddler on a tricycle and an overweight father chasing after him. "No wait – let me guess: we have gathered here today to spy out your next victim."

Beyond was a little annoyed, albeit he didn't show it. He shook his head, his smile not faltering in the slightest. "Nope." He made a point of popping the 'p' and crossing his arms behind his back.

Anna gave him a short benefit of the doubt before she surveyed him unbelievingly. "I don't believe you."

Beyond laughed and gave her a grin, a shine to his eyes before he pointed to a fast food restaurant they could see through the bars of the fence surrounding the park, stating they should probably eat and get back home.

"And I was thinking of swinging into that electronic store on the way home and getting you a television," he added, pulling on Anna's wrist towards the smell of food. The statement was so cheerful and full of self-importance, he might as well have proclaimed to visit Africa and donate millions of dollars to the starving children.

Anna coughed, rubbing her forehead when the headache didn't waver – she realised it might have been foolish to be upset when it didn't disappear simply by will of the mind – and frowned when the phone in her pocket vibrated.

"Why did you get me a phone?" she voiced her question and Beyond turned to her at the change of the subject.

"Oh, I simply didn't want you to be alone," he shrugged as if no big deal as they exited the park and he dragged her to the spot where they could cross the road. "Don't worry; it's pre-paid so there's no chance of it being traced back to me."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Right, because that's the priority of every normal person looking for a cell-phone. And anyways, what are you, my babysitter now?"

Beyond pulled a face at her words, the expression on his face making Anna unwillingly chuckle, an action she covered with a laugh. Her companion's eyes fleeted to her with a raised eyebrow but she simply smiled and spying no passing cars, placed a foot on the road.

.

.

Kevin violently shook his head, wiping his hair from his forehead. "No, I didn't make a mistake!"

Dr Richards removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "You don't have to be so defensive about this, Kevin. " She leaned back in her cheer, momentarily resting her eyes before they settled on the younger man in front of her.

"No it's not okay!" the MRI scan technician swallowed and rested with his palms against the desk, bent towards the woman. "There is absolutely no chance that the scanning machine was broken: every single patient before and after this one had perfectly normal scans."

Dr Jones' secretary rolled her eyes, filing her nails, a pending e-mail notification flashing on her computer screen. "Oh stop complaining, kid, so you messed up, big deal – get over it."

Kevin growled, his hands twitching into fists and for a moment, he wanted to whip around and yell at the woman's face but instead he took in a deep breath and gave Dr Richards a disbelieving look. He dug into his lab coat and pulled out the scan, unceremoniously dropping a few books on the ground as he spread it on the doctor's desk.

"Look," he pleaded. "That's all I ask, if I have truly made a mistake I will accept the consequences but all I ask is for you to look at the scan."

Dr Richards surveyed the stressed MRI specialist – momentarily questioning whether it was right for him to be at work only after a six hour break following the twenty hour long shift he pulled the night before – and nodded, sitting and placing the glasses over her nose again, squinting at the scan images while Kevin took a step back and crossed his arms expectantly.

"That's curious," she muttered, reaching for a pen and tracing the white concentrated areas around the person's chest. "This is highly unusual."

Kevin scoffed, shaking his head and pacing before the desk. "It's not just unusual – it's impossible! I have never seen a scan like this before in my life."

The secretary rolled her eyes and spun in her chair, muttering something about amateur medical men. Kevin ignored the statement although his knuckles itched.

"Did you establish whether the apparent inflammation is fluid?"

The young man barked a laugh. "If it was fluid, the patient would not be able to walk around. And I'm not even sure if 'inflammation' could be the right word for the condition which is present."

Dr Richards looked up from the page, her finger on the second scan image of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, with a raised eyebrow. "Which patient exactly is it?"

I rolled my eyes, yawning and cracking my neck, and scratched my chest with my claws as the three sided argument resumed once again when the young man simply scratched his head and said he lost the form. "This is tedious."

Of course nobody heard my remark. How would any of them be able to see a shinigami? The kid ran straight through me, opening one the file cabinets and pulling out files, immediately dropping countless loose sheets of paper on the ground which not only he remained oblivious to, but also stepped on every single one as he made his way back to the doctor's desk, the asian shaking her head disapprovingly.

The woman with the nail file scraping at her nail polish glared at his back. "What the hell are you doing, you idiot."

Kevin ruffled through the files until he found the relevant one and pointed to a photo of a young brunette with a yell of triumph, throwing a rude gesture at the secretary behind him, which she gladly returned. "That's her!"

Dr Richards stood from her seat in surprise. "Anna Nixon?"

He grinned. "Yeah, the cute one!" His colleague gave him a disapproving glance and Kevin's cheeks reddened and he stuffed his hands in his pockets with a clear of his throat. "I mean, this is rather troublesome. Yes, we should probably call her or something."

The secretary popped her chewing gum, stuffing her nail file into the chest pocket of her lab coat and reclined in her chair with her hands behind her head. "And that concludes your usefulness in this room."

"Why don't you go-"

Dr Richards groaned, pulling at her hair as her eyes scrutinised every detail of the scan. "Will the both of you stop arguing for one minute? I have less than a quarter of an hour before my first patient and I want to spend it in peace considering it's Saturday and I should be in bed with my husband this early in the morning."

The younger man nodded and shifted in his step, throwing a hesitant look towards the doctor. "So, what do we do? How do we explain what the MRI scans show?"

The woman motioned towards him with a roll of her eyes. "Well you are the one who barged into my office without as much as knocking, claiming that the morgue must have dropped their scans into your pile, Kevin. What is your conclusion?"

Kevin shrugged. "Anna Nixon is the walking dead?"

He meant it as a joke, of course, for the two women in the room immediately trained disapproving glances on him. Kevin grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with a frown.

I sat up however, my interest peaked.

And then after two long moments the gears in my head slowed to a stop and it clicked.

I burst out laughing, cackling away even louder when the flower plants in the office shook from my outburst.

So that was the reason for Anna's dropping numbers? I suppose it was my fault, all along. I giggled, my shoulders twitching – the laughter then stopped immediately when I realised that the doctor ordered for the secretary to call the patient.

I frowned, scratching my chin. I could not let Anna find out what was wrong with her, could I?

What if she wondered around doing nothing but complain about dying?

Gasp. The horror!

I would most likely lose it and kill her that very moment. What is less amusing than a human wailing about their impending death?

With a shrug of my shoulders, I reached for my notebook and the pen I kept pressed in between the locked pages. I looked at the numbers above the head of the woman typing into the phone and smiled, noting down her name.

Fifty seven years – not bad.

Having written her name I hung the note back by my hip and scratched my stomach. I floated down onto the doctor's desk, sniffing at the coffee in a white mug – I gagged for the smell was not as pleasing as human beings made it out to be – and waited for the monotonous beep signalling the phone has been dropped.

And it soon came, accompanied by the scraping of the secretary's chair as she stood with wide, empty eyes, the phone swinging from the cord, occasionally tapping the wooden desk.

I sniffed the air again in my quest to find more human food, grinning when I recognised the familiar of smell chocolaty goodness. Stalking over to one of the drawers and pulling open the first shelf, I grinned when I saw the chocolate bar sitting atop a dozen messy files, not wasting a second before opening it and taking a huge bite.

Kevin rubbed his eyes before opening them and frowning, noticing a draw sliding open. A chocolate bar rose to the air before opening itself. He jumped, pointing at it comically. "Uh, can anybody see this right now?"

He didn't get an answer.

Before Dr Richards could turn to him the secretary threw her arms around her neck, her right hand reaching into her pocket and pulling out the nail file. The doctor struggled against her captor only for a short moment, her eyes widening before the secretary outstretched her arm and with seemingly inhuman force drove the file into the woman's chest.

The victim froze, giving two last violent shakes and coughing and when the secretary let go of her hold on her, she fell into a limp heap on the ground.

Kevin screamed in a voice of a child, stumbling back from shock and tripping over a chair which sent him falling to the floor on his backside in the process. Refusing to look at the dead body to his side he scrambled to his feet, racing towards the door.

But before he could reach the doorway and run out into the corridor yelling for help, the secretary was on his heels, pulling him back by the back of his lab coat, staining the collar with fresh blood. Kevin struggled against the grip, turning around so he had a better chance of fighting back.

He managed to get a couple of decent punches in by the time the woman wrapped her fingers around a fistful of his hair and tugging back, the young man crying out in pain. She pressed the file against his pale skin and with one powerful swing of her arm she sliced it across his neck.

Kevin gasped, choking out a garbled cry for help before he fell to his knees and then face first on the ground. He turned, momentarily attempting to apply pressure to his neck to try and stop the bleeding but his body soon started choking, unable to handle the tremors that shook his limbs. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he stilled, releasing his last breath.

I yawned, finishing the chocolate bar and licking my lips as I threw the wrapper over my shoulder. I picked up Anna's scan and the paper with her signature, cocking my head at the unfamiliar greyscale images. These medical machines were so strange. How could they place a human into one of them and be able to see the inside of their bodies and let alone make sense of these abstract spots? Shrugging, I ripped the two into fingernail sized shreds, dropping the rain of paper into the pooling blood around the two bodies.

The secretary straightened, her eyes dazed. The blood from Kevin enveloped her left blue high heeled shoe, the two colours clashing. She raised the red covered file to her own neck, her face splattered with blood, and without as much as one last intake of air she slit her own throat.

.

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I was – and still am – in a shit state of health but I will try to update more often.