. . . I'm sorry. I've been planning this for four years now and . . . I'm really sorry. On that note, only two more chapters and an epilogue to go.
Chapter Eighteen
It was easier to avoid Light and L than I thought it would be; every brain cell between them was devoted to finding Sayu and Quinn. The threat of tying me to a chair seemed to have slipped Light's mind entirely. Watari had told them I spent the afternoon in the control room with him, so that's where I spent my evening too. Sketchbook on my lap, huddled in the corner, I tried to free myself from fear. Every time my pencil touched the paper the images came out distorted and terrible.
Before I knew it, Watari was shaking my shoulder. I jerked up, the blanket around my shoulders falling to the cold floor. I'd fallen asleep over my sketchbook.
"Miss Valerie, I have packed some of your things and have a car waiting. We should depart now." The old man was worried, it was obvious in his eyes.
"Thanks, Watari." He helped me to my feet and waited while I gathered my sketchbook and pencils. The book naturally opened to drawing of Quinn, BB, Light and L, sparking an urgent thought. Gelus' Death Note. It was in Quinn's sock drawer. Would anyone search his things? Should I move it?
No. It was safer amongst Quinn's socks than anywhere in my room, where Light and L might search once my disappearance was noted.
"Do you wish to say goodbye?" asked Watari as we walked along the concrete corridor to the stairs. I shook my head. We stopped by the kitchen on the first floor, which was identical to the one in the apartment upstairs. I entered first, which was a lucky thing because Ryuk was inside, raiding the apple basket. I stared at him, incredulous. Did he not see the camera blinking at him in the corner of the room?
"Heard you're leaving," he said, munching loudly.
"Watari?" I said, quickly darting back into the hallway and closing the door behind me to stop him seeing the floating apple. He pulled up short, startled.
"Yes, Miss Valerie?"
"Could you take these to the car?" I held out the pencil case and sketchbook. "I need a minute to just . . . wrap my head around things."
Watari examined my face with a practiced eye, gained from years of having to understand egotistical genius children better than they understood themselves. He nodded once and took my load.
"Of course. The car is in the garage. I suggest taking the stairs, not the elevator."
"Thanks, Watari."
"Be quick, Miss Valerie. The task force are still here." With that warning, he left me. I went back into the kitchen, frown set firmly in place.
"What are you doing?" I asked, deciding that in the face of my imminent imprisonment by Mello, Watari reviewing the tapes and believing me mad for talking to nothing was the least of my worries.
Ryuk chuckled, plucking another apple from the steel basket. He threw it into the air and managed to swallow the entire thing in one gulp. "Rem told me 'bout your deal with Mello."
"Blasted Shinigami," I muttered under my breath. "What do you want, Ryuk?"
"To say goodbye."
"And?"
Ryuk stopped playing with the apple in his hands. "That's it," he said, his tone soft beneath his normal scraping gravel. He shook himself, his nose wrinkling in a way it'd never done before. When he spoke again his voice was stronger. "I'm gonna miss you."
"You can still see me," I pointed out, ignoring the fact that an ancient god of death had just admitted to an attachment to me. "Just follow along to wherever it is Mello's taking me." Hey, that was an idea. Why didn't Light just get Ryuk to find out where Sayu and Quinn were?
Then try to explain how he found them to L. Never mind.
"Yeah, but Light wants me around him right now. You know what he's like. Gotta have his sounding board." He winked. I'd used the term once to describe Light and Ryuk's relationship. It was slightly heartwarming to know he'd been listening.
"Since when did you listen to Light, Ryuk?" The Shinigami shrugged, grabbing another apple. "Well, keep in touch anyway. I'm sure Rem will follow me."
"She's been watching Quinn for ya."
"Really?"
"Yup."
I smiled. "I'll say thanks when I see her then. Well, later, Ryuk."
"See ya, V."
I flinched at the name. He pretended not to see.
"Miss Valerie." Watari held the door open for me. I thanked him, stepped out of the Rolls Royce, and looked around. We were outside the central railway station, a long construction of towering brick arches leading to white tiled walls and floors. Even in the early morning there was a flurry of activity as commuters streamed in and out of the complex.
An odd sensation came over me. It was as though I stood behind a screen, watching them but feeling no connection. Too many extraordinary things had happened for me to feel part of the ordinary world again. These normal people wandered to and fro, caught in the constant humdrum of a worker's life while I was tossed from one ridiculous situation to another, dragging those I loved down with me. I asked myself if I would change places with any of them. It was disturbing to find I had no answer.
Watari caught me spinning a pencil between my fingers, a nervous tick from my Whammy days. He placed a hand on my forearm. Suppressing a jerk, I gave him a twitchy smile. The nerves were setting in now. In less than a day I would be in Mello's clutches. Would he really release Sayu and Quinn? A cruel voice whispered that he wouldn't.
"It will be alright, Miss Valerie," said the eldery inventor. "Quinn and Sayu will be safe and sound in no time." My smile became more genuine, but the uneasiness did not lessen.
Another car pulled up; a nondescript silver station wagon. A man stepped out of the passenger seat, lit a cigarette and glanced towards us. He jerked his head at the back door next to him.
"Well," I said, turning to Watari, "this is goodbye for now."
Watari gave me the saddest smile I had ever seen. "Good luck, Miss Valerie. L will get you out, be sure of that." I couldn't say another word in the face of that smile. It was the smile Granny Hiro gave to me when I had said I was going hunting with Marnie. It was a smile that somehow foresaw the future and knew that pain was coming, pain the person could do nothing to stop. It was a smile of love, of despair, of resignation. It brought back so many bittersweet memories that I could only stumble to the other car and not give Watari another glance.
"Where are we going?" I asked as the smoker shut his door and we set off. He and the driver wore the same leather jackets, white t-shirts and jeans. The same ugly, heavy boots. At a glance it was apparent they were American; probably part of Mello's gang sent over to retrieve Quinn and Sayu and whomever was to take their place.
"The airport," said the smoker. His accent was well defined in his hoarse voice. Definitely American.
"And then?"
"You don't need to know that." He turned in his seat. In one hand was a white cloth. The other held a black hood. I opened my mouth to scream and got a mouthful of chloroform.
I was tied to a chair. Wonderful.
"Take her hood off." The blackness was torn away. The world danced, colours merging, dissociating, dispersing like white light through a Perspex block. Eventually it settled and Mello's very young, very angry face was the centre stage. I was determined not to submit to him. I flicked on my passive aggressive switch.
"Mello," I greeted. "Always nice to see you again. You haven't aged a day."
The boy was shorter than Quinn. It must have riled him up like nothing else. His hair was cut short, a severe bob that framed a face trying to be cruel. He had the twisted, sneering mouth down pat, but his eyes were too soft for the image to be complete. Perhaps he knew it and that's what all the leather was for.
"Valerie," he said. We were in a building without windows. Vents set high up in the concrete walls brought the sound of waves crashing into the room, reverberating around what had to be a warehouse. An abandoned warehouse by the docks. A large set of tracks, not unlike tram tracks, ran through the centre of the floor to a huge roller door of corrugated iron. A warehouse where ships used to be built, then.
A cool spring breeze tickled the back of my neck. We were still in the northern hemisphere. The breeze wasn't cold enough to be very northern. Coupled with the American accents . . . California? Oh.
"Why L.A.?" I asked. The name was a reminder of a series of unfortunate murder cases. A reminder I could have done without.
Mello's eyes narrowed. He said nothing.
"V?" Quinn's voice cut through the quiet like a muffled gunshot. My attention was diverted from Mello in a heatbeat, scoping out the building for wherever the maladjusted teenager had hidden my brother and surrogate sister. Over his shoulder I saw a crude cage set up along the far wall, created from planks of rotting wood hammered together. Between the slats I spied two pairs of anxious eyes.
"Quinn! Sayu!" I shouted.
"Mi-chan!"
"V! What are you doing here!?" Of all reactions, of course Quinn was angry with me.
"She's here to take your place," said Mello, cutting across before I could get a word in. He smirked. "We have some catching up to do, Mi-chan."
"Call me that again and I'll cut out your tongue so you can never enjoy your first kiss."
That was the wrong thing to say. He slipped a bar of chocolate from his back pocket and snapped off a piece. In amongst the harsh cracking of the chocolate as he crunched it between his teeth, he barked, "Matt! Get the girl!"
There was a heavy sigh from behind me and the sound of what could have been a phone being closed. Another boy came into view, this one with brown hair, and eyes covered with a pair of goggles. He was playing with a lighter in one hand and holding a device in the other. It was slightly too large for him to have a comfortable grip.
He glared at Mello as he passed, every movement speaking of grudging obedience. Knowing Mello, the blonde had most likely threatened his – friend, partner, sidekick? – beforehand with dire consequences should his authority be underminded in any way. The image almost put a smile on my face. It was like a boy trying to instate himself as the unwanted leader of a friend group.
Mello leered at me, pulling a knife out of yet another pocket, and all feelings of amusement vanished.
"Mello, if you dare hurt her –" I began, cut off by Sayu shrieking. Mello left my field of vision and I was given an unfettered view of Matt dragging Sayu out of the cage. Quinn lunged at him and both boys went down, Sayu rolling to the side. There was a scuffle, a muffled yelp, and then Matt had the device held against Quinn's chest and it was what I had hoped it wasn't.
It emitted a sound like rapid fire clicking. Quinn jerked spasmodically, falling off Matt to twitch on the ground. My mouth hung open as I stared at my younger brother convulse as a result of being tasered. Matt stood, groaning, and quickly caught Sayu who'd been trying to escape on her hands and knees. He wrapped an arm around her waist, hauled her upright, and frogmarched her to a few feet in front of me. Mello reappeared with a chair. Both of them shoved the poor girl down, tying her with the same zipties they'd used on me. She bit her lip when the plastic bit into her skin.
"Minerva," she whispered, eyes as wide and scared as a doe's. I tried to find words of comfort to say but none came. Matt had tasered Quinn. What would they do to her?
"Mello, let her go," I said, forcing 'big sister' superiority into my voice. "She's has nothing to do with this. You said you would send her and Quinn back it I came to you."
Mello laughed, back to me, playing with his knife. It was a butterfly knife, one he could flick open and closed with mesmerizingly quick movements. Sayu's eyes followed the knife's blade as it appeared and disappeared from view. Tears began to trickle down her face.
"I need to send a message back to Light Yagami first. What better way than using his sister?" said Mello idly.
"Mello! You should know better than anyone that blood family doesn't mean anything." He turned to me then, and anger lined his mouth.
He looked at Matt. "Gag her."
His friend, who was taller and broader, followed his order with naught but another sigh. I let him gag me using a rolled piece of fabric tied at the back of my head without protest. It would only make Mello feel more self-important to see me struggle. He sneered and turned away again, his knife coming up to brush through Sayu's hair. The blade was sharp. Soft brown tresses fluttered to the floor. She began to whimper.
"Did you know, Sayu Yagami, that your brother is a murderer?" Mello's voice was a taunting whisper. He'd obviously been watching too many action movies yet it had a palpable affect on Sayu. She stilled, gaze locking on him. Her breath came out in short gasps.
"What?" The word quavered in the air.
Mello nodded. He was too close to her. I wanted to grab him by that perfect hair and toss him to the ground. Maybe grab Matt's taser while I was at it.
Speaking of Matt, he was dragging Quinn back into the cage. My brother's head lolled on his shoulders. Old blood dyed the hair on his crown. Matt slammed the cage door shut, latched it, and walked past me once more, out of sight.
Mello grabbed Sayu's chin, leaning in closer. A sadistic smile lit up his face. "Your brother is Kira," he whispered. A great gasp of breath left Sayu like she'd been hit in the chest. "He killed all those people without a care. He's the most dangerous criminal the world has ever seen."
"You're lying," said Sayu. She didn't looked surprised. Her expression told of a fear being confirmed. Mello smirked, straightening.
"We'll see," he said. "If I die of a heart attack, he's Kira. If nothing, then you've got a worthless brother. Either way you'll know he never loved you."
Was Mello really willing to sacrifice himself to prove L's theory about Light? A part of me doubted it. What would be the point of succeeding where L had failed if he couldn't gloat to Near about it afterwards? He must be laying this out for L, waiting to see what the master detective would make of Light's reaction to the scenario. With both Quinn and Sayu convinced of Light's culpability, there would be little to dissuade L of believing his theory now.
Sayu was hunched over in her restraints, her shoulders shaking. I wanted to cry out to her, reassure her that Light loved her like a brother should, but that would be a lie. We shared a look and in it she read every truth I had hidden. She closed her eyes and started to sob. My heart cracked.
There was a flutter of movement from the ceiling and Rem came diving down. She took Mello's place when he left the girl and went to wherever Matt was. Two skeletal wings of white encircled her in a protective shield, though the teenager couldn't feel it. I nodded to her in gratitude.
In the stillness of the warehouse, with only the Sayu's crying and the waves outside to drown out my breathing, jet lag caught up on me. If I was right and this was L.A., there was a seventeen hour time difference between it and Tokyo. The unconsciousness during the plane ride over did nothing for my internal clock and I struggled for against it until I was overcome. Sleep beckoned. I only had one last chance to look at Quinn's blonde head through the slats of the cage when full darkness came.
I slept fitfully, dreaming of fire and pain and Quinn and Sayu seizing on a cold concrete floor. Rem's yellow eyes, replaced with Ryuk's black, then Light's red. The three colours spun in a kaleidoscope, so dizzying I was awoken by a churning stomach. Bile threatened to rise in my throat. I forced it down, banishing the sight of the fire from my mind.
The gag was still in place, pressing hard into my tongue and soaked with saliva though the rest of my mouth felt dry. My neck protested angrily when I moved. My entire body ached from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position for the third time in a week; my arms and legs had falled asleep, uncomfortable prickling dancing along the nerves to remind me they were still there, even I couldn't use them. I groaned and took stock of my surroundings.
All thought of pain vanished and was replaced with panic.
The cage was empty, Sayu's chair nowhere to be seen. The artificial light from halogen lamps hanging from chains told me nothing about the time. It could have been midnight or midday and there would be no difference. No telling when Sayu and Quinn were taken. Hopefully they were on a plane, flying to Tokyo and the closest place to safety they could get.
Damn Mello. It was just like him to get rid of them before I could say goodbye. All in the name of creating as much chaos in his wake as possible.
"'Bout time you woke up." Matt came into my line of sight, goggles on his forehead and the zippo in his fingers again. He flicked it open and closed, occasionally lighting it. He would grow into a good looking boy, but right now he had a haggard look to him of experience beyond his years.
With the gag there was nothing I could say. A glare was my only way of communicating. Eventually he broke the silence. "Your brother and the girl are on their way home. With them are recordings of their reactions to being told Light is Kira." He flicked the zippo closed and placed it in his vest pocket. "Neither of them seemed surprised."
I raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the gag. He untied it.
"Can you get me the painting gear out of my bag?" I asked cordially. Now he raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"So I can paint." He bristled at the unspoken 'duh.'
"Not happening."
"Why not?"
"Mello said only to let you move if you needed the bathroom."
"And you listen to every word he says?" Matt shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "Then can I at least go to the bathroom?" He eyed me warily. "Don't worry your head, kid. I'm not going to fight you. Knowing Mello, he's got some asinine contingency that would get me badly hurt. I know how desperate he can be."
Barely eased by my words, Matt nonetheless cut me free and escorted me to a small wooden door opposite the corrugated iron entrance. He had to support me the every step. Blood flowed into my limbs and they woke up with a sensation of being stabbed with hundreds of needles.
On the other side of the door was a single toilet and sink. No shower. Matt and Mello were keeping that luxury to themselves. Matt waited outside the door.
I was washing my hands when, without warning, I was hit by blistering pain in my back. Gasping, I managed braced myself on the sink before my head hit hard ceramic. The agony was more like being burned than knifed, eclipsing every other feeling. My hands shook so hard I could barely keep a hold of the sink.
Please stop, I begged. Please. Not now. I can't afford to fall apart here.
Slowly, oh so slowly, the episode passed and I was able to stand without support. In my mind's eye the world appeared bathed in the orange glow of firelight that wouldn't go away. I fumbled with the lock and stumbled out of the small space. Matt caught me by the shoulder.
"You really need to get me something to paint with," I muttered. "You're not going to like what happens otherwise." The madness that had always been coiled under my skin, that had been growing so much stronger lately, was like a poison in my veins. The thousands of miles from Quinn and Sayu and, dare I say it, Light, had made it writhe. There wasn't much I could do to stop it anymore. Painting was my last option. I dreaded how bad it would be if – when – I succumbed and Quinn wasn't there to soothe the worst of it with music. The thought made my hairs crawl.
It had been nine years since Quinn started playing for me. Now he was gone and it was like my early childhood all over again. Only much, much worse.
"What's going to happen?" asked Matt as he helped me back into the chair. I clung to his sleeve, shuddering.
Stupid, thoughtless Minerva. Why on earth did I let Quinn walk out that rooftop door?
It was almost impossible to speak. When I did, it was no more than a breath. "I might die."
Matt froze, bent over. The zipties fell from his hand. "What the heck are you on about?"
"Please." I reached forwards, grabbing at his vest. All pride was gone now. I could hear the flames, see the shadows dancing on the walls. "Please. Get me something to paint with now!"
Matt was at a loss for words. Fear was written on his face. It was then I remembered he wasn't Quinn, who understood. Matt was only an ignorant young boy stuck with a hysterical older girl gibbering about death and paint. I began to hyperventilate. Quinn, Quinn, Quinn. I needed him. I didn't want to fall into the rabbit hole again. A newly lit furnace raged at the bottom. Despair shot through my heart like a bullet and I fell to my knees, causing the chair to skitter across the concrete.
Another door behind me banged open. The sound echoed around the warehouse and deep into my skull, making me curl up on the floor. Matt crouched by my head and placed his hand on my shoulder again.
"Mello –"
"– Their plane crashed," Mello interrupted. All the breath in my lungs froze.
"What?" said Matt.
"The girl and boy. Their plane crashed into the North Pacific this morning."
TOWRTA:
Next: quinn and v's childhood, and light and l's struggle to save them.