Chapter 6 The screaming came from Sayu and Naomi▓s room.
It was high pitched, almost painful to listen to, and Matt ran as fast as he could, actually kicking down the door to the room as if he were in a video game, Ryuk following close behind. The room was a storm around him and there really wasn▓t much thought to the process, just a simple stream of actions and reactions. The screaming, the door being kicked down, both him and Ryuk running in, finding Sayu on the bed and Naomi on the floor and that┘ thing in the bed on top of her.
Matt didn▓t think at all when he grabbed the hard wooden jewelry box off the dresser and threw it, nearly point blank, at the white haired boy▓s head.
There was a hard crack, and then the sound of miscellaneous jewelry scattering across the floor. The jewelry bounced on the bed once, then cracked again as it hit the floor, spilling whatever was left inside. Unfortunately the impact didn▓t really affect him, only stunning him for a moment as he sat up. Matt felt a chill creep up his spine as the white haired boy slowly turned only his neck, and looked straight back at him. His eyes were practically glowing and that same grin was plastered across his face, although now it had a hint of a hungry animal, setting his sights on new food.
Somewhere in the midst of all of this movement, Sayu had stopped screaming. She▓d even stopped moving.
Ryuk dove forward, knocking both himself and Near to the floor, but that was about all he could do. The minute the two touched, Ryuk starting convulsing, his eyes going blank and his body shaking as if he▓d grabbed a live electrical wire. Near stood up and stepped away from him, leaving him to curl up on the floor and shiver, much like Naomi was doing.
⌠Ryuk! Damnit-⌠ Matt heard Matsuda▓s voice behind him and quickly moved, blocking the boy with his arm, keeping him from entering the room; his eyes never leaving the slowly approaching animal in front of him.
⌠Matsuda, get out.■
⌠But Ryuk-⌠
⌠Go!■
Matt didn▓t let him argue. He just kept backing up and relaxed only a little when he head Matsuda▓s footsteps retreating down the stairs. His complete attention was on Near as he slowly backed away.
⌠You interrupted me. I▓m still hungry.■ Near▓s voice was the same as always, childlike and almost curious sounding, as if he couldn▓t understand why Matt had attacked him. His head was tilted to one side and he slowly advanced, like a predator on the hunt. Matt knew he was waiting, waiting for Matt to misguess his steps and hit a wall, or tumble down the stairs, or maybe hit a window. Near was waiting for any moment of distraction and then Matt knew he▓d be on the ground with Near on top of him, feeling everything being forcibly pulled away from him. The hungry look in Near▓s eyes made up for any loss of memory Matt might have had: he now knew Near was completely and totally intent on devouring him inside out.
Matt watched Near in fear and found himself no longer backing up. The look in Near▓s eyes scared him far too much for his legs to keep working and somewhere along the line he▓d stopped, and now Near was far too close to him for his comfort. Matt▓s fear grew even more when he realized he could no longer move, the space between them still closing.
Near was closer to him now, practically on top of him and his eyes seemed large, alien like, filled with deep black holes. A sharp, thick pain poked and began expanding in Matt▓s head, the pressure spreading out over his skin and inside him like a poisonous blossoming flower. Matt instantly felt sick, but couldn▓t even move to clutch his stomach.
The pain began small, but expanded quickly, moving through his head and making him feel like an expanding balloon. Maybe Sayu was lucky, at least she got to scream. Matt, instead, was forced to just stand there and stare into Near▓s starving eyes as he felt himself being sucked out. His stomach flipped, and his chest stopped moving, as if a weight were slamming against him, pressing him tightly against a wall. More pressure and it felt like his ears popped, suddenly the world spinning harshly around him and Matt could no longer tell which way was up or down. He couldn▓t breathe and black dots started to fill his vision, the pressure expanding more. The world seemed to stop around him┘
He was drowning. That had to be the feeling. His body seizing up, his mind confused and his body feeling like it was floating yet also able to feel that there was so much pressure that he just couldn▓t do anything-
A loud sound rocketed through his head and a sharp pain shot through the pressure, stabbing him right in the chest.
Suddenly it was all gone.
Matt stumbled forward and hit the ground, hard. The feeling of the worn wood floor impacting with his cheek was comforting, joyous even and Matt was suddenly coughing, air slamming into his lungs and his head feeling like it was exploding as every sense, feeling, sound, smell, tug and push swirled back into him in an instant. Matt barely managed to roll over and throw up in the corner, his body trembling as it tried to readjust to the fact that it was all back.
After a few moments, and the smell of his own vomit made him throw up again, Matt realized there was a voice behind him and someone holding his shoulders so he didn▓t stumble forward into the mess he▓d made on the floor. Said hands shook him a little and Matt closed his eyes, falling back against the warm body behind him.
⌠Matt! Are you ok?■
Matt turned his head, seeing Matsuda in the doorway. Didn▓t he tell him to get away? He tried to find his voice to say the boy▓s name, but it came out scratchy and he coughed, his body still recovering.
⌠He▓s breathing, and his stomach is alive, that▓s for sure. Let▓s get them out of here. Do me a favor and throw a sheet over that piece of shit.■
Matt frowned, searching his foggy mind for the owner of the voice directly behind him. He saw Ryuk crouched in the corner, gently shaking Naomi and Matsuda was dropping a sheet over Near▓s still body. Sayu was on the bed still, not moving, so who┘
⌠Mello?■
He turned around as he asked that, his vision and mind still spinning. His stomach turned with the movement so he quickly closed his eyes and breathed for a moment before opening them again and seeing the blond behind him with the mischievous smile.
⌠How┘ did you get here?■
Mello grinned as he helped Matt to his feet. ⌠I was loitering outside and I heard screaming. We should move you guys to another room.■
⌠Mine is open, and it▓s the farthest down the hall,⌠ Matsuda volunteered.
And that pretty much decided it.
Moving was easier said than done. Matt, himself, was really only able to watch and lean on Mello, as he was lead to Matsuda▓s room and left to sit on the bed, resting and hoping his stomach didn▓t do jumping jacks again. Next came in Sayu, who was laid on the bed behind, with Matsuda. And finally Ryuk managed to stumble into the room with Naomi, both of them leaning on each other enough so that they swayed when they walked. It might have actually been a funny sight, had the situation been different.
After much discussion, the door to Sayu and Naomi▓s room was closed tightly and tied shut, with the help of some thick string and a couple nails in the wall to tie it to. Finally a dresser was moved in front of the door, in an attempt to hide it. Ryuk and Matsuda did most of the work with that one, while Naomi was down stairs calling the doctor▓s number on the fridge, explaining Sayu▓s situation. That left Matt and Mello alone┘ well mostly. Sayu didn▓t really count, since she still wasn▓t moving.
Mello passed a glass of water to Matt, and he happily took it, drinking it slowly and finally ridding himself of the disgusting vomit taste in his mouth.
⌠You▓re such a liar. You weren▓t just wandering by, you were watching the house.■ Matt swallowed more water. ⌠You▓ve been doing it on purpose. Just like you left that game system here on purpose.■
⌠Oh, so you are as smart as I thought.■ Mello leaned against the wall next to him, taking the water and setting it on the dresser, next to Matsuda▓s toy cop alarm clock that he never used. ⌠And here I was beginning to think you actually fell for it.■
⌠Why are you watching us?■
⌠I▓m not watching ▒us▓, I▓m watching ▒you▓.■
Matt glared at Mello, his expression making it very clear he still wanted an answer.
The glare had an effect, because Mello immediately looked away like he▓d been slapped, his normal grin disappearing. Matt had never seen him so serious for, though admittedly he didn▓t have much of a reference point. ⌠You sure you want the answer to that question?■
⌠Why wouldn▓t I?■
"Because you might not want to hear it.■
Matt thought about the game system and the words scratched into it, then thought about Ryuk and the conversation they▓d just had in the backyard. And now Sayu┘
⌠Tell me.■
Mello nodded, sitting down next to him. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out an old, crumbled up photo of two kids looking to be at the height of their mischievous childhood. One had the same short blond hair, straight and evenly cut. One of his teeth was knocked out, leaving a hole in his big smile and a large mud stain on his cheek that looked very permanent considering his demeanor. The other kid was about the same age, with matted, miss-cut and messy red hair, wearing a striped shirt and carrying around the same game system Mello had handed him before. It was still in horrible condition and really didn▓t look like it could play games. Both of them were ready to take over the world with their toy armies and imaginary grenade launchers of mud, rocks water balloons.
Matt vaguely remembered the sketch Ryuk had showed him of the young boy in the broken down house┘
⌠I think I grew up with you. I think- no, I▓m positive you were the kid a few houses down from me. Except your name was Mail Jeeves, not Matt. And you used to always call me Mello, because you said that Mihael was too hard to pronounce and sounded funny.■ Mello spoke softly, a small frown of thought across his face as he tried to explain something he▓d obviously been practicing for years and yet still couldn▓t get out right. His accent was thick for a moment when he said his name and Matt could easily understand how a kid wouldn▓t have wanted to stumble over it with his mouth. ⌠You and I were together all the time, and we made quite a mess around the neighborhood, getting into trouble and everything. We always used to love looking at the old rundown houses that no one lived in anymore. We▓d get a window or a door open and go inside and pretend it was our hide out or something. And we did it here, in this house. Years ago┘ it used to be in really bad shape. But we were playing here and you went in the basement and something went wrong. I┘ don▓t remember a lot of it, but I remember cops and an ambulance┘ and then my parents told me you▓d gone missing the next day.■
Matt frowned and shook his head, as the story turned over in his mind. Nothing, no part of the story rang a bell at all, nothing seemed familiar, and yet all he could do was think about the picture he▓d seen in Ryuk▓s sketchbook. The two kids, with the flashlight and goggles┘
⌠That can▓t be me, it doesn▓t make sense.■
⌠Maybe not┘. But I thought you could at least help me find him. Or something. I mean, you do actually look like him. You don▓t remember from being a kid or anything? I▓m positive you▓re him!■
Matt opened his mouth to protest, to yell back at him, just as much as Mello was yelling at him now, but he had to stop. The more he thought about it, it was just blank. He couldn▓t remember ever being a kid. He couldn▓t remember being much shorter then he was now. He couldn▓t remember all the stuff that the television claimed kids did, like riding a bike, or going to an arcade, or going on family trips┘
Family?
Matt shuddered, his mind feeling horribly blank. No mother, no father, no brothers or sisters. He couldn▓t remember houses, yards, relatives, car trips, plane flights, family holidays┘ nothing. Ryuk▓s rant in the backyard felt stronger, more alive than before and he suddenly wished he had something like the sketchbook to latch onto- something tangible to hold that would reassure him everything was ok. Oddly enough, he found himself clutching the small game system like his life depended on it.
⌠Matt! He▓s here!■
Matt looked up at Matsuda▓s voice, to see him and Naomi stepping back into the room with Ryuk and an older man whom he vaguely remembered. The man was tall, old, but not ancient. He wore a bowlers hat that matched his black suit and a neat grey mustache crossed his upper lip as he took off the hat and nodded his head to Matt and Mello before stepping over toward Sayu.
⌠Who▓s the fossil?■ Mello asked as both of them moved off the bed to give him room.
⌠He▓s our doctor. We▓re supposed to call him if anything happens. He▓ll take care of her.■
⌠Weird, I haven▓t heard of doctors who make house calls for a long time. Normally you call 911 and an ambulance shows up. Isn▓t that a little weird-⌠
⌠Shhh!■ Ryuk was actually the one who shushed Mello, giving him a severe look as the three of them backed out of the room, leaving the others in there with Sayu and the doctor. Once they were in the hallway, that was another story, because then Ryuk started yelling in a hushed voice. ⌠What are you, an idiot?! If you think something is weird, you don▓t say it in front of that something!■
⌠Oh look, the goth does have a brain.■ Mello grinned back at Ryuk before his face went back into his serious expression, watching the door down the hall with the dresser pressed against it. ⌠Ok, so who is that ▒thing▓? Or do none of you know the geezer?■
Matt spoke up. ⌠He▓s just our doctor. I guess, now that you mention it, I do remember seeing people calling that number on tv shows, but we▓ve never used it.■
⌠It▓d be too troublesome for us to call someone random,■ Ryuk muttered, watching the door to Sayu▓s room with Mello.
⌠Obviously. Ok, let▓s try this: What in the world was that white haired┘. thing?!■
⌠Near.■ Ryuk said the word like it explained everything and to Matt and Ryuk it did. Mello just ended up frowning more, looking lost.
⌠He▓s┘ Near. There isn▓t really┘ He▓s always been here, with us. I think he lives in the basement┘ or something.■ Matt found himself frowning too as he tried to grasp at words. He was more aware, now, that whenever the question of Near came into the picture his mind had trouble grasping things. Thoughts became slippery, and that couldn▓t be a coincidence. ⌠Ryuk, can I have your sketchbook?■ ⌠Why?■
⌠I need to show him something. Please?■
Ryuk hesitated, then finally nodded and passed him the sketchbook, watching it like it was his first born. Matt, holding it carefully, opened it to the sketch he was thinking of, then showed it to Mello.
⌠This┘ was me, wasn▓t it?■