Hey guys! Anybody remember me? Bad Mello/OC fic in the summer of 2008? Never finished the two-shot sequel? After looking through some files on my computer I found this. I didn't have much time to read through it, but I figure I owed all of my former readers and current readers who I know are reading the rest of the story.
I've grown a lot in writing (my most recent is Moving, a Matsuda/Sayu ficlet) and this is pretty much untouched from it's original August 7th, 2008 save date, save a couple of run throughs with a spellchecker. This is unbeta'd, and I'm really not expecting much feed back, but if you are reading it'd be nice to have a review. Sorry for the long wait, guys. :|
Mr. Stranger
Scarlett was immersed in a book. Thunder rumbled lowly outside, yet lightning flashed almost non-stop, the glow of the electricity lit up the dark room. Rain pounded against the windows, and seemed to play a sad tune against the glass. Scarlett turned a page.
"Mommy?" Scarlett looked up to see her daughter in her night gown, clutching a teddy bear under her arm. Opal never played with teddy bears, and the blonde writer pretty much assumed that Opal only did it to look more like a child on TV or in a movie.
"What is it, hun?" Scarlett asked, putting away her book.
Opal stepped forward and planted herself on her mother's lap. "I'm afraid of the thunder and," she turned to look at nothingness, "Mr. Stranger isn't doing much to help me." Her last comment was filled with venom that Opal directed at her imaginary friend. Because of her age, the irritated remark sounded rather silly and juvenile.
Scarlett smiled at the air. Mihael imagined himself alive, again. "Well, do you want to stay down here with me?" she said, smiling. Opal nodded vigorously and dropped her bear like it was poison. A loud crash of thunder shook the house, making the lights flicker momentarily. Scarlett looked up. She would turn on the television when Opal fell asleep, no need to frighten her.
"Thank you, mommy," Opal sighed, burrowing into her mother's chest. Scarlett sighed and slowed her breathing, trying to make her daughter fall into a deep slumber.
"Mommy?" Opal's words startled the pale blonde.
"Yes, hun?" the woman sighed. Mihael studied her curves. She was much to skinny for her frame; she had lost a lot of weight in the last five years. He also noticed the dark bags around her eyes. How badly must she have been after he and Matt died?
"Who was Mr. Goggles?" Opal asked, grabbing a strand of her mother long hair and absentmindedly twirling it. Scarlett froze at the name. Goggles… could it just be some sort of coincidence?
"I don't know? Who was Mr. Goggles?" Scarlett asked, hugging her daughter tightly. Another crackle of thunder, and the lights flickered, threatening to send the three into darkness.
"When I was little, I remember someone with goggles who would take care of me when it was stormy," Opal explained, giving a short tug to her mother's hair to see what would happen. Scarlett jerked back, and stole the strand away from her daughter, who continued to play with her own hair.
"Really? Well, that's strange. Maybe you saw it on TV or something." Scarlett's voice cracked. Could she really remember Matt? Oh, Matty. Oh, Mail. Mihael froze and looked at the two. He put out his hand to stroke the child. Opal smiled, and soon, she was asleep.
Scarlett tried to blink away tears. But they hadn't died in vain, right? Kira was gone, right? Right…?
----
Scarlett slept soundly underneath her covers. The storm had died down greatly, and she had been able to get to sleep before Midnight. Opal was snoozing in her room down the hall way. Mihael lay next to the sleeping writer, his hand as close to her as he could place it, without making her feel uncomfortable. Scarlett rolled over to face him.
A bright flash of lightning lit up the windows, and the clock stopped. It didn't fail, it just stopped. The blonde ghost began to choke, and time felt like it had vanished. An invisible hand released itself from Mihael's throat, and he gasped for air. Scarlett reached out and wrapped her arms around his.
He froze.
How could she touch? What was going on? Could she see him too? The clock still hadn't moved, it hadn't even counted seconds. Mihael gulped. Her touch was warm and frightening. She hugged his arm tighter. Her blue eyes fluttered open. Her mouth formed a huge 'o'.
She could obviously see him.
She scuttled up, releasing his arm, not letting her eyes off him. He sat up as well. Scarlett quickly pressed her hand to her forehead. A quiet shriek flew out of her mouth.
"Oh, oh, oh, this cannot be happening again! No way!" she muttered, leaping out of the bed and backing away from Mello. He tried to speak but nothing came out. The air felt dry and hot to his mouth.
She cried. "I thought we were over this, why, why, why?"
"Scarlett!" Mello shouted, finding his voice. She stopped. He tried to reach his hand out to her, but the air was too thick. Things started to fade and blur, until Mello blinked. He sat in the same position, and Scarlett was still freaking out in the corner. Tears were streaming down her face.
Mello realized she could no longer see him or here him. And for the first time since he had died, he cried. They were over, they were done with. They were now, in different dimensions. Mello was on the inside, looking out.
Why couldn't he have just been like Matt, and gone to Heaven, with L and Watari? Why? Why did it have to him, what the hell was the point in this? He felt like shouting and screaming, but he didn't want to risk waking Opal up.
Scarlett kept weeping, but tried to wipe the tears from her pale and sunken face. She gulped in air like a dying goldfish and stood up on shaky legs. Her face was hidden in shadows, and she slouched in her standing position, pathetic sniffles filling the quiet room. Mello would give anything to just hug her.
Slowly and without warning, Scarlett grabbed her cell phone that lay on the bedside table. Flipping it opened, she pressed a few buttons and collapsed on her bed, staying far away from the side Mello was laying on.
----
The sun was setting outside, and Ella lay on the bed in her hotel room, her long dark in a tight bun. "Vile woman," she muttered. She must have been some sort of drunk when she had agreed to go traveling with her mother. Her mother, the most annoying, loud, over-protective old hag she had ever met. Who the hell cares if she was her mother, she was unbearable.
An instrumental tune of Nickelback's "Savin' Me" began to play from her pocket. Ella scrambled to get the cell phone, recognizing the ringtone as Scarlett's. Flipping it open, she talked into the mouth piece, unsure of what she would here. Opal? Or a panicked Scarlett? Or a happy Scarlett and Opal?
"Scarlett?" she answered cautiously into the phone. Quiet sobs on the other end. Ella began to panic. "Scarlet?!" she repeated.
"Ella… I… I'm…" Scarlett broke off with fresh tears.
"What is it?" Ella tried to coax the truth out of her friend.
"I'm… seeing things again…" Scarlett choked. Ella gasped. After Mello and Matt's unfortunate demise, Scarlett's disorder was in full swing. Her hallucinations were frightening and terrible. Mostly, they consisted of seeing her blonde haired love on fire, screaming, or Matt, the goggled chain-smoker full of bullets and coughing up blood on the carpet.
The dark skinned woman sat up. "Calm down, okay? Have a drink of water, and remember to tell yourself that what you're seeing isn't real." Ella absentmindedly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
A sob from the other line. "But Ella… I felt it. It touched me!" Ella swallowed a rather large wad of spit that was nesting in the back of her throat.
"Where did it touch you?" Ella asked. In the back of her mind she realized that in any other situation, her words could be interpreted in a rather perverted way.
"Only my arm," Scarlett was obviously on the same wavelength as her friend, "But it was Mello! And he seemed so… real… I'm scared Ella. I want you to come home. What if I can't take care of Opal… what if I'm not a good mom?" All of the observations and fears that Scarlett had put together the last few years were spilling into the phone at an alarming rate.
Ella blinked slowly. "Scarlett, don't you ever think that! You're a fine mother, and Opal is very lucky to have you-" Ella was cut off by Scarlett's abrupt "bye" and hang up. The dark haired woman brought the phone away from her ear. She was worried. She had to go back to the States.
----
Scarlett stared at her hazel-eyed daughter who stood in the door way hugging a bear.
"Mommy, don't be sad," she told her mother. Scarlett wiped tears from her eyes.
"Honey? Did you see that?" Scarlett whispered. Opal nodded and advanced on her mother. Once about a foot away, she sat down.
"It's okay though, Mr. Stranger was there." Opal nodded.
Scarlett frowned. "What does Mr. Stranger look like?" she asked, opening her arms to her daughter. Opal sat down across from the blonde woman and Scarlett realized she needed her daughter more than her daughter needed her right now. Now that she thought about it, the question Scarlett just asked her daughter sounded kind of silly. But stray thoughts of little children becoming friends with an unseen but supernatural force in scary movies kept putting them selves out in the open for Scarlett.
Opal sat up in a confident way. "Mr. Stranger looks scary, but he really isn't. He is really nice!" Opal looked at an unseen angel sitting next to her and her mother. A look of dismay and disgust took hold of Mihael's face. Opal smiled. "He has a scary scar, though," Opal said on second thought.
Scarlett froze. "What?" Her voice shook.
"He has a scary scar. Like this!" Opal traced her face in the way of Mihael's scar. Scarlett gulped. She jumped up.
"Momma, what's wrong!?" Opal wailed, sensing her mother's fear.
"Shit, shit, shit! This cannot be happening to me! This is what happens in horror movies, not in real life. Wait – maybe this isn't real life. It's all just a bad dream. A very bad dream! Yes, just a dream…" Scarlett giggled insanely, leaving her daughter to cry on the floor.
A figure stood by the window, tense and frustrated. What the hell was she going to do? He set his eyes on her and decided his next move.
Marching toward the women with growing speed, he desperately hoped this would work. Opal wiped tears from her eyes and followed the figure until he stood before her laughing and crying mother. He paused for a moment and seemed to concentrate.
"Opal?" he barked. Opal began to cry harder at her friend's raise in voice, but she nodded anyway, afraid to make her angry.
"I need you to turn on the light in the corner. Then, I want you to throw it on the ground." Opal scrambled to the corner and flicked on the large lamp that stood big and tall by the window. After turning it on, she flung it to the ground, jumping at the noise the metal made when it hit the wood flooring. The top of the lamp squished against the cold floor, and the light bulb shattered. Opal started crying even more.
Mihael grunted in frustration. It was a stupid idea anyway. Scarlett was staring with wide eyes at the lamp, as though it had knocked over without any help. A large flash of lightening and boom of thunder rocked the house. It was just what Mihael needed.
Mihael began to choke and gag on air again. The air became heavy and dense. To Scarlett, he began to appear in pieces. A hand… a foot… a torso… a waist… a head…. She gasped when he was full again. Pushing against the air he was able to grab onto her wrists and he pinned her against the wall. Her mouth was open and he smashed his lips against hers. He knew it really wasn't helping the current situation, but they had kissed so few times when he was alive, he had to take a chance.
Her blue eyes stared into his teal ones.
Her mouth dropped open.
"Oh, wow." Scarlett took a rigid breath and blinked furiously. When she opened her eyes again, Mihael was gone. Scarlett wormed her way down, until she was laying flat on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
"Mommy?" a small voice from across the room asked.
Scarlett took a big breath of air. "Yah?"
"Why was Mr. Stranger kissing you?"
"Oh, so you saw it too."
"Mmhmm."
Mihael stood on the other side of the bedroom, completely still. If he had skin, it would be pale white. His heart fluttered with love and he had never felt the need to be alive as strong as this. Screw Kira, screw everything!
"Mels?" Mihael jumped at the voice. He turned around to see Matt, leaning against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth and a game in his hand. "S'time to go," he said without looking up.
Mello swallowed hard. He was filled with joy about seeing his friend, things almost felt "normal". But he was also filled with pain about having to leave the ones he loved. "Seriously Mels, we have to go."
Mello sighed and looked at Scarlett and Opal again. "Goodbye," he whispered, before turning around to his friend.
Matt looked up from his game and smiled. "Thatta boy." He laughed quietly before patting his friend on the back. They faded from sight, leaving Scarlett on the floor with a very afraid and worried daughter.
The two stood in the quiet room, thunder rumbling deeply outside. Scarlett breathed deeply, in and out and in and out.
"Mommy?"
"Y-yes?"
"Is it over now?"
"Yeah. I think it's over. For now."