Chapter ten:

Mello breathing picks up speed as he stares wide eyed at the man's lifeless body. "No…" He takes a step away from the man and looks to the Manticore and Griffin.

The Griffin and Manticore are racing to try to reach him and Near or well Nate.

"Hold on Nate. I'll protect you. Just live please." He pleads remembering after he told Mello told Nate he loves him.

Flash back:

He glances to Nate and sees Nate's eyes open to slits looking like they could close at not even a second later! He pushes through to what seemed to be the exit as his heart races in panic. He looks around getting more panicked as he finds they are in a clearing in the forest. "No…. No. No! NO!" His voice raises in volume with each no as his tears fall like waterfalls and on the last no he flings his head back screaming the two letter word to the sky. He cries for the loss of his rival and his friend since he may never see the two again except maybe in the afterlife unless Matt got out safely. He knows he is exhausted and ready to collapse plus there's no way to tell what way is out right now. He collapses to a sitting position on the ground as his tired legs can no longer hold him up. He doesn't care that his camera is gone since it fell off some time ago. He gently lays Nate down shifting until Nate is resting on his lap, or at least his head to about upper torso is making sure Nate's face is looking up at him. His hands are slightly cradling Nate's head on his lap. "Nate." He leans down and places his lips on the others in a brief kiss.

This makes the corners of Nate's mouth twitch in the upward direction before he closes his eyes falling back into unconsciousness.

Mello raises his head taking a deep breath and raises his voice to as loud as he can at that moment knowing that there's enough day light for at least someone to be out. "HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US! HELP!" He called and called pausing every now and then to see if anyone responds before starting up again. He finally hears a response and he continues calling for help trying to get the person to where he and Nate are. He would cry in sheer relief someone came to their rescue either looking for them or hearing his calls for help but his tears are all dried up due to all the crying just a few seconds earlier.

When the man emerges Mello begs him to help Nate being too exhausted and feeling too down to really care at that time, not even noticing the man's slightly long face.

The man lets Mello know that they need to get Nate to the hospital which he already knows but when the man tries to take Nate from him he swears he feels something snap as he picks Nate up himself. He forces himself to stand declining the offers of help from the man wanting to snap at him that they need to get going.

The two of them begin moving and when hope for escaping their lives is pushed down when the Griffin and Manticore appear in front of them.

His first thought in his scattered brain is that he has to protect Nate so he can still have a chance to survive. He doesn't think rationally as he tries reasoning with the two mystical beasts, in fact his mind is only thinking about giving Nate a chance of living.

End of flash back.

Mello wants to raise his voice to call for help but finds he can't so he looks down at Nate's face leaning down and kissing Nate on his cold lips no longer feeling an breath from the other at all, knowing there's no way to escape right now, making him choke on a dry sob. "I-I'm Sorry!" He sniffles slightly as his body tries to cry the tears that are dried up. "I d-didn't keep my p-promise. I'm s-so sorry."

The next thing he feels is sharp pain and his eyes never leave Nate's face as black begins to take over his vision.

His final words before his vision goes fully black is two simple words.

Forgive me.

The teachers and Rodger continue their search and a teacher lets the other's know she found Matt unconscious, a little hurt but still alive.

It seems he ran into a tree most likely in fright and with the paramedics arriving just on time the teacher carries Matt to them since they won't be able to get to him if they're in the forest.

Rodger keeps looking for any sign of the other two missing orphans glad that they have found one of them alive and at least alright. He finds himself in a clearing but two big figures past the clearing is what catches his attention so he moves to investigate.

The two beast like figures fly off into the sky as Rodger nosily makes his way to the area they were in.

He stops dead in his tracks when he sees what the horrific scene holds.

Lying on the ground is a dead man a little ways in front of Mello and Near, dead with his stomach slashed open by monstrous sized claw marks. Then Mello and Near are also lying on the ground looking lifeless.

Mello has a really deep gash on his sides made by what looks like two monstrous creatures that also connects to part of his back from their locations on his sides. His eyes, like Nears, are closed and he has his face kind of close to Nears.

Near looks like he had been in Mello's arms probably being carried by the blonde. He looks deathly pale much more so than Mello does and he has a wound on his side that seems to have had an attempt to have something that hopefully helps stop the bleeding or slows it down, which is most likely made out of the sleeves that have been ripped off of Near's shirt.

Both of them are dirty from without a doubt their adventure and the wounds are just not something human made or made from any sort of animal that's known.

Rodger feels dizzy as he tries to keep himself from stuttering as he informs the other teachers of his findings along with where he is.

Mello, Near and the Man found with them named Keith died that day with what inflicted the wounds on them remain a mystery to this very day.

Matt was lucky enough to survive but was put in therapy and suffered many nightmares of the incident. He shared his story of what happened to Rodger before the older man reviewed the tapes from the cameras and when he went to the therapist. He continues to see a therapist as he suffers from the traumatizing experience especially after finding out Mello and Near were killed. His nightmares still will not go away but the progress with everything that's being done to help him is going smoothly just taking its time.

Whammy's house held a funeral for Mello and Near and hope that they live a happy life up in heaven peacefully happily free.

The woods became closed off completely for safety reasons and even after investigating where the bodies were found the police cannot confirm for sure what or who killed the three.

The presence of mythical creatures is a continued debate but could this horrific incident be a huge clue that they exist and are a lot closer than we think? It could very well be if science doesn't continue to refuse to acknowledge their existence.

The end.