Yeah…it's been a LONG while since I have updated and I feel bad about that but I also feel kinda glad cause now I've got the motivation and creative thoughts composed to finish this, so please enjoy this and the next shall be the last chappie.

This I mean! *Salutes to all those for sticking around so long* You guys deserve this, sorry to have stopped updating for such a long time.

Oh, yeah, and, umm, sorry if this is too short!

~Luffily Promises, Fairylust~

The fog settled over the land thickly. It was so dense that if you held your hand in front of your own face you wouldn't see it at all no matter how hard you squinted. And it was on this day that strange figures moved silently through the forest. There was no fear in the air only tension. Nimbly a shadowy figure hung upside down on a branch and looked around. They saw nothing so they made a noise similar to a bird squawking.

This allowed several others to know it was time to move, both Matt and Mello felt sweat drip down their faces as nervousness took over.

The plan was simple, yet complex. They couldn't believe what they were doing. They just couldn't believe it! After facing the horrors of the past and escaping the man-eating…erm…men they were heading back, which seemed insane and suicidal when they thought about it. They had seen a pile of leftovers, met Near, hiked about together, and suffered great pain and were now heading towards the root of their problems.

When thought about it sounded like they had gone insane themselves. Especially when they heard (earlier) that BB was looking for them from a kid, who was sent out to scout, but came back with a knife stuck in his back and a chuck torn from his arm, blood was everywhere and there was a message carved into his torso. Blood dripped from his slashed throat as he uttered a few final gurgling noises, and then collapsed in a pool of crimson life.

It was horrible.

Still, it was okay because when they thought about it, it was just another day in what Matt had dubbed 'Cannibal Land'. And they knew this was a suicide mission that would only benefit those outside of the forest, so…yeah…they were kind of out of it; that or just plain foolish with a dash of bravery running through their minds.

Everyone present was already burdened by what they knew at one point or another. The gore and violence was permanently burned into their minds and silently eating away at their souls. Those who agreed to do this were pretty sure that there was a very unlikely chance of walking away. It was difficult to do something when you knew there was a good chance of dying but that is when you swallow the fear and not wimp out.

Soon they were at the entrance to the cave, which now sported a better warning: Two decapitated heads impaled on a spear just a few feet apart from the sides of the entryway.

It didn't take long before they were inside. Some of them went one way others went the opposite way. Mello and Matt both followed the directions of Near, who was leading them. Because the light wasn't good enough to read the map L had handed them. It shone a way to a room that was (supposed to be anyway) filled by explosives that had been hoarded and abandoned by the cannibals. Not all of them were dumb. Or at the least, the first generation of the cannibals weren't.

They kept more than just primitive weapons at hand, both Matt and Mello had their guns and were given handmade knives, which they kept hidden in their boots. All they needed was a way to light the sticks of dynamite up, because they weren't sure their new lighter, which L had found two years prior to their situation, would work. Heading that way, lead by Near, who seemed rather uncomfortable being back in his old home, no, his prison, both Mello and Matt felt chilled as the air and darkness embraced them in a fierce, icy hug.

"Mello?" Matt whispered. "Are you sure we can trust Near to not lead us into a different, more dangerous room? I mean, not that I don't already trust him, but what if he doesn't remember which way is which?"

"Near is smart." Mello whispered. "He's proved that much already. Trust him. And do what I do a little bit."

"What?"

"Pray. Near might fail, so just pray."

"Oh." Matt muttered. "That makes me feel just so great, bud."

"You're welcome."

Rolling his eyes Matt froze upon feeling a cold hand touch his leg. He dared not to move not sure whether who or whatever it was would attack or if it was even alive and the thought of something dead touching you really sent chills up your spine. He stood there for what felt like minutes before he could get his voice to move up and out of his throat. "Mello?" he whispered urgently unable to see who or what was touching him. "Something is touching my leg…and I think it might be dead…but I'm not sure."

He heard nothing save for the sounds of breathing and he wasn't sure who that was. He wanted to believe it was him. But he was very doubtful of that. He suddenly felt an urge to scream and he did as soon as that same cold feeling, which Matt quickly realized was a hand grabbed at his throat clutching onto him tightly and making guttural noises of anger and excitement. Panicking Matt raised a fist hitting somewhere in the darkness and connecting to his attacker's face. He then grabbed hold of his gun and fired three times, killing the sick freak. Stumbling back in the darkness Matt realized he hadn't killed him. He must have missed, because he heard the cannibal scrambling and thrashing about on the ground. He, Matt assumed by the cries the cannibal was male, was in pain and the noises he let out of his mouth made Matt want to scream too.

The last scream the cannibal made echoed throughout the darkness sure to bring more.

Up ahead Mello just realized that his friend had disappeared. He turned and looked around as the scream reached his ears. "Matt?" He called as quietly as he could without shouting. He started to run back, but was stopped when he felt Near grab hold of his wrist stopping him. "Let me go! Did you hear that scream? That could've been Matt! Don't you realize that? Matt could be in trouble! We've got to go back for him!"

"No." Near said. Actually, Mello had learned that Near wasn't totally mute and learned pretty fast. He just didn't know how to speak English real good. Back at L's hide out he actually learned that Near knew a good amount of French and Japanese, though he couldn't say many sentences. Apparently, Near was piecing words he heard from others together, like he were trying to stitch a sentence together. "No." he repeated just as firmly, fixing Mello with a stern glare that couldn't really be seen in the dark.

"What? How can you-" he cut himself off remembering what they had all agreed to before coming there. He sighed and nodded. "No matter what. Stick to the plan, right?"

"Yes." Near said with a nod. He then began to jog forwards. Looking over his shoulder for a moment Mello hesitated, and then followed.

"Okay," Matt had said as they got dressed before leaving the hideout, "there is a good chance of death, seeing as we're heading for the killer's house, so what should we promise?"

"I promise that if I get out alive I'll kill you for getting us in this mess in the first place." Mello mumbled bitterly pulling on his pants, and then examining his shirt. "I'm gonna have nightmares of this whole thing for weeks! Do you even know how much blood I'll have to wash from my hair and clothes? Or how much I am beginning to regret our friendship."

"No, Mels!" Matt chuckled holding his shirt, standing there naked. Mello avoided looking at him finding that it would send the wrong signals. He just was unable to feel that way about Matt even after everything. He just didn't think you should think of your best friend like that. It seemed wrong. "Seriously." Matt said grinning a lopsided smirk.

"Who says I'm kidding?"

"If I were you," L had said seeming to appear out of nowhere with Near peering out at them from behind, "then I would promise that no matter what we'd stick to the plan."

"Where the hell did you come from?" Matt had shouted in surprise trying to cover himself. "You perverted jackass! Have you been standing there and watching us the whole time?" He'd shouted blushing.

"No I just got here, actually." he said shrugging. A smirk lit up his face after a moment of thought. "However, I did see Near peeking in on the two of you when I arrived."

"What?" Both teens had exclaimed looking to the younger boy, who stood behind his older brother blushing a bit. Matt stood still trying to cover himself and scolded him in a way that seemed closer to a freak-out than actual scolding, while Mello looked at the boy blushing and looking unsure about how to respond. "You shouldn't peek in on people when they are naked and trying to get dressed it's creepy!" Matt had shouted to end his lecture. Near nodded, still blushing and looking at the ground. This was where L put his two cents in.

"Actually, Matt, I believe he was looking at Mello rather than at you."

"What? Near! Is that true?" Mello exclaimed blushing a furious shade of red. Near nodded a bit, seeming worried about how things would turn out from there, as he was turning a brighter red. Mello felt his vice catch in his throat, but quickly put his shirt on and quickly left the room.

That had seemed to be the end of that.

In the present, as they made their way through the maze of caves Mello felt uncomfortable being with Near in the darkness and cannibals chasing after them. He wasn't sure what to really do other than follow Near. When they finally came to their intended destination Mello stopped dead in his tracks not expecting what he saw once they were there. The room was loaded with explosives! Sure he already knew that but he didn't know just how loaded. It was ridiculous! There were boxes of various sizes labeled TNT and dynamite and nitroglycerin and lots of other explosives. It was just so freakin insane!

"Oh, damn! Where the hell did they find all of this?"

Near shrugged. Mello shook his head not really wanting to believe that the younger boy had no clue about that. He took a deep breath to regain his cool once more. He quickly grabbed a few sticks of dynamite shoving them into his bag. "Okay, so let's get some of these wired up around here before we blow this puppy up, or if you want then we can just go ahead and blow this puppy, kay?"

Near gave him a confused expression.

"Let me put this in simple terms: do you want to go with plan A or B?"

"B?" he said sounding numbed about the matter. The blonde was glad he chose plan B because he liked that idea. "Nice choice." He said smiling. Mello chuckled and pulled his lighter out checking to make sure there was enough liquid left in it to ignite the dynamite. It had just enough liquid left to do the job. "B!" he heard Near shout behind him. He waved a hand at him as though to dismiss him. "Can't you see I'm working on it?"

"B!" Near shouted sounding close to hysterical. The pressure of the situation was bad enough. Mello didn't need the kid to try attracting some unwanted attention, or distract him from what he was doing, with his screaming. Mello turned feeling rather annoyed at the younger boy. "Would you please calm down an-" before he could get his final words out he was knocked down to the ground semi-conscious with blood pouring down his forehead after a stone was smashed against his head.

"Merro!" Near shouted. He ran for the blonde's still form, but he was stopped when Beyond took hold of his white hair as he tried to run past him. Screaming in pain he whimpered feeling the grip tighten. Near wailed feeling panicked as he remembered his last encounter with the cannibalistic maniac. "Last time will look like a cut finger by the time I finish with you." He hissed in the boy's ear making him sob and struggle a bit more. "Merro! Run! Run!" It was the last Mello heard from Near before he was forcibly dragged from the room screaming in terror and anguish.

Near knew he was probably never going to get to see his two new friends ever again or his older brother for that matter. Fighting against B didn't seem to do much good, however. Especially when B got tired of the struggling after a while and smacked him real hard across the face to make him stop. It worked. Near didn't want to risk angering him any more than he already was. Shaking all over he started to feel death was breathing down his neck.

The same feeling everyone else were getting.

Sorry to leave off there, but ya know...sorry. *Shrugs a bit and yawns* Sleepy and tired so I'm getting some shut eye now, later!

;3

~Luv, Fairylust~