A/N: So this will be the last chapter for a while unfortunately. I'm going to be super busy with work for the next month and have really no time to write :( This is the last chapter I've managed to write for now and it will be a few weeks probably until the next one. Thank you for all the support for this story so far I appreciate every favourite follow and review :)

Chapter 4:

Grimmjow had never felt this helpless before. It had been three days and they had no leads. He had received a new letter each day, each as uninformative as the last. All they showed were pictures of Ichigo and with each new one, the orange head had yet more injuries. None of them thankfully looked life-threatening, it seemed they were for show, to send a message which Grimmjow clearly understood. If he hadn't gone after this Mr Heart, Ichigo would be safe.

The nickname of this serial killer was stupid to say the least, whenever he saw the name on the front of a newspaper he could only snort in disbelief. It was what the media had dubbed the man, after it was discovered all his victims were married couples. That was until now, until Ichigo.

Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his face for what felt like the one hundredth time that day alone. Shifting the photos around on his desk he paused, frowning at them when he noticed something odd. It was dark outside and a strip of light managed to break into the room through the window, falling over the photos. There was a marking on each photo, but Grimmjow couldn't tell what, the light wasn't strong enough.

Standing up abruptly Grimmjow tore the room apart near enough to finally find what he was looking for, a UV flashlight Nnoitra had insisted they needed two years ago and had sat rattling in his drawers ever since. Turning it on Grimmjow shone the light over the four photos, grinning when a word shone back on each one. Going in order of receiving the photos he managed to make a sentence.

'Disaster of January 1962'

After a quick internet search Grimmjow learned that there was a mining operation going on in Karakura at the time. Unfortunately the mines collapsed killing several people and it was shut down, the mines closed up and abandoned ever since. Grimmjow knew of the mines of course, a few times in his early days as a cop he had to go down there to clear out teenagers who thought it was a fun prank to try and get inside the mines.

Looking at the photos again he focused on the background of each one. There were wooden support beams visible, similar to the ones of the mineshaft he noted as he looked through old photos of the place. This was what he was being led to, this was where Ichigo was. Grabbing his phone he called Nnoitra.

"Hey I found him, meet me at the abandoned mineshaft." It was half an hour later when Grimmjow pulled up to find Nnoitra stood waiting next to a large faded 'KEEP OUT' sign. "He was leading me here." Grimmjow showed his partner the photos again with the UV flashlight. "Ichigo's in there.

Nnoitra grabbed his arm suddenly when Grimmjow moved towards the blocked entrance. "Hold on a minute. We both know this guy likes to play games, Ichigo won't be there. This is a trap."

"Or a test." Grimmjow murmured, turning suddenly to face Nnoitra as realisation hit him. "Don't you see? All these tasks he had people do, they were tests of some kind."

"Tests for what?"

"No idea." Facing the mineshaft entrance again, Grimmjow sighed. "But I'm going to find out. Wait here for me ok and if I'm not back in two hours, call for backup."

"You sure you want to go alone?"

"I'm meant to right?" He smiled at Nnoitra. "It's meant for me, whatever's in there. If I want to find Ichigo I have to pass the test. Besides, what if Ichigo is in there? I have to at least find out."

His partner didn't look happy about it but eventually he nodded, throwing Grimmjow another flashlight. "Take this, you're going to need it."

"Thanks." Approaching the blocked entrance Grimmjow pulled the boards off and sneezed when a large cloud of dust fell from the ceiling. "I hate dust." He muttered to himself before looking back at Nnoitra. "See you soon then." The man nodded in reply and Grimmjow entered the mines.

After a few meters Grimmjow found the electrics and flipped the switch, the lights flickering on after a moment and he could see the tunnel stretched on, too far for him to see an end. Shaking his head he started down the main tunnel, there were several smaller tunnels meant for human traffic leading off from the main one but Grimmjow kept walking straight. None of these side tunnels had lights and he was keen to stay where he could see.

It didn't look as if anyone had been down here in a long time. Apart from the entrance still being boarded up there was a thick layer of dust on the floor and with every step a cloud of it rose under his feet. Grimmjow couldn't tell how long he had been walking but it had to have been at least half an hour by now, time was running out. He didn't want the place to be swarming with cops as any chance he had of finding Mr Heart would disappear the moment they arrived.

The light ahead flickered and Grimmjow stopped, watching it blink a few times before it went out. "Oh shit." As he thought, there was a loud echoing crash from somewhere and the lights went off, leaving him in total darkness. "Fuck." He cursed, pulling out the flashlight and turned it on. The small beam didn't stretch far in the darkness so Grimmjow started walking slowly, swinging the beam up and down the tunnel to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

His breathing was coming out sharper now, darkness was never his strong suit and right now, he was so far out of his element the only thing that kept him waling forward was the thought of finding Ichigo somewhere. The flashlight started flickered and again Grimmjow stopped, staring at it in disbelief, surely Nnoitra wouldn't have given him a half dead flashlight? Shaking the thing it stopped flickering and he sighed in relief, continuing on.

It was quiet now, the only sounds were the muffled steps of his own feet. After a few minutes the flashlight started flickering again and Grimmjow quickly realised no amount of shaking would fix it. He sped up, hoping the flashlight would stay on long enough for him to find something or an exit but nothing, the tunnel just stretched ahead seemingly never ending.

"Grimmjow!"

He whirled around as someone shouted his name. He couldn't tell where the voice was coming from in the echoing tunnels but there was one thing he was sure of, it was Ichigo's voice. "Ichigo?" He called back, listening hard for a reply. There was only silence. "Ichigo?!" He called again more loudly, starting forward at an even quicker pace.

"Grimmjow help me!"

As soon as he heard the words there was another noise, one far less welcoming as a loud screeching noise caused Grimmjow to fall to his knees and the flashlight fell from his hands, flickering for a moment before dying leaving him in total darkness. Silence fell again and after a long moment where the only sound was Grimmjow's laboured breathing the man finally uncovered his ears, reaching out to find the flashlight.

"Come on, come on…"

Grimmjow muttered but all he could feel was rocks. Suddenly his hand brushed over something else, it wasn't his flashlight and it certainly wasn't a rock. Whatever it was felt like fur and there was heat radiating from it. Grimmjow frowned, was it an animal? A low growling confirmed his suspicion and he quickly withdrew his hand, falling back against the tunnel wall. Two lights appeared in the darkness, two gleaming eyes and they approaching him slowly, never wavering from his position. The growling grew louder until Grimmjow could feel its hot breath blow on his face. He covered his own, waiting for the inevitable but only felt a strong blast of wind hit him and when nothing else happened, lowered his arms to find there was no eyes anymore, the growling had stopped.

It took a good few minutes for him to work up the courage to reach out but to his relief there was only air. Standing up, Grimmjow made sure to keep one hand on the wall as he caught his breath, closing his eyes. "Did I imagine that?" He asked before giving himself a shake.

As a child he was afraid of the dark, imagining creatures that weren't there, nightmares waiting to grab him. But that was just his imagination running wild with his fear. Grimmjow let out a hoarse laugh which echoed in the tunnel, why would there be an animal down here? Deciding not to try and find the flashlight again Grimmjow started walking, making sure to keep one hand on the wall so he didn't stray.

He had to have been gone for at least an hour now, he had no way of telling since he couldn't see his watch anymore. Surely there was an end to the tunnel? Grimmjow couldn't even begin to think about where he was, had he strayed from the path? Even if he had he would be found when the cops turned up soon. But by then Ichigo would be gone, he had heard the teen, he knew it.

But now there was only silence except for his own footsteps and heavy breathing. The darkness was pressing in around him and Grimmjow had to fight very hard not to start imagining things in the darkness again, he couldn't lose focus, Ichigo needed him.

Then he heard it, at first Grimmjow thought it was the wind and almost hoped there was an exit nearby. But then the sound changed, it was circling him, growing louder and the air was still, it wasn't wind. Shaking his head Grimmjow tried to focus and press on but soon he could hear words, whispering from all directions and the words seemed to attack him in the darkness.

None of what he heard was comforting, it was like it was his conscious was speaking aloud. It was telling him it was his fault Ichigo was kidnapped, his fault Ichigo was dead and now he would die too trapped in the mines. Panic flooded his system and forgetting about keeping a hand on the wall Grimmjow broke into a run. Then he could hear Ichigo's voice too, screaming louder than the others that he was the one who killed him, he was going to die.

Grimmjow should have realised running in complete darkness was a stupid idea, but he wasn't thinking so when he ran smack into the wall and fell to the floor, he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. Lying face down on the floor he closed his eyes, trying to stop the voices and ignore the searing pain but it wasn't working. They were right, he was going to die down here and then Ichigo would be killed because he had failed.

"What are you most afraid of?"

There was a light and suddenly Grimmjow could see again, he could see Ichigo. The teen was sat on a bed and as the room brightened he recognised it as his bed, his room. And then he saw himself sit down next to Ichigo, realising it was a dream, or a memory.

"Come on answer the question!" Ichigo said, shoving Grimmjow playfully with a smile.

"What I'm afraid of?" Grimmjow asked, musing the question for a moment. "Darkness."

Ichigo frowned, resting his head against Grimmjow's chest. "Why?"

It took a few moments for him to answer. "Because you can't see or hear anything in darkness. There is nothing there and yet, everything could be there. The scariest thought of it all is wondering what could be right in front of you and you have no idea."

"There's always a light in the darkness." Ichigo whispered. "You've just got to believe in it to find it."

"Then I'm not afraid anymore." Grimmjow replied simply, smiling at the Ichigo before lifting his head to kiss him. "I found my light."

"That's not a crude joke about my hair right?"

He laughed, kissing the teen again. "No, I mean it." Reaching over Ichigo he turned the light off.

Grimmjow coughed, lifted his head from the floor to find he was in the tunnel still. He realised he had knocked himself out running face first into a wall. Sitting up slowly he reached in his pocket to find he still had Ichigo's badge and turned it over in his hands, thinking about the conversation he remembered having with Ichigo months ago.

He had meant it when he told Ichigo he was his light. If that was true then all he had to do was find him. Grimmjow gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his feet again, stumbling slightly as he regained his balance. Touching his face he could feel something wet, realising he was probably bleeding after what happened but he couldn't do anything about it right now so he started walking forward again, keeping a firm grip on the badge in his hand.

After a few steps he saw a faint flicker ahead and getting closer, he saw a light. Reaching it he found a lamp sat on a table, a piece of paper and a radio sat next to it. With shaking hands he picked the radio up. "Hello?"

"Grimmjow?"

"Ichigo is that you?"

"Oh god Grimmjow where are you?!" Ichigo's voice cut through the static roughly and he could barely make out the words. "Please tell me you're safe!"

"I should be asking you that."

"I-I'm fine I promise. Please you've got to get help, you've got to find me-"

Ichigo's voice was lost in the static and he cursed. "I'm going to find you Ichigo I promise, just hold on." When he received no reply Grimmjow sighed, setting the radio down. Looking at the piece of paper he flipped it over to see the number sixty five on it and frowned. Pocketing both the paper and radio he grabbed the lamp.

As soon as he lifted it from the table there was a blinding light and shielding his face, Grimmjow realised after a moment the lights had been switched back on.

"Well isn't that handy." He muttered but took the lamp anyway in case the lights decided to turn off again.

It wasn't long before Grimmjow found the flashlight and he frowned as he picked it up. It had seemed a lifetime ago he had lost it, but in reality it was a three, maybe four minute walk away from the radio. How could that be? Another thought struck him and slowly he turned the flashlight on and the beam worked fine, there was no flickering. What had happened to it before then?

He soon realised the darkness had been playing tricks on his mind because it wasn't long before he found the entrance to the tunnels again. Climbing out he found Nnoitra leaning against his car, looking at his watch. He looked up sharply when hearing Grimmjow and ran over to help him.

"Shit you look like hell."

"How long was I gone?"

Nnoitra glanced at his watch again. "Just over an hour."

Grimmjow stopped, staring at his partner is disbelief. "An hour?" He repeated faintly. "No I was gone a lot longer than that."

"Yeah well, you look like you hit your head pretty hard. Come on let's get out of here and get you to a doctor, then we can talk." He helped Grimmjow into his car, finding the keys in his jacket. "It's a good thing I walked out here isn't it?"

Grimmjow didn't answer, he had just caught sight of himself in the mirror and seen how much damage he had caused running into that wall. It looked like he'd broken his nose and the lower half of his face was smeared with blood and dust.

"What the hell happened to you in there?"

"Let's just get out of here." He replied thickly, refusing to answer the question. As Nnoitra pulled away from the mines, Grimmjow opened his hand to see he was still holding Ichigo's badge and thought back to their last conversation. "Wherever you are, I'll find you."