Matt had returned a short time later he came into the door with an armful of groceries and an unlit cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. He entered the main hall and placed the food down onto the table and he looked at me
"Is there something wrong?" He asked
I pulled the cigarette from out of his mouth and held it up in front of his face
"Cigarettes are the leading cause of death in the UK alone, they cause cancer" I said lecturing as if he were a child
"And sexually transmitted diseases cause erectile dysfunction but that doesn't stop people from sleeping with prostitutes" He smiled at me and took back the cigarette
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of matches
"Jesus Christ when did you two suddenly becoming so parent like. I haven't had a parent in, I don't a long time and here I was thinking I had it bad with Mello commanding me around like he is some kind of hierarchy and why is it that you two lack a wood oven? You were human right, what did you eat?" Matt asked me
"There is a fire pit around the back I mostly ate vegetables and bread, I rarely ate poultry and didn't eat red meat" I replied
"So then it is your own fault that as a vampire you cannot digest blood from cattle so really if you think about it you would die if you didn't have me, so before you decide to lecture me about smoking again think about where your meal comes from vamps"
He lightly slapped me on the back and took his food and exited the room and made his way around the back to where the fire pit was that had not been used in quite some time.
"He does make quite a valid point Light" Lawliet called out from the library
"He is at the best of times the most irritating person I have ever met" I replied as I entered the library to get out the various weapons I kept hidden
"You do not mean that, they did after all take care of you when you were turned. I know very well you are quite fond of both him and Mello." Lawliet replied
"Yes I know that but he doesn't have to" I responded
I crouched down and opened up the cupboard doors and started to pull out various daggers, Kershaw and Bowie knives and forms of axes. I could feel Lawliet staring down at me and away from the paper he was writing on. I continued to stifle through the cupboards until I had collected everything that I had owned.
I started to pull each weapon from off the floor and started to take it into the main hall and placed them on the table and continued to go and forth until the library floor was once again weapon free and yet I could still feel Lawliet gazing at me. I turned around to meet his stare and walked towards the library door.
"Has something puzzled you?" I asked him
He shook his head gently and lowered his eyes back to the paper and started to re-read what he had written
"No, not so much puzzled me, more curious as to how you had bought those into the mansion without me noticing and why you have so many" He replied
"I am rather an opportunistic person Lawliet I have done quite a few things over the years that have gone unnoticed, I wait until the perfect moment when you become distracted and in depth with what you are doing and I go about my business, and I have so many because I wanted to be able to protect you should anyone try to trespass at the means of wanting to cause you harm" I replied
"Oh, and what are these other things that you have done that have gone unnoticed?" He asked me
"Well for instance on the very rare occasions that you have gone out at night I have spent my time making sure that your ink is refilled and that your quills are sharp enough to use and that you have a resupply of paper, because I knew that you would forget until you were down to the very last one because when you become lost in something that is where your mind stays. That and the fact that while you were not here I may or may not have indulged myself in self pleasure" I said as I leaned against the door frame
"And what gives you the impression that those things in particular went unnoticed?" He asked me
He looked up from his paper, gave me a quick and gentle smile and then returned his gaze to the parchment.
"You never cease to amaze me Lawliet" I said and walked back into the main hall and sorted through the weapons
Matt had finally returned from outside. He appeared well fed and reeked of not only smoke from the fire but cigarette smoke.
"I am wondering something" The red head announced when he entered the room
"What is it?" I replied
"I get that L has been a vampire for a million years but you haven't so why is it that I haven't been able to spot things like a wash tub, I get that vampires in general don't smell at least not bad anyway so if we are going to be living here I would prefer if I didn't resemble a week old deceased animal being baked under the midday sun" He said
I closed my eyes and shook my head the visual picture he created was not exactly tasteful
"Two thousand years Matt, I dare say I would not like to be around for a million years" Lawliet called out
"Yeah ok, anyway wash tub?" He looked at me
"I will show you later I had told you that we would be training, we will sort out anything you have queries about later" I responded.
Time had slipped by as I trained with Matt. It was quite the honor to see someone with such precision in regards to handling knives and axes. He had said he hadn't been quite as skilled as Mello and most defiantly was not as fast but he had learnt from him and it was only rare that a student over took his master. Matt had been sweating and panting quite heavily after a couple of hours. I had got him some water and gave him time to regain his breath
"At least you have that over the humans, you don't get worn out as easily" He panted heavily as he sat on the table. Lawliet had looked up from his paper every now and then to admire the progress.
Matt slid off the table and rolled his head from side to side making me cringe every time I heard a bone make a cracking sound. He handed me two Bowie knives and stood back slightly from me and turned around so his back was facing me
"I want to you to sneak up on me, be as silently as possible. You are going to come to a point where the person you want to attack has no awareness of your presence, as a vampire you should be able to approach me without me noticing. Take the knife and try and stab me, where ever you feel necessary, don't be concerned with me I am quite good" Matt called out
I was slightly wary but I did as he asked me to do. I was able to silently creep up on him without a single sound coming from me. I suddenly grasped hold of him and held the knife to his throat. He smiled and with a quick twist of his body he had forced me to the floor, was straddling my chest with his thighs compressing my head. He pulled the knife out from my hands and shoved the blade into my stomach. I felt the sudden pain as the blade penetrated me
He leaned into me, driving the blade deeper in. I cringed and panted as the pain ran through me with heat.
"Now if you were human that wound would end up killing you, never under any circumstances go for the throat that's what people prepare for. Go for a vital organ that most neglect, pancreas, spleen even the stomach. With enough force you can cause fatal damage" He said to me and climbed off of me
He held out his hand and pulled me off the ground. I grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the knife out from my stomach my shirt instantly becoming drenched with blood.
"Was that really necessary?" I asked him as I slipped the blade from out of my flesh and placed it back on the table
"Sure it was I was teaching you a lesson, don't go to the church if you don't like the preaching" Matt replied
I heard Lawliet let out a faint laugh from the other room.
"Don't encourage him" I called out
"You should consider yourself lucky that I wasn't Near's donor otherwise you would have had Mello to train with and I will tell you now.." Matt paused
He lifted up the hem of his shirt to revel many different types of scars on his chest and abdomen that I had not seen due to the lack of light in the bedroom the night previously
"He doesn't go easy, even on me. He is the kind of teacher you really want"
He placed down his shirt. I could feel my wound starting to heal as I took him out of the main hall and into a side entrance that had appeared as if it was not even there. It was crafted in the way the wall hand been built. I pointed over to a large golden colored tub that was resting up against the wall
"There is a well over by the horses you will find a bucket there. You will have to heat the water up on the fire pit and pour it into the tub, have fun with that" I responded with a smile
"I think I will just go drown myself in the well and if you want replenishing after the loss of blood you will make sure when I come out that I have something to warm me up" Matt replied back to me
"I am not your slave Matt I do not have to do anything" I replied as I became annoyed with him
"Well that is true but YOU did say YOU would look after ME and I AM the only reason YOU'RE not starving to death right now so I think that YOU will make sure I AM warm and YOU will make sure I do not catch a cold" He replied emphasizing his words to make sure I got the point
"Just hurry up" I replied
He smiled at me and left the mansion and around to the horses. I had started to wonder if starving to death was the better option. Matt was…Matt and he was the only person who was ever able to truly frustrate me. Of course I was sure that my tune would change if I had the opportunity to train with Mello.
He returned only a few minutes later smelling, as he put it, less like a week old animal carcass baking in the midday sun and more refreshing. He was shivering and his skin was more like a blue color then the natural light peach pink. I wrapped a spare comforter around him and while he was shivering quite severely I stripped him of his wet clothes although I wasn't exactly expecting myself to do such a thing it was my natural instinct. I wrapped him up tighter and took him into our bedroom and to the fire place that had not been used in quite some time I sat him down in front of it and pulled out a packet of quick strike lighters, found some scrunched up parchment that Lawliet had thrown onto the floor when he didn't like what he had written. After a few failed attempts I had finally got the fire going and poked at it with the poker until the flames caught onto the dried out logs.
"Stay there and get warm" I said to him and closed the bedroom door behind me
I made my way back to Lawliet in the library, he was focused on what he was writing and I sat in the chair looking down at the blood stain that had seeped through my shirt. He was rather good and quick, I was quite lucky that I had decided to train with someone who didn't hold back.
"You are quite good with him you know" Lawliet said not looking up from his paper
"Most vampires see their humans as donors and nothing more, very rarely do they care for them like they are family" He continued
"I couldn't let him freeze to death, if he dies so do I after all. Besides like you said I am quite fond of him. It's been somewhat pleasant not having an empty mansion. Although occasionally I do miss the times where it was just you and I" I replied
"I realize that you allow Matt and Mello to get on your nerves and even though they would not admit it, I am sure they are quite fond of you too, I know things were quite unpleasant to start with but those boys have been without family for quite some time they are still young, them being here probably means a lot more to them then you realize. I know they had a home together but this is the first time they have ever felt safe, and they are safe here I would not let anything happen to them and I know neither would you or Near and it is also probably the first time that they have felt wanted" Lawliet said without looking up
"Is this an obscure way of you asking me to be nicer to them?" I asked him with a smile on my face
"Not at all, you are to your own decisions Light, I am merely making a statement. But in saying that it would do no harm in thanking him" He said
This time he lifted his eyes from the parchment and placed down the quill
"I myself have to thank him, I do not know what would have happened today if he had not been here" He said to me
I stood up and walked over to my raven haired lover and pressed my lips to his forehead
"Don't worry yourself with such a thought Lawliet, it is over and done. It doesn't matter and besides you don't want Henry Sidgwick up there to come give another lecture on his philosophies do you?" I asked him
"He is rather rational and even I must admit that he comes up with intelligent idioms" Lawliet replied
"I best go make sure he hasn't set himself on fire" I said before placing another kiss on L's forehead
He rested his head back so his hair brushed my chest through my shirt
"I love you Light" He said looking into my eyes
"I love you too Lawliet" I replied and pressed my lips to his
As I pulled away I had smiled at him and reminded myself that nothing had been a disturbance that any form of arguing that day was all in my head and it did not occur. I left Lawliet be and made my way back up to the bedroom I opened the door to see Matt curled up in a ball and asleep on the floor
"You really do need taking care of don't you" I said as I closed the door behind me.
I rummaged through the dresser drawer until I had found some warm clothing, suitable for winter that was made from thick wool and cotton and another blood free shirt for myself
"Matt?" I called out to the red head asleep on the carpet
He didn't move or even make a sound. The comforter he was wrapped in was rising and falling steadily as he breathed deeply. I rested down on the floor and brushed some of the red locks from out of his eyes and pushed it behind his ear.
"Matt, wake up, you'll hurt your back if you lie on the floor" I said
"Huh?" He mumbled
"Get off the floor, you'll hurt yourself" I repeated
He sat up and rubbed his eyes and wrapped the comforter tightly around him.
"Here is some warm clothes. Put them on and get in the bed, you may as well stay in here tonight. It's starting to come in cold and you will need the fire place"
He took the clothes from out of my hands and looked up at me
"Thank you for the training today Matt, it was very helpful" I said to him
"Any time, thanks for everything. It's been quite good living here. I have only ever wanted for Mello to be safe and I know he is when he is here" Matt replied
I smiled and started to leave the room again with the clean shirt
"Did you want blood before you go?" He asked me
I shook my head
"No it's fine I'm alright, have a good sleep Matt and try not to worry I know Mello will be alright, Near won't let anything happen to him" I said before leaving the room.
I made my way into my old bedroom and changed my shirt. I had noticed the handkerchief under the bed that was rolled up in a ball. I smiled to myself and shook my head I was more than glad that the days of getting myself off were over.
I walked back out of the room and I could hear Matt already snoring. He must have been exhausted and the freezing water of the well would not have helped him either. He was so peculiar, thinking about how strange everyone that had resided in the house was, Lawliet with the way he sat and the deep husky monotone voice unique to him, Mello and his insane thirst for destruction and yet still somehow sweet, Matt and his idioms and the fact he just took everything the way it come, Near's appearance and his thoughts of his own superiority and me, I had an obsession with a two thousand year old vampire and now was one myself and even though I had forgot what family truly felt like I started to see why Matt saw us as one. We looked out for each other, was concerned for each other even though some wouldn't admit to it and we were willing to fight for each other all five of us, it was more than friendship, we were truly family no matter how dysfunctional we were, we were all each other had.
For those of you curious as to who Henry Sedgwick is he was an English utilitarian philosopher amongst other thing who died in 1900. Hence my reference to Matt being like Henry Sedgwick….Yeah that's all..on to the next chapter which may include violence and sex but who doesn't like that.. seriously, WHO?