Blood and Sugar

Chapter IX: Lucid Reverie



I was on a beach. The sand was white and pure, it was smooth and cool beneath my feet. The water before me was grey, reflecting the clouds above me. There was silence all around me, except the lapping of endless ocean. I saw him in the distance. He was standing there. In his slouched posture, turned away from me. His messy black hair waved loosely in the wind. I started walking towards him. The journey seemed to go on for hours, the distance appeared endless. Up above me, I saw a myriad of dark coloured birds flying over me. Every sound they made seemed sharp and loud in my ears. I was finally within three feet of him. "Hey," I called out. "I was wondering when I would see you again."



Hide tide had come. Water was now lapping at our bare feet. It was cool on my toes, soothing the heat from friction from sand. "We\'ve never met before," he said quietly. I scratched my head, and kicked a bit of sand. "Of course we have. Don\'t you remember?" I asked. I felt cold drops hit my face and shoulders. It began to rain, soaking us, forming delicate puddles in the sand. A single drop of blood fell into one of the puddles. It landed with an immense crash in my ears, it blinded me, made my sense explode in white hot agony.



My eyes opened to startling darkness. I was under a blanket, naked. I looked around...and I realized it was just a dream. All I could hear was the soft breathing of the young man in bed beside me. I reached down beside me, and grabbed my underthings, and slipped them on. I lumbered out of bed, dizzy and drousy. I slowly ambled to the bathroom. I grabbed a glass from the counter, and filled it with water. I forced my eyes open, feeling them struggle with the light. And in the mirror...I saw him. My hands went numb out of pure shock; the glass slipped from my fingers and landed with a loud shatter on the floor. I heard a grunt from Mello, and my eyes left the mirror for one second. He didn\'t wake. My eyes moved back to the mirror. The figure had disappeared. I decided that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. I shuffled back to bed, and lay down on my back and closed my eyes. "Go to sleep," I whispered to myself.



I rolled over on to my side, unable to shut down, my mind was awake and racking. I peaked my eyes open some, looking over the sleeping mass of man beside me to the window. The tiniest baby ray of daylight was beginning to poke through. I shut my eyes again, willing myself to go back to sleep. But for the next two hours, I couldn\'t, because I would fingers on my skin. Breath on my hair. Sometimes..I swear..I could even hear a click of a camera. I would look over, and there would only be darkness, the only breaking the shivering silence was Mello\'s soft breaths. But there seemed to be an invisible energy that quickened as it came closer, and enveloped me in unfamiliaratity and trepidation. It seemed to take on human form, taunting me. It took on the form of my dead boyfriend, Laure Lawliet, or as others knew him, L.



Finally morning light began to trickle into the room, bright and intensified with the fresh fallen snow outside. My eyes ached for sleep and my body yearned for rest, but my mind was too far awakened. I lay on my back, watching the dust particles float down, illuminated by the ever-sharpening daylight, weaving out from night time clouds that still partially eclisped the sun. My eyes were distracted by the stirring of Mello beside me. He opened his eyes, lifting himself from the bed, stiff and corpse-like. I was drawn to the sight of him stretching out, the sunlight glowing around him. It seemed to make him shine somehow. Like a golden colossus.



I too rose from bed as Mello retreated into the bathroom. I turned on the lights, flooding every dark corner with light. I yawned and stretched as Mello appeared from beyond the toilet. "Did you drop a glass last night? I thought I heard something breaking last night," he asked. "Yeah," I said. "I had weird dream, I got up for some water, and I thought I saw something in the mirror, and kinda freaked out." Mello reached over for his shirt. "Oh," he said plainly. He reached into a duffle bag and pulled out some clothes, neatly folded. "Put these on," he said. "I had Matt get you some new threads, seeing as we burned all the other clothes you had." I took the clothes from him. I slipped on a black long-sleeved shirt, and black pants. I put on a red jacket over it, and put on the shiny black boots.



"We have a flight to catch," Mello said. "We\'re going back to Japan. I have a plan that will be the ultimate method of catching Kira. It will be executed on New Year\'s Eve, so we have to move fast." He grabbed a chocolate bar from his bag. He unwrapped it thoughtfully, and took a bite. He then reached into his bag and handed me a small, black flip phone, and a pair of sunglasses. "That phone has Matt\'s and my numbers." He reached down again, zipping up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. I pocketed the phone and slid the shades onto my face. "Mello," I began. "I thought you might want to know. Near says he\'s going to own my mind or something. He says he deserves everything that L had and according to him, that includes me." Mello turned to me, and then smirked nervously. "Near is trying to fuck with our heads. He\'s an asshole like that. He doesn\'t care about you at all," he said. He turned back to the door, and opened it. "I\'m not worried about it," I said. "I find Near creepy, if anything. Plus, he\'s what? Fifteen? Sixteen at most?" Mello scoffed. "He\'s fifteen. I\'m nineteen."



We left the dirty motel, into the parking lot, where Matt was waiting by his car. Mello got in the driver\'s seat, Matt in the passenger seat, and I just huddled up in the back. I was silent most of the way to the airport. I had lied about not being interested in Near. Just the fact that he was forbidden made him interesting. Some how I could not stop picturing what it would be like to kiss him. It felt wrong and alluring all at once. Once arriving at the airport, Mello and I boarded a commercial flight to Tokyo; Matt was going take a private plane so he could bring his precious car with him.



It was around 3 o\'clock AM in Tokyo when arrived. Mello lead me to the parking garage. He stopped by a large, black motorcycle. He grabbed the two helmets hanging off its handle bars and tossed one to me. "Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle before?" he asked. "No," I said. "Well, just get on behind me and wrap your arms around my waist and hold on, okay?" he said. I nodded, and put the bulky helmet on. I nervously got on the back seat of the cycle, and wrapped my arms around his waist like he told me to. The bike started up with startling roar, and as it started moving, locked Mello in a deathgrip. Exiting the parking garage, the cold wind whipped me, raising goosebumps on my skin. After a fifteen minute trip, we pulled into another parking garage. My legs felt shaky after riding on the bike, almost as though they were made of gelatin. I nearly fell as I started walking, but Mello caught me. "Wow, you really hadn\'t ridden a motorcycle before," he said as he helped me get my land feet back. I pulled off my helmet, and hung it on the handlebars with his.



We arrived at an apartment. It was very dirty, and in general disrepair, but as fair as Mello was concerned, if it had power and running water it was good enough. He set his bag down by a dirty old couch in front of a coffee table. He pulled out his laptop, and plugged it in. He unwrapped a fresh bar of chocolate, and bit into it. I just stood there, watching him. But still my thoughts kept straying back to that albino pain in the ass. I had to bite my lip to suppress a smile. Mello looked up at me, with a concerned face. "Are you alright?" he asked. I pounced into his lap and delivered a heaving kiss. I savored the taste of fresh chocolate on his tongue. I grasped at his thigh and dug into his hair, kissing him hard and possessive, until I started feeling heat arising in his pants, and I could feel a lump swelling. I broke the kiss, and got off his lap.



"...Not that that wasn\'t pleasant, but are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah," I said quickly. "I think I\'m going to get some air. I\'ll be on the balcony." As I started for the sliding door, Mello quipped at me, "Tease." I smirked and quipped back, "Pervert." I stepped out and shut the door behind me. After a few seconds, my phone started ringing. It was from a restricted number. "Hello..?" I answered nervously. "Morgan. Are you alone?" I recognized it as Near\'s voice. "Not really. Are you gonna come after me?" I asked. "No," he said. "The only reason you got away is because I made it so." I looked back over my shoulder, Mello was peering at me curiously. "Look, I gotta go, thanks for busting me out but..." I said persistantly. "Okay, okay," Near said. "I just want to let you know, I\'m coming to Japan tomorrow. Come to room 157 at the Teito Hotel at eleven forty-seven PM. It will be just me. Promise." I looked back at Mello, whose look was getting more curious. "Okay, sure, bye." I hung up without giving Near a chance to respond.



I stepped back into the apartment, putting the phone back in my pocket. "Who was that?" Mello asked. "Wrong number," I lied automatically. "It was a real bozo." I could tell by his face that Mello didn\'t believe me completely. "I have some business to take care of," he said. "We\'ve been watching Misa Amane. I have some cameras set up around her house, but she\'s just left. I\'m going to install a listening device in her house. I need you watch the screen and let me know if she comes back while I\'m still in the house, okay?" I scratched my head. "Sure," I said. He got up and started for the door. I took his place on the couch, and gave the screen a good eyeball. There were four different angles around Misa\'s house.



The secret installation went off without a hitch, Mello was in and out fifteen minutes before Misa came back, hanging off Mogi\'s arm. I curled up on the couch, waiting for Mello to get back, and fell asleep.