tampered | (no subject)

Current Mood: devious

(no subject)

When; Evening of Saturday, 22 March.
Rating; PG-13 for gore?
Characters; Beyond Birthday, Mello, Near, Matt
Summary; M and B set a trap for N. However, since they have no Xanatos Gambit, things do not go quite as planned.
Log;
He'd alerted Beyond Birthday as soon as Near had agreed to coming by the apartment. It was hard to manage all of this right under Matt's nose, considering how computer savvy the other man was and the fact that all of it had been done through the Network. This doubled with his plans for B's arrival made Mello rather desperate to get Matt out of the apartment. And errand like this, he'd need a few hours.

"Hey, Matt." He sought a place on the couch behind where Matt was clicking away on his computer. "You mind going to get us something to watch? I need more chocolate, too." Ideally, it would be a shopping trip that'd take Matt a while. He could get pretty particular about movies, after all. Once he'd complained and sworn loud enough to get Matt to see things his way (it always worked out in the end), he found himself unable to relax. His .45 was hidden between the couch cushions, easy for him to grab if things went awry. He knew better than to trust Beyond Birthday.

Speaking of . . . where was he? At this rate, Near would be here before B had even arrived.

He'd barely got to treating such a concern with any real merit when the front door opened. "Matt, I thought I fucking told you to--" He looked up and it was L's visage he saw. Decked out in a party hat and streamers, the only logical explanation was that this was, in fact, Beyond Birthday. The peculiar slouch in his demeanor hinted at such. Mello stood and went to shut the door behind him, swearing under his breath. After a quick exchange, Beyond saw fit to slouch his way under the couch to cover his presence. This action only furthered the wariness Mello was beginning to feel about the whole ordeal, but such thoughts were only natural. Not that Mello was often one to get such cold feet, it was just anxiety when the only thing left for them to do was wait for Near's arrival. Mello sat on the edge of a seat facing the door, unprepared and unaware of the events that would unfold.

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The pale boy did naturally trust Mello to an extent, but truth be told, he wouldn't have accepted such an invitation easily. However, his current craving for chocolate due to the latest curse had made him more prone than ever to accept Mello's offer. Near was dying to taste chocolate, and Ran couldn't help him this time because she was suffering from memory loss.

Making his way to Mello's building as quickly as he could, Near was relieved to finally reach the apartment alive. Chocolate... He knocked on the door softly, the sound not revealing his eagerness. I need chocolate... now...

The knock at the door made Mello jump. Was it his anxiousness that made him so on edge? It didn't matter, it wasn't like he didn't have the charisma to play it off like he was fine, anyway. He went to open the door and greeted Near by throwing a bar of chocolate to him.

"Come on in," he said, rolling a block of dark chocolate around in his mouth as he spoke.

It didn't take Near even a second to start unwrapping the candy Mello had graciously offered, stepping into the room as he did so. "Thank you," was the polite answer, before Near took his first bite, overwhelmed by the soothing taste melting in his mouth. He didn't remember the last time he had tried chocolate, but the scent was painfully familiar.

Mello pushed the door shut behind him and the slam sounded almost ominous, to him. He pointed vaguely in the direction of the kitchen. "Chocolate bars are in the fridge." He muttered, going to sit back in the chair he'd been seated in, kicking his feet up on the table and running his hand over the hidden handle of his gun as if checking to see it was still there. "Get comfortable. Matt's out, but he should be back pretty soon."

'Pretty soon.'

And that was B's signal to come out from hiding. Red eyes flashed up to Near's face from below the couch, double checking the name that floated above before he pulled himself out.

Long thin limbs and birthday streamers sprawled out this way and that as he crawled across the floor; he looked like the worst sort of beast. He didn't stop crawling until he was in front of Near, smirking up at him.

"Hello little Nate."

A step back was immediately taken, black eyes growing wider at the sight of the man. Near'd never seen this man before, but judging from his uncanny resemblance with L, he could only be Beyond Birthday.

Why did he know his true name? Was he working for Kira?.

Back meeting the wall, Near stared at the man with large, albeit still blank eyes, like a rabbit doll watching a wolf approach.

No, he had to assess the situation, his fear might be unfounded. Beyond Birthday had been hiding under Mello's couch, and even if his glorious entrance hadn't been the most trustworthy one, this was still Mello's apartment. Mello wasn't supposed to cause Near any kind of harm.

As if wanting to corroborate that theory, Near's head turned to look at Mello and observe his expression. It was still suspicious that Mello had asked Near to come, and to meet Beyond Birthday, no less.

But Near trusted Mello.

Mello didn't move from his place on the chair while Beyond moved to accost Near. He didn't even blink an eye, as if it were just birds spiraling around outside when it was, in fact, a serial murderer preying on the boy he'd grown up alongside. But they'd been taught not to be friends, so who was he to treat Near as one.

He stood when he heard Near's back hit the wall and turned to look at him, eyes hardened with the hate of their recent ordeals and with hate for Near. He didn't know what to tell the boy. He'd known his reasons for arranging this, but he didn't expect B's aggression to escalate this quickly. He reasoned that it would likely level out when he realized that the plan was not to end Near's life.

He wanted to tell Near that he'd brought this on himself.

"Why are you staring at me with such a scary expression, Nate?" B asked, moving to sit on his knees as he watched Near.

"We're only going to...play. You like games and toys, don't you Nate? I used to see you playing even as a little kid. All by yourself..." B reached in to his pocket and pulled out a kitchen knife. It wasn't spectacularly long, but it was sharp and effective for what had to be done.

"I'll share my toy with you, Nate River, we can play together." He let his tongue slide over the metal, a wild look in his eyes.

Mello's expression was quite eloquent. Betrayal was written all over his poisonous features, in the cold wall Near was touching, even in the air he breathed. Near noticed he had a heart when B displayed the kind of toy the man enjoyed playing with - a very large and unsanitary kitchen knife. Near didn't remember the last time his heart had been beating this hard, but his composure was never lost.

"I see... so that's how things are," he said, referring to Mello, yet staring at the knife. It was strange that Mello was planning on allowing another person to do to Near the things he might have dreamed to do himself, but then again, it was a curse day. For all he knew, Mello could have become B's slave for the time being.

Time to assess the situation again.

The door wasn't too far, perhaps Near could try to run towards it. On the other hand, trying to escape might be futile, considering how weak his knees felt and the fact his body was paralyzed. It was likely that any attempt to run away would end up in punishment. Not like he wasn't going to be punished anyway.

In other words, this was bad.

When the knife came out, Mello's expression seemed to change entirely to one of distress and surprise. He pulled his gun from between the cushions and in one swift movement, stood beside B, leveling it to his temple.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He demanded, gun hand jerking around some and spit coming from his mouth as he shouted. "This wasn't in our fucking arrangements, B."

B didn't react as if he was shocked. In fact, he only gave Mello a slight chuckle and a rather flat look. "Ahhh... I'm only going to rough him up a little, Mello. I won't hurt him..."

His gaze snapped back to Near and he smirked with his eyes. "...Much."

It was now or never. Near used the slight confusion Mello had created with his performance to run to the door, almost falling over due to his weak knees.

Whatever their agreement had been, it wasn't anything good. Only a fool wouldn't know what B's plans were, and L had stated that he'd told Mello the BB case once.

"You won't fucking hurt him at all, or did you miss that part?" Mello returned with venom in his tone. When Near moved for the door, Mello knew that B's first instinct would be to follow. He pulled back the hammer on his gun but he didn't fire, merely kept it ready and instead reached back with his gun hand and swung at B, catching him in the side of the cheek.

B's whole body followed the movement of the gun, turning him until he spun to face Mello. He spat out some blood on to the floor, his tooth having scratched his gums. Near was forgotten now, because Mello had betrayed him.

"That wasn't very nice, Mihael..."

And he sprung forward quickly, crashing in to Mello as he stabbed the knife deep in to his thigh.

The door was finally open, when Near heard the stabbing and turned around to look at the scene. If he didn't run away now, things would get worse for him, but for some reason he didn't want to just allow B to murder Mello. However, what could he do? He was helpless, and if Mello died, B'd go after him next. If there was someone who had brought this on himself, that was the blond.

Mello swore loudly as he backed up from the blow, nearly tripping over his own feet as he limped back, trying not to put strain on the leg for fear of further tearing the inside of it.

He reached down and braced a hand on the knife, turning his face away as he tore it out. His bit hard on his lip, making it bleed, but the knife was out and he could move freely again--if with a limp. He threw the knife aside and brought his gun back in front of him.

"Get out." He spat, "Get the fuck out or I will fucking shoot you."

B hurried after the knife as it skidded across the floor and picked it back up in his hand. "Funs just getting started." he said and lunged again. This time, he sprung up a little higher, a little faster, and the knife sunk straight through Mello's vest and in to the flesh of his chest. "Poor, poor Mihael..."

Near's large, blank eyes stared at the crimson coming from Mello's body, watching how life abandoned the blond with some kind of twisted and dark fascination. A moment later, he finally ran away.

The game was over. Matt'd know what to do, if he wasn't killed as well.

Mello's eyes went wide as he felt the first rush of blood start to trickle down his chest. It was hot. His head was pounding, and the room started to move. No, he realized, that wasn't the room moving. His body was swaying and he took a shaky step back. He touched a hand to his chest and looked down at it. That was definitely blood. He tried to inhale, but his chest seized up. The knife must have . . . had to have pierced his lung. Knicked it.

He couldn't sum the thoughts into one statement, but he wavered and grabbed onto the wall to stay standing as long as possible. His gun misfired as it hit the floor, but it was aimed away from the three of them. His head tipped back and slammed into the wall, causing him to groan loudly. He slid down against it, letting his legs give out--the blood had stopped trying to reach them. So hot . . . he couldn't breathe. His vision tunneled. Tunneled until it went entirely black and all he could hear was B's laughter.

"Fuck . . . you." He whispered hoarsely with the last of his energy. His hands sank to his sides as his head rocked forward, limp.

B laughed and laughed and laughed as he watched Mello struggle, trying to cling to life. It was always hilarious to see the body giving it's last failing efforts to preserve the life in them.

And then, when it was done, B stopped laughing abruptly and set to work. He was meticulous in his cleaning of the apartment, leaving behind no trace he'd been there as he shut and locked the door from the inside.

He opened the window and slipped out on to the fire escape, closing it behind himself before taking off, back towards his own apartment.

It had taken him a while to find a movie that Mello would like, but now Matt's shopping was done and he was on his way home. It would be nice to spend a day relaxing - he didn't seem to be cursed for once, and so he and Mello could just settle down and enjoy themselves. He had even managed to find one of Mello's favorite brands of chocolate. It was going to be a good day.

And so it was all the more horrifying when he opened the door to find Mello's corpse on the ground.

He knew that he should scan around the apartment, make sure the killer wasn't still present. He knew there were a million cautionary steps he should take to protect himself. But all of that was forgotten as he ran to kneel by Mello's side.

"Mello... Mello!" He shook the man's body gently, even though he knew it was hopeless. The wound was too deep. There was too much blood.

It was over.

And Matt hadn't been there to help.

He found that he was starting to sob as he collapsed over Mello's body.

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