Ache

Ch 11

"Before you do this..."
Hm?
Why...? Why did she... feel so... tired... so very, very... sleepy...?
And...
Whose voice was that?
Was that.... Mika?
"Can you tell me the reason? I mean, why would you go out of your way to do... something like this... for someone like me?"
Mika? Who was he talking to? And what did he mean by 'do this', do what exactly?
Mi...ka...
Huh?
Why wouldn't her voice work? Why didn't her words come out?
"You."
A soft sigh. A small sound really, like the whisper of cool wind on a fresh autumn night against her skin. But filled with such emptiness. An aching, terrible emptiness. Tired it seemed of all the emptiness it'd known but also laced with streaks of hope.
"Surely you know how... special you are. You, who exudes the purest of lights and a warmth that would soften even the coldest of beasts. You who has the one thing I- that we all yearn for: life."
She frowned or she'd like to think she did... could she even move? She struggled against the heavy waters of sleep. The ones that undulated and wrapped and caressed all over her... drowning, drowning, drowning and filling her to the brim. Her head swam. Her chest felt warm and tight. And even though she should've been alarmed or scared... she wasn't. And even though she didn't understand what was going on or why it felt like she was floating, she was lucid enough to agree with that description of Mika. But how did that person know how Mika was and what he made others, her in particular, feel?
Because Mika was a light. She'd said it and thought of him as much. He was like a slender beacon of warmth and dazzling light. No matter how bad she felt, how tired, how angry or watered down by life- one single smile from Mika and her worries simply vanished. She'd feel happier, warmer and oh so full of life when near him...
and now here was someone describing Mika to a 'T'. Someone she didn't know but who was asking something of Mika... something that seemed too precious to give.
What worried her however was what he'd said: 'yearn', what the hell did that mean?
"I'm sorry. I don't think of myself like that and I don't think you should either... you don't even know who I am-"
"I don't have to know you to know that I need you."
What?! Geez... why couldn't she move...?!
"You are my salvation."
Mika was...?
Wait a minute, where the hell was Reed?
Why wasn't he there... protecting Mika? And why couldn't she move? Why couldn't she speak? Why couldn't she see or do anything?
"If... if I go with you, will you promise to leave my friends alone and let them live? Will you promise to leave them be and never go after them again?"
What? Mika...
Just what did he mean by that? Go where? And what exactly did he mean by let them live? Just what was going on?
Mika!
"I could kill them you know. In the mere blink of an eye and take you... I could do it without you even knowing what happened until it was too late."
Her heart sped. Her tongue felt dry.
Someone chuckled softly. Shakily.
"But you won't, will you?"
Silence.
"You won't risk it. If it's how you say and you really do need me... you'll take me on my terms."
Mika...
What was going on...?!
"Because even if it's with every fiber of my being, even if I know that  it won't do any good, even if you might kill me- I will never stop trying to get away from you."
Nina's chest tightened and she felt the sting of fresh tears. Mika... he was trying so hard to be brave but she knew better. He was terrified. And her heart went out to him. That was just like him, to choose to take everything on his own if it meant others wouldn't get involved or hurt.
It seemed like an eternity of deafening silence before the other finally spoke.
"Hoh, so you're not just a pretty face."
She could practically see Mika smiling bitterly. Could practically see the defiance reflected in those gold and blue eyes of his. She could imagine him biting his tongue, prolonging the silence, making the other take the bait.
"Tsk. Fine. Anything you want and it's yours."
A long, long time went by in total silence. And even through those warm waters she was struggling through, even through the heavy blanket of slumber wrapping itself tighter around her, keeping her from surfacing... she knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. And that she had to do something, say something- anything to keep Mika from doing something stupid. And just when she struggled the hardest, when it felt liked she would finally break through Mika let out a soft breath.
"Can I say goodbye at least... before we go?"
Her heart splintered. Cracked into a million fissures until one by one the shards broke off and filled her chest with the sharp cutting pieces of her broken heart.
Tears. Those hot paths carving their way down her cheeks were tears.
Every breath she was finally allowed to swallow was like a knife cutting her from the inside.
No Mika... No...!
"I don't know if you guys are conscious enough to hear me, I'd like to believe you are, that at least some of my words get through to you, but then again I think it would be easier- no, better if you weren't... that way at least I'd know you wouldn't be hurting...."
Sniffles. So soft but there nonetheless. And she knew that he too was hurting. She knew Mika's heart was breaking. After a few moments of trying to reign his soft sobbing in Mika finally cleared his throat.
"I have to go, Nina... Reed... Not because I want to but because it the only way to make sure you guys are safe."
His voice... God how hard he must be trying to keep it from shaking, from letting it show just how much he was hurting, how scared.
"You two have always protected me, watched over me and for that I am grateful... heh. Now it's my turn though. My turn to be your hero. I want to protect you two just as you've always protected me."
She could hear the silent tears sliding down his cheeks now and oh how it made her howl with sorrow and pain. How it made her want to scream and tear out the eyes of whoever was making Mika go through all that pain and suffering. Desperately she clawed at the thick waters still holding her down. But all to no avail. No matter how hard she fought, she didn't move.
"Nina, my dear friend. I will miss you. Your whining, your complaining, your sweet overprotective ways and your red hot firecracker like temper. Thank you for always being there Nina, for treating me like a person, a friend and not just some delicate, frail creature. Take care of yourself and please... "
His soft voice cracked along with her already broken heart.
"Please, watch over Reed for me. Please."
He choked back a sob. "He needs so much for someone to... watch over him, to care for him, to make him smile..." Mika was crying now. Soft, gentle sobs that filled her heart and soul with such sadness. 
"And Reed... I love you Reed. So much. So much so that every time I see you or even just think about you it feels like my heart is going to explode. It's enough to make me believe that it is possible to die from happiness..."
Mika sniffed. Swallowed muffled sob after muffled sob.
"Pretty corny huh?"
Another sniffle. A shaky breath.
"I don't care though Reed. I know I don't tell you this enough out of embarrassment and from fear that I'll be made fun of or simply because I know I'll explode and die... but I don't care now. Know this Reed: you are my very special person. The only one in the entire world and no matter where I am or what happens you always will be until the day I die."
Her soul cried for Mika. For Reed. For what was happening. Her heart ached. Her eyes stung and bled fire down her cheeks.
She heard shuffling. Clothes rustling, bare feet padding softly on cold linoleum floors. Then as if a spell had broken, the hold on her and her body vanished. She felt herself falling, falling, falling until her face met with the hard cold floor. Sweet, cool hospital air rushed into her, flooded her lungs. Her once swimming head now pounded so hard she could taste the beat of it on her tongue. Her throat ached and throbbed.
She felt... alive. And she was hurting badly. Not as bad as Mika though...
"Mika..."
Her trembling eyelids slowly opened and she found herself squinting against the harsh glow of moonlight streaming through the open window blinds. The room lights were off and the room would've been plunged in darkness had it not been for the glow of the moon. Her blurry vision slowly grew into focus until the dark, blurry shapes in the room with her came into focus.
It was Mika, in the white hospital shirt and bottoms that hung off of his small slender frame. Nina frowned to find the person he'd been speaking with the entire time was the same one who'd torn a hole in Mika's throat. The very same one who'd been filled with lead bullet after lead bullet only a few days earlier.
"What... the... fu..." She gasped.
"Mika... don't... leave..."
Her throbbing eyes widened.
Reed. Where was he? And why did he sound like he'd been through hell and back.
"Don't go... Mika..."
Reed...
"I can't... lose you..."
Someone sucked in a sharp breath.
"Please..."
Tears stung her eyes. She struggled to sit, to move at least but her body was hurting too much. It felt as though she'd been run through a wood chipper.
But even so, she bit her lip until she tasted blood. Until at least her arms pushed her body up enough to see the scene before her.
She sucked in a breath. The tears that'd pooled at the corners of her eyes flooded over until they ran freely down her cheeks.
"Oh my god... Reed," Her voice was hoarse. Cracked and muffled from the tears sliding down her face.
He was nailed to the wall.
His arms. His legs. Even the sides of his neck. Long, blood splattered thin metal rods impaled the soft flesh of his neck, the sides of his arms and legs, holding him, pinning him crucified to the wall before her. His dark blood oozed out of him in steady streams to pool in a glistening puddle just below his feet.
How did... 

Nina turned back to stare with wide, disbelieving eyes at the young slender man standing beside Mika. The one with deep bruises ringing his eyes and almost translucent skin that rivaled the silver glow of the moon above them. His hands were completely drenched in blood, his pale face splattered with dark droplets here and there, even his shirt was dotted with Reed's blood. 

Nina felt her own blood rush from her cheeks. Felt her chest heave and her veins fill with lead.

Just who was that guy?! What was he?!
"Haa... haa... Mika-"

Nina turned to the pinned form of Reed. Her sight grew blurry from the tears pooling there. Fuck...

There was a wet sound coming from deep in his throat. As if it were filled with the last dredges of blood that hadn't yet drained out of him. And yet despite it all, despite how much physical pain he might've been in, how much it had to be killing him to breathe much less speak; nothing compared to the pain reflected in his his eyes as he stared hard at Mika.
Even with blood running into one of his eyes while the other was so swollen it was nearly closed shut Reed still managed to stare at his trembling lover and smile tenderly. As if to say, 'It's okay, I'll keep you safe' 
He struggled again the rods pinning him against the wall. "I need you Mika... haa... haaa... to stay... with me..."
Nina watched with trembling eyes as Mika slowly reached for his bloody battered lover and held her breath as his trembling fingertips nearly grazed Reed's pale, blood flecked cheek.
And then just as his fingers nearly touched Reed he pulled back as if he'd been burned.
"I... "
He whispered in a quiet trembling voice.
"I- I am so sorry Reed."
Words so soft she could barely hear them but whose meaning and deep emotion pierced her just the same as if she'd had.
"No... No...! Please! Stop! Mikaaa!"
But it was too late.
The boy, who'd all this while stood back  to watch from the shadows, took hold of Mika, his small frame held tightly in this one's arms, and jumped straight out of the now opened window streaming cool night air and moonlight into the room. They fell in silence, soaring down a full twenty stories down to disappear into the deep inky blue night.

Silence. Everything seemed to stop. The sound, the air, time as Nina and Reed watched helplessly as Mika and the bloodied boy vanished into the night. How long the two just stared at the open window, almost willing Mika to reappear, they couldn't say. It could've been seconds, minutes, even hours.

The silence the two had left behind though was all too quickly pierced by Reed's beast like cries of pain and fury.