Chapter Eighteen – Completion

In a silver chain
Of evening rain,
Unravelled from the tumbling main,
And threading the eye of a yellow star
So many times do I love again.

-Thomas Lovell Beddoes

When love is not madness, it is not love. -Pedro Calderon de la Barca

It seemed strange to Erin how Mello's emotions could shift and fluctuate like the tide. Often, he kept his body calm, never outwardly displaying anything. But, it was said that the eyes were the windows to the soul.

It was especially true in Mello's case now when he gazed down at Lucky Lady who lay writhing in agony on the cold concrete floor, a puddle of blood now spilling out over her face. His eyes had narrowed to mere slits and with a sudden ferocity aimed a kick directly at the woman, digging his boot into her side.

"Worthless." he snapped, spitting mere inches away from her face. "You are nothing. Ubiĭtsa."

With a slow kind of deliberation, Mello pulled his grenade from the woman's lips, smiling lightly when she glared at him.

Then, a low cackle slipped from her lips.

"You'll get yours soon, mafia prince." she spat. "You'll be engulfed in flames. You're no better than me. You and I, we do the same things."

Mello's eyes shifted to where both Erin and Matt stood and with a cold sigh, he pocketed the grenade again.

"Get out." he said quietly.

Both she, and Matt glanced at each other and a sudden spark of clarity revealed to Erin what Mello had planned. He would kill Lucky Lady without batting an eye.

"Mello!" Erin said frantically, "What are you going to do? Killing her won't help anything. We should let the police handle this."

Mello's face suddenly contorted in rage, "Blogger what the hell am I going to say? It's code, you live in the mafia, and you'll die in the mafia."

"Just leave her then!" she pleaded, "Layla's alive, what more do you want?"

"She killed my family!" Mello spat viciously, "Do you have any idea what that's like? Do you? I listened to my mother die above my head and watched my father bleed to death. She's made me think the only person I had left was dead too. I was merciful, Top Cat was the only one I wanted. I killed him and left her to live. I will not make that mistake again."

"So you think killing her will ease your pain?" Erin exclaimed, looking quite troubled. "Mello, even if you kill her, you will never bring back your mother!"

"Then I'll keep her from destroying someone else's mother." He shot Matt a pleading look, "Please, can you both just go?"

Wordlessly, Matt dragged Erin out the door. She shot Mello one last, pleading look before allowing Matt to shut the door behind her.

The goggled boy seemed oddly unperturbed by Mello's display of violence. He fished a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, inhaling deeply.

His casualty towards the event made her angry. "How can you obey him like that?" she spat. "He's about to take someone's life!"

Matt pulled the cigarette free from his lips, then shot her a look that seemed to be a mixture of both pity and sadness.

"He's done it before."

Fierce anger boiled in her chest. "Oh, so I guess that makes it okay? He's killed someone before, so it's okay to do it again?"

"Erin," he muttered, taking another drag off the cigarette. "Look, this is bigger than you. I keep trying to tell you that. You saw what happened at the house, you saw that Lucky Lady was framing you, you saw what she did to that Maria girl and her brother."

"Still!" she said, "I don't want her to die, I don't want anyone to die."

He inclined his head towards her, "Mello doesn't either."

"Then why is he killing her?"

"Look, Erin...Mello's dad was a huge mafia boss in Russia. They called him the "Mafia King" But, he was honorable to an extent, lent money to the poor, protected those who needed it. I mean, he even lent my parents money once before they croaked. Lucky Lady and Top Cat killed Mello's parents because Mello's father refused to sell drugs in Russia.

Top Cat and Lucky Lady play dirty. They have no honor regarding mafia code, Mello's father would have never let someone like that walk the streets."

"That's no excuse..." Erin said softly, letting out a small sigh.

"Well," Matt said after a moment, "There's nothing you, or I can do about it now. The mafia has a strict code. People like Mello are born in it, and they'll die in it as well."

The room fell quiet, and Erin let out a shuddering sigh. Mello had been born into a world of death and hatred, and nothing could pry him from it. It hung over him like a shroud.

A moment later, the blond man stepped out from the door and she suppressed a shudder. He did not meet either Matt's eyes or her own.

"Layla's alive?" he said after a moment, seeming almost desperate to break the silence.

"Y-yeah." she replied.

"Where is she?"

Erin faltered, "...I don't know."

Now, Mello looked quite perplexed, "You don't know?"

Erin shook her head, locks of hair fluttering around her face. "No. I only saw the footage from the harbor, it didn't show where Layla was going afterwards."

"God damn it!" Mello swore, moving to kick the door roughly with his boot. "God damn it. I've got to find her."

"She's probably still here." Matt chimed in suddenly. "No way Lucky Lady would have killed her after you already think she's dead..."

"Then...then we start looking. Split up." Mello replied.

"What about light?" Matt asked, "It's dark here, except for the flashlight and the room you were in."

Wordlessly, Mello fished out three keychain flashlights and handed one to both Erin and Matt, "Now, start looking."

The three of them ran off in separate directions, and Erin began examining every nook and cranny of the nightclub, calling Layla's name periodically as loud as she could.

The nightclub was surprisingly slick and clean, with several alternate doors that led to empty rooms or were just filled with boxes. Probably Lucky Lady's drug collections or something else Erin had no interest in.

After walking around the nightclub for what seemed like hours, Erin was beginning to suspect that Lucky Lady really had killed Layla out of pure spite.

"Lay-Layla! Goddamn it! Where are you?" she called horsely, waving the small flashlight in every corner.

Nothing, just silence.

Then, a tiny cough erupted from behind a pile of boxes.

"Layla?" she called, swiveling around to the direction of the noise. She rushed to the noise, and surprisingly found Layla tied, her mouth bound with a bandana.

Crawling down, Erin pulled her mouth free from the cloth and wrapped the girl in a hug.

"Oh, god, Layla...we...we thought you died!" Tears were now beginning to seep from her eyes, spilling out onto the brown of Layla's hair.

"Erin, calm down." Layla murmured, her voice soft. "Is...is Mello okay?"

Even while tied up she's worried about that damned kid. Erin thought, letting out a small sigh.

"He's fine." Erin said gently, not wanting to worry Layla further. "Are you hurt?"

Layla shook her head, "No, I'll be okay...where's Lucky Lady?"

At the mention of the mafia woman's name Erin's throat tightened considerably.

"Dead." she said, her voice thick.

Layla's brow furrowed as Erin spoke, and a sudden sharp understanding passed through the two of them.

"Oh." Layla said softly as Erin finished untying her hands. "Mello...killed her, didn't he?"

She gave the Estonian woman a curt nod, then shuddered.

Her fingers suddenly found Erin's shoulders in the dimness of the flashlight.

"It's what had to be done."

How could both Matt and Layla say that? How could they both feel that taking a life in such a manner was a necessary evil? Once again, Erin was struck with the idea that all of them, even Lucky Lady were just victims of circumstance.

"Come on," Layla said once she had untied her feet and stood. "We should find the others."

The two women made their way out of the room, Erin's small flashlight lighting their path.

Erin called Mello's name several times until seemingly by accident, Matt ran into her, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"Oh, sorry." he said after a moment, helping Erin to her feet, "Any luck finding-" then his eyes caught sight of Layla.

Wordlessly the goggled man rushed forward, sweeping the young girl into a bone crushing hug.

"We were so worried!" he said, breathlessly. "I don't know how we'd survive without you. Mello...oh god, Layla...he was beside himself with worry."

Though she had not seemed particularly emotional in front of Erin, now at the sight of Matt small tears were beginning to spill down her cheeks. Erin suspected that the tears might not have been just because of Matt but the mention that Mello was worried for her.

"Come on," Matt said, once he had finished hugging his friend, "Mello's down here."

He led the two girls down the darkened hallway and past several doors until Erin caught sight of Mello's blond hair glinting in the light.

"Mello," Matt said suddenly, making Mello's head whip in their direction, "We found her."

Mello's bright blue eyes flickered past both Matt's and Erin's faces until they settled on Layla, who was sheepishly looking down at her hands. She seemed unable to raise her head up to gaze at him.

Mello's eyes softened at the sight of her. It seemed strange, as if watching ice melt, with the way his face seemingly relaxed.

In an instant, he was pulling Layla against him, running his hands through her hair. He seemed oddly stiff and silent however, his face strangely passive. He would never show his worry to her, it would remain, a secret between both Erin and Mello.

He pulled away from her, pulling off his fur lined coat and wrapping it tightly about her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

Layla sniffled slightly and nodded, wiping away at tears that were crawling down her cheeks.

"Good." Mello said, "We'll go home."

The four of them made their way out of the treacherous nightclub. Mello's arm was wrapped tightly about Layla's shoulders and Erin wondered if he would ever tell her how much she really meant to him.

Perhaps it was like Layla had said, Mello would tell her when the time came, when she was ready to know.

Mello was once again, in control of things as usual. He called someone to pick up Layla's car that she and Matt had driven in, and they all squished into Mello's car.

When they were in Mello's car, Layla snoozing quietly underneath Mello's coat, Erin noticed that they weren't heading in the usual direction to the apartment. Instead, they were turning down an unfamiliar path, somewhere she didn't exactly recognize.

"Guys?" she said softly "Where are we going?"

"Your apartment." Mello said shortly biting into his chocolate with a snap. "Since you're of no use to us."

Excitement welled up in Erin's chest. She'd get to see her family again, get a chance to write. And yet, even with the knowledge she was going home, she felt a strange twinge of sadness. She'd miss them, her friends.

They were all friends now after all, even Mello, he was decent, in his own right.

When they finally arrived at her apartment, Erin had a hard time forcing herself to get out of the car. She almost didn't want to leave them.

She slid out of the car carefully, glancing back at Mello who

Matt stood outside of her door, fishing in his pocket to hand her the key.

Tears were beginning to well at the edge of Erin's eyes again and she wrapped the red haired man in a hug.

"You...you watch out for yourself okay?" she sniffled, "I won't tell the police..."

Matt did not hesitate to pull her into a hug. "We know. We should...I don't know, get a shake sometime. We'll know where to find you."

Erin smiled and nodded. "I'd enjoy that a lot Matt. Thank you."

The redhead nodded, "No problem. Anytime you need to be dragged away from your home, you know who to call."

The two of them laughed, and Erin looked back at the car, "Mello's not coming?"

Matt offered her an easy smile and shrugged, "He's not good with saying goodbye. To be honest, I think he feels a bit guilty for involving you in all of this."

She gave the redheaded man one last, final hug before watching him disappear in Mello's Ferrari.

Wordlessly, she opened the door to her apartment and was relieved to find it exactly the way it had been left. She was home again, back in the world she belonged to.

Although Mello had not come to tell her goodbye, Erin found his presence in her life periodically. When she had gone back to her landlord to pay the fee for her missing month of rent, the man had told Erin that someone else had already paid a year's worth of rent.

She had been flabbergasted and had demanded to know who had done the strange act of kindness.

Her landlord had simply shrugged, and had given her a description of a blond young man with a scar on his face.

Strangely, Mello's acts of generosity did not stop there. He often mailed her information on scandals and drug busts, obviously having men involved in these things. It was because of this information too, that Erin was able to keep her job at the LA Sun as a reporter.

In the most strange way of all, Erin even owed Mello for somehow introducing her to a new beau. She had stopped at the bookstore one evening to pick up, of all things, a copy of Lolita. She had been quite curious to know why Mello had put so much stock into the seemingly odd book. She found the tale less about pedophilia and more about the want of something or someone, forbidden. A concept that Mello was all too familiar with.

Erin had been so engrossed in her book, that she hadn't even realized she'd walked into someone.

The man's name was Stephen Loud. To be truthful, Stephen was everything Mello was not, kind, gentle, and above all exceedingly patient and fun. Privately, Erin adored him, although a vague sense of bravado kept her from admitting her feelings, at first.

Yet, she found herself understanding Layla's desperate loyalty, the way a single word from Mello would make her face light up. Those hot, forbidden kisses strangely like the one she had witnessed. Kisses that stuck her feet to the floor.

Stephen leaned over, and placed a delicate kiss on Erin's cheek as they lounged lazily on the couch.

A movie was on the television, The Godfather. Every so often, Erin would giggle at the sight of the debonair mafia boss, privately relishing the idea of Mello being this character.

When Stephen's fingers tangled in her hair, Erin smiled softly, almost seeming a little shy as she leaned against his chest, the thick smell of pine enveloping her nose.

"You know," Stephen said, "I've been thinking..."

"Always a dangerous pastime." she countered teasingly.

"I know," he said gently, "But being with you, is like being shot with Cupid's Arrow, and being overjoyed every single time it hits."

She couldn't help but wonder if at that exact moment, a young blond man was thinking the very same thing about someone else.

A/N: So it's finally finished. I'm so sorry it took so long to get this last chapter up. To be truthful, I hadn't wanted the story to end, I wanted to write it forever. But, at the same time, I'm glad it's over too. I'm going to be finishing up The Dark Hour as well so stay tuned for that.

Huge thank you's go out to WhiteLadyDragon, who really helped me set this story in motion and allowed me the use of her wonderful character Erin. I appreciate your input more than you know. I'd also like to thank Sepsis and anyone else who reviews all my little stories. I love getting them, they truly make my day.

And most of all, thanks to you who has finished this entire story. I hope you read more of my work and constantly fill me with inspiration.

-I.M. Elizabeth