A sharp pain came to my head as I sat in the darkness. I felt cloth on my face which could only mean I had been blindfolded. My limbs had gone numb, but as I struggled I could feel the rope's restraint as a woven pressure against my wrists and ankles. My hands were useless behind my back as there was nothing I could see that could possible lead to my escape. My only thoughts were that this couldn't be the police. This wasn't how they do their work.

I heard a dark chuckle as I fought more against what held me, to no avail. A quick slash was all it took and the cloth fell, but I jumped to find a bloodied, grinning face a mere inch away from mine. His hair was messy and black, his shirt simple and white despite the crimson stains and blue jeans to match. But … there was something lurking in his eyes. Something that was evil, indescribable. The familiarity was astounding. I had watched Death Note for months, read the books, and seen the movies. But none of that was real.

Coldly, he said to me, "Here I thought we'd have more in common. You don't seem that tough to me." He smirked and backed away some, moving to the other side of the room while fiddling with his knife.

I shook my head. "T-this isn't real …"

He turned his head me. "Oh, why couldn't it? Don't believe in the old Shinigami eyes?"

I shook my head again, rapidly this time. "It was just a cartoon I'd watch. It was c-cool, but n-nothing was real!" My eyes darted across the environment, a bright, breezy scene with the perfectly green grass laid under me. I wasn't taken that far after all. I'd say it was only one block away from my school. Rue certainly didn't take many steps to disguise his crimes.

He leaned against a fence, a grin spreading wider across his face. "You don't get it, do you?" He circled around me, eyeing me like the prey I was. "See, if I am real … the Death Note is real. The series is real. I mean, what better way to prevent hysteria than to convince people that Kira … never happened. That it was no more than a story?"

My eyes widened at the realization. If this was true, then I knew the case well. I knew Ryuzaki. I was forced to move tied up, hopping as I could to get away from this murderer. This seemed to only amuse him. In one swift movement he created a gash along my cheek, the fluid streaming down my neck and chest. He continued, "Oh yeah, it was all real. But see … if they didn't have an ending to my story, well, that wouldn't be nice to the geeks at home would it? So that part about Kira killing me when I was in prison? Yeah, they made that up."

Rue was so close to me. And these secrets he was sharing … I almost began to feel sympathetic towards him. But, he broke that feeling. With a swift kick I was on the ground with the blades of grass stinging as my head rolled to the side. I only managed to squeal out, "W-why?"

He lowered to my level. "I suppose you aren't talking about the cover-up scheme right now. Well, to put it simply, after all the pieces are picked up … you have to relocate somewhere right?"

I began to understand now, but couldn't say more. I was focusing all my strength to my restraints. Still, there came no salvation. He continued, "Now, I can't have another murderer drawing attention to my area. That just wouldn't be smart. You understand, right?" He flicked to knife again at my face, this times chipping away a bit of my left eye. My sight grew red but I felt no pain. The tears that I shed were colored crimson as I fought once more.

I couldn't help but kill them, don't you understand? Year after year of being mocked … it was my only freedom! I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. Yesterday … they just pushed me too far is all! I could change! I could be a good girl again! I ran away from what I had done, but what other option was there? Let them find me? No, no, this couldn't be happening. I would prefer an entire life of captivity to my death! Or would I? Was this some form of mercy? No, no, I needed to live. It was one mistake! One mistake I could have made up for!

He dragged the knife closer to my chest, lingering over where the heart would be trapped in the cage.

No. Please, no.

"I just can't afford anyone looking over my shoulder." He smiled, "You wouldn't have been that great a killer at any rate."

My eyes grew wide as the metal was shoved through. Again I felt no pain; it almost came as a relief. My heart steadily lost its beat as my red world turned black.