Death Note
Goddess of the Unfaithful
Budapest, Paris
A Death Note… a notebook of death?
Ami's apartment was one of many stacked on top of one another, the stacks formed walls. Budapest Apartments were scenic from the outside. If a civilian walked into her courtyard from the city streets, he'd be surrounded by apartments lined with thin vegetation. The courtyard itself was filled with park benches and flowers that shine a vibrant hue of taste up to her third story window. Ami didn't care for the view, she knew the insides of every apartment here were mediocre; anything rich was spilled out into the courtyard before this thing was even built.
Her previous home wasn't like this; her previous home looked horrible from the inside out. What it resided over wasn't anything special either, just a simple family living on paycheck to paycheck. It wasn't until Ami's father died when everything started going to hell and that home looked more and more like a nightmare. It was almost a dream for her to be in Paris, the city of love. She wished her parents were there with her. Not for their sakes, but for theirs.
Above the courtyard were three catwalks that connected a couple of walls at a time. If any civilian were to walk inside Ami's remote garden sanctuary, they would probably see something fall from the sky and land on the very first connecting bridge on the third floor. At the time, it was raining, and rain still paddled on the roof far above her head. A crack of lightning exploded just as she carefully guided herself across to pick whatever fell from the sky. It was a notebook, black on both covers, the title being Death Note written in scratchy white letters.
"Excuse me!" Ami shouted from the catwalk to the surrounding apartments, no answer. "Oh uh," she repeated to herself nervously "excuesez-moi!" Her French still wasn't very good, being new to the country. But she knew that English was a common tongue practiced in this area, surely someone around her would be listening to either pronunciation. No head peered from any window; Ami figured she'd just stick it in the lost and found down in the lobby.
As she waited for her elevator, she flipped to the inside cover and found a detailed list of instructions on this "Death Note" and how it could actually be used for murder. Ami was puzzled, almost completely intrigued. The elevator yawned ajar and met nobody.
Aunt Maurice was out, probably getting more cigarettes; Ami tossed the notebook on her small student desk and went into the bathroom to wash off the rain. Her full name was Amelia Nightingale and she was originally Canadian until the incident. Now her Aunt takes care of her, at least for a year until she graduates high school and moves on with her life insurance money.
Ami kept her scalp hidden under a black ski-cap, her long brown hair laid flat down her back. Usually she wore small black glasses, but the rain rendered them useless. If her face grew any longer, others would compare it to a horse. Freckles were prominent on the right side of her face; they only showed off her crisp green eyes even more.
A desk light flipped on, and the inside cover of the notebook was flipped open.
"The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die." Ami started to read aloud to herself, the contents were numbered as if it were planned out ahead of time. "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected." Good lord this was thorough, a lengthy list of roughly thirty or so items followed, all listing steps on how to kill someone with this book.
"I love these things" Ami thought to herself, "so imaginative, I wish it actually worked." She reviewed the items once more; it didn't seem to be hard to do. Just write someone's name down while thinking of their face, not a problem. What imagination Ami had been always been gifted with, she caught up to again and remembered her biggest fantasy, her mothers regret. "If it weren't for her selfishness, I wouldn't be stuck here." Of course she didn't actually wish for her demise, but it was fun to wring her neck in her dreams. Ami didn't consider herself crazy; she couldn't have been the first child ever to dislike their parents.
She took a pen from a cup next to her desk light. Maybe she'll call her up on the phone; it apparently only takes forty seconds for someone to die of a heart attack if you just write their name down. With her right hand, she scribbled the name "Lorelei Nightingale".
"Do maiden names count?" She thought to herself "oh whatever, I'm thinking about this too much." With her left hand, she dialed her mother's cell phone. It was long distance, she didn't care. There was about a six-hour time difference, she didn't care. Of course she wasn't going to mention the Death Note, but just to yell at her once more for dumping her father.
"You horrible witch," the image of her mother burned her very brain, "you killed my father, why couldn't you stay with him. How could you do this to me!" The other line rang, and rang, and rang. It had only been about fifteen seconds since she wrote her name down. Ami almost forgot about the notebook completely.
Once the other end finally picked up, she was almost in a fit of rage. A groggy voice came from the line. "What, Ami." It was stern, and very cold. Her mother knew that Ami doesn't just call to chat, and she could hear her trembling from across the planet.
"Mom", Ami didn't actually know what to say, she just needed to hear her say something. What judgment she could imply on the fate of her family would be conceived through the impending wrath of Shinigami. Her words wouldn't come across; her emotions couldn't convey the scar that she had left her. Ami wasn't a sheltered kid and hardly lived a bad life. So when her parents separated, it started the biggest devastation in her entire life. Her father killed himself in a fit of rage on the highway. His lifespan bore into his killer, what remained of it bred a graveyard for the similarly fated.
"What Ami!" This time it was harsher, "what could you say now that I don't already know?"
"I hate you!" Ami sobbed at the phone. Thirty nine seconds in, Ami got the last word. She had forgotten entirely about the Death Note, but it granted her wish. On the other line, she heard a faint crash, and a skitter. It sounded like glass exploding on cement, followed by sparks and grinding metal. Her mom had fallen, hard, and Ami could almost hear a gargled scream.
A shinigami's power was bided by mortal request. An aching woman held the greatest power in the universe. All at once she felt the greatest sense of freedom, but the mightiest burden most people could never handle.