Death Note: the R Files

Ch1: Beginnings

'This world is useless,' I thought to myself as I looked out the window of the Trigonometry class. My whole life, I saw the world as a vile, whoreson hell whose evil I had to feel everyday. 'I wonder why this world has to suffer for the sins of those who make it wretched. They should suffer.'

As I looked out even more, ignoring the things that the other classmates were saying, I saw something fall from the sky. It looked like a blue notebook, and it had something written on it. I couldn't read what it said, but it landed in the middle of the grassy courtyard near the middle of the campus. 'What the hell?' I asked myself.

That corrupted bell rang, and I headed out of the class like I always did for the last three years. I, a senior of Gulfport High, got tired of this place everyday, and it felt like the same crap ever since I got here. But today, it feels different.

Scanning the grassy area, I spotted the notebook and walked to it. As I picked it up, I notice that the book had two languages written for the title, but I read the one that stood out. 'Death Note? What kind of sick joke is this?' This is really the most interesting day here that I have ever experienced.

I looked around, seeing if anyone saw the notebook. No one did, so I put it in my duct tape messenger bag and went to my next class. 'If this is just a prank to pull on someone, it should probably never be known about.'

- 4:30 pm, Home -

I walked through the door, expecting to see my mother at home, but I only saw my cats. I got one of them to purr and then I had to feed those innocent creatures. "So, let's see what this notebook is," I said to myself, though one of the pets meowed in excitement.

I opened it, and sat down on the couch. I only wanted to take a quick look before I trashed it. On the first page, I read this: "The name who's written in this note shall die." "If you write the name of a person while seeing his/her face, he/she shall die." "After the name is written, the person shall die in 40 seconds."

'Interesting,' I thought to myself. 'If someone wrote all this just for a prank, then the prank must have been either very elaborate, or stupid.' I had to head to my room, so I could finish the first few pages. I got up, grabbed a Twinkie, and locked the door behind me.

"If the cause of death is not written, the person will simply die of a heart attack." "If the cause of death is specified, you must write down how, where, and when it should happen within 6 minutes and 40 seconds." I looked up from this notebook that I read. 'This is so detailed, but could it really be true? A notebook that can kill?' I put the Death Note in my desk and lied down on my futon. 'It could be possible, but why would someone use this, whether for right or wrong?' I fell asleep after thinking of this.

- 6:37 pm, home -

I woke up, the Death Note still on my mind. I couldn't figure out why someone would create such a crazy book. I had to read more. So, I skipped a few pages and started reading. "A person using the Death Note shall be visited by a Shinigami, the owner of the Death Note, between 4 to 37 days." 'Wait,' I thought to myself, 'what's a Shinigami?' I continued. "The shinigami, or god of Death, who owns the Death Note will be recognized by his/her voice to the human using it." I stopped. 'A god of Death? Last time I checked, those didn't exist.'

I put the notebook back in the desk and exited my room. 'My day so far is bizarre,' I thought. 'First that notebook, and now my thoughts. This could be a message that I need to note, or it could be mediocrity.'

Dad pulled up, and I knew that I needed to get my homework finished before I watch the television. I pulled out the Trig book and flipped to the page that was given for work. I knew each question was easy, so I got started.

"Hey son," my father said, walking through the door. "Did I miss anything good on the football game tonight?"

"Let me check," I said, grabbing the remote and changing the channel to NBC. Apparently, the Saints were winning 35-21 against Green Bay. "Looks like you may win that bet again," noting that it was third quarter already.

"Awesome!" exclaimed my dad. "So, Ryan, are you almost done with your work? I want to see if your mother's praise of your cooking are correct."

"Just got two problems left," I told him, even though I had just one to go. "Anything in particular that you want to eat?"

"Anything works."

I continued my work and I finished within only seconds. I closed the book and my binder, and I headed straight for the kitchen. 'Lasagna Parmesan should probably do the job,' I thought. I readied the pit of heat and got started.

'Only thirty minutes left,' I thought. The smell of marinara and mozzarella drifted throughout the kitchen. I set the timer and headed back to my room. I had to start my own studies on the notebook.

I opened the note and grabbed a pen. 'Now who should I eliminate? Should I rid the world of a psychotic killer, or just some petty felon?' I asked myself with thought. I turned on the TV and started to watch the news.

"This just in," the announcer started. "There has been a break-in at Franklin Bank near Hwy 53. The suspect, Johnathon Hertz, is holding six hostages as we speak." His face flashed on the screen, and I wrote his name. I looked at the clock. It read 6:52 with 20 seconds already in. 'Looks like I have to wait,' I thought.

The clock said 6:53 and I didn't hear anything yet. 'Looks like the Death Note is a farce.' I stood up from my desk and grabbed the remote. I almost turned it off, but stopped when I heard the reporter say, "What? The hostages are running out of the building unharmed!"

"What?" I asked myself in shock. I continued to watch.

"The hostages are fine!" the reporter continued. "SWAT is going in now with the local police to see what happened." There was a pause. "I can't believe it! The suspect is dead!"

"What the…" I said, shocked by what I just heard.

"It appears that the suspect died of heart attack! At least, that's what the coroner on the scene is saying." The reporter had no idea how this happened, but I had a good guess.

I looked back at the Death Note. The name was written, and the suspect became the victim of Death. "It can't really be possible, can it?" asked myself. I grabbed the note and put it back in the desk. I turned off the TV and exited my room, closing the door behind me.

- 8:14 am, the next day, GHS -

It seems everyone is talking about what happened last night. Everyone wants to say that it was pure luck that he died at the scene of his crime. Others say that it was a supernatural deity punishing his sins. I couldn't back up one or the other. Last night, I got rid of the idea that everything happens for a reason or coincidence.

I walked into my first class, Government, but I no longer recognized anyone in the room, except for the teacher and Katherine.

"Did you hear about what happened at the bank last night?" Katherine asked me, not knowing that I heard about it on the way there.

"Are you kidding? I saw the damn thing happen," I responded. I had to keep up my other persona that I learned to develop. "Was it luck for the hostages that he died right on the minute?"

"No joke. I would say that it was God, but it would be hard to believe that God would kill someone for something that 'common'," she continued.

I looked at my watch. '8:16,' I read. I guessed that I would have to wait until after school to test this 'Death Note' again. I doubt it would work, but I should try again, just to make sure.

- 4:09 pm, Hardy Court –-

The Play 'n' Trade was gone, but I still thought I could go to that location just because it was there. I walked into the store across from the clear building lot and grabbed a Monster energy drink. It was $3.99, but I wasn't there for shopping; I was there for another test.

I walked back outside and sat on the bench, looking as though I was waiting for someone. I pulled out the Death Note and grabbed one of the few pens that I had in my bag. I opened to the page that I wrote the criminal's name on and waited.

Sure enough, a motorcyclist drove up to one of the pedestrians, a young woman, and asked her if she would go out with him. She said no, since he looked like he was drunk enough to be killed, and I could smell his breath all the way from over here. He announced himself and got off the motorcycle, his eyes glowing with lust after her.

"Spencer Lyre. That guy again," I thought. I started to write his name, but I wrote a cause of death this time. It read:

Spencer Lyre: Dies by car accident

Tries to get himself into a woman by rape, but she escapes from him before he even gets started. She runs back to the store in front of her, and he pursues. He got hit by a car, speeding twenty-two miles over the limit. Dies 4:11 pm today.

Sure enough, I watched him. He got pretty close, but she punched him in the jaw and got away. Spencer rose up and pursued. He almost got her, but he got run over by a black Ford Focus. The woman ran in terror to me, and I held her, scared of what I've done.

'What the!' I thought. 'I've killed two people because of the Death Note!' I started to focus more on the person I was holding. The police showed up soon enough.

- 7:23 pm, house -

I was tired from the club, and from what I saw with the Death Note. 'Fridays are a pain in the butt,' I thought, but I couldn't get distracted. I fed the cats and headed to my room. I put the Death Note back in the desk and I went back to the kitchen.

"It really is what it says," I said to myself. Being home alone really helps when saying the obvious out loud. "But, what is the possibility of it showing up and getting in my hands? Maybe less than a millionth chance?" I knew it was less than that, but whatever. Now I needed to think of what I could do with the Death Note in the future.