Disclaimer: I do not own DeathNote or any of its wonderful characters. I make no money from making this except getting a perverse kick out of it.

Pairings: L Lawliet/Yagami Raito, one sided- Beyond Birthday/Yagami Raito, Matt/Mello (more in the future)

Characters may be a bit OOC because this story is set in a totally Alternate Universe.

Got helpful ideas from both movies 'Rose Red' and 'The Haunting' (just a few similar ideas, not a crossover or anything like that.) Those movies are the best scary haunted house horror films ever! If you haven't seen them then after reading this and reviewing of course go rent them! They are great...and very helpful if you want to get the idea of where I got my idea of a plot from. This story is not based on those movies, it just may have similar references now and again. This story is it's own and is not based on anything! Besides there wasn't any hot steamy man sex in those movies...but there will be some here! XD

Genres: Romance/Horror/Supernatural/Drama/Mystery/Suspense/Angst/Hurt & Comfort

'' Thinking

"" Talking

Summary: Raito dislikes his job, being an assistant to a professor whose studies are less then normal may be fascinating but having an employer who works you to death isn't, but when his employer decides to experiment by taking a group of individuals to an old abandon rumored to be haunted mansion, Raito finds his job is a lot more interesting then he thought it would be…and more dangerous to. Raito never believed in ghosts or things that go bump in the night and he's certainty not afraid of some old house, but he soon learns that he should be…he should be very afraid.

---

"I hate that man! He does things like this just to make my life a living hell I just know it!"

Yagami Raito began to ranted and raved out loud to himself as he slammed his front door closed with as much force as possible and started to pace the length that made up his rather small apartment. He ripped off the red tie that hanged rather limply off his neck and threw down his brief case with controlled anger.

He had started working for the infamous Professor Roger Rvuie right out of high school. Graduating at the top of his class with the highest honors that could be achieved for his age group and then some, he had been hailed as one of the top students of Japan, the poster child for all white collared, upstanding families. Everyone including his own family either expected him to either end up in some high class collage or go straight to working for the police like his father…unfortunately it hadn't happened that way.

---

It happened right after his graduating ceremony, he had been feeling so free and cocky now that he was in at least society standards a full blown adult that he finally decided to show everyone who he really was...it hadn't been one of his better ideas he could now freely admit without giving into the urge to gag himself.

See it was like this…everyone was blindly in love with the image that he presented to the world around him. The Yagami Raito that got great grades, that had never disobeyed his parents, who was the prefect gentleman, the compassionate and understanding friend, the prefect helpful brother, the all prefect could-do-no-wrong son…it was the prefect mask.

The Mask…it was the facade that he had displayed and showed to everyone including his own family since the young age of 5, he remembered noticing then how much smarter he was then the other children his age, while they were whining about toys or crying over skinned knees, he had been inside reading some book or another and not some picture book with one or two words pre page, no these books had been filled with words, valuable information of the world around him.

He also never once cried as a child, he remembered once overhearing his mother telling his father about her concerns after an incident when he was younger, luckily he father just chalked it up to him trying to be a big boy. He had just turned 4 that day and unfortunately had fallen down the stairs; he had been absorbed in a language book, in the hope that in learning more complicated words he would be taken more seriously. He miscalculated his steps and fallen about 5 feet. He had sadly broken his arm in the process of trying to catch himself. He remembered his mother walking out of the kitchen to see what all the noise was about with his little sister in her arms. Her screams and shrieks hurt a hell of a lot more then a broken arm. She had thought he had broken his neck because of how silent he was laying on the ground not crying or screaming from the burning pain that he had been feeling.

He never cried, not when he broke it, not when they had to splint it, he never shed a single tear over the whole tedious mess.

After overhearing his mother worrying that there might be something wrong with him though he was much more careful, he stopped trying to show people who he really was, he stopped trying to be alone, he became more outgoing, less cold and much more approachable. He hides behind a mask of perfection, never letting his less then moral thoughts show through his smile.

So for almost 18 years he lived in this half life, a plastic bubble with painted smiles. It was no wonder he had a slight fear of clowns…they reminded him of himself.

It had been slightly overcast on his graduation day, the first promise of rain to come; maybe it was a premonition of what would happen. But at the time he didn't think about it or what it could mean, all he could think about was how wonderful it would feel to take off the mask or at least a little bit of it.

He father had decided to celebrate his son's special day with a night out, his mother and sister of course loved this idea and didn't object, Raito had wanted to have a nice quite evening at home where he could talk with his family without anyone overhearing…but decided that maybe in the slim chance his…outing didn't go as planned his family wouldn't pitch a fit in public.

How fucking wrong he had been…

They were still dressed in their best as Raito and his father were wearing sharp clean cute business suits and his mother and sister wearing nice fanciful dresses. Just like every other family that had come to the ceremony. His father had really gone all out for his family, they got one of the best seats in the four star restaurant, with a full view of everyone that was sitting around them…unfortunately that meant that everyone else could see them clearly as well.

"Oh Raito I'm so proud of you! I can't believe that my baby boys all grown up now…and you were class Victorian! That speech you made was so great I'm sure it inspired everyone to do great just as you do…I just know all those other parents were so jealous of me and your father…"

Raito's mother Yagami Sachiko was a housewife who had married at a very young age, so because of that she was prone to thinking in a very shallow way. When she had first noticed her newborn son's odd ways her first thought was about what the neighbors would think. Having a child with a disability would reflect that there must be something wrong with her and that she could not allow…luckily when she had taken her young son to a specialist all her fears had become unfounded…in fact finding out her son was some prodigy genius just made her want to squeal in joy. Just think about what the neighbors would say now, they would be so envious.

And she was right; Sachiko had become the center of attention from all the other moms in the area. She knew they were jealous and spiteful that it was her son that was special where their children were average at best.

She had never really tried to get to know her first born…she may have tried when he was a toddler but he had shunned all her affections so she had quit trying, luckily for her, her second child was a sweet normal little girl who seemed to at least appreciate her attention. Even when her son finally started to show some normal behavior in wanting her attention she was too focused on Sayu and Raito's grades to give him much.

Now her son finally was old enough to make some serious money, she just hopped that he didn't follow in his father's footsteps being a detective, even a Chief didn't rank up the dough that Sachiko dreamed of having.

So lost in her dream of her wonderful prefect son who in gratitude to her for being his mother would shower her and her daughter in priceless riches that she never once thought anything else would happen or what her son wanted to do with his life.

"Thank you mother, I do try."

Raito nodded his head at his day dreaming mother; it took all of his will power not to sneer at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking about. He had been 8 years old when he had stumbled onto her secret diary, when he had read it…well at that time had come as close as he could to really crying. Finding out that your mother only really saw you as some future money maker and somewhat of a freak…it had been hard to really grasp at the time.

After that he had worked extra hard at perfecting his mask, he couldn't let himself slip, not even once. So no matter how much he wanted to scream at her, hit her with his small fists, ask her why….why she thought like that…he didn't.

Because that was something that the Yagami Raito, child prodigy and prefect son would never do.

"Yea big brother's just the coolest; I bet all the girls were just positively drooling over you when you made that speech, yep I bet they were just wet..."

Sayu started to giggle a bit hysterically, Raito just sighed a bit but he couldn't keep the small real smile from his face. His sister was the only person that Raito could honestly say loved him. Him. Not his mask, but the Raito that he had buried a long time ago. Sayu was the only one who was aloud to see him, and even then not often.

"Sayu! Don't say such unlady like things."

Sayu rolled eyes, but made sure it was at an angle that her mother and father couldn't see. She did wink at Raito before putting on a slight ashamed face for her mother and nodded.

"Yes mother."

Raito snickered in his head. He had been giving Sayu lessons on masks and fake emotions for the past 5 or so years, all in all he had to admit that she was a very fast learner.

Raito's father Yagami Soichiro chose that time to start talking, or in reality lecturing.

"Raito I hope you realize that just because you've graduated from high school that life will not be easy from here on out, you may think your smart, but let me tell you this there are a lot of people who think there cocky enough to get through life by brains alone. If you want to achieve status in this world you have to…"

Raito was able to block out his father's voice, while still giving the appearance of listening.

'Blah blah blah…god how many times have I heard this speech?! Oh I don't know…maybe about a hundred! Give it a rest old man! Hmm…now should I break the news to them before or after desert? I don't much care for cake so…before.'

Raito turned his head subtlety enough so his father wouldn't notice and looked at his sister; it seemed she was waiting for him to look at her because she was already staring at him. He had talked to Sayu earlier about what he was going to do…she had been supportive but more then a little worried. She knew what could happen-what most likely would happen. Her brother though…was completely confident that he could get his mother and father to see his point of views.

He gave her a nod to show that he was going to do it now…Sayu bit her lip and nodded back…while crossing her fingers under the table for good luck.

Cutting off his father in mid speech he took a deep breath…and tore off a layer of his mask.

"Father, Mother there's something I would like to tell you…and you will listen until I'm done without any added comments you may want to express."

The sternness in his voice along with his abrupt way of talking startled his father so bad that he didn't even scold his son for speaking so out of turn to him, his mother was in the same state.

'I guess there's no turning back now…let's see how they handle this first, then maybe just maybe I can tell them more…show them that's there's more to me then great grades and a good set of white teeth.'

"Mother, father…I'm gay."

Silence over took the table. His mother and father's faces both held equal amounts of shock as if they couldn't quite believe what they were hearing. Finally his father spoke.

"Son…that's not funny, tasteless jokes like that won't be appreciated in the work place."

Raito frowned.

"I'm not trying to be funny father and I'm not joking, I'm gay…as in homosexual. Have been since I was 13 years old."

"Raito! Please listen to your father and stop this nonsense at once!" Sachiko cried out shrilly before hushing herself as people started to turn their heads towards their table to see what the noise was about.

"He's not joking mother." Sayu said quietly as if she wasn't sure if she should speak right now.

Sachiko turned sharply around to look at her daughter.

"Of course he is darling, no son of mine would be a…would be a…"

"A queer?" Raito decided to helpfully supply…with a voice filled with sarcasm and hopelessness…it seemed that things weren't going as planned. Raito could now see where how this was going to go…and sadly there was no way to stop it.

"Yes! That! Disgusting and vile…" Sachiko trailed off as the full implications of what her son just told her sunk in. Before she could start to rant about her son's despicableness Soichiro spoke.

"Yagami Raito you will take back what you just said right now or so help me…"

"Or what father?! You'll disown me?! Just because I enjoy cock instead of pussy? Are you really that shallow!?"

Raito's voice started to rise; he knew it was unavoidable now. His father would disown him. Would cut him off from the family, more then likely he would have to pack up his bags by tonight and be out of the house…and knowing his father as he did any of the trust money that Soichiro put in the bank for his collage fund would be taken back as well.

"Raito you listen right now, if you want to have any decent future in the NPA or any other agencies you better stop this nonsense at once. You are not gay, I'm not sure who put these disgusting thoughts inside of your head but I promise you I will find out…god next you'll want to tell us that you don't even want to be a law officer."

Raito frowned harder; this was a mistake…on his part. He should have thought things first and planned ahead before confronting his family about his gayness…which in reality was only a minor truth he had wanted to share with them.

"Actually I don't."

Soichiro gave his son a blank look.

"Don't what?"

"I don't want to be a police officer or work at all for a police agency. I find it to be boring and tedious, even if I was a detective, the boring cases out weigh the interesting ones by a ton. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life but I want to get a degree in psychology and theology."

"What!!"

Both Soichiro and Sachiko yelled out at the same time. Now the whole restaurant was staring at them.

'God this is not the way I wanted things to happen…but there's no use whining about it. I don't need them or their approval. I have Sayu and also a bank account with all that money I was able to scam off of idiots on the internet for the last 4 years…I'll survive this and I might as well speak my mind right now and get off of my chest all I want to tell them over the years…lord knows that this might be the last time I'll be able to speak to them without them calling the cops. Sorry about this Sayu, you warned me that this would happen but I ignored you.'

"You heard me…and while I'm at it I have a few other things I would like to say to you, first off Yagami Sachiko how dare you assume that I would work myself to death giving you a life of luxury, I read your diary years ago and I can't say I'm to surprised about your greedy thoughts. You never gave a shit about me, it was always about you…about how the neighbors envied and hated you…about your social status…about how you'd look with a successful, smart, handsome son…you never asked how my day went, you never asked me about how I felt, you never hugged me or told me how you loved me. It was always Raito what are your test scores? Raito make sure to press your shirt you don't want to look like the 9 year old boy you really are…Raito don't eat anything sweet, you'll get fat then no one would want you! I'm fucking sick of it! You never treated me like your son! You never treated me as a boy or even a thinking human being! I'm not a robot! I'm not fucking prefect! "

Raito whirled away from his stricken mother to face his father.

"And you! You were never there so don't try to tell me who I am I'm sick of hiding who I really am. You all disgust me, every single person I've meet with the exception of Sayu are all nothing but greedy pigs who would wallow in their own filth if it was socially acceptable. I'm gay Yagami Soichiro, as in fucking flaming; I like cock and taking it up the ass. Hell I'd probably cross dress if my boyfriend or lover asked it of me…and do you want to know what? I'd pull it off to. I don't want to be a down beat cop either; you were never home for me and Sayu. Hell I could count on one hand how many times you were at either of our birthday parties. I may respect the law and all that it stands for…but I can't say I respect you or the crooked cops that work for you. I know for a fact that your partner likes to nab some of the impounded narcotics and sells it on the street to teenage boys…for the price of fucking them! Do you want to know how I know this? It because that bastard fucking came to me with that messed up deal!"

"Shut up you fucking fag you don't know what the fuck you're talking about!!"

It finally seemed that Soichiro had enough. His scream rebounded off the walls around them and the silence that enclosed them all and the entire restaurant around them seemed to press heavily down.

Both Raito and Soichiro were huffing and standing up by now, Soichiro seemed to finally realize that they were in a public place for he started to breath deeply in an obvious attempt to calm down.

"It doesn't seem I will be able to reason with you…you will leave right now and go to the house and pack up all of your stuff…I want you gone by the time we're done here. I don't ever want to see your disgraceful face ever again."

Raito stared at his father then nodded his head once and picked up his suit jacket from the back of his chair. Looking at Sayu he wasn't too surprised to see her crying.

"Brother…"

"Sayu if you don't want to share his fate you won't speak."

Soichiro's steel voice broke no argument. Raito felt a wave of anger at his father for saying that. Sayu was only 15 years old; she wouldn't survive on the streets like he could. She needed family…where's he never really had one to begin with.

Sayu looked like she wanted to protest but Raito's firm shake of his head stopped her. She just sat there crying, knowing that it would be a long time before she would be able to see her brother again…and even then it would have to be secretly.

Raito calmly walked out of the restaurant without a backwards glance, he held his head held high and proud as he meet all the stares with a glacier glare.

---

Raito sighed as the memory of that night overtook his mind. He stopped pacing and walked into his small kitchen for a glass of orange juice…though a glass of scotch wouldn't be turned down at this point.

It had been 6 years since then…since he had been disowned and kicked out of his family home. He remembered he had gotten a taxi home and packed up all of his worldly belongs which wasn't that much to begin with. Some clothes and some of his favorite books along with his laptop and other small nick knacks, he didn't own much that he didn't need. He wasn't that much of a material person, but he still tried to pack all that he could…he knew that his father and mother would throw out anything left behind.

After leaving the house for the last time he had stayed with a friend of his and his girlfriend. Despite his clam to his father about being gay and loving it up the ass Raito didn't have a boyfriend then and unfortunately he didn't have one know either. He had been a virgin then and at the age of 24 was still holding that title strongly.

It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex. Because he really, really did, he was as horny as any guy his age would be. He had even gone on dates before but…he didn't want meaningless sex. He didn't want a one night stand or anything like that. Sayu may call him a girl for wanting to wait for someone special but he could really care less about that. Sex wasn't on his main to do list then and it wasn't now.

He had been right about his father taking back the money he had saved for his son's collage tuition, his father was a bastard like that and probably wanted for his to suffer for humiliating him to his coworkers who had no doubt heard about what happened the day after. But luckily for Raito he had been scamming people since he was 14 years old. It wasn't hard and he was too smart to get caught. So when he got kicked out he already had a large sum of money to pay for his collage tuition, and he wasn't above getting himself a job either.

That's where Professor Roger Ruvie came in. Roger Ruvie was an infamous Professor at a small University. He was a professor of science and psychology and of theology, an odd mix but for Raito it seemed appropriate given the man's oddness. It was exactly what Raito himself was interested in studying; the professor didn't teach much, he was more of an experiment and study kind of professor. It was rumored that he was looking for a assistant for a while…and of course Raito jumped at the chance without looking up all the facts…like why the position of a assistant for such a famous guy hadn't been filled already.

It was because the professor while a genius in his field of expertise…was a full blown bastard and slave driver.

Raito had worked for the professor for almost 6 years now…and he still felt that every day was like the first. The professor was a hard task driver and didn't much think about the comfort and stability of his assistant…that may be why he had lost 26 assistants before Raito came to him. Raito had stayed the longest out of all of them. The longest before him had only stayed with the professor for 7 weeks before quitting, not even 2 months and Raito had lasted 6 years.

'It hurts to even think about it. God if he didn't pay as well as he does…at least his work is interesting enough.'

And that was true at least. Professor Ruvie's work was always interesting…even if most of the time they ended in dead ends or didn't really seem plausible in the first place…or were borderline legal.

'But he's finally gone over the fucking deep end with this newest experiment. I know he's been studying and researching this topic years before I came to him, hell his been obsessing about it. But there are too many things that could go wrong…not to mention that its illegal, not that that bothers me that much but…I'd rather not go to jail if this experiment goes all to hell.'

Raito sighed as he put his drained glass down on the counter. He walked back into his small living room and opened up his brief case taking out the folders and files that the professor had given him.

His job at the moment was to find suitable candidates for the experiment. The professor already narrowed it a bit…so Raito only had to look over 189 possible candidates instead of the 200 before.

'Yea he's such a nice guy that way.'

You could practically taste the sarcasm that dripped from that thought.

The information in the files about the candidates included almost everything about them, to where they grow up to what kind of toothpaste they used.

Raito had to narrow the search to no more then 10 but more then 5…he just loved his life.

Laying out the files on his small table Raito got to work.

---

Ok…new story! I'm kind of stuck on a dead end with my 'Darkness within your Light' it's just a small dry spell but…I'm so fucking bored! I wanted to start the sequel to 'Cemetery Romance' but I wasn't in a lemonness mood.

I don't know how long this story will be or when I'll update. I may update 2 or 3 chapters in a week then go silent for 3 months…yep…sigh.

I have done a bit of thinking on this story though. So the plot in this might be a little more sound then my 'Darkness with your Light' story which is a touch and go kind of story. I'm trying to type out the next chapter of that one…but…at least I'm writing something!

Tell me what you think about this first chapter, was it good? Ok? Bad? Dreadful? Please Review and tell me! I may have the next chapter up sometimes this week though…if I get enough positive response.

Sadly we won't see any Yaoi for a while. L doesn't even show up for a couple of chapters…at least I have B in this story! YEA B! I love you!! XD

REVIEW PEOPLE PLEASE!