:This chapter has been revised. Yep, I changed to first person after the second chapter, and I thought of twisting the plot a bit.
:I do not own Death Note and other copyrighted stuff that are mentioned in this fic.
".Level 1: The End of the Beginning."
The sound of repetitive gunfire echoes in my ears, muffling out everything. "I guess… this is the end." I said to myself, not the least bit troubled or panicked. I knew this would happen… sooner or later. So this is how it feels… not nearly as horrible as they said. It's… kind of soothing, really.
I take one last smoke… for old time's sake. And everything disappears before my eyes, leaving nothing but darkness. Then, suddenly… everything is swallowed up by a very bright, white light… I instinctively reach to my head for my goggles to shield my eyes… only they weren't there… and then short scenes play out in front of me, a hospital room, a two babies being born, a toddler playing on the floor, a preschooler on his way to school, and a boy in front of a gadget store, staring at a GameBoy on display…
And the next thing I knew…
It was a cold, snowy day, from what I saw outside the window. The window? Oh yeah. I know this place. This room was in my house in London… this was my bedroom… back when I was ten.
So what they said about your life flashing before your eyes before dying was true after all. Not that I could tell anyone. It's not like I'd live to tell the tale. Heh. It's weird how I feel totally calm with the fact that I'm dying… I don't understand myself sometimes.
Why does it have to be this day? Why this of all the nineteen years of my life? Well, they always start at the beginning… sort of.
I… (Well… my ten-year-old self) was sitting on my favorite chair, the one in front of the PC. My eyes fixed on the computer screen and my fingers typing away at the keyboard at top speed. This system was challenging. Like level 16 of my favorite videogame. Just a little more… and I'll crack this thing, I thought, as I pressed the enter button for possibly the hundredth time.
I heard a knock at the door, and instinctively switch the screen full of numbers and codes to my favorite strategy game. "Your dad and I are going out tonight." my mother cheerfully said from the door. "Have you studied yet?"
"Yeah, mum. I'm done studying." I replied boredly, not bothering to take my eyes off the screen where my digital army of the Undead was getting ready for war. Sometimes I think mum worries about the videogames stealing my life away or something. Well, I guess we did use to spend more time together… but this happens to everyone, you know. We can't hold on to our parent's hands forever. They know that.
"Don't stay up too late playing videogames, okay?" she said.
"I won't mum." I said, as my army was rampaging through the lands of Azeroth. Destroying everything and defiling it all with their rancid filthy existence… all for the Lich King… or so my character said.
"Take care of yourself." She says, as she closes the door. "Good luck on your tests."
I smirk, and return to the previous number-filled screen. No worries. There was absolutely no way that I'll fail tomorrow's test. I don't even need to study. Besides, if ever I do fail, (like that's gonna happen) I can always hack into the school system… and tweak my grades.
It's now one-o-clock, according to my computer. I yawn, and continue typing away. This is taking longer than I thought. Well, mum said 'don't stay up too late playing video games', so, since I'm not playing a videogame… I'm technically not really breaking any rules, even if I do stay up late. At two-thirty in the morning, I finally managed to get into the system. I smiled as I navigated through the files.
"Case 489…" I mutter as I move the mouse on one of the folders and click it. "Woah…"
So… I hacked into a cache of files about a weird murder. Complete with crime scene photos, case reports, suspect lists… everything! Pulling another all-nighter wasn't such a bad idea after all. This was way more interesting than those stupid spam scams I got last week. Like I'd ever be the long-lost grandson of Timbuktu's king, and inherited a billion American dollars, besides, it'd be a hassle, going through the money-changer and exchanging it for pounds. Being related to French royalty would've been much more believable, since dad was part-French…or was it Italian? Eh, whatever…it's all fake anyway… I guess it might be fun to try and work on this case thingy tomorrow.
I stood up from the chair I've been sitting on for the past seven hours, rub my tired eyes, yawn… and plop down on my bed.
The next morning, I wake up and get ready for school. But after I got downstairs… I got a morning welcome that I didn't expect… I got… well, nothing. No breakfast ready on the table… no dad reading the paper sipping coffee… no mum trying to fix my hair, only to fail and 'tsk'.
It was eerily quiet, but I didn't really think about it much… it's not like this is the first time they came home late. Maybe they just got stuck somewhere. I walked to the refrigerator and make myself a sandwich, seeing that I really didn't know how to cook, and mum would get all worried that I'd hurt myself or something. She worries too much about me…
So… the day starts the same as all the other days, me walking to school. I didn't like the outdoors very much, so many people outside, and nowhere to charge my GameBoy. When I'm legal, I'll really want to get a car, a nice red Italian one. I make my way through the hallways, to the classroom. But I got this strange feeling that everyone's staring at me… is there something wrong with my hair? Is my shirt on backwards? Did someone stick a 'kick me' sign on my back again? I tried to check my back without looking too obvious. Well, it wasn't that. So, what is up with these people? Everything became crystal-clear when my homeroom teacher talked to me outside the room before class started.
"I heard what happened, Mail." She said, with a look of pity on her face, I didn't know what that was about. And I didn't like being called by my first name. Everyone said it was weird… some of them called me names. 'e-mail, snail-mail, fe-mail…' They're just a bunch of stupid idiotic gits with brains less than half the size of a chocobo's who can't even pronounce it right. It's more like 'mile' than 'male'. Who cares what they think anyway?! They were all just jealous that my dad works for this big company and I get all the games I want, and I get top scores in tests without even studying.
Wait… what did she hear that happened? Did she find out I faked one of my classmate's grades? He practically begged me, and wouldn't go away until I agreed… and I did need some money to get that new game for my GameBoy. Mum's gonna kill me when she finds out!
"Are you okay?" She asks sympathetically. Then I got really surprised when she hugged me… although Ms. Hughes was only in her twenties and was pretty, this was at the time my classmates just got over the fact that girls didn't have cooties, so I guess you'll understand why I felt apprehensive.
I pulled away quickly, very confused. "W-what happened?"
"You mean… you don't know?" she said in disbelief.
I wouldn't be asking if I did. I stared at her, not blinking.
"Your mother and father were killed yesterday night." She said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm really sorry."
My eyes widened in shock. I didn't believe a word of it. I refused to believe it. They can't be dead! They didn't get killed! They're going home, and mum's gonna cook dinner and dad's gonna play video games with me! Tears suddenly fall from my eyes and I ran as fast as I could, as far away as I can. Ms. Hughes has to be lying… she's lying… it's not real… they're not dead. I keep replaying these thoughts in my head as I reached town.
It was cold, so I clutched on my jacket to get warmer. I passed by a store selling TV sets and got the shock of my life when the news came on... on all the TV screens at once. It was a report on a double-murder last night… the murder of my parents… no leads, but evidence suggests connections to three previous murders committed during the month, the reporter explains. The truth finally hit me full-force… I was ready to bolt and go home just to get away from here… but then they showed the crime scene photos of the previous murders… they were the same photos from the one on the system I hacked into last night.
The man who killed those people was the same man who killed my parents.
I ran home as fast as I could, maybe there really was a connection… maybe those files would lead me to their killer… maybe I could make him pay for what he did. He took away the two most important people in my life, they were two people who'd never laugh, cry, or even get angry at me again.
There would no longer be a mum who'd nag me to go to bed when she caught me on the computer at one in the morning. No more toast and jam all ready for breakfast… no more pestering me to wear something without stripes for a change. No more mum who'd try and talk to me about my videogames just to spend more time with me, when I knew perfectly well she didn't understand a thing about materia, or night-elves, or any of that… No more annoying guilt inside when I sneak in a few games or that feeling I get when I think she's trying to hold on to the last bits of my childhood, because I know that I'm not like other kids my age. I don't think like they do. Not since age four, when I took my first IQ test.
There would also be no more dad to play my videogames with me when he wasn't busy. No more surprised look whenever I fix a glitch on his laptop, or re-assemble the TV and sound system without any manuals. No more silent looks that told me he was proud to be my father. I can't be his technological assistant anymore, I'll never get those driving lessons he promised to give me when I reached sixteen... he'll never be there to help me get my first job… nor would I ever get disappointed because he couldn't make it to one of our activities because he had work to do…
It'd trade my GameBoy, anything, if it would mean getting them back… even if they come back with only the worst things I didn't like about them…
I finally reached the gate to my house and immediately opened the door. What I found inside was something that I would never expect in a million years…
There was a kind looking old-man smiling at me. "Hello."
I backed away quickly and tried to bolt out the door. Mum always told me never to talk to strangers… he spoke again. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you."
"W-who are you?" I asked, frightened. How did they get in here? Did he kill my parents and came here to finish me off too?... though it seemed unlikely that an old man would, and would be able to kill my parents, I wasn't in the right state to think logically at the time.
"I am Mr. Wammy." The old man smiled at me. He had a kind, cheerful smile… he had this sort-of aura about him… it made you trust him immediately and feel safe. Like he would protect you and take care of you.
Then this creaking sound from the stairs made its way to my ears… I turned to look, and saw a tall, pale-skinned, scrawny teenager (guessed his age), with messy black hair and creepy dark eyes, slumping down the stairs with his hands in his pockets. He looked like he's just gotten out of bed… wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and loose jeans… "The computer that hacked into the House system is here…" he stated, as he looked at me with something like curiosity, biting his finger.
"You're here to arrest me?" I asked worriedly. I never thought I'd get caught… They can't possibly arrest me, I'm only ten!
"You mean you did it?" The old man asked, astounded, with that mysterious smile of his.
"Y-yes." I confessed. I couldn't lie out of this one… not after they've seen the evidence on my computer.
"The boy is a technological genius." The teenager stated. "I designed the system myself. I never thought anyone could break into it." It kind of felt nice to be praised like that, but I didn't even know who these people were… or what they were here for.
"It took me all night." I said. "What are you doing here anyway?! Can you tell me who killed my parents?! The pictures from your files are the same as the ones on TV!" I blurted out.
"Your… parents?" the teenager said, maybe a little astonished. "You're parents were the fourth and fifth victims of the murderers that have taken place this month?"
"Who are you?! Why did you come here?! Are you going to kill me too?!" I asked, a little panicky, he knew a lot of stuff. Then a thought came to mind… "Do it already." I mutter.
"I am not a murderer." The teenager stated, looking me in the eye, like he was studying me. "My name, is L. Our system has been accessed by your computer, and we came here to investigate."
"L? What kind of name is that?!" I said in disbelief.
"It is mine." The teenager replied. "Like yours is Mail."
He pronounced it correctly… "How do you know my name?" I asked, a little worried and a little curious.
"Your computer…" he began.
"Go away." I said, pushing the teenager away and trying to go to my room. Not even my parents touched that computer. "Stay away from me if you can't tell me who killed my parents!"
"I can." The teenager said stoically, making me stop at the first step of the stairs. "Your parent's murders are part of the current case I am working on."
You don't look like a detective to me." I replied incredulously. "You're just a teenager."
"You're just a boy." He answered back. "But you hack into high-security computer systems."
I kept quiet.
"Mail… if you would like… you could join us at Wammy's house, with children like you." The old man said, joining our conversation again.
"You mean an orphanage." I said skeptically. I may be ten years old, but I'm not that stupid. I know when adults make things sound better than they are…
"Yes, and no. It is a special place for talented children like yourself." He said.
I nodded silently. If they could catch the maniac who killed my parents, and since I didn't have anyone left… I'd take any chance.
:It's basically the old first chapter, just with a few add-ons and a change of POV.
:Thanks for reading! Please review!