A little something extra. I love Halloween… it gives me so much scope to write things.

As I've wanted to keep this one secret, I shall refrain from saying too much here…

Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: Death Note is not mine. Neither, coincidentally, is the wonderful world of Universal's black and white monster movies…

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Deus Lupis

"It was a cold, dark night when it began. There I was, working innocently, unknowing of the horrors that were about to unfold…

"The notebook of death lay on my desk. I had found it by that point, but not used it. I could never have used it… Could anyone of sound mind bring themselves to murder another? Despite the fear that wracked me every time I laid eyes on it, I had decided to keep it… to protect the world, from the people too stupid or too unstable to be able to restrain themselves. My original plan was to take it to the authorities so that it could be professionally analysed, but I quickly realised that revealing the Death Note to the public would cause worldwide panic, and scrapped the idea. Instead, I was going to have to examine it myself. This was a daunting task… and that was probably why I was staving off dissecting the notebook. I didn't even want to touch it…

"It was running up to my entry exams at the time, and I was busying myself with revision. Usually I wouldn't stay up to such a late hour, but what with the appearance of the Death Note and my future education on the line, I had found myself distracted and had unwisely continued to study well into the night.

"Then it happened.

"The draft from my window became icy. This was strange, because I can't remember opening it beforehand... There were some dark forces at work that night… but, regardless, being the innocent, honest young man that I was, I went to the window to close it.

"The moon was full, and crisp, and white. It almost glittered in the sky, and stood out so clearly that it looked as though you could reach out and grab it. Otherwise, the night sky was uncluttered – only a few wispy clouds obscure it and the dim, twinkling stars that studded the darkness. For a moment, I had been transfixed by the beauty of the sight…

"And then, the fateful moment came. It was not the gorgeous image of the night sky which pinned me in place. I was hypnotised… rooted to the spot by some unknown force. I couldn't blink, or turn my head – my eyes were fixed firmly, unwaveringly on the full moon.

"The blood in my veins seemed to surge as my heartbeat swelled and quickened in my chest. I felt weak… sick… as though as was falling into madness, or the depths of hell itself. I only stared at the moon for a few seconds, yet those seconds stretched into hours, days, years…

"… And then… I was released. Slumping down to the floor, I clutched my head, which throbbed with unimaginable pain. Something strange was happening to me, something beyond my control… A tight, horrible feeling was building from the pit of my stomach, and when it had intensified to such a degree that I was sure that I would burst from the agony, it exploded through my body.

"Suddenly, I was not myself.

"Despite my frantic efforts, the corners of my mouth curled into a smile… a grotesque, inhuman smile. The smile of a cold-blooded murderer. Without willing it to do so, my body raised itself to its feet and, in the unnatural, crooked stance at which I finally arrived, a terrifying noise escaped my lips.

"The laughter. The icy, damning, cruel, shrieking sound that still fills me with fear every time I hear it. It began simply as a snigger, but it quickly gained pace, surging through me in monstrous waves, echoing through my room and into the night in barking gasps. The world around me began to spin, and before I could even begin to realise what was happening, I had changed completely.

"As I saw my reflection in the window pane, I could see my eyes glowing red with bloodlust and anger. My teeth were bared in a skull-like grimace, and seethed with spittle as each laboured breath rattled through me.

"This was the first night I became Kira... and unfortunately, not the last. In that single moment, my life of truth and honesty was ripped from me. My now claw-like fingers grasped the accursed Death Note, and as the first name was scrawled inside it, I knew that nothing could ever be the same."

Light shivered with his last words, and turned to face Near. The Task Force and the SPK stood silently, staring expressionlessly at the pair.

Eventually, Near spoke. "So… you're saying that you became afflicted with a supernatural form of schizophrenia."

Light didn't respond.

"I've heard of this before," said Near, his dark eyes fixed firmly upon his own feet. "In fact, this is quite common."

"Really?" said Light, genuinely perplexed. He hadn't expected this kind of response…

"Of course it is. You said this first happened not long before your entry exam for university… around the beginning of the Kira case… So that would be November."

This wasn't posed as a question, but he saw no option but to answer. "Yes. It started on the 28th of November."

"I see," Near said. A horrid smile crossed his lips. " 'Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright'. It appears that Light Yagami, however, has become a Were-Kira instead."

The warehouse had been silent already. However, as he said these words, the silence somehow became forced, as everyone inside forced themselves from laughing.

Light stared at Near stupidly.

"Oh please, Yagami," the white haired detective glared miserably over at him. "I thought you would have seen that one coming."

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Author's Note: You know, I really quite like this one. Yes, it's a bit OOC for Light, but… seeing as it was based on a random set of sketches I did, It's good how this one turned out.

However, it does appear that I've got myself a little addicted to Latin titles this Halloween. Then again… I couldn't pass up using "Deus Lupis"…

Please review, even if it's just to say how unlikely it would be that Near would quote The Wolf Man. I just like hearing what people have to say about things, is all.

Thank you for watching.