Death Lies Before Us

The blaring sound of my alarm clock went off, waking me from my slumber. I sat up, squinting through the light shining between my curtains. I covered my face with my pillow and fell back down on my bed. Sigh, another boring day of school, then homework, then sleepagain. I stood up out of my bed after about a minute of just lying there. I quickly changed into my school uniform and left my house, eating an energy bar I grabbed on my way out. The city scene and sounds burst into my ears. But just as I had started walking, I suddenly heard a scream from the alley beside me. I looked over and saw a girl being pushed against the wall by a guy wearing all black. She looked to be about my age or older. The guy was grinning as he grabbed her breast, making her scream for help louder. I started to walk away, but my conscious told me otherwise as I quickly found myself facing them dead center.

"Hey!I yelled loudly, 鏑eave her alone!

The man turned towards me, looking quite angry with the fact that I was interrupting his 兎 threw her to the ground, making her hit her head against the dumpster next to her, leaving her unconscious. He then glared at me, and balled his hands into fists.

"And what are you going to do about it?he said, smirking at me.

I swallowed hard, feeling my forehead and hands starting to sweat. I shook it off best I could and charged at him, slugging him in the face. He stumbled only a little, shocked that I had actually done anything, but quickly regained himself and returned a blow to my stomach. I reeled forward, holding my stomach as I stared as his knee which came up and hit me directly in the face. I fell backwards into a pile of trash and muck. He laughed and turned around, kicking the girl in her leg as he left.

It took me about fifteen minutes to regain my composure and walk over to the girl. I gently shook her until she woke up. She stared up at me and slapped me hard in the face. I fell backward onto my side, but then quickly sat up, grabbing her hand before she did it again.

"What the hell? I just saved you!I said angrily.

She quickly gasped, rubbing my face where she had just slapped me.

"I知 so sorry! I couldn稚 see very well, please forgive me. I didn稚 mean to hurt you. Thank you so much for saving me."

I smiled sheepishly and let go of her hand. She quickly leaned up and kissed my cheek where she had slapped it. I helped her up, and she said she had to hurry to her job and that she was going to be late. She handed me her company痴 card and said if I ever needed help to call her. I watched her hurry away to the subway, and brushed most of the grime off of my uniform and started off towards school again.

I arrived late to my first class. When I walked in, everyone was staring at me. I looked down and noticed how dirty my uniform was. The teacher scolded me on how I should look more presentable, and I just nodded and pretended to care. I took my seat and stared out the window next to me, wishing my day could fly by.

The day went by way too slowly, every inch of knowledge just boringly passing through my skull. When the bell finally rang, everyone ran out of the school like they had just escaped prison. I followed behind, slowly dragging my feet through the front yard of the school. Then out of nowhere, a gunshot went off in the distance. 'This place is trash,' I thought to myself, 'Why isn't there anyone that can help ever? The cops don't do anything and everyone's too scared to stand up for themselves.' I picked up a rock and threw it across the road. It hit against a notebook. I walked up to it and picked it up, flipping through the pages. It was completely empty. I shrugged my shoulders, closing the book. The front cover was pitch black with only two white letters printed on the front; Death Note. I rolled my eyes, thinking it was some kind of mafia book, and tossed it into the schoolyard. I started to walk away, but then I felt a cold chill run down my spine. I turned back towards the notebook. I felt like it was telling me not to leave it there. I walked back over to it and picked it up. I looked around and quickly put it into my bag, walking away with it.

I got home in the late afternoon, throwing my bag onto the table and walking into the kitchen for some food. I grabbed a banana and walked over to the TV, flicking it on. It was on the news station, and I sat down, taking the notebook from my bag. I stared at it and found the rules in the front. I quickly skimmed them, annoyed with them. They were ludicrous, talking about writing names to kill people. I chuckled and closed the book. The news station talked about a hold up occurring at the local gas station. I gritted my teeth as I thought of how stupid and undeserving that guy was. I grabbed my pen and turned to the notebook. He deserved to die. I looked at the TV; the name was printed across the bottom of the screen. I wrote down Orville Ironwood, and stared back at the screen. I rolled my eyes as nothing happened. I picked up my remote, but then the anchorwomen reported he was dead. I fell to the floor, clutching my pen tight in my hand.

"The Death Note actually works,I said to myself.

"Of course it does..."

I quickly turned around and saw a tall skeletal creature standing in front of me. I gasped and scrambled to my feet. The demon laughed, staring at the notebook.

"Most people are shocked after seeing the person they write down die, so don't feel bad,it cackled.

"Who... are you?I managed to spit out.

He turned his head toward me. His carved smile sent chills through my body.

"My name is Light and I'm the Shinigami who's notebook you possess."