There's nothing there

by Chickenspoon42

But there is. Creeping and macabre and shadowed with smiles of gold and tears of blood. They stalk Light in the dark, outlined by perhaps a curtain or a bedpost, they choke him with brushes, feather-light, over his throat and with thin grips as strong as steel enclosing his wrist. And he knows there's nothing there, knows it in his mind but his heart fears what is not there.

A/N: ...I'm not dead?

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, and I have no idea whether I'm insane or not. Enjoy!

Edit: I seem to have an issue with formatting and this site, which is sad because I'm a devout follower of both. Thank you to u/6697930/ for pointing this out to me!

[...]

"L?" Still bolt upright, his hand fished for warmth in the endless sea of fabric when he registered a cold, iron-strong grip clutching his wrist and darkened, lifeless eyes illuminating only a malicious smile, full of intent and deadened motivations, livened simply by a sadistic desire to break. Light was this smile's victim. It's fingers clutched tighter as Light tried to pry them off, it's wrist thin and boney, inhumanly so, and cold like metal chain links- "L!"

"What is it, Light-kun?" grumbled an irritable voice beside him, and the light switched on. Light could only sigh in relief. There's nothing there- idiot! You always knew that there was nothing there! Get ahold of yourself!

L was frowning beside him, clearly a little more than annoyed. Light couldn't bring himself to care. "I said, what is it?" he emphasised crossly. "First you and Watari are saying I need to sleep more, and the next thing I know you're not even letting the light stay off for more than a few moments. If you could kindly explain yourself, I would much appreciate it."

Light only shook his head. He didn't want to admit it- he was Light Yagami, remember? The perfect Light Yagami.

"I will be forced to raise your percentage of you keep secrets from me," L muttered, reaching for the switch again.

"No!" Light dived for L's arm, dragging him down, and the switch with it. The room dimmed, and red eyes stumbled out from behind swishing curtains, crawling out from under the bed, even behind the warm shape of L, an invisible blade assassinating the detective on the spot. There's nothing there, there's nothing there- As his companion slumped over, Light could only brace himself, his eyes closed yet unable to succumb to the dragging call of sleep for echoing drumbeats heralding thoughts of me next, me next, I am going to die-

"For goodness sake-" L's arm was ripped from his grasp, and Light's brain tried to make sense of the fact that L could speak even though he was dead, but disregarded that for the fact that L was being torn away from him, which could only mean that the killer wanted to savour his kill somehow.

"Th- th' light," he managed to whisper, hoping desperately that L's ghost had the power to save him.

L's shirt, impeccably white (a sharp contrast to how he imagined it when he felt L move) rustled as L restabalysed himself on the mattress, having leant over to dispel the demons. But there's nothing there. "Light, I need you to tell me what's going on in the dark," he assessed, disconnected as always.

Light shuddered, hugging his arms around himself. He admitted part of it, at least, how he depended on his namesake. L was not going to let him get away now he knew something was up. "There were people in there- bad people. Murderers. Thieves. Rapists. Criminals. I thought we were going to die." He let out a mirthless laugh.

"So you have a fear of criminals, of being harmed. Sounds like you'd support Kira's so-called crusade, to say the least."

"No, no!" A spark of rage, brief but filled with malicious intent- the intent to kill- and a cruel, clawed, pointed finger directed his way flashed over his mind. "These visions, they've gotten worse since Kira came around. He directs them towards me like an orchestra, a big, black monster with huge feathered wings and demonic yellow eyes and a grin wider than the moon. Just-" Light caught L's wrist, pleading with large, amber eyes broken and lined and, above all, tired. "Leave a light on. I just need to see that there's no one here. Then we can sleep."

"We have no light but the main one above us, and even I know that rest will be impossible with it on- the main light above us is 230 AC. Either we forego this night, or we struggle through it. Opportunity to arrange something comes tomorrow, but nothing can be done this night."

"I can't work another day without sleep, L," Light muttered, familiar clarity coming back to him now he knew what was going on. But then he remembered when he didn't, how powerless, fragile, controlled he felt. "But I'm not going back there, not like this."

"I could stay awake," L offered. Light's neck burned- he knew there was no one there, do having someone stay awake to fight against something that didn't exist was pointless! He knew nothing was there, damn it, it's just- sometimes he didn't.

He told L as much.

"I know. But this will help."

"I doubt that-"

"I promise," L snapped, his tone not fitting his words, but the sincerity behind it was there. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life." The answer was obvious.

"Good. Now get some sleep. Your body's not used to staying awake this long. Mine can take another day."

Nodding, Light slumped over. Shuffling downwards until his head was lying on his pillow, he turned so he was lying on his side and faced inwards, closing his eyes. The light went out, and he froze, the sound of fabric moving slightly amplified and echoey.

"Shush," a reassuring voice whispered overhead. "There's nothing there."

He drifted through the warmth, aware of the chain around his wrist and the people who could be hiding away, ready to strike, but not afraid. There's nothing there.