A/N: Thank you, two people that have reviewed this story! I'm so glad you like it, and I'll be continuing it now. Although first…

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note… Silence! Mello will Keehl you! [LMAO GET IT?]


Chapter 2: Coping Isn't Easy


Still Alex's POV…


The person who was holding me was unbelievably warm, and we were so close that I could smell the sweet scent of chocolate on them. I slowly opened my eyes, still frightened even though the threat had most likely passed. I stepped away from my savior to get a good look and them, and got the shock of my life when I saw that it was a grim-looking Mello through the steadily thickening snow.

He grabbed my hand and yanked me back onto the sidewalk where the red-head was watching and waiting with a dead-pan look on his face. The men led me to a sleek black car, and even though they were strangers, I followed them willingly. I had a feeling that the pair knew what was going on and held many answers, and those were two things that I wanted right now.

I didn't even bat an eyelash when Mello opened the back door of the car and demanded that I get in. It was unlike my character to do such reckless things like this, but I felt that I could trust these two, even if one of them made me want to punch him in the face.

The leather interior of the car smelled of chocolate and cigarettes. I leaned back in the seat, trying to get away from the odd stench before I got a headache. As a small child, I had been exposed to cigarette smoke and over the years had become extremely sensitive to it. If I was around the smell too long I would develop a headache that wouldn't go away, no matter how many pain pills I took.

"Did you see that?" Mello asked the gamer from the passenger seat. The red-head nodded and replied grimly, "Yeah. B's up to his old tricks again. Thank god you wanted hot chocolate."

Curiosity was eating at me so ferociously that I piped up from the backseat. "Um, excuse me, but I almost got killed less than five minutes ago, so if you could please explain this to me, I'd be delighted to listen."

My mind was reeling from all of this. Who was this B person, and what did he want with me? Why did he try to murder me? What did Mello and his friend have to do with this? I was chasing these questions and more all around in my head. I just couldn't understand what all of this was about…

Mello and his friend shared a long look, and I knew that they were probably having a silent conversation that only they could understand. The two turned around simultaneously so that they could both look at me. I raised an eyebrow at them, willing them to go on.

"Well, first thing's first. I'm Matt," said the red-head, And my friend here is Mello." I nodded and gave a sheepish smile.

"Hi Matt… and Mello. I'm Alex Simone. I would say it was wonderful to meet you, but considering the fact that I want to punch Mello in the face and was almost murdered, I wouldn't exactly describe the circumstances as wonderful," I replied.

Mello glared at me while Matt chuckled. "Mello, why don't you go outside and make a phone call?" Matt suggested. Mello sighed exasperatedly and got out of the car, grumbling about… light?

"Sorry about him," Matt whispered conspiratorially, checking Mello outside to make sure that he couldn't hear him. "He's a bit moody." I smirked a little. I was enjoying myself a tad, even though I was just almost killed… Those serious thoughts stopped me from laughing, and I became solemn again. Seeing the look on my face, Matt sighed.

"I get it. You want answers, huh? You're scared." I looked up at the gamer, a little shocked. You would've never guessed that underneath his video-gaming self, he was very perceptive. I looked down into my lap and shrugged my bag off of my shoulder, setting it at my feet.

"Yeah," I confessed quietly, wishing that I could just start the day over again. I didn't like to admit it when somebody had gotten the emotion that I felt right. I had been told how I was supposed to feel as a kid, and those "feelings" that I had made me out to be an undeserving brat. I brushed off the memories quickly and looked up at Matt, hoping that he'd at least tell me SOMETHING I wanted to know.

"Mello and I are… detectives, so to speak. There's this um… serial killer that we're trying to capture, and we're pretty sure that he's the same guy that tried to run you over a while ago. This guy- he's killed dozens of people and is highly dangerous. He's been picking off people for a long time now, and my coworkers and I are trying to track him down to stop this killing spree."

I could feel my eyes widen in shock and the blood drain from my face. Oh my God… I grabbed my Methodist cross necklace that I was wearing and gripped it as if it would protect me from being killed. I wasn't super-religious, but now I was thanking my lucky stars that I had worn this necklace today. Was it fate? I doubted it, but a small part of my mind couldn't help but disagree.

Mello got back into the car, slamming the door loudly and breaking the cold and uncomfortable silence in between me and Matt. "L said to bring her over. We'll continue from there."

What? L? THE L? As in, the World's Greatest Detective, L? I was going to ask Matt if the L he was talking about was THE L, but then he started driving. I learned a valuable life lesson that day- NEVER, EVER let Matt drive. You're going to regret it. I was surprised that we didn't get into a car accident or get pulled over or anything. I gripped the seat tightly, gripping my fingernails into the leather and frantically trying to put my seatbelt on in the insanely swerving car.

We finally got into a really big parking garage [somebody here is loaded because it was full of cars, vans, trucks, and motorcycles] and got out of the fancy car. Throughout the whole ride, Mello and Matt had acted like it was perfectly normal to go twice the speed limit and almost crash with every single car we passed by. I wobbled a little as I got out of the car- you can't expect one to act normal when they're in the car with a lunatic driver.

After passing through some security checkpoints [fingerprints, eye scanners, etc], we got into the elevator and rode up to the seventh floor. What had I gotten myself into? I was a bundle of nerves. I bit down on my bottom lip hard as Mello ushered me into a huge main room.

I was right in thinking that these people were loaded because there were huge flat-screen TVs, tons of the newest technology, and a whole bunch of other expensive toys. Every conversation, computer research- every SOUND- stopped as the few people in the room stared at me curiously.

There was a man with neat black hair and puppy dog eyes lounging on the couch, an albino boy dressed in what looked like white pajamas crouching on the floor in front of a blank puzzle, a man with brown hair and casual clothing sitting in a chair at the desk of computers, and another man next to him, dressed in a white-sleeved shirt and baggy, faded blue jeans with disheveled black hair. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

In a split second, I realized that I was the only girl. I blushed a bit, and that made me even more uncomfortable because everybody was watching me.

"What is your name?" the untidy raven-haired man asked. I blushed a little darker as I answered, "Alex Simone."

I was surprised that my response sounded so confident. When faced with situations like this, I tended to stammer and basically make a fool out of myself. I had very low self-esteem and even lower confidence, so I had expected to sound feeble and defenseless.

"Hello Alex Simone," the man replied. "I am L."


End of Chapter 2


A/N: REVIEW PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP!