There. It's the same cursed place again. Dark and mysterious, a strange mist hovering above the place.

There's only a single thought in L's frightened mind. He wants to run and this time, his feet move, as if of their own accord. He knows it's irrational to just run into a randomly chosen direction, out of fear.

But in this dream, it feels like he has no choice. With his eyes closed, he runs like a madman. Like in a game of hide and seek, he has to flee and hide from the person who chases him. If only he hadn't fallen asleep!

But it's no use, for he will always have to sleep, at one time or another. There's no escape.

Although L is asleep, he is aware of the fact that he is dreaming. Last time, he had been stupefied and unable to move. One might think that it would decrease the intensity of the dream, however, it is not the case. It even makes him feel even worse.

After some minutes (or so it seems to L) he stops to catch his breath again. He has realised that he must overcome his fears. He should better stay where he is now and search for a way to wake up and flee from the dream. Why have I been behaving like a frightened child, completely without reason? He asks himself, his own confusion visible to him now. Some of his weakness from earlier seems to alter his way of seeing things.

With his hands on his knees, he looks around and takes in his surroundings. The fog has lifted and L can see where he is now. He calms down a bit, his heartbeat reaching normal level again.

There is some kind of village, he can make out old, run-down buildings, looking like houses. It seems like he is in the past, for everything looks old and there are no traces of modern technology. There are fields, crops are neatly arranged in rows and already growing.

Close to the village, which appears to be deserted and abandoned, a forest can be seen. Behind the trees, which reach high to the sky. Their leaves are a dark shade of green and sway in the wind.

Weird, when did the dream become so realistic? With the fog gone, everything appeared to be more real. The trees of the forest look so dark and it makes L think the enigmatic, frightening man might appear any second. As if he could step out of the shadows of the hollow trees with a sinister smile plastered on his face.

Just the right setting for a nightmare, he thinks darkly. His mood drops. L wonders how he came there, why is he captured in this strange dream. And why did his health take damage, it couldn't possibly be because of a mere dream, could it?

But how else could his predicament be explained? He suffered from a strange kind of weakness, when he was still awake. Had the dream perhaps drained his powers or absorbed his life energy? His imagination runs wild with all sorts of weird ideas. It doesn't make sense to L. And that sure is a rare thing for the detective with the unusual abilities. For the first time in his life, L doesn't know what to do.

Above him, dark clouds are starting to gather, dimming the light L needs to see where he is going. The atmosphere wasn't too friendly to begin with and his situation keeps getting worse. He hopes it's not an indication for the man to appear. That would certainly match. If only L could evade him and develop a strategy. He hates losing, even if it's just inside his own dream. Somehow, it feels like there's more to it. It's a familiar gut feeling.

L feels nervous and turns around. He doesn't want to go into the forest because it would be even harder to see something. Instead, he decides to take a closer look at the village and search for other people. It may seem crazy, since it is his very own dream, after all. Better put: His own personal nightmare.

With the person in the black robe around, it's not going to be a pleasant dream. But on the other side, there have to be people, somewhere around, since someone must have planted all those crops and build the houses? It is more a question than a statement. L has absolutely no idea.

Suddenly, he hears someone cry out for help. The sound is so terrible that it paralyzes L, he even forgets to exhale for a moment. It came from the village. Without thinking about it, he runs and hides behind a large house. He doesn't feel safe, but he is curious to see what's going on.

L almost screams as he sees the man in the black robe again. One hand outstretched, he holds a boy by his hair and lifts him up in the air. His grip is fierce and strong. The boy, an auburn-haired teenager, flinches and tries to get away from him. It's all in vain, the man won't let him go and L knows.

"Let me go, you monster!" The boy screams again. He keeps struggling.

" You're one to talk.." The man replies calmly, to L's surprise.

It feels so strange to hear his voice, so low calm and dark. Like he was whispering. L has never heard him speak. His presence is ominous and makes him feel uncomfortable. In a star contrast to everyone else on the scene, the man is perfectly composed.

He feels strangely reminded of Light. If only he could somehow help him…

But why shouldn't he? It's only a dream and now that he possesses this knowledge, he can act accordingly. He wished he had something to defend himself, though. A knife would certainly do.

For the moment, none of it matters. The boy needs to be saved. It's another human, the only one he had been able to find at this place. Although the man with the black cloak could be considered a human as well. What else could he be?

He jumps out of his hide-out and attacks and kicks at him. Unfazed, the man lets go of the boy and dodges his attack.

By the moment the boy hits the ground, the other has already recovered from his state of surprise and caught L. He has him seized by his neck now and stares him directly in the eyes.

"Don't you dare to interfere with me, L". L can't move, he is paralyzed. The tone of his words stirs something inside of him and he's unable to act. How does he know his name?

" You shouldn't worry about that now, I've got something more important to talk to you about."

That's impossible, he can actually read my mind! L thinks terrified.

The auburn-haired teen on the ground whimpers and lifts himself up. He lashes at his attacker , but is caught easily by the man's free hand. His eyes linger above the teen for a moment. Then he diverts his full attention back to L, his eyes a fierceful gaze again.

" Yagami Light is dangerous and needs to die. Do you hear me?" He says and looks at the teen again whose hand he holds tightly in his iron grip.

At this, the boy's eyes turn as wide as saucers. His wrist trembles as if it was close to breaking..

"L, why are you screaming? Hey, L!" Light uses the situation to his advantage and slaps him lightly in order to finally wake him up. L stirs and murmurs in his sleep. Light notices not without disgust that L has made their bed all sweaty again.

"Just look what mess you've created again, fool.." He mutters in an annoyed fashion, his hand pressed to his forehead in helplessness.

I feel dizzy, maybe I'm getting a headache, he thinks. Weird enough, L won't wake up. Somehow, L's painful expressions make him feel uneasy, but the quirky detective just doesn't react to his feeble tries of waking him up. So he guesses it's okay to leave him be for awhile and attend to his own business.

Light gets up and decides to take a shower, everything as usual. Today, his need for a shower is stronger. When L had been tossing and turning around all the time he had eventually made him wet, too. He hates this feeling, like he has been stained or marked….totally weird.

As he leaves the room, he hears L gasping. He has dropped to the floor.

What is this with this man, Light thinks. Why can't he just die and leave the world to Kira? And yet, they are both sleeping in the same bed, like lovers and Light feels how he is drawn back inside the room again, somehow worried for L's wellbeing.

So he checks on him. L lies perfectly still on the side, his hands slightly twisted. His breath comes normal. Something else is puzzling Light, maybe even frightening him.

L's eyes are wide open, as if he was staring at the ceiling. His orbs are not deep black anymore, but have a faint reddish glint to them. They seem to be glowing from the inside.

Light cannot look away. His eyes are locked on the crimson colour displayed in L's eyes.