I only changed the rating to M because of the next chapter (not giving anything away) but it's not anything explicit, really. Not even anything close to explicit, but I put it just in case. This is my longest chapter yet for anything really, by the way, so… yeah…
Previously…
Juliette pouted from the driver's seat, watching then from the rear view mirror, sad that L was so upset about all of this, and sympathetic toward Beyond, who couldn't fight back against his angry half-lover even if he wanted to.
But she knew it would get better. She just knew it.
Currently…
There was an uncomfortable, tense, heavy silence around the three in the small car.
L felt like crying, screaming, hitting Beyond again, and jumping out of the car to run all the way back to his Light-kun to hug him until the end of time.
Beyond felt like crying, apologizing a million times over to the adorable boy next to him, and holding his Lawli-chan until everything was all better.
Juliette felt like this plan really could've gone better…
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There was a painful, shocked, horror-struck silence around the four at the carnival.
Light felt like crying, screaming, trying to find his love again, and that the world was crashing down all around him as Matt told him L had been kidnapped yet again.
Mello felt like killing someone; preferably Beyond Birthday, and stealing his brother away from that creep and locking up said creep back in prison where he belonged, away from L and away from anyone.
Matt felt like he had betrayed everyone, though none of the group knew that it was in fact Matt who gave L away.
Near felt like this day really could've gone better…
"So… So he's gone again…?" Light asked numbly. There was a whirlwind of mixed emotions flying through his mind, visible through his eyes. The most perceptible seemed to be absolute, pure, undiluted rage, however.
Matt nodded remorsefully. "I-I tried to stop him… but he disappeared just like that… I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have brought L with me all a-alone…" Those tears at the end didn't need to be faked, they came out on their own.
Mello bit his lip, pulling his brother into a tight hug. "Shh... Shh… it's okay… it wasn't your fault…" He tried to reassure him, rubbing comforting circles into Matt's back as Near stroked his hair soothingly.
The redhead let out another sob. They didn't know how wrong they were…
Light was still standing there in shock.
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Juliette could hardly stand the suffocating silence much more, so she cleared her throat and spoke up. "S-So, where are we headed now, Ryuzaki?" She asked politely.
Her voice dragged Beyond out of his depressing reverie, and he looked up slightly. "Hm? Oh… right. You know the Carolixa hotel a couple blocks away from the Sweetsie Sugar Shoppe? Yeah, there." He answered, leaning his face against the window again.
She sighed, nodding. "Got it boss…" She murmured, trying to concentrate on driving instead of the tense, crushing aura surrounding the area.
"I want to go back to Light-kun…" L muttered darkly out of nowhere, holding onto his giant teddy bear tight enough to kill a human being.
Beyond felt his heart shatter at that comment. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to pretend he hadn't said that. A tear slipped out anyway, but he tried to pretend it wasn't there either.
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Matt sat alone in the back seats of the van on the way back to the house. The guilt was slowly eating him from the inside out, and I can tell you, it hurts quite a lot.
Light looked at him through the rear view mirror. He could hardly imagine how much pain he must've been in; having his sweet, innocent older brother stolen away from him right in front of his eyes by a psychopathic murderer, and not being able to do a thing about it. Of course, the readers know that that's not exactly what happened, unfortunately. But for the sake of dear Light-kun's sanity, let's let him think that way for the time being, okay?
"Matt?" He asked concernedly. "You okay?"
"… no…" His voice was merely a hoarse whisper. Light sighed sadly and trying not to think too much.
Mello could hardly stand to see his younger brother wallow in the much pain and suffering. He unbuckled his seat belt, moving next to Matt and unbuckling the other boy's seat belt as well, leaning the redhead against his chest and holding him.
Matt didn't seem to notice or care.
Near was sitting in the seat behind Light, hiding his face in his knees with his arms wrapped around his legs. If you looked close enough, you'd see his shoulders shaking and that his white-clothed knees were practically soaked, but the bumpy road hid it well, and nobody was even bothering to look anyway.
To put it shortly, if none of them were too chicken to let the tears out, the car would've been flooded by now.
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The first attempt at getting L out of the car when they arrived at the hotel resulted in a half-eaten cake to the face.
Beyond just sighed and scraped as much as possible of it off of his face and onto the pavement below.
Juliette, being the kind, caring woman she was, smiled sympathetically and offered to carry L's teddy bear when they finally got him out.
"I'm fine, thank you." He said respectfully, holding it closer. He saw no reason to be rude to her; she was trying to be nice after all, and besides, L had been raised to be courteous to ladies.
Beyond growled a little bit at the girl. A spark of jealousy struck him.
Speaking of jealousy, L was currently trying to justify the fact that he had been upset when he saw Beyond and Matt kissing. Well, Beyond had confessed to being madly in love with him, and anyone would feel a little betrayed by that. Anyone, really. And that was his little brother, of all people!
He could've been mistaking the jealousy for disgust anyway, maybe…
Yeah, that had to be it.
The lady at the front desk looked at the group funny when they were walking in. They were probably a strange looking bunch; an angry teenager with a pronounced slouch clutching an overly large teddy bear like the world depended on it, another rather depressed teenage boy with what appeared to be frosting and cake crumbs in his hair, and a motherly looking girl who really couldn't have been much older than the other two, who waved politely at the other woman as they passed, smiling sweetly as if nothing was wrong.
The lady blinked. But eh, she'd honestly seen stranger people walk into her hotel… she could've sworn Elvis checked in a few days ago…
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"Okay guys, once again… how are we going to get L back?" Light asked the triplets once they were seated around the kitchen table, Near with his head buried in his arms, Matt staring into the distance with a pained expression on his face, and Mello banging his head on the wood, muttering to himself.
The teenager sighed. "Fine then, if you're all to depressed to think right now, can I take a shower here at least?"
Mello looked up momentarily and shrugged. "Go ahead, L wouldn't mind." He said, then dropped his head again. It was a wonder he didn't have a concussion, hearing the sickening cracking noise as his forehead collided with the table. Knowing Mello though, it would take much more to knock him out.
As soon as they heard a bathroom door lock, all three of them looked up and glanced at each other.
"Okay, so let's run by the plan again." Near said.
Mello nodded, lips set into a straight line.
Matt still looked as though he were on the verge of tears, but he repeated the idea he had thought of and told the other two in the car without Light's knowledge. He honestly did regret doing what he did, though he still hadn't told them. But it was for Beyond… and as much as he knew that they'd be doing the right thing with this, he couldn't help but feel a sliver of betrayal to the one he truly loved.
When all of them had the plan practically memorized down to the last miniscule detail, they waited for Light to get out of the shower to put it into action.
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Juliette was keeping L company while Beyond was washing the cake out of his ebony hair.
"So… L… I really am sorry I'm helping Ryuzaki put you through this…" She confessed.
He nodded, lying on the bed and still not letting go of his teddy bear. "I forgive you, Julie. You're a good person, I just wish you weren't associated with the bad guys." He sighed.
She raised her eyebrows. "Well, Ryuzaki isn't all that bad." She said. "He cares a lot about you."
"Yes, I am aware of that, but I mean the fact that he's a murderer." He said absently, concentrating on the patterns on the ceiling.
She tensed up. "Murderer? Wh-What do you mean by that?" She questioned.
He looked at the girl. "You mean you didn't know? He's really Beyond Birthday, the serial killer who escaped from prison for the millionth or so time. He didn't tell you that, did he?"
Juliette was speechless. "Wh-What? No way… He can't be… He's… I…" She couldn't even form a single sentence.
"I had the same reaction…" He told her, looking away again.
"He… He… He was the one who killed my uncle…" She whispered.
L sat up. "Your uncle?"
She nodded. "Uncle Believe… Believe Bridesmaid…" She said. "Beyond Birthday was the one who killed him." She seemed to be fighting back tears. Her eyes widened suddenly. "You mean I've been helping an escaped criminal? I've been working for him? Oh god… I helped him… I helped the guy who killed my uncle! What if he goes after me next? Oh god… oh my god…"
L got up and walked over to the chair she was sitting in, giving her a comforting hug.
"I'm so sorry, Julie." He said gently, then pulled back and looked her in the eye. "You still have a chance to run. You can leave right now while Beyond is still over there. Go take your car and go back home. Please. You're too nice to get hurt in this." Truth be told, he had come to like Juliette as a very good friend during their time together, and he never liked his friends doing things that could risk getting them very hurt. "You can go right now. I won't tell him. Just go." He had a serious look in his eye.
She nodded frantically, scrambling to get up.
Unfortunately, right as she was about to grab the door handle, she felt a hand wrap tightly around her wrist, almost tight enough to break it. She looked back in horror to see Beyond with damp hair and burning scarlet irises holding onto her with a dark, murderous look on his face. Behind him was L sitting on the floor with a heartbroken expression on his face. 'No… Juliette…' She saw him mouth.
"Oh no you don't Julie." Beyond growled. "You're staying with us. We need you here a little while longer. And if you leave now, you'll really regret it." He threatened.
"Please, no…" She choked out, cringing.
"Then don't you dare even think about running away." He hissed.
She nodded, biting her lip almost hard enough for it to bleed.
"Good. Now go sit down." He let go of her and she practically ran to the other side of the room next to L. He locked the door and turned back to them. "I can't let you leave now Julie. You know too much." It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie. The girl whimpered. "And Lawli." He turned to the horrified teen. "You know I love you right? That's why I'm not going to let you go. Got it?" He snarled.
The killer was letting his bad side out now. It was obey or get horribly mutilated at this point.
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When Light walked out of the hallway into the living room, wearing some of L's clothes—he was sure his best friend wouldn't mind—he saw the triplets on the couch in a rather interesting position. Matt and Near were locked in a deep kiss, and Mello was holding the redhead tightly, his lips connected to the middle brother's neck, hands wandering everywhere.
Gawd, they're only twelve! The teenager awkwardly cleared his throat and the three looked up at him, unfazed by the situation.
"You finished?" Mello questioned.
"I should be asking the same thing to you guys. Can we cut the inappropriate scenes please? We kinda need to get back to…" He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind. Anyone have any ideas of what to do now?"
"Actually, yes." Near said.
Light perked up. "Really?"
"Yes. We're just taking a wild guess here, but they're probably back at the Carolixa hotel again." He informed him.
"It's worth a try to look." Mello added.
The auburn haired teen smiled. "Well what are we waiting for?" He inquired, picking the car keys up off the coffee table.
The triplets smiled to themselves. Their plan was going perfectly so far.
Mello pressed his lips to Matt's as they got up to get back into the car.
Matt kissed back automatically and let his older brother put an arm around him as they went.
Right as they stepped outside the house, Light felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Near staring up at him with large dark eyes. "Light…" The boy started. "But what if we can't get L back?" He asked. "What if Beyond hurts one of us?" He forced some tears out.
Just as planned, Light bent down and comfortingly wrapped his arms around the pale boy. "That's not going to happen." He promised.
Near hugged back, winking at his brothers over Light's shoulder, then pinching a certain nerve at the base of the teenager's neck. Mello and Matt grabbed him as he went limp before he crushed the boy. It took some effort, but the three pulled him into the car so that he was lying on the floor.
Mello used two old jump ropes from under one of the seats to tie his hands and feet up, then he slipped into the passenger seat, handing the keys he had taken out of Light's hands to Matt, who sat in the driver's seat. Near sat in the seat behind Mello, keeping an eye on Light to make sure he stayed unconscious.
"Matt, you do know how to drive, right?" Mello asked as the redhead started the car.
"Yeah, of course. It shouldn't be that different from my videogames…" He said, putting the car into reverse and backing out of the driveway.
Mello's eyes widened. "I'm going to trust you on this for the sole reason that this was your idea and you'll be the one responsible if we crash and die." He mumbled, buckling his seat belt, pulling it tightly.
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L and Juliette were terrified, to put it in simple terms.
Beyond had gone absolutely insane when Juliette tried to leave. And they both knew that if they didn't do what he wanted, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the girl. The Beyond Birthday from half an hour ago, the one that didn't even object to getting slapped in the face or getting cake thrown at him, was gone. And now, he was the pure essence of evil. The one that the monsters in the closet and under the bed had nightmares about. The one that wouldn't even think about driving a knife into your chest and laugh about it if you even so much as looked at him wrong.
The killer in question walked over to both of them, crouching down in front of the two with a frightening smirk as the two flinched and tried to move backwards, their backs meeting the wall.
"Aw, they're scared…" He giggled to himself.
L took a deep breath, his shoulders shaking. "Beyond…" He said softly, trying not to anger him. As much as everyone knew how much the murderer loved him, he had a feeling he wouldn't get off so easily now.
He blinked his crimson eyes at them. "Yes Lawli?" He smiled at him.
"Beyond, can you please let Juliette go? She has nothing to do with this. Please? This is between you and me, remember?" He tried to keep his voice even and calm.
The girl looked over at him, panicked. Was he really that concerned about her? She was surprised.
Beyond frowned. "No. She stays here." He said monotonously. "But it's sweet of you to care so much about her." He gave a little smile, but his lip twitched and he frowned again. "That's something I never got about you. How could you care so much about people you don't even know? Complete strangers that you've just met! Why would you prefer their safety over your own? It doesn't make sense." He stared at him analytically.
He didn't know how to answer. He wasn't even thinking about the question anyway. He was making a plan. A rather dangerous, risky plan if he had to say so himself. His heart pounded.
L suddenly wrapped his arms around Beyond's neck and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. He briefly looked over at Juliette, the look in his eyes screaming at her to run, and run fast.
She bit her lip, nodding once, and ran to the door, unlocking it and slamming it after her, trying oh so desperately not to look back.
Beyond pulled away as she was dashing out the door. His red eyes were wide with fury and he looked back at L. "I can't believe you just did that." He hissed angrily, leaning even closer and pinning his wrists to the wall. "Do you know how much trouble you're in for right now?" He growled.
L gasped in pain. But he didn't regret saving her. He could handle this by himself.
Anybody else's heart rate other than mine go up a lot during this chapter? Anybody else besides me start crying during this chapter? I swear, I nearly had a heart attack. Just writing this made me burst into tears (But writing chapter 11 was wore.) And don't worry, I'm posting chapter 11 right after this one so I don't kill anyone with anticipation, or so that nobody, but really I'm not naming anyone specific–cough-cough-dramaq you little biatch-cough-cough—kills me over not putting enough LightxL in it. -_- Dang it woman, the world does not revolve around that one pairing.
Please continue onto the next chappie now!