Chapter 25: A New Day Has Come
Sorry for the lag. I know I'm always apologizing for that, but I almost never have time to write anymore because of college and the nursing program and such. It's fairly demanding and when it's not taking up my time then housework, my fiancé's daughter, or basic needs are usually taking up the remaining portion. I will try to keep updating as much as I can and I hope that you continue to read and review. I do not own death note, its characters, or its plot line in any way. I do own Ellie, but that's about it.
Ellie watched the sun rise that morning. She could remember only a few times she stayed up long enough to watch a new day dawn. Ellie hugged her arms closely to her body. It wasn't that she was able to stay awake for the rising sun, it was that she was afraid to go back to sleep. She didn't like the nightmares that were plaguing her. Each time she closed her eyes she was someplace different and it seemed with each time she dozed off the nightmares got more and more frightening. She decided she would rather be awake. At least if she were awake she could busy herself to keep her mind off of things. That was all she could do to keep from completely losing it.
Ellie walked into Matsuda's kitchen. It was a strange feeling to be sitting in his kitchen. She nervously looked over her shoulder a couple times before sitting down. She was antsy, though she knew she had no reason to be. Her last nightmare had been Connor walking through the door and going into another rage. The slightest creaks and drips made her jump out of her seat. She decided she had better go for a walk. She would feel better if she could keep Matsuda out of the line of fire, if nothing else.
She looked down at herself. She looked like a mess, old scrubs, no underwear. She looked around for something, anything and saw a familiar piece of clothing. The schoolgirl uniform she had purchased earlier that week.
"Well its better than going commando," she thought to herself, but as soon as she put them on she felt more soiled than she had been in the scrubs without any underwear. She slipped the scrubs overtop the uniform and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like either a victim in a car crash or a victim of a brutal assault. Matsuda had been right when he had said that she looked like a victim.
She decided to get as far away from the apartment as she could for a while. She felt bad not waking Matsuda up to tell him, but she knew he would just disagree with her and say that maybe she shouldn't be out this soon. She knew that this is what she needed; she needed to get her mind off of what happened. She left Matsuda a note and grabbed her cell phone which she put in it in the pocket of the scrubs.
She decided to check the joint bank account she shared with Connor. She wasn't sure how much money would be in it or if there would even be any money in it. Connor may have very well drained the entire account the day that he left her for dead in that field. She was surprised when the teller handed her the bank card and gave her directions to the nearest money exchange. She thanked the teller and left.
She ended up draining the bank account. She knew that she should leave a little in there, just in case he needed the money so he would be tracked easier but she didn't think about it beforehand really. She took the money and decided she would have to at least get some underwear with the money.
She wasn't really sure of where to shop for clothing in Japan. In the time that she had lived there she brought all of her clothing from home and all of the clothing from her "home" had been purchased at a thrift store. She decided to contact the only person she knew would be able to help her out in this sort of situation.
"Hello?" Misa said answering the phone.
"Hi, Misa." Ellie said.
"Hi, Ellie-chan!" Misa exclaimed. "Why the call in the middle of the day it is so unlike Ellie-chan."
"I could really use your help," Ellie said. "I know that you spend most of your free time shopping so I thought maybe you could point out a few places for me."
Misa literally screamed into the earpiece. "Of course Ellie-chan. I'm glad you finally are seeing that I am the best person to find clothes for you!"
"I'll drop by your apartment in about 10 minutes," Ellie said. "Could you give me directions from the police station?"
Misa gave Ellie the directions and Ellie began walking. She finally made it to Misa's apartment about a half an hour later. Ellie knocked on the door of the correct apartment and Misa threw open the door.
"Ellie-chan!" she shouted and then cringed. "What happened!"
"It's a long story," Ellie said. "Can I come in?"
"Of course Ellie-chan," Misa said.
Ellie walked through the front door and sat down on the couch. Misa sat down on the couch that was directly across from the couch that Ellie was sitting on.
"Why isn't Ellie-chan back in New York with her fiancé?" Misa asked. "Did you have a fight?"
"Well," Ellie said. "I guess you could say that."
"Well Ellie-chan," Misa said. "What was the fight about?"
"Misa, he tried to kill me, it was a little more than a fight I would say," Ellie said.
Misa sat in shock for a few moments unsure of what to say. "Aren't you scared?" Misa asked.
"Terrified," Ellie said. "I can't go back to my apartment and I'm staying with Matsuda. These are the only clothes I have access to. It would be really nice to at least buy a bra and a pack of underwear if nothing else." Ellie said.
"Of course Ellie-chan." Misa said. "But first, please let me give you something of mine so you won't have to go back out in that. No offense Ellie-chan, but you look awful and those clothes are covered with spots of blood."
Ellie allowed Misa to take her into Misa's bedroom. Misa smiled and said, "This is my dresser and that small one over there is Light's. He invited me to live with him just a few days ago."
"I'm really happy for you Misa," Ellie said.
Misa spent a few moments looking through her clothes and she finally spotted a dress that she hadn't worn in a while."
"Ah here you are Ellie-chan," Misa said.
Ellie looked at the dress. It was short and black. Ellie was grateful she hadn't wanted to go out in these scrubs again because she had gotten an odd look from the bank teller. They were covered in small spots of blood as Misa had said and they hung on Ellie's body like a bag. Still she couldn't complain she didn't have any other clothes other than that. "Thank you Misa," Ellie said. "I'll change into this now."
Ellie walked into the bathroom and stripped out of the scrubs. She threw the scrubs into the trash. There was no hope of saving that garment. Ellie looked at herself in the schoolgirl outfit that was underneath the scrubs and was horrified. The bruises were dark purple and lay in small patches all over her body. She looked like a purple spotted Dalmatian. Ellie kept the schoolgirl uniform underneath the dress that Misa had given her. It was the only form of underwear she had and she wasn't about to borrow that from Misa.
Ellie walked out of the bathroom and Misa said, "That is much better Ellie-chan," and then gasped halfway through her words. She had gotten a look at Ellie's legs which weren't bruised as badly as her torso but had several shallow gashes in them.
There was stunned silence for several minutes and then Ellie spoke, "Did you want to go or do you think that I should wear something that covers up my legs?" Ellie asked.
"Ellie-chan," Misa said. "He should pay for what he did to you."
"It's fine Misa," Ellie said quietly. Ellie really didn't want to talk about it right now. She wished everyone would just stop bringing up how awful she looked. How was that supposed to help her heal?
"Ellie-chan, it's not fine. Killing someone else, especially someone you are supposed to love is never ok. Misa knows Ellie, Misa's own stalker tried to kill her. Misa was lucky to survive."
"I'm sorry," Ellie said. "I had no idea."
"No one knows Ellie-chan you must keep it a secret. Misa shouldn't have spoken of it," Misa said.
"Of course," Ellie said. "It's our secret."
Misa smiled. "Ok Ellie-chan, we are going shopping.
Three and a half hours later Misa and Ellie had many shopping bags between them. Ellie refused to buy most of the sexier things, but she found a few semi-conservative things to wear. By the time they had finished Ellie had only spent half of the money she had brought with her. Misa's connections had gotten her most of the things at a high discount, and even free in certain places. "Thank you Misa," Ellie said after Misa drove her back to Matsuda's apartment.
"No problem Ellie-chan," Misa said. "It's nice to spend time with another girl."
Ellie walked up the stairs with the scattered bags that she had with her. She opened up the door to Matsuda's apartment with the key he had given her. She put the clothes in the small closet of the guest bedroom.
Ellie showered and put on one of the skirts and one of the collared tee-shirts. Ellie walked out into the living room where Matsuda was waiting for her. He had greeted her when she came in and now he was waiting as she got herself taken care of.
"Ellie, you look nice," Matsuda said.
"Thank you Misa took me to get a few things so I wouldn't be wearing those scrubs everywhere."
Matsuda smiled. "Are you feeling better today?" Matsuda asked.
"A little," Ellie confided. "It's going to be a while until I begin to feel safe again."
"Ellie, you know I would never let anything happen to you right? I feel bad enough that I let you go back to that…man," Matsuda said gritting his teeth. He could think of a few more appropriate names for Ellie's abusive psychotic fiancé but he kept them to himself.
"Matsuda, I made that choice. It's not your fault. It's not my fault. It's probably not even his fault. It just happened. I'm alive, I survived. It's ok." Ellie said.
"Being able to survive doesn't ever make it ok!" Matsuda shouted shaking her. "Do you have any idea how much you mean to me," Matsuda said and then quickly backpedalled. "You are my closest friend."
Ellie couldn't help it. She started crying. Matsuda instantly released her. Ellie breathed deeply for a few moments before wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said. "Usually I don't outburst like that."
"Never, apologize for something like that," Matsuda said quietly with his teeth slightly gritted.
Ellie was surprised. Matsuda had never said anything like that before. "Ok," was all she was able to say.
That night Misa sat in the bedroom she shared with Light. He was working late that night, Misa understood. He was part of the police force now. She was so proud of him. She opened the death note. Light had told her to keep up with the killings and she had been writing throughout the day when she had a chance. Tonight she had a specific person in mind. Usually Misa didn't feel a connection to any of her victims, but this time she felt a particular hatred for one. She hadn't had a chance to kill either her stalker or the man who had killed her parents. Misa logged onto Ellie's facebook account. It seemed that Ellie hadn't updated it in a while, but nevertheless she had added Misa as a friend a couple of years before. Misa smiled. Misa looked through the photo albums on the page and found her victim. "Connor O'Keith," Misa said opening her notebook. She wrote down the name and closed her eyes sighing. She closed Ellie's facebook page and continued writing names of criminals as she had any night, but had a higher feeling of satisfaction.
Ellie's eyes shot open. She had been having another nightmare, but that wasn't what had awoken her. She rubbed her eyes and focused on what the cause of her awakening. Ellie could faintly hear the sound of her cell ringing.
Ellie jumped out of bed and answered the phone. She could hear the labored breaths of someone on the other side.
"Who is this?" Ellie asked scared out of her mind.
"El…..Ellie," the labored voice said.
Ellie nearly jumped out of her skin. "Why are you calling me!" she demanded. She already knew who it was. It was Connor. He must be calling from a pay phone.
"I'm dying," he said. Ellie heard him choke out before he let out a terrible scream.
Ellie Let out a terrified shriek and dropped the phone. Ellie picked up the phone again and there was no noise.
"Connor," Ellie said. There was no answer.
Matsuda walked into the room. "Ellie what's going on?"
"He….." Ellie said shaking.
"Ellie," Matsuda said calmly. "Did he call you?"
"Yes," Ellie said still shaking.
"That son of a bitch," Matsuda said under his breath. Ellie was taken aback. She had never heard Matsuda curse, ever.
"I think something terrible has happened," Ellie said.
"He's not going to get you here Ellie," Matsuda said. "I've got a gun, and I'll have the apartment watched, I've got connections… well I'm sure given the severity of the situation we can at least find some way for your to be safe."
"It's not that," Ellie said.
"What is it Ellie?" Matsuda asked.
"He's dead," Ellie said.