Guess what… I'm back! I know it's been a long time since I last posted, and I apologize. Life has been in the way. Fortunately, I'm off for winter break and can have some time to myself, so I decided to give it to you: my lovely readers.
Anyone still interested in reading after all this time, review and let me know what you think.
Ellie Lawliet's P.O.V.
Whoever this psycho was, they were seriously messed up. I decided to walk to the park, so as to prolong my arrival at the place where the severed feet had been laid out like bloody breadcrumbs. The police had roped off the entire area, to spare anyone else from finding the gruesome scene. The poor kid who found them in the first place was in therapy, and by the looks of things, would probably stay there for quite some time.
The police didn't stop me from crossing their lines of tape – mostly, because they literally couldn't see me – so I walked right in without bothering to talk to them. L would receive any relevant information from them over the phone, so it would be no use to strike up any conversation, they wouldn't be any help. As I was passing them, I noticed that one of the officers had the first stages of cancer. I concentrated on it and made it disappear. It was the least I could do to give a little life before walking into the domain of death, even if the stench could already reach my nose from 20 yards away.
The feet were in varying states of decay. Some were bloated like balloons, and some looked like they had been cut off only a few hours ago. Others were rotted away to the point where you could already see some of the bones and ligaments. Clearly our new wild card had been both on a killing spree, and had gotten a little too shovel-happy in the graveyard.
All of them, however, had one thing in common. They smelled like blood and rot. When I first arrived on the scene, my nose was bombarded with the putrid stench. It made me want to slink away and never come back. L would not be getting any cuddles for the next week because of this. Maybe I'd snuggle up to Yori instead, just to annoy him. Then again, Yori wasn't very keen on friendly displays of affection, so I made a note instead to make L give me a foot massage in retribution. It seemed like a proper irony, after all.
The feet had been lined up so that each of them was facing in the same direction. They all were placed about two yards apart from each other, and our killer had gone into so much detail that they had even alternated between left and right feet. I noticed that some of the feet were smaller than others. It made anger bubble up inside me. This vile creature was hurting children. That was a line that no one should cross, not even psychotic serial killers.
The further along the trail I got, the fresher the… erm… specimens… seemed to be. By the time I reached the end, I saw that one of the feet was still alive. It was then that I realized my eyes have been looking intently at the ground during my unpleasant walk. As my eyes moved slowly upward, I saw that the foot was connected to a leg, which was connected to a living, breathing person. They stood with their back to me, their feet mimicking the same pattern that the trail had been laid out in. This person, from the back, looked a lot like L. He had the same body type, and wore the same clothing as my husband, but his skin was a little darker. That wasn't hard, considering how pale L was, but this person in front of me looked like they had coated their skin in some sort of makeup, that was slowly washing off in his own sweat.
All this was only secondary to my initial observation, however, as I noted that this person was covered in splatters of blood, and was loosely holding a knife in one hand.
I had found our killer.
"Are you guys seeing this," I commented. I had decided to wear a body camera, so that I wouldn't be the only one to see whatever lies at the end of the trail.
"Indeed," L's scrambled voice spoke in my earpiece, "It is as I feared."
"What do you mean, 'as you feared?' Do you know who this is?" I heard another voice say.
L ignored him. It was probably either Yori or Soichiro. "Gabrielle, ensure that you do not touch him, we do not want this person to be able to see you. Move around to the front and show us his face," L ordered. He sure could be bossy sometimes, but I did as he asked.
"What the hell," I heard another voice say, "he looks just like…"
"Like me," L finished reverently.
I knew exactly who it was. I had heard about him when learning more about the manga that the anime had been based on. Sadly, I'd never been able to get my hands on a copy of it, but the internet is a wonderful place. It told me all about this person. It was the very person that Naomi Misora had helped L to catch in a bonus book. Everything made sense now. The brutality, the blood, the strawberry jam…
This was BB.
I should have been shocked, but in reality, I was fascinated. His hair was clearly dyed from brown to black, and he wore makeup to imitate L. If it weren't for the fact that the makeup was wearing off, and his hair was growing, it wouldn't have been a stretch to think that they were brothers.
I knew they weren't. They had both grown up at Wammy's orphanage, but that was as close as they would ever be to siblings. BB, however, had – or I guess has – a creepy obsession with L. He imitated him, and turned himself into what could only be described as L's evil twin.
What was truly fascinating about him, however, was that he had the shinigami eyes. Normally, that would not be particularly interesting, if not for the fact that he had never made an eye deal with a shinigami. BB had been born with the eyes, and he had a tendency to cause mischief because of it.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't an expert on BB. I had never read the manga that he was a part of, so I only knew what internet research could tell me. But I knew enough to understand that having him here was not good. Having someone walking around that looks like L could prompt Light to write L's name in the death note, and my son would be forced to grow up without a father. I might be able to bring him back, but I'd never seen someone return from the grave multiple times. Even I only died once. If L gets killed now, I might not be able to save him.
That thought put my teeth on edge. If I think for one second that having him here will cost my husband's life, I will not hesitate to snuff BB out once and for all. L would not go through his own death again.
Suddenly, I remembered the jam jar in my hand. I placed it on the ground, and rolled it so that it bumped into BB's ankle. He turned around and picked it up curiously. I then watched as he wrinkled his nose and threw it over his shoulder, where it hit a tree and cracked open.
"It appears our new friend does not like peaches," L commented. "I shall give word to the police that they may now go in to capture him. G, please return to headquarters."
Something in me snapped. "Like hell I will," I shouted, surprising even myself with the sudden curse word. Regardless, I kept talking, "I won't be satisfied until this monster is out of the picture. And you could call it 'home,' you know. Not everything is about Kira." I was fuming.
"Stopping Kira is our top priority. Please return, we have much to discuss."
"Kira this, Kira that, all you talk about is Kira! It's as if our entire relationship revolves around Kira." I love L, but this was an issue I had been holding back since he tossed me my engagement ring, "You expect me to follow your every order, then put me as only your second priority." I couldn't stop myself, the words just began flowing out of me. All my frustrations and annoyances from the moment he appeared in my closet came pouring out, "You know, my father – my spiritual father – told be something that might be of interest to you," my voice was strained and angry, "He said that you were meant to be no more than my assistant. You hear that? Nothing more than a mere helper. A means to an end. He already had someone else in mind for me to marry in order for his prophecy to be fulfilled. He said I'd meet him in Tokyo, and that he had been conditioned all his life to be my partner. He made sure that I would meet him. Who knows, maybe I never did, maybe I already have. It's just," I nearly growled in frustration, "We moved so fast that sometimes I think I should never have married you."
I stopped, shocked by the harshness of my own words. It was true that I often wondered if I'd made the right choice. But looking at all the wonderful things that came from my decision to be with L made everything worth it. Nate, for example. I wouldn't trade him for the world. And nothing could change the way I felt about my husband. I loved him to the point where I would break the most sacred law that gods of life uphold just to save him.
Despite this, I couldn't take back what I said, because no matter how cruel they were, not a word of it was false. The truth was out, and I was powerless to undo what had been done.
L didn't respond. I stood in stillness, watching the world from the outside. Everything around me seemed to blur. The silent breeze through the trees were so calm, as if there was nothing wrong with the world. It seemed wrong that the weather should be so fair when the world was so hideous.
After my mind snapped back to reality, I realized that BB had noticed the police coming closer, and he placed something on the ground before running off into the bushes. I followed him, ignoring the object he'd left behind.
He was clever, I'll give him that. He evaded the police easily. I stayed right beside him, flying in order to keep up with his quick, unpredictable movements.
L remained silent, but Yori spoke to me through my earpiece, "Ellie – I mean… Gabrielle – don't follow him, come back." He pleaded for me to return until I eventually got sick of it and tore out my earpiece, leaving it abandoned on the ground. It got run over by a car, crushing it into tiny pieces. I decided I liked having no one but myself in my head, so I took off the body camera as well. I needed to do this on my own, and I didn't want L to interfere with me.
I had no idea what my plan was, but I knew for sure that I would not be going home until BB was gone.