Chapter 19:

"Church Siege"

Light licked his dry lips as he began to emerge from a forced sleep. He had no idea how long he had been out, but his body ached with every attempted movement. And even before he tried to open his eyes, a wave of nausea came over him making his head spin.

He had smacked his head on the front steps of the church with enough force to give himself a hairline skull fracture. He determined he may need an x-ray when and if he ever got back home.

He opened his eyes to a strange place, a small room with walls painted with canary yellow, with a crucifix on the wall. Who liked bright colours? And yellow? Light preferred basic tones to anything that drummed up emotions. A wall shouldn't make you feel.

He turned his head carefully, fighting off a sudden head spin, and saw a black covered bible on a side stand. For a split second, his mind conjured up that he was looking at a thick Death Note filled with names. But Ryuk wasn't here. And Light's logic sense quickly took over, all within a second or two. He also saw a few items of personal note—but not belonging to him.

He lay on a small cot with a blanket over his body up to his shoulders. From the feel of the cover, his clothes had been removed but his underwear was still on. Then he saw his clothes hanging up over a small floor heater, drying. He remembered his clothes had been wet as he ran through the streets, before obtaining sanctuary in a church—this church.

He lifted the blanket and noticed his hands were bandaged. After he had electrocuted himself for Raven to save him in a ploy that he managed to turn against his captor, he had had burned his hands mildly. But as he ran through the streets, the pain of those burns seemed less than he remembered now. The palms of his hands arched with a continuous throb.

A sharp, burning remembrance of what had had happened entered his thoughts. It was like a flood of memories of what Beyond Birthday had done to him over the last week, and they came rushing in like a torrent. Even before the security guard had forced BB to move his operations, BB had tortured Light just for fun—using old Chinese torture methods.

But even so, they got boring for Beyond Birthday. Physical torture was not his forte, he preferred psychological pain instead, reaching back into Light's past to bring out past memories to cause him the most agony, including the time the love of Light's life died. Light had no idea how Beyond Birthday knew about Dana Chika, but he used the agony of Dana's death to draw out guilt. And guilt was one of the most powerful emotions anyone could experience.

But Light knew Dana's death wasn't his fault.

The door to the room opened and a middle-aged priest stepped in. He wore the same attire Light first saw him in standing in the church. He produced a pleasant smile as he adjusted his glasses. "Good morning, young man," he said. "I'm pleased to see you once again among the land of the living, if you excuse the dark humour."

Light nodded, feeling his head. His forehead was bandaged with a wrap.

"Please, keep resting," the priest said. "You were badly hurt when you arrived, and even a little delirious in your sleep. You kept mumbling and calling out for someone named Dana. Is she a girlfriend?" Light didn't respond. "I didn't call for an ambulance," he added, "because whatever happened to you, you will not be judged for it here. You are under God's roof. Only He can surely judge you for whatever 'sins' you have committed. Not to assume you have."

Light nodded, just to agree.

"I cleaned and bandaged your head and hands, and carried you in here to my room to rest. Forgive me for removing your clothes, but if they remained you'd catch your death."

Light nodded again. "Thank you," he said softly.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" The priest sat down in a wooden chair he pulled from a corner. The man seemed genuinely concerned.

Light sat up. He caught sight of himself in long wall mirror on the wall. His face was battered and bruised from Beyond Birthday's beatings. Along with the bandage around his head and his hands, he looked like he had been in some sort of street fight. His hair was messy and tossed, and he had at least a weeks of beard growth, but he was the kind of person who didn't grow a good beard. He groomed himself well, but being in that cell didn't give him an option.

He thought back to what the priest said, when he was muttering in his sleep.

Dana? Why would I be wanting Dana? She's dead. Killed by Zurn Wellington, a member of the League of Darkness, on top of the old Kira headquarters building, in a fight between himself and Demetre—about the Death Note. I honestly do feel guilty for what happened that day. But I can't let it deter me from Kira's judgements of others…

"Where am I?" Light asked.

"A Baptist church in Shibuya, more specifically in my private rectory; a living area for myself to watch over the church at night," the priest said.

The priest hinted at asking what happened to Light again, but didn't ask. Light picked up on it.

I try not to tell lies that hurt others—but…

Light looked at his bandaged hands, they throbbed. He owned the priest the truth, but he couldn't tell him everything. "I escaped some bad people and burned my hands in the process," he said ambiguously, not wanting to say too much. He cringed when he tried to move the fingers of his dominate hand. "They—kidnapped me…" It was the truth, but he still kept most of it back. "I'm the son of a police chief and I'm valuable to some people…" It was a partial-truth. His father no longer chief of police since fully devoting himself to the Kira Task Force.

"Ah, I see…" the priest said, looking Light over. "You didn't have any personal items on you. You were also muttering something else in your sleep. Who is Ryuk? Is he a friend of yours?"

Light's heart seemed to skip a beat. He cursed his self-conscious. "Yes," was all he said. Anything else would be too much, but he was surprised that he was calling out for Ryuk. He had been betrayed by the Shinigami. However, for the last couple of years, the Shinigami had stuck by his side. They were bonded, but just by a thread. "My name is Light Yagami."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Father—"

Just then, a loud series of knocks could be heard. The priest turned. "I'm sorry, it appears I have yet another visitor tonight. I locked the doors for the night, I hadn't done so yet when you arrived. I welcome those who wish to pray here, but this is an older church. The newer churches receive more of the crowds these days, and more funding. We are in badly need of resources, but we do have some valuable items worth stealing. I'll be right back. Please continue to rest."

Light nodded, and the priest left his rectory. Light understood why there was night-watchman after what the priest said. And he was thankful there had been, or he may have succumb to the dead of night's elements, it's right and cold, and that would have been it for Kira.

Light looked at his bandaged hands again. He wondered how badly he burned them when he touched the electrified bars of BB's makeshift jail cell. He remembered the sudden shock and pain and then passing out, until Raven revived him. But then like a coward, he ran, and locked the woman inside the cell. But she was still complicate in the affair.

He planted his feet on the floor, then carefully stood, and began to dress. He slipped on his pants first, his socks, shoes, and then his shirt. His fingers were free to button up his shirt. He then put on his jacket, but put his tie in his pocket. His watch was gone, BB had taken it to use with his disguise—as Light himself. He wanted it back!

"My son! Please put that away! This is a House of God!" suddenly came the priest's harrowing voice, as it echoed through the audience hall of the church.

Light turned his head towards the partially closed door, then ventured out of the rectory, and gasped, when he saw Auric Lafayette, dressed in a light-coloured trench coat—the Interpol liaison he portrayed himself to be. It was obvious that he was leading a double life.

Auric smiled broadly, almost insanely, and said, "Forgive me Father—for I will sin!"

Auric stabbed the priest in the chest in a violent rage, a maniac smile on his face. He looked at Light as the priest fell with the knife embedded in his body, his clothes bloodied—dead.

Light gasped. Auric had just killed a man of the cloth in cold-blood.

"Found you…" Auric said playfully. "The almighty Kira, hiding in a church, not too surprising," he added. "But you're already coward, hiding behind a pseudo-godship. You're a difficult man to track down, Yagami, but with the technology at my fingertips as a member of Interpol, you'll never disappear from me for long. Even in this house of worship. Now, playtime is over."

Auric reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun from a holster. It was silver with a white handle. Light figured is was a .25 Colt pistol, but modified with a longer barrel.

He pointed at Light. Light bolted back into the rectory and shut the door. Auric sieged through the door with a hard kick. Shocked, Light fell back, and pushed away on his hands as Auric approached. Auric brushed bits of wood off his jacket.

"You're an interesting person, Light Yagami, and wily prey, one might say."

"You tried to kill me on the hospital rooftop. Before that, you or someone in your employ also shot at me through my apartment window." Light sneered. "Why? I haven't done anything to you. It was Beyond Birthday. He's the one you want."

"Oh, no, Light Yagami," Auric said, and he pointed an accusatory finger. "It is you I want! You are the focal point of my and Rue's battle to date. He wants you, and I want hurt Rue."

"Who are you, really?"

Auric smiled crookedly with a tilt of his head. "I borrowed the real's Auric Lafayette identity, and inserted myself into Interpol to track Rue, or Beyond Birthday, as you know him. I've observed you both closely in secret. And I know all about your exploits as Kira."

"You're mistaken," Light lied. "I'm not—"

"Oh, please…" Auric flicked a hand as to ward off the lie. "I know everything about you. But let me give you a little background about me. I'm a child of Wammy House, an orphanage for gifted children. My moniker is 'A', but I rather enjoy the name Auric. L may have caught Rue in Los Angeles after he committed his horrific crimes in an attempt to outfox his rival, L, but you outmaneuvered L, and killed him. That surprised me. When I learned Rue didn't die in prison from a mysterious heart attack as official records claimed, I came looking for him. Still, now that I have you, he'll come to me, so hunting him down is moot."

"Why do you want Beyond Birthday so bad?"

"Simple: revenge," Auric said. "As the feud goes between Rue and I, you, Light Yagami, were insignificant until recently, but you've become very valuable as of late. Rue wants you dead for doing what he could not—namely beating L. Call it jealousy, but also call it justice. I want Rue dead for what happened between us, I also want justice. Rue tried to kill me, to fake my suicide. But I survived the attempt." Auric brushed back his hair to reveal a scar underneath his hair on his left skull. "It was his attempt to take me out of out succession to replace L when the day came L wished to leave the game. Watari groomed BB to take L's place when I was seemingly of the picture. But it didn't go as planned. Rue is insane. And it may have had something to do with the Good Doctor's experiments."

"Who is this doctor?"

"Oh, he's no longer of any concern. He's of the late variety, if you understand me."

Light didn't need further explanation.

"As for Rue, not only is he insane, he has a very special gift, he can see numerical and alphabetical digits above a person's head. I didn't know what that meant until recently."

"It's a person's lifespan," Light said.

"Correct," Auric said. "The only one who should be able to convert those identifiers is a Shinigami, but Rue seems to have this ability, too. And he's had these 'Shinigami Eyes' from an early age, and has used this gift to kill his victims, known as the BB Murder Case. Have you heard of it? Need I have to spell out the details for more clarity?"

"No, I know the particulars," Light said, he was allowed to sit up on the bed. "How did you know about Shinigami?"

"Observation and artistry," Auric said. "That's what a good detective does. Wammy House is a place for gifted children, and everyone is exceptionally smart. Well, some excel more than others. At first it seemed impossible, but in the words of Sherlock Holmes: 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'. Do you agree? I enjoyed reading those stories as a child, I still do. They inspired me to follow L, but now that chance has been ripped away from me by a jealous, sadistic lunatic!"

"Takes one to know one," Light muttered.

Light now he had a lot more information about what was truly going on between Auric and Beyond Birthday, but to use that information to his advantage was beyond him at that moment.

But he refused to be reduced to a third wheel in their cat-and-mouse game.

To be continued...