Chapter 5
I was laying facedown on my bed when I heard the door creak open. I pretended to be sleeping. I didn't want to talk to Mori again. He disgusted me and I knew Light would be really really mad at him for treating me like that. The door closed again and there were footsteps. They weren't Mori's… Mori waddled more like a penguin. These footsteps were light and precise.
A hand grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey. Sen, wake up."
I flew up.
"LIGHT!" I screamed and I was about to tackle-hug Light when I saw that it wasn't Light at all. Or maybe it was? He was different from Light, but yet the same. His eyes were just blue and didn't have that strange glow… and this Light's hair was brown. His hair was also messier than Light's was, I noted, and slightly longer.
"Light?" I said blankly.
"Not quite," the strange boy said. I stuffed my face back into the pillow.
"Go away!" I yelled.
"Sen, come on." He grabbed my shoulder again and shook me gently. "This is required."
"What do you mean, 'required'?!" I yelled in my pillow. "Why do you look so much like Light?!"
"Because we're brothers."
I quickly sat up.
"What?" I said blankly.
"Twins, actually." He sat down at the edge of my bed.
"But your hair is different," I pointed out.
"Actually, his is different." He sighed. "Let me explain. Light's name… isn't actually 'Light'."
"Well, I knew that!" I snarled. "I named him Light!"
"He didn't have a name," he said. "He had a code. And so do I. My 'name' is S2443. Light's is S2444."
"What?! That doesn't make any sense."
"We weren't named yet. And we should have been killed in that car crash." The boy sighed. "But we weren't, and The Master took us in."
"Who is The Master?" I didn't like the way he said it. Like it was holy or something.
"He runs all of this. He's in charge of everything. He took us in and saved our lives by replacing our organs with… other things. And they discovered something. They discovered that S2444 was different from me." He looked at me. "Do you know… who Jenova is?"
Oh no. Jenova was never good.
"An alien calamity that fell from the sky a long, long, long time ago."
He smiled. "Good girl. And you know who lived there before Jenova?"
"The Ancients?"
"Yeah. The Cetra. They discovered in S2444 that he had special cells in them. He had some that resembled someone else's. Her name was Aerith Gainsborough."
"I've heard of her," I said.
"Mhmm. Well, the professors here thought it was an amazing discovery. So they started to duplicate his cells and put more of them in him. It started out pretty innocent. But as S2444 got older… he got angrier." He looked up at me. "He would burst windows without using his limbs. And eventually, he killed an employee."
Light had killed someone.
I suppressed a shiver.
"But The Master… he thought… it was a good sign. So they put Jenova cells in him. And gave him Mako treatments. And all kinds of other stuff."
I was horrified. I didn't know what Mako was, but it didn't sound too good.
"That's why S2444 is so special. That's why we need him back so much."
"Just to put all kinds of cells in him and see what happens?!"
"Calm down, Sen…"
"How do you know my name?!" I shrieked as I backed up against the wall. He took back his outstretched hand.
"I know a lot more than your name, Sen. I know just as much about you as 'Light' does."
"What?" I said. "I don't understand."
"You see, Sen…" he said slowly, "when S2444 turned out to be so special, I was trained too. Just in case he were to escape anywhere. I am his double. I am his shadow. I act like him, talk like him, think like him, and feel like him. And seeing as there's a nice little chip in his head, they have known all along where, what, and who S2444 interacted with. They've known all along where S2444 was. They just thought you could be useful somehow."
"Me?! I'm a little girl who's barely fourteen!" I yelled. I got on my knees. "How can I be useful?!"
"Ssh, calm down, Sen. Your pigtails are falling apart." He reached forwards, but I slapped his hand.
"Light did them," I snarled. "Don't touch me. And get off my bed!"
He stood up and sat in the chair Mori had sat in a while ago.
"Why can't you all understand that Light doesn't want to live with you guys anymore?!" I yelled. Then I buried my face in my pillow.
"Sen…"
"Leave me alone."
"Let me at least tell you something."
"I'm not listening."
"Thank you for giving S2444 a name."
"Why would it matter to you?!"
"Well, since I am his shadow… they gave me a name too to reflect his."
He got me. I was fuming. Not fair. He shouldn't take advantage of my curiousity.
"What is it?!"
"…Raito."
I turned around only to glare at him, then I stuffed my face back in my pillow.
"I hate you," I murmured. "I hate you all! I want to go home."
I heard him slide back in his chair.
"I'll just sit here…" he said.
"Why? You're such an idiot…"
But Raito just sat there, true to his word. I would glare at him every few minutes, but he would still sit there, staring at me.
After a long time of this little game, there was a noise outside of my room. Glass was falling and small explosions were heard.
"What in the world?" I said blankly.
"Stay here."
"Why would I listen to you?!"
He got up from his chair and used some sort of card to open the door. He peeked through a small crack. I tip-toed forwards and snatched the card away from him and ran out the door.
At least, that was my plan. In reality, I grabbed the card and he spun around, grabbing my wrists and pulling me away from the door, my back against him.
"LET GO OF ME!" I screamed.
"Sen?!" I heard from outside. It was Light's voice.
"LIGHT!" I exclaimed. "I'm in here!"
Raito put a hand on my mouth, muffling my voice. He dragged me further back, we were against the wall now. The door burst open. Light stood there, panting a bit. His shirt was torn and he was dirty all over. I was ready to rush up against him until I noticed some things.
There was a white wing coming out of his back. With feathers and all. And then I saw his hands.
He had nails. Not the normal nails that you and I have. No, they weren't nails anymore. They were claws. And they were dripping blood. So was his mouth. Blood was dripping down from his teeth and his eyes were dark crimson. Behind him lay several doctors and guards, their throats torn open and blood gushing out of them. I heard myself scream.
"Sen?" Light said.
I was horrorstruck. My mouth was gaping and my eyes were wide.
"Sen, don't look at them," Light said as he stepped towards us.
I cowered against Raito. I didn't want for this new Light to touch me. Raito put his arms around me like Light would always do. It felt strangely comforting.
"Sen?" Light said softly.
"Why did you kill all those people, Light?" Raito said calmly.
"Because you all have Sen!" Light yelled. "She has nothing to do with all of this!"
"So you remember us, S2444." Mori had appeared. Light spun around and took a step backwards. "Or should we call you… Light?"
"Let Sen go home and I'll do whatever you want," Light snarled.
"I'm afraid that that's quite useless, Light."
Many guards appeared and they started to take Light and clasp his arms together.
"You see, we already have you now. And I'm pretty sure that you'll do anything for us if we don't hurt your little Sen." Mori was walking like a vulture in circles around Light, who's eyes were slowly fading to blue and green again.
"Professor Mori, The Master said that you weren't allowed to experiment on Sen," Raito said.
"I know that, Raito," sneered Mori. "But I will have a little chat with The Master because I have a brilliant idea." He walked towards us and leaned towards me. "And I think this cute little girl will be perfect for it."
"Don't you dare touch her!" snarled Light. Mori gave Light a challenging look and pulled on my right cheek. Light glared at him.
"Put him in a tube," Mori sighed. "Burn the bodies. Raito, you know what to do."
"Yes."
"Light? Where are you going?!" I released Raito and started to run after them. Raito grabbed my wrists and pulled me back again. "What are you going to do with him?!" I screamed.
Mori turned around to give me one last freaky smile.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. It's all part of the plan."
Then they shut the door.