Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note
This chapter has been edited as well. I hope you like it.
Search For The Sun
Chapter 2
Day 2
Dakota awoke to the light streaming in through her mother's window.
Her mother's old alarm clock read 4 in the morning.
At first she was confused as to why she was in her mother's room, but then her eyes filled with tears as memories of yesterday traveled through her mind.
She gripped at the bedsheets, a ragged sob escaping her lips.
She tried to stop but it only made her sob harder.
Tears stained the white sheets, as she buried her face in them.
She closed her eyes tightly trying to fall back asleep.
She got out of bed when she found sleep impossible.
She walked down the hall to the bathroom, trying to avoid looking at the family pictures on the walls.
Once in the small bathroom she searched through the medicine cabinet for Tylenol or anything that would help with the headache that was quickly forming.
She stopped searching when a prescription bottle fell from the shelf and into the sink.
She lifted it and read the label: Zolpidem.
She had read about this certain pill in Health.
It was a sleeping pill, mainly used for insomniacs, but it wasn't Dakota's.
It was prescribed to her mom.
She hadn't ever seen this pill bottle before.
She hadn't realized her mother had any trouble sleeping.
She dumped the small white pills into her palm, they were tiny, but there was a lot of them probably enough to overdose on.
Without thinking she dumped them all into her mouth.
She reached for a cup of water, before realizing what she was about to do, and spat them out.
She was disgusted with herself she never thought she would ever get low enough to resort to suicide.
She turned on the cold water tap and splashed her face with it.
As she looked at her reflection in the small mirror, she looked as though she was dead or dying.
Her eyes were bloodshot and wide, black rings circled them, letting the world know she had trouble sleeping.
Her skin was paler than usual, being as close to paper white as physically possible.
Her usually silky blond hair was a tangled mess.
She knew that her mother wouldn't have wanted her to take her own life.
Her mother would have said suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,.
Dakota also knew that it would be way easier to just off herself now, but she couldn't seem to find the energy to take the pills.
She just washed them down the sink, trying to rid herself of the temptation.
She stripped and stepped into the shower, washing away the sweat and tears from yesterday.
Her body shook as the warm water tried unsuccessfully to relax her muscles.
Her head was still throbbing, seeing as she hadn't taken any pain pills for her headaches.
She continued to scrub at her skin with soap, tears falling from her eyes.
She quickly brushed her teeth, grabbing a new toothbrush to pack in her bag.
She quickly pulled a brush through her knots, wincing as it caught a particularly painful one.
She grabbed some other essentials before walking down the hall to her room.
Dakota quickly on a knee length black dress, and put on her favorite black and white converse.
She searched her small closet for her old lucky black backpack.
She didn't necessarily believe in luck, but she had wore that backpack everyday for two years, and nothing bad had ever happen to her.
Until now that is.
She packed a couple more things in her backpack before slinging it over her shoulder.
She found herself wandering her small home.
She peeked into each room looking for things she wanted to take with her, before silently closing the doors.
She stole a picture of her and her mother from the computer room.
She could almost hear her mother's voice drifting down the empty halls.
"You are my sunshine.
My only sunshine."
Her breath caught in her throat slightly.
"You make me happy,
when skies are gray."
She gripped the picture tighter in her hands as silently tears hit the frame.
"You never know dear,
how much I love you."
She stilled as she stared at a picture on the wall.
"You'll never know dear,
how much I love you."
Her mother and her had been visiting the local animal shelter, and her mother had been cuddling a puppy when Dakota took the picture.
"Please don't take my sunshine away." Dakota's voice finished, as she brushed her the tip of her index finger over her mother's smiling face.
She hurried into the closest room which happened to be her art room.
Drawings and paintings covered the walls, all amazingly done.
Dakota always had a thing for art.
Most of the drawings were if fallen angels and wilted roses.
Her mother always supported her even if her work was a little morbid.
She always said that Dakota should become an artist.
Dakota knew she was an exceptional artist, but wasn't sure if she could make money from her work.
Most of her art was lacking originality, it had all been done before.
She tried her hardest to change that but found she couldn't.
She sighed and made her way over to her desk that was splattered in red and black paint.
Painting was the only time she used color, seeing as you can't paint a sunset with black.
She ran her fingers over the edge of the drawers before opening each one.
In the first one she kept her different paints and such.
In the second one was some old paintings she didn't feel like hanging at the time, or that hadn't made her final cut.
In the the third was her drawing pad, which she quickly stuffed into her backpack, and old family photos, which she also grabbed.
She made sure they had there own pouch, making sure they were completely safe.
She pulled all of her drawings off the walls hiding them in the second drawer.
She then took out all her paints and started to paint a mural on the wall itself.
She knew what she was painting, she was going to paint one last thing for her mother.
Once she finished, she took a step back to look it over.
It was perfect.
She had painted a picture of her mother wearing a long white gown.
Her mother's auburn hair was curled in perfect ringlets around her face.
Her startling green eyes a shade darker than Dakota's.
It would have looked exactly like her mother if not for the pure white angel wings on her back.
Her mother was smiling sadly and offering a hand, around her thin neck was her ruby necklace.
Dakota signed her initials, D.H. , at the bottom in her crappy hand writing.
She knew that the house would be sold soon, but thought she might as well mark it.
She knew the mural would be painted over, but she had painted it so beautifully it would be hard for someone to want to paint over it.
She sighed heavily and put the paint back in it's drawer.
She picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.
She closed the door behind her for the last time as she made her way down the stairs.
She tossed her backpack where her other bag waited by the door.
When she enter the kitchen she noticed she had wasted three hours doing basically nothing.
She searched the cabinets for food, she finally choose a powdered doughnut for her breakfast.
She ate it on the couch while watching T.V.
A loud knock distracted her.
She shut off the program and opened the door.
She was surprised to see Officer Drake standing next to a short young woman.
The lady was smiling widely and running her hands through her short brown hair.
"Dakota this is Marie," He motioned toward the unknown woman, "Marie is taking you to the orphanage."
"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you," She greeted shaking Dakota's hand. Her hazel eyes shining with happiness.
"Hello," Dakota spoke softly, not quite sure what to make of the lady.
"Where is your stuff?" Marie asked peering over her shoulder into the house.
"Curiosity Killed the cat," Dakota mumbled, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and picking up her bag.
She stepped onto the porch locking the door behind her.
Marie chuckled and grabbed her arm, leading her to a expensive looking car parked by the curb.
Dakota tossed her stuff in the truck before climbing into the passengers side of the car.
She sat trying not to fidget as the older woman watched her.
When Marie started the car Dakota practically sighed in relief, seeing as Marie had to look away to drive.
"How old are you?" Marie asked breaking the comfortable silence that had formed.
"Fourteen," Dakota replied watching as her house disappeared.
"Are you a freshman?" She continued to question the girl though her eyes were focused on the road.
"Senior," Dakota answered, staring out the window blankly.
"So I can assume you are intelligent?" Marie inquired smiling widely at the younger girl.
"I suppose by normal standards I am," Dakota told her, playing with a lock of her hair.
"Hm," Marie stopped the car in front of a building.
It looked old, but was clean and kept.
There was a swing set near the back.
They both climbed out of the car, and made their way to the door.
A sign was hung over the entrance reading, Fircrest Orphanage.
There were several children playing tag near the entrance.
A little girl who wasn't looking ran straight into Dakota's legs, falling on her bottom and dirtying her blue sundress.
The small girl looked up at her with tears filled blue eyes.
The little girl hid her face in her hand and started to cry.
"Hey Sweetie. Don't cry," Dakota consoled kneeling beside her. The little girl showed her face again.
"Are you mad at Bell. Bell doesn't like when people are angry with her," The little girl sobbed talking in three person.
Dakota resting a hand on her ebony black hair.
"No I'm not mad at Bell," She offered the little girl a hand.
Bell accepted her help and was soon beaming at her.
Bell quickly grabbed Dakota's hand and led her to the small group of children.
"This is my new friend!" Bell exclaimed, smiling up at Dakota.
"I'm Dakota," She gave them a small wave before looking back down at Bell who was watching her young friends.
"I'm Chris," One of the little boys announced. He had shaggy blond hair and large brown eyes.
"I'm Paige," A little girl with auburn hair shyly whispered, staring at her feet with her wide gray eyes.
"Don't bother making friends, She'll probably just leave like the rest," A little boy growled, glaring at Dakota.
"No she won't!" Bell yelled angrily.
"He's right I might leave soon, but I might not. I don't really know yet, but I would still like to be friends with you all," Dakota said kneeling beside Bell who had plopped down on the ground.
"You gonna be my big sister!" Bell shouted throwing her arms around her neck and hugging her tightly.
Dakota was confused as to how one little girl could be so loud, but hugged her tightly.
"Dakota!" Marie called, "We have to go speak with Mr. Hodgens."
"I'm coming!" Dakota yelled back.
"Does sissy have to go?" Bell asked smiling.
"Yeah, but I'll be back as soon as possible," Dakota walked toward the direction of Marie.
"I already had a worker bring your clothes up to your room," Marie declared as she smiled.
They walked through the empty halls toward the main office, Dakota only half listening as Marie loudly chattered.
When they got there the doors opened to revel a older man with gray hair.
He smiled tiredly at them. Dakota assumed he was Mr. Hodgens.
"Are you Dakota Hudson?" He asked her. She nodded wordlessly, not really feeling like talking. "You will be staying in room 267, on the third floor. Your roommate is Aden Silver."
"A boy?" Dakota questioned, confused as to why she was being roomed with a member of the opposite sex.
"Yes, when I heard your name I assumed you were male, forgive me. For now this is the only available room," Mr. Hodgens said.
Dakota was slightly angry that he had thought she was a guy, but didn't say anything. Her name was commonly a boy's name after all.
"Okay," Dakota replied looking at a portrait on the wall.
It was of an old man with gentle eyes and a wide smile. "Who is he?"
"That's Quillsh Wammy, he is the founder of this one and several other orphanages around the world," Marie informed her smiling, "He is a great man."
"Sounds like it," Dakota replied smiling. It was a fake smile, but it was a smile, "Can I go to my room?"
"Yes, go ahead," Marie dismissed her, turning back to Mr. Hodgens.
"See you later," Dakota called walking from the office.
She wandered around until she found a staircase and made her way to the third floor.
She looked at the signs above each door until she found room 267.
She opened the door and was met with a unusual sight.
Two teenage boys were sitting in front of a television playing video games, while a third was painting on the wall.
They hadn't seemed to notice she was even standing there.
"Hello," She greeted gaining their attention.
"Hey babe. What are you doing here?" One sitting in front of the television wondered. His shaggy black hair hanging in his face.
"Hey, have you seen some dude named Dakota? He should be here soon," The other one asked, he had blond shoulder length hair.
"I'm Dakota," She responded, almost laughing when they jaw dropped, "Which one of you is Aden?"
"I am," The one painting on the wall turned around.
His light brown hair hiding his eyes from sight.
"I'm Dylan," The one with the shaggy black hair told her, smiling widely.
"Nice to meet you," She smiled back at him.
"Hey sweetie, I'm Kendall," The one with the blond hair nodding his head her way while still playing his video game.
She smiled back at him sheepishly.
She looked back at Aden who had began to paint again.
He was drawing what appeared to be a wolf and it was rather good.
She silently walked to his side watching as he painted the wolf's eyes yellow.
"Can you not stare. It's rather rude," Aden scolded looking at her from the corner of his eye.
"I'm sorry. It's just really good," Dakota commented, smiling slightly.
"I know," He returned to his painting, ignoring her now narrowed gaze.
"Well isn't someone sure of himself," She accused.
"And your point?" He asked not even looking her way.
"I bet you twenty bucks that I can paint a better wolf than that," She pulled a twenty from her pocket.
She knew that she shouldn't be betting her money away, but he was just so cocky.
"Deal," He added handing her, his paint brush. She took it and started to paint a wolf right beside it.
She added as much detail as possible, trying to make it better than his.
The biggest difference was her's had red eyes instead of yellow, and she had drawn large black angel wings on hers.
"Wow, dude she's good," Dylan applauded as she stepped away from the wall.
"It's good, but not better than mine," Aden agreed, looking it over.
Dakota frowned, it was obvious his was inferior to her's.
"Dude she beat you," Kendall agreed, glaring playfully at Aden.
It was obvious they were great friends.
"You don't have to give me money. It's doesn't matter to me," Dakota stated as she sat on the bed she assumed was hers considering her bags on the wood floor next to it.
"Here," Aden reached into his pocket and pulled out a wadded up twenty and handing it to her.
"Damn man it was your turn to buy pizza too," Dylan said pouting.
Dakota chuckled and flattened the bill.
"I'll buy," She waved the bill around, smiling.
They looked at her slightly shocked, but then Dylan smiled and threw his arm over shoulder.
"I like you," He stated, gently pressing his lips to her cheek.
"You're not so bad yourself," She smiled and blushed lightly.
Maybe her new life wouldn't be so bad after all.