Next chapter, finally. I'm going to have to make a few apologies here.
Sorry this is late. I have got my exams right now, and revising has taken a significant chunk of my time. I've nearly finished, though, so I should be faster for the rest! And I may have said that this is going to be seven chapters, but it actually looks like it's going to be eight, possibly even nine.
Final apology, with a warning tied to it: This chapter is dark. Like, bad things happen. Please, be warned; I don't want to upset you guys or anything. I fully understand if you don't like what happens this chapter, but please, wait until the end of the story before making a judgement on me.
Light throws the phone as far away from himself as he can. It bounces twice before skidding out into the middle of the road, crushed under the wheels of a van as it speeds past. He goes limp, falling back onto the concrete, not caring that his shirt is now completely soaked through. Thunder cracks, sending his already pounding heart into overdrive.
If she doesn't kill me, Light thinks, I'll have a heart attack from all this. Wouldn't that be ironic?
There is still one individual who can explain all this, who can give Light the rational explanation his dwindling sanity so desperately needs.
That is, if he'll tell Light anything.
"Ryuk!" Light calls, not even knowing if the shinigami can hear him. "Ryuk! Please, come back!"
Bulging yellow eyes swing into view faster than Light had expected. "Hullo, Light. You stopped bein' grouchy at me yet?"
Ignoring the question, Light sits up to look imploringly at the shinigami, smiling nervously. "Ryuk! Ryuk, you know what's happening, don't you? You'll tell me, won't you? It's all just a trick, isn't it?" Anxiety tugs at his words, this once-proud master of deceit reduced to pitiful begging.
Ryuk bends down to stare right into Light's eyes. "Whoa, look at you! Quivering in your boots. I thought the Great Kira wasn't scared of anything?" He laughs, the harsh barking sound sending daggers into the last remaining shreds of Light's pride.
"Just answer the question," Light mutters, not even having the energy for anger.
"I dunno, Light. I quite like watchin' you squirm. What's in it for me if I say?"
"All the apples you could ever want. I'll get you any kind, any number, just please, please tell me this is all a trick."
Ryuk's leering grin widens. "That's a lotta apples. But you don't want me to lie to you, do ya? So I can't say it's a trick."
Light's stomach drops. "It's true, then. This is the real price for using the Note."
Ryuk appears to consider this. "I s'pose. It's definitely the price for how you use it."
Light sinks back down in despair, but then looks up suddenly, a spark of his old determination shining in his eyes. "But I've been using the Death Note for Justice! I am cleansing the world of the polluted filth that inhabits it! The name of Kira should be sung from the rooftops, not written in blood on my ceiling!"
Ryuk doubles over in hysterics, clapping Light on the shoulder. "Oh man, you're funny, Light!"
Light narrows his eyes. "I fail to see what is funny."
"Oh, you will," Ryuk promises, recovering slightly from his merriment. "Just wait till you get home!"
Paling, Light's determination leaves him once more. He doesn't want to know what is waiting for him at home. But it is raining even harder now, and with Misa off somewhere and the Investigation HQ compromised, Light really has no other option. And anyway, he reassures himself, whatever is waiting for him can't really be that bad. She is just trying to scare him, she can't hurt him, she hasn't done anything yet…
The image of Sayu, viciously mutilated and begging wordlessly for her brother to save her, flashes unbidden into Light's mind, making him shudder. He has to call her, has to ensure she's ok, because even he cares about his family.
Light is rifling through his pockets when he remembers that his phone is currently in six pieces in the middle of the road. He has no choice but to go home and use the phone there. Cursing himself for his carelessness, Light quickly gets up and tries to calculate the fastest route, a chuckling shinigami shadowing him all the way.
-x-
As Light steps through the front door, the darkness inside makes him falter. His parents should have been back by now. He flicks the light switch, relieved when the creeping blackness disappears instantly. He makes a beeline for the phone, dialling Sayu's number wrong three times before finally getting it right. Light tells himself that he is shaking so badly because he is cold, but even he finds that hard to believe.
Sayu's voice rings merrily in his ear, and Light's heart lifts before he realises it is her answering machine. He angrily hangs up, flipping through the phonebook to find the number of the friend she was staying with. The friend herself picks up.
"Hello, this is Light Yagami. Is Sayu there, please?" There is a pause on the other end of the line, and Light hears in the hitch of breath what the girl is going to say.
"I thought she was at home?"
Light slowly sinks to the floor. Not Sayu. Anyone but Sayu. "No, she isn't here. Did she call to let you know she wasn't coming?"
"No, but she usually…" The girl's voice is faster, more panicked. "I don't know! It was really weird! She called to say she was on her way, and then I just got this text and she said that she wasn't coming anymore only it wasn't like her usual texts and I tried to call her but – oh god, do you think she was kidnapped?"
"I'm sure she's fine," Light says, but his voice belies the confident words. "Don't worry about it. She probably just changed her mind."
"O-ok. Can you get her to call me when she gets back?"
Light doesn't think Sayu will ever be coming back, but he speaks his assurances and puts the phone down, trying to ignore the tremors of fear as he hunches up, hugging his knees to his chest. Ryuk is no longer laughing, instead staring down at Light with something that could almost be called concern.
"I thought this was all funny to you?" Light spits.
Ryuk grins once more. "Oh yeah, it's still funny to watch you get all twitchy and scared. I just thought it would last longer."
"And by that you mean what?"
"Well, I thought it would take you longer to break."
Fury courses through Light's veins, giving him strength. "I have not broken!" he shouts, although it is more to himself than the shinigami. "I will not break, not ever, no matter what she does." He kicks the wall suddenly, making Ryuk chortle slightly. "Dammit, this is why I keep separate, why people are to be used and nothing more…Why the hell did it have to be Sayu, Ryuk? My friends, the Investigation Team, even – no, especially Misa, but not Sayu. God, what will I tell…"
Trailing off, Light turns ashen and grabs for the phone. He dials one number, then a second, before smashing the receiver against the wall, panting heavily. Ryuk is now hopping from one foot to the other with glee.
"Got your parents, too, huh?"
Light nods once, his eyes screwed shut. When he opens them again, that steely resolve has returned. "They were obstacles to my plan. This is a good thing. Now I can continue as Kira with no interruptions."
Ryuk looks almost disappointed. "You aren't sad?"
Light can't even bring himself to answer. Instead, he peels off his sodden shirt and begins a weary ascent up the stairs.
The first thing he notices is that the lights don't work.
Panic spreads through him like sickness, breaking him out into a cold sweat. He wants to retreat back to the warm glow of the light, but he cannot move back, cannot do anything but keep walking towards his doom.
Lightning flashes, illuminating the corridor. Light's breath catches as he sees that both his parents' and Sayu's doors are open. A lamp has fallen and lies smashed on the floor, but he does not even register as his bare feet walk over the shards. He gives the door to Sayu's room a tentative push, his fingers brushing the four deep grooves carved into the wood.
Another flash, and Light screams.
A snapshot of horror, the gruesome scene laid before him.
Sayu's room, once a place of innocence, is now a thing of nightmares. Deep scratches cover the walls, dark blood oozing from the lines. Her bedsheets have been torn to shreds, heavily stained with crimson. And nailed to the wall, in pride of place,
is a heart.
Light runs out, tripping over himself and crashing painfully onto the ground. He is blind with terror, whimpering and scrabbling desperately at the floor to try and drag himself away.
There had been a message, carved almost lovingly into the wall underneath that…thing.
YOU'RE NEXT, KIRA.
Light tears at his hair, his skin, trying to rid himself of the blood on him, there is so much blood, all over him, he can feel it, but there hadn't been any in the room, why won't it come off?
It is Ryuk who snaps him out of it, muttering something like, "break so easily, just no fun any more."
Light manages to pick himself up, his whole body shaking but supporting him. He cannot do this, not any more. He staggers towards his own room, not even looking towards the black hole of his parents' open doorway for fear that he truly would lose his mind if he saw the horrors he knew lay inside there.
No more, not now, not after this… I've got to get away, got to go somewhere even she can't find me, just get the Note and go…
Even Light himself is surprised at his resolve to keep the Note.
Lightning flashes a third time as Light opens his door. He goes cold as he sees what is waiting for him.
I'm going to die.
The creature roars triumphantly, and grabs his neck.
Next chapter sooner than a week, I should think. Tuesday at the latest.