A/N: Sorry it's been so long! All my readers are so wonderful and patient.

Darkroom

Chapter 12

"Eventually I'm going to lose my patience with you. It's going to happen very soon," Tanashita said as he dragged Near back into his makeshift dungeon, "I suggest you start talking now."

"I have nothing to say to you, I've already told you." Near replied as he was shoved back down onto his knees, sensing the familiar feeling of the straps around his shoulders and bindings around his ankles sliding into place.

Suddenly a repetitious banging was heard from the next room, followed by the sound of a door opening.

"Daisuke! Daisuke are you in there? I need to talk to you!" A mans voice called out from the next room.

"Shit!" Tanashita exclaimed through gritted teeth. He pulled sharply at Near's matted white hair and growled into his ear, "Not a fucking word out of you. Not even a sound. Got it?"

Near nodded in understanding and listened as Tanashita quickly bolted out of the room before the visitor started to explore.

"I thought you said you were going to pay the rent last Friday..." Near heard the voice trail off as they both went outside and shut the door behind them.

Near's heart froze as a twitch of his leg brought him to realize that in his haste, he had barely tied him up at all. He knew this was probably the only opportunity he was going to get to make an escape, but actually taking the first step was so incredibly difficult. He was afraid, so afraid as to what might happen to him if he got caught. He also realized that there was little chance he'd make it out of here alive anyway even if he did play by the rules if this man didn't get what he wanted.

He shifted his legs and managed to free one of his ankles from the grasp of the strap, using his toe to push it off of the other. He carefully stood up, his legs still weak and slid the harness straps off his shoulders and down his arms. He didn't have time to tie his wrists behind his back yet so Near had no trouble completely freeing himself from the various bindings put in place to keep him here forever.

He crept shakily towards the dungeon door which hadn't been latched. He pulled it open slightly and peered through the crack. There was nobody there. A glance through a slat in the window blinds showed his assailant engaged in conversation roughly 15 feet away from the front door of the apartment. Tanashita's back was facing the apartment which gave him a slight chance of slipping out unnoticed. Of course the other person whom he was talking to was another potential problem and was likely to have some sort of reaction to a naked boy sneaking out of his apartment.

He looked around for his clothes, trying to leave at least a small shred of his dignity intact. They weren't anywhere obvious and he didn't really have the time to scour the whole place for them. He had to go now or go back into the dungeon and tie himself back up, which was going to be nearly impossible to do. He was past the point of no return now.

He cracked open the door to the apartment and felt the crisp air hit his bare form. The sounds of the two men's voices could finally be heard. They definitely seemed to be arguing. Near had known from the beginning that the visitor was in fact his landlord coming to collect overdue rent. Tanashita was pretending that he was having trouble understanding English, possibly in an attempt to cause confusion or frustration so the man would simply leave. Near opened the door further and saw something that would block their view of him leaving. A Jeep Cherokee, most likely belonging to the landlord was idling in front of the door. Near looked around at the surroundings of the apartment and realized that he definitely wasn't in the city anymore and that the area surrounding the apartment was fairly desolate and surrounded by woods.

He eyed the idling vehicle and decided that it might be his best chance, despite the fact that he's never driven any type of motor vehicle before and hadn't had any sort of training, formal or informal. He could get away very far very quickly, and not have to worry about being hunted down in the woods like an animal.

The ground directly in front of the apartment was gravel and dirt, which hurt his tender feet as he carefully and stealthily crept towards the drivers door of the Jeep. He wrapped his hand around the handle and slowly pressed the release button, popping the door open quietly. He swung the door open slowly and prepared to hop into the drivers seat when the door hinge emitted a horrible squeaking sound.

"Hey!"

Near could hear the vehicle's owner call out to him. He quickly jumped inside and slammed the door, watching in horror in the rearview mirror as both men sprinted towards the vehicle. With a shaky hand he attempted to slam the gearshift lever into drive, but wasn't immediately successful, not realizing that one needs to step on the brake first before the vehicle will allow that to happen. He was prodding the pedals with his bare feet, trying to get something, anything to happen. The shifter was finally freed and pulled all the way back to low gear. Near mashed the throttle to the carpet just as the driver's door opened. The man was thrown to the ground as the vehicle took off, tires spinning uncontrollably on the loose surface.

Something was definitely wrong. Near couldn't keep the Jeep going straight and managed to get only a mere 50 or so feet away before missing the first turn on the dirt road, sending the vehicle hurtling into the ditch, and rolling over onto it's side. Near's unrestrained body left the driver's seat and landed up against the passenger's door, smacking his head and shoulder into the shattered glass that was once the window, grinding his shoulder in between the shards and pavement below.

"Who the hell was that? He came from your apartment! Why wasn't he wearing clothes! Look what the fuck he just did to my truck!" The landlord bellowed as he stumbled to his feet, "You've got some explaining to do. Maybe the cops should figure out why a naked boy just came out of your apartment and stole my truck."

The man pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started to dial. Tanashita strolled over to the man casually while pulling a folding knife from his back pocket and flipping it open. The man looked up only for a split second when Tanashita smacked the phone out of his hand, sending it skittering off onto the ground and then plunging the knife into his stomach. The man cried out in agony while doubling over onto the blade. Tanashita pulled it out and repeatedly started jabbing it back in to the man's abdomen, making a new puncture each time. He continued until the man's screams stopped and he became heavy before pushing him away to flop onto the ground. Blood and other matter spattered the killer's shoes, pants, and the ground around them.

Near frantically tried to right himself, but he was quite disoriented from the crash. With a start he remembered where he was and the imminent danger he was in. His body supplied him with another adrenaline rush, and he struggled to right himself and escape before he was trapped by his tormenter. He stood up, unknowingly cutting his bare feet on the broken glass. He climbed to the other side of the vehicle, the side that was facing up, and bracing himself against the center console he unlatched the door and tried to push it open and keep it there while he maneuvered himself up and out of the wreck. It was difficult with gravity working against him and one of his wrists still broken, but he managed to get out just in time to see the vehicle's owner fall to the floor in front of his assailant in the distance. Near paused for a second as the man's cold stare bore into him and made him shiver, even from that distance, before he bolted off into the woods adjacent to the road.

Near panted heavily as he scrambled through the woods. It was too dark to see and he didn't know what he was stepping on, running into, or even what direction he was going. Leaves and low branches smacked into his face as he ran past, leaving small scratches on his baby smooth face and narrowly missing his eyes. He fell once after tripping over something, but quickly got up and resumed his pace as he heard the sounds of a twig being stepped on in the distance behind him. He was being followed for sure. He had to lose him, Near thought. He had to get away. He could see lights ahead but he was getting tired out. He grunted and whimpered as his legs started to get tired and painful, his feet started to sting due to the cuts from the glass, and his movements became less accurate. His stride, sloppy. He maintained his speed though, running faster than one would think he would be capable of, and just when he felt another rush of adrenaline course through him, just when the pain in various parts of his body started to subside and the lights in the distance could finally be recognized as a gas station a mere 100 feet ahead, he felt the ground squish between his toes. Near fell forward and slid through the slick mud for what must have felt like several feet on his side before coming to a stop. He was disoriented and couldn't get his balance as he slipped once again trying to stand, falling back down into the mud. He heard the foot steps behind him getting perilously close, and started to scramble on all fours, clawing his way out of the muddy trap.

It was too late. Tanashita grabbed a fistful of Near's mud stained hair from the back of his head and pulled sharply, wrapping the locks around his hand so that Near couldn't pull free whether he could stand the pain or not. Near screamed as it felt like the man was tearing his scalp off, hoping he could be loud enough for someone to hear, but he had all to soon tossed Near onto his back and wrapped his hand around his neck, closing off his airway. Near flailed and struggled and kicked, clawing at the arm that threatened to put him out for good.

WHAM.

The first flash of white light filled Near's vision as the first punch landed, squarely on his left cheekbone. Near struggled and clawed harder, but again WHAM. He was hit again and again, each time he felt less and less until all sensation faded away and he lost consciousness to the repeated blows against his face and side of his head. His hands loosened from around the man's arm and fell to the side. Kuro released his neck and panted heavily, staring at the bloodied and mud covered mess beneath him, who was wheezing as he labored to breathe through a constricted windpipe. He nearly killed him that time, so consumed with rage. He couldn't waste any more time. He needed his answer now and he wouldn't hold back any longer. He heaved Near's body up over his shoulder and carried him back off into the dark woods, back to the apartment. He had to clean up the body of his landlord, and get rid of the wrecked Jeep before anyone else saw them. He needed to tie Near back up in the makeshift dungeon before he could do so, and he wouldn't be so careless this time, he would nail Near's hands and feet to the floor if he needed to.

"None of our searches have turned up fruitful, I'm afraid." The voice on the other end of the phone said to Matt.

"That's all you have to say to me? I've gotten you everything. His name, his history, what he looks like! What else do you need to do your fucking jobs?"

"I'm sorry, we're doing our best..."

Matt hung the phone up and in another one of his fits of rage flipped the dining room table over against the wall, scraping the paint off and tearing off a heating vent on the way down. Near would probably kill him if he saw what he had just done, and Matt made a mental note to repair everything before Near came home. He's already been through a traumatic experience, the last thing he needs when he finally gets home is to see his apartment half destroyed. 'I really need to get control over myself', Matt thought to himself.

He laid on the couch for a little while completely lost in thought, yet at the same time it seemed as if he was thinking of nothing, as if every fleeting thought that came to him disappeared almost instantly after being processed, making it seem as if he had done nothing and thought of nothing at all for the past few hours.

Peeling himself from the couch he stared at the mess he caused and decided to clean it up and fix any damage he caused. He first turned the table upright again and moved it away from the wall to give him room to straighten things up. He gathered the mess of paper on the floor and placed it back onto the table. He then moved onto the matter of reattaching the heating vent to the wall. Before he placed it back over the hole in the wall, he noticed something inside the duct. Something wrapped in a black plastic bag was sitting inside, covered with dust.

He reached in and pulled it out, opening the bag and pulling out the contents. A shiver went up his spine and he suddenly felt very cold as he stared at the object.

"It's about time you found it. I've been pretty bored." A voice said behind Matt.

Matt turned around slowly, cautiously, and screamed as he stared into the eyes of the 7 foot tall shinigami towering over him.

"What the... What the fuck are you!"

"Heh Heh... I guess you've never seen a death god before." The towering creature mused.

"What?"

Matt clambered backwards frantically even though the shinigami made no move towards him.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. Don't you realize what you're holding?"

It had started to all click together even though Matt still couldn't believe it. Matt was told of the existence of shinigami and how they are the true owners of the death notes. He could never imagine something so surreal and flat out terrifying however. He looked back downwards at the book in his hand.

"Near. Why did you keep this?" He whispered.

"Because it's so much fun! Besides, you never know when it might come in handy. Although he just lets it sit there, a truly boring human." Ryuk said.

"This is probably why he was kidnapped. Tanashita wants this."

"And yet you have the upper hand my friend. Don't you know that you can put an end to this right now?"

"You want me to kill him? With this?"

"That's an idea. Unless you can't handle it of course, you can relinquish ownership back to me and I'll disappear back to the death god realm."

"I'm not sure if I can. This thing is pure evil." Matt said, shaking his head.

"Do you want me to tell you what's been happening where your boyfriend's been staying? Would that help?"

"He's alive?"

"Yes he is, but I'm afraid it wont be for much longer. His assailant is starting to become more and more impatient as time goes on."

There was no doubt in Matt's mind, this was the only way. He had to do this on his own. He couldn't involve the police, Roger, or anyone else either.

"How do I do this?" Matt asked.

"Well the first thing would be to get a pen. Then write his name down while imagining his face. You can write the exact method of death next to it if you want, otherwise he'll simply die of a heart attack 40 seconds after you finish writing the name."

Matt found a pen on the floor that had been on the desk earlier. His hands were shaking as he started to write the first letter.

"Wait... How am I going to find Near? He'll be trapped wherever he is and I wont know how to get to him."

"I can tell you where he is. But you have to do something for me first." Ryuk said.

Matt had his apprehensions, he knew that the beast had probably thought up a scheme that would have him indebted for eternity. He had no choice though, and would do anything to get Near out of danger and back home where he belonged.

"What is it. What do you want?"

"An apple."

"What?"

"An apple. Round, red, sweet and delicious."

"A fucking apple?"

Ryuk tilted his head in confusion, wondering why this would be such a difficult request to fulfill.

"They seem to be plentiful in the human world, is my request so unreasonable?"

"No! It's not that. It's just...strange." Matt answered.

"Do you have an apple?"

"No."

"Do you know where to get apples?" Ryuk asked.

"Well, yes of course..."

"Then get some."

Matt scrambled to his feet and hastily put his shoes on, nearly tripping in the process before running out the door and scrambling to the elevator. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that all this apparition wanted was an apple before giving him information so important he'd likely give his left arm if asked.

He ran at top speed down the street to the grocery store, and once inside skidded to a stop in the produce aisle before grabbing an armful of apples in all different styles and varieties. He dropped half of them along the way to the the cashier who eyed him strangely as she slowly placed the apples in a plastic bag.

"Oh could you please hurry the fuck up?" Matt shouted.

She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh hell no you did not just tell me to 'hurry the fuck up'. Do I work for you or something? What just because I'm over here behind this damn counter making barely enough money to pay my rent that you could just come in here, make a huge ass mess dropping apples all over the place and then tell me to hurry the fuck up? I don't know what world you live in but you need to show respect..."

Matt snatched the bag of apples and ran out of the store as fast as he could, not wasting another moment listening to the cashier's tirade.

He flew back into the apartment where Ryuk was still standing, with a wide grin on his face.

"Here. Take them, take all of them." Matt said, shoving the bag of apples into Ryuk's hands.

"Heheh... Nice work. This look delicious."

Ryuk bit one of the apples in half, swallowed it core and all.

"The location." Matt asked.

"Oh? You have to write the name first."

"C'mon seriously?"

"That's the deal."

Matt picked the notebook back up and finished writing the name, looking up at Ryuk after he had written the last letter.

"That's it? Don't be so boring. One would think you'd want to be a bit more creative after your boyfriend's been beaten and used as a sex slave for all this time."

Matt nearly vomited in his lap at the thought. He was so overcome with rage at that point as imagined images of Near being tortured physically and sexually that he grabbed the pen and started to write so hard he nearly went through the page.

"There you go. That's much more exciting." Ryuk said, biting another apple.

"The location. Tell me where he is. Now."

"Across the water in the body of land you humans call New Jersey. Although I'm not sure of the exact address..."

"Oh c'mon, don't be a dick."

"Show me a map and I'll point it out to you."

Matt showed Ryuk a map of New Jersey on the computer. Ryuk would point to locations on the map and tell Matt to zoom in on that spot. They got it down to a particular neighborhood in a wooded area of Essex County, but the lack of response from Ryuk as he stared at the screen blankly was maddening to Matt.

"You don't know which one it is, do you."

"..."

Matt was about to choke the death god, even though he would be very unlikely to hurt him, when an idea came to him.

"Wait... you fly everywhere right? So you should know what the top of the buildings look like, right?" Matt clicked the "satellite view" button and watched Ryuk's eyes widen. "What about now?"

Ryuk pointed out a particular building on the map, and Matt zoomed in closer to it. It was what appeared to be a large, spread out single floor apartment building surrounded by woods.

"Yeah that's it. He's on this side." Ryuk pointed out the unit that was facing the woods.

"529 River Edge Road, Fairfield, NJ. Got it."

Matt grabbed his cell phone and called Roger.

"Roger get the car and come pick me up, I know where Near is."

"How do you know? What did you discover?"

"I'll tell you later, Roger. Just hurry up and get me now. We'll call the police after we get there."

"Wont we be in danger if this person is still lurking about? Shouldn't we contact the police first?"

"If Tanashita is still alive then I'm going to claw his throat out with my bare hands. I want the first face Near sees to be mine. Besides, this may be a false lead and I'd rather not the get the police involved until we're sure."

Roger sighed on the phone.

"I suppose Matt. I'll get ready to leave now."

"Hurry the fuck up Roger, and when you get here I'll drive the rest of the way. You drive slow as shit."

Matt closed his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket. He took a deep breath and stared at the death note on the table, hoping that it worked. Tanashita should be dead for at least 10 minutes now. Matt had already begun to feel pangs of regret at having used it. Not that he was against killing this person, but because he'd rather have done it himself, with his own hands. Brutally and violently. He wanted to bathe in Tanashita's blood, but now the most he could do was kick and spit on his dead corpse.

"Of course you don't mind if I follow and watch, right?" Ryuk said.

Matt sighed and shook his head, almost wishing he could laugh at the bizarre creature sitting on his sofa.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

Roughly 5 minutes later Roger had called Matt to let him know he was outside and waiting. Matt raced outside and took the helm of Roger's Jaguar. Matt had estimated that it would take them approximately 35 minutes to reach the place, however the traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel threatened to turn it into more like an hour. Roger could see the veins in Matt's temple flare as he gritted his teeth and gripped the steering wheel as traffic moved at a snail's pace. Roger thought better of saying anything though, because it looked like the boy was about to snap.

Once out of the tunnel, Matt accelerated through the gaps in traffic until the highway was clear enough for him to maintain a speed in the low triple digits. Roger squirmed in his seat, and often raised his hand as if he were about to say something.

"Shut the fuck up Roger. I'm not slowing down."

"If not for the sake of our lives Matt, you don't want to get stopped by the police because that will complicate matters quite a bit."

"I'm not stopping for them either."

A/N:

Hope it was worth the wait. Matt's really pissed off isn't he? But what happened to Near in the meantime? What's Matt going to find when he gets there? What did he write in the DN? You'll just have to wait for the next installment, which BTW is 75% done, so should be done soon. Please review!