"Welcome home, Makenna, dear." Aunt Marissa daintily welcomed herself into my arms.
"Hi." My voice sounded really dull.
"Are you hungry? Do you want something? How about a hot bath?" she lifted away from me, but still held on to my shoulders.
"No thanks, just glad to be home."
Jake came up from behind me and dropped my bag at the open front door. "Will you be alright from here?"
"Yeah, I'll be alright. Thanks Jake."
He awkwardly nods, like he's expecting a 'thank you kiss' or something.
I just return the nod, and he hops down the porch back to his dad's car.
Aunt Marissa shuts the door behind him, and then turns to me as if she wanted to start some conversation. I just ignore her like usual and head up to my room. Dragging the pink bag behind me, I trudged (in a positive way) up to my room. It was the only room on the top floor. It had originally been two rooms, but the bedroom upstairs was so small, that Uncle Bill knocked out the wall between it and a small office. Then he conjoined the bathroom to make it easier to access. So, now it's the second master bedroom. My staircase is the steepest thing, and Jake often complained about it when we were kids, I normaly wouldn't notice, but being bedridden for a week takes a lot out of you. One thing I did notice was that I still had that strange feeling; like I was being watched. My heart seemed to beat extremely slow, and my lungs didn't breathe fully. Was this just an effect from the pills I got? Everything has side effects I suppose.
I reached the peak of the staircase, opening the only door into my room. The old hardwood floors creeked lightly under my feet.
My room felt, well, homey. My bed was still perfectly made, and everything was as it was left the day I had... a heart attack. None of it made any sense to me. I had a heart attack- and then the rest of the guys had one at the same time. They all died, but I lived...
I dropped my bag on the floor by my feet, and turned directly around-
I began to hyperventilate- was I going crazy? Is it the drugs?
There was a devil in my room, standing right behind me.
Tall and slim, it's body looked to be covered in ripped black leather clothing. As I looked it over timidly, I realized that it wasn't touching the ground; my eyes drew up its tall frame to find a pair of hooked demonic wings. I found myself gawking at its face- rather stunning for such a gaudy character. I recognized right away that it was a 'he', and HE had gorgeous deep red punk-rocker hair that crisscrossed his pale face in various places. I caught sight of a small sparkle just below his lip; it was a ruby stud of some kind.
"Are you done staring at me, human?"
I took a step back, and attempted to regain my breath, "You're real?"
I wasn't entirely sure at this point if I was still going crazy- Are hallucinations usually this realistic?
"Hmm...in any case, let me introduce myself, I'm Emmett."
Emmett... I ran his name in my head. Why was he polite to me? Wasn't he a demon or something? Or was he some kind of freak angel sent by God? This is normal, right? People who have had near-death experiences see angels sometimes. This is hardly what I expected an angel to look like.
"If you don't mind me asking... what are you?"
"Oh, my bad, I'm a Shinigami. And you've got my notebook. My Death Note."
I took a side glace to my sports bag; innocently idle there on my floor.
Good God- I've got something that he wants. "Oh, I'm sorry, do you want it back? I didn't know what it was.."
"I don't think you get the point- human."
How insulting. A HUMAN. I know what I am, but no need to express my mortality as a crutch.
"I dropped the notebook, and you picked it up, now it's yours. Got it?"
"So, you're NOT gonna rip my head off if I don't give it back?"
"Nope. I just have to sit back, relax, and babysit you until you don't want it anymore."
I stopped to think a little bit. To be honest I really had no clue what to do next. Do I ask him questions? What could I possibly use this notebook for that could be entertaining? The way he shoots his mouth off makes it look like there's going to be some kind of show.
"Look, Emmett, what kind of stunt are you trying to pull on me? It's a fucking notebook." I wiggled my hands up near his face in a spooky fashion, "Oohohoh, soo scary."
Obviously annoyed, Emmett took a monster of a step forward with his long legs, backing me up against a wall.
"That-" he pointed to the bag that housed the notebook, "is no ORDINARY notebook. If you write any person's name in it while picturing their face in your puny brain, they will die of a heart attack." He scowled slightly after putting light emphasis on the word 'puny'. It took me a moment to take all that in, but...could it be real? True? Possible? Heart attack. Was this related to what happened to me?
"Nevermind, I can already see that you don't believe me. You know, the only way to find out if it works is if you test it out." he made a smirk that was surely coated in evil.
How dare he dare me. So he wants a show? Guess what, I'll bore him to death. No notebook-testing, no show. I ignored him as he wandered, or hovered, rather around my room. I slung my bag onto the fuzzy black office chair near my computer desk. As I unpacked, Emmett investigated my CD's on the 4 shelves on one wall. I could tell he had no clue what it was, because he held one to his face like a sandwich. I got the notion he wanted to ask about it, but didn't think he actually would, having been a little upset with me for dissing his pretty diary. I finally got tired of glancing over at Emmett to see him examining a CD from nearly all angles, so I marched over, snatched it from his hands, opened the case, and stuck it in my CD player, and pressed play. He stood there as if I'd called him pussy for not knowing what a CD was, but then the "3OH!3" song started to play, and he was immediately distracted.
I muttered to myself, "You are so weird."
After I put away the few things that were in my bag, I shoved it back into my closet. Just as I did, a faint knock came from my door. Two words raced through my mind-
Oh shit.
There's a Shinigami- a Death God- in my room, and I can't exactly pass him off as 'A friend of mine' to Aunt Marissa, can I? She'd scream and pass-out from just looking at his face. I started to panic- not knowing where I'm going to hide a 7 foot tall God of Death.
He was still admiring all of the features of my stereo when I grabbed his leathery arm and dragged him hastily to my closet.
"Stay here- I cannot let my aunt see you. GOT IT?" I strictly whispered.
I think he just went along with it- me panicking and all. I shut the door as best as I could, and then saw that his right leg was totally stuck in the door, and sticking half way out.
"Ahk!" I quickly tried to shove it back in, but Aunt Marissa came in my room and turned the corner.
At the last second, I braced myself over the gap in the door, and hid Emmett's leg as best as I could.
"Makenna...? What are you doing? I've been calling you down for dinner for the past 15 minutes. So, I just decided to bring it to you. Is that alright?" I gazed at what she had in her hands- a big bowl of Macaroni and cheese with a bottle of Mtn. Dew.
"Uh, yeah. Thanks Aunt Marissa, it looks great!" I could tell she wasn't going to leave until she knew what I was doing pinned up against the closet door like this.
"Dare I ask why you're in that position, dear?"
"No, I'd rather you not."
"Well, I'm going to ask anyway. What are you doing in that position?" she lifted one eyebrow.
"Hehehe- funny story you see, I-"
"Is there something you're hiding from me?"
"N-no."
"Well, you know how I am, please step aside, Makenna."
"But- you can't!"
I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat, and painfully stepped aside. What is she going to do when she sees Emmett? What if she calls the police, or something?
Before opening the door, she made me hold my food.
She slid open closet door, "Makenna, I think you're a little looney." she looked around a little, but didn't notice anything in particular. LIKE A 7 FOOT TALL DEATH GOD- RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER.
I wanted to yell at her, but couldn't she see him?
Suddenly, Emmett started to talk- "Hey, Makenna, Can I come out of the closet now? I want to listen to your Aerosmith..uh, CD."
"SHHHH!" I shushed Emmett.
"What?" Aunt Marissa peeped, like she wasn't expecting me to say anything
"Y-yeah, I guess I am! Looney-that is."
"Maybe you should lay off the medications, dear." Aunt Marissa rolled her eyes at me, and went downstairs closing the door behind her.
After I was sure she was at the bottom of the staircase, I turned to argue with Emmett, but he was already messing with my stereo.
"Hey! What was that all about? Is there something that you forgot to mention?"
"Like..?" Emmett spun his head to question me
"I mean like how other people CAN'T SEE YOU?"
"Cool, huh? Yeah only the current owner of the notebook can see and hear me. Problem is, they can still hear you if you try to talk to me. I almost laughed when you 'shushed' me. Your aunt was starting to look a little creeped out. But if anybody else touches the Death Note, they can see me." he chuckled.
I sneered, before realizing-
WOA- wait...
"How did you know my name? And how did you know she was my aunt, and not my mother? Most people would think she's my mom if they didn't know anything about me. And YOU didn't know anything about me- did you?"
"Ah, you caught that huh?" Emmett moved over to me, and raised his head in a sense of pride. But that was when I noticed his eyes. They were evil- yellow eyeballs with a solid red pupil in the middle. He never blinked either.
"You see," he continued, "there are tons of things that Shinigami can do that humans can't. We can fly, we don't age, and..." He lowered his face to my level, and stared at me with those demonic red eyes hiding behind his bangs. "Death Gods can see the name and lifespan of every human they look at."
For real? I wanted to ask, but I knew that he wasn't screwing with me.
I tried not to show shock, but I was clearly impressed. "Where are you going with this?"
"I'm saying that if you want, we can make a deal."
Never mind, I didn't like where this was going.
"I can give you the power to see other people's names and lifespans like I do."
"In exchange for what? My soul?"
"Close enough- half of your remaining lifespan."
...Half? Of MY life?
"What?"
"Let's say that you will live to be 80 years of human age- and you make this deal with me, then you will only live to be 40 years of age, get it? And by the way, I'll be the one to write your name in my Death Note when that day comes."
There was a moment of silence among us.
"How does that sound...Makenna?"
My name does not sound pleasant in his scratchy voice.
It would be a really cool ability, but half of my remaining lifespan? That's a lot... I would assume- anyway. A fourth...that's not AS bad...maybe..
"It sounds alright, but how's just one shinigami eye for 1/4 of my lifespan?"
"Uh...I think that's doable..." Emmett scratched his head, "Sure, which eye?"
"Alright."
I waited for a second, waiting for some mysterious glow to come about me, or something mystical.
"Well...?" Emmett acted as if HE were the one waiting for something.
"Nothing happened." I repelled.
"Try winking."
I winked with my left eye closed, and sure enough, the room had changed and had a slight reddish tint, but I couldn't see Emmett's name or lifespan. Probably because he can't die.
"I wanna see something." I ran downstairs and found my Aunt Marissa in the kitchen eating her dinner while watching a small portable DVD player on the table.
Without turning around, I knew that Emmett was behind me.
"Hi, hun. Do you need something?" Aunt Marissa looked up from her casserole.
Testing my new ability, I winked with my right eye, and instantly saw Aunt Marissa's first name, followed by her maiden name floating above her head. Below her name, were some numbers that I didn't understand.
"31.05.18."
I'll have to ask Emmett how to read them when I get back upstairs.
"Makenna...hello?" My Aunt waved her hand in front of my face, while I was reading the numbers.
"Uh, no, I'm fine, I just wanted to see what you were doing, is all." I lied, opening both eyes.
"Makenna, you're eye, it's all red. Does it hurt?"
This isn't good, is the red tint I see visible to others?
"N-no, it's fine."
My aunt got up from her seat, and tried to examine my eye. I pulled away.
"It's just from the medication they gave me. I'm fine." I ran off to my room.
When I got there, Emmett was already looking through my video games on another shelf. Emmett begins to cackle. It was then that I realized, by making this deal, I am already beginning to entertain him. I think I just signed my life.. well ΒΌ at least, into something I wasn't totally sure I could handle.
The show will go on.