A/N: Yep, updates coming slowly. And I've a new cosplay project that's ready to eat me whole. But here's a chapter, rushed through editing to get it up today. I guess I just enjoy posting on Wednesdays, don't ask why.
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Chapter Seven
Light sat at the small, rectangular table drumming his fingers absent mindedly against the cool metal surface. The constant beat elicited by his finger pads was a small comfort against the gaze of the man sitting across the table from him. Bored, he glanced around the small room they occupied with a healthy amount of paranoia. He chalked it up to the number of hard surfaces his head could get bashed up against, but he didn't let his fear show through too much. Light only let enough of the emotion seep through his eyes and into the atmosphere to let Beyond Birthday know he respected him. Despite the discomfort, Light was legitimately glad to be sitting before the murderer today. It had taken months of paperwork and an endless amount of obstinacy to get the opportunity to interview Beyond Birthday. No other criminal would have served Light's purposes.
Light's friends thought he was more than a little obsessed with the brilliant killer. But frankly, Beyond Birthday seemed to be the only criminal in the history of the justice system that interested Light. To say Beyond was the reason Light had chosen to become a criminal profiler was an understatement. Light had done it all to get to Beyond, to talk to the man, dissect the cogs in his brain, to find out how they worked and, ultimately, to find out how to break them.
But twenty minutes had passed and neither he nor Beyond had spoken. A tape recorder sat between the two of them, recording the silence and steady drumming of Light's fingers. Beyond sat motionless, blank, red eyes peering over his knees, one thumb lodged permanently between his chapped, pink lips. Opposite him Light withheld another sigh, legs crossed, back resting stiffly against a metal folding chair.
Upon entering the small room Beyond hadn't known exactly what to think. He'd assumed he was being taken to another doctor's appointment. The main reason for this thought had been the use of what B liked to call the "Hug me Chair." It was a wheel chair with a straight jacket built into it, used as a method of transporting the dangerous ones around the establishment. It also meant that upon arriving at his destination he'd be let out, the usual hand cuffs replaced with a pair invisible to the naked eye. The Hug me Chair meant that he'd have to behave himself. At least that's what Beyond had thought until the pretty teenager had entered the room. After that the only phrase that had come to Beyond's mind was 'virgin sacrifice.'
Eventually though, B snapped.
He moved his hand through the air swiftly to clamp down tightly on the teen's. To give the kid credit, he didn't flinch.
"Would you desist?"
Light raised an eyebrow but calmly slipped his hand from beneath Beyond's brittle grasp. The killer's voice was rough from disuse, hoarse and slightly better than a whisper.
With a sneer the murderer stood from his chair and moved for the door the teenager had come through. Banging his fist against the doorknob B tested the lock and found it to be secured tightly in place. Swiveling back around Beyond settled himself back into the chair opposite Light, a look of pure delight on his face.
"They really left you alone in here with me unrestrained?"
"I requested that you not be confined," Light said tonelessly. The look Beyond was gracing him with in no way made him regret that decision, in fact, it excited him.
"Did you really?" Beyond chortled. "Confident little thing aren't you?"
Ignoring the quip Light decided that it was the appropriate time to introduce himself. "My name is Light Yagami."
"They don't let reporters talk to me," B interrupted quickly.
Light smiled internally at the information. "They don't or you don't?"
Beyond blinked. The kid was smart, maybe there was a reason for Light Yagami's confidence after all, not that it would do the boy much good. But it didn't mean they couldn't play together for a little while. Beyond could already tell Light would be an interesting individual. B didn't like wasting his words on people who didn't understand them, or those who just wanted to judge them, hence, his disinclination to speak with reporters, or anyone else for that matter. Light Yagami, B hoped, would be a different case entirely, one that was highly worth the effort.
What did worry Beyond was that no one had told him he'd be getting interviewed today. Usually the crock psychologist that came in once a month would inform patients if they were going to be seeing anyone other than a doctor. The lack of information on the subject of Light Yagami could only mean that the psychologist wanted him to talk with the boy, to open up, and for some reason she felt this teenager was the best chance of that happening. Beyond felt this warranted some broken bones for the woman, at the most he'd try to gauge his fingers into her throat and tear out her vocal chords. For the moment however, he decided he would speak with the pretty young man.
"I find that people are unable to keep up with my words," B stated finally.
Light nodded in understanding, the warning in the statement clear. "Well, as I was saying, my name is Light Yagami and I'm a Criminal Psychology student. I'll be coming in to interview you every day for the next two weeks."
"Have you any notion what that could so to your psyche?" B muttered, his thumb back in his mouth.
Light smirked. "As someone training to become a criminal profiler, if I am unable to deal with speaking to you then I have no right to even contemplate the profession."
"So mentally you're stable enough," B assessed. "But what if I were to hurt you?"
"Honestly?" Light asked. "I'd probably enjoy it. It's what I'm here for. If you were to attack me there is no doubt in my mind that you would incapacitate me. As such, it is my request that if you do feel the need to harm me that you keep me conscious so I may observe your actions, emotions, and any other little detail that will reveal to me who exactly you are at heart."
Light straightened in the chair a bit, trying to release some of the tension that was building within him. Appearing tense would reveal a weakness to Beyond, as well as his inexperience in face of dealing with a murderer. Though Light suspected Beyond was already aware of that.
"So you could either spend time asking me questions or I could torture you?" B asked innocently, his eyes shining in delight at the possibility Light had just extended to him.
"Well I'm not saying I'd prefer the latter, this isn't a suicide mission. But given your notorious history it is a distinct risk. As for the questions, this won't be an interview per se, more of a conversation. For example, we could discuss your school life, childhood, friends, abusers, anything and perhaps everything if you'll permit it."
"So we're going to spend two weeks talking about how my father raped me as a child?" B leaned back in his chair, his head lolling to the side, nose almost touching his collar bone in over exaggerated dissatisfaction. "I'm afraid that's a conversation that isn't going to last very long Mr. Light Yagami."
Light scowled mentally at the red eyed man mocking him. "Is that an admission? You were a rape victim?"
B glanced up at Light mollified. "You weren't supposed to take that literally. It was quip, a joke, a devise meant to infuriate you yet also reveal something to you about my internal character."
"Well it certaintly is doing one of the two," Light groused before collecting more patients. "Beyond, this isn't a joke. I'm really trying to talk to you and gain insight into who you are."
B pursed his lips over his thumb nail. "Is that so?"
Light nodded, looking into the other's red eyes calmly.
"Well then tell my Mr. Light Yagami, what do you make of me right now?" Beyond asked, finally letting his full amusement at the situation go unbridled.
"That's just it," Light replied, leaning forward in slight excitement, as well as some well placed irritation. "You don't fit any of the prescribed stereotypes for a killer. You're an entity all your own I'm afraid. Or at the very least that's what you portray. And if that is the case, than you are a rather talented actor I must say."
"So you're saying that you can't draw any conclusions about me at all?" B asked. "Well that's just no fun at all. In fact, it's kind of boring." B pouted.
"Well I believe we'll be getting into more enlightening conversations, and therefore I'll be able to better draw on your character traits, as we progress, but that's only if you stop wasting my time," Light replied a bit more strictly than he would have liked. Going on the defensive with Beyond could prove dangerous; at worse it could spur B to clam up just to spite him. "You were the one who asked anyway, and I will answer any question you ask of me."
"Oh don't say that, it makes you sound submissive."
"On the contrary, if anything would be submissive it would be for me to let you crawl back into that little cell of yours, which you seem to want to do."
B was surprised the boy had noticed that, and he let it show.
"Well, as has already been stated, I don't like talking to people. They try to manipulate me, and I'm afraid I don't have the skills to combat such interrogations," Beyond admitted blandly.
"Maybe you're just out of practice." Light smiled at the murderer.
It was a challenge, and one Light fully expected to emerge from victorious.
Beyond smiled for the first time since he'd been thrown into the hell hole masquerading itself as a correctional facility. Beyond could already picture every way in which Mr. Light Yagami's spirit could be shattered, broken, twisted and mangled by B's own hands until the boy could barely even recognize himself. And once he was done, he had every intention of taking Light Yagami and putting him in a jam jar, preserving him forever as his own little science project. The kid was just so pretty.
"Alright than Mr. Light Yagami, what shall I be calling you for the next two weeks?" B asked cheerfully.
Light smiled in return, though the gesture was somewhat tighter than intended. He could just see the cogs turning behind B's ruby irises, and Light's inability to read Beyond's thoughts worried him. "You can call me Light if you wish."
B nodded. "In that case call me Beyond."
"So would you like to tell me about your childhood?" Light asked. "Surprisingly little has been recorded about your life before LABB, and even then the information is vague."
Beyond sat up in interest. "You have access to my files?"
"Yes, I requested them, or it actually."
"And they gave them to you?" Beyond demanded, perplexed. "They also let you talk to me without being shackled to a chair like some wonton sex toy. Just who the hell do you know?"
Ignoring the vulgarity of the statement, Light laughed at the murderer's disbelief. It was the first emotion Beyond had shown that wasn't fabricated and overstated. "I have friends in high places."
"Of course you do, a pretty little thing like you. I bet people just bow to your every whim, don't they?"
"Well you are," Light responded snidely. "Allowing me to talk with you like this, so informally."
"Ah, but we're not discussing anything of importance yet," Beyond countered proudly. "I can steer you in any direction I so desire Light. It's your interest in me that does that I suppose. Your desire to gain insight into my life makes you dependant on me, you'll do what I want you to."
Beyond smirked over his knees at Light, daring the younger man to counter his argument. It amused him to see the conflicting emotions run across Light's face before the boy was able to purge all emotion from his face. His new toy was a prideful one. But B didn't think the pride was undeserving. Light Yagami was intelligent, and incredibly attractive. B couldn't quite get over that last fact.
Light folded his hands together and rested his chin on them. "It's not like I couldn't find another criminal to talk to, learn from for my dissertation. But you are my primary choice, and my ultimate goal is to prove myself in the field."
"Oh, so I'm just your way to an easy A," B concluded.
"I'd hardly call you easy Beyond. But weren't you like that in school? Didn't you want to do well? To prove yourself?"
"I'm actually not permitted to discuss my schooling, confidentiality agreements being what they are." B answered frankly. "But I concede."
Light nodded absently and gestured for Beyond to continue.
"My schooling was highly enjoyable," B paused in thought for a moment. "… for a time it was at least. And then it became, trite. Things became uninteresting and I began to crave something more. That's when I committed my first murder."
Light's reaction to that declaration fascinated Beyond. The young man hadn't reacted as any normal individual, even a criminal psychologist, would have reacted. There was a dangerous glint in Light's eyes, clearly polluted with an underling fury. Profilers were supposed to remain emotionless, objective and unbiased. But the boy sitting before Beyond was angry for some reason. Beyond didn't understand it, but he didn't have to in order to exploit it.
"She didn't deserve it," Beyond continued, carefully eyeing the storm brewing within Light. "I was mad and merely taking my anger out on her."
"How did you kill her?" Light asked quietly. His fist's were balled under the desk, and he wasn't entirely sure why. He'd expected to hear about Beyond's exhibitions in great detail, and he'd trained himself for it appropriately. Or so he'd thought.
Beyond smiled reminiscently, as if the memory of his first kill was a fond one. Which, Light considered, it probably was for the murderer.
"I burned her," Beyond said simply. "I threw some oil on her, made her smell like a stale French Fry. Then I lit a match and set her ablaze. She was smart enough to stop, drop, and roll, you know, that whole standard fire procedure. And she was very vocal about it, screaming in agony as her skin blistered and peeled, scorching the blood that became exposed to the open flame." Absently Beyond's hand brushed against the side of his face, fingers running over the burn scars framing his eyes and lips. "Burning is painful."
Light nodded as he mentally assessed Beyond's reaction. There was a touch of somberness in B's voice, not one of regret, but of rejection. "Did anyone know about this? That you had killed this girl?"
"No, I got away with it."
Silence fell across the room. Beyond stared dully at his toes, wiggling them slowly as if reassuring himself that he could still feel them. Meanwhile, Light was lost in thought over the admission. His eyes raked over Beyond's huddled form, the cloud of depression hanging over the man taunting him. Beyond had wanted recognition for his actions. That was clear. And in a just society, he would have got it, and he would have been given the Death Penalty for it as well, which may have been what B had been after. Light sensed a recklessness in Beyond Birthday, the type that came with someone who was tired with his state of existence. But B was prideful as well, much like Light himself was, and he wasn't one to do the shameful deed himself. Not without meaning.
The silence was ended by Beyond's abrupt changing of the topic. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Light blinked, momentarily taken aback by the question. "I fail to see how that is any of your business," Light responded crisply.
"Well, you're very pretty," Beyond said cheerily, eyes moving up and down Light's body fondly. "I have to know if there's a possibility of a jealous boyfriend coming to beat me up if I play with you too much."
Light thought the declaration over in his head. It was perturbing to have a serial killer claim he was attractive, let alone one like Beyond, who seemed determined to bend away from every characteristic of a killer. If Beyond had been speaking with him in any other social setting Light would have thought the man was flirting with him. Here, Light was sure the man was taunting him, making use of the superb acting skills Light suspected the murderer possessed.
"What if I had a girlfriend? You wouldn't fear her?" Light asked.
B rocked backwards on the balls of his feet, eyes rolling to examine the ceiling thoughtfully. "No, I don't see you allowing a woman, or anyone for that matter, to walk all over you. You'd enjoy being in control. Not to mention your watch says you're overcompensating for something."
Eyebrows raised, Light brought his wrist up to reveal more of his watch. "How is this overcompensating?"
"It's big, and rather shiny. Why would you choose to buy a watch like that? Doesn't it chafe? You know I can imagine something much better than that thing chafing your wrists," B said blithely.
"How do you know I bought it for myself?" Light asked.
"Oh, so it was a gift. From whom then I wonder?" B nibbled on his pinky nail for a minute before reaching over the table to grasp Light's arm and get a better look at the wrist watch. "I'd say your father," B concluded. "You're Japanese, which suggests you maintain the traditional Asian father and son respect dynamic. Plus, though big, it's practical, easy to read with nothing more than a glance. And judging by all the scratch marks marring the band, but not the crystal plate, it's able to withstand daily wear. I hazard if a woman had gotten you a watch for a gift the thing would be more flashy, gold instead of this heavy duty metal. It also would have been impossible to read given that the female guards here seem to favor watches that aren't marked with numbers."
"Your logic is brilliant, if not slightly flawed," Light said, gently removing his arm from Beyond's grip.
Beyond sent him a puzzled expression. "How is it flawed?"
"You've chosen to assume that I don't have a boyfriend."
B pouted at Light, the expression making the man look like a demented puffer fish. "Don't tease me," B snapped.
Light chuckled at the killer's antics. "I'm not teasing you."
"Yes you are," B admonished. "You're trying to get me to consider the notion that you do have a boyfriend when I know you don't."
Light raised his eyebrows, but nodded his head for B to continue with his line of thought.
"Your nail's aren't manicured," B replied simply, a small grin occupying his features, interrupted by the thumb that was lodged in his mouth. "Gay men get manicures, or so they tell me here. No, you're asexual, like me."
"You're not attracted to anyone?" Light inquired, surprised. "I never would have guessed that with the way you've been hitting on me."
"No, I'm attracted to nothing but a challenge. So what now Mr. Light Yagami?" B asked, his voice sickeningly sweet. "What can your mind tell you about me now that we've engaged in such delightful conversation?"
Light answered without pause. "You were shaped by the people who raised you. I'd say you, Mr. Beyond Birthday, are the product of failed manipulation. This entire conversation you have attempted to scare me, make me submit to you. Yet at the same time you gave just as much as I received. It suggests you do have morals after all, they're just a little skewed."
"I, however, worry my perception of you is incomplete," Light continued. "As well as a little scattered, lacking in crucial areas, but we've only just been introduced. I believe, as we further get to know each other, the pieces to your puzzle will begin to fall into place."
B smiled a large, toothy grin that sent a slight chill down Light's back.
"Whatever you say Sweetie Jam."
3B
Sayu came bursting into the room. Her footsteps pounding their way across the hardwood floor and vibrating up into the bedroom Light was currently situated in. A knowing smile draped across his lips as he moved from the bed to stand at the top of the spiral staircase that led into the living room of his hotel suite.
"My wedding has been ruined!" Sayu growled at her older brother, fists clenched so tightly Light was surprised to see that blood wasn't dribbling onto the floor.
Staring down at the distraught girl in amusement, Light leaned against the wrought iron railing. "Considering your intended's line of work, did you really think this debacle would be a smooth ride?"
Sayu gaped at her brother in anger before marching over to the couch and throwing herself onto it, face first so only a muffled cream could be heard. Taking it as a sign to descend, Light sighed and walked down the stairs. Carefully he sat himself on the love seat adjacent to the couch she had plopped onto.
"Go ahead," Light said. "Just let me have it. Knowing you you'll find some way to blame this all on me," he grouched.
"Because it is your fault!" She snapped, jumping onto her knees. "We were supposed to be Romeo and Juliet! A LOVE STORY GOD DAMNIT!" she shouted, pounding her fist into the leather upholstery. "This is entirely your fault Raito! Romeo and Juliet didn't have to go into hiding for five years! They weren't forced to move from country to country, unable to share their nuptials! And I'm pretty sure Juliet's maid of honor wasn't murdered two days before the wedding!" She shrieked.
"That's because they killed themselves." Light responded tersely. "There was no wedding for someone to be murdered at."
It wasn't the most delicate way of dealing with his sister, but at this point in time Light reasoned the best way to deal with his younger sister was to be unforgiving and blunt. The girl was beyond distraught, and judging by the water stains that dotted across her cheeks, she'd long ago stopped crying. Now there was nothing in her but an unadulterated anger that was looking for a target to be fired upon. Light had best let her take it out on him and then make her feel guilty about it at a later date.
"THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE HAPPIEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!" She was standing now, eyes glaring poisonous spears right into Light's own eyeballs. He figured that her looking down on him made her feel more in control of the situation than she really was. But Light couldn't fault her for that.
"And you will have that week eventually," Light said calmly, unfazed by his sister's outburst. "It just won't be this week. In fact, you may want to postpone things for a couple of months or so."
Sayu fell back onto the couch, the look falling across her visage radiating nothing but displeasure. "Why the hell do you suggest I do that?"
Light raised his eyebrows as if it were obvious. "Sayu, your maid of honor was murdered. What will people think if you continue with this?"
"People?" Sayu scoffed. "What people? The bridal party is the only guests Hachi and I have! What is it with you and sabotaging my happiness!"
"I'm not sabotaging your happiness," Light denied. "I'm sabotaging your wedding, there is a difference."
Sayu crossed her arms over her chest with a huff, knowing her pest of an older brother was joking. "As the bride I see none. Now what is this about?" she demanded.
Standing from the couch Light made his way to the kitchen for the pot of coffee room service had prepared for him. "I think the person who killed Rei will strike again," he said heavily, eyeing his sister in his peripherals for her reaction. There was none.
"Why do you stay that?"
Light mulled over the events of the day in his mind, thoughtfully
'After removing the carpet from the room, he plays a vinyl record before placing a crown atop his head and hanging himself, M then gets stabbed in the back.' The words Hachirou had relayed to him were interesting to say the least. At most it was just over dramatic. The description had nothing to do with the crime scene he and Hachirou had observed. It was a taunt, Light knew, something left behind and giving a hint towards the next victim. A lot of serial killers had been known to do such things. But there was one in particular sticking out in his mind like a painful boil.
"Wait," Sayu regarded her brother through narrowed eyes. "I know that look. Light, you can't be saying…"
The expression he shot her was answer enough.
"That's absurd!" She snapped at him. "Idiotic, stupid! Dare I even consult a thesaurus to find a word pretentious enough to get my point through your arrogant skull!" She moved from the couch and into the kitchen, her beseeching posture betraying the anger she was using as a façade.
"Sayu, it's already been decided," Light said, handing her a cup of coffee. The black substance always helped him to be reasonable; perhaps it would do the same with her. And if it didn't, well he didn't much care.
"By who?" she stipulated. "You? Hachi? Did either of you consider getting my opinion on this matter?" She pushed the proffered cup away irately, as if swatting an offensive fly. "Of course you didn't! Light, it's not as if this doesn't affect me either."
Light's lips thinned as her regarded his sister through the steam of caffeine. "I know it does Sayu, and I'm sorry this happened. But I want you to be safe, I want to make a better world, a world you and Hachirou can raise a family in peacefully." Reaching across the marble island that separated him from his little sister he grasped her hand gently. "I only want to make this right."
Sayu looked up at her brother, delicately chewing on her lip. "Fine, go catch a killer. Make the bastard pay, I have no qualms over that. It's justice. But let me in on it? At least when it involves my wedding preparations?"
Light nodded, but cast a worried glance at her, opening his mouth to comment on her last request.
"No," she interrupted. "I'm not postponing my wedding. It'll happen in two weeks I've decided, after Rei's body has been shipped back to Japan. And don't think your little emotional manipulation works on me Raito, I'm not some stupid dunce."
"I never said you were," Light stated fondly, knowing this was the most he could get from Sayu.
"Humph," she pouted, before wrenching her hand from beneath her brother's and heading for the door. "I want to know if my wedding's in danger Light, keep me updated!"
"I will," he called after her, a wry smile on his lips. In the back of his mind, the wheels were turning. He needed to make a call.
3B
Sprawled across his hotel bed once more, Light quickly dialed a set of numbers he'd had memorized since his first day at the FBI.
Three rings into the call a male voice came over the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Raye," Light said amicably. "It's Light, is Naomi home?"
"For once she is," Raye Penbar chuckled over the line. "Here."
"Naomi!" Light heard Raye's muffled shout through the phone. "Light's on the phone for you!"
There was a subdued grumbling in the background, as well as what sounded like a shout of indignation before Naomi came on the line.
"Oh, so now you're calling me. You better have some answers young man or I swear I will fly to England and wrench them out of that devious little mind of yours myself!"
"It's Beyond." It had never been Light's intention to talk to Naomi about Beyond Birthday, or the man's presence in London. But given the woman's current mood, he'd say what he could to make her shut up. He didn't have the energy to spin half truths and mental circles for his mentor that evening.
After a moment of silence, Naomi responded. "Yeah, I got the memo, and BBC's already reporting the homicide of your sister's maid of honor."
"Shit," Light swore. "That means my dad probably knows."
Naomi scoffed. "I doubt it, your father is a man who enjoys denial Light. He's probably ignoring the facts at the moment. What I want to know is what you plan to do."
Light rolled over, letting his head fall off the edge of the bed so the world turned itself upside down. "I'm going to fix things."
A disgruntled sigh came from the other end of the phone, alerting Light to the lecture he was about to receive.
"Of course you are," Naomi snipped. "Does it ever occur to you that life is better lived when you don't mess with it?"
"I'm not messing with anything!" Light protested. "If anything, Beyond's the one that is, not -"
"Light, this is something I don't want you involved in," Naomi rushed before Light could go on further. "This is something you don't need to be a part of."
"What are you saying Naomi.? That this has nothing to do with me?" Light snapped, his irritation simmering.
Naomi knew who he was, which meant she knew exactly what he wasn't as well. And Light wasn't someone to leave an individual like Beyond Birthday alone, especially when said individual was running around and killing people he knew. He needed to poke and prod at it, to examine things from every angle. To see Beyond in person and shackled to a chair was one thing, entertaining as hell, as well as a most educating experience. But Light had a feeling that, not only observing Beyond in action, but perusing him, playing the game with him as opposed to just being it's judge, would capitulate more. Light felt the experience would end up yielding be something else entirely than what was expected. That was just Beyonds MO.
Naomi growled over the phone. "It doesn't have anything to do with you Light! Stay out of it!"
Light glanced at the phone. It wasn't uncommon for Naomi and him to quarrel, and occasionally even shout at each other. Such was the way they functioned. The woman was the overbearing mother he never had. Not to say that he hadn't had a mother, but that was beside the point. He was familiar with Naomi protesting and criticizing his every action. But the woman was never this direct about it, most times she'd manipulate and twist his arm until he conceded and went behind her back. Then she'd assist from afar, living vicariously through him until the job was done.
She knew there was nothing she could do to stop him when he wanted to do something, so why was she fighting so blatantly? There had to be more behind the woman's erratic and demanding behaviorthan her aversion to Beyond Birthday.
"Light, do you even understand how ridiculous this crusade is? You don't even know that it's really him," the female agent tried reasoning. The statement was so pleading that Light could practically see her grasping at straws.
"Cut the bullshit, we both know it is," Light sneered. "What I want to know is how you know."
"I don't!"
"Yes you do," Light "Otherwise you wouldn't be so against me looking into it. If you weren't sure he was here you'd be curious, practically goading me to investigate. That letter wasn't enough to guarantee that he was in London Naomi. How do you know he's here?"
Silence over the line.
"I hope you know what you're about to get yourself into." Her tone was grave and it came over the line louder and more clearly than anything else she'd said that night.
"No going back? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"If only it was." She hung up.
3B
L stared listlessly at the large monitor screen. Three hours had passed since he'd abandoned his chair and crawled onto the table, leaning closer to the monitor so as to inspect the scrawled letters the screen displayed. Gently nibbling on his thumb, L thought over the words Beyond had left behind.
'After removing the carpet from the room, he plays a vinyl record before placing a crown atop his head and hanging himself, M then gets stabbed in the back.'
It was a clue to Beyond's next victim. That much was obvious. In fact, it was more a blatant statement than a clue. What wasn't so apparent was who now had a death sentence hanging over their head and where the murder would take place.
L hadn't been expecting something so similar to B's last game this time around. He's been waiting for a different competition, something more intricate and bold. This was trite. L had a list longer than a mile long of serial killer's who'd adopted this technique. It was like a kindergartener's game of tag of murderers. Bait the police then run and hide. L knew it was egotistical of him to say so, but he liked to imagine himself above such antics. Thus, he knew Beyond was as well, which led him to the conclusion that there was something more to the game being played.
Unfortunately, that didn't necessarily mean that there was more to the note. It was written on standard notebook paper. The same light blue lines, college ruled spaces, and one inch margins were used the world over. The ink was black, from a ball point pen judging by the fluidity and occasional break in pen strokes. There was nothing unusual about either of those things.
Content wise, three things were apparent: That Beyond had killed the girl Rei and that he had Mello. These could be deduced by the large gothic 'M' placed in the text of the note. The last thing L concluded was that Beyond was making a mockery of killing Mello, again based on the 'M' as well as the fact that B's first victim had been blonde and the same height as Mello.
In terms of what the note itself said, there were multiple ways to interpret its meaning. The first was to take things literally, as if the note declared exactly how Beyond was going to murder his next victim. That was the simplest way of thinking about the contents. Given the simplicity of the note that was the method L was going with. He was just at a loss of exactly how to go about it. There wasn't enough information, and it was pissing L off.
Irately, the detective moved his eyes from the center monitor that held the offending note to the one on the left. Hand fumbling for the remote, L began flipping through the hotel security cameras, praying to the god he knew didn't exist for inspiration. He found it standing in the main lobby, flirting with the hotel's receptionist. Black eyes widened as they took in the form of the one individual who had puzzled him the most over the past twenty four hours. Beyond Birthday forgotten, L zoomed the camera in on the handsome features illuminating the screen. As if sensing the unseen camera's movement, the figure looked up and met L's gaze head on.
"Matt," L called over his shoulder, eyes never wavering from the face on the TV screen. "Why is Light Yagami standing in the hotel lobby?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: Awesome reviews are awesome. Don't you want to be awesome? XD
As always, thank you for reading. I hope you're enjoying the fic!