A/N: Haha, I'm back again. Back from the depth of writer's block and the pain of having to go research historical events. Well, I'm sure things aren't all historically accurate. I'm sure the names I picked are stupid and historically inaccurate, but they're the best I could do.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone…sadly. I could really use a slave to help me out with my menial work.
Light insisted that the whole group head out to the park before he told L anything. Misa and Matsuda sat on a park bench out of hearing range, but they kept looking worriedly over at L and Light as they selected their own bench.
Light waited until L had settled himself into his favorite position, perched on the edge of the bench as if he was afraid to have his butt actually touch the seat. L noticed Light watching him. "Please begin your tale," L instructed.
Light sighed. "As I've said before, I was born sometime around 1008. My original name was Laramie Dulac. I was born into an aristocratic family in what is now France. The countries weren't quite as defined then as they are now. Anyway, I was the snobby son of a wealthy landowner. We had plenty of servants and for most of my childhood and teenage years, I was spoiled. However unbeknownst to us, our stable master was a vampire. He got tired of being treated like dirt and he took his revenge by biting me. I lasted four days before my thirst for blood overwhelmed me and I killed a servant girl. Ashamed of what I had become, I fled my privileged life. I spent the next few years trying to kill myself. Vampires were rare back then and no one really knew how to deal with them. I tired to kill myself, but I didn't know what to do. I couldn't drown, couldn't suffocate, couldn't be poisoned, and couldn't bleed to death. I even tried starving myself. I stayed as far from people as I could, but some unfortunate soul always managed to cross my path and after months without blood, I was like a beast. I couldn't control myself."
Light paused in his story. L wasn't even looking at him, but was looking off into the distance as if deep in thought. Of course, L probably thought he was a hideous monster.
"You can really go months without eating?" L murmured.
Light sighed. "Yes, maybe even years, but I'd rather not test that. It's awfully hard. After awhile, you can't think anymore. You'd kill the first person you saw. Living in the forest, you'd even kill animals. Animal blood isn't quite the same as human blood, but when you're starving anything will do."
L chewed a thumbnail. "So that is why Mikami lunged at Matsuda. He hadn't eaten for a long time."
"Only for about a week or so. At that point, you can't really control yourself at the sight of blood, but as long as no one bleeds you can take it. If you've been without blood for months, you can smell the blood within an organism and they don't have to be bleeding for you to go into a frenzy like that."
L pulled his knees up to his chin. "I understand now why you were afraid for my safety. Even though you do not wish to harm me, it could become impossible for you to control yourself."
"That's only if I don't drink blood regularly," Light insisted. "If I eat once a week, I can handle seeing your blood without mauling you."
L scowled at him. "So, instead of killing me, you'd kill someone else? I don't see how that is much better."
Light sighed. "You don't understand. We have Matsuda for that. We don't go after people anymore. Well, at least I don't. Mikami doesn't like Matsuda very much so he won't unless he's desperate."
"No, I don't understand. I thought Matsuda was one of you. Why would you want to kill him?"
Light laughed, glancing over at the bench where Matsuda and Misa were whispering to each other worriedly. "No one's going to kill Matsuda. He's a thrall."
L felt his cheeks flush. "A thrall?"
"Yes, he's my slave. Don't worry, I don't make him do anything horrible. He's just a food source for us. He's caught between being a vampire and a human. He still bleeds and we can drink his blood, but he can't drink blood himself. He has to survive only on red foods."
L looked thoughtful. "Strawberries, raspberries, cherries…"
Light laughed. "Trust you to think of all the sweets. But seriously, don't worry about Matsuda. He's happy to help out. It keeps us from biting people. That's his purpose."
"How did you convince him to take this role?"
Light shrugged. "It was during the Crusades. His name was Matthias then. I took part in the Crusades to ease my guilty conscience. It was much easier to take blood from those who were already dead. But Matsuda was dying when I bit him, not dead. So, I killed him and saved him from true death at the same time. It's a funny sort of business. He ends up being indebted to me eternally. A couple vampires have thralls with them. It saved us during the Inquisition when many of us were forced into hiding. We couldn't go out and hunt so we shared thralls between us."
"It seems like you have had a pretty exciting life," L observed.
Light grinned. "Oh yes. I've lived in England, France, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, and America. I've fought in the Crusades, the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War…well, vampires do get along well in wars. We don't kill easy and all the blood on the battlefield makes our lives so much easier."
L frowned. "It sounds like a rather miserable existence, trying to get by secretly, living off corpses."
Light shook his head slowly. "It's not miserable. It's very rewarding for us. If we wanted to, we could feed off any humans we wished. We could do what we please, go where we want, stay together as a coven of powerful vampires. But we don't want that. We want to co-exist with the humans and have jobs and try to live mortal lives as long as possible."
L frowned at him. "I don't buy it."
L smiled sadly. "I didn't think you would. I guess I'll have to show you." He reached out his hands towards L as if to embrace him.
L backed away. "Don't touch me!" he said warningly.
"Trust me," Light intoned. "I just want to show you my past."
"And how do you expect to do that?"
Light smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out. Just trust me."
L eyed Light suspiciously but resumed his seat on the bench.
Light stretched out his hands and placed his palms on either side of L's head over his temples. "This might be painful for you," Light murmured. "I've never tried it with a human before, only with Mikami." Light's voice trailed off dreamily.
L looked at Light suspiciously as Light's eyes slid shut. He seemed asleep. L was about to wiggle out of Light's grip when he was suddenly overcome by a wave of drowsiness and his own eyes slid shut.
"Should we stop them?" Matsuda asked anxiously.
Misa shook her head. "Nope. L wants to see proof and that's the only way."
Faint, misty images danced behind L's eyes. Faces appeared briefly out of the mist and then sank back into nothingness. Finally, the mist cleared and L saw a field with a deep pond. As he bent over to look into the water, he saw Light's face instead of his own reflection and L realized he was living a memory through Light's view. L was caught off guard when Light jumped suddenly into the water. He could actually feel the cold water close over him as if he were Light. Light remained underwater for several moments until a man in a dingy coat fished him out. "You're not going to off yourself like that," the man scorned, his yellow eyes glinting with twisted pleasure. "You've got to try real hard if you expect to end your misery, you selfish brat."
The scene shifted to a battle raging in Jerusalem. Medieval knights battled with Arabic armies. The battle raging all around was not of interest to Light. He crawled slowly over the ground towards a wounded man lying on the ground. As Light got closer, L could see that it was Matsuda. Matsuda's face was twisted in agony. He wasn't bleeding much, but L could see plainly that Matsuda had broken several bones and was ravaged by disease.
Light bent over Matusda. "I'm sorry, Matthias," he whispered. "I'm just so hungry."
Light bit down on Matsuda's neck and as blood filled his mouth, L could taste the coppery tang of blood mixed with the bland taste of dry bread. Matsuda let out a choked gasp and squeezed his eyes shut. Light put a hand over Matusda's chest. He was still warm even though he had stopped breathing. And there was still a faint heartbeat. Light gasped as the heartbeat grew stronger and Matsuda slowly opened one eye.
"Am I dead?" Matsuda whispered.
"You should be," Light murmured.
"You saved my life," Matsuda said softly.
"I should have killed you," Light argued. "You were dying anyway and the loss of blood should have been the end of you."
"I feel fine," Masuda insisted. He stood up and patted his shoulders. "My shoulder's mended too. I don't know what you did, but you healed me." Matsuda lifted his sword. "I'm going back to fight."
Light stared after him as Matsuda charged into battle. "That's insane," Light whispered. "He should be dead or at least become undead. But he's still human."
The scene shifted again to more modern times. Light was sitting at a diner with a boy, who was shoveling down food as if he hadn't eaten in years.
"I wish I could eat like this at home," the boy murmured between bites. "They don't let me eat much. They say I'm going to get fat."
"You're not fat," Light purred. "Your parents must be blind. You're just perfect, Cullen."
"Thanks," Cullen said softly. "It was nice of you to take me out to eat, but you know that doesn't change anything. I hate my parents and even living here won't change that. I'm going to go and kill myself and leave them a nice suicide note. Then they'll be sorry."
"Of course," Light said silkily. "Here, have a drink of this soda." Light casually slipped a flask out of his pocket and poured the liquid into the cup.
Cullen stared at the amber liquid mixing in with his soda pop. "Alcohol?"
Light shrugged. "You're going to kill yourself anyway. Why not do it in style?"
Cullen smiled and downed the soda. Soon, he was slumped in his seat. Light scooped the sleeping boy into his arms and carried him out the back door of the restaurant.
Light headed into the woods. He set the boy down on the ground and with one twist, snapped the boy's neck. Light then bit down on the boy's wrist. The taste of hamburgers and cola filled L's mouth as Light drank. But Light pulled back after a few gulps. He looked over at Mikami, who had suddenly appeared beside him.
Mikami's eyes glinted dangerously as he pounced on the boy's corpse, his body a blur of sharp claws and fangs as he sliced and-
L was jerked back suddenly into the present time. The green grass and blissful calm of the park seemed suddenly fake and unreal compared to the horrors L had witnessed.
Light slowly removed his hands from the side of L's head. "I hope that has helped you understand a little better," Light said solemnly. "Maybe later I'll try to show you more memories, but for now you can see the difficult choices that face our kind. If we want to blend in with humankind, life is full of hard choices. But we don't want to be monsters. We want to live as much of a human life as possible. That means we kill only when we have to. You understand, L?"
L nodded. He still had the taste of blood in his mouth. He wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve but of course, the blood wasn't real.