Title: Death Note Cell. (I WILL NEVER CHANGE IT! D:)
Rating: If you're this goddamn far into it, you should freakin' know it's M. If not, how can you even read? Honestly. –shakes head-
Authors Note: D: I'm developing a pattern. Really, I am. It goes "Force myself to work on DN Cell and finish a chapter. Work happily on The Cleaner and finish a chapter. Work semi-happily on DN Cell and finish a chapter. Force myself to work on the Cleaner…" And so on and so forth, repeating in that order. This is my semi-happy period right now. SO GO AWAY!! –Teehee- No, I'm just joking. Stay, and read till your heart's content! :D –violent mood swings- Oh… and in case you didn't get the message on The Cleaner chapter 2, I might be working on a new story really soon! I had a dream about it last night and it's been bugging the crap out of me ever since. I really want to work on it, but there's two problems. 1. I'm afraid (once again) that if I start working on it, I might lose interest in something important and then disappoint all you guys, and 2. There's like fifty million bugs that need to be worked out before I can even start thinking about writing it. So… it might be a little while.
Anyway, enjoy the story. :D
Summary: …DUDE. YAOI. "Do I need to f--ing repeat myself?" :D (Well, actually… I'm lying. No yaoi in this chapter. –shifty eyes- yet… :D)
Pairings: I think everybody knows that I've changed my way of thinking. LxLight, RyuzakixOC, LightxOC.
Disclaimer: Okay, I own absolutely no characters from Death Note, and the concept of Cell belongs to Stephen King and him alone. Not me. Though if I had come up with that idea, you can bet your asses you would see my shit in bookstores instead of here. The only thing I do own is my original characters. No, seriously. That's about the only thing I own… TT 0 TT All right, adding on to the disclaimer. I do not own the movie "The Mist", which will have some striking similarities to DN Cell very soon. Just a coincidence, but Mist is also a Stephen King novella. :D
Blech. Violent stuff. Not my strong suit… I usually go with the gay stuff. But stick with me.
Oh, a minor warning. This might be in MY case, and not yours… but I use a specific word in here, that I really hate to use… but I felt it appropriate for the situation. It's a rather crude term for homosexuals, so I hope nobody gets angry at me for using it. Sorry.
Chapter 9: Coming Forth
'Goddammit, what is it now?' I thought frantically as I listened to the pounding of my shoes on the tile floor. The screaming continued, growing in pitch and velocity. A fleeting thought clouded my brain for a fraction of a second: I've left Abigail and Sonja behind… but I knew they would be safe, somehow. I skidded around a corner and into the front of the store, where the small group of women were all crowded around each other. Even Miss Campbell looked frightened. The bright red smears of blood across the glass panes of the door distracted me, and my eyes were brought to those doors. I looked at the pavement in front of them, and a sound of horror escaped from my throat.
Blood, and bone fragments, and bits of matter I didn't even want to distinguish splattered all over the ground in front of the store. The setting sun glistened against the wetness of the blood covering the pavement, and my eye caught two bodies lying across from each other. Each without a head. The torn flesh of their necks hung loosely, with nothing attached to it. If I hadn't have known better, I would have said their heads had exploded. I looked away, putting my hand next to my eyes. "Come on, let's get out of here." I called, walking swiftly over to the group of women. Kathy seemed the most aware, so I figured once I got them all calmed down I should ask her what happened.
I ushered them away from the front of the store as quickly as I could, not wanting to spend one more second near that carnage. Walking through an aisle filled with sodas and drinks, I ran into Abigail and Sonja. They must have been coming to find me. "Light!" She called, stopping in front of us. "What happened? Who screamed?"
"I don't know, Abby." I said quietly. "Please. Don't go back there." My voice fell farther, images of what I had just seen flashing across my minds eye. The way she looked told me she wouldn't have gone back there for the world if I had told her not to, and thankfulness filled my core for a moment. I placed a gentle hand on her back and led everybody away, stepping into a larger aisle that had more room for us. I turned to Kathy, who looked up at me with a grateful gleam in her eye. "If somebody can, please tell me what happened." I said, my own voice trembling.
"They fucking exploded!!" Lauren screeched, quivering. My heart jumped into my throat, the worst fears that had played out in my mind clicking together suddenly. "They did! They did… they exploded!" I placed both my hands on her shoulders softly, leaning down and looking into her eyes. "You…" She gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks. "…You believe me… r-right?" I nodded. 'There's no way she could be lying. What would that do for her?' I thought, my legs wavering slightly.
"I believe you, Lauren. Trust me…" I let go of her shoulders and straightened up, turning back to Kathy. Miss Campbell caught my eye, and she looked genuinely terrified. Despite the fact I thought she ought to be locked away somewhere, I felt bad for her. "Now. Can someone tell me exactly what happened back there?" I noticed my hands were shaking violently. I crossed my arms across my chest in an effort to hide it. I didn't want everybody else thinking I was scared. "Abigail, go back with Sonja. I don't want her hearing this. I'll come back and tell you, okay?" I saw her nod, turn and walk off with Sonja in her arms.
"It's just like Lauren said." Kathy spoke up, casting a frightened glance toward the front of the store. "Those two were in front of the store… they… they had obviously been infected by whatever's hit this place…" I nodded, eager to hear every detail of what horrid event had just played out. "It… it looked like they were… like they were almost fighting with each other, in a way…" I pressed my arms tighter against my body, trying to stop myself from shaking. "They were yelling at each other… in whatever language they talk in… and…" She stopped, putting a hand over her mouth and closing her eyes. "Then… one of their… their heads exploded…" I swallowed back a bitter taste that was creeping its way up my throat. "Then a few seconds later… the other one did the same thing…"
I leaned up against the wall, trying to piece together everything in my mind. I knew it all had to do with something, and that something was the key element. I just… didn't know what it was. The other players were L and the crazies. Something was linking them together, and I was prepared to kill myself to find out what. That something had to be the cause for the crazy thing that had just happened. 'Judging from when I heard the scream, it was right about the time that L ran into the bathroom…' My mind went blank for a few seconds. ":Oh shit, L!:" I shouted, realizing he hadn't come out and that I had completely forgotten about. "I'm sorry, I have to go find him!" I said, running toward the back of the store.
I stopped in front of the bathroom, raised my fist and pounded on the door. ":L?!:" I screamed, hoping and praying that he would answer me. There was no reply from the other side of the door… it seemed worlds away. ":L?! Goddammit, answer me!!:" I tried the handle, found it wasn't locked, and threw open the door with all the force I had in my body. I gasped when I saw him lying on the floor, looking strangely peaceful compared to the last time I had seen him. I dropped to my knees in front of him and shook him violently.
":L!!:" I screamed again, wishing to God he would open his eyes already. My shaking hands clenched his shoulders, holding tighter to him than anything I had ever held before. ":Please…:" I gasped. ":Please wake up…:" Hot tears stung the corners of my eyes, spilling over my cheeks with no consent of my own. I made no effort to wipe them away, feeling that it would do no good whatsoever. I lifted his head onto my lap, folding my legs underneath me. I tried to look for any signs of breath; to see if his chest was moving at all and it produced absolutely no results. My heart skipped a beat. 'Please… God…' I prayed, closing my eyes and trying to regain my breath. 'Don't let him be dead… I don't know what I'd do if that happened… please…' A dry sob escaped through my throat, burning it. 'I just got him back! Please…' All training I had ever had fled my mind completely, only wishes for his life remained.
":Raito?:" I gasped, and looked down. L's eyes were open. Barely, but they were open. His ashen lips parted slightly as he said my name. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard him say… I scooped him up in my arms and cradled his head against my shoulder, crying. I felt him wrap his arms weakly around my back, patting me lightly. I held him tighter against me, wishing that I could stay there with him the rest of my life. Smoothing back his hair, I felt a bump on the back of his head. He hissed in pain when I brushed my fingers lightly against it, and I was worried that he most likely hit his head. Hard.
":Did you fall?:" I asked. He leaned back away from me, and I realized his eyes didn't look as focused as they should be. I put one hand on the small of his back to keep him from falling backwards as he swayed. My other hand held his chin firmly in place in front of my eyes. ":L, listen to me. Did…you…fall?:" I looked into his eyes. Against the low light in the bathroom, his pupils were dilated. That was a good sign… But the fact that he wasn't answering scared the shit out of me. ":Answer me!:" I shook him, being a tad more violent than I had intended.
":Yes!:" He blurted, grabbing my shirt and holding on. ":Yes… I fell…:" He buried his face against my chest, and I enveloped him in my arms. It seemed like shaking him had jolted him back into reality. That I was happy about. Holding him tighter toward me, I silently thanked God for not letting him die. ":I'm okay, Raito… but…:" He coughed dryly, sitting back up. ":What… happened? Why did my head suddenly start hurting like that?:"
":You think I know?:" I said quietly, rubbing his back lightly. He smiled faintly, and wrapped his arms around himself. He was sitting in my lap now, and I moved him closer toward me. ":I wish I did, sweetheart.:" I blushed as I realized the word that had escaped my mouth, but he just laughed. ":I'd need to think about it before I understand this whole situation…:" He nodded, understanding as he always was. ":I can tell you what the others said, though… if you want.:" He brightened up immediately at the prospect of information to figure everything out. ":Kathy… she said that there… there were two of them outside the store… and that they almost seemed to be arguing with each other. But… I think, right around the time you ran into the bathroom, one…:" I stopped, trying to figure a way to put it gently so as not to upset him more.
":Go on. What is it? What happened?:" He pressed, taking my shirt in his hands. I hesitated, unsure. 'Do I really want to tell him? If I were in his situation, I would be scared… Shit, I'm scared now…' I thought. ":Raito!:" I jumped. ":Just… tell me. It can't hurt.:"
I sighed, and then took a deeper breath. ":One of their heads exploded.:" I whispered, how ridiculous I sounded finally coming to rest in my head. I looked back at his face, and a strange expression crossed it. A cross between disbelief and something I didn't quite understand… He became quiet for some time. Thinking, I presumed. Slowly, his fingers unfolded from the fabric of my shirt. They fell gently in his lap as he stared distantly ahead of me… seeing something I couldn't see myself. It seemed like he had been doing that more and more often lately… ":And… and then, a few seconds later… the other one did the same thing.:"
He held up his pale hand to stop me from speaking, still looking away. ":Stop. I understand now…:" My heart lurched into my throat. He understood? 'Does that mean he figured out the missing link between him and the crazies?' I thought frantically, waiting for him to continue. ":I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, but… it all makes sense now.:" He swallowed nervously, and I was shocked when I saw a single tear fall down his cheek. He brushed it away impatiently with one hand, but they kept falling. ":I'm going to die…:" He whispered, his jaw trembling.
":What?!:" I shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders. ":No! That's impossible!!:" He just cried harder, covering his face with his hands, shoulders trembling. I stopped shaking him, trying to comprehend the words that had fallen from his lips. 'He's going to die? But I don't… I don't understand! He… He can't die…' ":You… you can't die…:" I stuttered, feeling tears gather at the edges of my eyes, as well. ":You can't die… I love you…:" He looked up at me, his eyes red and watery.
":Raito, there's nothing that can be done. Believe me… if I could fight this… if…:" He paused, closing his eyes. L looked rather frail underneath the dim lighting. I wanted to hold him, but I couldn't function right then. I didn't think he could, either. He was talking nonsense. ":If this wasn't fate:" He continued. ":I could do something about it. But… all those other people that died? I'm just supposed to be one of them. I'm supposed to die along with the—:"
":No!:" I screamed, unable to take any more. I wasn't about to let him talk like that, saying he was meant to die with the rest of them and all… he was scared, and I was scared… and we both weren't making any sense. Still, the words he was saying had to stop. ":No, you're not supposed to die!:" I choked out, feeling sick to my stomach. ":If… if you're… if you're supposed to die… why… why can you kill them?:" He didn't answer, only looked down. ":Huh?! Answer me, damn it!:" He grabbed my shirt with both hands, tears falling down his cheeks as he spoke to me.
":I don't know, Raito. I don't know…:" He burst into broken sobs then, burying his face into my shirt. I didn't know what else to do but hold him close to me, so that's what I did. We sat together, holding each other and crying. Somewhere in my subconscious I realized that he didn't want to die as much as I didn't want him to, but that he was always right. And since he thought he was going to die, it was probably going to happen. But was it fate that had brought us together, or fate that would tear us apart again? I just wished I could have understood…
I didn't know how long we stayed like that, in the bathroom holding each other in our arms like it was the last thing we would ever do. And in a way, I supposed it was. I wasn't prepared to lose him without losing myself. If he died, I died with him. That had been the way it was before, and I wasn't about to change it. I didn't realize how foolish I sounded. Every so often he would tell me to stop crying, that he still had me in his arms right now. But I would just say that he was too good of a person to die. He would tell me that there was no way around it… that he was doomed from the very moment he answered his cell phone. If I had been in the right presence of mind, everything would've clicked. But I was too upset to listen, wasting time that was more valuable than I had ever accounted for.
"Light?" A call of my name jolted me from the somber reality I had immersed myself in. It wasn't Abigail… that would have utterly mortified me, but it was Lauren. "Rue?" She stuttered. He scrambled from my lap in a matter of seconds, composing himself and trying to wipe his eyes. I stood up slowly after him, my mind racing with a thousand different ways to get out of the situation. None of them sounded good enough. "What's… going on?" She asked, sounding more than skeptical. When we failed to answer, she informed us of how long we had been gone. "It's been, like… an hour, Light. We thought… we thought you were going to come back, but…"
I swallowed, and said the first thing that I thought of. "Don't tell Abigail." I blurted, my face growing hotter by the second. Good thing I had my back turned toward her.
"H-huh?" She said, evidently confused.
"Don't. Tell. Abigail." I could almost hear the imaginary gears in her head turning, until she finally came to the correct conclusion. It was obvious she liked L; it couldn't have been any plainer. She was a nice kid… I didn't mean for her to see that. Hell, I didn't mean for anyone to see that. Especially not her. A great silence fell over the three of us. I tried to wipe the remaining tears that began to escape down my cheeks. "Do you understand?"
"Y-yeah… I…" She stumbled over her words, and I could tell she was upset. "So it's true?" My heart leaped. 'What? Did she just…'
L spoke up then, asking her what she meant. "I'm not quite sure I caught that, Lauren… would you care to repeat th—"
"Don't be stupid!" She shouted. I turned around to look at her. Her face was one of hurt and confusion, her fists balled at her sides. They were shaking. "Don't… do that to me. Just answer my question. Treat me like I'm smart for once!" She shot a nasty glare my way, aiming her cutting words at my throat. "Is it true?" We hesitated, hoping maybe she would give up and walk away. She didn't, only grew angrier. "Answer me!" She barked, taking a step forward. "Is it true?"
I sighed. "Fine. Is what true?"
"Augh!" She put her hands to the side of her head, stamping her foot in frustration. "Don't play dumb with me! Are you two…" She gestured to us, her anger seemingly dissipating quickly. "You know…" Her eyes cast downwards toward the tile. I looked at L, hoping that maybe he would get the pleading message in my eyes for some time alone with the girl. He nodded, taking my hand. L squeezed it once gently, then let it go. I turned toward Lauren and walked away from L.
"Lauren… can I talk to you?"
"Why don't you do it here?" She shot back, trying to step away from me. I took her arm gently, something she didn't appreciate. "Why don't you say it front of everybody else, huh?!" I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. She was making it harder than ever to hold back my temper. I wasn't in the best of moods, as you can well imagine… "If you're too good to say in front of everybody else, I don't want to hear it!" I tried to protest, but she yanked her arm away from my grasp and shoved me backwards. "Let go of me, you faggot!" I stopped. 'Did… she just call me that?' I thought, a bit stunned.
"Now, Lauren." L said harshly, stepping forward. "That's no way to talk to him. He's trying to tell you something, and the last thing you need to do is say something like that." She shut her mouth tightly, embarrassed. "I'm sure if I were to talk to you, there would be no way in Hell you would call me that." He continued, his tone curt and sharp. His piercing blue eyes told me he meant every word that he said to her. "Go with Light and listen to what he has to say. I don't care if you don't like him. I do, and that should be enough for you, correct?" She hesitated, and he softened his tone. "Wouldn't you do that for me if I asked?" She nodded solemnly. "I'm asking. Go with him. Understood?"
Once again she nodded, and hung her head. L always had a way for making people realize that they had done something wrong. It was just him working his magic again. She took a few steps over toward me. I took her arm again, looking down. We walked away in silence, and I didn't really know where we were going. I just stared down at the tile, at our shoes moving at an unbelievably slow pace. At least, it seemed like that. "I'm sorry." She finally said after an incredibly long and awkward silence. "I didn't mean to call you that. I was just… angry, I guess."
I sighed. 'Should I forgive her? It seemed like she really meant it, after all… What harm could it do?' "I forgive you." I tried to smile, but couldn't really bring myself to do it. "I understand your feelings, it's all right. If I was in your position, I would be pretty pissed off too, right now." I stopped, when I realized we were in front of the pharmacy that L and I had finally admitted to each other how we really felt… It seemed ironic enough, but I really didn't want to keep on walking. I took a few strides toward the counter and sat down, instructing her to do so, too. Silence clouded the heavy air between us for a few seconds before I finally spoke up. "How much did you see?"
"How much?" She repeated. "Well… there wasn't much, I mean… it's not like you guys were actually doing anything." A dry chuckle escaped her painted lips, then silence again. "It's just… you guys were crying. That much I could tell. And… holding each other…" Her voice got thicker as she went on speaking, and I put my face in my hands. I didn't want to see that poor girl cry, let alone cry because of something I had done. "As if that wasn't enough. You…" She exhaled, her breath shaky. "You know, how… like, when you're walking down some street… and you see a couple? Well, you see lots of couples… but it's just those two people? Where… you just know that they love each other… like, more than anything in the world?" I nodded, hoping she saw. "That's what it was like, you know? Like… I don't even comp—compare…" Her voice broke, and so did she. I could hear her crying quietly. 'Damn it.' I thought. 'I don't want this on my shoulders…'
"Lauren," I whispered. "I'm so sorry." She went on crying. Either she didn't hear me, or she didn't care about my apology one bit. I didn't blame her either way. "You can't imagine how much I didn't want it to play out like this." I smoothed back my hair. "God, and we've only been her not even a day. You'd think it's more than that." I stopped talking; worried that if I continued, I might let something else slip that I didn't want to. Truth be told, I didn't know what to say. It looked as if there was nothing that would cheer her up. "Lauren…" I sighed. "He's too old for you, anyway."
"What?!" She shouted, getting to her feet. "You… you have no right to be saying that to me! You don't think… that I knew that I wouldn't be able to have him?!" I looked back up at her. I wanted to tell her that I didn't think she was stupid, that… I understood her, in a way. Even if I really didn't. Even if I knew I really couldn't understand her. It felt like I was the enemy in that situation, which was what I was probably being viewed as. "Why do you think I'm so stupid?! I don't get it!" I stood up as well, placing my hand on her shoulder. She made no effort to get away. "Is it… is it because I'm young?" She hiccupped, wiping her eyes.
"No…" I tried to reassure her. "No one here thinks your stupid. You're a smart girl. Anyone can tell that, Lauren…" To my surprise, she rested her head against my shoulder. Maybe she was giving up. "Being with him… it wouldn't work out, anyway." She looked up, and I looked away. "For either of us."
She sniffed, "Wh-why?" 'Should I really tell her? If she could keep her mouth shut and let this stay a secret… it might work. What harm would it do? L's said he's going to die anyway… it's final. There's no use in keeping it secret…' I silently resigned with myself the fact that I was going to lose him once again. 'Like he said. There's nothing you can do about it…'
"He's going to die." As my mouth formed around the words, it felt strange… wrong, even. For me to be saying that thing was something that shouldn't happen, I knew it. Her sharp intake of breath met my ears with a force that I hadn't expected myself to be affected by. She really did care about him, but I was too stupid to see that. I continued on, preview to her silent agony. It hurt for me, too, but I wouldn't let it show unless it was necessary. There was no reason for the others to think I was weak. "He said so himself… said that he figured everything out. About… about using his cell phone, and…" I couldn't stop the flow of words dripping from my lips. It was like I was cutting myself with each syllable, but I couldn't let go of the razor. "And how he can kill them." Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I was telling a lie. But wasn't it for the better?
It didn't matter. I didn't know what was right or wrong anymore.
Author's note: DAMN!! Now I have a reason to be sad. I was crying… -wussy- as I wrote the scene where L told Light he was going to die. –Sniffs- Ah well. But… other than that. I can't believe I'm going to be in the double digits next chapter! That's like, my fucking dream! –Faints- It's going to be a lot more than ten chapters, believe me. We're not even at the halfway point. Yet…
A few changes made last minute here. 1. It was originally going to be Abigail that walked in on them, but I figured since Lauren's younger, and probably wouldn't handle it as well, it should be her. 2. L was a hell of a lot less calm when they were in the bathroom. But I read back over it and decided it was way OOC, and changed it. Should I change it back? What do you guys think?
3. Umm… the beginning wasn't supposed to be that violent. I was originally going to have something way more toned down, but apparently my violent side said "Fuck no you aren't." And out it popped.
Oh, and some good news! My friend at school (We'll call her "S") gave me the valuable information I needed to finally start that story that's been conking around in my –empty- head! YEY! So I can start it… pretty soon. It still has a few things that I need to work out, but the problem that I got fixed was the main issue. The questions I asked her? 1. "When do babies start to feed themselves?" 2. "What other motor skills have they developed at that time?" And so on and so forth. You…probably won't get it, but that's okay.
…I'm sad, now. Ah well. Time to work on The Cleaner. (Which, by the way, thanks Ladyblue17. No pressure? Hah. Lot's of pressure! No, I'm just joking. Still luv ya! –hugs-)
Oh. And… since I'm not sure if I've done this before, and I'm too lazy to check: YAY evilshadowcat! Your yaoi scene in my review –looks up- was AMAZING!! This time with all capital letters! Eeep! Keep writing, girl! :D –hugs-