Hi! Hope you enjoy part 4. It's a sad one, and if you don't like disturbing things... run, run far away from my twisted mind... and B's for that matter. :) Review please!
Part IV – Trigger
B was now eleven years old, a stretched-out form of himself, tall, lanky and face obscured by a mesh of inky hair. He had assumed a rather languid appearance, rarely showing any kind of emotion, instead reserving these unnecessary additions for show, for A and for the scores of people in glasses who came to visit him and observe his skills. The intelligence testing and detective work had thinned out- to his disappointment- and was now replaced by something he hated… Psychologists, psychiatrists, anyone sent in to make sense of what chaos was in his skull. All he did was talk! Talk and answer endless questions.
A, now a wiry, ruffled thirteen-year-old, seemed to be the only one who understood. Still best friends, in his opinion, they were rarely apart. It was a small source of comfort in such a world, but the numbers above A's head made B's heart contract with dread each time his eyes wandered upwards.
On this day, all the children had been gathered in the living room, cross-legged on the floor- except for A and B, who stood at the back, hands in pockets. A pushed the spectacles further up his nose and smiled down at B, who switched on the grin. They turned and stared at Wammy in wait.
"We have a very special guest with us today," Wammy said, a glimmer in his eye, "And a special few will receive the opportunity to speak alone with him."
"Who is it?" B demanded.
Wammy chuckled. "L."
The air around the room seemed to change. Nothing was said for a short while, as several children's eyes widened in excitement. They tapped each other and grinned their early grins, and eventually burst into chatter and hysterics.
"L, the real L! He's actually here!"
"They say he's the greatest detective that ever lived."
"I heard he's solved every case ever!"
"I can't wait to see him!"
B nudged A and smirked. "I bet it's us that are going to meet L. I bet you. I bet you anything," he said, trying to hide his delight. Not at meeting an honourable person… but at testing his own intelligence against L's. This would be a very interesting experiment.
A nodded, but looked doubtful. "Maybe. Maybe you, but not me." The numbers above his head gave a whirl and B's Adam's Apple bobbed nervously.
Sure enough, A and B were selected out of the fifteen or so children who were there. Amidst the outraged cries and heckles, B dragged A through the jeering crowd of their peers and escaped out the door with a thrilled Wammy, who complimented them both on their superior intelligence that permitted them to be the two who may succeed L and meet him in person.
Feet stamping on the dusty corridor floor, B's eyes wheeled around, his ordinary energy given an extra boost by today's news. L… that detective that A so admired. A would spend hours quizzing Wammy, asking anything he could about the legendary detective- at least, in the beginning. He seemed more solemn and lonely now. L had been the source of B's curiosity and anger for almost four years now. If L was a detective, he would have to prove he was better.
"L is in here," Wammy said with a warm smile. B nodded and bounced excitedly- though not as high as he once had- and A smiled gently.
B strode to the door and opened it without knocking. Without a care in the world, he sauntered in and planted himself on the floor, cross-legged, and signalled for A to come too. After A had joined him on the floor, they were both able to see L in his entirety.
B was shocked. L, a hunched young man in his older teens, was shabby, black haired and brilliant. With deep circles under his eyes, barely visible beneath his tangle of hair, his scrutinised them unsmilingly and nodded for Wammy to close the door. He cracked his knuckles, a seemingly unconscious action, and silently seated himself in the chair to the side of the room, in front of well-laden bookcase. He drew his knees up to his chest and planted his thumbnail barely inside his lips, which glistened with the sugar from a large pile of sweets on the end table to his left.
"This is A and B. Boys, this is L." Wammy sounded like a proud father. Or a proud scientist. B couldn't tell which.
L still said nothing. He scooped up a handful of wine gums and placed them inside his mouth in the colours' alphabetical order, a d chewed noisily with no clear adaptation to his particular social situation. B watched, fascinated, lost for words. Well… what would people such as the likes of B and L have to talk about? B had long since coined the phrase that the word 'private' carried with it a sense of neurotic egotism. The fact he was raised to be a neurotic egotist, and that L was one of these people, had B at a loss for conversation content. What surprises can you give a man who knows everything?
Suddenly, his mind hit an idea. But he would not reveal it until much later. It was a surprise he could give L. A surprise that would ruin him, a skill B had that L didn't. But it would have to wait. Not now, he chanted to himself inside his head, not now.
Eventually, Wammy decided to speak in their place. B felt vaguely irritated at this; how was Wammy to know that a very loud conversation was taking place, between the narrow eyes of these three people in the room?
"A and B are our top children. True brilliance comes no greater, and I believe that either one of these two would do well in being your successor. A is gentle, an excellent reader, calm and collected, and very caring towards B. He's the first of the children, and one of the best."
L gave a nod. A shuffled nervously.
"And B…" Wammy shook his head, sighing. "B is nothing less than genius."
"You're strange," B said loudly, ignoring the numbers swirling atop the detective's head. "Like me."
A curl entered L's lips. "Yes. I sensed that when you came in. You're a strange one."
"I'm smart too. I'll be better than you, L."
No-one but L could sense the sincerity veiled beneath B's grin. It was a promise, alright.
"In time, you might be. Here," he said, offering him a sweet, "Do you want one?"
B cheered, "Yes!"
"You like sweets, too." L lowered his voice and said to himself in a soft murmur, "Two sides of the same coin, my friend."
"L," Wammy interrupted in a serious tone.
L looked up innocently, and shrugged. His back was still hunched, like he was under a great burden. "What is it?"
"While we're here, you may as well tell me the results of the case I sent you three days ago. I trust that everything turned out fine?"
Suddenly, as if given a boost of energy from an unknown source, L's face lit up and a sparkle entered his eyes. His face showed no smile, but his lips were pressed together, relishing in his own thoughts, and those dark shadows beneath his eyes were quickly irrelevant. A tap tap tap sound B noticed originated from L's fingers, which were drumming on his knees.
When he spoke, his voice changed to something focused, with ten times the energy.
"The case you sent me was of simple stock, Watari. Six murders, committed across the space of thirty days. There were two, one day after the other, and then ten days later, another two, and the final two came at random intervals. The criminal's attempts at leaving clues were rather half-hearted, too, as if he were making an effort in the beginning but began to waver after the fourth murder. It explains the random intervals of the final two murders, at least."
"But were you able to track down the killer, in the end?"
"Of course we were. Justice prevails, and the good guys always win, right?" He gave a small smile. "Roy Eisenburg is now on death row in America, awaiting the first step of the appeal process."
"Very good. Excellent as always, L."
"The money was a great help, too. I had considered buying a new computer, but now this is a reality."
Wammy merely beamed.
"I can't take this anymore!" A burst out. B blinked and looked in shock at his friend, whose teeth were gritted in anger. "I'll never be as good as L. Why can't you see that?!"
He stared them down, and ran from the room, slamming the door behind him.
B's bottom lip wobbled, but his expression remained unchanged. What in the world had caused A's sudden outburst? He had suspected A had low self-esteem and a sense of inferiority, but this was beyond ridiculous. A never lost his temper. He was the calm one, the antidote to B. The single unchanging constant in B's world had changed.
While he was processing this, L got up from his seat and bent over towards B, hand outstretched. B took it, and accepted the help getting up.
"I don't understand," he mumbled, and then remembered something. "The numbers… The numbers!"
"What is this child talking about?" L said mildly.
B wriggled out of L's surprisingly strong grip and kicked him away. His eyes flew to every corner of the room. Someone, anyone… DON'T LET HIM.
"B, stop this madness, now!" Wammy warned, trying to hold a squirming B.
"NO!"
He rammed his elbow into Wammy's ribs, and flew from the room, hurtling down the corridor. His feet were heavy on the stairs' floorboards as they creaked, one by one, under his weight. Their room was at the end of the upstairs corridor, the one that looked out at the garden and received the most charming rendition of the spring's morning chorus. It was the one with the circular window, where you used to fight for space to see the fireworks in November and it was the one with the blue carpet that felt comforting when you walked on it with bare feet and curled your toes into the softness.
He flung open the door, with L and Wammy hot on his heels, and stopped dead.
"So you found it…" he muttered.
A was trembling, holding the pistol to his head. His glasses lay on the floor, crushed beneath his feet.
No words could be exchanged between them. In some situations, there are no words and it is best to do what B did. He took a final glance at the numbers atop Ace's head, and gave him a nod of acknowledgement, as if to say 'It was good while it lasted', 'I guess you couldn't handle the pressure' and 'I'm sorry it ended this way'. After all, when you've known something all along, the effect is dulled somewhat, right? His bottom lip trembled again. He willed it to stop.
Ace sighed, and pulled the trigger.