Light peeled his eyes open. Sunlight poured through the room's window, stinging his eyes. He shielded them and sat up. He immediately recognized the room, but couldn't figure out why or from where. His mind buzzed as he stood up.

"Hello?" he called.

"Good mornin' Light," a woman called from another part of the house. He followed the voice, unsure of the owner.

The woman stood in the kitchen, beating eggs in a large bowl. She smiled as Light stumbled into the room. "How are you feelin', darlin'? You gave me quite a scare yesterday. But, just sit down and I'll get you some eggs."

He didn't protest as she served him breakfast. His stomach gurgled as she placed the plate of eggs in front of him. He could barely fathom how hungry he was. Before she could bring him his juice, he scarfed down the eggs and was leaning contently on the back of his chair.

"Thank you," he smiled politely at the stranger.

He still couldn't figure out who she was. The feeling of deja vu occurred as he examined his surroundings. He knew he had been there before. The answer, at the moment, was unidentifiable. And he had an inkling that if he asked the woman, she would become quite concerned. He certainly didn't want to worry her; she was so polite and kind. Besides, from the look of her weary eyes, she had enough to think about.

They spoke for a bit. She kept referring to him as, "darlin'". He avoided using her name, or mentioning anything about identity. He knew his name: Light Yagami. That was easy. The rest, however, was a blur. He couldn't figure out what he had done for the past years, let alone what happened yesterday. The longer they spoke, the more his head ached. He could ignore the steady pulse of pain, at first, but soon it became unbeareable.

"Excuse me, do you have any medicine?" he asked.

"Sure, Light, you know where it is."

He paused. He had been there before. Why couldn't he remember? He stood up, trying desperately to dig into his thoughts and find these buried memories. All of his buried memories. He wandered around the house and instinctively opened a door to the bathroom. He opened a shelf and pulled out a case of pills. Without second guessing himself, he popped a few and headed back to the awaiting woman.

His movements from then on were robotic and oddly comforting. Finding his way around the house and speaking with the woman required little thought. It definitely soothed his pounding head. "If you don't mind, I think I'm gonna take a bath."

"Sure, darlin'," she smiled.

The hot water tingled his skin as he dipped into the bath. The steam enveloped his face, sending him into a long day dream. When he snapped out of it, he tried to recall what had just happened; it escaped him. Where was he? He sat up, gazing down at the cooling water. It was definitely a bathroom. But whose bathroom?

He pulled a towel around his waist and wandered out the door. A strange woman met him. "Have a nice bath, darlin'?" she asked.

He whimpered, unsure how to respond to the stranger.

"Light?"

How did she know his name? He took a step back, bumping into the open door. When she reached her hand out, her long, bony fingers stretched towards him, he yanked his body away. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Grief passed across her face. Tears welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, he regretted asking such a foolish question. Of course he knew who she was. "Ma, sorry," he muttered and wrapped his arms around the frail woman. "I-I don't know what's come over me recently."

"At breakfast," she sobbed, "I just thought you were tired. The way your eyes looked, how they got all glossy, that ain't like you, Light. You looked confused, and I got worried. And that-don't scare me like that, Light!"

Light held his sobbing mother. His memories flooded back. What the Hell was happening to him? He temporarily forgot everything he once knew. No, not temporarily. Temporary was an understatement. The delay of his identity and memories, for more than a few hours, worried him. First that terrifying incident in the desert, and next he suddenly forgets everything. No, not everything. He remembered his name.

And one more thing: Lawliet. He remembered Lawliet. As he had walked around the strange house, he found himself wondering where Lawliet had run off too. Yes, he remembered now. When he had awoken, he thought he was playing a game of hide and seek with Lawliet.

"I'm gonna go change," he muttered and closed the bathroom door. The privacy was strangely unpleasant. He pulled his clothes on as fast as he could and rejoined his mother in the kitchen.

"Light," she glanced at him sternly. "I want you to sit down and tell me everythin'."

He obeyed and sat across the table from her. He began to fabricate a story where he had been the past few months: He started a grocery store with another man who had a lot of experience with business under his belt. The grocery store's popularity grew, but Light couldn't help but think of home constantly. When his mother asked why he never came back to visit, he assured he he wanted to, but after losing Misa and the baby, he wasn't sure where home was. He promised he tried to write, but he couldn't think of what to say.

His mother seemed to buy into everything he was saying, nodding as if she understood his falsified pain. If she knew the truth, though, she would never look at him again. But, she wouldn't understand the larger picture: The mission he had to fulfill. It would change the world, and it was all up to him. But...he decided putting it off for a few weeks wouldn't do much harm. He was sure Beyond would welcome him back with open arms. Mello wouldn't, but with Beyond around, Mello was merely dust in the wind.

They talked for a bit longer until, suddenly the front door opened. His mother shot up and ran to the door. "You're home!" she gasped. "Oh, Soichiro, I have such a surprise for you."

Light immediately stood up, anxiety rushed through his veins. His mother was easy to fool, but his father would be a different story. He may not even be willing to welcome Light. Light couldn't blame him; Light was gone for months without giving them any idea whether he was alive or dead. This, mixed with his father's stubbornness, might escalate to a fight. But Light was ready to face what he needed to. Whatever was clouding his normally sane mind was getting worse.

Soichiro walked in, towering above his tiny wife. He froze when his eyes locked on Light's. "Li-Light," he gasped.

"Hi, dad," Light smiled. But, he could immediately see his original assumption was correct.

His father forced a smile and muttered, "You're alive."

"Yeah. Listen, I'm sorry I never wrote, I always meant to, but-"

"Save it," his father snapped. "I don't wanna hear your excuses. You had your mother and I worried sick. We thought you were dead. And, Hell, we were just startin' to move on. What are you gonna do, come by for a visit and run off again?"

"Soichiro!" Light's mother cried out. "This is your son you're speaking to!"

Soichiro's hardened features suddenly relaxed. But, Light could still see pain lurking in his eyes. There was something else troubling his father...

Suddenly, Light's vision clouded. He gripped the table in front of him, gasping as darkness leaked into his sight. He heard his mother's voice calling for him, but he couldn't respond. Everything was fading so fast. Suddenly, he lifted his eyes and glanced around the room. The threat of blindness subdued, but something new appeared: his walls began to peel before his eyes. The tatters scabbed as they landed on the floor. The peeled walls revealed a layer of a moist, fleshy material. Light shrieked as the smell of rotting flesh hit his nose.

A hand grabbed his arm. "Light!" someone called.

The walls crawled towards him. They made a sickening squishing sound as they inched closer and closer. His heart raced as he stumbled backwards. Something caught him from hitting the ground. The hand around his arm tightened. He reached for it, trying to find it's owner. But only a shadowy figure loomed above him. He whimpered, hoping this nightmare would end.

"Get off of me!" he cried, yanking himself from the shadow's grip. He collapsed to the floor, curling into a ball. The disgusting swashing of blood and mushy flesh slopped closer. Closer. Closer. He could feel it's disgusting, sweaty tongue rolling across his back. He felt darkness consuming him, and he immediately invited it. Anything to get out of that Hell.

"Our son is crazy," Soichiro ran his trembling fingers through his hair.

Light lay on the couch, finally sound asleep after hours of struggling and hysteria. Sachiko curled against her husband, pressing her cheek against his neck.

"I'm glad you got here when you did," she muttered. "And I'm glad Sayu is at her friends house. I was going to go get her, but I knew somethin' was wrong with him the minute I saw him. Soichiro, it was horrible. He came in the middle of the night, babblin' 'bout some sort of blood house. He kept beggin' me to stay away from it. I thought he was just delirious from travelin' for so long. But...that ain't it, is it?"

"No," Soichiro bowed his head, nestling his nose against his wife's hair. It smelt like fresh bread and milk; he always loved how her hair smelt.

Home was much different than that terrible house he'd been living in for a few weeks. The place was haunted; maybe not with ghosts, but there was something in the air. L had shown he was the most sensitive to it when he had had that panic attack. Ever since it happened, the boy had become more disheveled each day. His mind seemed fine, but his body was acting stranger than normal. He had become nearly white and his black eyes dulled to a soft gray. Even his lips became oddly cracked, as if he were dehydrated constantly. In fact, Soichiro constantly saw him downing some sort of liquid, trying to quench some unexplainable thirst.

But, Soichiro was thankful L let his off first. Otherwise, poor Sachiko would have had to deal with Light all by herself. Plus-she didn't know Light's secret. Soichiro gazed at the murderer sleeping peacefully on his couch. The body no longer belonged to his son. No, his son died a long time ago. Whatever inhabited now was a sick, disgusting monster. Soichiro fought the urge to toss it from the room.

Suddenly, Light whimpered in his sleep. A name escaped his lips: "Lawliet."

"He still thinks about him?" Sachiko muttered, her voice coated in sorrow.

Soichiro had heard the name slide from Light's tongue many times in his sleep, especially when Lawliet first left. They would wake up to L's name echoing throughout the house. The thing on the couch, although he wished it weren't, was still his son. But, something was wrong with Light's brain. He decided he would send a message via morse code as soon as possible. L promised he would send Watari to check the town to see if there were messages every day.

Soichiro stood up. It was better not to wait. He glanced down at his broken wife. She still looked beautiful, even though grief consumed her. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

He sighed and began to tell her all about his job and how he worked for Lawliet on the Kira case. He left out that Light was the prime suspect, of course. As the story progressed, Sachiko began to look ill. She stopped him and begged him to run and get Lawliet. Soichiro kissed her forehead and promised he would hurry back.

When the front door closed, Light immediately sat up. His soft, brown eyes lit in a furious frenzy.

"Light?" Sachiko whimpered.

"Yes, mom." His voice was disgustingly monotone.

"Are you okay?"

Suddenly, he shielded his eyes and lay back down on the couch. "I think I need some more medicine," he finally said.