Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.
The Whitechapel Case
Fox-Trot-9
Part 2: The Connections 8
Day 2—For the umpteenth time in Father Carmyne's car, Noll found himself thinking of that one case, the one that trumps all others. And it wasn't the 1949 case the father had alluded to, oh no. It was a different one; in fact, it was a most infamous case (*), one that has engraved itself into law enforcement lore since the first criminals from several prisons in Japan and abroad died of mysterious heart attacks and other inexplicable causes in the spring of 2004.
Noll was eleven that time and living with Gene, Martin, Luella, Lin and Madoka when the news came on TV showing sentenced criminal, Lind L. Tailor, posing as the legendary "L". Of course, Noll didn't know this; so when he saw "L" publicly challenge "Kira" and die of a heart attack on live TV, well... It wasn't too pretty. One of the few persons Noll admired died in front of him on TV, causing Madoka to cover his eyes as "L" lay contorting on the screen. That was the start of a five-year period when Noll and everyone else in the Davis household turned on the TV every other night, waiting for the next update on the Kira case; that was a scary time for the kid, though he would never admit it. But if he were to, he'd only admit his fears to one person: Gene. Because up to that point, Gene was the closest person he knew. He would never truly be scared as long as he had his brother.
That all changed when Noll had that vision in September of 2009. He was sixteen then, but he remembered it now as if it were last night. He was snoozing away in his bed at the around 12:00 a.m. when that vision came to him in a nightmare that felt all too real, one that left him waking up and gasping for air. He then sat up and noticed beads of sweat pouring from his face. Noll also remembered the tomb-like silence of that fateful night, save for the sound of his rapid breaths and his heart pounding against his ribs. He tried to will away that nightmarish vision the way Danny from The Shining did; only it wouldn't disappear from his mind no matter how hard he tried.
Then he shifted around in his bed and found out, to his horror, that he had wet the bed. Noll felt disgusted with himself, chiding himself for it; just a week before his seventeenth birthday, and he had wet the bed like five-year-old Danny. Then he felt his stomach clench painfully, but he kept the contents down long enough for him to reach the bathroom without causing much noise, or at least he thought so. In four or five heaves, he puked into the toilet and was now flushing it away before anyone else could see.
Then came a knock at the door.
"Noll, are you sick?" said Lin.
Luella, Madoka and Martin heard the commotion in the bathroom and were at Lin's side.
"I'm fine," said Noll, and to prove it, he turned on the shower to drown out their voices and took a nice long shower. And that seemed to be the trick; it was enough to take the edge off, at least for a little while. And when he was done drying himself, he felt spick and spam. Until he caught himself in the mirror. Looking back at him was a scared little boy in the form of a young man; somehow he couldn't shake the horror of that vision from his mind. And when he looked closer, he saw that drawn-out mournful look in his eyes, which was the look you have when you lose someone close. Even so, he still managed to keep the rest of his stoic look intact.
He then got out of the bathroom and hurried past the others and into his room before shutting the door; then he changed into his trademark black attire quick as a speed-demon, making sure to put his soiled pajamas and bed sheets in the laundry basket. There was no way in Hell he'd show any weakness, let alone have everyone know he pissed himself. Then he got out a suitcase.
"Noll." It was Lin, who knocked on the door. "It's one o'clock in the morning,"—Lin opened the door—"why are you dressed?"
His back was to him; he didn't answer, only packing his things in the suitcase.
"Noll, is there something you should tell us?" said Martin.
He still didn't answer; he just kept packing.
Everybody began to worry. Especially Luella who, in true worry-stricken fashion, began thinking of horrible thoughts. Noll was the calm collected type and would never act so rash, unless something truly dire happened.
"Noll, you're making all of us uneasy," said Martin. "What's bothering you?"
He still remained silent.
"Noll, darling, please tell me what's wrong," said Luella.
Only then did he stop and sigh.
"Was it a nightmare?" she continued.
"I'm worried about Gene. I need to go to Japan, so I can find him."
It had been three weeks since Gene left for that exorcism in Japan. But the way Noll said that sounded too much like a search party looking for a dead body, after announcing the victim's inexplicable disappearance a few days before. For a few seconds, Luella was silent, dread digging into her face, until streaks of tears ran down it.
"Luella," said Martin, "Luella, listen to me. It's all right; everything's going to be fine."
"But… but—"
"Mrs. Davis, I'm sure Noll's just overreacting," said Madoka.
"Overreacting? Noll never overreacts! Oh God, I hope—"
"Luella, Luella, the only one overreacting is you, so please calm down. Lin, Ms. Mori, look after Noll while I see to Luella," and he took her away to his bedroom to comfort his crying wife.
The two were left there, looking at Noll as he got out another suitcase to fill. Lin was worried, but Madoka was pissed. Before Lin could stop her, Madoka stormed into the room and said, "Noll, what is the matter with you? You shouldn't have made your mother cry like that!"
That earned her a glare in return.
"Don't glare at me; you know I'm right," she said with her arms akimbo.
Noll sighed again. "That's not the point; I need to find out what happened to Gene."
"What are you talking about?" said Lin.
The kid didn't answer.
"Noll, this is not like you," said Madoka. "Please, tell us what's wrong."
Again, silence.
Madoka was about to say something, when Lin said, "Ms. Mori, go check on Mrs. Davis." She looked at him. "Mrs. Davis needs you more than Noll needs you; let me deal with him."
She nodded and went to the master bedroom, where Martin was still comforting his wife.
Now Lin shut the door. "Noll, neither of us are leaving this room until you tell me what's going on."
The kid eyed him.
"Tell me what happened... So we could work this out, whatever it is."
Again, he eyed him. "I need your word, Lin. I don't want my parents to know about this, not yet."
"That depends on what it is."
Silence.
Noll looked over to the unoccupied bed that belonged to Gene, then said without taking his eyes off it, "Gene is dead. I need to go to Japan to locate his body." Lin was was about to say something, when Noll added, "Don't tell my parents about this, not even to Ms. Mori."
"How do you know that? It might just be—"
"It's not a nightmare," and the kid glared Lin down. "I wish it was, but it's not. Pack your things; we're going to Japan, immediately."
"Was it something you saw?" said Lin. Silence. "What did you see?"
"I saw his death, Lin. He died in a hit-and-run. A woman ran him over, and now he's lying somewhere in a lake in Japan. I didn't even get a clear look at the woman's face." He continued packing as he said all this, but you didn't have to be Noll to know he was in pain.
At that moment, something deep inside Lin changed. For the first time in his life, he felt sorry for Noll. And it was a deep kind of sorrow, the kind that made him feel guilty; the last time Lin felt anything like this was when he left his mother to take care of all his siblings in Hong Kong, while he went to England to learn under Martin and Luella Davis; in fact, he couldn't sleep for the first few days in England from thinking about them. "I'm sorry. If there's anything I could do—"
"Actually, there are two things you could do for me. First, don't tell my parents or Ms. Mori about Gene's death; I have your word on that, right?" (Lin said he did.) "Second, I need you to convince them to let me look for Gene in Japan. Can you do that?" (Lin said he could.) "All right, now leave; I just want to be alone for a moment."
And so Lin left.
With nobody else in the room, Noll took some time to collect his thoughts. His mind raced a million miles a second with a million questions scattered throughout. He knew he needed to be patient and vigilant, if he wanted to find Gene's body; usually if a missing person was dead, a fact Noll could not dispute about Gene, that person's body wouldn't turn up until months afterward, if it turned up at all. This put him in a dilemma. What would he do in Japan when he wasn't looking for Gene? He'd have to support himself somehow, but he was too proud to admit he needed help in that department. So he thought about it. Thought about it long and hard.
Time passed. After packing everything he needed in two suitcases, he was about to go out of the room when he stopped. He didn't know why, but he got out a videocassette still in its case and wrote the name, GENE, on it in capital letters; then he put it in the top shelf of one of the bookshelves in the room. In all honesty, Noll thought he was just imitating the seemingly useless motions of someone going into mourning, nothing more. At least, he hoped so.
When he got downstairs with his luggage, he heard Luella and Martin in the private study grilling the hell out of Lin—mostly Luella; Martin wasn't the kind of husband that would dare interfere with his wife's infamous cross-examinations. No doubt, Lin had tried to convince Luella to let her boy go to Japan and was failing miserably. So Noll laid down his luggage quietly at the base of the steps and peeked into the private study, while waiting out the storm so to speak. Or more like a hurricane.
Of the four people in that study, Luella was the only one standing; to Noll, had the current circumstances been different, he would be smirking at the scene in front of him. Lin was on the sofa looking like the helpless defendant on the witness stand, cringing under Luella's scathing questions; Madoka was sitting next to Lin praying Luella's questions won't fall on her head; Martin was on the other sofa looking like a reluctant lawyer sitting at his wife's side, no doubt thinking of a way to save Lin's life without putting himself under contempt of court; and Luella, who had been the crying puddle of tears upstairs, was now the overbearing prosecution, judge and jury rolled into one.
"Lin, I know you're hiding something from me; what did Noll tell you?"
Lin stayed silent for as long as he could bear.
"I'm waiting," she said, tapping her foot on the floor, arms akimbo.
"I... well... um..." For the first time in Lin's life, he found himself tongue-tied. "He told me not to tell you. He said it was better for you not to know."
"I'll be the judge of that." More waiting. "Lin, you leave me no choice but to—"
"Now, Luella, let's not be too rash, here."
She glared down at Martin, humbling him back onto the sofa, before turning her claws at Lin again.
At that moment, Noll pushed open the door and said, "Mother, I appreciate your concern for me, but nothing you say will change my mind."
"But, darling, why go to Japan if you think something bad happened to him over there? Please, please, please, tell me what's wrong."
"If I were to tell you in your current state, I'd run the risk of you hurting yourself."
"My God, Noll, is it really that bad?"
"Luella, Luella," said Martin, placing his hands on her shoulders, "let's not waste away on unnecessary dread. It's not healthy for you or me, and you know it. Besides, Noll is a man now; he can make his own decisions."
Luella turned on him, gaping. "How will he keep himself out of trouble? What if—?"
"I assure you, it's nothing like the horrors you're thinking. I'll even have Lin go with him to Japan to look after him, right Lin?"—he turned to the man in question—"Will you look after Noll while you're over there?"
"Of course," said Lin.
"You see? Have faith, my dear."
Eventually, Luella relented; but she still had her way of it. "Then you better pray Noll comes back here in one piece,"—now she was thrusting her finger at Martin's chest—"because if he doesn't, both of your heads will be on the platter." She eyed Martin and Lin as she said this, much to Lin's chagrin.
"Mother, please understand why I'm doing this. Gene is my brother; what would he think of me if I didn't come looking for him?"
Luella sighed. "I know, I know. Go if you must, but please, please be careful."
"I will."
And that was that; Luella went upstairs without drawing any blood, leaving Lin's skin intact. Soon after, Madoka went upstairs to console her, while Martin made Lin swear to keep Noll out of trouble while he was in Japan; but just to make sure, he added a few more conditions.
"Now, Noll, I won't have you under a curfew while you're over there; you're old enough to know when you're tired and when you're not. But don't stay up too late too often; it's not good for your health. Also," said Martin, thinking of his words carefully, "might I suggest you go under an alias? It's just a precaution, considering how famous you and Gene have become over the years."
"I see. The less attention I attract, the less trouble I run into."
"Exactly. And resist the urge to take those cases that get too much media coverage."
"Don't worry; I'll keep a low profile," said Noll, thinking of a good alias.
"Have you thought of one yet?"
"Kazuya Shibuya. That's a good one."
"Ah, indeed, it is. Shibuya, Shibuya... Why not set up shop in Shibuya, Tokyo? That place is a good neighborhood; there's very little crime; reputation is good; money will be good." Noll looked at him; he was actually thinking of some place less crowded, like Asahi or something, but Shibuya was nice too. "Don't worry; money is no object in our business. I can finance everything you need to get you started."
"Wait, Mr. Davis," said Lin, "who will run that company."
"Noll will. You will be there to assist him in his work; but you will also be there to protect him, at times guiding him in his decisions." Then he leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, so Noll wouldn't hear, "And you will also observe him, should he ever be inclined to use his powers."
Of course, Noll didn't have to hear his father's words to know he wasn't supposed to use his powers without Gene's help. He knew from experience how much of a toll such awesome powers as his could bring upon his body. In fact, one time when he was ten and Lin was teaching him how to control his powers, he over-extended himself on levitating three books. And it's not what you think; Gene was with him participating in the exercise. But it just so happened that one of those three books was a five-thousand-page monster of a dictionary weighing close to two pounds. Floating above his foot. Which Noll didn't notice, because Gene was distracting him. And when Noll got distracted, guess which book fell first. After that, Noll wore a cast on his foot for a month.
Since then, Noll swore payback on his brother; but in light of this night's vision, Noll took that notion real hard. Dreadful questions filled his head, ones he didn't want to hear. Did I cause Gene's death? That question left him deep in thought.
"Noll, you seem to be thinking of something," said Martin; Lin was also looking at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "Is something bothering you?"
"It's Gene."
"You're worried about him, aren't you?"
Noll said yes.
"Would you mind telling me what's wrong? I won't tell your mother, I swear."
"Not yet. I need to know what happened to him first," he lied; Martin looked at him. "Trust me on this."
"All right, I'll trust your judgement. But do you really want to do this? Backing down from this will save your mother a lot of worry... including me. I'm prepared to call the authorities in Japan to look for Gene, if you don't want to do this."
Now it was time to put up or shut up. To lay down your cards and see what hand you got. No turning back now, Noll thought, as he rolled the decision in his head. "That won't be necessary; I'll look for him myself and bring... Gene back."
An uneasy silence filled the air.
Martin nodded, then said, "All right, Lin, pack your things; I'll get two tickets for a morning flight, so you two should get a good night's rest."
After that, they went up the stairs, each to their own rooms. Martin was with Luella consoling her alongside Madoka, while Lin was packing his things in a few suitcases.
As for Noll, he shut the door but didn't turn off the lamp. He just plopped himself on his bed and looked at the empty bed beside his that was Gene's; for what seemed like an eternity, he kept looking at the bed and everything on it—the bed sheets, the throw, the pillow, the head board. He kept looking at these things till his vision went blurry, and he found himself entering inexplicably into the hazy realm of half-dreaming sleep, where all kinds of weird things happen at the blink of an eye, but where he still found himself in his own room.
Then he turned off the lights.
Time passed. It took him a while to get to sleep, though; and he was just beginning to loosen up, just beginning to feel the drowsiness of sleep overtake him, just beginning to close his eyes to the dark world around him, when light filtered through the bottom and sides of the closed door. And it was an unusual kind of light, not the indoor kind that lights the hallway but the outdoor kind that lights the night; but it wasn't the moon on the other side of that door; it was something far more sinister. It was something dead and ghostly, but still tangible enough to kill someone, still believable enough to strike you dead with fright. And then came the footsteps, at first far away but getting closer and closer. And then...silence.
Noll felt the goosebumps on his skin and heard the quickening of his heart. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He was paralyzed! He couldn't even shut his eyes! Then he heard the knob turn till the latch clicked off. Then the door swung wide without a sound. And there it was; the man in the white suit getting closer and closer, until it was looking down on him. And those glowing eyes bore into Noll in all their blaze of hellish fire, boring into his SOUL!
He woke up with such a start that the windshield of Father Carmyne's car cracked, startling the three other occupants inside. Luckily for them, they were parked behind a police cruiser at the Davis house instead of on the road when this happened. Otherwise, they would've been the next statistic in the automobile crash survey.
"Jesus, what the fuck was that!" It was Bert. "What the fuck's going on?"
"Quiet! Quiet!" said Lin. "Is everybody all right?"
The father and Bert checked themselves for injuries but said they were fine. Noll also said he was fine, but Lin could tell something was bugging him. Bert wanted answers, but Lin wouldn't have it, at least not now. Then they got out and walked to the entrance and rang the door bell. In less than a second, it opened to reveal Martin and Luella, both really jumpy.
"What happened?" said Martin. "We heard a window break; is any of you hurt?"
Lin said, "Nobody's hurt. Noll is just shaken up, that's all."
Both parents breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, you're all right," said Luella; but she gaped when she saw the bruises on Noll's neck. "Your neck, what happened to your neck? How come you have bruises all over?"
"It's fine, mother. It's nothing to worry about."
"I wouldn't think so, Noll," said Martin. "Those are some serious bruises. What happened?"
"I'll tell you later," and the kid went through the door. Martin and Luella were so caught up in Noll's condition that they forgot about their new guest. "Oh, and I invited Father Antonio Carmyne here, because we need his assistance in this case."
Only then did they realize who they were looking at. Martin and Luella shook hands with the exorcist before Luella said, "Father Carmyne... I can't help but recall that name from somewhere... Oh! Oh dear me, I'm so sorry to here about your daughter... and your wife."
"It's all in the past," said the father, raising his hand. "There's no need to worry."
Martin allowed everyone to enter, then closed the door and sighed. He didn't expect so many guests coming to the house, nine of them. The whole house then erupted into a chorus of repeated introductions, as Bert, Father Carmyne and Noll met Jacob Meiler, Albert Grady and his son Laurence Grady, and Terry Haller; they had all been here for over three hours waiting for them come from the insane asylum. Luella went over to the commotion to check on Noll again, but Martin stayed behind.
Lin got himself introduced to everyone there, then went back to Martin; he knew damn well he had a lot of explaining to do.
"Lin, when you called me earlier," said Martin, "you never told me Noll had bruises around his neck. What happened to him?"
Lin dreaded this the very second he entered the house. "Well... Noll said he had a plan, but we didn't have time to think it through. He...passed out before I could get to him."
Martin was silent for a bit, then said, "What do you mean?... Are you telling me he was choked till he passed out?" (Lin nodded.) "And you somehow couldn't get to him?"
"Yes, sir... I know I should have gotten to him—"
"You should have gotten to him? Lin, you shouldn't have let Noll go through with that plan of his in the first place."
"But you know how stubborn he can be. He always thinks he's right."
"Lin, you shouldn't be afraid of Noll firing you, because you didn't listen to him; you should be afraid of me firing you, because you didn't do what I told you to do. I didn't hire you just to observe him, I hired you to protect him. It's hard enough dealing with Gene's death; I can't afford Noll's. And neither can Luella; I can't tell you how hard it was to tell her Noll was bedridden in the hospital without having her panic. Lin, make sure that never happens again. Ever."
"Yes, sir," and Lin was free to go; he had somehow dodged a bullet.
After the introductions, Noll, Lin, Bert and Father Carmyne were treated to copious servings of Chinese takeout left over from supper an hour before, thanks to Albert Grady who took the tab. They were sitting around the table eyeing Noll.
"So you're the Oliver Davis that Jake blackmailed me into hiring," said Albert; Laurence, Terry and Bert snickered at that. "I've heard many things about you. By the way, are you all right? Those bruises on your neck seem serious."
"I'm breathing well enough," said Noll, though he had a tough time swallowing his mouthfuls, "so I'd say I'm all right."
"Tough guy, eh? How much did you find out today?"
"I'll tell you all later."
And that was it. Noll, Lin, Bert and the father ate in silence for the next few minutes. Bert was about to ask Jacob whether he had Martin's notepad so he could give it back to Martin, but Jacob said he already gave it when he entered the house. Then they all kept eating.
Then the phone rang, and Martin picked it up. "Hello?... Ah, Ms. Mori, you're here already. When did you land?... Oh, I see. Oh, and who else did you bring?..." Martin looked at Noll when Madoka said who she was. "Oh, I see; does she have anything to contribute to this case?... Oh, really?... We need all the help we could get on this one. Will she be staying here?... Ah, good; I think we can make some accommodations. Oh, and I need to tell you something when you get here. It's very important, but I can't talk about it over the phone... All right, I'll see you here very shortly," and he hung up.
Then Martin waited at the door, and as soon as he saw the two coming to the entrance through the blinds, he opened up and let them in. He relieved them of their luggage and closed the door, then ushered them into the dining room to meet everyone.
Noll had finished eating and was now drinking soda when he saw them. In fact, he was just halfway through the act of swallowing another painful swallow, when he choked and almost sprayed the rest of his soda onto the table. As he was gagging down the rest of the soda in agony, he didn't even realize he was now standing and staring; of all the surprises he's had in forty-eight hours, this definitely took the cake. Standing in front of him beside Madoka was none other than Mai Taniyama!
(To be continued...)
A/N: I can't believe it's been over a month since I updated this story. But please understand my work ethic. School always comes first, and when I have time and I'm not tired, then will I write and post; school only gets tougher and tougher from here on out. But remember, even when I'm tired and everything gets hectic, I will try my damnest to keep my standards high, 'cause you readers deserve it. There's a BIG surprise waiting for you! So read and REVIEW!
(*Kira Investgation from Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata's Death Note. See Death Note on Wikipedia.)