Chapter 7 - Nayad/Cell Phone
Gunman inside synagogue in Philadelphia; unknown number of hostages.
The notification caused Esther to wake up instantly. With shaking hands, she scrolled through the news alerts, glancing at Twitter…desperate for any kind of update, trying to piece together just what exactly was happening.
Her mind was full of racing thoughts, all going by too fast to latch on to and focus on. Her mouth went dry, and her chest began to tighten. The words and pictures on the screen began to blur together.
It didn't feel real.
It couldn't be real.
But she blinked, not realizing that her eyes had been tearing up. After wiping her face with her arm, she stared back down at the glowing screen, hoping, praying that she had just been dreaming.
She blinked again.
The text became clear. And there it was.
Staring her right in the face.
She wasn't dreaming.
hr
In the days since the shiva, the day she killed [NAME], she had hoped, prayed that she would be able to stick with killing the odd retired Nazi, an anti-semite or two, and maybe even a politician (or a few) - just enough to keep herself alive and under the radar. Enough to entertain Zellogi, but not so many that she would be suspected of anything,
If she made them have heart attacks, people may even think it was Kira.
But, somehow, Kyle became a martyr. By some weird twisted logic, the white supremacists, the alt-right…whatever the fuck they were calling themselves were convinced that Kira was on their side. It wasn't just some fringe thing.
The deaths of anyone on their side? Obviously, those were committed by some secret globalist cabal. But the deaths that benefited them, were clearly done by Kira - who favored them.
Like that made any sense - but since when did humans ever operate by logic?
Even Kira. Especially Kira.
He didn't seem too interested in who his followers were or what they believed in - so long as they worshipped him.
Sure, she couldn't argue with some of his decisions. It seemed now he had moved on from murdering shop-lifters and street criminals to focusing almost exclusively on rapists, kidnappers, drunk drivers, murderers, and the like.
But he hadn't done a damn thing about the Nazis? Did he not see the issue with just letting these people roam free, without a care - even believing that he was on their side. Somehow, that was worse…And it made her so -so angry.
Here he was pretending to do things for the good of the world - and he wasn't doing a damn thing about some of the worst people walking the Earth. He was just doing it for himself!
Another alert from her phone sent her to her feet, waking the shinigami who was asleep on a fluffy beanbag chair.
"W-w-whut izzit?"
Esther didn't answer and instead pulled her Death Note from its hiding place.
Zellogi craned his neck, "You're really not worried about somebody finding that, are you keeping it underneath your mattress? At least -"
"Not now," she snapped. "There's something I gotta take care of."
Zellogi, sat up suddenly wide awake and grinned with excitement.
Esther opened the book, where two sentences were written: one short neatly written one, and a second longer one that had been hastily written - pen smudging over tearstains…
She couldn't bare to look at the second page, one that had been written in nervous handwriting - that she should have flushed down the toilet when she had had the chance…But luckily, she stayed on the first page, ignoring the other blank pages that would have worked just as well.
If she kept them all on the same page, or a few pages, it just made what she was doing more - more -more manageable. And that the traces of her crimes could be easily disposed of when - should the time ever come.
Esther didn't even have a debate with herself as she copied down the name that was on her phone screen. It would be better to get this guy out of the way before anything bad happened.
40 seconds.
Compared to the absolute eternity that it felt like in the girls' restroom - this time, it went by in a flash.
20 seconds.
Zellogi peered over her shoulder, grabbing it with his hand. He gave a long, impressed whistle, "Two in two days. You're finally getting the hang of it!"
She shrugged the cold dead hand off.
10 seconds.
Esther bit her lip.
9 seconds.
What would happen if Kira was also writing the name down too? Would it still work? Were there rules that she didn't know about? Rules that Zellogi hadn't mentioned or didn't know? But that Kira did?
Esther shook the thought from her head. It wasn't important. It wasn't worth worrying about right now.
6 seconds.
5 seconds.
4 seconds.
3 seconds.
2 seconds.
1…
It took a minute or two until her phone buzzed again.
The man was dead.
Esther let out a sigh of relief, the tight feeling in her chest was slowly dissipating. Her jaw unclenched and her shoulders relaxed. Now, she could go back to sleep. She began to lean back into her pillow, letting the softness overtake her.
She was about to close her eyes when her phone began ringing.
Ringing.
Who the hell would call her?
The number wasn't one she recognized. She shoved the phone under her pillow and closed her eyes again.
Not like she had anything else to do.
School was closed for at least another month - the district was still figuring out where all the students would go.
"Hey," Zellogi said hovering above her. "Everything okay?"
She grunted in reply and turned away.
"C'mon. You just killed a man. There's gotta be something more."
Esther pulled the blanket over her head. "Why do you even care?"
"We're stuck together. Least till I get bored…"
She threw the pillow at him.
Having a shinigami around constantly - was, to say the least, - kind of annoying. She had no privacy anymore. Zellogi was constantly asking questions or commenting on what she was doing. It made her want to slam her head against the wall.
Were all shinigami like this?
Her phone started ringing again.
The same number as before.
Weird, she thought. Was it a news station trying to get a quote from her? Some weirdo stalker?
No.
Probably just a scammer.
She was about to hang up and put her phone on silent - but she didn't want to be woken up again or deal with 5 missed calls from the same number when she woke up.
"Please just take me off whatever list you -"
"Hello, Esther. This is Kira."
The voice on the phone sounded as though it had been distorted, run through several filters, and almost difficult to understand. But the filters still did not erase the slight Japanese accent. It was the pronunciation of her name that gave it away.
Rather than ending with a soft r, there was a slightly drawn-out "ta" sound. She knew it had to be the real Kira - or L pretending to be him. Either way, she couldn't let them know who she was.
She didn't respond right away. She couldn't. Her voice felt stuck in the back of her throat. She struggled for a minute before she managed to whisper hoarsely into the phone.
"I think you have the wrong number."
As she was about to hang up, the voice on the other side interrupted, in an almost calming voice, "Does the name Ronald Smith ring a bell? I mean, I'm sure it does. You did just kill him."
Fuck, she thought.
"Not that I blame you, of course. He was a terrible person. He deserved to die but not for the reason you think."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
She could almost hear the smirk on the other side of the line.
"Ronald E. Smith embezzled $3.2 million from the charity he worked for -"
The voice on the other side continued, continuing to list off Smith's offenses and personal history. Esther really wasn't paying attention - instead panic gripped her wondering how Kira got her number…and just how did he have all this time to figure everything out.
"But you don't really care about those, do you? You only care -"
"Shut up," she responded.
"Oh come on, that's the truth. You care about your people and their safety. Nothing wrong with that. It's admirable. And at the end of the day, don't we have the same goals? A world where everyone is safe. No Nazis, no one threatening you just because you exist, no school shootings - I really think you did something impressive there. Staying calm enough to write his name down. I wonder how you managed that. You have a lot of chutzpah."
Esther rolled her eyes, wishing the gesture could be felt through the phone.
"You and I…we could do something impressive together. We both have the notebook. And you're obviously a very smart…"
"I'm not interested…"
"I could help you. Protect you from L. He suspects you, you know. I'm working with him. I can deflect all the suspicion off you, and prevent you from getting the death penalty…All I ask for in return is one little -"
"I have no interest in whatever it is you're offering. I don't know what exactly you want from me but you're sure as hell not going to get it. We are not the same."
Before Kira could get another word in - she hung up.
hr
Light Yagami grumbled. The girl was more stubborn than he had thought. Any normal human would beg for a chance to be saved from prison, but it was like she didn't even care! He needed a new plan - or maybe not. Not right away at least.
He crushed the cell phone underneath his foot.
He could still deflect attention off of her, until he was able to make it to the U.S., and charm her a bit. She was just a girl - they see a handsome man and fall head over heels. Shouldn't be too difficult to get her to make the eye trade.
And once L was good and out of the picture - well, he could figure that out when the time came.
"I don't understand why you even need her."
Light huffed. "You'll see, Ryuk. I don't want to spoil too much."
"And you aren't afraid of getting caught?"
"She is the only one who received news of a 'hostage situation.' I used that anti-Kira computer hacker from Toronto to hack into her phone and plant the evidence. The police will find him dead. Suicide. The cellphone was a disposable one. I had that thief from a few days back, purchase it and leave it in a trash can near the university. To deflect further suspicion, I had him die in a robbery attempt that evening. There's nothing that can be traced back to me or Kira."
"Not unless they find the cell phone bits."
Light turned to his desk and unlocked the top drawer. He opened the fake bottom, and placed the bits beside the Death Note, and closed it.
"What evidence?"
Ryuk nodded, "Interesting. You really have thought everything through."
"Of course, I have," Light smiled.
hr
It…It…It hadn't been real.
She had just…It wasn't that she had killed a man…But that she had killed someone for the wrong reason. Yeah, the guy wasn't a great person but was what he did worth the death penalty?
She had been tricked she told herself. Kira had tricked her into killing somebody - she thought she was acting to save people - so surely, she couldn't be blamed. Right? She wasn't guilty. Manslaughter at worse.
"So? What did you think of Kira? I watched 'im a bit before I dropped the Death Note. Can't say I'm surprised he tricked you. He's a smart one. Now, watcha gonna -"
"Zellogi, will you stop? I'm trying to think."
"You need to do that less often. You think - but it's never about anything useful."
She glared at the shinigami. "Sorry that I'm not like Kira. I don't really know what you expected but most humans don't go on mass murdering sprees…And of course, I'm thinking about 'useless' stuff. Do you know that…what happened to Keith haunts my dreams almost every night?"
"Yes - actually, it makes it…"
Another glare.
"Everything hurts…My eyelashes hurt! I didn't even know that was possible! I don't understand what you want from me. You've threatened to kill me if I don't kill others and now you're upset because I'm not handling the trauma of that well enough for you! You're the one with most of the power - you can literally kill me at any moment. But you haven't. So you've chosen to stick around. You don't get to complain."
She didn't mention how she feels like she should have died that day. That there was no reason for her to be in a simple coffin, in the cool, dark ground perhaps underneath a flowering tree for the rest of eternity.
But she was here.
And some people had called that a miracle.
At first, camera crews, journalists, and others had flocked to her house, hoping to get a glimpse of her. Her dad had refused each and every one of them.
Things were better that way.
Soon enough the interest in her waned - the focus turning to Kyle - before disappearing almost entirely in favor of more speculation about Kira, his murders, and celebrity gossip.
Never, she thought, she would be grateful for the speed of the news cycle and how quickly people wanted to forget about the bad things that happened.
And therapy hadn't been a lot of help. Because she couldn't tell the real truth. She couldn't say she had a supernatural notebook that could kill people and that's how Kyle had died. They'd think she was crazy. Or word would get out and…
"I might have chosen to stick around - but so have you. You've chosen to stay keep this notebook and kill people rather than die. You chose your life over that of others."
What was he, her damned conscious?
But…he was right. How unfortunate.
She had chosen to keep the Death Note. She hadn't told a soul. She kept killing.
She hadn't gone to the police, the FBI, the CIA or whoeveryou were supposed to go to in a situation like this. She could end this whole thing any time she wanted to. But she hadn't.
Why?
Was she scared of death?
Who wasn't? Everyone feared the unknown. Would it hurt? How long would it last? And what happened after? Would there be an eternity of pain and suffering? Would it be like what she had heard in Hebrew school once where there was torment, possibly, but it wouldn't last forever. Could she be reincarnated?
Or would there just be nothingness? And she would just fade away…and eventually one day when her loved ones were gone - even her grave would become forgotten, eventually overrun with weeds…
But…no. It wasn't that. Because part of her desperately wished she HAD died that day.
Was she scared of prison?
Yes, but…it wasn't that. Her crimes paled in comparison to Kira's. She had only killed three people - four if you included Kyle. That was bad but like…certainly not worth the death penalty. Probably.
Not if she got a decent lawyer.
Was she scared of Kira?
Yes.
A bit.
But that wasn't the right answer either. Probably. He wasn't all that different from her - she knew how he did it. He was just a person.
Her phone vibrated again.
She prayed it wasn't Kira.