Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Rules ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 9 )

Rules

 

Chapter 8

 

It was just as bad as Elijah had imagined. Worse, actually, if that was possible.

 

"Hey check this out! Right here, there's a period of one killing an hour for twenty-four hours."

 

"Seriously? Wild!"

"Good catch, Mark."

 

"Thank you, thank you very much."

 

They were all acting like children on Christmas morning after receiving that hot new toy that everyone just had to have. He slumped even more, putting all of his weight into the doorframe between the dining room and the hallway.

 

"Something must have happened right around that time to act as a catalyst. Light?"

 

The devil incarnate smiled at Julie from the end of the table. "I'd rather not say just yet. I don't want to influence your conclusions in any way. Just because the police decided something, that doesn't mean it was correct, and I don't want to steer you a specific way."

 

She nodded, understanding. "All right. Ethan, can you graph the data from before that point and see if there are any patterns?"

 

"Not a problem. Give me a few minutes to write the program."

 

"'Lija?" He looked up directly into Annie's searching eyes. "Aren't you interested at all? I would have thought you'd love this kind of stuff."

 

"Yeah, 'Lij, what's the deal?" Mark chipped in. "You're acting all weird today."

 

"It's nothing," he managed to force out. "Anyone want coffee?"

 

"I would, thank you."

 

Elijah turned his angry blue eyes to Light's impassive brown ones. The monster could clearly see how much this was torturing him, and yet he still sat there calmly, watching his rival twist and writhe in pain. He had been a fool to think that Light would be patient and sympathetic enough to try to figure out the reason behind Elijah's silence. Kira wanted to win, and he didn't care how he got his victories as long as he got them.

 

He turned away and walked into the kitchen. The voices followed him relentlessly.

 

"Okay, it's done. Hey, look at this! There are several periods where no deaths occurred."

 

"What a weird pattern."

 

"Seriously. I guess this was when Kira was busy and didn't have the opportunity to kill."

 

"Yeah, but who has a schedule like this?"

 

"Ah! A student! Kira is a student!"

 

"Whoa, you're right! Nice one, Annie!"

 

"A student … or a teacher."

 

"Yeah, I guess. But, Julie, you have to admit that young people like us, younger than us even, are capable of doing things like this."

 

"I know, Ethan, I know. I don't like to admit it, but I know."

 

"Well, student or teacher or whatever, he's not a normal 9-to-5er, that's for sure."

 

"Ethan, run the data after the 24-hour period."

 

"You got it!"

 

Slowly, Elijah arranged things on the tray. Coffee carafe. Cups. Sugar. Cream. Spoons. He twisted handles and pushed saucers until everything was absolutely perfect. Then, sadly, he lifted the tray and returned to the other room.

 

Julie smiled at him as he reentered, and he nearly dropped the tray from the pain the sight caused. "Thank you, Elijah dear. Just put it down here and we'll all help ourselves."

 

"'Lij!" Mark called to him, waving one hand excitedly as he hovered over Ethan's shoulder. "Come look at this! It's fascinating!"

 

"No thank you," he replied in a near-whisper. His feet moved a little on their own, towards the stairs and safety. "I'd … rather not."

 

Julie half-rose from her chair, her eyes fixed worriedly on his face. "Are you alright, Elijah? You look a bit pale."

 

Relief filled him as he jumped on this excuse. "No, I'm not feeling that well," he lied, letting his shoulders droop even more and his face go dull. "My stomach …"

 

Instantly, Julie was at his side, feeling his forehead for a temperature and running her eyes all over his face for other symptoms. Behind her, Light's eyes narrowed. Elijah deliberately avoided his gaze.

 

"I think I'll go upstairs and lie down, if it's okay with everyone … ?"

 

"Of course it's okay," Julie answered for the room. "Go rest."

 

Slowly, Elijah swept his eyes across the table, lingering on each person for a heartbeat before moving on. Annie. Ethan. Mark. And Julie. All half-smiling at him in a mixed expression of worry and encouragement. All of them loved him, as a friend and as family. And he loved them back. He had absolutely no doubt about that anymore.

 

He turned and walked away. Up the stairs. Down the hall. Into his room. But instead of lying down, he went to one of his dressers and pulled out a drawer. There, in one corner, sat the shirt and jeans that he had been wearing when he arrived. Julie had washed them and mended the holes, but they still looked like something you would wear to paint or do yard work. Elijah pulled them out and, dully, began to strip.

 

He would take nothing she had bought for him. Just a pair of shoes and a sweatshirt since he wasn't so proud that he'd stupidly go back to the streets without them at this time of year. He had five months left; he could survive that. He had survived five months before coming to the McCormicks' house, and he could do it again. True, these five would be colder and he would have to stay away from shelters for a while, but he could do it. And at the end of the year, he would return to Heaven with his new memories and be able to watch over them from above.

 

A small sound of surprise escaped him as he fastened his old jeans. They actually fit him now. He had gained weight while living here. A slight smile curved his lips. That was undoubtedly Julie's fault. Not once had she given up on her quest to make him eat better. Some of the things that woman had done … . He shook his head in bemusement at the memories. She had certainly proven to be a wonderful mother to quite possibly the most difficult child ever invented.

 

Elijah lifted his hand and placed it on his chest, directly over the pain that had begun to pulse there. Time heals all wounds, they say, but how much time? For example, would it take more than five months? Not for the first time, he had the urge to run downstairs and just announce everything to everyone. If the rest of his time here was going to be painful, he reasoned, it would be just as well to end it now. However, his pride stopped him from doing something so rash. That and the fact that he didn't want to traumatize anyone when he suddenly "dropped dead" out of nowhere.

 

Sighing, Elijah pulled himself from his thoughts, pushed his feet into his shoes, and headed towards the window, the sweatshirt under his arm. Half a minute later, his feet hit the grass. He lifted his head towards his window and just looked at the house for a few minutes. Then, he turned and quickly walked away.

 

xXx

 

Light knew the moment he turned on his cell and found five new messages that something was wrong. Scrolling through the log, he noticed they were from only two different people. The uneasiness intensified. Feeling a dull dread creep up on him, he pushed the buttons to play back the messages.

 

… beep …

 

"Light? It's Ethan. Look, do you know where Elijah is? I just got a call from Rich. Apparently he's been gone for two days, since the night we were all over there. Julie's frantic. She thinks he went back to the streets, and, although I have no idea why he'd do it, I think she might be right. Call me if you know anything, okay?"

 

… beep …

 

"Hi, Light. It's Annie. Did you get a call from Ethan about Elijah? Are you going over to Julie's house, too? If so, I'll see you there. God, this is scary. I hope he's okay. Anyway, I'll see ya, Light."

 

… beep …

 

"Light, Ethan again. Are you asleep or something? 'Cause I could really use your help. Annie and Mark and I are going to go out to the homeless shelters and see if anyone's seen Elijah. Please call me. We could use another set of eyes."

 

… beep …

 

"Light, where are you? I'm really getting scared here, and oh my god, Julie was in tears. You haven't disappeared, too, have you? … What? … No, Mark, they were not abducted by aliens. … No, not zombies either. I swear you watch too many movies. … No, I'm not giving you the phone. Mark! Just knock it off alrea--"

 

… beep …

 

"Dammit, Light, where the hell are you? We've gone to all the shelters, and no one's seen him. Short of walking through the whole damn city and calling out his name, I have no idea what to do now. If you have any idea where he might be, call me. Shit, call me anyway. I'm tearing my hair out here."

 

Light thumbed off his phone and slowly flipped it shut. He couldn't believe it. L had run. Faced with Light's new offensive, he hadn't fought back or surrendered. He had run, leaving family and friends behind. Light supposed he should be celebrating. He had won. But when he thought of Professor McCormick crying and Ethan panicking and breaking down at the other end of the phone, he didn't feel much like rejoicing.

 

Dammit, what was wrong with that idiot Ryuzaki? He had been so hostile at first, engaging Light in mind games and innuendo just like old times, and then, out of nowhere, he had offered a verbal olive branch. But when Light had tried to respond to it, L had just ignored him. No fight, no explanation. Just silence.

 

And the worst part was that Light had really been looking forward to being friends again. He hadn't realized it at first, but Elijah's silence had been a punch in the stomach to him and the renewal of his original plan had hurt so much that Light had had to resort to shutting down all his emotions in order to keep from abandoning it. He had focused all of his energy on the victory so as not to think of the damage he was doing to the two of them. But now that he had that victory …

 

Before he had completely realized what he was doing, his fingers reopened his phone and punched in Ethan's number.

 

"Hello?"

 

"Ethan, it's me."

 

"Light!" The relief in the other man's voice made Light's chest ache. "Where have you been?"

 

"I'm really sorry, but I had my phone off," he explained. "I was working on a paper, and I didn't want to be interrupted."

 

"Oh, okay. You got my messages?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Do you have any idea where Elijah might be? Julie said you had talked to him earlier in the week. Right before he got all weird."

 

Light sighed and rubbed the back of his neck a bit. "Yeah, I did, but we didn't really talk about anyth--" Outside his window, a bell tower chimed the hour, and suddenly Light froze. The memory flooded into his head. The rain. L's sad face. Bells. He had said he heard bells, even though Light had heard nothing.

 

"A church." The words slipped out without Light realizing it, but as soon as they had left his lips, he knew he was right. "Check the churches."

 

"Churches? Really?"

 

"Yeah." Quickly, Light's mind devised an explanation that wouldn't expose the truth. "When I was talking to him before, he said he had finally remembered something, but it wasn't much. Just the image of a church and the sound of bells."

 

"All right, I'll get on it right away. How about you? Are you done with that paper? Can you help?"

 

Light cringed. He had no intention of helping, but he couldn't tell Ethan that. "I'll see what I can do," he replied, effectively evading the question.

 

"Okay then. Thanks, Light."

 

"No problem."

 

Once Ethan had hung up, Light flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Everything would be all right now. As far as this matter was concerned, he had fulfilled his responsibility by pointing them in the right direction. Hell, to be honest he hadn't even had any responsibility, so he had done more than his share. Ethan and the others would find Elijah and take him back to the McCormicks. He could just stay here and let them finish the job.

 

Except he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Ethan might find Elijah, but he wouldn't know what to say to bring him home. Ethan didn't know why Elijah had left. Even a genius like Light would have difficulty finding an answer if he didn't know what the question was. Ethan had no chance.

 

"Dammit!" Light swore, swinging his legs off of the bed. In a matter of seconds, he had grabbed his keys, slipped on his shoes, and flown out the door, slamming it loudly behind him.