Jane Grey

Chapter 3: Queen Jane meets the King

I was absolutely frozen with fear, though Watari seemed to not even notice the figure behind me, though he did notice my petrified face and asked if I was okay. I nodded, taking a deep breath but my body was still frozen in fear. At the time, I had thought that someone had recognised me or something, but virtually nobody around me was reacting at all. I slowly looked around to see a creature towering above me, it was so horrific to see that I screamed in fear. My own fear made me fall from my seat and land flat on my back, continually screaming in fear. I vaguely recall Watari trying to soothe my fear until he finally gave up and called for a ride back, though my focus was solely on the creature before me. Perhaps this is what a Shinigami was? If that was the case then my sister was correct about her hypothesis. I screamed so much that my throat became sore and I passed out. I recall waking up feeling like a ton of bricks was dropped on my head.

"Maybe it was too soon to bring her out in public,"
"We forget its only been a couple months since she was kidnapped,"
"She was fine for the time before,"
"That doesn't mean she isn't still affected by PTSD" I heard the voices of Watari and an unknown individual, I presumed it to be L. Finally opening my eyes, I saw that it was late at night and I was laying on my bed in the hotel we had recently moved into for the time being. Sighing deeply, I had turned over onto my side, deep in contemplation, what had I seen? Why had nobody else seen it? I wasted no time on it though.

The sound of the door clicking shut resounded, and I sat up to greet Watari, "Ah you are awake," he greeted me with a kind smile, I nodded but remained silent still relishing in my embarrassment. The kind man sat beside me and handed me a glass of water, "L agrees that it was too soon to bring you out to the public." Sighing, I downed the water and responded, "I just want to go back to normal,"
"I know my dear, but nothing will be normal for you now, you know that."

I sat in silence twiddling my thumbs, when there was a knock from 'the L door', and Watari motioned for me to respond. Sitting with my back against the door, I gently knocked on the said door and waited for him to initiate the conversation, "If you're up for it, you're going to be accompanying an FBI agent we are sending out to observe a suspect. I believe it would a good idea to have someone the same age as the suspect to be nearby"
"Would that really be a good idea?"
"The suspect has proven to be, well, suspicious. He has also been seen to be like every other teenage boy, therefore you would be a good candidate to get some information out of him," I let out a deep sigh, mentally preparing myself for the journey ahead of me, and agreed with the task handed to me.
"Alongside this, you will also have a haircut and a whole new wardrobe in order to disguise your appearance."
"Why?"
"The suspect has known you in their life, as evident by the photographs they have with you and such. You would be a trustworthy face for them to be vulnerable with whilst also not revealing your identity"

The following morning, I was escorted to another room where a hired hairdresser and stylist completely changed my appearance, I was virtually unrecognisable. Once all was said and done, Watari dropped me off near a bus stop where the suspect was supposed to be meeting with a girl for a date, a picture of Raye Penber was shown to me prior to leaving so I could meet with him appropriately. He shook my hand, introducing himself, and I did the same "Jane Grey."
"Not your real name?"
"Of course not"
Suddenly, I heard a feminine voice call the name I missed so much. My head snapped in the direction of the girl, and then to the direction of the boy she had called to. There he was, the suspect me and Raye were to be observing, the last person I saw before the fateful day that I was taken. The two got on the bus that arrived, both Penber and I went on to to follow them, my new appearance making me look like a sister or daughter of his (after reviewing my sister's account with his fiancé which made me very uncomfortable) so nobody questioned why a teenage girl was following so closely by a man significantly older than her. We sat at the back of the bus, but I froze when that creature appeared again before me. I didn't scream this time. "Grey? Are you okay?" Penber's voice snapped me out of my catatonic state, I nodded and moved further down the isle. I locked eyes with the suspect, and almost immediately it felt like he recognised me. His eyes followed me and turned around for a moment as if to check that it was me, but I looked out the window in order to hide my face as much as possible.

"You really want your dead girlfriend to be alive, ey Light-o?"

He didn't respond, but the girl he was with rested her head on his shoulder and he snuck a glance at me from over his shoulder. We held a stare for a good minute, but said nothing. The creature laughed obnoxiously, which broke our gaze in which I caught a glimpse again of it, and terror filled my body. To maintain the brother-sister public appearance, Penber comforted me by gently rubbing my back. It brought me back to reality, but sitting here with a creature of my own fears and my love sat before me with another girl, it felt like there was an axe above my neck, if I said anything at all regarding it then that axe would cut my life short.