Stockholm Syndrome

City of Angels

Darkness.

There was nothing around him but darkness. Every now and then, he was able to hear the sound of bells ringing in the distance... similar to those he had heard on the roof. But there was something different about them — these ones didn't seem to sound as vivacious. They sounded almost distorted, sad, as if the sound was being forced out of them.

As if they didn't exactly want to ring.

~*~

November 5th, two minutes to L's final breath

"Ryuzaki! What's wrong?!"

The scenery had unfolded in less than a few seconds, barely enough time for the woman who sat reading in the back of the room to figure out what was happening. She noted the notification plastered on each one of the screens, and lazily got up from the sofa to step towards the commotion. No one seemed to notice her unusual calmness. Most of them were freaking out about the dark-haired detective, while the others had gone searching for the shinigami.

Light was towering over the man whose eyes were now slowly closing. Before she knew it, the real panic ensued. Everyone suddenly assumed they were going to be next. The tension within the task force headquarters was almost incredible, as everyone's fight or flight response had been triggered all at once. The only two people who seemed unaffected (besides the dying detective) were Light and this strange woman.

She walked up to Light and placed a hand on his shoulder. He solemnly nodded at her, but then went on to brush her hand off him and walked past her. As everyone was busy worrying about themselves, the dark-haired woman kneeled besides L, now left alone on his back, his last breath long gone. Then, just as gently as she had handled herself before, she brushed a strand of hair off his forehead. Her hand slid down his face, and stopped right above his heart.

They really did you dirty, didn't they?

With a swift motion, she pulled out her cellphone and sent out a text message.

~*~

It would have been enough for anyone to go crazy. Was this really what the afterlife felt like? It wouldn't have come as such a surprise to him, hadn't he found out about the existence of shinigami and actually having seen one in person. He had assumed there was more to it than just shinigami. There had to be.

But what else could someone in that position do? Time seemed to be non-existent, the bells rang at inconsistent intervals, and he could not bring himself to even count the seconds. Each time he reached four, something made him lose count. Imagine the frustration of not being able to keep track of your own mind, coming from the same place as L was.

It seemed improbable that this was all there was to it. Eternal darkness, occasional auditory hallucinations and just generally going insane. Maybe it was actually some kind of preparation for Hell, engulfing every last bit of sanity left until all he could feel was suffering. Eternal suffering.

At one point, however, he began to experience a new kind of auditory hallucination. Accompanying the bells now were loud thuds, as if somebody was shaking a large wooden box with all its massive contents still in it. Then, it was joined by what seemed to be a loud whistle, and strange shivers ran down his body. Except he had no body.

The darkness eventually began to catch a shade of dark red, until it became brighter and brighter. This had to be Hell. Any minute now, flames would form around him, and he would start burning for all eternity. Or whatever was supposed to happen in there.