Death Note: Blood Ties

Chapter 2: KILLER

Ethan:

Who should I kill?

The thought drifted through my mind. At first I thought it should be someone who deserves it. I thought of school and then I immediately thought of Joel Robinson, the Year 12 bully. He would deserve to die. Joel would only ever pick on someone when he knew a teacher wasn't looking. In primary school and even middle school troublesome students can be dealt with quickly and in a relatively harmless manner.

I knew though, that adults were much different. Once you crossed the bridge from middle school to high school the bullies you knew that used to flush heads down the toilet are now into drugs and committing vicious bashings.

If a difficult child in middle school could not be fixed when they entered high school they must be eliminated before becoming a threat to society. Joel Robinson was that such child. I had no doubt in my mind that people would benefit from his death. Not really believing that the death note would ever kill Joel I sat up from my bed and headed over to my desk. Hearing noises from outside my room I stopped and listened. Deciding it was nothing I opened the first drawer of my desk and pulled out a ball-point pen. I sat down on my bed with the notebook in my lap.

I heard the noises again: it was Mum and Reece. I think they were arguing about something.

I shrugged and then opened the notebook. Feeling a little silly I skipped past the used pages until finding a blank page. I lowered the pen towards the paper, then stopped - Reece was screaming at the top of his lungs. I heard him shouting my name and I realised they were arguing about me. Getting up I left the notebook and pen on my bed. I opened the door and went to the living room.

"He's got to go!" Reece was roaring "He's mooched off me here in this house for too long!"

"He's my son! He's only sixteen years-old!" my mother was smaller than me, but bravely standing up to her savage drunken partner.

Mum never did much ever since Dad died, right now she was still wearing her nightgown and slippers. I was sure the only reason she was with Reece was because he was our only source of income.

"He's not my son!" he growled through his teeth. Mum looked like she was about to snap back at him but then Reece did something I'd never be able to forgive him for. He stepped forward and grabbed her by the sides and started shaking her. Everything went red and I jumped forward before realising what my legs were doing.

"Let her go!" I screamed and grabbed one of Reece's large arms in an attempt to pry him from her.

He flung his arm back to knock my hands away. While being successful at that, the back of his hand also struck my cheek-bone and I was knocked off my feet by the impact. Mum gasped and Reece stared down at me as if in his drunken stupor he didn't know how I'd gotten there. My cheek seared with pain that caused my eyes to water, and my shoulder where I hit the floor also stung badly. Reece's expression remained perplexed for only a moment before it turned vicious again.

"You're not my son!" he repeated.

I got off the floor and ran to my room, tears of anger pouring down my face. I could hear Mum sobbing from the other room. As soon as I slammed the door closed I went straight to the notebook lying on my bed. In furious rage I picked up the ball-point pen and wrote across the page in a messy scrawl, all in capitals and with enough force that the indentations probably marked three extra pages: 'REECE CALDON'.

From the other room I could hear them talking. Reece was trying to comfort my Mum. I hated him so much. The thought kept circling through my head: I hope you die. I hope you die. I hope you die. Then I couldn't hear any noise coming from outside my room. I strained my ears to listen. Perhaps they'd left? Or maybe Reece passed out on the sofa while Mum locked herself in her room.