Prologue

L

I remember the day BB came to my door, covered in blood from head to toe. He was supposed to be watching Eliza. "Where is she?"

He gave me a devilish grin, "At a warehouse in LA."

"What? You left a five year old in a warehouse alone?"

His eyes gleamed, "Oh, but dearest, she's not alone."

"Who's with her?"

"The police are probably there," he said, looking towards the sky.

As a nineteen year old, I was having trouble keeping my temper in check, "What the hell did you do to her, Rue?"

"Nothing," he grinned.

I pushed past him and rushed to the warehouse. It wasn't that hard to find considering the amount of flashing red and blue lights. I stepped out of the car, "Eliza," I called, "Where are you, darling?"

"Right here," a small voice said. I looked down and saw Rue's baby sister, her black hair was matted with what looked like blood and she had streaks of blood and dirt all over her face and clothes.

I knelt down and hugged her tightly, "What did he do to you, Eliza?"

She smiled BB's smile, "Nothing! He was using his hands and teeth to paint everyone red! I wanna be painted red too, Ryu!" she giggled.

She was then put into an insane asylum after the event and BB was taken into custody. She was there for seven years, when she was finally released, I requested they send her to Wammy's House, considering BB had died in jail.

Chapter 1: Socialize

Mello

I had five text books open on my desk, trying to take as much information in as I possibly could. I would not let Near beat me again on tomorrow's tests. Snapping off another bit of chocolate, I turned the page, resting my head on my fist. I was almost to the point where I couldn't see straight anymore, but there was no way I was done studying. The door burst open, slamming loudly against the wall. I cringed, but continued to study. "Mello! I did it!" Matt's voice called proudly.

I sighed and spun around on my chair to face Matt, "Did what?"

"Finished my game!"

"That's great," I said, turning back to my text books.

Matt pulled up a chair beside me, "I was kidding, well, sort of, but that's not what I meant."

This time, I was slightly intrigued, but didn't respond.

Matt continued anyway, "So, you know that new girl?"

Trying not to groan, I nodded. Of course I knew her, how could I have not noticed a girl as weird as her?

"Well, I was going through Roger's files and-" he pulled out a thick envelope from under his shirt, "Here is all her information."

I snatched it away from him, pulling out the papers, surprised at what I saw, "Matt, they're all blank."

"What? No they're not."

"Yes they are," I tossed them over to him.

"Fuck," he muttered, picking up the papers, shoving them back into the envelope and stalking off. Finally, I had my peace again, but somehow, that new girl kept creeping back into my mind. I needed to find out who she was.

Eliza

A new beginning, a new start, another chance. I should be happy, shouldn't I? But I couldn't be more terrified. Everywhere I went, I felt like a science experiment, being prodded with their accusing stares. I wanted to hide, but hiding wasn't an option. I couldn't disappoint anyone, I'd show them how great I could be.

I constantly heard people asking questions about me as I passed by, 'What's her real name?', 'Where did she come from?', 'What happened to her family?'. I would like to know myself. Sure, I could always ask Roger, but I was afraid of what I might found out. Did I have any brothers or sisters? What did my parents look like? Another thing that bothered me is that they constantly whispered about how much I looked like L and how I was pretending to be him. Who was this L person? I'd never met him in my life.

Once again, it was Monday, last week I had decided that my Monday schedule was the best. Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the morning and after lunch Earth Sciences and Forensics. I quickly brushed my teeth and tried to fix my messy black hair that everyone always commented on. As usual, I skipped breakfast and headed down to Biology. I was always the first one in the classroom with twenty minutes to spare. I took my seat in the back corner of the room and began studying. After thirty seconds, there was a voice behind me, "And I thought I studied hard," I turned and saw a blonde haired girl standing behind me with a smirk on her face. She grabbed a chair and sat next to me, then stole my book, tilting it so I couldn't see.

I looked up at her, meeting icy blue eyes, "Give it back."

"I'm Mello," she said. Her voice wasn't that of a girls.

I gave her a confused look, but nodded anyway, "May I have my book back now?" I asked, holding out my hand.

I heard a slap, "OW! MOTHER FUCKER! MATT I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mello yelled.

I glanced up at a boy with dark brown hair and orange goggles who was supposedly Matt. He smiled at me, and gave me my book, holding out his hand, "I'm Matt."

I shyly took his hand and shook it, "Eli-er, sorry. I'm Ellen."

He kept his hand in mine, "Nice to meet you, Ellen. Sorry about Mello, he's just mad because Near beat him again."

Oh, well, I guess I had been wrong about Mello being a girl. Then I asked, "Near?"

"The boy who wears all white."

"Oh."

Matt sat across the table from Mello and I. "So, how do you like it here?"

I shrugged, "Everyone keeps saying I look like this L guy. Who is that anyway?"

"L? He's the world's greatest detective and the inspiration of this orphanage. Also, don't worry about what everyone else says, most of us have no social skills, well, except Mello when he's not in a bad mood." Matt stared into space, seeming awkward and antisocial.

"Matt's my best friend, actually, my only friend," Mello interjected, "Anyway, tell me about yourself, your old home and family, what you did in your free time, anything and everything."

I hesitated. When I started to say something, Ms. Isaacson marched into the room and snapped Matt out of his day dreams by yelling, "Matt! You know the rules, gloves off. Now." In all honesty, she was pretty scary.

Matt sighed and stuffed his leather gloves into his back pocket, "Sorry, miss."

The morning dragged on and finally it was lunch time. I was on my way out to the courtyard with a deck of cards in my hands when someone yanked on my shoulder. "How the hell did you do it?" Mello asked, curiosity burning in his voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"You outranked Near! He's been the top of the class ever since he's got here. You scored higher in our morning exams than he did!"

"How is that possible?" I was stunned. Me outdo Near? It didn't seem logical.

"I don't know! Its like you're related to L himself!"

"I really, highly doubt that."

"Well, you do look like him."

"Have you even seen him?"

"No, but-"

I turned around and continued walking out to the courtyard, ignoring every word he said. Before I sat next to the large oak tree, I felt something collide with my shoulder, it wasn't exactly gentle either, "Are you even listening?"

I glared at him, "I swear, if you dare touch me one more time, you will-" I was distracted by a glint of red and silver dangling from his neck. My eyes trailed down the wooden and silver string of beads and landed on a cross. A rosary. I stared. I knew I had seen that before, but where and why? I just stared at him. What was going on? It seemed so familiar and yet so foreign. I knew for one thing, it was a link to my past, the one I didn't remember.

After lunch Near approached me in my Earth Sciences class, "Congratulations on scoring number one on our morning tests."

I looked down at my shoes, "Oh, I, um, thanks."

"You're going to accomplish great things, Ellen. I hope I will be able to work beside you one day," his voice was emotionless and with that he turned and strolled out the door. Matt sat beside me, taking down notes on his arm.

"You're left handed?" I asked stupidly, left handers were interesting to me for some reason.

He glanced at me, "Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I am," he laughed and flashed me a winning smile and continued writing notes on his arm. He finished and capped the marker, "By the way, nice job scoring higher than Near!"

I sighed, "Does everyone know?"

Mello appeared and sat on the table top in front of Matt, glaring at me, "I need to talk to you."

"Go ahead," I shrugged, while Matt pushed Mello off the table, "Get your ass out of my face."

"Make me," Mello retorted and with that he fell to the floor with a loud thud and glared up at me as if I was the one who pushed him off, "Not now. La-"

Mello was cut off by a voice, "Ellen, I would like to speak with you in my office."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

I followed Roger to his office in an awkward silence. "This isn't about me scoring higher than Near is it?" I blurted out.

"No, in fact its about your family."

Just to clear things up, L is losing his temper because he cares about BB's little sister more than BB does and I mean he had to be a little less calm at some point, y'know? Anywayy, Mello is 14, Matt is 14, and Eliza is 12. Soo, yep. Like? Dislike? Tell me what I could do better, thanks! :3