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A Doppelganger\'s Bet	By : pinkfeline Category: Death Note > Yaoi-Male/Male > L/Light Views: 3881 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.

Warnings: Yaoi, AU, possible OOCness, Language and content. More warnings might appear later on.

Intended Pairings: LxLight

Update 16/02/09 - Chapter has now been beta-ed by the lovely Kati-chan!

A Doppelganger�s Bet

"Hello"

The greeting was quite ordinary and politely given, in itself not something to fear. It was the visage of the creature from whose lips the greeting fell and its abrupt and unwelcome appearance that added the morbid weight to the simple word. It was a creature of such abominable and unnatural appearance that Light was hard pressed to take the situation seriously and not simply take it as the delusional nightmarish product of an overworked mind.

The thing had surprised him so much that his chair had over balanced at the sudden shift of weight, sending the young man to the floor. It took a moment longer than it should have for his brain to process what his eyes told him was sitting on his bed. The very unnatural and illogical appearance, no, the very existence of the thing before him was something his mind had never had to analyse, because it was impossible.

Its limbs were crooked and impossibly long in comparison to its body. Pale grey-blue skin was tightly stretched over its body revealing the tendons, muscle and every knot and prominent protrusion. It was completely bare of any kind of covering, revealing an emaciated chest and abdomen. By all appearances it was a sexless creature as well, for it held none of the features common in genders, no visible way of reproducing.

The face of the creature in question was flat, the nose bent back and the skin creased as if it had been pushed into its face with force and never healed. The cheekbones were prominent with hollow cheeks and its mouth was two fleshy pieces of skin stretched over prominent teeth. Its eyes were bulging as if a great pressure was collecting in its skull, which was hairless. Overall it resembled a four-legged humanoid spider.

Truly, it was a creature of fearsome appearance and Light could not help but feel the tendrils of fear twisting around his guts.

His room was dark with only the light from the small television on his desk for illumination. In this light of half shadows, the creature�s appearance was even more otherworldly.

Light made no sound beyond his initial �yelp� of surprise, staring at the demon with wide, fearful eyes.

"I believe it is customary to give a greeting in turn when greeted."

The voice was like gravel and grated on the boy�s nerves until his whole body felt raw for it, the sound of it equally as sexless as its body implied. Still Light made no reply, but managed to collect himself enough to sit upright his chair. His eyes did not leave the creature, and when he stood he found himself dizzy and his knees weak. His hands, clutched as they were to the back of the chair, were turning white with the tension. He knew that if he were to release them they would visibly shake.

With a great amount of caution Light returned to his seat, facing the demon on his bed.

"You�re not very polite, are you?"

"I believe, considering the circumstances, I am justifiably exempt from the customary social etiquette to which you refer."

Light�s cautiously sarcastic reply earned him a low chuckle from his guest; the sound put him on edge and he found himself clenching his teeth against it.

"Yes, I suppose that would be true."

There was silence amongst the two beings, natural and unnatural as they were. Wanting to get away from the creatures presence, but unwilling to retreat, Light found that he would have to break the silence lest he end up sitting with the creature for the entirety of the night.

"Who are you?"

"I have no name, therefore I have no identity."

Light had expected another answer, possibly some elusive riddle or something more elaborate or malicious. That it identified itself as not having an identity, well that was strange and illogical enough.

"Fine. What do you want then?"

Light�s voice was clipped with no effort made to sound polite even in the slightest. He fully intended for his guest to know that his presence was wholly unwanted and unappreciated. He was unsure of the creature�s intelligence level and therefore kept his rudeness to a bare minimum. If he had to be blunter, he would, but hopefully it was smart enough to realise the tension behind the words.

"I am bored."

Light�s eyes widened incredulously at the creature.

"What the hell am I supposed to do about that?"

The creature chuckled again for a good hard minute, although his face did not once change from anything but a bland expression. Light was very tempted to interrupt and curse the creature but held the urge back; he wasn�t dealing with a mere human after all. Who knew what the creature could do to him should he offend it in some way?

"You are also bored, Yagami Light"

Light frowned at the use of his name, but really he should not have been surprised that it knew his identity. However, Light failed to see why the fact that they were both bored individuals had led the creature to his room. Surely there were others out in the world as bored, if not more, than he was? Wisely, Light kept silent and merely pinned the creature with his gaze. Naturally it was unaffected.

The creature chuckled.

"You see Yagami Light, there is a game I would like to play. No. I suppose it is more of a bet."

Light felt the inklings of dread join the tendrils of fear. Again the words were entirely innocent, but coming from such a beast, Light was sure that it did not bode well for him.

"You can accept, or you can refuse. It would be better for you to accept though."

Keeping a shudder at bay, Light leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in an attempt to remain calm. Yes, by the sounds of it, this game was seriously bad news. However, until the creature decided to give him the rules of the game and the choices, Light could do nothing. Seeing no outright refusal from Light, the creature continued.

"It is quite simple really. It is a game for two, but with only one player. It is a bet, because there are two outcomes, your path of life dependent on each. I will be the player, and you Yagami Light, will act as an observer."

Light was tense now; this did not sound good at all. A one-sided game with his life on the line? What hellish sort of game was this?!

"The game is this: you and I will swap places, in a way. I will become Yagami Light with complete access to your mind and your memories. I will live your life for one year, no more and no less. If before midnight of the last day of that yearlong period, somebody has managed to figure out that I am not the real Yagami Light, then you win and will walk free. If by that time no one has figured it out, then you lose and belong to me."

Light sat with mouth agape and incredulous, wide eyes, shocked for a moment beyond words.

What the�? That was completely unfair! The rules gave the creature the advantage by giving him access to his mind and memories. It practically guaranteed the creature�s victory! Who in their right mind would ever consider that a demon had taken Light�s place? Add all that to the fact that the game was for the entirety of a year! It was a biased and unfair game, and he let the creature know it. The demon simply laughed outright at Light�s outrage.

"You could refuse."

Light stared warily at the creature with narrowed eyes,

"What happens if I refuse?"

He laughed.

"Then I drag you down to hell with me anyway."

Light sat in stunned silence. He had two options: if he refused to play the game he would be dragged down to hell; if he accepted to the rules of the game he would in all probability be dragged down to hell anyway. At least he would have a small sliver of hope by playing. Either way, his future had just gone down the drain.

Unable and perhaps unwilling to fully grasp the consequences, Light had no choice but to agree. His mind felt numb and dull - forced into a situation that he had always believed to be impossible. Ghosts did not exist. Demons did not exist. The existence of this creature paved the way for ideas that, if demons, then angels were possibly real too and then�it was simply scientifically impossible. Yet here he was, given two options that led to his ending up in hell by a creature that shouldn�t exist and probably didn�t, considering its lack of identity.

This was not a very good situation. Light hated it.

"Fine"

The word was gritted out, like a sharp blade in his throat; painful to utter but necessary. The creature grinned widely and moved from the bed to Light with inhuman speed, until it loomed over him.

"Then come."

With those words the creature scuttled over to the window and through it, again with that same unnatural speed. Light did not immediately follow, caution holding him back. If he stayed, he would be refusing the game and the creature would come for him with the promise of a very unfortunate fate. If he followed, he would be walking into the unknown and giving up a year of his life - probably the last year he would ever have. How depressing.

Knowing he had no choice, Light finally stood and left his room at a relaxed pace. Walking downstairs, Light strode to the kitchen where his mother was busy making dinner for the family

"I�m going for a walk. I shouldn�t be back too late."

She turned to him with a worried look, a frown marring her features.

"Is anything wrong, honey?"

Smiling gently at his mother, he shook his head "no".

"I just want some fresh air before I return to my studies."

Accepting this, his mother let him go. As soon as his back was turned to his mother, the smile dropped from Light�s face. After all, considering the fate he was walking towards, he had nothing to smile about. He did not want her to worry needlessly however.

When he finally made his way outside, the creature was waiting for him. It was perched on the roof of the neighbour�s house, its eyes gleaming yellow in the dark and acting as beacons. When it saw him emerge, it scuttled across the roof and continued down the street.

The occasional glimpses of yellow eyes and its skeletal frame by the light of the moon was all Light had to aid him in following the direction the creature was travelling in. Light pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and braced himself against the chill of the night.

Light had no idea where the creature was leading him and he battled with the anger, the fear and the uncertainty that filled him with the night�s events. In all his life he could never have imagined that something like this would happen. He almost hoped that he would wake and find that it was all a nightmare.

Light did not delude himself though. As impossible as it seemed, Light knew that he was not asleep and that this was all happening. He did not hold on to foolish hopes.

The two, monster and human, scuttled and walked respectively for a good ten minutes before Light began to recognise the area. He now had a very good idea of where the creature was leading him and it made him pause. That same cold feeling of fear, born from the uncertainty and surreal nature of the situation he was in, coiled in his guts and around his bones.

The creature had noticed his sudden hesitation and stood amongst the shadows watching him. The trees were thick in this area, as of yet untouched by human developments. Further, in the embrace of the mini-forest, lay the remains of an old burnt-out house. It was isolated and left to crumble to ruin, definitely not the sort of place anybody would want to be led to by a monster of uncertain temperament and unknown intentions.

Light scoffed at himself for falling to such fear, but the stress of the realisation that he would be giving up a year of his life, and perhaps the entirety of it, was weighing heavily on him and clouding his normally stoic mind.

"You afraid?"

The taunt, though it did not carry the usual jeering nor sarcastic undertones, cut through Light�s hesitations like a knife. Straightening up, Light levelled a glare at the creature before mutely proceeding forward. They walked once more in silence until the skeletal remains of the house could be seen. With the density of the trees, the small clearing in which the house had been settled was filled with a darker gloom than the illuminated streets from which Light had come.

Again the fear struck, but Light did not buckle beneath its pressure this time and kept his head high even as he neared the house. He paused outside the doorway, looking into the unfathomable darkness beyond and once more having to battle his growing fear.

Taking a quiet but deep breath, Light entered the ruins.

The inside of the house was cold and was partly responsible for the shiver that took Light. The creature had disappeared into the shadows, leaving Light to find his own way. As his eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, Light was able to identify the general layout of the room he was in. He made his way cautiously to another dark entranceway and found that it led into a hallway, just as he had guessed. Stepping into the nightmarish and narrow confines, Light let one hand trail gently along the wall.

There was a strange, empty tranquillity to the house, and despite its typical haunting features, Light felt himself slowly growing accustomed to the space around him. Affected now only by the fear of what the creature had in store for him and the instability of his current situation, Light walked with more confidence.

The creature's abrupt appearance made Light jump, but he recovered quickly enough.

Much as with the house, despite its fearful appearance, the creature did not exude any maliciousness or actual danger. Knowing it could be a well-concealed front, Light did not lower his guard in the slightest, but he was not as affected by the creature now as he had been before.

It was the future that the creature had presented him with the caused fear, not the creature itself.

"Here"

The creature ducked into a room and was reluctantly followed by Light. The room was small and littered with rubble and slabs of concrete and wooden beams. After casually surveying the room, Light glanced at the creature and found it watching him with a new intensity.

"Here"

Light lifted a brow in question, frowning at the creature in distaste. The creature only grinned but elaborated.

"Here is where your body will be kept for the duration of the yearlong period."

Light blinked at that and shifted uncomfortably. It was not something that was encouraging to hear, not in the least.

"Don�t worry, your body will neither die nor rot until the game ends. If you win, you will return to your body as it is now. If you lose, well, you will no longer have any need of it."

Light gave a short nod to show that he understood.

"So what happens now?"

The creature drew nearer, lifting one skeletal hand to Lights face. It pressed one finger to the area between the young mans eyes and pushed. Dizziness swept through him briefly but receded with the creatures� withdrawal. Light closed his eyes as his senses settled, allowing his balance to return. Opening them quickly thereafter, Light jerked back in surprise.

Staring back at him from a foot away was the handsome features that Light recognised to be his own. Intense brown eyes stared at his own before flicking down to the floor. Light followed his doppelganger�s gaze to the floor and was discomfited to find his own body slumped there. Truly events could not get any stranger.

The doppelganger bent down and lifted his prone body from the ground, dragging it deeper into the shadows of the room. Light could only watch in horrified fascination, unable to express neither the thoughts nor the emotions that raged through him. While the creature was occupied, Light took a moment to examine his own state. By all appearances he had a physical body, but when he tried to pick up a piece of rubble, he found his finger sliding through the piece with no resistance. He was as unsubstantial as a ghost, and could by all factors be considered one apart from the fact that he was not actually �dead�.

His attention was caught once more as his doppelganger turned to him; perfect in its physical imitation and speaking in a voice that was most certainly perfectly identical to his own.

"It begins."

TBC.

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A Doppelganger\'s Bet