After Finding The Death Note

Synopsis

The storm had turned the rooftop into a waterfall. Lyndsey Duncan stood at the edge of an abandoned school building, her uniform soaked through and clinging to her skin. The wind lashed at her so hard she could barely open her eyes. But that was fine. There was nothing worth seeing anyway. Her phone kept vibrating in her pocket. When she pulled it out, the cracked screen split the word "thief" into four jagged pieces. The dorm group chat had exploded. Kaycee Synder was livestreaming, her camera fixed on a Tiffany necklace. She said, "This is the stolen item Lyndsey took. I kindly let her stay in my dorm, but she—" The comments flooded in at lightning speed. [Die, Lyndsey, you broke trash.] [Your whole family should drop dead.] [Why hasn't she jumped yet?] Lyndsey scrolled up. A message from her mother appeared. It read: [Lyndsey, your brother is still short 60 thousand dollars for his down payment. Mr. Carlson said he'll help, but only if you spend tonight with him. Please, just think of it as helping Mom.] Then there was the message from her boyfriend—no, her ex-boyfriend. It was a photo of him kissing Kaycee's ear, captioned simply: [We're over. Kaycee is the dean's daughter. Know your place.] Finally, there was an email from her advisor, Edward Marlone. It read: [Tomorrow at 9 a.m., go to the dean's office, admit to the theft, and issue a public apology. Otherwise you will be delayed for graduation and marked permanently. You know I can do it.] Lyndsey laughed. The sound was torn apart by the rain, sounding more like a sob. She lifted her foot. Beneath it was twelve stories of darkness, like a mouth waiting to close. Suddenly a crack of black lightning split the clouds. No, not lightning. It was a tear in the sky. A black leather notebook fell in front of her. It had gilded edges and was dry and clean. It looked like it had fallen from another world. On the cover, written in dark red ink that looked almost like dried blood, were two words: Lyndsey Duncan. With trembling fingers, she flipped it open. On the first page, it said: [Whoever has their name written in this notebook will die. There is no exception.] The ink was bleeding. It was metaphorical; there was a faint smell of rust, and a dark liquid was seeping through the fibers of the page. Lyndsey stared at it for three seconds. Then she let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a cry.