Chapter 3: April

We learn more about our mystery girl and A/Light/Raito. Enjoy!

"What about you? Who are you? What were you doing down there?" Light asked.

"Well, I know it's super old fashioned, but I'm the bell ringer here. The church offered me a place to stay after my parents were murdered in a gang fight last year. I'm seventeen now and I hardly ever leave here. My name is April Lee-LeVoy," April explained.

Light's caramel eyes widened. "That name is so familiar. I can't place my finger on it, but I've definitely heard it before… This frustrates me."

"How would it be familiar to you?" she asked. "You seem so naïve."

"I'm a detective. I solve a few cases a night. Some of the names stick… But I can't think right now. So much has happened in the last twenty-four hours that it's unfathomable that any names from cases I've solved would stick… No, it makes the most sense though. You said your parents were murdered."

"Please stop talking to yourself. It'll make people think you're crazy."

Light looked to the metal floor. "Sorry April."

"Don't apologize. I think you could be a cool person if I could just normalize you."

"Normalize?"

"Make you more normal."

"So what do you do all day?" Light asked.

April smiled. "Let me show you something."

The bell ringer grabbed the detective's wrist and lead him up more stairs (seriously, how many flights of stairs are in this church?) to the highest point in Winchester. Even the roof of Whammy's house was dwarfed by the church steeple.

The room was octagonal. It was a bit stuffy and smelled strongly of chemicals. The walls were crisp white, though the table was covered with splashes of all colors. A mallet sat sideways on a piece of granite on the other side of the table. The shelf was lined with small bottles containing liquid of different shades of brown and other colors.

"What is this place?" Light asked.

"This is where I work. See, my hour is split into three parts. I take one minute to ring the bell, nine minutes of sleep, and fifty minutes of free time. With my free time, I make and sell leather dog tags, belts, journal covers, jackets and other items. The local shop keeper comes up here once a week to buy my wares to sell in his shop. I also get a week's supply of food. Like I said before, I don't come down a lot, so I need a hobby. This gets me extra money from time to time." April snapped her jacket. "I made this you know."

"So cool! You made all this?"

April nodded. "I could make you a dog tag."

Light's face lit up. "AWESOME!"

April smiled. Her watch (with a leather strap, of course) beeped. "Well, time to get some shut eye."

April clamored down the stairs and flopped onto her cot, taking out her leather-covered journal. She wrote the following entree:

Dear Journal,

Today, I met a strange boy while going to ring the bell. He says he's from the local orphanage and that he ran away. At first he said his name was A, but I changed it to Light because I thought it would suit him better. He's really nice, but he's more book smart than street smart. I wonder if he can be helped. I hope I get to meet his friend Beyond (or is his name B? Light keeps switching his name.) I hope someday, Light gets adopted by a good family. He's going to be very important someday. I can feel it.

Thanks for listening,

April Lee-LaVoy