Chapter Three: The Hell Bug

In twenty minutes, a car pulled up in front of the Amane household. The doors opened and Mello, Near, and L stepped out. Mello was carrying a large black gym bag. I greeted them at the front door before they knocked.

"Thank you for coming," I said, "I really need your help."

L nodded. "Finding missing people is one of our specialties." Inside he saw Mrs. Amane. "Are you her mother?"

"Y-Yes," Mrs. Amane said, "Are you the police?"

"Not quite," L said, "We're Paranormal Investigators. Near here is a psychic."

Mrs. Amane blinked. "A psychic? I don't want a psychic, I want the police to find my daughter."

"I assure you, Amane-san," Near said lowly, "I will definitely find your daughter. If we don't find her before two, you may call the police."

Mrs. Amane crossed her arms, her eyes beginning to water. "I just want my daughter to be found safe and brought home."

"We will do the best we can," Mello said.

"I will need something that belongs to her," Near said.

"Of course, I'll get something from her room." Mrs. Amane turned around and walked up the stairs. She wasn't gone for two minutes before she came back. "This is the first thing I found." She handed Near a purple scrunchie.

"This is very good," Near said. He put the scrunchie on his wrist, "Thank you."

Mello gently put his hand on Mrs. Amane's shoulder. "Why don't you tell me more about Misa while they do their thing?" He led her into the kitchen.

Near zipped open the black gym bag. What he pulled out was a large dart board. I was surprised it fit in there. The dart board's cover was a map of the city. He handed the board to L who held it to his middle.

"Raito," L said suddenly, "Did you notice anything strange about Misa when you saw her?"

"Yes," I said quickly, "I saw this weird insect on her. It was huge."

L and Near looked at each other.

"Was it spider-like?" Near asked.

"Yeah, and she didn't seem to notice it at all."

"Hell Bug."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"It's a parasitic bug that is invisible to the normal human eye," L informed, "It feeds off the spiritual aura of its victim, slowly controlling their emotions. We have to find her soon before the Hell Bug's creator finds her first."

"Hell Bug's creator?" I repeated in question.

Near pulled a dart from the bag and held it in the hand with the scrunchie on it. He closed his eyes and his hand rocked back and forth. Was he going to throw it? That would be funny if this was a different day without the crisis.

"How long do we have to find her?" I asked.

"It depends on the power of the Rogue," L informed me, "It could take weeks or days for the bug to take full effect of Miss Misa. But we should find her before that happens. The Hell Bug will lead her to its Rogue."

I was going to ask what this "Rogue" was but at that moment, the dart in Near's hand shot out and zoomed into the dart in the top left quadrant. Near opened his eyes and stood up. L flipped the board to face him.

"Looks like she's at the Shibuya Station," L said.

"We could lose her if she gets on a train," I said, "We have to hurry."

"Mello." The blonde came out of the kitchen with Mrs. Amane when L called for him. "You're coming with Yagami-kun and I. We're heading to Shibuya station. Near, keep us in touch. Watch her movements and report in."

"Understood," Near mumbled, curling a piece of hair around his finger.

We left in the car that they came in, Mello was driving while L sat in the back. I noticed that Mello liked to speed, which was good in this case.

"When we get there," said L from the backseat, "She will most likely have boarded a train. Near should call us and tell us in which direction she's going in and we can follow her then."

"That dart board thing," I said, looking back at him and his strange way of sitting, "Is that how he finds people?"

L nodded. "Yes, but he has other methods, too. He suggested the dartboard would be good for her general location. He'll most likely use other methods to pinpoint her exact location."

"Near is a pro when it comes to location," Mello said, his eyes were covered by sunglasses even though it was night, and he stared straight ahead, "But he sometimes has problems controlling his telekinesis."

I blinked at him. "He seemed to have control of it pretty well when he showed me."

"Well, Near is getting much better," Mello said, "He just has to concentrate a little harder." I remembered how Near stared so intently at the teacup. "His telekinesis developed late."

"Developed late?" I asked, "You mean he wasn't born with it?"

"He was born with it," L said, gazing out the window with his fingernail in his mouth, "It just didn't show itself until later in his life. In fact, it was right after he joined PIS that it began to show."

"So we could have more powers as we get older?"

"It's a possibility," he said, "But not certain. When an ability awakens later in maturity, it's a little harder to control than others. In Near's case, his telekinesis will sometimes get out of hand."

"Out of hand?" I said, "Isn't that a little dangerous? Should we leave him there by himself?"

"Oh don't worry about it," Mello said, "It doesn't just happen out of nowhere. He has to trigger it by using it and it getting out of control. Near knows not to use it unless needed, and he will contact us immediately if there is a problem."

"All right," I said, still not fully convinced.

There was a jingle. L took out a cell phone. "Understood," He only said then shut it with a snap. "Near said she has boarded a train and is headed southwest. He still doesn't know where she's headed, but it looks like she may be headed toward Ayuko Town."

Mello stepped on the gas, making me lean more into my seat. I looked at the speedometer and saw that we were going ninety.

"Slow down!" I yelled, "The speed limit is forty! What are you doing going so fast?"

Mello smiled at me. "Relax, Raito-san, I never crash, and I won't get pulled over. Trust me."

I didn't trust him, but he was the one behind the wheel. And we made it to the station in less than ten minutes instead of fifteen like usual. We should've beaten Misa here, but Near said she had boarded a train. She must've taken a taxi to get here then.

We entered Shibuya station. The crowd was less than usual since it was nighttime, but it was still busy. We went to the giant illuminated sign that said the time of departure and arrival for each train. We located two that went southwest.

L called Near. "Can you give me anymore information on where she's at?…Okay. Thank you." He shut the cell phone. "Near says she is at Ayuko. That would mean she's on train twelve." He followed his finger down. "That means there's going to be another train in five minutes to Ayuko."

"That will be too long," I said, "She's getting farther and farther away." I was in a near panic now. Misa could already be with this "Rouge-thing".

"We can take the number nine to Shinta," Mello said, tracing it with his finger, "Then we can take a car to Ayuko. It should be faster. It's boarding already so we need to hurry up and get on."

And that's what we did. We boarded the number nine train. Mello and I stood up while L sat down in his usual crouch. Some people stared at him. He didn't seem to mind, or he didn't notice. Shinta was the second stop. I kept checking my watch. Too much time was passing. Near called and told us more about her whereabouts. She stayed in Ayuko. That was good. Finally we departed the train and took a taxi. I saw Mello give the driver a wad of yen and ask him if he could drive. It must have been quite a bundle because the guy's eyes widened and nodded. Mello got behind the wheel and pressed the pedal to the floor. The inertia launched all of us into our seats.

It only took five minutes to get to Ayuko. Mello tail-spun the cab and parallel parked it without any damages. The cab driver was shaken as we left.

"Thanks," Mello called behind us.

L was on the phone with Near. "Down North Avenue," he directed us, "She seems to be at a night club."

I didn't like the sound of that. Ayuko at night was famous for its prostitution and drugs. Misa shouldn't be out here. I was worried sick about her. She could be in danger! She was in danger!

It was faster on foot, so we ran to North Avenue. I was slightly surprised that L had a normal run. I was expecting to see him run funny and girly, but he ran normally. He was even as fast as me. Mello was the fastest.

It wasn't hard to find the nightclub. It was a building with dark walls and flashing bright lights. The music emitted from it was that of a techno-beat. The walls reverberated the with the sound of "unce unce unce unce". It was annoying as hell.

We came inside and were immediately assaulted with the smell of smoke, alcohol, and cheap cologne. It was packed of teenagers and young adults wearing strange outfits and multicolored hair. They were rocking their hips against each other's and others were leaning against the walls, smoking cigarettes and swigging cheap beer. Nearly everyone here was underage, but no one seemed to care.

"Do you see her?" Mello asked me.

I looked around, squinting to make out her shape. I didn't see anyone recognizable. "No," I said, "She has blonde hair. Dyed. And she wears one of those Lolita outfits."

"Well that should be easy enough," he said sarcastically, raising a hand to show a dozen girls with blonde hair with gothic outfits.

We looked around. Still, we couldn't find her. L called Near again. He told us that she was here. We searched harder, asking the bartender if he saw her, which he didn't.

L tapped me on the shoulder. "Perhaps we should look outside in the back?"

That was a good idea. Why didn't I think of that? I followed after him and Mello, and we went out the entrance, then circled around to the rear of the club. I saw several couples making out. Then I saw Misa. She was sitting alone on top of a dumpster. I also saw that hideous thing on her in the street lamp that was above her. It's legs were now so long that they were on her shoulders and showing through the front.

"The Hell Bug is growing faster than I expected," L said beside me.

I approached Misa. She was staring down at the dumpster and hadn't noticed I was there until I said her name.

"Misa," I said.

She looked up at me. I saw her cheeks had the dry tear stains. Her eyes were still puffy.

"Raito?" she asked. Her voice was broken. She sounded so scared and fragile. She was breaking. I watched as more tears rolled down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around me and cried on my shoulder. I held her as she cried.

"It's okay," I whispered, "We're going to help you."

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she whispered against my shirt.

"I'm going to take care of you. Hang on." I lifted her up in my arms bridal style. She cried even harder telling me she was sorry for different things. I kept telling her everything was going to be okay. I could feel the pulse of the insect. It disgusted me that I was touching it, but it disgusted me more that it was on her.

L had called Matt from the headquarters and told him to pick them up. He pulled up in a car with Near. I sat in the back with Near, and Misa laid her head on my lap. She fell asleep.

The car slowed down. "We have to get the Hell Bug off her," L said, "If we keep it there, it will cause her more damage."

"How do we do that?" I asked while I stroked her hair.

Near searched in the gym bag and pulled out what looked like a pen. But then the tip glowed a bright blue and looked electrical.

"Can you roll her over?" he asked.

I stared at the device like it was a torture device from the future. "You can't stab her with that. It'll kill her!"

"It has no effects on humans, "L said. He sat up front between Mello and Matt. "It's my own invention. It's the easiest way to kill Hell Bugs and the person will not feel a thing." He looked back at me. My eyes locked with his black ones. "I promise."

And I believed him. I wasn't sure what it was, but I felt like I could trust him. I gently rolled Misa on her stomach, keeping her head turned so she could breathe. She was still asleep. The car stopped.

"I think you should do it," Near said.

I looked from him to the blue light pen thing, then back to him. "You…You want me to do it? I…I can't do it. Why can't you do it?"

There was a chuckle from the front seat. Mello looked back, a sly smile on his face. "Near is too squeamish." He looked to Near, "Isn't that right, Neawie?"

Near looked away. His white cheeks were blushing pink. He didn't look back to me. "Will you do it? You just stab the bug. You won't hurt her."

I didn't want to do it, but it seemed like I had to. I gently took the handle of the pen. Then I turned it around so I was holding it like I was holding a dagger. I touched the blue lighted tip with the tip of my finger. I didn't feel anything. They were right.

I sucked a deep breath through my nose and watched the disgusting thing pulse. I had to kill it. For Misa. I raised the pen up. Swallowed. Then I stabbed it. I didn't know the thing could scream, but it did. A loud piercing cry echoed around the car, hurting my ears. Near covered his own and shut his eyes tight. The thing twitched and I saw a greenish goo leak out of the stab wound.

Oh shit, I thought, Oh shitohshitohshitohshit! I killed Misa! Misa was screaming!

But then I realized that Misa hadn't moved. She was still taking deep slow breaths of sleep. I ripped the pen out of the bug's exoskeleton. It was covered in goo. The bug curled up. I watched amazed as it faded black. Then it rolled off of Misa's back and fell to the floorboard with a thump between my feet. I rubbed the spot on her back that the bug had once been. Everything was smooth. Everything was back to normal.

We arrived at the Amane household. I woke Misa up and helped her out of the car. I was surprised that L had followed us. I knocked on the door. It swung open and Mrs. Amane clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Misa! You brought her back!" She hugged her daughter, "Thank you so much! Thank you! Are you okay, baby? Oh, I was so worried about you. Thank you so much."

"Your daughter is fine," L said, "Would you mind if we have a word inside?"

Mrs. Amane nodded and led us inside. We went into the living room and they sat down on the couch while L and I stood up.

"Miss Misa, Mrs. Amane," L said, "If I can have your attention?" They both looked to him. "I would just like to tell you that you never saw anything strange or abnormal happen here." I looked over at L and did a double take. His black eyes looked different; his pupils were white instead black. I looked back to them. They had a glazed over look in their eyes. "What did happen is Misa became a little rebellious. Yagami-kun volunteered to look for her and we found her only a few blocks away at the mall. We talked her into coming back. Now you will have lots of mother and daughter love. You will let Misa have the day off school tomorrow and spend the time with her. And dye her hair."

Then the two women blinked out of their daze. Mrs. Amane smiled widely. "Thank you, Raito-kun for bringing Misa back from the mall. I really do appreciate it."

I blinked at her. What had L done? "N-No problem."

L and I walked out of the house. I grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him around so we faced.

"What the hell was that in there?" I questioned.

L blinked at me. Then he put a finger to his lips and nibbled on it. "That, Yagami-kun, was my ability. Hypnotism. It comes in handy when we don't want to be found out. There are some things that normal humans shouldn't know about."

Then he walked ahead. I stayed there, a little stunned. Some things that normal humans shouldn't know about? After some thought, I realized he was right. We weren't ready to be accepted into society yet.

"We'll drive you home," L said to me, "Where do you live?"

"You already know, don't you?"

L smiled slyly. "It's always polite to ask first."