Two were once on opposite sides of the pole from the others. But now, they are all working together to help people in Japan rid themselves of paranormal disturbances. Ichigo and his team are heading to Mt. Hiei.
Ghost Witness
Case One_ The Old Mountain Lodge
Hunting Ghost was their job and their hobby. They were a team of professionals. They handled cases like this all the time but this time they just might be over their heads.
Ichigo Kurosaki and his team have been solving paranormal cases for five years now. And each case gets creepier and creepier, but their curiosity won't rest until they find the source of the hauntings.
They were a small but efficient group.
Ichigo_ Investigator/ Ring Leader
Orihime_ Researcher
Rukia_ Investigator
Ulquiorra_ Investigator/ Technician
Grimmjow_ Investigator/ Technician
##############
"So what we got today Ichigo," Rukia asked Ichigo, her boyfriend of four years, who was on his laptop at the office, the Kurosaki Clinic's basement.
"We got a video from this manager of a hotel in Tokyo. Let me play it." Ichigo clicked on the video file.
"Guys come take a look at this," Ichigo called over his shoulder into the next room. Orihime, Ulquiorra, and Grimmjow came into the room.
"What is it?" Orihime asked.
"We a got a video from this lady in Tokyo." Ichigo pressed play.
A heavy set dark headed woman appeared on the screen, "Hi Ichigo, I'm Mizho Takyana from Mt. Hiei Lodge. I sent you this video to tell you that the Lodge has been having a lot of paranormal activity for the past few weeks. There have been doors opening and closing by themselves, chairs and tables moving on their own, things moving from room to room, people talking when there's no one there, and children laughing and running at night in empty hallways. I would really appreciate it if you and your team would come out and see what's going on in the lodge." The video ended.
"I would say that that's a lot of bullshit, but after all the stuff I've seen…" Grimmjow bit into his hamburger.
"No kidding," Ichigo said.
"Should we look into it," Ulquiorra asked Ichigo.
"I don't see why not. Plus, going up to Mt. Hiei might be cool."
"Let's do it then."
"Yeah," Ichigo nodded.
#####################
"This place is flippin' huge," Grimmjow observed as they all got out of the van. The exterior of the hotel was massive and well kept. The lawn was huge and the shrubbery seemed to stretch on for miles. The mountain lodge sat just at the base of the mountain in a shaded area.
"Yeah," Ichigo slipped on his favorite jacket. The chilly fall air whipped past them. "I and Orihime will go talk to the manager. You guys get the equipment ready?"
"Sure," Rukia told him then she and the others went to the truck of the van. Grimmjow opened the trunk and drug out the heavy stuff. He watched his girl go to the door with Ichigo. Sure, he and Ichigo were on okay terms now, but he still felt a twinge of jealousy when Ichigo got close to Orihime.
Ulquiorra took out the infrared cameras. Rukia got the small things.
Ichigo knocked on the door and it was quickly answered by the lady that sent them the video. "Hi I'm Ichigo." He shook her hand.
"Hi Ichigo thank you for coming," She smiled.
"This is Orihime, our researcher."
"Hi," Orihime shook Mizho's hand.
"Hi dear, please come in." Mizho smiled.
"Thanks," Ichigo let Orihime go before him.
Rukia and the former Espada stayed outside and waited for Ichigo to tell them it was okay for them to get going.
################
They came in and set the stuff down in the lobby. "So what do we gotta check out Kurosaki," Grimmjow asked Ichigo as Ichigo and Orihime met them in the foyer.
"Mostly the third floor, that's were things have been moving from room to room."
"They've heard children here in the lobby and in the parlor mostly," Orihime stood beside Grimmjow.
"Just to be sure we might want to check the basement and attic too," Ulquiorra took off his jacket.
"Let's do the day sweep and see if we can find anything."
"I'll go to the historical records building in town and see if I can find anything there," Orihime slipped on her jacket and skull cap. Grimmjow looked at her. "I'll be back soon."
"Be careful," He told her. Orihime nodded. She kissed him then she left the Lodge.
"Okay, let's rock then," Ichigo said, "Rukia, come with me?"
"Yeah," Rukia nodded as she took one of the cases Grimmjow handed to her.
"Grimmjow and I will see what we can find down here and in the basement." Ulquiorra told him.
"Cool, we'll check out the third floor and the attic." Ichigo said taking one of the infrared cameras.
#############
"Exactly what are we looking for here?" Grimmjow wondered as they entered the parlor.
"To start out, let's see if we can find any cold spots," Ulquiorra pulled out a hand held device that would help them find any cold spots.
"On it," Grimmjow pulled out another device and started looking on the opposite side of the room. "Whoa," He said when he saw a place on his side of the parlor which covered the whole screen of the monitor. He was standing by a jade sculpture of a dragon. "I got something," He told Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra came over to where the former Sexta was standing and peered at the screen. Then they heard loud tapping. "What the…" Grimmjow pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Kurosaki."
"Yeah Grimmjow?"
"Are you making tapping sounds up there?"
"Negative."
"Well, we might have something down here."
"Okay, I think we got something too, but we have to make sure."
"K."
Ulquiorra and Grimmjow looked at each other when they heard giggling of a small child. They turned around to see no one. "There's diffidently something here," Ulquiorra said.
"Yeah," Grimmjow nodded. "Let's go see what we can find in the basement."
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They were recording question on electronic voice phenomena session. What it does was they record questions then play it back and see if there is any response.
They were playing back the session now.
"Is there someone here with us?" Rukia's voice was heard.
No response
"Do you want the guests to leave?" Ichigo asked.
No response
"Is there something here that you want?"
Room 18…
They finally had something.
"Did I hear room 18?" Ichigo was making sure he heard right.
"Yeah," Rukia nodded. They both looked to the door they were in front of them. 18 was mounted on the door in bold letters.
"Shit," Ichigo swore. They both jumped when the door slammed open. They cautiously went up to the room. They entered the room to see nothing. Suddenly the door slammed closed and the lights turned off and started flickering. Their hearts seemed to lodge into their throats when they heard moaning.
"Oh my God," Rukia swallowed.
Ichigo tried the door. "Damn," Ichigo jerked on the handle, "It's locked." He got out his walkie-talkie, "Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, can you guys hear me?"
"It's hard not to hear you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow commented.
"Grimmjow listen, we're locked in room eighteen. We need you to get us out."
"Hang tight, we'll be right there," Grimmjow told him. Then the walkie-talkie went dead.
############
They were finally calm when the door was opened. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra came into the room. "What happened," Ulquiorra asked.
"We were doing an EVP session and we got a response saying room 18. We came and then the door slammed shut then there was moaning. Whatever it is it wants something in this room." Rukia answered him.
"Damn," Grimmjow said.
"Let's get out of this room," Ichigo said. Rukia nodded. "What did you guys find?"
"There something around the jade dragon in the parlor and we heard children laughing." Ulquiorra told him.
Grimmjow's cellphone started ringing. He took it out of his back pocket, "Hey babe."
"I think I found something."
"Hang on let me put you on speaker." Grimmjow pressed the speaker button.
"You guys aren't going to believe this." Orihime told them.
"What did you find out?"
"There's been ten murders in the lodge over twenty years ago, and, get this, they had something to do with room 18."
They all looked at each other and then uneasily looked at room 18. They all walked briskly down the hall towards the stairs and down. "What else do you got?" Ichigo asked.
"That's all I got right now. Are you guys okay? You all sound a little shaken up."
"Nah, we're okay," Ichigo lied.
"Hey babe," Grimmjow said, "See what you can find out about the jade dragon that they got and see if there were any deaths involving kids."
"I will. You guys be careful."
"We will."
"Okay bye."
"Later," Grimmjow hung up.
"I don't know about you guys but that is just too freaky," Ichigo said once they got into the lobby.
"Let's make sure we don't go back into that room," Ulquiorra put up the camera.
"We're going to have to, there's something in that room that the ghost or ghosts wants," Rukia said digging out something from one of the equipment cases.
"Damn if this place is freaky during the day I'd hate see what it'll be like tonight." Grimmjow ran a hand through his light blue hair.
"I wish we wouldn't have to find out, but we promised Mizho that we would figure out what's going on in this place." Ichigo told him.
They all froze when they heard laughing. Grimmjow felt something touch his leg and a cold chill through his beige cargo pants, "Shit," He pulled away from whatever it was to see nothing.
"What is it?" Rukia wondered.
"Something just touched me."
There was more laughing. Then it was silent. Then they heard footsteps in the parlor. They peeped into the room to see no one.
"Where did that come from?" Ulquiorra pointed to a porcelain music box that was sitting on a table under a mirror by the far wall. "I don't remember that being there when we got here, do you?"
"No." Rukia shook her head.
Grimmjow picked it up, "Didn't that manager chick say something about things moving from room to room?"
"Yeah she did," Ichigo nodded. "Oh God…" He froze when saw something in the mirror.
"What?" They all looked to see what he was looking at. They all saw a shadow like figure the size of a child waving at them. They turned around to see nothing. They all jumped when the music box started playing on its own. Grimmjow dropped it on the plush rug and it continued to play. He picked it back up when it finally silenced itself and sat it down on the table.
"Hey guys." A female voice said cheerfully.
They all jumped around. "God, babe, don't do that," Grimmjow told her with his heart pounding. This was all nerve racking.
"Sorry about that. What happened to you guys?" Orihime handed them each decaffeinated coffee.
"It's a long story," Ichigo told her.
"Well, I'm all ears." They all told her. "Oh my God," She swallowed.
"Yep, that's pretty much it."
"We should keep notes just to keep things straight," Rukia told them.
"Good idea," Ichigo nodded. He pulled out a note pad in pen. He made a list of the events so far in chronological order.
-Jade dragon
-Children laughing
-Room 18
-Children laughing
-Grimmjow touched with nothing there
-Footsteps in the parlor, no one there
-Music box in lobby
-Shadow-like kid waving in the mirror
"Did you two ever made it to the attic?" Grimmjow asked Ichigo.
"No we didn't, duh. Did you guys make it to the basement?"
"Yeah, we did."
(Sunset)
They went down the stairs. Ulquiorra flipped on the light. There were crates upon crates filled with books about ghost, exorcism, and such. "What is all this doing down here?" Rukia wondered.
"That's not even the weirdest thing," Grimmjow opened one of the small crates and showed the others. It was filled with witchcraft items and voodoo dolls.
"What is all this stuff?" Orihime asked.
"Someone has been coxing spirits and ended up haunting this lodge," Ulquiorra said.
"That sounds like the most likely thing to me," Ichigo said as he added the crate's contents to the list.
-Jade dragon
-Children laughing
-Room 18
-Children laughing
-Grimmjow touched with nothing there
-Footsteps in the parlor, no one there
-Music box in lobby
-Shadow-like kid waving in the mirror
-Box filled with witchcraft and voodoo stuff
"Maybe we should start putting together the pieces that we have," Ichigo put the list away.
"Yeah, if any of 'em fit together," Grimmjow put the box back where he got it from. He looked at Orihime when she grabbed his sleeve. "What's wrong?" He asked her.
"Remember when you asked me to look up about children that had possibly died here?"
"Yeah."
"They all disappeared from room 18. They might have been used as sacrifices in witchcraft rituals here in the basement." Orihime's hand was shaking now.
"Okay, okay, calm down," Grimmjow took her hand and pulled her to him, "Calm down." She shivered.
"Let's go to the attic," Ulquiorra said. Grimmjow took Orihime's hand and they followed the others up the stairs.
The attic door creaked open, to reveal a dark dusty room that contained on a few stacks of dusty linins, some chairs, and… "There's that damn music box again," Grimmjow growled.
"That thing really is following us," Rukia said.
"I wonder if it has something to do with what's going on in this place," Orihime said as she stepped forward and gently picked up the box off of the stack of bed sheets. She brought back over the group.
"Oh my God," Grimmjow said.
"What is it?" Orihime wondered.
"I got it."
"Got what Grimmjow," Ichigo asked.
"I figured out what happened in this place."
"What is that?"
"The kids were staying at the lodge. They were kidnapped from room 18 like Hime said. They were taken down to the basement for sacrifices in these bizarre rituals to that jade dragon."
"What about the music box, what part does it play in all of this?" Ulquiorra took the box from Orihime.
"It was used to put the kids to sleep is what I think."
"Yeah, it all fits together," Ichigo nodded.
"But there are three things left to figure out, who conducted the rituals, what's in room 18, and how do we help the children find peace?" Rukia put in the questions left unanswered.
"I don't know, I haven't figured that out yet," Grimmjow sighed.
"Well, the only thing to do now is go back to room 18," Rukia said.
"Do we gotta? That room is freaky." Ichigo asked as they headed down stairs with the box in tow.
"Yes, Ichigo we do."
"Great," He said sarcastically.
####################
"God, this place gives me the creeps." Ichigo said as they sat in the room. Grimmjow saw that Orihime was nervous. Orihime was never cut out for the investigative part of the job that's why she was the researcher. Grimmjow took her shaky hand and gave it a light squeeze and he kissed her on the top of her head. "Calm down Hime, I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered in her ear. Orihime smiled at him and kissed his cheek.
"Okay," Ichigo said, "What do we do now?"
"Let's do an EVP." Ulquiorra suggested.
"Good idea." Ichigo pulled out the recorder. "Are you a child?"
"Are you the one who took the kids?" Grimmjow put in a question.
"Let's play it back." Rukia said.
Ichigo pressed the button. "Are you a child?"
Yes.
"Are you the one who took the kids?"
*child crying*
"Damn." Grimmjow said. Then he felt a cold chill. He shivered.
"What's wrong?" Orihime wondered.
"Felt a cold chill."
"I did too," Ichigo said.
"So it's a child haunting this place," Orihime said, stilling holding Grimmjow's hand. "So that's one question down."
"What about the other two, the person that did the rituals and how to help the children," Rukia said sitting by Ichigo.
They all stiffened when the music box, which sat in the middle of the floor, started playing suddenly. Grimmjow opened the lid to find the gears weren't moving. He looked at the others. They all jumped when they heard a bloodcurdling scream. They all jumped to their feet and rushed down stairs to follow the screaming all the way down to the basement to find no one there.
"I wonder what would happen if we burned this shit," Grimmjow picked up the box with the witchcraft stuff in it.
"It might give the spirits peace," Rukia said. "I guess trying to find out who did the rituals is pointless."
"It seems that way since the murders happened over twenty years ago." Ulquiorra nodded.
"That manager chick…" Grimmjow started to say. "No scratch that, she's too young to have done it."
"Yeah," Ichigo nodded. "Let's get Mizho's permission to burn the stuff and see what happens."
###############
"Well that wasn't so bad," Rukia said as they got into the van. Everyone looked at her. "What?"
"Well anyway, at least we know that the spirits of those kids are at peace now," Ichigo said driving back into town.
"Yeah."
They got Mizho's permission to burn the witchcraft items. The team stayed one more night to see if it worked, which it did. The jade dragon was removed from the property. The lodge started to have customers again.
Everyone looked towards the back of the van when a familiar tune began to play from Grimmjow's duffel bag. "Damn it," He groaned.
"Well, what can you say?" Ichigo smiled, "The thing likes you man."
"Shut up Kurosaki."
Fin
