Author's Note: Heya! Welcome to one of my first supernatural stories and first Ghost Hunt fanfic! I hope you enjoy this story- it's somewhat different from things that I've written before.

All right! So when this story was first posted, I said there was gonna be fluff between Naru and Lin with the OC…I LIED!!!!!!!!!! Well, not really. I just thought it over and that the NaruxOC part would be totally stupid, and when I continued edited the written portions, I realized that it's so painful to separate Naru and Mai! So it has refrained to NaruxMai and LinxOC. Wootness! I'm sure there will be a lot of happier people here. Hahahaha.

So yeah!

Enjoy!!

ChiyakoChan

Together We Exist

Chapter 1: SPR

"So…I finally…escaped…"

The girl, trembling from the cold, collapsed to her knees. Gripping her own shoulders tight, she forced her weak limbs up and continued. Buffeted by snow, ice, and bitter wind, Aiw's body angled towards the right and she nearly fell for a second time. She coughed, and even her bones seemed to rattle. Holding her hand before her eyes, she ignored the pain and tried to look onwards.

The wind howled in her ears, and the ice caked on her skin, feeling like needles as they pushed against her. The snowstorm seemed the increase in ferocity just because she was outside, trying to escape. This pain, this numb feeling…

…it was almost better than the feelings she got inside that house.

Most of her body was thoroughly numb by that moment; she couldn't feel her fingers, she couldn't feel her toes. She had no jacket and the needles in her skin intensified by the second. She succumbed to this acceptance peacefully, and lay in the snow with pure intentions. In the back of her mind, she knew what was coming, and she welcomed it with open arms.

Aiw's skin like plaster and her blood like ice, Aiw only watched the blisteringly cold snow cover her body without an ounce of pain. Still…she could not believe that this was the end…

"I…am…out…" escaped her blue-tinted lips, "They can't…reach me…" such a realization made her await the black curtain's fall with earnest; no more suffering, no more tears. Looking towards the sky, Aiw's last tear went astray like the white orbs above her. Were they snowflakes? Or were they spirits welcoming her arrival into their world?

"It's so…beautiful…" she whispered. Shutting her eyes, feeling at peace, and resting her hand on her chest, Aiw finally submitted to the heavy tiredness pulling her into darkness.

Then…a bright light…was it in her mind…or in front of her…? Aiw was unable to tell. Tranquil, she smiled. It was finally…over.

Nothing could hurt her now.

"Shibuya Psychic Research I presume?" the elderly, balding landowner bowed deeply to his guests, "I am so glad you accepted my request to come and investigate." The man rose from his bent position, "I am Jonathan Witl, owner of this land." His slight accent and foreign name revealed that he was from a completely different country.

"Yes, we thank you very much for having us," the male wearing all black bowed in return, holding an arm out towards the people behind him as a polite gesticulation, "I am the president, Shibuya Kazuya. These are my assistants, Mai Taniyama and Koujo Lin. This is Masako Hara, Ayako Matsuzaki, John Brown and Housho Takigawa, monks and priestesses of the sorts. Pray tell that you have a base and rooms set up for us."

"Of course," the lanky, thin middle-aged man nodded with a crooked smile. He seemed uncomfortable, and his fingers slightly shook as he pointed down another hallway, "Right this way."

The mansion was simply magnificent. There were five stories as shown when they first drove up to the entrance. The halls, the rooms, the chambers, and the gardens were of medieval design, ancient statues and designs increasing the intricacy of each room. The carpets were unstained velvet of the highest authenticity, maroon and crimson and navy blue in some places. The walls were extravagantly carved wood, with busts and floral designs framing nearly every corridor. There were hand-painted portraits of the first family's many generations. Chandeliers of gold, silver and onyx hung magically from the ceramic ceilings, candlelight flickering and dancing upon the walls from above. The color themes in every room were pleasing to nearly every eye, some for a particular or unique taste with its same luscious furnishings and family portraits. There were many different people hung on the walls, mostly from the first generation. Then there was one portrait in the main dining room that towered up towards the ceiling, a young woman with long, ebony locks and big blue eyes, smiling a mischievous grin. Her features were similar to those of the elderly man, but when asked who she was, the man just laughed and said she was the daughter of the previous owner. He claimed there was no such relation between him and her. His laugh raised suspicions, but no more words were said on the matter.

The blonde, Catholic exorcist was the first to notice the never disappearing bloodstains upon the ivory carpet of the expansive library. All the others had been staring wide-eyed at the expensive gold frames and alabaster lighting of the room.

"What happened here?" he called tentatively to the older man ahead of the crew.

Jonathan's grimace shaped his lips strangely as she spoke, "No matter how many times the maids wash the carpet the stains never disappear. There are many like that on portraits that won't come off the wall or on other rugs or carpets, or even the glass of the windows. Every time we replace one of those furnishings, they reappear in the same place the next morning as if they never left the mansion."

Shibuya Kazuya, or Naru as the owner overheard Mai calling him, muttered thoughtfully, "I see…" and continued walking.

As they closed the door behind them, Naru took one last look to the library as a page of one of the open books fluttered and turned. He did not even blink. Feeling eyes on the back of his head, he slowly shut the door.

When they reached the lobby-like room that was there base, the man nodded and said, "This is the only room where there seems to me virtually no paranormal activity," he cringed at the word.

Naru tilted his head ever so slightly, cold eyes revealed nothing as he asked, "Is there something that bothers you with this investigation?" the blatant nature of his question surprised no one but the person he asked.

Clearing his throat before he responded, Jonathan was completely transparent, "No, it's just that—"he stopped himself before his lie seemed too ridiculous. He sighed and said, "Initially, I was not the one who requested something like a 'paranormal investigation.'"

A pause. Naru processed his thoughts quickly, keeping his even stare upon the man before him. Without looking at the others, he said, "Mai, Takigawa-san, and Matsuzaki-san, start unloading our equipment. Lin, stay here and record this interview."

"Interview?" Jonathan inquired as Naru gestured for him to sit down.

"Brown-san and Hara-san stay here," Naru finished. Finally, he looked to his client and said, "We have only a few questions that remain unanswered."

Sitting opposite of Jonathan on the other side of the mahogany desk, Naru took his sweet time to take a notebook out of his briefcase and clicking his pen. In a matter of seconds, the aforementioned people were either out of the room, or sitting upon on the couches and waiting patiently. Lin sat beside Naru and pulled out a small recorder.

Naru did not even seem to breathe until Lin initiated the device.

Immediately, a question was fired at Jonathan, "What was your true purpose of hiring the Shibuya Psychic Research center to exorcise your home?"

The man squirmed in his seat and never looked at any of the psychics in the eye. Twiddling his thumbs upon the desk, he spoke shakily, "My daughter…m-my daughter was the one that practically begged me to do something about…well, I already told you what she saw and heard in his house—"

"What have you seen?"

"…" the man's head bowed and he stared at his own hands. He was sweating, "I haven't seen anything at all."

His eyes narrowed, Naru jotted a few things on his paper quickly and continued, "Then what caused you to listen to your daughter's words?"

The man being questioned flinched, "T-that silly girl…" a crooked smile flickered upon his face, then was blown out by the memory that came to his mind, "She was so convinced of the terrors in this house that she wrote about them in her journal every single day, believing they were true. Then…one night…only three nights ago actually…she left the journal open upon this desk…" his fingers ran over the surface and his eyes dimmed with some sort of nostalgia, "Only when I found it a few hours later that I realized that she…she tried to leave this house."

"Is she here? We would like to talk to her in-depth about her experiences."

Jonathan looked back up at Naru, an unreadable expression upon his face, "She's—"

Mai's scream could be heard from the library.

A/N: Omigosh! Cliffhanger! Go read the next chapter! XD