Hi, please feel free to respond with any polite constructive criticism. Abuse, insults or criticism without a logically explained basis will be ignored.
This is my first ever upload, and I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue with this.
If I don't get many responses or any positive feedback from either this site or friends, I probably won't continue this for more than a couple chapters.
So please let me know if you would like to read more, or if you would like me to head in any particular direction.
I've given this a higher age/content rating as I have hopes to eventually make it rather gruesome or graphic with the horror sections, though hopefully not to too many people's dismay, I have very little intention of writing anything explicitly sexual.

I guess I'll just follow the general disclaimers;
I do not own, nor claim to own, Ghost Hunt in any way. Neither do I own any intellectual property related to Ghost Hunt other than what original content I have written here.
Thank you, and please enjoy : )

Waking Dreams, the Ghost Hunt returns.

Friday, January.

Shibuya, Tokyo.

A young girl with chestnut brown hair and matching eyes walked out of a quiet school building. It seemed empty for the most part, with only a small hand full of cars remaining in the adjoining parking lot and a few faint sources of light visible in and around the building, most likely from teachers with after school duties or cleaners who had been held back for one reason or another.
A little way down the path, towards the school's front gate, the girl slows her pace to an almost stand still, whilst rummaging in her backpack.
With it awkwardly slung across her shoulder, she begins crumpling and moving everything inside around. She drops a pen and a few scraps of paper which are quickly blown away and quietly curses before yanking out what she was looking for with a look of triumph.
She pulls out the stem of the compact umbrella whilst simultaneously releasing the catch, letting out her shelter.

It had been gloomy all day, with overhanging clouds and a slight drizzle that had threatened to turn into a steady rain.
The girl felt as if the weather had deliberately waited just until she was heading home before changing, as now she felt heavier drops falling on the small canopy above her.
She cursed again quietly, picking up her pen and trotting quickly off the path and into the garden to catch up with a couple of the papers she dropped earlier, picking up each one as she went along.

The last piece was caught in the branches of a large shrub. A deep irritated frown came across her forehead and she felt her eye twitch, realising through the smearing wet ink that the paper was her essay due on Monday.
THE ONE SHE JUST SPENT HOURS AFTER SCHOOL IN THE LIBRARY FINISHING!
She lunged for it as it began to flutter with a new breeze, afraid that it would fly further into the large shrubs that bordered the garden bed.
Her foot caught on something in the dark and she fell in a heap, scrunching the paper that she'd managed to grab and getting her umbrella caught up in the sharp protruding upper branches of the plant. She cursed whilst tugging sharply at her umbrella's handle, all the while getting more and more frustrated and flustered.

A powerful and chilling gust of wind pulled at the umbrella, and in turn her, pushing her against the twigs and branches of the shrub, earning her several scratches and one larger scrape up the side of her thigh, ripping through her tights. She earned another on her side where her shirt and jacket had been caught up, exposing soft skin to the abrasive and sharp branches.

She gasped at the pain of her side and fell flat onto her rump into the now muddy garden bed, forced off balance by another gust after finally letting go of her now shredded umbrella. She sighed, still frowning, and took in her situation.
She was now soaking wet, muddy, miserably cold, had a broken umbrella and her scratches were stinging.
Although it only felt like a sore and throbbing pain now and it didn't burn or sting as much as the smaller scrapes, she had a feeling that, hidden from her scrutiny in the growing darkness, the scrape on her side was most likely bleeding into her school shirt... which was white.
She sighed in frustrated defeat once again and let out an annoyed grunt as she decided she aught to get up and just forget the damned umbrella, its not like it would be doing much good in keeping her dry from the now pouring rain, and she doubted that she could get any more soaked through.

She shuffled to the side and onto her knees, moving to stand, when a glint of light reflecting off metal caught her eye.
She leaned in closer to the underneath part of the shrub, wincing as a sharp twig that she didn't see in the dark scraped her cheek.
Covering it protectively from the rain, she pulled out her mobile phone from one of the lined pockets in her backpack, using it's light to show her what she now discovered was a small box.

The box was beautifully designed, made from a dark, richly coloured, wood that she thought could have been mahogany. It had a set of small and shiny golden hinges with a matching clasp holding it's lid in place.
It was engraved with intricate designs and patterns of what seemed to be tiny roses. The engravings were even highlighted with what she thought looked like gold based paint, though she giggled quietly at herself, disregarding such a silly thought.
After all, who would spend the time and money on gold paint and expensive wood only to be so careless with it that they lost it in a garden?
Looking more closely she noticed tiny, less artistic carvings around the rim of the box's lid. They looked strangely familiar and after seeing them she felt in her gut that she really shouldn't touch it.

It was only then that she realised how cold it had gotten, and how even though the rain continued to pour consistently, the wind had reduced to nothing. Not even a tiny breeze to remind her of the gusts that were present only moments ago. It was eerily still.

Feeling a little creeped out, and eager to get home, she flinched realising that she aught to stop gawking at the box and get moving, it was only getting darker, colder and later and she needed to get up for work the next day.
She sighed in thought, smiling to herself sadly, remembering her old job. The one she had at S.P.R. and her old boss, the narcissistic Naru! She finds herself chuckling at the likely jerk-ish insults that he would have had lined up at her expense if he saw her just sitting in the mud and rain.
Snapping out of her daydream, she sadly remembered that it had been more than a year since she'd seen him, let alone since he'd even been in the same country.
She knew he probably wasn't ever coming back.

She almost felt herself start to stand up and just walk away when guilt tugged her back to the box, considering if she should do something about it.
She felt bad about leaving it there in the damp to get ruined or stolen. It looked pretty expensive and old, maybe even a family heirloom or something, and it might even have something more expensive and important inside, not that she would look, that just seemed too rude to her.
She sighed, deciding that she aught to take it back into the school building where she could place it in the lost and found chute, as no one would likely be there to receive it directly.

She reached out with the tips of her fingers to grab the edge of the box, so that she could drag it close enough for her to pick up without earning herself another scratch to the sensitive skin of her face. As she touched it's surface she felt a sharp pain course up her arm, causing her to scream out in pain before collapsing into a faint.

All she saw before the darkness enveloped her was the pale, smirking face of a woman who's knotted and wet black hair hung down concealing most of her face. Even through the shadows and hair though, nothing could hide those eyes. Cold and lifeless and staring hungrily right at her.

'She stood in a small wooden room, it's walls were engraved with huge roses. The engravings seemed to be highlighted with the same gold paint that was on the box in the garden.
It was eerily silent in the room, and she felt a chill rush through her as she realised that there wasn't a door, or even a window anywhere.

She turned around, walking across the deep red coloured carpet, looking at all the walls to see if maybe there was a hidden door, latch or anything. After making two turns of the room she found herself making a slight whimper.

The moment she let out a sound she felt the room get colder.
She heard the rustle of cloth behind her and spun to see the same woman that she'd glimpsed before standing across the room, she was wearing a white kimono, decorated with gold roses.
It's floor-length sleeves and the many layers seemed to be fluttering in a breeze that wasn't there. The girl looked down at the bottom of the woman's sleeves and skirts to see them stained red.
In the same instant she realised that the deep red carpet she and the woman were standing on was now a pool of blood, engulfing her ankles and slowly bubbling and rising, making her feel sick to the stomach with repulsion and fear.

The girl blinked and the next instant the woman had appeared within an inch of her face. She could practically taste the unmistakable scent of copper or tarnished metal on her breath. She knew from too many experiences that it was blood, and her fears were confirmed as the woman's smirk morphed into a full grin, showing bloodstained teeth, while blood freely poured from her mouth and down her neck and dress.
And those eyes, they just made her want to run...

"It's mine!" A voice croaked icily into the girls mind as the woman grabbed the girl painfully by the arm, making her scream as she tried to jump back from the suddenly close woman and the pain of her hold.
She tripped and the woman forced her down, into the now knee-deep blood pool. The girl tried desperately to keep her head above the liquid when she fell, but it didn't take long for the woman's unbelievable strength to force her under.
She gasped just before she was pushed beneath the surface, taking a last gulp of air, whilst thrashing and trying to fight off the force above her.
She couldn't last much longer, she felt a pain growing in her chest, telling her that she was out of time.
She thought to herself, she was going to die... She was going die alone, drowning in blood...

Unable to hold on any longer, she coughed and gasped, feeling her lungs burn as they filled with the foreign liquid while the taste of blood filled her mouth.
She still was vaguely aware of the cold and painful grip on her arm and the painful pressure on her chest, just below her throat. She felt her body convulse and gulped one last time. Before she blacked out she thought she heard someone in the distance call her name, but then it was just darkness.

Outside point of view:

He'd been waiting for nearly two hours at the little family owned restaurant across the street from the apartment lot that he'd been told she lived at now.
Contrary to the run down looking lot across from it, the restaurant was a nice place. Well priced and the soup he'd ordered was well stocked with fresh seafood, herbs and spices, likely bought at the nearby market that day.

He'd chosen a table by the front, with a chair facing the window, hoping that he'd see her approaching the front gate when she came home.
She should have finished school two and a half hours ago, and she should have been home by now. He wondered if she might still stay back after school telling ghost stories with her friends like she used to, before they met.
That would be just like Mai, he thought to himself. Away from their investigations for only a year and she was probably straight back to recklessly wandering the streets alone after dark, whilst carelessly thinking so little of the dangers of ghost's that she would joke about them and her experiences.

He sighed and stood up to leave, he'd already bought four rounds of tea to keep the restaurant owner happy with him being there for so long, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with them asking him to leave for taking up a table and not buying much.
He bought a small bag of some generic fortune cookies and thanked the woman at the entry counter. He then picked up his black umbrella from the rack beside the door, and left, stepping out into the constant drizzle that had kept up all day.

It didn't take long for him to reach Mai's school. He was surprised at how lucky she was to find somewhere so close.
Not that the apartment lot had seemed all that great.
He'd heard that she had trouble getting a decent place after S.P.R. closed down, as she could only find an average job at a department store.
With only part-time hours and a lower wage, she could hardly expect to continue paying the rent for her old apartment.

He was lost in thought walking up to the parking lot, towards the building that seemed to house the library and administrative offices of the school, when he saw a young girl with chestnut brown hair walk out of the main entrance and down the path.
He looked on from a distance, not sure if it was Mai. Watching as the girl struggled with her bag.
She then pulled out her umbrella with a childish look of triumph and he smirked as she ran off the path after the paper she'd clumsily dropped from her bag.
It was definitely Mai, he thought to himself, only she could be so childish and clumsy.

He watched her stumble across the grass and into the garden bed, picking up the pieces as she went. He cringed and began walking across the lot when he saw her trip and get knocked into a shrub whilst struggling with her now torn and broken umbrella, which was completely unmanageable in the growing wind.
He himself had pulled in his own umbrella several minutes ago, preferring to get wet than struggle idiotically and end up having it burst inside out and break anyway.
He was nearly across the lot when he saw her grasp slip from the handle and her fall onto her behind, he couldn't see it in the dark, but he smirked again knowing she would now be covered in mud.

He stopped at the edge of the parking lot, a little more than twenty paces from her.
The wind had suddenly gone still without warning and a cold chill filled the air in it's place, he shivered slightly as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
Remembering why he was there, he began to take a step forward, when he saw Mai entranced by something that she was now shining her mobile phone's light on.
He stared for a few moments, trying to see what she had found.
He had to smirk again at the idea of her sitting in the mud and pouring rain like an idiot, staring at something under a bush without even seeming to realise that she was getting even more drenched.

He saw her reach out one hand towards whatever it was, protecting her face from the smaller twigs with the other while she leaned towards it. Her scream filled the air as she jolted back from the object, holding her arm in pain and then collapsing into a faint.
He ran to her, kneeling and sitting her up against his chest as he checked her arm with the pen torch that he always carried with him.
Pulling up her sleeve, he found a few welts where twigs and branches must have caught her through the fabric of her jacket. He found that the hand he had supporting her side had come away with blood.
In a slight panic he lifted the edge of her shirt, discovering a large and somewhat deep scrape up her side. He cursed lightly, realising it was most likely caused from her falling against the shrub earlier.
'Just like Mai', he thought, 'trying to hold onto that umbrella like an idiot and wearing such a thin jacket in this weather, not to mention a skirt and tights!'

He could feel her shivering in his hold as she let out a whimper and a small moan of fear.
Her body then convulsed in pain as if in a restless dream.

"Mai!"he said, shaking her gently, "Mai, wake up, you're safe!"
He held her a little closer as the wrinkles of pain began to fade from her face and her body stopped shaking. Sighing a little in relief at her relaxing, though she still didn't wake, he turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

Shining his light underneath the shrub, he saw what she had found. A small mahogany box with gold-lined engravings of roses.
He frowned suddenly when he noticed the other engravings in the lid, he couldn't tell what it said without Lin's translation, but he new Sanskrit or something derived from the same symbols when he saw it.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and used the speed dial to make a call,

"Lin," he said without waiting for a greeting, "We have a problem"...