Please don't kill me, I have a chapter ready for HHFW its just being beta-ed!
This is going to be quite a bit different from its source material, no?
6/22/16: I will be going through the chapters editing small things, though don't get me wrong, a few words here and a line there can make the world of difference in making things make more sense. Plus I'm finding things I missed first publish.
Summary: Mai is the sweet, idealistic, latent psychic that we have grown to love, but what would happen if Mai had a younger twin brother, a twin who was dead. A twin who managed to live out his life as a spirit.
Chapter 1
A Story of a Ghost
It all started one stormy day when we were telling ghost stories as usual in the Audiovisual room.
"... So then..." One of my friends said in a mystifying voice.
"... The woman went back to the public restroom with the police officer..."
"... And as he'd instructed, she went inside and waited to hear the 'voice' again..."
"... After a few moments she heard a scary voice asking her.."
"Shall I put the red veil over your face...?" she asked raising and lowering her voice at the same time to put a creepy climax over the silent buildup of tension.
"The woman said yes and suddenly the police officer heard a loud scream! He pushed the door open and rushed in to fine..." She paused dramatically for effect.
"...The woman lying dead, covered with blood as if she were wearing a red veil. There were small holes all over her body as if someone had repeatedly stabbed her with a knitting needle." She ended lowering her voice an octave, her voice gravely with the effort- again for effect.
"No!" one of my friends shrieked obviously scared. I covered her mouth sending a warning glance her way. If we're too loud then someone will hear us. The teller of the story turned off her light as I did so.
After you finish telling your ghost story, you turn the flashlight off. Then after everyone has told their stories you count the people in the room and somehow you'll have an extra person...
….. Apparently that extra person will be a ghost.
That was a good story, definitely one of her personal best. A young male voice sounded.
There was one thing I forgot to mention about myself. I have a brother, and he is not exactly among the land of the living.
Its not as if he was killed or something, in fact he has never breathed a breath of air.
Our circumstance was kind of odd. He was meant to be my fraternal twin brother. The doctors say that if he had been born, he most likely would have been born blind.
He has auburn brown hair, and shining silver eyes. He is not the tallest boy around, but don't underestimate him. He actually does attend school. In our school they always have one desk open for any new students.
That and class doesn't 'feel right' if there isn't a desk open for him.
It's your turn, do you have your story planned out?
I think I do, mind doing a check to see if its OK.
Its fine, the others are waiting.
Did I mention we are telepathically linked? Despite the whole being dead thing its as if he is alive.
Going over the story I nodded, gaining the attention of my friends who had started to zone out.
Its go time.
"The story starts in an old house in America. A small family of three from Japan moved into a large house that has a certain charm to it. Although its in a prime location and has plenty of room, it was relatively low in price..." I paused to look each of the girls in the eye.
"...That should have been the first warning sign."
"The family consisted of a father, a mother, and a six-year-old daughter. The child always had her imaginary friends, but upon entering the house, everything changed."
"She would always talk about her friends and how they are really tall. A lot taller than the girl had ever seen, but given that the Japanese people are not the tallest in the world, they quickly brushed it off..." A small grin wormed its way on my face.
"...That was mistake number two."
"Over time she gradually stopped talking about the tall beings, so they just thought she was starting to grow out of having 'imaginary friends'. Little did they know she had not stopped seeing them. Oh and did she see."
"She began to notice things. How they seemed to constantly watch her, as if they were looking for the perfect moment to strike. How they would loom over her despite how much she herself has grown in the years. She had not stopped seeing them, she only has started to grow fearful, fearful and quiet."
"Not telling had become mistake number three."
"In the time she waited, they grew in numbers, they grew in strength."
"One night the parents went to check on her after she did not heed their calls. What they found still scares them to this day."
"Eleven charcoal black creatures loomed, easily reaching thirteen feet in height. Their arms, their necks, their boney legs, all seemed disproportionate in length. So tall were they that they had to bend their head at the ceiling. In the center of the room lay the daughter, completely covered in freeze-burned hand-prints, in their clawed, blistered, bloody glory."
My voice lowered dramatically in volume signaling the end of the short story. The look of the faceless beings still fresh in my mind. I had a habit of talking formal when telling stories, borderline keigo, but it made it all the creepier.
During the story, two of my friends had started hugging into each other, cowering, while the last sat there frozen. My brother floated- yes floated, as annoying as that is- a few feet to my side. I grinned and snapped off my flashlight.
This seemed to snap them out of it as the girl who was frozen- Michiru- started to tell her story.
"...OK... I'll tell the story about the old school building..." She started
"Do you mean that wooden building that's half falling apart?" I asked.
"It's not just falling apart. The building was supposed to have been destroyed but they had to stop the demolition process half way through..."
"...Because of a curse."
"The building would see many fires and accidents. Some of these accidents are of a student's death, there even was a teacher's suicide. I heard that the dead body of a child was found there."
"When they tried to demolish the west wall, the roof fell through the second floor and everyone on the first floor was killed."
"When the new school building was built, they tried to completely demolish the old building again..."
"...Forcing them to stop the demolition."
"... But many of the demolition workers became sick or got in accidents. Equipment broke down..."
"Last year they tried to restart when the gymnasium was being built, but they had to stop in the middle because..."
"...The same kind of incidents started happening again. A driver lost control of his truck and it ran over some students that were on the volleyball court."
"... and on one evening, my Sempai was passing by the old building and... she saw a glowing figure in the window staring at her." I jerked slightly in surprise. Someone actually saw that?
She snapped of the light and it was time for the counting to start.
"...One..."
"Two..."
"Three..."
"... Four..."
"Five."
This caused an uproar of frightened screams. In the panic someone grabbed onto me slightly choking me.
The light flickered on and all heads snapped to the door. Standing in the doorway was a rather good looking teen in all black.
"Ah... were you the one who just said 'five'...?" One of my friends said exasperatedly.
I don't see anyone else... my brother sarcastically remarked.
Quiet you! I reprimanded.
"Yes... is something wrong?" The teen replied. I sweat dropped at his underlying bluntness.
"Holy cow! You scared me half to death!" Michiru exclaimed. I have to admit, he startled me pretty bad too.
"Sorry 'bout that." he apologized. His voice was smooth, feigning sincerity.
"The light wasn't on, so I didn't think anyone was in here... But then I heard your voices, so..." he trailed off, smartly avoiding finishing the sentence that would obviously upset or offend someone.
"It's okay. No worries. Are you a transfer student?" she reassured.
"Sort of." he said mysteriously. Sort of? Its a yes or no question, you can't 'sort of' be a transfer student.
"What grade are you in?" my friend said, clearly interested.
"I'll turn 17 this year." he replied. Why couldn't he just say I'm in second grade?'
I don't know sister, maybe he dropped out of school. My brother said examining the boy while floating.
He doesn't seem like the type...
"Then you're our sempai... one year older than us." My friends oh-so-cleverly deduced. Seriously just because you think he's cute, you guys don't have to get so exited.
Well... he actually is kind of cute... scratch that, very cute...
….but...
I don't know... something about him bothers me...
"We were telling ghost stories." Michiru exclaimed.
"Oh really? Would you mind if I join you?" Is he flirting?
"Of course not, please do! By the way, what's your name?"
"Shibuya." He replied. His tone sounded sort of strange, like he was not all that used to using that name. Did he just give my friends a fake name, oooh now I want to punch his pretty little face in.
"So, Shibuya-sempai, do you like ghost stories too?" she asked.
"...So-so." he replied. His replies are getting shorter and shorter. He gives a dazzling grin that sets the other girls off. Something is not right...
I decided to act on my suspicions.
"Shibuya-san, or whatever." He turned his attention to me, still smiling.
"Yes?" he asked.
Just as I thought...! His eyes aren't smiling, that smile is fake! Something has to be up!
He looks stupid when his smiles don't match. I don't know how you girls can fall for that. He isn't even that good looking.
Well, now I know you aren't gay, I was having my doubts.
Shut up! He snapped.
"What are you doing in here, anyway?" I asked not trying to hide my unimpressed suspicions in my voice.
"I had some errands to run." he vaguely answered.
"Well then, why don't you get to your errands... 'cause we're leaving now."
"Ehhh!?" The girls screamed.
"Mai! Please ignore her, sempai. What errands do you need done? We'd be happy to help you." You could practically hear the heart in her voice. Annoyance coursed through my veins.
"I'm OK, I just need to make some dubs. But would you mind if I joined you next time you get together for ghost stories?" He asked politely. He didn't seem all that interested in the stories themselves, like this was just a game for him.
And of course my ever gullible friends completely bought it.
"Sure, how about tomorrow! After school?" What the heck, don't go separating your sentences all dreamy and exited like!
"OK. Where?"
"In our classroom! It's 1-F!" She exclaimed. I spared a suspicious glance on the way out. He merely stood there by the teachers desk, his form completely cloaked in black except for his hands and a few slivers of skin. My brother floated slowly above the desks, he strangely was silent during the whole event.
The next mourning brought a partly cloudy day. I let out a groan feeling my bones crack noisily as I stretched.
"Ahhhh... What a beautiful day. I was right about coming to school early. I have all these beautiful cherry blossoms to myself." I murmured to myself, gazing up at the trees, sighing happily.
My eyes glazed over slightly as I thought of last night. Allen had been silent all night and seemed to be contemplating something. He didn't look to be feeling all that well so I just let it be. A feeling of cold sadness swept over me as I spotted something in the corner of my eye with a start.
The old schoolhouse stood in all it's run-down glory. My thoughts recalling the stories of my friends. My mood dropped, almost to zero in no time. The way it seemed to loom scared me, as if it could fall down at any moment.
Looking at the wooden deathtrap you can easily see why one would think it haunted. It was then that I noticed something sitting half in the shadows. A camera...?
Like the kind they use for TV shows, why in the world would it be in there? To top it all off, its too dark to see any detail. I stood there contemplating for a moment then steeled my resolve.
I opened the door and walked in.
And of course the door let out a long-winded creak as it did so.
Turns out my observation was correct. I murmured my opinion out-loud, this was a terrible place for a camera. Not only to you get a small view, but it is in the center so should the ceiling collapse, it would break. It also doesn't help that its next to multiple standalone shoe racks, that's like, no number one in film class.
I went to move it to a safer place when a loud screech pierced the silence. Milliseconds later multiple white orbs of light shot in front of me, almost hitting me. The only reason they didn't was because of my further disrupted balance causing me to slam into one of the cubbies.
"O-oops. I'm sorry I was just..." I reflex-idly stammered, noticing the bookcase sized piece of furniture lean in on me.
Oops... I thought fleetingly, unknowingly mirroring my previous statement.
The next second I was a little ways away, the raven ring staring innocently at me detached from its moment capturing counterpart.
The dust cleared and I turned to see a man who looked to be just barely nearing his thirties laying on the ground where I just stood. The smell of blood ever so faintly made its way known.
"Hey... are you okay?!" I asked, my voice a steady crescendo. I silently begged for someone- particularly my ghostly brother- to come.
I heard a step and a calm demanding voice.
"What's wrong?" the voice called out. I looked up to recognize him as the guy I met yesterday. He took another step forward, his long legs quickly taking him to the fallen man's position.
"Lin?" My guess was that that was the man's name, and that they new each other. He looked up at me asking what happened, to which I stammered a reply. My failure to speak was cut short with a crimson liquid that decided that was the perfect moment to come to its home on the ground.
"You're cut... Can you stand up?" The anger was evident in his voice as the man- I mean Lin- answered in affirmative.
"Fucking glowy-things... I'm really sorry... he said something and I got startled and.." The beginning of the rant was said in an almost inaudible whisper.
"I don't need an explanation. Do you know if there's a hospital nearby?" Black interrupted.
"Yeah. There's one right by the school entrance..." I answered ignoring that previous statements whereabouts.
"Give me a hand..." It was the closest to a request he was going to get. I nodded and moved to help, only to be rudely pushed away.
"Thanks. But no thanks. I don't need your help." Fringe denied. That was it, screw not being able to talk clearly!
"Excuse me?! It's not my fault you have terrible taste in camera placing, your just asking something to happen! Did I need you to save me? No! If you had eyes you could tell that I'm not exactly tall, I could have easily slipped in the cubby! Now let me take you to the hospital or I will take your spine out of your ass and shove it down your throat!"
Needless to say the two stoic-faces had slightly widened eyes. I grabbed Lin's arm and slung it over my shoulder. Black decided it was about time to snap out of it and started to speak.
"We met yesterday. What's your name?"
"Taniyama!" Came my short reply.
"Well. Taniyama-san. Let me give you some advice, the school bell rang a little while ago. Go to class!"
To that I gave the most withering glare I could muster, and continued to shoulder fringe with impressive strength. After reaching the threshold, I turned my head.
"My first period is still doing review, I can afford to miss if it means Fringe is given proper care as soon as possible. My gaze was drawn to something that shouldn't be possible.
Sitting under a shoe rack, was the camera with a little green light.
With that note, we end the first chapter of Spirit Walker!
"regular talking"
thoughts from Mai to Allen
Allen talking to Mai
Couldn't put that in the beginning for this first chapter.
I hope you enjoyed!
~AzureSkyTower