Ah, well, let's see if I can do this. This story serves a few purposes-most of it practice in third person and in writing a case. Don't let that sway you-I'm still serious about the story. I'm just mentioning that to tell you the writing may vary a bit chapter-to-chapter as I learn.

Well, enjoy. I hope.

I do not own Ghost Hunt.

PURE

Third person POV

PURE

Time comes and goes, that much is true. You have your ups and downs, but in the end, as long as you can keep going you will be fine. Sometimes, that notion extends to the afterlife too. And sometimes, that doesn't actually work out too well.

PURE

July

Sunday

Day 1

Even as they rode up there Mai couldn't help but be nervous before they even set foot on the property. This showed quite clearly on her face, and everyone could pretty much feel it coming off her in waves. Yet it was still her that made them accept the client's case.

The client, well, they never actually met him. Or her. Like what was just said, the team never met their client.

Ichigo Tokina had been sending numerous letters and videos, urging the team to take a case at a lake house. No one would say it, but after what had happened with The Forgotten Children case and the Oliver Davis fiasco and finding Naru's twin brother Gene, everyone was a little hesitant about taking another case near a lake. In the end, the curiosity and severity of the case (not to mention Mai) compelled Naru to take it.

Even so, the young boss still was battling inner demons that revolved around his twin and his murder. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that this case was threatening lives he probably wouldn't take it. Fear of a lake, how stupid. But for Oliver Davis/Kazuya Shibuya/Naru, it was a very real fear. He would barely admit it to himself, but he felt that all lakes seemed to symbolize losing some of his most important people.

Speaking of losing important people, Mai had told them some shocking news before they left. "Guys," she had said in a nervous tone, "after this case, you guys might not see me again." She wouldn't say why, claiming that they'd understand soon enough, and that they wouldn't be in the dark too much longer. The team had let it go, but it still bothered them, Lin included.

Ah, Lin. The Chinese sorcerer was driving the van, not bothered by the silence. Rather, what was bothering him was Taniyama's sudden announcement from not even three hours ago. Truly he had grown a bit fond of her, even though something about her had bothered him and his shiki at first. Something wasn't quite right about her, but Lin decided that it was probably nothing, and it may relate to her powers. Eugene and Oliver had seemed the same way. Even so, it did take some time to get used to her strange presence. It was a very strange thing indeed on the occasions she's been possessed. It felt as if she were dead, not just possessed. But Lin decided there was no way she could be dead-she wasn't a ghost for sure, and she had a body that got hurt (a lot because of her luck). No, she was alive, Lin had decided. It was just her psychic power, that's all.

In the other van, Masako was actually thinking along the same lines. She wasn't sure about Mai; it seemed almost as if the girl was in between life and death, similar to a comatose patient who astral projected. However, Mai ran around and got hurt and lived just like everyone else. So, she let it go. Her train of thoughts then diverged. The medium had noticed that Mai seemed nervous about the case. Was it Mai's intuition coming into play? Masako pondered this in the mist of the insanity inside the car.

Yasu, in typical Yasu fashion, was bothering Monk. What was different this time, however, was that with Madoka here, helping Yasu, of all things, the man wasn't going to catch a break anytime soon. Since all the equipment was in the other van only three people fit in there, so the actual office members- Lin, Naru, and Mai- rode in that one. That left this van with Monk, Ayako, John, Masako, Yasu, and Madoka. So Yasu and Madoka were double-teaming against Monk, Ayako was trying to keep Monk focused on the road, John was trying to diffuse the whole situation, and Masako wisely stayed out of it.

Somehow, everyone got to the house without an accident. They got out and stretched, and looked at the house they were investigating.

This house was a bit strange in its own right. The woods around it were so thick that the roads had to be made around it and the other vacation houses had to be located on the other side of the lake. Driving up you had to go on a barely-there dirt road that was between the tree line and the loose pebble beach that surrounded the lake. The house had apparently been built when the forest was young, so it was like a sort of clearing all around the house, the overgrown yard, and the gardens that led up to the lake where a boat dock with no boat could be seen.

The information given to them wasn't much, so that was the first thing they would do after they woke up tomorrow-research. All they knew was that there are tons of hiking trails in the area, and place was believed to be a sort of rest stop. All the other houses are similar in design to this one, but unlike the other places this place was secluded and was not for rent; the reasons why were unknown. They have been dozens of unexplained disappearances over the years, and it had no signs of stopping,

Soon, all of the SPR gang was forming a semicircle around Naru after they finished stretching. "Everyone," the young boss ordered, "do not go anywhere alone. Do not go into the house no matter what. We have no idea what we're dealing with here, but disappearances are happening. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and started getting out equipment and pairing up. Everyone worked in silence setting up the equipment around the house and in the area, the only thing breaking the silence was Naru as he gave orders.

"Ne, Masako, do you sense anything?" Mai asked the black-haired medium as they worked to set up a camera looking towards the boat dock. Masako paused as she thought through her words.

"It's strange… most of the ghosts are simply urging us away, telling us to run. They don't seem to want to talk about what happened. But there is one ghost… he waits in the house, and I don't think he can exit. He's hiding from me, but is trying to lure people into the house. The only thing I can say for certain about him is that he is a malicious spirit," Masako said quietly.

"So, you can confirm spirits are here for certain?" Naru came into the conversation carrying a microphone. So he can do manual labor…

Masako nodded. "Yes, not a single doubt. There has to be dozens and dozens of ghosts here…"

The other two nodded grimily-if Masako has already confirmed for sure that there were ghosts here, this meant this case was NOT going to be an easy one.

Of course, when was it ever?

PURE

Later, at the hotel, the girls shared a room and the boys split into two rooms. Naru was, of course, waiting until knowing the lake house was safe before going in it. Basic ghost hunting safety, really.

"Today is the first of July, right?" Madoka asked the other girls as they all got ready for bed and Ayako taking a shower. Madoka was still a bit confused-she had been on a plane from England no less than two days ago, so she was a bit disoriented still.

"That's right," Masako told her. Madoka thanked her and opened her planner. When she did she gasped.

"Mai! The third is your birthday! Why didn't you remind me?!" Madoka asked the teen from across the room.

Mai looked up from where she was searching through her suitcase. "Oh, right, my birthday is in a couple of days, huh? I don't really think about it much," she shrugged. Madoka then gave an angered groan.

"Of course you don't. Ya know, I should've guessed this too-Naru rubs off on you too much."

"What is this about Naru and rubbing?" Ayako came out of the bathroom.

Masako calmly answered, "Naru and Mai both don't care much for their birthdays it seems."

"And Mai's birthday is the third!" Madoka practically shouted.

The priestess stood there for a moment before reacting. "EH? Mai! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"To be fair," Mai defended, "I didn't tell Madoka either; she went through Naru's files and found MY file and wrote as much information she could before I found her."

"Oh, well then… Wait, Naru has a file on you?" Ayako asked, flabbergasted.

Now the brown haired girl sighed. "Naru's my BOSS, remember? He has to have an employee file on me, or else it's illegal. I think."

"What else is in this file?" Masako asked curiously.

Mai shrugged. "I don't know. Employee stuff? Ask Naru or Lin. Actually, better yet ask Madoka-she's seen it."

"Ah, right I have," Madoka grinned. "Naru not only has Mai's birthday, he also has all her emergency contacts, access to her medical files in the case of an emergency since she doesn't have parents or legal guardians, not to mention our often-times-dangerous line of work. He actually noted her blood type-"

"Her blood type?" Ayako questioned incredulously.

"Type B. He also has all and any contact numbers and her address," Madoka beamed.*

"Ah, well…" Ayako didn't seem to know what to say next.

It was Masako who spoke next. "How old are you turning Mai?"

"Seventeen now," Mai answered.*

"Hn, I wonder if any of the boys remembered?" Ayako wondered out loud.

"Can we just get to bed already? This case is so not going to be easy, ya know," Mai sighed.

"What makes you say that?" Madoka asked the girl.

"Well, Masako already is sensing the spirits and was able to get a decent reading on them, so… Ah, not that Masako is bad as a medium or anything, but-"

"It's fine Mai. I know my psychic abilities have limits," Masako saved the floundering girl. Said girl gave her a thankful look.

"Are you sure it isn't your intuition coming in? is there something you should tell us?" Ayako put in.

Mai frowned. "Who knows?"

Soon after, the whole group was asleep.

PURE

* I looked it up- her blood type is B

* Mai turns 16 in the fifth novel or something like that. So she'll be turning seventeen.

Okay, so I know these chapters won't be long like the Blind chapters are, but for this story, it'll either by the day for each chapter or when a good stopping place in a day occurs.

BTW, don't kill me for not updating Blind. We're expecting a snowstorm, and we might lose power, so instead of getting into the anime episode when I don't have wifi, I'll just work on this. I made this a little while ago, so it's not exactly new to me. There's actually a few Ghost Hunt stories on my computer, just none of them are completed and I haven't worked on them much nor posted them. I'm trying to free up space, so I chose one at random to start uploading…

Well that's really all, so this is goodbye for now, and sorry this was sorta short and boring…