A/N – Ahh This is the first time I'm writing a Ghost Hunt fic sooooo if I the characters get OOC and what nots please bear with it.

Thank You so much fire phoenixia for beta-ing!!!! Luv YOU!!!

The very famous and very heartbreaking disclaimer: Sad to say, I can't proclaim about owning Ghost Hunt so back off.

File 1 – 100 つのステップ #1
 ––––––– 100 steps #1 –––––––

Panting heavily with her hands on her knees, she took a much-needed breather after the mad rush up the hill. Added to the frenzied sprint was the unrelenting sun beating down upon her shoulders which subsequently caused her to be drenched in sticky and smelly sweat.

"I'm so dead! I'm like 2 hours late! Naru's gonna kill me! Dammit it! What am I going to do?" groaned Mai.

She hesitated at the intersection of the fork, biting her lips and wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

Should she take the shortcut down the flight of steps (in totally an exact hundred!) to the SPR's headquarters or the long route down the road leading to the main road and in the end to the head quarters?

It was so tempting to take the shorter route which would cut down her walking, or in this case, running time by half but recent weird happenings made her think twice.

There had been many incidences of students from the nearby schools who ended up badly hurt or dead when using the stairs. So far, two people had already fallen to their deaths, the reason being that the steps were not stable and had collapsed under their weight.

However, friends accompanying them had sworn that before the fall, there had been eerie wailing and screaming.

Even the wind had started to whip about them fiercely.

Shadows of distorted human shapes played peek-a-boo with their chosen victims before one would reach out to push the selected prey.

All the incidents not only varied in time but also, the reasons that caused them also differed.

There were many cases of the victims being pushed down or even tripping over a branch that could not be found later. With such creepy happenings, people subconsciously tend to avoid the place.

Mai also had funny feelings about the staircase.

Whenever she passed the place, she would feel queasy and had the urge to puke. It was either that or her head would pound furiously and would only subside after she left that place.

Talking about headaches, Mai could feel one coming.

Torn between decisions and with her head beginning to ache, she scanned both routes briefly.

Another look at her watch made up her mind for her. 'To hell with ghosts! It's noon, hot, and horribly bright! A ghost wouldn't appear in such circumstances!'

Mind made up, Mai clutched her bag close to her body and ran down the steps two at a time.

Despite her believing in "its-noon-so-there-won't-be-any-ghost" outlook, she started to get the creeps halfway down the steps.

'Is it just me or am I not any nearer to the bottom of the steps?' she was already wheezing and her heart thudded painfully against her chest.

Searing adrenaline coursed through her body almost unbearably.

She tried to calm and slow down but thoughts like - 'It wouldn't take much. Just a little push in the back and I would go rolling down.' only served to drive Mai to move faster.

However, moving faster included more chances of her face meeting Mr. Ground and that was not what she wanted.

Also, just thinking about meeting Naru later made her so mad.

She would have to tell him the reason why she was so late and when he hears that it was because she had to retake a math test, he would probably smirk that infuriating smirk of his and look at her as if she had room temperature intelligence quotient!

And-Wahhhhh!!!

Mai felt something grab her left wrist. It burned, sending stinging jabs up her arm.

She tried to yank her arm back, but when she did, the momentum made her slip and fall.

Wheeeee! I'm flying!!!

As if.

Sharp spikes of fear ran down her spine as she went head over heels down the steps.

There seemed to be a pair of feet on the steps, which looked a little translucent, but it was gone when she blinked. (A/N I know its so cliché)

Mai could only watch as the scenery passed in a blur.

Her fingers scrambled to grab onto whatever that could slow down or stop her fall (A/N You know this would never happen if not Mai would be your new wonder woman) but gave up when the pain in herleft hand grew intolerable.

'I wonder if I'm going to break my neck when I fall and if so who's going to find me. The cleaner? The newspapers are going to have a field day. I can just imagine what the headlines would say. GIRL FALLS TO HER DEATH. NECK BROKEN, INSTANT DEATH.'

At this thought, Mai closed her eyes.

'I wouldn't want to scare the cleaner when he finds me. Corpses which have their eyes wide, open and staring at people would be sure to give one nightmares. Besides it's better to die looking serene. Hah.'

A/N So, is Mai going to live? Laughing manically It's me being a sadist here. I'm sure the phrase xing zai le huo will describe me pretty well! 8-) Oh and is Mai OOC? Cause my beta/friend has never watched Ghost Hunt before so yeah.