A Whisper in the Dark -A Ghost Hunt Fan Fiction

I didn't really want to start another fan fiction before I finished some of the ones I've been working on. Recently I finished watching the anime series however and got an idea for one that has been eating at my brain so much that I'm starting this fiction at such an ungodly hour that I should be hung. Up front I'm not really certain which pairings I'll end up with other than Naru/Mai - cause those two are why I wanted to write this anyway!

The reason the rating is Mature is because at some date I will probably toss in some milder citrus (lime perhaps but probably not lemon) and there will probably be some dark themes (it is a horror styled series after all).

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or the related characters. However the other original plot and characters I use are mine and would prefer if you like them enough to use them to ask me and give me credit for them. Thank you.

Warning: Will contain spoilers.

Chapter One: Promise

January - Day 1

It was so dark. Blackness itself seemed to have been absorbed into something deeper and more malicious; something that lived and hungered, hated and desired. There was so much negativity to it that was stifling and Mai found that just being there made it an effort to take each breath, and moving was out of the question. Unable to see anything and finding it hard to even sense the ground beneath her. It was a harsh and unforgiving oblivion that threatened to absorb even her thoughts and dreams the longer she lingered - yet she was unable take steps away, to scream, to even cry silently; all that she was left with was despair…there didn't remain a light left to hope with.

Then she woke up, breathing deeply and bringing her hands up to her chest and sore face where she'd fallen asleep at her desk again. The teenager glanced sheepishly around the empty office area and was silently relieved to see just how well lit the greeting area of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center or the SPR was.

She leaned back in her chair…the past few days had been exhausting; she'd gotten very little rest. Whenever she did sleep the same nightmare she just got to witness kept haunting her…

She glared half-heartedly at the door to the office of her boss; Kazuya Shibuya - otherwise known to her and the team they worked with as Naru the narcissist. After the past couple days she wondered if she ever should have come to work for him, it was undoubtedly the reason she had developed psychic powers of her own given all the research she'd helped them with over the past year.

"At least he didn't catch me sleeping on the desk." She thought gratefully as she picked up a piece of the paperwork she needed to go over. "I don't need to hear him chew me out for that too. He already nitpicks about every other detail of my work."

"Mai." He called from his office. "Tea."

"I need a new job." She mumbled with a yawn as she got up and moved over to make the tea as he liked it - perhaps the only thing he thought she did right other than occasionally stumble across an answer during one of their cases. She carried it toward his office and opened the door quietly, looking over her boss a moment.

He didn't even look up, he never paid someone mind unless it was of interest to him.

Though there was a certain truth behind the pride he held. He was good at what he did and owned his own company even as a teenager. His personal psychic ability was so powerful that some might even consider it godly - even if it tended to render him unconscious and sick when he used it. It wasn't as if there were many people that could truly contend with him. It didn't help that he was downright dreamy and Mai had such a crush on him that she at times had to be obvious even when she tried to hide it.

"Could you at least bring me the tea before you begin to gape stupidly." He commented, still without even looking up from whatever he was reading.

"…Too bad he's got no gifts socially" She finished her thought process as she came in and set his tea down as hard as she could dare without it splashing onto his papers - which was sadly not nearly hard enough. "Conceited brat."

"Mai." He stopped her retreat from his office.

"Yes?" She asked, mustering as much of her cheery attitude as she could manage given her lack of real rest recently.

"The office isn't your bedroom, if you plan on sleeping here don't come in." He replied, his cool attitude making her close his door likely harder than she should have. Lin glanced up from his own desk at the noise but after Mai offered an apologetic look he returned to whatever he was typing and she sat back down in her place.

If she had less boring work it would help her stay awake she was certain, reading through old reports and correcting any mistakes she might find wasn't helping her tired status. It wasn't long before she was getting ready to drift off again when the door from the outside opened and the noise brought her to her feet thinking it would be Naru coming out to yell at her again.

Instead there was a woman coming inside that was dressed strangely for the colder winter months - she had on a nice dress but it seemed more like a yellow spring dress than something for snowy weather. Instead of a heavy coat she wore a jacket more fitted for early fall. She offered Mai a kind smile and shook her head. Her words accented in such a way that it was obvious she wasn't natively Japanese - even if her European look didn't give that way sooner.

"Don't get up for me child, you seem like you are about to fall over. Wouldn't want you getting hurt on my account." She chuckled, the slight tinge to her tone seemed to place her as English natively. "Is Mr. Shibuya here?"
"He is here but he's sort of busy at the moment." Mai answered, remembering his explicit orders that only jobs that seemed 'worth his time' should he be bothered for. "Can you tell me what this concerns before I disturb him?"

"Oh, you work for him then?" She asked curiously, eyeing the teenager over as if she was measuring her worth. "I suppose so…but it would be easier to speak to him directly."

Lin glanced up and offered Mai a little help, he wasn't sure what was bothering her lately but figured he wouldn't be complained at nearly as much as she would. "It's all right, I'll get him. Have a seat miss, Mai will get you some tea if you'd like it."

"Oh, well, only if I can have ice in it." She answered with a small smile. "It's a bit too warm here for me."

Mai blinked curiously at the woman, it had to have been near freezing when she came from the school this afternoon. Too warm? At least meeting the lady and hearing her story would be interesting to Mai, though she didn't get a chance to ask about where she was from that the weather was 'too warm' before a sour-seeming Naru exited his office with Lin following. He offered Mai a look that promised he was going to give her an earful later if this wasn't something he might have a challenge with.

"Mr. Shibuya then?" she asked Naru, looking at him. "I heard you were young but I guess I didn't expect someone right out of high school."

"What is your problem?" He got right to the point, he was used to people offering him doubts because of his age and had never taken much time to dwell on it.

"Well, first I guess I should ask if you've ever heard of the Glacier Project?" She asked him, leaning back on the couch to make herself more comfortable.

"I'm familiar with it." He replied. "I read a few things in some research papers and magazines."

"What's the Glacier Project?" Mai asked, she knew she was going to suffer some insult for it but she was curious.

"We're a group of people that have volunteered to help set up a town in near the center of Antarctica at the south pole. We wanted to see if with a lot of provisions and safety measures we could make a more livable place for the families of any military personal or other researchers that stay there." The woman explained before Naru could get in a snide remark, apparently having expected to explain it. "The details of how it's possible are a bit complicated but basically we have to have buildings that have sturdy frames that are dug into the glacier itself but are light enough otherwise that the heat needed to keep people safe and healthy inside won't risk disturbing the miles of ice below it. It's been pretty amazing to be honest with you, we were up to a capacity of two-hundred when the issues started to occur."

"What issues?" Naru asked this time, sipping his own tea that he'd brought with him, watching the lady across from him.

At least her origin explained why she thought the weather here was warm.

"Well at first people just began to get a little sick and well, we didn't think much of it. Colds in that area can't exactly be uncommon after all…but then other medical issues began to follow; people would be unable to rest for days at a time or they would break out in strange rashes that had no logical reasoning." She said. Her face then got a bit darker as she thought about the next part of her story. "We had a doctor flown out in a helicopter but he couldn't find anything wrong with us in the short time he was there. After a few days he left without giving a reason why, he simply told us he wouldn't help us anymore."

She sighed some, glancing between the three that were there.

"Then people began to act very strange. Unlike themselves."

"What do you mean? Can you give me an example?" Naru asked, he was obviously starting to get a bit bored with the story.

"Well, people began to steal small things from other people. Earrings or notebooks, bits of the rations for the extended stay. That's what happened first, it got worse pretty fast, within a week it was like the whole group had become kleptomaniacs - even I found myself taking things from people and I've never stolen anything before then in my life."

She seemed a little disappointed in herself at admitting that and Mai had to frown a little, that last part was really starting to make this seem serious - perhaps a spell of some kind was affecting them?

"Did other things happen?"

"Yes." She nodded and took a breath. "I'd like a little tea actually if you don't mind dear."

Mai nodded and moved to get some for the lady, understanding her need for something to get calm if there was still more to this story.

"Thank you." She smiled warmly and then turned her attention back to Naru. "After that people started to argue a lot with each other, like we'd all ceased to be researchers and started to be children. Very few of the people wanted to take their shifts at all and most of them were more preoccupied with arguing with one another over who stole what from whom…after a day or two of just yelling the fighting started. People started to attack each other and a few of the researchers were murdered by another one that shot them - where he got the gun I don't know…they weren't allowed into the project at all."

She took the teacup a bit shakily when Mai handed it to her, trying to give as much of a smile as she could. "Six other people, that was the number of shots in the gun he used and after that he left the safe zone without any sort of protection other than a slightly heavy coat and his regular clothes - we never found him but it's only fair to assume he died in the cold."

"Are you certain this isn't just the case of a madman? It doesn't sound like any psychic phenomenon to me." Naru replied, it was cold but he didn't want travel -that- far without being more certain.

"That's not all." She reached into the bag she'd brought with her and set an envelope on the table. "After that event most people panicked for a little while and given the investigation that needed to take place only minimum crew was kept at the project for several months. For a while it seemed like the strange events were over but toward the end of the police investigation all the strange sicknesses started to occur again in the same way but this time they were accompanied by black outs in the electric center or doors randomly being frozen shut, or even rooms losing all heat when there were no problems with the systems in question. They've been checked and re-checked a dozen times and we have little other reason to turn to. As a scientist you have to believe that this is the last place I would be if I thought I had any other choice."

There were a few moments of silence after the story was over. Mai glanced to Naru, hoping he would choose to help but it was sometimes hard to tell what jobs he would or wouldn't accept.

"We are willing to pay your prices regardless of your success. Our research will end completely if this is unresolved so there isn't a better place to put the funding money we already have if that happens. Will you please help us?" The lady had remained well composed but seemed on the edge of begging as she sat across from Naru.

"I'll accept your job. I don't fail…tell Mai and Lin when we need to be ready and be prepared for seven or eight extra members for whatever travel is needed along with a fair amount of room for equipment." He explained quietly and then headed off for whatever else he planned to work on.

End Chapter

Well…I guess I'm just getting stuff started but I hope that people are at least somewhat interested. Maybe I shouldn't write when I'm tired…

-Aura

P.S. Reviews are the awesome and I always appreciate each and every one!