This is really short, I should warn you. And it's incomplete. Oops. I'm really sorry, it's just when I checked out the Ghost Hunt Archives, Twisted was so way back on the list that I felt immense shame that everyone who's reviewed has been waiting for so long. I'll get this edited soon, promise.
Ahem. This time the 'Promises Are Meant To Be Broken' rule doesn't apply, just so you guys know. :)
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Chapter Two
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I burst into tears—heart-wrenching sobs that seem to break me even more. But I can't find it in myself to stop crying. My chest constricted so much on my way back home that each breath causes me more pain than I have ever had to experience in the years I've been working with the paranormal.
"No…" I whisper to myself, wishing that my words could change my bleak reality. "No…" I say again hopelessly. The tears are hot on my pale, cold skin. I curl into a ball by the front door and clutch at my chest so tightly that I hope I can actually reach in and take out my aching heart. Maybe then I wouldn't have to suffer so much.
I should have seen this coming. I should have known that my dreams are always trying to tell me something. I should have prepared my heart for the excruciating pain that would threaten to tear me apart.
"Naru, please…please don't do this to me." More tears flow down my cheeks and I don't do anything to stop them anymore.
I'm not strong enough to handle this. I don't think I'll survive Naru leaving.
"I want to be stronger…I want Naru to be happy…" I try to think about Naru and the sacrifices he's done for his brother, the things he's had to go through unnecessarily. But it's no use. The more I think about him, the more my heart crumbles into nothingness.
"Naru…"
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This time I'm in a barren field, the skies erupting every few seconds with violent thunder and lightning. I don't need to look behind me to know that he's there, watching me silently.
"What are we doing here?" I ask in a monotone. In my dreams, I can still scrape together a few shreds of my composure and stay stoic as long as I don't have to see his face.
There's no sound anywhere from the field. He must have sensed my emotions and stayed put. "I felt that we needed to talk," is his gentle answer. He's probably trying to soothe me, calm me down. Well, good luck.
"We have nothing to talk about, Naru," I answer in the same emotionless—albeit choked—voice. Please don't come near me. Please, let me retain a bit of my dignity, if only in my dreams.
"Mai…I'm truly sorry. But—"
I can feel his surprise as I cut him off. "Naru, it doesn't change a thing. Do you think you can leave me alone for a while? Let me sort out my thoughts? I don't know what's left or right at the moment."
He's hesitant in his response. "My…I'm leaving next week."
Another stab at my heart. Doesn't he know how little I have left? Does he have to keep on doing this to me? "I'm sure that Lin-san will help you in closing up SPR," is the only complete sentence I can come up with.
"Is that all you have to say?" he asks with a hint of something unfamiliar in his voice.
Well, let him hurt for once. "Even if I go down on my knees and sang out praises to your narcissistic ass, you aren't going to stay in Japan, Naru. So what is it exactly that you want me to say?" Okay, Mai, focus on the anger, the pain. Don't think about how much you'll miss him or how your life won't feel half as worth living if you aren't around him.
"I know you're angry, Mai, but we can discuss arrangements and…" He doesn't have anything to say? That must be a first.
"Arrangements?" I scream in disgust. I feel like I'm being torn into two and he's talking about arrangements? "I don't need your arrangements, Naru!"
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I wake up in a cold sweat. "Naru!"
