Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, purely for entertainment purposes. I make no profit, and claim no rights to any series herein referenced.
Chapter 2:
Mai lost the thread of Reynolds-san's story after that, examining in horror the remaining photographs, all of which detailed various injuries to members of his family. Reynolds-san himself had suffered similar gashes across his upper back, shoulder, and upper thigh. His wife had gotten a thinner, shallower scratch on the cheek, and bruises around the ankles, as though a cruelly tight grip had held them fast.
Naru filled her with an outline of the story (after, of course, he made a cutting remark about her inability to do two things at once, or to follow a straightforward conversation in English. Mai refrained with difficulty from sticking out her tongue or responding that there was something seriously wrong with Naru if he considered any of his conversations straightforward. He would likely just be flattered.)
"In the past two months, the incidents have escalated, to the point of physical violence. The first were the bruises on his wife's ankles. She woke in the middle of the night to find something unseen dragging the covers off the end of the bed. She clutched them, and whatever it was transferred its grip to her ankles and tried to pull her to the floor. She said they felt like cold, clammy hands. Neither Reynolds-san nor his son witnessed what caused the scratches—on two separate occasions, they woke up with the marks. Though the wounds were very painful afterward, neither father nor son awoke as they were inflicted."
"Last month, the Reynolds had a priest from a local shrine come out and bless each room of the house. That very night, there was a major disturbance on the porch—the child's tricycle rolled back and forth by itself, balls bounced, potted plants were smashed, and boxes were thrown to the ground. The house itself was without incident for a few weeks, but slowly the incidents resumed within the walls. The little girl claimed to see a dark shadow in the living room, and that something kept pulling on her hair."
"They got a dog, in hopes that the animal might repel any intruders; one evening, the dog started acting strangely. He froze, and began to growl, as though at something in the middle of the kitchen that they couldn't see. The dog ran away the next day; they haven't seen him since."
"We will be going, first, to ascertain whether or not the cause is supernatural—there are a couple of other possible explanations. This could be an underhanded method of protest by the locals. It might also be that one of the members of the Reynolds family resents the relocation and is causing the disturbances, either consciously or unconsciously, in an attempt to sabotage the family's residency in Japan."
"If we are able to rule out human agency, we will move on to possible supernatural causes. The house itself is a relatively new construction, but we will have to examine the previous history of the site. We will also need to explore the possibility that someone with a grudge against Reynolds or his company might have invoked a curse. Speaking of Mr. Reynold's company," said Naru slyly, "they are very eager for SPR to take the case. They have, in fact, paid a sizeable retainer. It's enough to pay for some specialized equipment I've been wanting to get…a calibrated light spectrometer, an infrared camera. I've already put them on order, but it will be a day or two before they get here. I'm leaving Lin behind to take delivery, but I want to get started on the case, so you and I will be going ahead to set up and get started. Lin will bring the new equipment up later. Takigawa will also be joining us later. He had a…live, or a gig, or some such thing."
Mai blinked, not sure she had heard right. Naru was asking, no telling, her to come with him, alone, on a case. No Lin playing chaperone. No irregulars to keep the atmosphere light and casual. Just Mai, Naru…and a houseful of supernatural thingies that clawed up children and scared away dogs.
Mai wasn't sure if she was more nervous of the ghosts or Naru.
Next Chapter: Mai my not convinced Naru is scarier than the ghosts, but Lin is! Lin POV musings.
Author's Notes: Many thanks for all the reviews! I hope that the story lives up to the high expectations—I'm a little daunted by actually writing about a case. The details of the haunting are (very) loosely inspired by a real case, that of the Wyrick family. The Discovery Channel used their experiences as the basis for an episode of the documentary series, A Haunting, entitled A Haunting in Georgia. The narration is over the top melodramatic, but some of the episodes are actually kind of interesting—especially as fodder for Ghost Hunt fanfiction.
