Ok, I think most of it was said in the prologue, so just enjoy the story!
Chapter 1
"Naru, you need to take a break. We didn't come to work, you idiotic scientist." Naru felt his body relax as his wife carded her fingers through his hair, despite his mind lamenting over the files he knew his wife would never allow him to finish reading now.
"It's not work Mai, it's just a bit of light reading." The 23-year old female gave him a shrewd look, her fingers idly flipping through one of the folders as she scanned them quickly.
"Yes, because reading about the apparent dismembering of a victim in your father's latest case is considered light reading. Honestly Naru, Martin said that he had the case about solved. You just need to admit you wanted to satisfy your insatiable curiosity, mixed with the fact that you still don't trust Martin to relay the exact details of an upsetting case. Or rather, that Luella wouldn't allow him to."
Naru swilled the big office chair around quickly, causing Mai to unbalance and land in his lap. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he smirked down at her.
"And are you saying that Luella wouldn't do such a thing?"
"She's your mother, at least call her mum or if you must, Mother." Naru rolled his eyes at their frequent light argument and he responded with his familiar lines.
"I call her mother when talking to her, I believe that is enough. Besides, she's also your mother-in-law and requested numerous times that you call her mother as well, yet I don't see you doing it." His wife of four years narrowed her eyes and huffed, even though Naru could see the amusement hiding in them.
"We're getting off track here. Just because Luella doesn't want to ruin our visit and decided to keep case information from you, doesn't mean you can sneak in here to read it when she's in bed, as you should be."
Naru smirked at Mai's adorable frown and the way she resembled a bird whose feathers were ruffled. The chestnut-haired woman was still ranting about manners and such, but he had long since stopped paying attention, especially not as his wife's pliable body was nestled comfortably on his lap. He nosed her neck, lightly pushing her long hair out of the way as he laid a trail of butterfly kisses down the length of her neck.
"Naru… ugh, stop it, don't think you can… get out of trouble this way every time…" Despite her protests, her hands fisted his shirt and her body trembled in anticipation. Smirking against her skin, he laid one last, slow kiss on her neck, before looking up into her eyes.
"It's not my fault you're so easily distracted Mai. Why shouldn't I take advantage of any vulnerabilities you have? I believe it's my right as your husband."
Almond eyes sharpened into a glare and Mai stood in disgust, her cheeks tinted by a blush that Naru still managed to get from her over all the years.
"Well, if it's your right as husband to exploit my weaknesses, then I guess it's my right as wife to do the same to you."
Naru snorted, his eyes glinting with smugness.
"Except that I have no weaknesses to exploit. There lies your crucial problem." Naru would never admit that the sly glint in Mai's eyes and her wicked grin unnerved him, yet caused some anticipation to build. He leaned back comfortably as she stalked forward. Bracing her hands on the chair's armrests, she leaned forwards till he could feel her sweet breath on his lips.
"Oh really…?"
Naru's eyes were drawn to where her nightdress gaped low, revealing the top curve of her firm breasts and leaving the wide expanse of her milky skin bare to his gaze. A low chuckle had his gaze snapping upwards again, only to look into smouldering hazel eyes.
His own midnight blue ones closed involuntarily as soft lips pressed against his and Mai moaned huskily as his tongue traced her lips before slipping past them. Her one hand ran through his hair as she nibbled at his bottom lip and Naru could feel his entire body heating up as his hand lifted to the front of her nightgown. Before he could go further, however, Mai pulled back and winked cheekily at him, before sauntering with swinging hips out of Martin's office.
Naru groaned silently in exasperation, his mind full of Mai and her soft touches. Straightening the folders strewn across the desk, he packed them away quick and efficiently, before standing to pursue his smug wife.
Mai had always been his only weakness.
The next morning Mai woke slowly, warm sheets encasing her body snugly as she stretched her tender body. Naru always seemed to love to tease her to the brink of insanity before he made slow, passionate love to her and Mai never found herself complaining.
Smiling drowsily, her hand trailed over the bed beside her, but the cold sheets convinced her that the narcissist had left some time ago. Glancing at the clock, she was not surprised, as it was just after 8 a.m. and Naru had always detested sleeping in when he felt he could do something better.
Sitting up, she pushed the covers off her and stretched her arms above her head, moaning slightly at the pleasant ache in her muscles. Toeing into her purple slippers, she shuffled to the adjoining bathroom for a quick shower, scrubbing her body and washing her hair efficiently, before just enjoying the pounding hot water on her back.
After a few minutes of just relaxing under the spray of water, she turned it off and stepped out, towelling herself dry with a huge, fluffy white towel. Wrapping her western-style bathrobe around her, she brushed her teeth as she rifled through the closet, picking out a snug-fitting pair of jeans, a cream cashmere sweater and chestnut boots with white fluff covering the top half. Grabbing some underwear, she laid it out on the bed, before returning to the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste and wash out her mouth.
Running a comb through her hair, she returned to the room, where she quickly got dressed and blow dried her hair, before she made her way out of the room and down the corridor of the western-styled mansion. Mai still found herself amazed at the Davis' home at times, even after visiting regularly for almost five years now.
The house, commissioned by Martin's grandfather, was a huge place with more bedrooms than Mai cared to know and large family rooms. However, true to what she had come to expect from Davis men, the house had no ballroom, but rather a room set aside for research equipment and a private lab. It seemed Martin's grandfather had been a scientist and wanted the extra space at home, which Martin later converted into an area for his own research.
There was also a separate part of the house which Luella used for her offices, as she gave private counselling and therapy to various people out of her own home. Having a PhD in psychology and money to her name, Mai was not surprised the loving woman opened her own business. A lot of the woman's clients were actually former clients of her husband or people associated with them, since a lot of people were traumatised by psychic experiences of hauntings and were too afraid to talk to a normal psychologist for fear of being declared mentally unstable.
The plot of land the house was built on wasn't particularly large, but it was still big enough to host the mansion and a beautiful garden comfortably. Numerous times the house's inhabitants could find Mai strolling through the lush greenery, her hand trailing over bright flowers or her feet dipping into the calm pond where Koi swam.
It's been a week since Mai and Naru had come to London to visit Naru's parents for Christmas. Though Mai wasn't so concerned about the meaning behind Christmas, as it was mainly a lover's holiday back in Japan, she never missed out on enjoying the Christmas spirit and celebrating it with friends and family.
"Mai darling, I see you're awake! Breakfast is just finished, so take a seat dear." Mai smiled gratefully at Luella, sitting down besides Naru who was reading the morning newspaper, though his face told her he didn't find whatever he was reading particularly stimulating.
"Morning." Pressing a kiss to Naru's cheek, she giggled softly as he merely grunted at her, though the corner of his mouth did twitch upwards.
The young woman's mouth started watering as Luella placed a plate with a full English breakfast in front of her and she picked up her knife and fork. Though the food had been a bit odd to her in the beginning and difficult to digest, but Mai had quickly grown used to it and enjoyed eating western food when she came to visit.
She remained, however, happy each time she returned to Japan and had her usual breakfast of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tamagoyaki (rolled omelette) and tsukemono pickles. If she felt lazy, she would usually just make some okayu (rice pudding) to eat, while Naru was usually satisfied with some jam-covered toast and a sunny-side up egg.
Mai sliced her kippers into smaller pieces, eating them together with the eggs and beans. She rolled up her mushrooms in her bacon, making a sort of bacon 'sushi' roll, which she ate before her toast covered in marmalade. Naru sighed at her strange way of eating her bacon, but she just stuck out her tongue and continued munching away happily, taking a sip of orange juice every now and then.
"Morning everyone, I trust you had a good night's sleep?" Mai returned a cheerful Martin's greeting and once again thanked her lucky stars that his and Luella's room were some ways away from the room she and Naru shared, as she wasn't certain how she would have coped making love to Naru with his parents next door.
"Morning Father. I wanted to ask about one of the cases I read about. The o-"
"Noll! Honestly, it's Christmas Eve and I will not spend it listening to you and your father talk about ghost and hauntings. Come Martin, sit and eat. And you Noll, not another word about work!"
Ignoring Naru's glare, Mai chortled as she stood up from her half-finished plate of food, entering the kitchen, only to return a few minutes later with a cup of steaming Earl Grey, perfectly steeped to Naru's liking.
This time she got more than a twitch, but rather a definite tilt to his lips as he gratefully took the tea.
Sitting back down, Mai continued her breakfast as she basked in the comfortable atmosphere of family, aided by Luella's cheerful chattering.
This scene set the mood for the rest of their Christmas celebrations, with Luella a bundle of cheerful energy, Mai getting swept up in the excitement of it all and dragging Naru along with her and Martin contently watching over them and inserting comments designed to stir things up here and there.
GH
A loud banging and the disappearance of Naru's warmth jerked Mai awake and she groggily stared around the darkened room. The sharp light of the lamp Naru flicked on had her flinching back and by the time she could open her eyes fully, her husband had already left the room.
Pushing her hair out of her face, she slipped on her robe and hurried after him, seeing him disappearing around the corner that led to the entrance hall. She could hear distraught voices amidst the cacophony the storming rain made outside and she walked faster.
Entering the small receiving room to the side of the entrance hall, she found Martin crouching in front of a bedraggled and soaked young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, who was babbling incoherently with make-up running down her face as Luella stroked her back and Naru observed her from behind his father.
Seizing up the situation, Mai left the room and went to the kitchen, filling the kettle up and hunting through the linen cupboards for a blanket as the water boiled. Pouring the hot water into the delicate teapot, she placed the tea strainer, containing her own blend of tea, into the pot.
While she was waiting for the tea to steep, she quickly fetched some of her clothes for the probably freezing woman and returned to the kitchen. Placing five cups and spoons onto a tray, she placed the teapot, sugar pot and milk cup on it as well and left the kitchen with it and the blanket and clothes.
Seeing as all of this hadn't taken more than a few minutes, she wasn't surprised to see that the situation in the receiving room hadn't really improved and she sighed. Placing the tray on the small coffee table, she gently shouldered Naru out of the way and draped the warm blanket around the shivering woman.
Her action seemed to snap Martin out of his daze, as he immediately stopped bombarding the woman with questions and instead tucked the blanket around her tighter. Pouring the tea into the cups, she relaxed as she smelled the soothing scent of chamomile and orange and placed a warm cup gently into the now silently sobbing woman's hands.
"Come on, take a sip, I promise it will help." Watching as she moved in a mechanical fashion, Mai made sure the stranger drank some of the tea and saw how her body almost immediately reacted to the lavender in the blend, calming her down and uncoiling her muscles. Smiling softly, she left the woman in Luella's caring hands and poured Naru and the rest some tea as well.
Naru sighed audibly as he sipped the tea she usually only made on stressful cases and wound his arm around her waist in gratitude.
It wasn't long before the girl's shivering lessened, an effect from the blanket, heated house and soothing tea. Luella's calm words seemed to reassure her further and after a while she finished her cup as her entire body slumped.
"Alexis, can you tell me what happened? Why are you here? I thought you were on a case with Emily, Alisha, Cian and Rhys?" Mai's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw the woman flinch at the mention of this Alisha and by the tightening of Naru's arm, he had also seen it.
"I…I was. But… Something went wrong. We can't- can't figure out the haunting. In the beginning, it wasn't… wasn't so bad. But-"
Mai jolted at hearing the stranger speak, as her voice suggested she was younger than she had seemed. Looking closely, Mai ignored the make-up and looked to the face underneath, and figured the woman couldn't be older than 20. An intern of Martin's then, rather than a full-time employee.
Biting back a sob, the woman continued. "It, it was the fourth day that any sign of activity started. Nothing major, just some banging noises, cold spots and what looked like poltergeisting. But on the sixth day…"
The girl choked up again and Mai poured her some more tea before returning to Naru's side. Trembling as she sipped the tea, the girl continued her account with dull, yet panicked eyes.
"On the sixth day, the hallucinations started." Naru's arm had become a steel band around Mai and his body was still in a way that Mai knew meant he was on high alert.
"At first, it was small things, like thinking we were picking up something only for it to turn out to be something else. Cian almost injured himself that way, seeing a lightbulb as an apple and almost biting into it. he would have, if Na-Alisha hadn't stopped him."
Drawing another ragged breath, the woman continued on doggedly and Mai had to admire her grit. It seemed now that she had calmed down, she was determined to tell the entire story.
"Then it worsened, to seeing rooms filled with mud and muck, chains on the walls, what looked like people being tortured or walking past us, only for the cameras and equipment to pick up nothing. And a voice, speaking in our ears, crying and whispering. We started thinking that maybe we should call you, as our research turned up so many incidents that we couldn't narrow it down to a specific spirit.
"But the phones wouldn't work. Any electronic device that functioned within the building was fine, but as soon as you tried to make contact with the world outside, it stopped working. When you try to call someone, the whispering voice would be on the other end. If you try to mail someone, I images of gruesome bodies would pop up. We tried to leave ourselves, but as soon as we left the property, we would open our eyes to find ourselves back inside some room, with the cameras showing us walking there on our own."
Mai's mind was awash with horror and pity, knowing the young woman must have endured much in recent days. Of course, her husband had none of the same sympathy it seemed.
"If you couldn't leave, how are you here? Where are the others?" Mai and Luella threw a glare at Naru for his harsh tone, but Marin nodded along as the girl jerked, only now seeming to realise Naru was in the room. She swallowed, but soldiered on and Mai's respect for her grew.
"We knew we had to get word out to professor Davis somehow. We thought that if the entity could manipulate our senses, we had to get by without using it. Rhys, after some experimenting, realised that the entity's range of influence only stretched to the building and not the grounds. That was why it could stop anything from leaving the building.
"However, we found out that for some reason, devices that worked inside the building weren't influenced or tampered with, because although it didn't capture the apparitions we saw, it did still show us. The cameras still gave seemingly reliable information, though the one we placed at the security guard's gate outside seemed to be caught in a constant loop of the first day it was placed there. It was only when the devices tried to send a signal to the outside.
"Rhys, being our main tech guy, designed a sort of GPS device using the blueprints we received upon starting the case. The theory was for someone to use the device to lead them to the front door, because since that was technically still inside the house, it wouldn't change the outcome unless we tried to open the door. We also realised that the entity had a very narrow sight, as it couldn't easily focus on two things at once.
The closest we came to escaping was when we tried escaping by two different methods. If our timing wasn't off, then Cian would have made it out, but as it was, he was caught in a hallucination right as the cameras showed him reaching the front door, after Rhys woke up in another room. But after that, it seemed we were being watched more closely and hallucinating more frequently."
"That still doesn't answer my question." Mai elbowed Naru and returned his glare, but the woman didn't seem to notice.
"No, but it helped us come up with a plan. Originally Alisha was going to take the device and wander around as if checking the temperatures while Cian would try to escape at a certain time. Five minutes after Cian tries to escape, Rhys, will try and five minutes after that, me and so one. This was supposed to keep the entity occupied while Alisha followed the directions to the front door and left that way.
"However, Alisha disappeared yesterday. We- we don't know where she is…" Tears slipped down Alexis' cheeks and Mai's heart softened in more sympathy, knowing intimately what it felt like when your friends disappeared during a case.
"Things became more violent and we knew we had to get out, so we enacted the plan with me instead of Alisha. I- I couldn't find the main door, but I was desperate and when the GPS said I was standing right across a window leading to outside, even though it looked like a blood-splattered wall, I ran straight at it and jumped. The glass broke around me and I was outside. I immediately came here."
Martin was nodding pensively as he sat back and after a short silence, Naru spoke up.
"Where was this case?" It wasn't Alexis, but Martin who answered.
"Bethlem Royal Hospital." Mai felt chills run up her spine and her hair stand on end as one word echoed through her mind.
Bedlam…
GH
Righto, the scene is set and the story can begin! I did a lot of research for this story and though not everything is factual, as I had to make some adjustments for the plot and my own enjoyment, most is:)
Tell me what you think so far, though I know there isn't a lot to be commented about.
Until next Monday!
