A/N: I just wanted to get this part over with. It should explain everything that's been happening to Mai, for the most part. Sorry if it's a little confusing though... hehe... Also, in case you haven't notice, I'm horrible when it comes to the details of places and stuff, so I just don't do it. Also, I apologize again for any grammar or spelling mistakes that might take place.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read and/or review the first chapter. It made me really happy!
Disclaimer: If I did own Ghost Hunt, then there really would be an episode where Naru gets a phone call from Mai in the middle of the night. Probably not for the same reasons, though. *wink*
After slowly setting two hot cups of tea down on the coffee table, Mai took a seat.
"Well?" Naru asked, taking a sip.
"Um..." Mai wasn't sure where begin. She felt horrible for having to call Naru like this, but she didn't really have any other choice. And yet, as guilty as she was feeling, she was also somewhat grateful that he had been her only option. Naru couldn't create any wards to protect her or fight off evil spirited like Ayako and Bou-san could, but she still felt like as long as he was there, nothing could harm her.
"About two weeks ago I started having these weird moments of deja vu," Mai began. "Like I would have dreams of simple little things... You know, looking at certain objects, cooking dinner, reading, going for walks-"
"Trivial things," Naru cut in.
"Making tea," Mai continued. "Anyway, the very next day they would happen, but I wouldn't remember the dream until the action itself was taking place."
"That feeling of deja vu is normal for many people. It comes naturally for those who have precognitive dreams." Lin stated.
"It's happened plenty of times before, but... Well, two weeks ago I got this image of looking out my window during the day." Mai turned to point towards the large window in her living room. "I was standing right next to the couch, just relaxing. Only when I looked carefully... I could see someone other than myself in the reflection of the window, standing behind the couch. The next day I found myself in the same position, staring outside the window. When I realized it was just how I had dreamed, I looked to see if someone was there, but there was no one. I got the distinct feeling that I wasn't alone, though. I felt like I was being watched."
"What did they look like?" Naru asked.
"Creepy," Mai replied. "Their eyes were... well, they didn't have any. None of them do. And they all wear these long robes, most of them brown. But there have been a few dressed in black."
"There are more of them?" Naru stood and walked towards the window, pulling aside the curtains that fell over it. Probably the presence that Lin's shiki felt, he thought to himself.
"Almost every time I dream now... it's of something that happens the next day when I'm home. Every time, they're here. Standing around, just watching me." Mai began crying. "I can't see them when I'm awake, but I know they're there!"
Naru tried to see what lied beyond the window, but it was difficult. The sky was jet black, no sign of clouds or stars. He had to fight the urge to keep his eyes from closing for too long. Even if Mai's tea had given his brain a jump-start, it did nothing to make him feel any less tired. "This has been happening for two weeks now? Why didn't you come to us earlier?" he questioned.
Mai looked up, no longer crying, "I was kind of hoping it would stop. There was no proof that they were really here."
"Considering everything you've been through, I would have thought that-" Naru stopped himself before he could yell at Mai, reminding himself that if she could have her way, Ayako would probably be here with her - certainly not making any remarks about how stupid she was for not telling them sooner. "Anyway, that isn't all, right? Something else must've happened tonight that lead you to call."
"A week after I started seeing them, the nightmares began." Once again, tears began to fall down Mai's face. "I'm being lead by whatever they are down a long set of stairs. It's difficult to breathe... I'm pretty sure it's somewhere deep underground. Eventually there's an open area for us to walk through at the very end. It leads to a large circular room made entirely out of stone. Small fires are lit all along the walls, and in the very center of the floor is some kind of symbol drawn out in red. All of a sudden, everything goes black. The next thing I know, I'm lying in the middle of the symbol. The ground is so hard and cold... the smell of blood is everywhere. I can't move - my wrists and ankles are being held down by something. And then... I hear him coming." Mai began sobbing.
Naru and Lin remained quiet, waiting for the girl to finish. How desperately Naru wished that Ayako or Bou-san were there to comfort the girl. He might have showed some kind of affection himself, but there was no way he would with Lin in the same room. Lin probably felt the same way, because at that moment he picked up his phone and began dialing the monk's number.
Doing the best he could manage at the time, Naru walked up from behind where Mai was sitting and placed his hand on her shoulder. Trying to be as careful as possible, he asked, "Mai... who is he?"
"I'm not sure. All I can keep thinking in my head though is, 'he's coming'," she answered. "I can tell when he gets closer because of the sound... It keeps getting louder. Like some sort of steel pipe scraping against the ground." Mai folded her arms against her her knees and placed her head on them.
"Still no answer from either Matsuzaki-san or Takigawa-san." Lin reported.
Damn it. Where the hell are they? Naru suddenly remembered what had been said when Mai had called him earlier. "When you called me you said 'it's happening'. What did you mean?"
"............."
"You know we can't help you unless you tell us everything," Naru said, a little more sharply than he had meant to. He knew he should have been more understanding, but the lack of sleep was still getting to him, and he was at a loss of what to do.
This case was entirely different from anything that had ever been presented to him. If Lin's shiki were right, then they weren't dealing with ghosts or any other kind of ordinary spirit. If someone else had told him what Mai had just said, he probably would have thought them crazy. But Mai was different. He couldn't remember a time where her dreams had ever failed them.
"I know." Mai stood up from her position and began a slow pace towards the kitchen. "I can't explain it, but I feel like these... things - spirits, whatever you want to call them... I feel like they're really going to take me to that place. Right now they're just... observing."
Observing? Suddenly everything Naru had been told sounded somewhat familiar. It sounded a bit weird coming from Mai, though. He figured it was just her intuition coming into play, as usual. He looked at Lin, who seemed to be frowning at the empty cup of tea in front of him.
"A couple days ago," Mai said, leaning her back against the wall that divided the living room and the kitchen, "I noticed a mark on my back. I figured it was just some kind of mole I had never noticed or something. Not long after than, I noticed that it had changed somehow."
"It changed..." Lin repeated. Naru could tell he was on to something.
"It had formed into some kind of squiggle. When I woke up a little while ago, I just had to look at it again. That's when I called you." Mai stared at Naru.
"May we see it?" Lin asked, standing up.
Mai, naturally, hesitated for a moment. But she knew that it was the only way to find out exactly what was happening. She turned to face the wall, and began undoing the top buttons of her pajama shirt. When she had reached midway, she pulled her left sleeve down so only the upper part of her back on that side was exposed.
Naru examined it from where he was standing. The mark she had mentioned seemed to have changed into a swirly tattoo of some sort. "Lin, do you know what it is?"
"Yes," his assistant answered. "My question is what kind of monster would cast this on an innocent human being."
Mai quickly re-buttoned her pajama shirt and turned to face Lin. "Cast? So then this is a curse?"
"Not exactly." Lin reached for his phone. "A curse is usually just to punish someone or something - it's something that can easily be stopped, if you know what you're doing. This is different, nearly impossible to stop, and can only be caused by an extreme amount of hatred or evil."
"What the hell is it?" Naru's patience was running thin.
"Black magic," Lin answered while dialing a phone number. "I'm calling Madoka. She'll have to bring me some spell books. We won't be able to do anything unless we know the exact spell that's been cast. Also, I suggest we keep this to ourselves for now. It's possible that anyone who gets involved could be at risk."
While Lin talked to Madoka, Mai took a few moments to go over what had just been said. Nothing seemed to make sense to her. Deciding she didn't want to think at the moment, she took a seat on the floor and stared at nothing in particular. She didn't have any trouble keeping her mind blank, it seemed to just go along.
Naru's mind, on the other hand, was racing. He was a master with the paranormal, but this was entirely different. He had absolutely no training whatsoever when it came to the art of magic. And then there was the issue with Mai. She always got caught up in every curse thrown in their faces. Ghosts seemed to love taking out their revenge on her. There was no explanation for it, and everyone had given up on looking for one, settling with 'bad luck'. But what could the girl have possibly done to deserve this? Massacre an entire city in her last life possibly?
It was too much. Naru took a seat on the couch and leaned his head back. He might as well get the long awaited rest he'd been hoping for. There was really nothing else for him to do, what with Lin organizing things on the phone with Madoka and Mai looking as if she'd remain catotonic for the time being. Naru closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.