((So slight AN, lots of the characters in here like Kaori Hasegawa are from fan made games which kinda inched into Corpse Party itself. Characters like Saito Kasemura and Anna Shueda are my OC's. Just to let everyone know… Um… I don't own anything. So it continues.))

Ch. 3: Hostage

There were several sounds echoing throughout her eardrums, the sound of dripping water and people muttering, a couple footsteps here and there. Her eyes fluttered open giving way to her blurry vision, which soon adjusted to her environment. She bolted upright with a gasp, chains rattled around her as she did. Following them with her eyes she found that the chains were attached to her. Looking around, she took in her surroundings, trapped in a cage, like an old prison cell and laying on a dirty mattress.

It appeared as though she was located in an abandoned hospital of some sort as she saw a gurney to her left, maybe even a mental hospital. To her right, she saw a large beacon of light illuminating the chipped and flaking painted walls, indicating an open door. There were people beyond that opening, that's where the muttering and footsteps were coming from; a leaking pipe off in the distance was making the dripping water sounds. She looked down at herself hugging her body and shivering, wondering why she was so cold, it soon occurred to her as she noticed her attire. She was only dressed in a light white long sleeved hospital gown, she was at least thankful that it covered her backside but felt extremely violated finding out she was undressed by her kidnappers. She had been abducted, that much she knew for sure. She had to find some way to get out of her shackles and inspect the place, then get the hell out.

Hot tears stung her eyes as panic welled up in her chest, she couldn't lose it now though. She had to focus. But, just then, there was a temperature drop and she felt even more frigid. She sensed a presence directly in front of her and when she looked up from her seated position she saw a girl with pale skin and long light blue hair, perfectly even bangs shadowing her face, dressed in a full dark blue school uniform and slumped over with a blue and black aura and mist rising from her body. She paused for a second and shook; the girl had eyes like a dead fish, like when she met Naho in Heavenly Host. Indeed, it's not like she hadn't seen a spirit before, but this was, like Naho, a spirit infected with the Darkening and furthermore, close to its breaking point. She swallowed hard and opened her mouth shakily to speak.

"You must be Kaori Hasegawa?"

"You've heard about me on the news." Her voice was low, almost like a whisper, and pained as if she was in complete agony.

"Well, I was under the watch of detectives who know about the case." She paused. "I also found your nametag in Heavenly Host next to your corpse."

"Nametag? Corpse?"

"It looked as though you died of multiple fractures. It must've been painful; I'm not sure why the doctors brought you back to the world of the living using that spell to break through dimensional space. But, I want to give your soul some peace, there's not much else I can do though."

"…" There was a long pause and she inched closer to the figure and bowed her head slightly.

"My name is Ayumi Shinozaki, I'm 21 years old and I'm an illustrator, you must have been a student when you ended up in Heavenly Host like I was. I was one of the few survivors; I wish you could have been the same."

"I'M NOT DEAD!" The sudden loud voice made Ayumi jump. "I mean, how can I be? I'm here." The ghastly figure looked at her sheet white hands, with wide and dead eyes, a disturbed smile on her face, she laughed nervously.

"You are though, it's noticeable. You've just been brought back here, from the closed spaces."

"NO! NO! NO!" The figure yanked at her hair, her dead eyes glaring angrily at nothing. "NO! IF I DIED THERE I WOULD BE TRAPPED THERE! AH! IT HURTS!" A slow trickle of blood started dripping down from her forehead.

"That's right! You would be trapped there and I saw your corpse there."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" She howled as she winced in pain and continued tugging at her hair.

"You're right about that too. You should have actually ceased to exist in this world from the time of your death in Heavenly Host, but the doctors used a spell from the Book of Shadows to create a rift between the closed spaces and this world and your spirit got through, possibly because of an attachment to one or more of those doctors, maybe one who looked after you while you were a patient? This caused you to exist once again here. My family is the keeper of the Book of Shadows, I have researched it for some time and-." A sudden shriek interrupted Ayumi.

"YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE LYING! I'M ALIVE! THOSE DOCTORS! NO, THAT DOCTOR!" She cackled loudly, her head twisting at odd angles as blood started leaking from her body, upon closer inspection, Ayumi could see rusted shackles attached to her wrists. "I KILLED HIM! HAHAHA! THAT DISGUSTING BASTARD IS DEAD! AND I COULD KILL THE OTHER ONE TOO! IF THAT PRICK DIDN'T HAVE SO MANY CHARMS AND SHIT THAT SOMEHOW KEEP ME AWAY! I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE! I HAVE TO BE! I'M ALIVE!" The ghoulish figure came closer to her prison cell. "I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE!"

"NO, you're not!" Ayumi burst into tears.

"IF I'M NOT ALIVE, WHY DID THEY GET TO LIVE, WHY DID HE GET TO LIVE?! OH THAT'S RIGHT," She cackled again. "I KILLED THAT ONE, WHY CAN'T I KILL THE OTHERS! DAMN THEM! I'M ALIVE! I HAVE TO BE ALIVE! I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE!" She kept repeating that over and over again as Ayumi sobbed.

"No…. Hasegawa…. I'm sorry."

"I'LL KILL THEM ALL! KILL! KILL! KILL!" She paused and suddenly grabbed the bars on the cage housing Ayumi, the aura turning red as it and more black mist escaped her body and a twisted enraged look marred her face. "YOU… WHY DID YOU ESCAPE?!... WHY ARE YOU ALLOWED TO LIVE?!" She began shaking the bars vigorously and Ayumi trembled in fear, tears streaming down her face, knowing that it wasn't long until the bars would break. At least it would free her, but possibly to her death. And just as the bars snapped a dark figure in a gas mask, illuminated by the light from the open door, walked in and threw a vial of liquid at the spirit. The spirit stumbled back with a screech, then with a low groan, a black fluid began pouring from her mouth, just like that incident with Naho, except this time, she wasn't fading away. Looking closer at the shattered vial, she realized it had been her vial of Holy Water.

"Quiet down and behave! The boss says that he doesn't want his subjects being harmed!"

"Subjects." Ayumi muttered, "Well, that affirms what I suspected. Wait, subjects?"

"Onii-chan." She heard a soft whimper next to her as the door shut, cutting off most of the light; the only source of light now coming from the spirit of Kaori Hasegawa in the room, which was only a faint and pale glow.

"No…" Ayumi whispered.

"Onii-chan, where are you? I had a bad dream. It involved a lot of people yelling. It was so scary… Huh, what's going on? Where am I?! Onii-chan!"

"Shhhh… Yuka, calm down, it's okay I'm right here you just have to stop yelling." Ayumi turned to the small figure she just noticed in the mattress next to her. "You have to be quiet, so we can be safe."

"A-Ayumi Onee-chan?" Yuka sniffed as she tried to hold back tears, from the shock of her surroundings. She too, was only dressed in the same hospital gown. "What's going on? Where am I? Where's Onii-chan? And why are we here?"

"I have a feeling of what's going on. But, it won't involve you." At least that's what Ayumi hoped, but then again, why would she be here? "I'm not sure where we are or why we are here? But I know why I'm here and that your big brother is probably looking for us as we speak."

"Oh… Have we been kidnapped?"

Ayumi paused for a bit. "Y-yes."

"That means we could die." She started whimpering again as if she was about to burst into tears. It appears that she hadn't changed from when they last met either. Ayumi sighed, holding back her own fear.

"No, I'll get us out of here and to your big brother and Kishinuma-Kun."

"Yoshiki Onii-chan is looking too? That would make sense." She poked her fingers together and stared at her feet as she sat. The sound of Yuka's shackles were the only sound that filled the stagnant air at the moment. Ayumi tried to give Yuka a small smile.

"So Yuka, it's been a while. I hear you're in high school now, how exciting for you."

"Yeah, Onii-chan still volunteers to walk me to school. But, it's too early in the morning when he goes to work; usually I'm at school hours before it starts." Yuka giggled.

"Really? I guess that means more study time."

"I guess." Yuka shrugged and smiled indicating that she doesn't use that time for studying.

"You're brother's married now. Were you a part of the wedding?"

Yuka sighed at that statement as if in a huff, which confused Ayumi. "Yeah, I was the flower girl. He got married to Naomi Onee-chan." She seemed to pout over this.

"So I noticed. Well, he and Kishinuma-Kun are the detectives working the case involving me." She pause thinking of something to make Yuka stop pouting about it. "I bet you were the prettiest girl there."

Yuka giggled again. "Of course I was." Another cheerful laugh. "How have you been Ayumi Onee-chan?

"I have been quite well, thanks for asking."

"Did you ever get a job after graduation?"

"Yeah, I got my dream job. I'm an illustrator now."

"Oh, good job. I thought Onii-chan wouldn't get a job, but he got one with his best friend." She paused as Ayumi nodded. "Do you think I'll get a job too, after I graduate?"

"Of course, if you work hard enough, you can even get your dream job."

Yuka smiled, "With my best friend?"

"Maybe, who knows? The future is still unknown."

The two girls giggled softly but were interrupted by the sound of the ghost coughing and sputtering as it returned to a standing position. Yuka gasped at the sight of it and Ayumi held her away from the broken front of the cage.

"Hasegawa-San." She called out weakly.

"…" No response.

"Are you alright?"

"…" Still nothing, Ayumi paused as she thought to herself.

"Does the name Shiho mean anything to you?" The spirits aura began to turn blue.

"Wh-What? How do you know her?"

"A detective told me you mentioned her." It was a slight bluff of hers but she was hoping to talk to this spirit and get some help from her. "Was she a friend or relative?"

"My… Little sister."

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss."

"It doesn't matter, she hates the living now, and me. I don't like that; I don't want her to hate me or the living. I don't want to hate the living myself."

Ayumi's brow furrowed at the remark but at least she was making headway with the spirit. "What about the name Seita?"

"He's a good kid." The spirits face became saddened as her aura was now fully blue and the blood and black mist was gone, though her dead eyes couldn't portray any emotion. "I'm sorry… For what I have done."

"No need for the apologies." Ayumi paused again. "How about you start from the beginning? Do you think you can tell me when you got to Heavenly Host and what happened there? Maybe your information could help us."

"Do you…. Really want to know about it?"

Ayumi nodded. "Yes, like I said, it could help."

The spirit of Kaori sighed; her blank, dead eyes focused on them with a sullen expression. "I did horrible things…. I went there twice; I knowingly put others in danger. All just to see my sister… But all I got was to hear her say that she hates me." The spirit looked as if she would break into tears. Ayumi looked sympathetically upon her.

"Please, I know it hurts but please, help me."

The spirit appeared to be gathering herself, then she spoke. "Alright then, maybe it will be good if someone who survived finally knows of our story."

Day 2…

"Man, this guy had been researching Shinozaki for a while; his hard drive is loaded with her patient files and all her doctoral visits." Satoshi gazed at his computer screen for a while as he rubbed his chin. "Did the lab ever get back to you about the mysterious powder the other two found on the window in Shinozaki's bedroom?"

"Yeah." Yoshiki rubbed his head. "They told me that it was specks of paint mixed with a soft and padded foam like substance, the stuff that a padded cell or isolation room would be made out of in a mental institution."

"Would it be at the place we were yesterday?" Satoshi sat up from his chair and stretched.

"No, the lab workers told me it's to deteriorated and aged. That it's most likely from one of the old abandon asylums." Yoshiki lowered his head with a sigh.

"We deserved that chewing out from the boss." Satoshi walked over to the wall and looked into the mirror. "How could he get information about my family? And what would he want with Yuka?"

"Being chewed out wasn't something that was on my mind. No matter what, we will find Shinozaki and will start by checking every mental hospital in the area if we have to. Yuka has to be with her, that bastard mentioned something about wanting more patients for his experiments." Yoshiki stated his fist clenched in anger.

"Yeah, but still." Satoshi paused. "He probably looked me up and got information about my family, and went from there." Satoshi growled. "You're right though, we will find them, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something terrible happened to them."

"Well, neither would I." Yoshiki stared at the floor as he rose to his feet. "We should get to searching any abandoned mental hospitals."

"There are three in the area and two more farther out. But the faster we get started the quicker we can find Shinozaki and Yuka." Satoshi explained shutting down his computer.

"So let's get started." Yoshiki grabbed his coat.

"Right behind ya." Satoshi followed after.

Day 1…

"The first time I did the charm with a friend of mine and my dear little sister, Shiho." The spirit explained to the two prisoners. "We thought we had appeased the spirit of the girl who created the hellish environment we found ourselves in, but it turns out we were wrong."

"Sachiko…" Ayumi whispered. Kaori's spirit nodded in response.

"That girl in red chased after use, she took a pair of scissors to my dear sister's ankles. Her tendons had been cut and I wanted to go back for her, I wanted to save her but, my friend said that we had to get out of there. A spirit of a girl with a missing eye we had met and befriended earlier materialized in front of us and emphasized this point."

"That must have been Yuki-Chan." Ayumi muttered.

The spirit nodded again and continued, "My friend and I barely escaped with our lives before the spaces closed again and the girl in red gained her power back, according to the spirit of Yuki. But I couldn't stand the fact that my dear sister had died there, her spirit left to suffer in another dimension. Worst part of it was, when we got back, no one remembered her, like she never even existed."

"I'm sorry…" Ayumi gave the spirit a comforting look which made the ghost chuckle softly with a somber tone.

"I kept demanding everyone that Shiho had existed once, but I was deemed crazy and hysterical and locked up in a psychiatric hospital. I had to deal with the most horrendous doctor in that place, he was positively dreadful."

"Dr. Amagasaki I'm guessing?"

"Correct." Kaori's spirit sighed softly. "But, it wasn't all bad. A few friends visited me from time to time and you know about Seita apparently. He was another patient there whose parents had been extremely abusive. He needed to get some therapy before he could go into foster care, though the facility we were at wasn't one for 'help'." The spirit scoffed.

"So I've heard." Ayumi nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, that's a different subject." Kaori brushed it aside. "He would always come to my room and would ask me to tell him stories. He's a sweet kid and I would always tell him stories of a beautiful princess and he was a prince. The princess I would always envision to be my dear late sister. I had always wondered how much fun the two would have if they had met each other."

Kaori paused and appeared to be gathering herself. "Though as the days went by I wished more and more just to see my dear sister once more, so I told my friends and Seita about the charm and asked if we could try it. The friend who went with me before was vehemently against it of course. But we soon found out that we had to do the charm when two of our friends decided to perform the charm before us. We had to go after them and that's when I realized how horrible of a person I was." She began to tear up. "Dragging my friends and Seita into such a horrible situation all for my own selfish gain; even when I finally came across the spirit of my sister, I found she had developed a deep hatred for me. For leaving her behind and continuing to live on without her, but my life was miserable without her." Kaori began to break down in sobs as she laid out the events that lead to the end of her life.

"Hasegawa-San… It wasn't your fault." Ayumi wished she could offer her a tissue but she had nothing on her and she wasn't sure if those were physical tears.

"It got to the point where all my friends had been killed off by the school, even the one who survived with me the first time. Then, it was just me and Seita together in that despicable school. That's when we found the spirit of my sister and found out how she felt about me. The words that came from her mouth were pure venom. It stung like a sword piercing my heart." She paused. "That's when we heard a bell began to toll, my sister giggled in an awful and evil way and told us that the closed space had opened up and that we better get moving. I was shocked when I heard her say that, that someone had actually appeased the spirit or at least I had hoped. I wasn't sure since the last time I tried it didn't work out."

"That must have been when we were there, right Yuka." Yuka nodded to Ayumi slowly. "I'm not sure why it failed with you but, yes. I, Yuka here and three other friends of mine were able to successfully appease Sachiko."

"So you were there with me. It's a shame that we didn't run into each other during the time there, we could have helped each other out. Though maybe there is a reason that we hadn't met then."

Ayumi nodded and the spirit continued, "Once again I directed Seita to run to the outside walkway with me in order to make our escape. But something prevented me to continue from exiting the bomb shelter along with Seita. All I remember is that I fell to the ground and there was this large zombie like man hovering over me, wielding a sledgehammer. I was yelling to Seita, telling him to keep running. He must have escaped but I don't remember anything since he left my field of view. I guess I lost consciousness but I don't remember what happened after that, all I know is when I woke up it was in my bed in my room at the hospital. I felt very different and I remember that I looked a bit different too. My skin looked grey at times and I would have a light blue aura around me. Food, water, none of that appealed to me and when I checked the calendar it had been years since the second incident I had with Heavenly Host. Though, I was happy to see Seita was alive and well, so good to see he made it out. He started coming back into my room for story time again and things started to become somewhat normal."

"Yoshikazu. He must have murdered you then. And after years passed, you were brought back here with the Book of Shadows years later as a spirit; someone must have known how to translate it." Ayumi pondered for a bit.

"Dr. Amagasaki was good when it came to translating something. He must have performed the spell that opened up that rift in the closed spaces, according to you."

"That would make sense, so you think it's possible you would attach yourself to him? Maybe because of some sort of connection like a vendetta."

Kaori's spirit nodded after thinking for a bit. "By your logic, that should be accurate. I wished with all my heart that he would rot in hell."

"So it's all starting to make sense." Ayumi's breath hitched as light flooded the room, the spirit of Kaori rose to her feet and Yuka pulled herself close to Ayumi. The door had opened and someone was coming in.

"It seems you've discovered that Miss Hasegawa isn't shall we say, 'lively'?" Dr. Kasemura walked in with a horrible chuckle. "Yes, she just happens to be dead. Odd how that rift just spit out an unconscious ghost girl and suddenly Dr. Amagasaki remembered who this girl was."

Ayumi's eyes narrowed at the doctor as she held Yuka close to her. He approached their broken cages, "Hmmm, really did a number here."

"Don't hurt them!" Kaori growled, her aura turning red. He threw a handful of salt to prevent her from advancing.

"Don't worry. I'm merely examining my subjects."

Day 2…

"Dammit." Satoshi muttered. "Almost close to nothing at every location in town."

Yoshiki folded his arms, "We were able to get one sample at least, let's get that to the lab. Hard to believe there are old abandon asylums that don't have padded rooms. We'll just have to continue our search outside of town, tomorrow. They have to be in one of those."

"Even in the one we got the sample from, there were still no signs of human life anywhere." Satoshi sighed and lowered his head. "We're wasting time. By tomorrow they could be dead."

"You said it yourself Satoshi, we will find them. Besides, as far as we know, they would have no reason to kill either of them. Then he wouldn't have a good grip on us. He most like has some use for them and for us for that matter." That had to be true to Yoshiki, and that's what he was trying to convince Satoshi of. If the doctor had half a mind to kill Ayumi, Yoshiki would have his head on a silver platter. That would be the same for if Yuka wound up dead too, Satoshi would have none of that.

"That would make sense; we could just be playing right into a trap." Satoshi paused. "All I know is that we have to find them fast."

"Yeah." Yoshiki nodded in agreement. "Let's just hope we're ready for any trap."

Day 2…

Ayumi held Yuka close as they trembled in the busted cage. Kaori lay in the corner surrounded by various spiritual charms that were weakening her and suppressing her powers. Yesterday, the doctor had left them with blankets and a couple of pillows, it wasn't much however, they were living like prisoners. Now, he entered back in the dark and dank room carrying the Book of Shadows with him, obviously up to something serious.

"I do hate wasting my precious creation on this ghost. Besides, instead of keeping watch over you with an iron clad grip like I intended she just goes nuts. I guess that's to be expected; now she'll remain a prisoner. Though she will not be given the best treatment the likes of which I will provide to you."

'Best treatment, my ass.' Ayumi thought rolling her eyes as he turned from the spirit to them.

"Now, let's get to business."

"Do what you want to me!" Ayumi shouted. "Just leave Yuka out of this." Yuka whimpered in her arms as the doctor chuckled.

"Oh my dear patient, I must have use for both of you. But right now, you and I need to have a little chat." With that a couple of men in gas masks surrounded Ayumi and unshackled her, lifting her up and dragging her out of the room with the doctor following close behind.

"Ayumi Onee-chan!" Yuka called out to her.

"It's alright Yuka, everything will be fine. You be good and keep Hasegawa-San company. I'll be back." Ayumi shouted back trying to calm the girl. After all, it was better her than Satoshi's dear little sister. She was immediately shackled by her wrists, hanging from the ceiling of a room where several computer monitors were set up. Like a temporary security base of some sort, from the looks of it, it's just as she expected. This must be a temporary hideout; he most likely isn't living in a dump like this. She looked to each monitor, trying not to focus on the pain of all her weight pulling at her arms from being suspended from the ceiling, she wasn't that heavy but her lack of upper body strength was the biggest factor; as her eyes focused on the images her jaw dropped in shock.

There was her home on one of them, from the cameras set up at her place. She didn't see Ran or Azusa around her home, but she saw them both on another monitor at the police station, they were both appeared very distressed as they talked with someone in a lab coat. It would make sense since she was technically missing. On another monitor were two equally distressed detectives, in front of the station talking with each other, about where she could be. She could hear chatter from the monitors loud and clear and it hurt to hear how desperate they were about finding her and Yuka.

'I'm here. Kishinuma-Kun, Mochida-Kun, I'm here.' She wanted to shout, but found herself unable to speak as the doctor approached her and reached out to touch her cheek. She jerked away from his hand, the chains jingling and rattling above her. He pulled his hand away in a nonchalant manner and made his way to the monitors.

"Isn't it amazing, I've hacked into almost all of the cities security feed, including the ones at your home and at the police station, all undetected. I can even hack into each of the webcams of a few select individuals." He pressed a button and one monitor displayed a view from her own webcam, her eyes narrowed at him. "Not only yours but also Officers Takai and Kobayashi as well as Detectives Mochida and Kishinuma. Even I amaze myself sometimes." He turned to her with a smirk and then to the monitor displaying Yoshiki and Satoshi. In a disturbing manor he traced his finger along the image of Yoshiki. "I can see why you're drawn to him; he is quite an exquisite being isn't he? Positively amazing form and perfect frame, the sex appeal almost radiates off of him doesn't it?"

She gave a disgusted look, "What are you, gay for him or something? Besides who said I was attracted to him? Furthermore, I will get out of here and inform them about your unauthorized and illegal surveillance."

He chuckled at this, "From my previous research, you appear to be very attracted to him. And believe me, you will be released, you and Detective Mochida's sweet sister." He sighed, "Unfortunately for you and them, I will be long gone once I release you both. I plan on informing them of that too, they're definitely close to discovering where this location is so it's unfortunate for them that they won't catch me in time."

"But soon you won't be able to hide, you'll run out of hiding places sometime and you can't run forever." Another chuckle as if he was brushing the comment aside. She paused giving him a glare. "So since you're planning on releasing us, why not do it now? Whatever plans you have just do them already and be sure to leave Yuka out of it. All experiments you have planned, do them all on me."

"Oh I have plans for you but that will happen in due time. I have you here for two reasons actually, one of which is why I brought you in here."

She sighed, preparing herself for any torturous experiments, though the chains pulling at her arms were causing enough strain and torture on her body as the weight of the gravity wanting to bring her back down seemed to become heavier and heavier. She didn't think such a small thing like herself would cause so much discomfort in a situation like this. "Fine, but I need to know one thing. Why did you lie to me about Hasegawa-San?"

"Would you believe me if I said she was initially dead when I met her? I mean think about it."

"But you have full knowledge that I know about spirits."

"Yes, I figured a naïve young lady like yourself would just assume that when a doctor tells you she's dead, she's dead. Really, I just didn't want your focus to be on some ghost or demon that's hanging around. But, inevitably that's where it went thanks to Amagasaki." He remarked with a slight hiss. "That man screwed everything up, but I've worked around it as you may have noticed. What's important to me is not some ghost, it's my research. I told you that about the train so your focus wouldn't be on what's not important when you went to the police. It was a little white lie that had a high possibility of backfiring, which it did. But like I told you, it doesn't matter. You were bound to figure it out, your detectives sniffing something like that out fascinates me though."

"Naïve?! You really have underestimated me. You shouldn't take a girl of the Shinozaki family like that for granted. By the way, of course they would figure it out, they know about the curse around me as well as having a good knowledge of spirits, being close friends to me and what we've been through together, it was only natural that they did. Plus they're detectives, people like that tend to have pretty good bullshit detectors."

"But you did believe me at the time, am I wrong."

"Very, cause I didn't. And she is no mere ghost or demon, but a spirit of Heavenly Host. Like the spirit of Naho, except she appears to have a flesh and blood body; like a tangible being such as Sachiko."

"Hmm, I see." He paused for a minute. "…Naho? Who is that? And Sachiko, I've read that's one of your relatives that died tragically at a young age."

Her brow furrowed. "Yes that's true, but it appears that you don't know much about me or my family after all."

"I know your lineage makes you the keeper of the Book of Shadows." He produced the said book. "And about how this book is a curse to you and your family."

"What about that, are you finally going to return it to its rightful place?"

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't. I need to use it to open up that rift again. I need to restock my wonderful discovery, I can't just run out you know. Supply and demand."

"There's no one in demand for something like the Darkening." She snarled.

"You don't know much about street rats, druggies or sex addicts, honey."

She felt herself become sick at that pet name, "You did it once before. What's stopping you now? Obviously not empathy."

"That's where you come in." He spun around with an awful smirk. "I need you to translate the words in this book. Some of them are already translated but, that's not enough obviously. Amagasaki was the one who performed the spell, after some big monologue that the supernatural didn't exist, guess we were wrong. But, the point is he was able to read it and he's dead now, I unfortunately can't, so hence I need you to."

"Like hell I will! Why don't you look up how to translate it, you seem pretty tech savvy." She scoffed.

"I would rather the keeper of such a book be the one to do it for me. As I assume the owner knows how to read it."

"You know the first spell I did out of that; I screwed up because I didn't know the translation for it, that's how my sister met her fate as you know." She replied. "That was the first and only spell I did."

"But as its keeper, you have studied it."

"Yeah, you probably know that too, I figured out how to read the text after studying it for a time. But that doesn't mean I'll translate it for you."

"Of course I knew you wouldn't be willing of course." He turned back to the monitor and pressed a button, focusing in on Yoshiki's image. "I wonder what a perfect being like him would be like if he let his inner beast take over?"

"The hell are you talking about?"

"If I could just give that a boost, just push him towards that basic instinct, that animalistic behavior." He turned to the vial of the dark and vile liquid with a disturbed grin.

She gasped. "You disgust me more than anything I could ever think of, how do you even expect to get that into Kishinuma?!"

He chuckled eerily. "I have my ways, so how about that translation. Or do I need to involve little Yuka in my experiments?"

"Don't you dare touch her!" She spat as he approached her with that despicable smirk of his. "I hope Kishinuma punches you in the face if you try and force that stuff on him."

"It won't be me who will try that my dear." He cupped a hand over her cheek and she attempted to jerk away again only to have his free hand grab a hold of her waist. "You're so beautiful; I can see why he's so attracted to you. You're just so cute."

She struggled against him as he attempted to plant a kiss on her lips or cheek, she couldn't tell as she turned from him instantly, trying to break free; wanting to swat his hands away as she struggled trying to prevent them from going up her hospital gown. "Whoever tries that shit, they deserve a punch in the face by him and so do you, you sick pervert now get…. Off…. Of me!"

Eventually, he let go of her in frustration, but not before she felt his wet tongue run along her cheek, she shuddered wanting to wipe the cold saliva away as fast as she could.

"You shouldn't look so tempting if you don't want it! Why are you trying to fight it anyway?! You belong to me, you're my test subject! You WILL obey me!" He ran over in a blind rage and slapped her hard across the face. Ayumi cried out in pain as her cheek tingled and stung. He clenched his fists and breathed heavily before turning away from her and let out a long, deep breath; his calm and despicable demeanor returning. "I hope to see the results of my recent experiment very soon; I want to see the beastly animal he can become. I wonder how Yuka will react to this as well? She'll become quite the naughty school girl."

"You sick bastard." She paused for a moment, in thought. "Fine, I'll translate it for you, I'll even write it in the margins of the book itself. Now your end of the bargain is to leave Yuka-Chan out of it and let us go! Same goes for Kishinuma, but he'll probably give you what you deserve!"

"I'm glad we're on the same page." His lackeys unshackled her and she fell to the floor. The book, some papers and a pen were thrown in front of her. "You'll both be released by tomorrow, until then you'll have to get to it and finish by tonight. We leave tomorrow morning, and I can't tell you where. Not that it will matter or that you could figure it out, first thing in the morning, both of you will be blindfolded. Just to let you know in advance."

"Go to hell." She hissed, he laughed as he left the room and she grumbled as she began writing down the translations. She smirked a bit as she turned to the now shut door and was about to say something but decided not to, figuring he's probably got cameras in the room watching her. She then returned back to her writings and in the matter of a couple of hours, she finished and was about to curl up in the corner somewhere and fall asleep when she noticed herself on one of the monitors. Just then, Dr. Kasemura's lackeys entered the room.

"It's finished?"

She nodded and with that, she was escorted back to that dark room, tossed back in the broken cage onto that filthy mattress and re-shackled next to a shivering and sleeping Yuka. A sad look in her eye she pulled the shivering girl close to her, in an attempt to warm her up. Yuka absent mindedly and in her sleep cuddled close to her. Looking around in the darkness, aside by the faint glow of Kaori's pale and weak aura, she found a small and limp blanket, dampened by the humidity in the room. She quickly threw it over the both of them, it wasn't much but at least it was something. One thing she knew is that she was glad to get out of this by tomorrow, her and Yuka. As her eyes fluttered to a close and sleep began to envelope her, her last thought was of Yoshiki's smiling face. "Kishinuma-Kun….Get him." She whispered as she fell into an uncomfortable night's sleep, a trembling Yuka held in her arms.

Day 3…

"Well, our sample turned out negative, any good news from the girls and their location." Satoshi rubbed his eyes; it was obvious he hadn't had a decent amount of sleep in a while. Yoshiki turned to his friend after closing his phone, looking equally as tired and strained.

"That was them; they said the lab had a match so they're heading back to the location for a more detailed search. Though, it seemed as deserted as ever to them. We better meet them there and join them in their search; we have to find something there, or hopefully someone."

"It sounded like we were getting somewhere and then you hit me with that." He sighed. "But you're right, we have to look. We have to find them."

They wasted no more time getting out to their destination, an abandon insane asylum on the far outskirts of the next town over. They arrived just in time to see Ran and Azusa get out of their car, dressed in full uniform and greeted the two detectives.

"I have a bad feeling; it's absolutely desolate and silent in there." Azusa shivered, as they approached the bleak and ominous building. "And it feels as though, a lost soul was recently there and has moved on to another location." Ran whimpered nervously at her companion's reaction.

"A lost soul?" Satoshi questioned as Azusa nodded an affirmative.

"It could be Hasegawa." Yoshiki pulled out a picture he obtained at Tendo Senior High School earlier today. "Shinozaki mentioned that she could be a spirit accidentally transported to the real world from the spell that Kasemura and Amagasaki pulled off to bring the Darkening here."

"Hmmm." Azusa peered over at the image. It was a group photo with a bunch of classmates, all but one of the faces were blacked out. The one that wasn't was Kaori Hasegawa but her image was extremely faded. "That's an interesting picture you got there. I get a strange vibe from it; I think Shinozaki-San is right."

"Well, we should focus on finding her and my sister." Satoshi opened the door and they all entered quickly.

"Ya know what's been bothering me though. Doesn't that Darkening stuff seem different to you guys than from what we saw in Heavenly Host?" Ran pointed out.

"Come to think of it, you do have a point. It seems more…. Physical and less spiritual if you know what I mean." Azusa held her bottle of Holy Water close as she searched around. "I didn't really think about it until you mentioned it Ran." Ran giggled happily at her companion's acknowledgement.

"Huh, it could be the different dimension." Satoshi shrugged as he followed Ran's flashlight, disappointed that there was still no sign of his dear sister.

Yoshiki nodded in agreement as he followed Azusa who was lighting the path for him. "Makes sense since it's been brought into a real dimension and not a closed space. But Satoshi has a point; we need to get to finding Shinozaki and Yuka." The girls nodded and turned toward a dark and dank room. Instantly, all in the party knew something was off. "It looks like someone had hooked up a bunch of equipment in this area." Yoshiki lifted a severed wire off the ground that seemed to snake underneath the floor. He then turned to where Satoshi was focused, chains and cuffs hanging from the ceiling, looking as though they've been recently used. "That looks wonderful." He grunted sarcastically.

"Doesn't it though?" Satoshi replied with equal sarcasm. "Doesn't look like it's that old or rusted, in fact it looks like it's been recently restored." Yoshiki nodded when his view focused on a small thread like material on one of the chains. He leaned in closer and his eyes went wide, it was a dark blue strand of hair.

"Shinozaki!" He immediately plucked it out and plopped it in an evidence bag, a sullen expression dawned on his face.

"She was here." Satoshi narrowed his eyes. "We now know that for sure."

"Do you think she's close?" Yoshiki turned to his best friend, a slight twinge of desperation in his voice.

Satoshi sighed with a frown, having the same concern for his sister. "We can only hope."

Moments later Azusa wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as they entered a dark basement area. "Now I know a spirit was here a moment ago." She tilted from side to side, like she was losing her balance and was about to faint.

"Yome!" Ran cried out in fear as she stumbled forward. With quick thinking and footwork Yoshiki burst into action, reaching out and wrapping his arms around her waist, catching her and preventing her from falling forward. She froze at the feeling of his strong arms around her and his body lightly pressed against her own, holding her dangling form close. A trickle of cold sweat trailed down her temple and she swallowed hard. Yoshiki, who had gained his footing rather quickly, stood holding her and sighed.

"You alright now? Don't scare us like that, you could have been hurt." He released her and she shakily stood to her feet. She turned to him, twiddling her fingers, her face a light shade of red.

"Y-yes, sorry about that Senpai." Azusa folded her hands and looked down at the floor ((Notice me Senpai!)).

"It's really no big deal, nothing to be embarrassed by." He told her, naïve to what had embarrassed her, which was obvious to everyone else. Being in such close proximity with him just a bit earlier made her mind race. She wanted to douse herself in her own Holy Water to rid herself of such dirty thoughts. "I've dealt with much more fearsome situations with Shinozaki, which we should get back to searching for…" He continued but paused giving the blushing, blond officer a weird look. "Did you just call me Senpai?" ((NOTICE ME! O.o )) She giggled, her face turning even redder.

"Yome! You look so cute when you blush!" Ran giggled like a school girl.

"R-Ran!" Azusa gasped in shock as Satoshi sighed.

"Shouldn't we be focused on the problem at hand like Yoshiki said?"

"Yeah, back to work you two." Yoshiki muttered shaking his head at their behavior ((enough moe…. For nao. Don't ask about the whole senpai thing, it's just for randomness)).

"Gotcha Senpai!" Ran saluted as she spoke in a mocking tone and winked at Azusa.

"Y-yes! I agree, enough goofing around." She grumbled shivering from the cold atmosphere as she shot a look back at Ran.

"Shit!" Satoshi exclaimed, his eyes rested upon a broken down cage, like a prison cell. "This is probably where he kept them, looks like they're gone now." He pulled on some gloves and began searching through the musty blankets and dirty mattresses among the chains in the dilapidated cell. Yoshiki wasted no time in joining him and the girls stood over the two with their flashlights.

"Here's another strand of hair. From the color, it must be Yuka's, we'll send all of this to the lab. You two willing to make that trip?" Yoshiki looked to his subordinates and they nodded, both their expressions very serious.

"Of course." Azusa assured.

"Goddammit." Satoshi muttered through grit teeth.

"We'll find them. We have to." Yoshiki clenched his fists and looked around the busted cage. "Who, or what did this?"

"I have a feeling it was the spirit, look." Azusa pointed at the floor where a shattered vial lay.

"It's Shinozaki-Sans' vial of Holy Water!" Ran gasped.

"You sure like to state the obvious." Yoshiki growled.

"S-sorry sir." Ran shifted awkwardly.

"Yoshiki, stay calm, you said we'll find them. There's no need to take it out on her." Satoshi spoke as calmly as he could.

"Right, yeah." Yoshiki sighed and glanced at the floor looking at the shattered glass. "My apologies."

"It's okay, I understand." Ran smiled a little. "I'm to assume we'll take this into evidence too."

"Actually, it's probably better to get the crime scene technicians out here while the scene is still mostly undisturbed. Let's be sure not to get anything else out of disarray." Yoshiki explained as he regained his composure.

Azusa nodded, "Probably right about that. Wait, something's written on the wall there." Azusa flashlight caught a glint of red and focused on what appeared to be a message written in the lower right corner of the wall inside the cage. She leaned in to get a better look.

"I told you not to tamper with more evidence." Yoshiki leaned over.

"Wait, let's just read this." Azusa gave him a worried look

"It looks like Shinozaki's handwriting." His eyes went wide. Now curious, Satoshi and Ran tried to squeeze in to get a good look.

"Let's not get all cramped up in here." Yoshiki muttered.

"Yeah, I'll read it out loud to everyone." With that, Azusa took a deep breath and read the following note; it appeared to be written in blood. There was a glass shard next to the note with a bloodstain on it. Obviously it was the tool used most likely on her finger, judging by the style it's written, to create the medium.

Kishinuma-Kun, Mochida-Kun, I hope you find this

I was her in this cage with Yuka, we have been trapped her for two days. I have had a decent amount of food and water and the chance to shower; I'm not sure about Yuka though. I was forced to translate the Book of Shadows for Kasemura, however I had a plan for that which he doesn't know about. Hopefully he doesn't find this note in morning, I couldn't sleep that well so I'm writing this at about midnight. We will be blindfolded and handcuffed early in the morning and taken to a different location. I don't know where that will be and I don't know how I'll find out but, I'll try. Either way, he told us he would return us home by the end of tomorrow. He better keep his promise, though if that is his promise, he most likely has a devious plan in mind. It better not be the one he told me about, he promised not to do that as long as I translate the Book of Shadows. Still, I hope to see you soon and get Yuka home peacefully, despite the circumstances. This is all I can tell you for now, someone is coming…

Shinozaki

"How awful, that she had to stay in a place like this." Azusa sighed sorrowfully. "What plan could she be referring to?"

"He probably tortured her in that room to get her to translate that book for him, and told her if she didn't he had a plan that would make her do so in exchange for not enacting that plan of his. Though he's probably going back on his word and putting that plan into place as we speak." Yoshiki snarled.

"I swear, if he even touched Yuka…" Satoshi trembled in anger.

"Guys!" Ran called out, running up to them with something in her hands. "You might want to look at this." She handed over a photo taken from one of those old Polaroid cameras but, it was recent and it had something written on the back. Yoshiki's jaw dropped as he looked at the photo. It displayed Ayumi and Yuka sitting back to back in hospital gowns, handcuffed and blindfolded in the very same cage. A snarl on his face, he flipped it over and read the message on the back.

So sorry boys, you showed up too little too late, and now we've moved on. Of course I'll be taking my subjects with me. You understand right, but not to fear, you'll have them back by tonight. Let's just say I have a real fun experiment set up for the two of you involving my subjects. But first, I need to have a little chat with Miss Shinozaki about a little note to you two that she left. I'm sure you've read it by now, I must know what that little plan of hers was. Though, if I can't get her to tell me by tonight, I have other ways of finding it out. So long for now, I'll be sure to see the results of my work tonight. You may ask how I might do that, well, I have eyes everywhere.

Dr. Kasemura

"Bastard!" Satoshi growled. "He could be anywhere by now."

"What does he mean by eyes everywhere?" Ran pondered.

"That's probably referring to the signs that there was equipment of some sort in that room, he must have monitors watching us. But how, and why? And is he watching us now?" Azusa added. A silence befell them and no one offered and answer.

"Dammit!" Yoshiki shouted as loud crack echoed through the room startling the other three, he was right about the doctors plan and his betrayal of Ayumi. He had punched a large hole in the old wall, shattering some of the drywall, which crumbled to the wet floor.

"Yoshiki, you need to have a level head remember." Satoshi rested a hand on his friends shoulder. "Believe me, I'm as equally frustrated."

Yoshiki grit his teeth and removed his fist from the wall as Azusa and Ran approached cautiously. Azusa reached out to try and comfort him.

"Do you think they'll really be back by tonight?"

"They better be." Yoshiki snarled. "I don't care what he has planned but for his sake. He better hope so."

Hours later…

Yoshiki flung open his apartment door with an angry grunt as he swung it shut and hung his coat on the nearby rack. He dropped his keys on the nearby coffee table and made his way over to his computer, sitting down at the desk and wiggling the mouse, the familiar artificial light illuminated his face as the screen flickered to its desk top. He lived in a modest flat on the third floor of an apartment complex, a great upgrade from the small apartment he had in high school. This one had a lot more space to it, a decent bathroom and washroom, a good size kitchen and bedroom, and a large living area. It was nothing like the house Satoshi shared with his wife Naomi or the lovely home that Ayumi owned and that which he had the privilege of staying in.

Yoshiki sighed and rubbed his temple as he pulled up a couple of files and records he had sent to his computer about the case at hand. He wished Ayumi was within his reach, safe and sound. But to finally get to the end of this, he had to find the doctor, once again. He knew if that doctor did not keep his word, he will find him and make him pay. He grit his teeth in an angered scowl as he scanned across the various files on his screen, most of them on Dr. Kasemura. He clenched his fist seeing nothing new about Dr. Kasemura or anything about his whereabouts.

"Dammit, I can't just sit here and do nothing." He growled as he scrolled through more documents. Then with a groan, he rested his head in his hands. "Shinozaki."

There was a flicker across his screen and a small bright light blinked on at the top. He looked up in confusion at the image of himself on the computer screen. "The hell? Why is my webcam on all of a sudden?"

A sudden crash echoed loudly behind him, and he knew immediately that it was his door swinging open. Fast footsteps soon followed, someone had blatantly broken into his home and was coming at him, in fact, it sounded like two people. Though as he got up to charge his unwelcomed guests he was grabbed from behind, a moist and cold compress clamped against his mouth. He hadn't been quick enough, he thought, as he struggled vigorously against his attacker, he pinched his lips together as a thick, viscous liquid was forced down his throat. He knew immediately what it was from the dark mist floating up from the damp cloth over his mouth; Magic, the Darkening.

He coughed and sputtered for air as he broke from his attackers grasp and tossed him over his shoulder and onto his back with all his might. The gas masked attacker grunted loudly as he hit the floor and another attacker who had barely dodged the flailing body from moments ago had now backed away from Yoshiki slightly, wielding a knife. Yoshiki pulled his gun and aimed it at the masked, knife carrying figure.

"Put the knife down!" He commanded. Just as he did he noticed the other intruder crawling onto his stomach and grabbing a hold of the discarded fabric laced with the drug. Yoshiki stomped his foot down onto his hand, making the guy scream out in pain as he pulled the drug laced fabric from under his squished hand. "Where are you going with this?"

"It's ours!" The other shouted as he charged brazenly with his knife. Yoshiki immediately dodged his attack and quickly disarmed him, breaking his arm and shattering his wrist in the process.

"I told you to put it down." Yoshiki muttered as the attacker now gripped his twisted limb.

"He said we could have it after we gave it to you." He gasped through pained breaths falling to his knees. The other one again tried to grab at the cloth in Yoshiki's hand but ended up being knocked out by the butt of Yoshiki's gun.

"Stay down! Both of you!" He commanded as he pointed the gun at the former knife wielder and pulled out his cell phone. "Figured he sent you, it's pretty obvious what's going on." He muttered under his breath. He was about to call for back up when his vision suddenly blurred and his head began to ache. 'Shit…' He thought to himself as he felt the effects of the drug set in.

The room started spinning as a soft sound seemed to echo in the distance. He couldn't pinpoint what it was but it sounded feminine, even familiar and it seemed to get louder and louder. He attempted to shake away the effects of the toxic drug coursing through his veins as the sound now emanated from within the room. In fact, it sounded like a scream, a very familiar one, a cry for help.

"Shinozaki?" He gasped as he snapped out of his haze. He heard a muffled cry in response and turned towards the direction of it. "Shinozaki."

She was lying on his living room floor, inches from his coffee table and in front of his television, clad in only a hospital gown. Wrists and ankles bound with rope, blindfolded and gagged, she was calling out to him, the sound of her voice muffled by the cloth in her mouth.

"Oh thank God, you're back." He breathed a sigh of relief but only for a brief moment as the direness of her situation set in. He turned to his injured and unconscious assailants, "don't move." He kept his gun on them as he rushed over to her and quickly unfastened the ropes around her.

"Kishinuma! That bastard! He tried but I didn't tell him anything! Did he really go back on his word?! That bastard!" She hollered this nonsense as soon as the rag was removed from her mouth and the blindfold was taken away. "What's happening?! Tell me!"

"I thought you could answer that. He told us he had a plan, I guess we'll figure that out soon enough, unfortunately."

"He told me too." She nodded as she gasped for breath. "I'm glad you're okay, he was telling me something otherwise; like he had betrayed his word, though he'll pay, since I betrayed my word to him too." Her eyes shifted towards the floor.

"About that…" He wanted to ask what she was talking about but trailed off as he felt the full effects start to set in and the realization of the evil doctor's plan start to set in as well.

"I can't stand this! I just want the stuff!" He heard a desperate cry from over his shoulder. He looked down noticing that he still had the drugged cloth clenched in his hands. He was talking about Magic, he was a druggy looking for a fix. "I mean what's better than shit that not only gets you high but gets you action?! GIVE IT TO ME!"

Yoshiki turned swiftly to see the masked man pull out a gun, pointing it at him using his only good arm. In that instant, Yoshiki aimed his gun held tightly his other hand at his assailant and fired. It happened all in the blink of an eye, Ayumi screamed as the loud bang echoed from the barrel of the gun. The masked figure crumpled to the floor, a pool of blood formed around his head and an obvious gunshot wound through the forehead of the mask.

"Dammit." Yoshiki sighed wishing it hadn't had come to that, though there was nothing else that could have been done; he knew that all too well as he set his weapon aside.

"Oh God." Ayumi gasped.

"Sorry you had to see that-GAH!" Yoshiki clenched his teeth and gripped the sides of his head.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Ayumi stumbled back exposing her thigh and allowing a peek up her gown, his eyes drifted over toward her and a small trickle of drool left his lip as he focused on the delightful sight that graced him. He bit his lip as tons of risqué thoughts swirled through his mind and he felt his impulse control slowly dwindling. He was struggling to fight his urges though they were growing stronger by the minute as he took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.

"Shinozaki, just get out of here now, tell my neighbors to call the police and here's my phone, you can use it to call for back up. Tell them it's urgent." He put his cell phone in her outstretched hand along with his gun. "Use this if you absolutely have to. I…." He could feel his grip become tighter on her wrist, wanting to not let her go but pull her closer instead; he quickly released her and backed away. She held the gun and trembled, shaking like a leaf.

"I… I don't know how to use this."

"You just pull the trigger." He muttered through clenched teeth. "It doesn't matter now; you just have to get out of here." He quickly pushed her out of the door then shut it and fastened the lock. "Please, just get out of here." He whispered as she knocked frantically on the door.

"Wait, Kishinuma-Kun. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me…. Just…." He trailed off as he felt the drug finally take over his system.

"Alright, I'll get help for you and call for back up. Hang in there, whatever's wrong I'll get help, I'll be right back." It hadn't occurred to her yet apparently, she must not have seen the cloth in his hand. Her small bare feet echoed as she bolted down the hall and soon the noise of her footsteps faded in the distance. A devilish grin crossed his face and an eerie chuckle escaped his lips as he stood in front of the door, thin wisps of dark mist escaping from his body.

"I'll be waiting for you… Shinozaki."