Case 1: They're Not Waving : Third Entry
They thought me broken, that was tongue was coated lead,
But I just couldn't make my words make sense to them.
If you only listen with your ears… I can't get in.
-Radical Face [The Mute]
Lin had just been plugging in the last of the monitors when he began to hear distant metallic noises. He lifted his head from the shelves, stiff, still, and straining to identify the dull thuds. Rats? Did a bird get in somehow? As the subdued ruckus grew stronger, his head swung towards the window in sudden realization.
Noticing Lin's sudden movement and following his gaze across the building, Naru slowly rose from his seat. There was no rush, as she had quite a few stairs to go down, allowing him the time to straighten his already straight collar. Yasu watched his boss brush himself up in this manner from his vantage point on the other side of the metal shelf he was assembling. Pushing his glasses further up on his nose, he thought to himself that this might the beginnings of a beautiful theory. Maybe, maybe, he thought, Mai makes him lose his composure so much, he feels he has to accumulate extra before she walks in? That didn't feel quite right, and with a barely detectable shake of his head, he thought that instead perhaps the levels of chaos Mai could carry into a room threw the universe off balance, and this was nature's way of sorting it out. Yes, obviously, Yasu thought, patting himself on the back, mentally thanking his boss for protecting the world from sure destruction with mock solemnity.
Every theory Yasu had established about his boss's behaviors flew right out the door when Naru abruptly ripped it open and quickly descended the metal stairs to the factory floor. He and Lin both flinched as the door crashed carelessly into the wall behind them while the two peeked over the window at the spectacle.
Stumbling dangerously down the final step, Mai was barreling in the direction of the base, her eyes wide and breaths ragged. It was only when they saw the maroon tracks her sneakers left as she crossed the floor that they understood Naru's uncharacteristic urgency. They might be experts on the supernatural, and you could even go so far as to call them scholars of life after death, but the SPR group was certainly not accustomed to real blood. Yasuhara kept his breath half-held until Mai and Naru were both safely back at the base thinking that although the investigators might know their stuff, they weren't crime fighters, and they were in no way ready for a murder investigation.
Having descended every stair in the building more-or-less unscathed, it was only natural that Mai would have to crack her jaw on her way up the metal flight that lead up to the base. Breathing hard and only just beginning to come down from the panicked adrenaline rush, her face felt like it was radiating splotchy heat while her thoughts whirled loudly and uncontrollably. Mai picked herself up with large, loud breaths and struggled against the urge to sit back down exactly where she was and yell impossibly loudly at her ankles from the fetal position. If she only looked down as she took slower stomps up the stairs, maybe, just maybe she could contain herself. They're going to get mad - they're going to see me all scrunched up and splotchy and - There's no ice here and that's definitely leaving a - Blood on the stairs - Blood on me.
Lin thought the girl looked like the human equivalent of an overheating car engine. She could only force herself along that fast for so long until the smoke clouds started.
"What did you do?" Asked Naru, in a voice he just might have thought calming and solidifying, but really came across as something closer to apathetic.
"Are you JOKING?! Is this a JOKE?!" These were exactly the smoke clouds that Lin had predicted. "Last time I checked, it was a little too cold for it to be April Fools!"
Defuse, Yasuhara thought to himself, defuse! He dragged his seething, borderline hyperventilating, co-worker to the ragged leather couch against the back wall. "Hey, Mai, it can't be April Fools if the only joke here is me! Am I right?..." Lame. He chided himself. Come on, Yasu, pull out the big guns-
"If you're quite finished, you can tell us what happened." Although Naru looked pitiable at this point, pinching the bridge of his nose hard enough to leave tiny red marks, he still wasn't scoring any points with his hysterical assistant.
"Oh, I'm not finished! I want to know what kind of case even is this, and what exactly finished that dog upstairs!"A swift glance from Naru had Lin at the door of the base.
"Mai," Her boss's voice was exasperated, but possibly softer than she'd ever heard it. "Please."
"Fourth Floor." Her breaths quickened again as every bit of description dragged the image closer to her mind, "Storage Closet." Beside her on the worn black couch, Yasuhara gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Mai closed her eyes and slowed her breathing as Lin left.
She was seething and a bit red in the face once more as she dialed the phone. She got it, they needed more information, and she had to call the so rudely absent clients. Reasonable. What definitely wasn't was how apparently Naru had sent Lin up to look at the dog not to collect it or set up a camera or anything but to check that it was even real. Mai might not have ever had a dog, but she was pretty sure that everyone on Earth knew a dog when they saw one. Alive, dead, whatever. Canines. Yeah, she got it.
Her boss, who apparently thought she was so ignorant she didn't know basic domestic animals, was busy on the radio directing Lin as he set up the cameras. Naturally, Mai took this opportunity to mutter to herself while the phone rang dully in her ear. Just as she was seriously considering that the clients had just forgotten they had hired SPR in the first place, Mai heard a young voice on the other end.
"U-um, Hi. Hello!"
"Hello, this is Taniyama Mai from SPR, is our client Makoto there?" Mai's 'phone voice' was so dang chipper compared to her furious murmurings just seconds ago that Yasuhara couldn't help but giggle.
"Yes, this is she- This is Makoto, and, really thank you so much for agreeing to take-"
"U-huh, yeah your case is quite interesting, yes. That's actually why I'm calling. I'll be calling miss Ino, as well!" Mai had caught Yasuhara's giggling. With some method entirely beyond him, she was not only being impressively passive aggressive with their clients, she was keeping up this cheery phone voice while glaring him down with intensity. Yeah, definitely intense. Also lengthy.
"O-oh, well Ino is actually right here, so-" Although Mai's voice was forcedly lighthearted, the women on the other end of the phone seemed to be catching her drift.
"Great!" Mai interrupted, "I was really just calling to ask you two to come down to your building!" No normal human, not even Mai, would really be this chipper. Still eavesdropping, Yasuhara winced with sympathy for their clients. However, this was definitely nothing compared to facing Naru, who had been too disgusted with the clients to even call them himself. If he was willing to let Mai handle his cellphone unsupervised? He must be livid.
Mai continued talking to the two women, who were trying to get a word in, but all that was really getting through were their uncomfortable vocal squirmings. It might have been more accurate to say that she was talking at them. "We would just appreciate it so much if you would both come down here to your building as soon as you can! Oh, and really, before I go I just wanted to ask if you two knew anything about a dog in this building? Hm? No? Well, I'm sure you'll understand why I'm asking when you get here! See you then, I guess, thank- "
Hearing Mai's tone suddenly change, Yasuhara and Naru turned around quizzically.
The voice coming through the other end of the phone sounded eerily close. The sound had started only as a whisper, but this voice sounded like it was right next to her, whispering right in her ear, not like it was on the other end of some phoneline. The thought of whatever was getting louder and louder in her ear being that close to her made Mai's heartbeat quicken with panic although she couldn't even see its face.
"... you-... nev-... capitalist scum, they wi-... just like them, they'll all pa-" She might not have understood, or even been able to hear everything that voice was saying, but it was so enraged. It sounded murderous, and with every disjointed phrase it sounded more distorted more guttural.
"I-I…" Mai stuttered, back at the phone, her voice wavering and her eyes filling with hysteria. "W-Wh-Who is thi-" Her voice cracked and Naru saw tears beginning to form in her eyes before he grabbed the phone away from her ear.
There was nothing more frustrating than watching Mai panic over something they couldn't even see, over something that the rest of them couldn't even hear. "Hello?" he yelled before he had even brought his cellphone all the way to his ear. Although he strained his ears to hear whatever could have sounded so terrifying, he heard nothing but the sound of the call disconnecting.
Hey guys! Sorry this one took a bit, but I had some issues figuring out where exactly to go, ya know? The background is allllll there, but some of what happens to the crew might be a surprise, even to me… so. hah. heh. he.
Please tell me about anything confusing/wrong/inaccurate/annoying! Tear me apart, guys. I'm loving looking at the story traffic. And would like to give a shoutout to someone who might read this in Norway. Hello, Norway.
[Disclaimer: life isn't fair and Ghost Hunt isn't mine]