Hanging Haunted: Chapter 3

-

A loud clang sounded as the blood-soaked kitchen knife fell to the ground.

The murderer kneeled down, lathering his trembling hands in the crimson liquid that gushed from the woman's brutally maimed and dismembered body.

"It's been fun…

"Emi."

-

June 26
Day 2

Mai awoke with a gasp, her chest rising up and down with rapid movement. She covered her mouth as she glanced intently around the room, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead.

Where had her dream-Naru been? What a horrible way to start the case off…

The rustle of cloth sounded from her right. In surprise, she looked over to find Tetsuya. She sighed and smiled gently, slumping back down. Everything looked normal; the way it did before she went to sleep. Masako seemed to be peacefully dozing off…even Tetsuya was still by her side, cutely clinging onto the strap of her shirt.

'Thank god it was just a dream.'

Mai ran her fingers through the boy's hair, bringing him closer.

'Naru…'

-

Naru restrained a yawn, reaching for the tea cup at his side.

Empty.

He placed it down on top of one of his files mournfully. Well, it's not like he was going to wake Mai up just so he could have tea…

Naru sighed. "Where's Mai?" he inquired in a very pissy tone.

From across the room, John sat reading a book. He always did so in the morning before they started investigating. It was a habit of his; he really liked reading.

John looked up and glanced over towards his boss, a sweat-drop forming. "She, Hara-san, and Bou-san are all probably still sleeping…"

Naru sighed.

Speaking of Masako, she had mentioned to him that this spirit's intentions were unclear, but they weren't exactly good luck either. Naru wondered…did it care about what type of person it picks on? It could be one of those particular ghosts that chose its victims within a certain age-group or preferred one gender over another (if only he knew how much he and Mai were alike…).

'Is it interested in Tetsuya?' With another frustrated sigh, Naru ran a hand through his messy hair. "Would any takers like to wake her up?"

Lin, who was had been seated besides the irritated narcissist, kept his head down, his expression clearly saying, 'no way in hell'.

John laughed nervously. "I wouldn't mind getting her."

"Good. Tell her I don't want to see her until she gets my tea," Naru concluded, waving the priest away like pestering fly. He shifted in his chair in an attempt to get comfortable.

Lin stiffened and turned towards the younger teen besides him. "Naru, I have something you might want to see. It's an old newspaper article from when the foreign couple still owned the house." He motioned towards the dim screen on his laptop, scrolling down so hiss boss could see.

Naru raised an eyebrow and stood slowly, his chair incidentally sliding backwards with a loud screech. "What is it?"

"'The Lovell residents find their daughter's mutilated body wrapped in a black garbage bag more than two weeks after she was reported missing. What's more is that examiners say it looks like the body had been submerged in water for the whole period she was missing, similar to the way the once-famous serial killer Tansho Takamori used to take his victims' life.'"

Lin looked up with a questioning expression.

"It seems that this is becoming more complicated than I would have liked to hope…"

-

John sighed as he reached to knock on the girl's door. Why was he the one who always had to do these types of tasks? He heard a muffled gasp as his knuckles came in contact with the wood.

"Taniyama-san? Hara-san? Are you decent? It's John, may I come in?" he inquired, suddenly worried.

The sound of rustling sheets and a few thuds were heard just before the door creaked open. Mai's head popped out to see if he was actually who he claimed to be.

"Oh, John, you scared me," she chuckled at her own foolishness, pushing the door open all the way and inviting him in.

'Well, I did say I was me,' he thought with a soft laugh. He shook his head seeing her invitation in. "No, no…Naru sent me to wake you up, that's all. He says he won't see you unless you have his te–"

The priest paused as his eyes wandered past the young assistant still clad in her slightly revealing pajamas over towards her wrinkled traditional shiki futon.

Why was Tetsuya, of all people, sleeping in Mai's bed?

"T–Tetsuya?"

Mai turned towards the small child sprawled out on her comforter. "Oh!" she faced John once more, a smile plastered onto her lips, "He came here at about two or so last night complaining that he had a bad dream. I asked him if he wanted to sleep with me until the morning…"

"Ah, if that's how it is. You're quite the one when it comes to little kids," John laughed, placing his hand on his chest in relief. "By the way, Mai-san, are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Your cheeks are red like you've been crying." Mai blushed at the priest's words. "You were, weren't you? I don't mean to sound so bold, but…did you have a dream?"

Chuckling to no one in particular, Mai crossed her arms as she leaned against the wooden door frame. John's brows furrowed in worry once more.

The girl's downcast gaze soon shifted to the inside of the room, concentrated solely on the small boy sleeping soundly on her bed.

"Mai-san…?"

"No, John. You should know by now; I never have normal dreams…

"Only nightmares."

-

Naru stifled a yawn into his now teacup (boy, was he happy when he saw that Mai was awake). He took a short sip and placed it on top of what he was previously reading, folding his hands across his stomach. His intent gaze was now focused on Mai.

"So tell me what you dreamt of; don't hold back," he commanded.

"There was a man and…all I know is that this man killed this girl. She was young…maybe a few years younger than me. Um, she had brown eyes and brown medium-length hair. I can't remember much beyond that," Mai sighed, rubbing her puffy, red eyes.

Naru crossed his legs in an attempt to get comfortable, a scowl present on his face. "Can you tell me how she was murdered?"

"Well, I couldn't tell if she was or not, but I think she might have been raped first…" Mai gulped, "And then the guy dismembered her and cut off her head. After that…I woke up."

A grunt of disdain could be heard from Bou-san over on the couch; John stared into his tea cup, sighing at his wavering reflection as a disgruntled Masako leaned against the wall to the left of the window. All the while, Lin stayed perfectly silent, watching as Mai's usually cheerful demeanor dissipated and was replaced by that of discomfort.

"What can you tell me about this 'man'?" her boss inquired.

"I wasn't able to see his face, but he was definitely a man. You could tell by his voice."

Completely rapt by Mai's explanation, Naru leaned forwards, raising an eyebrow. "He spoke?"

"Oh, yeah! He said something like, 'it's been fun, Emi'," Mai said, adopting an interpretation of what the killer's voice sounded like, but from Mai's lips, it just caused a fit of giggles from the rest of the team.

Naru brought the tea cup to his lips once more, turning to his assistant #1. "Lin, look up a list of serial killers in Japan."

The onmyoji nodded, pulling himself closer to the table that his laptop was on. He typed something at the speed of light and then paused, scrolling down a seemingly short list.

"Hm…Tsutomu Miyazaki, Norio Nagayama, Seisaku Nakamura, Akira Nishiguchi, Kiyoshi Okubo…" he murmured to himself upon impulse. "Here it is: Tansho Takamori."

"Tansho Takamori?" Bou-san's eyes widened slightly as he sat up straight, "I remember my dad telling me stories about him. He was notorious for raping his victims, chopping them up like his dinner, stuffing them in garbage bags, and then disposing their bodies in different lakes throughout Japan."

The rest of the SPR team cringed at the thought, not wanting to imagine an old, decayed body being fished out from a lake.

"His dinner?" Mai whimpered helplessly.

"Well," the monk leaned back, yawning, "I guess it doesn't matter now since he's long gone, right?"

Naru steadied his unstable gaze unto his teacup.

Lin sighed. He had a feeling Naru would be affected in some way…

"Well?" Mai blurted shooting the Chinese man an expectant look. "Was he sentenced to life imprisonment? Executed?"

"It says that he was hanged in 1942, one year after his last murder…"

John's speculating look managed to reach Naru. "So…what I'm getting from all of this implies that this Tansho man is our main ghosts?"

"We can't be sure yet…" he replied.

Scratching her head in confusion, Mai's brow creased. "What do you mean when you say 'main ghost'? Do you mean there are more?"

"Yes, Mai." Masako stood, practically glaring holes into said girl. "Think of all the people this man has killed. Of course they'd hold some sort of grudge and feel attached to his spirit."

She rolled her eyes, returning the medium's threatening look. "Well, why would his spirit be attached to this place then? Wouldn't it be more likely for his spirit to be attached to the place where he was executed or something?"

"Maybe he murdered someone significant in this house?" John interrupted from the far end of the couch.

Mentally, Mai pouted, turning away from the scene in agitation. 'John's always the one who says the ingenious things…Why can't it be me for once?'

"There's a high possibility," Bou-san grinned, slapping the poor 19-year old on the back.

Mai flinched at the noise, throwing the teary-eyed priest an apologetic look. 'That must have hurt…'

Before another word was said, the door slammed open.

A panting Fujisaki entered the room, leaning against the door frame to catch his breath. He put a hand to his chest before looking up to face the SPR team.

"I–I can't find Tetsuya anywhere!"

Mai's eyes widened. "Oh, Tetsuya? Have you checked in my room?"

Silence erupted and everyone's attention was now focused on Mai.

The panting man blinked, straightening himself. "Why, no, I haven't."

"He's probably in there," Mai comforted, smiling.

"Ah, I see. Thank you for your assistance."

Fujisaki then bowed and left, closing the door behind him. Once his footsteps disseminated down the hallway followed by the opening of a door, Bou-san turned to Mai with eyes as big as saucers.

"Why was Tetsuya in your room?! Didn't he like, hate you? A day ago?"

"Yeah, or at least that's what I thought. He crawled into my bed last night complaining about a bad dream. I welcomed him with open arms…" the girl explained, rolling her eyes.

Masako nodded to herself. "I see. I was wondering why he was sleeping in your bed, Mai."

Mai smiled, laughing. "He's so cute! Last night he was all embarrassed, it was so adorable!"

"Mai, Mai, Mai–" Bou-san clicked his tongue in disappointment, "since when did you seduce kids? You siren!"

Mai crossed her arms and glared. "I'm not seducing anybody."

The monk on the other side of the room shrugged, leaning his head back against the top of the black couch. "You're more of a seductress than you know, dear Mai." A smirk slithered onto his face causing the girl a scowl.

Was it just him, or was their favorite female protagonist starting to become more like a certain dark-haired narcissist they knew all too well?

Mai stood up and stretched, finally noticing Bou-san's stare. Blinking in confusion, she grinned wide and formed a peace sign.

The monk felt a sweat-drop coming on.

…Nah.

Frustrated for one reason or another, Naru swiveled around in his chair turning to face his assistant with a very impatient glare.

"Tea," he commanded, handing the brunette his teacup.

Mai looked upon the small cup in thought, shocked at his sudden attitude change. Huffing, she snatched it away from him, almost dropping it in the process.

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, "freaking work-a-holic."

-

Mai sighed helplessly. She just couldn't help but replay last night over again in her head…

-

"You like him."

"Hm?" Mai lifted her head and noted the boy's leering expression.

"I'll help you win him over that other girl–Masako."

Silence.

"W–What?!" Mai whispered loudly, her brain almost at a loss for words. She took a deep inhale hiding her cherry face under the comforter.

Tetsuya smirked, leaning on his elbow. "Don't act dumb. It's obvious that you like him. I think the only one who doesn't notice is Naru himself."

"You…You're smarter than you look…"

Mai searched Tetsuya's eyes in contemplation. She couldn't tell what he was up to, but she didn't seem to like how things were going as far as a relationship with her boss was concerned either.

Naru had been acting strange for the past few days. He stared off into space more often, though his demand for tea was as great as ever. And Mai noticed over the years…that Naru only asks for tea so many times a day. The only times he'll exceed his limit is when he's stressed.

It made her worry.

She was probably the last thing on Naru's mind. She should really give him his space…and his tea.

She shouldn't bother him.

"I'll sleep on it, okay?" Mai lied. she already had the answer.

"Mm."

At that time she realized Tetsuya had turned away, snuggling into the covers.

Mai smiled pulling the comforter over her shoulder once more.

"'Night."

-

How could one kid be so much trouble?!

"I'm losing my touch," she mumbled, placing the kettle full of water onto the stove.

"You've already lost it."

Mai turned in surprise to find Tetsuya fully dressed back against the door frame as he looked at Mai with anticipation.

His hair; a mess.

"Aw!" Mai cooed cutely, walking over towards him. "You've got a bed head! So adorable~!"

Mai's slender arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer. This causing Tetsuya to hold back a choking noise as a breath caught in his throat.

"G–Get away from me!" he stuttered embarrassed. If anyone was looking he'd die of humiliation!

Soon, the sound of a whistle began to rise. Mai pulled the boy at arm's length and looked back. "The water's ready! Tetsuya, want me to show you how to make tea?"

With a defiant glare, Tetsuya slapped her hands away stepping out of her reach in case she decided to latch onto him again. "No!"

Mai frowned. "There's no need to be so fussy!"

"Whatever! Anyway, do I have your answer?" he inquired as he crossed his arms, managing to maintain his composure.

A bead of sweat began to form as Mai reflected on how to reply his direct questions. She pulled the kettle off of the burner, pouring the water into the small porcelain cup. "Well, Tetsuya…I think I'll have to pass on that offer…The last this that work-a-holic needs is more stress–"

Suddenly, the kitchen door slammed shut, jerking both Mai and Tetsuya's attention.

"Tetsuya, did you…?"

"No. I didn't touch it."

Mai rushed towards the door, pulling the boy behind her as if to protect him. "Tetsuya, stay with me at all times, okay?"

He nodded obediently, much to her surprise. For such a stubborn kid, he sure knows how to behave when it matters most.

She reached for the handle, turning it unsuccessfully.

"This door locks from the outside, Tetsuya?"

A frown formed on the boy's face as he tugged harder on Mai's shirt.

"This door doesn't lock at all."

-

Man, this chapter was so hard for me to write! I think I'm losing my touch…I'll try an attempt to make Mai more...Mai-y in the future. Thanks for all of the critique and creative critisism.

Anyhow, dramatic scenes are abound in the next chapter of Hanging Haunted! Read and review, please.