I don't own Ghost Hunt. Please excuse the bad grammar and typeos

Chapter 3

It had been a month since Mai had left and gone to New York. Naru was miserable. Not only because he realized how much he loved her and that she was now in another country, but also because the new assistant was driving him and everyone else crazy.

Hurricane Sonny as he had been dubbed by everyone. He was a slob. He was lazy. He had no focus except when it dealt with aliens. Why did Naru keep him around? Well the sad truth is that no one wants to work for a paranormal research company. Naru had called the agency and Sonny Joon was the only one willing to work for him. Apparently Naru also had a reputation of being a cold hearted boss and that too scared people away.

The day Mai stormed out was the beginning of Naru's problems. No matter how many times Naru yelled at Sonny he was never phased. He always tried to serve Naru some concoction. Naru had order Sonny to make him tea and as soon as Naru sipped it he was seeing talking furniture and dancing pineapples.

Naru pulled out an album that Mai had made for him on their anniversary. It had pictures of the two of them together. Naru missed everything about Mai. Her sweet smell. Her cute laugh. The way she scrunched her face up when she got mad at him. The way she would pout. He missed the touch of her lips and holding her in his arms. Naru couldn't figure out what his problem was. He could have been nicer he could have let her have both. He could have worked hard to support her dream as she had supported his. He was an ass.

There was a loud bang from the kitchen area. Naru got up to see what had happened. Smoke filled the air. The rest of the SPR team coughed and plugged their noses at the putrid smell. Sonny always did give off a rather odd smell, but this was worse. Naru look at Sonny who had painted his face green and was wearing foil.

"I… You… you know what I don't care and I don't want to know." He turned and slumped back into his office.

He was quickly followed by the rest of the SPR team. Naru looked confused.

"Why are you all in my office?" he asked coolly.

"You have to get rid of him!" Masako was the first to say.

"What?" Naru looked at all the anxious faces surrounding him.

"Naru, listen to me. He has to go." Lin said.

"Well there is no one else to take the job so he has to stay." Naru said opening another file and writing something down.

"He smells." Yasuhara said.

"He is a slob." Masako continued.

"He is a walking disaster waiting to happen." Ayako said.

"He listens to weird music." Monk said.

"Yeah!" everyone agreed.

"And what's with the foil?" Masako asked.

"Trying to make contact with the aliens." Said John.

Everyone turned to look at him. "John? That's so unlike you." Ayako said.

"What? That's what he said. I asked him and he said he was trying to make contact with the aliens." He explained.

"And do you recall that thing he made you drink? Remember what happened. And he basically blew something up in the microwave! He has to go!" Ayako screamed.

"What do suppose I do? No one else will work here." Naru said getting irritated because he knew they were right.

Everyone was quiet. They looked at each other trying to figure out which one should do the talking. They huddled together and then pushed Yasuhara forward.

"Ask Mai to come back to work for you part time when she returns." Yasuhara took on the defensive pose as if he were expecting Naru to throw something at him.

"I tried." Naru said quietly.

"What?" everyone said and shuffled closer to him.

"What do you mean you tried?" Lin asked

"She said no?" Yasuhara asked. "why didn't you tell us this?" Yasuhara said looking at Monk and Ayako.

"We didn't know. Mai didn't tell us. Why didn't she tell you and Masako?" Ayako said defensively.

"I've tried calling her and she refuses to answer. I tried to emailing her, but I don't get a reply. I screwed up." Naru said as he placed his head in his hands and groaned.

Everyone looked at each other again. Naru looked up to catch this. "What? There's more?"

"Well umm there's something that you should know… Mai sort of has a new boyfriend." Yasuhara resumed his defensive position.

"I see." No one like the way Naru said those two words. "Lin I'm leaving it to you to find a way to fire Mr. Joon. I'm leaving for the rest of the day."

Naru got up and walked out the door. Everyone now turned their attention to Lin who had to task of getting rid of Sonny.

"So long Hurricane Sonny." Yasuhara said out loud.

Later that night.

Naru had walked for hours thinking about what to do now. He had lost Mai to someone else. He walked back home and fell asleep in an armchair.

"Noll… Noll…." Naru heard his named called out.

"Gene? Is that you?" Naru looked at his brother standing in front of him.

"You need to go after her." Gene told him.

"What do you mean?" Naru was confused. He had had a rough month. His thinking skills were shot. All he had been doing was thinking about Mai.

"Wow you're slow today. Well I guess that's understandable. Go to New York and grovel. Maybe Mai will forgive you. I'm sure if you cry too she won't slam the door in your face, but that's not the main reason why you have to go." Gene explained.

"Then what is it? I'm tired of people beating around the bush. Just tell me!" Naru was losing is patience.

"Mai is in danger. The darkness that surrounds her is growing stronger. This ballet is not what it seems and if you don't hurry Mai won't make it to opening night." Gene said in a very serious tone.

"Does she know? Have you warned her?" Naru asked. The woman he loved was in danger.

"She does not know. I haven't been able to warn her. Something is blocking me. She and I have lost the connection that allowed us to communicate. She is ignoring her spiritual side. She seems to want nothing to do with her powers. She does not realize in ignoring her abilities she making herself more vulnerable." Gene explained.

"She never mentioned it to anyone. Why would she want to ignore her abilities?" Naru asked. "How long has this been going on?"

"For about a year. As the darkness grew stronger so did its hold over her. She has been experiencing things, but lies about it to everyone including you. She must have thought that if she ignored it things would lessen over time, but we both know that's not how it works."

Naru was stunned by this news. He should have known. Mai was a light in the distance to spirits, good and bad. She had no training. He had thought that it was nothing more than her dreams and intuition, but how quickly he forgot about what had happed to Katsumi. Mai had killed him. She had used an enormous amount of energy and killed Katsumi. No one talked about it. Mai went to therapy and assured everyone it was fine, but she still did not like to think about the night Katsumi and Gene died. Tadashi was in jail and the public version was that Katsumi had been struck by lightning.

Naru saw the scene change. He looked around saw he was on a stage in a black abyss. Her heard Mai's humming and saw her twirl into view. She froze and started to pull at her hair.

"No.. No.. No.. Don't come back. Please leave me alone. Don't come any closer!" She started softly and then her hysteria grew to shrieks and heavy sobs. Naru could see what she was talking to. He could reach her. Every time he tried he found them reversed and he was back where he started from.

Mai began to scream. A scream that made Naru die a little. The stage was consumed by the darkness.

"Mai! Mai where are you!" Naru shouted. The light came back and what was left of Mai were her now crimson ballet slippers. He followed the trail of blood. The room changed. He walked through elegant double doors into an auditorium. He stood in the aisle.

"Please take a seat the show will be starting soon." Mai's cheerful voice sang out.

Naru did as the she instructed. The happy music, almost like carousel music, began and the curtain rose. Mai's limp body stood there. He costume stained with blood that dripped from her mouth. Her eyes wide open, but they looked as if they were dead. Naru realized that she was attached to stings like a human marionette. Mai's body began to dance as she was twirled around. She finished her number and the curtain fell. Naru jumped up from his seat and pulled back the curtain and walked to the dark back stage.

"Mai." He called to her again. He felt like he was in some kind of a maze. He finally made his way to another room. Mai was up against the wall with the rest of the puppets. Naru quickly made his way to her. "Mai! Speak to me. Are you hurt? I'm going to get you out of here don't worry."

"Why would I worry? I like it here. I get to dance." Mai said her face showed no expression her mouth moving like that of a puppet being manipulated. Naru reached in his pockets and pulled out a pocket knife and cut the strings attached to Mai. He caught her as she fell forward. He kneelled down with her. She was now on her knees facing him. Her tulle skirt spread out around her. Her face still held no expression. Her long hair spilled over her shoulders. She looked like a perfect china doll. She cocked her head to the side.

"Do you hear that?" she said softly.

"Hear what?" Naru asked he strained to listen. He soon heard the cries of a baby in the distance. "A baby?" he said and looked at her.

"Must be time for dinner. It is very hungry. It hasn't had an opportunity like this in a long time." Mai said as the blood began to trickle from her mouth and eyes. Like tears.

"Mai!" Naru yelled in horror. The blood began to come from the top of her head and soon it ran down her arms and torso. Naru reached for her, but as he grasped her in his arms she changed into a mannequin and then all that was left were the crimson slippers.

Naru stared at them in horror. He turned his attention now to the crying of the baby. This thing was going to each this child. Naru got up and ran towards the sound.

He found himself in a large room. There was a bassinette in the middle. He walked towards it and looked inside. He reached in and picked up the crying child. He baby stopped crying almost immediately and drifted off to sleep. He walked quickly down the corridors and found himself in another room. Mai was there again. It looked like a bedroom of some sorts. She sat in front of the large elegant vanity brushing her long beautiful hair. She was in a silk negligee with a matching robe. It came to above her knees.

As soon as Naru had seen the child he knew instantly whose baby it was. It was his and Mai's. This thing wanted to eat his child.

"Mai I have the baby. We need to get out of here." Naru told her. She stopped brushing her hair and gave him a confused look.

"That's not my baby." Mai turned back to the mirror.

"It is your baby, it's our baby and as its parents we have to protect it." Naru told her.

"If it was my baby I would remember it. Seeing that I don't that means it's not mine." She said coolly.

Naru shoved the baby in her arms. The action awoke the sleeping child and it began to cry. Mai held the child away from her body and had a strained mixed with horrified look on her face.

"Take it! Just make it stop!" She cried out. Naru took the child back quickly where it was content in his arms. Mai clutched at her body and went over to the bed and began to clutch at her head.

"No more… No more crying… No more screams.. I can't listen to them anymore!" she cried.

Naru went to comfort her, but the room went dark again and when the lights came back on the baby was gone and Mai was dead. Her body lie on the bed with a giant knife stuck into her chest. The bloody baby blanket draped on her. Naru ran to her and upon closer examination he saw the red shoes once again on her feet.

Naru was falling now. He found himself at the feet of Gene.

"Gene? What the hell was that?" Naru asked his voice cracking. He clutched at his head as if he was trying to shake the images from his mind.

"That was sign of what's to come for yours and Mai's future. The whole future that is years away, but it also had hints pertaining to the present threat. That is why you must go now and save Mai!" Gene told him.

Naru awoke with a start and looked around his apartment. He was in the same armchair he had fallen asleep in. He went to his computer and booked a flight to New York and began to pack his bags.

Ok so that was a little peek into the things to come. The dream foreshadows different things into the future, but also keeping with the theme of the present. I realized that Naru has to redeem himself. I didn't intend to make such an ass, but I can at least make him better and make up for it. Hope you like it and keep reading. Please review.

Just clear things up so you don't get confused. Mai is NOT pregnant. There will be no children in this story, but i can say there will be in the future... Ok i can't ruin anything else. I always make people ruin the surprised for me by telling me everything. I won't let that ruin things for you guys. You will have to read the others when they come out.