Supernatural World

Chapter 3: The unresolved feelings

Naru glared at the arguing group before him. They were in middle of another fight about something useless that didn't matter in their new case. Sighing he shut his book and leaned his head against his hand. Lack of sleep had finally caught up to him and to say that he was tired would be an understatement of the year. He was ready to faint but the fact that they were waiting to meet their client for information kept him awake.

Glancing at the clock on the wall of their base he sighed again this time drawing Lins' attention. Paying no mind to his assistant Naru turned his gaze back to argument. Catching on he finally understood why they had raised their voices. It had something to do with Ayakos' failure on their last case. She had been unable to exorcise a spirit which had taken over a member of their clients' family. John hadn't been there yet and the spirit had become violent when the exorcism failed. They had managed to contain it but still. Failing like that could have cost a lot.

The Monk was in middle of yelling to Ayako about this and the fact that she should leave. According to him she was endangering the group and their client. While Monk did have a point Naru didn't agree. Ayako had proven herself valuable for the group on the cursed house case and she was their charm maker. It would be a pain to have the charms made by someone else.

Naru stared at the fighting couple and noticed that Masako had her own bid to say and it wasn't that pleasant. Mai was trying to stay neutral but when an offhanded comment about her usefulness or uselessness flew her way she too started to argue. Yasuhara was looking at the others with a neutral expression while John was trying to hold back the monk who was ready to smack the priestess.

Looking slightly to his left he saw Lin setting up the monitors and connecting the wires so that when the cameras were set up they could start monitoring the house. Lin wore a calm expression and moved with calculated movements but Naru could see that he too was on edge.

The team had been summoned to investigate a large mansion which had had one too many rumours about it circling around. There was talk about fox fires seen by passer-by's, strange screeching heard by the visitors and things being moved and sometimes smashed up while the owner was sleeping. During the night the windows would also blow open and the furniture would move around by itself. The whole house had a scent of something rotting and it made some violently sick.

A few days ago a terrified man in his early forties came to the office requesting help. He had been rudely awakened the night before by something trying to strangle him. Naru had taken the case knowing that the location was remote and the mansion had been abandoned for more than 20 years before the current owner had bought the house and its' grounds. Considering the similarities with the Urado case they had solved some time ago Naru wanted to get to the bottom of it and had decided to send the owner live in a hotel in a city which was almost an hour ride from the mansion.

The man was coming back to give them additional information but wouldn't be staying the night. Naru was already worried that this could get bloody without the man here and he didn't want any responsibility if the man was to die in his mansion while the investigation was ongoing.

On the phone the man had given directions and told them which rooms had been prepared for them. The mansion had four floors and a basement but that had been filled by the last owner when it had become apparent that the support beams there were weak and the house could possibly collapse. That left four floors. Their base was set up in the living room on the second floor but it was directly connected to first floors living area where they could sleep if sleeping in separated rooms became dangerous.

The girls shared a large quest bedroom on the third floor and the boys were divided in two groups. Yasuhara, John and Monk slept in a room on the first floor while Naru and Lin had decided that they should also sleep on the third floor just in case.

Returning to the problem at hand Naru glared at the group before him. While he did hold respect for all of them and they were valuable team members that didn't mean that he could take everything that was thrown at him. Feeling the irritation rise Naru decided to just let it come. Giving them a quick reminder about who was in charge would be the quickest way to deal with them.

Letting his aura out Naru could feel the change in the atmosphere around them. The air temperature dropped about five or six degrees and the air became thicker. A menacing aura surrounded him and Naru let his eyes change colour from dark indigo to deep purple then light violet and on to a lighter shade of indigo than his eyes were normally. Letting the colours mix in his eyes Naru concentrated on keeping his powers from getting out of control. The argument came to an abrupt stop.

Monk blinked and stopped talking as he felt the temperature drop quickly. Seeing that all of the others stopped as well he looked around himself. What was it? Was it the spirit that haunted this house or was it something else. His eyes landed on Naru who was looking at them with an irritated glint in his eyes. And were his eyes changing colours? What the hell, Monk thought as the boy kept staring them.

Everyone's attention was on Naru and Lin was already making his way over to the CEO of SPR. Mai never took her gaze off Naru. His gaze was glued on the group and his normally indigo eyes were now a mix of purple, blue and some red. When Lin reached Naru he lowered his hand on the boys shoulder and everyone could see how the white energy surrounding Naru pained the Chinese but Lin kept his cool and squeezed his hand which rested on Narus' shoulder.

Naru had sensed Lins' approach and fought down the urge to throw the older man to the other side of the room. Feeling the slightly shaky squeeze Naru decided to draw the power back to his body. The argument had been stopped and the whole group was staring at him. Object achieved.

Letting the bindings be set in place Naru locked his powers away for later use. Closing his eyes briefly in order to concentrate on the lockdown Naru could feel how the tension that had vanished from him for the brief moment when he let his powers out came back. The muscles strained and his bones hurt. This kind of strength wasn't meant to be contained in a living body.

Opening his tired eyes Naru saw that the group was still staring at him. Glaring back at them Naru set down the hand he had been leaning on and leant forward to get his discarded book from the table. Just as he was about to do so Yasuhara opened his mouth.

"What was that?" Yasu asked from the group.

"That, my friend, was the energy of a big time PK user." Monk answered while looking at Naru with amazement. Controlling that much power so that no one would be hurt but still giving everyone a clear message.

"Are you alright mate?" John asked as he noticed that Naru seemed a little tenser than before.

Naru looked at the priest with something akin to surprise in his deep blue eyes. He did know that the group cared about him but no to this extent. Of course his multiple fainting episodes and his heart failing after using his powers before must have set the whole group on high alert in case he used his powers.

"I'm fine. Letting the energy out is my normal state so that in itself doesn't cause me any problems." Naru said also answering the unasked question and returned to his reading. The rest of the team quickly picked up on the threatening vibes coming from their boss and they started to read the material they had been given.

There wasn't much information to go on. The haunting was strange to say the least. Nothing bad had happened in the area or in the house. No one had died there and the last owner had been good friends with the first owner who had given the house away and had moved to a smaller home with his wife after their five kids had all left home to study in Tokyo. The first owner family had been the Wilsons. They had built the house after moving to Japan from England in 1913. They had had five children of which the first was born in 1915 and the last 1928. In 1955 they sold the house to the second owner. He was a rich businessman who was usually abroad working. The basement was filled in 1967 and in 1973 a full construction was done in order to make the house sellable. The house was put on the market in 1978 but wasn't sold until 2003. However the current owner wasn't able to come and live in the house until 2013.

The current owner, Takashi Meijin, had to travel a lot and while he was away teaching and lecturing in different universities in other countries he left the house in the hands of a maid who came to check on the house three times a week. The maid, Nadia, had told Takashi that while she did see some strange things she wasn't here at night and never stayed for long during her visits. Takashis' wife Yumiko was also away for the most part. She was a financial advisor to a large company and had to travel abroad because of that. Her job demanded her dedication for 6 days a week and she couldn't return home before her free week every other month.

When Takashi had asked from his wife about the strange things happening his wife said that while she was aware of them she never stayed in the house over night because she was always going to stay with their daughter Yuki. Yuki had been living in Tokyo for a few years and had a large apartment that she paid by working as a waitress while studying to become a scientist. Yuki had very little patience for any kind of paranormal activity nonsense as she didn't believe a single word of it. The young woman had never spend a day in her parents' house because of her bad relations to her father.

Looking at the information at hand Mai sighed. This was going to be though. Masako had sensed a few spirits in the house the moment they entered but she couldn't tell anything about their intentions saying that the spirits hid away from her or that something was blocking them from being seen by the medium. Running a hand through her bangs she set down the case files and made her way to the computers. A water jug was there and she really needed to drink something.

While Mai was pouring some water for herself she got lost in thought. The strange incident earlier made her heart pound in excitement. Feeling such power surround her –it was simply amazing. The air itself had warped around herself yet it had not been heavy or painful. No, it was comforting but cold. The rooms' temperature was still a little lower than normal so she went over to the other side of the room.

The large windows which extended from the floor to the ceiling let the suns light in although the large oak trees outside shadowed the house. According to Takashi he and his wife had remade this wall. They had wanted more light in the house and Mai could see why. The hallways were dark and there weren't any windows in them.

Looking outside Mai was momentarily stunned as she saw the colour scheme. The fall had painted the trees red and yellow while taking on every shade between those colours. The grass was still green and it made the scene somewhat surreal. It was weird seeing the seasons mix like this. The view from the window showed the whole backyard and Mai saw the large pool on the side of the house. It had been build there by the last owner as an extra attraction for buyers.

Hearing someone call her name Mai turned to see Yasuhara coming up to her a gentle smile on his lips. He was wearing a grey sweater and black jeans and Mai was momentarily reminded of the picture of Naru and Gene. Naru had been wearing same kind of clothing in that picture and Mai felt a pang of guilt. When Naru had left for England she had been unable to say for certain who she really loved –Naru or Gene- but now she could say for certain that it was Gene she longed for. His gentle smile and guiding light had saved her so many times and he was handsome.

Smiling slightly at Yasuhara she turned her back on the serene scenery and wen to retrieve her jacket from the back of one of the couches on the other side of the living room. Putting it on she turned back to see Yasuhara looking at the same beautiful scenery as she had been just moments before. Seeing that she wouldn't be missed for a moment Mai sat down so that she could see the whole group and dug her jacket pockets until she found what she was looking for.

It was the picture of Naru and Gene when they were young that Naru had given her. Feeling the guilt come she didn't fight it. Knowing that she had never properly answered Narus' question Mai didn't really feel the need to do so. She was certain that Naru had known from her reaction to his question. But the problem was that while she now understood what she felt she couldn't comprehend what she would do about it. How could she find love with a ghost? A ghost who was gone on top of that. She was all alone and her heart cried out in pain when she realised this. She had fallen in love with a person who was no longer here to be what she would have wanted. She was left with the pain of losing something she had never had. How the hell could that hurt like it did? Didn't people always say that losing something which was never yours couldn't hurt? Then where did this pain come from?

Putting the picture away Mai stood up and walked back to the couches where everyone was now seated. Yasuhara too had returned to his seat after seeing that Mai just wanted a moment for herself. Sitting down Mai started to reread the case files. It was always good to check the facts a few times just to be save.

While Mai was immersed in her reading she forgot her problems for a while. Later she would wish that she had dealt with this properly when she still could. The investigation had just began but something in the house wanted to make sure that they would end it very soon –either they left the house or they would all die there.

A/N

So this is the third chapter for my story. Sorry for the wait. I hate it when other authors take forever to update and now I'm doing it myself. Sorry again. I'll aim for more regular updates during the next month or so –then I have my final exams so I'll be really busy. But the story will pick back up after that.

Please tell me if you see any grammar errors.

Please review!