Help...
I was laying in bed, I feel really tired. My dad is kneeling beside me, waiting for me to go to sleep.
"Daddy, will you read me a story?"
"Not tonight sweet heart."
I don't know why, but daddy sounds like he's going to cry.
"What's wrong daddy?"
"I just miss your mother. But don't worry, we'll both see her soon."
I didn't understand, I thought mommy had died... I tried to ask daddy, but I was so tired I only buried myself deeper into the blankets.
Daddy had wrapped me up in a bunch of covers, they're so warm. Earlier he also gave me a bunch of pills, he said they would help me sleep better.
Pretty soon I could barely hold my eyes open. Daddy picked me up in all my blankets, then carried me towards the balcony. I can't see his face because its too dark, but I can tell he's crying.
When we were out out on the balcony, I looked up at the stars. Daddy kept walking until we were at the railing. Now I was crying too, but I didn't know why. Daddy was just making me feel really sad.
We both looked out at the lake, and stayed like that for a long time. Suddenly daddy kissed my forehead and said, "I love you Kotone." Then, I was falling, the last thing I could see was Daddy's shadow looking down at me.
I landed in the water, and I could feel my self sinking. I knew how to swim, but all the blankets were weighing me down and even though I tried to get out of them, they were wrapped too tightly around me. Water filled my mouth when I tried to call for help and I was forced to swallow it.
I was so tired... I closed my eyes and went to sleep...
Mai's POV
I opened my eyes and sat up really fast, gasping for breath. That was a really bad dream. 'Or was that Kotone's memories...'
"That's how she died..." I said with realization. 'That was horrible. Her own dad betrayed her trust...'
I suddenly became aware of my dark surroundings and the two cots beside me had people in them. 'Ayako and Masako are asleep... Did I sleep through the rest of the day?'
I got up, careful to not wake up the other two, and opened the sliding door that led to the living room. I was still in the clothes I had worn from the day before, and I felt a bit grimy from not taking a bath. No doubt the baths would be closed by now...
For some reason I felt the need to go to the balcony, so I silently made my way over and slid open the door, then slid it shut as I stepped outside.
The outside air was cool and refreshing, my bare feet also felt good against the cold wood balcony. I crossed my arms on the railing and stared out over the lake. 'This is one of the last things Kotone saw before she died...'
I jolted slightly when I heard the sliding door open again.
"Easy Mai, it's just me." I relaxed, hearing Monk's calming voice. I turned around and gave him a smile.
"Why are you up so late?" He asked and walked over to stand next to me.
I sighed turned back around to look at the lake again. "I saw how she died." Monk only made a 'hmm' sound in response.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" I thought for a minute before nodding. We talked for a while, I told him about my dream and he listened, occasionally asking me a few questions. "I just don't understand how her dad could do that to her. She loved him so much." I felt tears come to my eyes as I said this. They stopped though, when Monk wrapped his arm around my shoulder. Silence set in as we stood there, just watching the moonlight shimmer on the lake's surface.
"You should go back to sleep." Monk said after a while. "We're going to have to get back up in a few hours, might as well get as much rest in as we can." He was right. "Ok." I told him and turned back towards the door. My toe hit something and I ended up falling onto the wood balcony.
"Ow..." I grumbled. Monk laughed. "Nice job."
"Shut up." I tried to get back up again but he picked me up like you would a child. "Gosh, Mai. You're getting heavy." He said as opened the sliding door.
"Are you calling me fat?" I growled quietly as not to wake anyone up. He chuckled quietly as he slid open the door to the girls room. "Of course not, just chubby." He whispered. I punched him in the shoulder and smirked when he gave a silent yelp.
Monk quietly sat me down on my futon before heading back to the door. "Night Mai." He whispered. "Night." I whispered back then laid back as he left.
'Where am I?' I wondered. Looking to the right, I could see the Endo inn, and looking to the left I could see the lake. 'When did I get out side?' I couldn't even remember waking up.
All thoughts were pushed away though, when I heard splashing in the lake. I searched the water until I saw a frightening sight; someone seemed to be struggling to stay above the water, their arms and legs were flailing as they tried to resurface.
"Hold on!" I yelled as I ran over to the lake shore. I took off my shoes, not wanting them to slow me down, then jumped in the water.
As I got closer I could see that whoever it was had long dark brown hair and were wrapped up in a bunch of blankets. They seemed to see me, because they held out their hand when I got close.
I reached for the small hand and right before our fingers even touched, a light manifested in between us, when my hand grabbed theirs the light got brighter and brighter until my vision was blinded and all I could see was white. The only thing I heard was the water splashing and a small, almost melodic, voice.
Help...
3rd person POV
Ayako was the first to wake up. She yawned as she slowly sat up from the futon she had been sleeping in. Ayako looked over at Masako, who was still asleep. "Hmm. Not as annoying when she's asleep." She muttered to herself with a smirk. She then looked to the other side, wanting to see if Mai was asleep, and was slightly surprised to find her futon empty. 'Must have gotten up early.' She thought to herself.
Ayako got up to her feet, stretched, then changed into her day clothes knowing that Masako would probably sleep for a bit longer.
She left the room and was confused to find the main room empty and Mai not there. Ayako shrugged it off, merely thinking that Mai had gone off to the restroom or to catch an early morning bath.
Ayako sighed and walked over to inspect the monitors, just to make sure everything was normal. They had set up cameras and mics in the playroom, on the balcony, in the entrance hall, in the community room and one in the main room of the base (the the room she was in now) since it was where the Kochi's had lived. They had all been set up while Mai was sleeping, because Naru had said it was ridiculous for them to stop all work just because Mai had passed out. Nothing on any of the monitors seemed out of the ordinary so Ayako sat in a chair and waited for the others to wake up.
Ayako was surprised to see that Masako was the next one up. She entered the room wearing a red kimono.
"Good morning." Masako greeted her. "Morning." Ayako responded.
"Wear is Mai?" Masako asked. The woman shrugged. "Not sure. Probably in the restroom or bathroom." A few moments of silence passed before Ayako broke it again. "Do you want to go get some tea and see if she's downstairs?" The short medium nodded yes and the two went downstairs with Ayako caring the tray with the tea, teapot, and cups.
When they reached the kitchen, which wasn't far from the entrance hall, they ran into Tochi.
"Oh, good morning." The brown eyed boy greeted them. "Good morning." They both said back.
"Tochi, you haven't seen Mai today, have you?" Ayako asked. Tochi shook his head. "Sorry." He said apologetically. "Can't say that I have. I'll keep an eye out and tell you if I do though."
"Thank you." Ayako told him as he went back to the front desk. The girls continued to make tea, making sure there was a cup for every person. "Masako, while the tea brews, go see if Mai is in the bathing room." She told her. Masako nodded and did as she was told. Not long after the tea was finished Masako came back, reporting that she had not seen Mai. "That's strange.." Ayako muttered.
The pair made their way back to base and frowned when they saw that Mai was not there and that the others still hadn't woken up. Ayako sat the tray on the small table before taking a seat. "You know, I thought, at the least, that Naru would be up before us." She told Masako. The short haired girl nodded in agreement.
When Ayako finished her tea she rose to her feet. "Ok. I'm going to wake them up. We need to get on with the investigation and we need to find Mai." She said as she walked over to the door.
"Make sure you knock first." Masako warned her. Ayako waved her hand. "Yeah yeah." She said as she knocked on the door. When there was no answer she slid it open anyway.
"Come on guys, time to wake- Monk!" Ayako shouted. It was a shout loud enough to both wake everyone up and to make Masako walk over to see what was wrong. When Masako saw what Ayako had shouted about she put her kimono sleeve over her mouth. "Oh my..."
The boys all woke up with a jolt. "What?! What happened?!" Monk sat up quickly. He felt a weight holding on to him and when he looked down to inspect it he was shocked. "What the heck?!"
Naru, Lin and John hurried over to see what was wrong and they all were equally surprised, even Naru couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Mai lied sleeping next to Monk and her arms were wrapped tightly around his stomach, her head was against his chest.
It was silent for a few moments; John looked away with a light blush on his face, Masako did the same with her kimono sleeve covering her mouth and cheeks, Lin and Naru seemed to be communicating just by looking at each other, Ayako had shifted from shocked to anger whithen a second, and Monk just sat there not knowing what to do.
"...I have no idea how she got there." Monk said finally.
"You perverted little monk..." Ayako growled. "What do you mean you don't know how she got there?!"
Monk threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know! You woke me up and suddenly she's there!" He said defensively.
Ayako was about to yell back (or hit him), when Masako held up her hand. "Wait." She said before Ayako could say a word.
Slowly, Masako walked over to where Mai still had her arms wrapped around Monk and bent down next to her.
"Wake up." She said softly and gently shook her shoulder.
Mai's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked over at Masako. The brown haired girl gasped in surprise and quickly got up but held a tight grasp on Monk's arm. "Daddy, who is that?" She asked, looking at Monk.
Everyone gasped, except Naru and Lin. Lin was smirking at Monk and though he didn't do it outloud, Lin was laughing inside at the man.
(I was worried I wouldn't get this done in time. If you don't know why Lin is smirking at Monk, it's a reference to the case where Kenji possessed Mai and thought Lin was her dad. ((Lin hated it and Monk kept laughing at him.)) Oh and I hadn't meant for this to happen at first, but I found myself writing it anyway. Trust me Im not copying Silent Christmas. Anyway please review! Shall hopefully post a chapter again tomorrow.))
