So somehow this chapter has less going on than the rest, although admittedly this episode has less going on as well. Regardless, I hope this one is still just as good!

The Missing Files

I jumped up from my spot on the floor just as the fox shaped fire disappeared . . . into Mai. Before I had the chance to wonder what it was I had just seen, Mai's eyes flew open and she let out an ear-piercing scream.

Ayako and Masako both shot out of bed, searching around in confusion for whatever had woken them both up. Both were surprised when their eyes finally landed on Mai, who was lying in her bed with a horror struck look on her face, scream still very much ear-piercing.

Both women rushed to either side of Mai's bed, Ayako pausing long enough to manage a confused look at the bedding lying on the floor in between her bed and Mai's. After attempting to shake Mai awake to no avail Ayako took a more direct approach and slapped Mai across the face.

In any other situation I probably would've attacked Ayako for smacking Mai, as it was Mai immediately stopped screaming and seemed to be becoming aware of her surroundings. Because of that, I decided to ignore my instinct and fought to control my anger at the woman.

It proved to be a good decision when tears filled Mai's eyes and she shot up, clinging to Ayako immediately and letting out rough sobs. She had to have had one of her nightmares again, I've never seen Mai so upset.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Ayako asked in confusion, looking rather unsure what to do with Mai sobbing into her pajamas.

Mai didn't answer and continued sobbing, although I remained off to the side, rather unsure of how to help Mai at the moment.

Soon Monk was thumping against our door urgently, "Hey, open up!" He shouted. Masako calmly walked over to the door, opening it for him as Ayako finally wrapped her arm around Mai's shoulder, more than likely figuring it might help the girl to calm down a little.

As soon as Masako had the door open Monk, John, and Yasu quickly entered, all three seeming highly concerned. "Is everything okay in here?" Monk asked, confirming that they were here out of concern. "What happened Mai?"

Mai pulled away from Ayako, wrapping her arms around herself. Her tears and sobbing seemed to be over, but she still looked to be rather shaken. "A dream, actually more like a nightmare," she answered quietly.

"So was it . . . one of those dreams?" Monk asked curiously, asking what we all were more than likely wondering.

Mai nodded in response, "Yeah, I think so."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Yasu asked softly.

"I dreamt . . . that I was being killed." Mai said, her voice cracking and shaking in fear. "Two men came in, they dragged me to a strange room covered with tiles. Then . . . when he cut me, it felt like there was a thin trail of ice over the skin on my neck," she said, tears filling her eyes as her hand subconsciously hovered above her neck. "Blood . . ." Mai continued, Monk's hand resting on the top of her head seemed to snap her back into the present.

"That's enough, I didn't mean for you to relive it," he said rather softly.

Mai's attention shifted to the door when it opened again with a creak, everyone else turning to see who it was as well. Naru and Lin both stood in the doorway, Naru with a cup of hot tea in his hands. He carefully carried the cup over, offering it silently to Mai.

Mai took the cup from him, seeming to relax quite noticeably as she drank the tea.

"You okay?" Naru asked, I was surprised that he seemed concerned, even just a little bit.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you," Mai said, a soft smile on her face. Now that she was calm again, Mai turned her attention back to Monk. "There was something else, from the dream . . . I don't think I would've woken up, if it weren't for the appearance of this strange spirit."

Everyone's interest seemed to be caught, and even I was curious about what Mai was referring to.

"What do you mean, 'strange spirit'?" Monk asked, since Mai had been directing her comment to him.

"Well, it was a spirit that seemed to be made out of fire," she told him, and my eyes widened in surprise. It couldn't be . . . "and it was shaped like a fox."

The Missing Files

April

Day 5

The next morning Monk, Ayako, Yasu, John, Masako, Mai and I were all sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. Or, well, we were all eating breakfast, Mai seemed to be satisfied just staring at her food.

"I can't stop thinking about that nightmare," Mai finally admitted.

"What does everyone think about this theory? We know there's a chance that Suzuki and Atsugi have passed on. Could your dream have been an accurate representation of what they could have suffered at the hands of this unknown killer?" Yasu suggested.

"A dream that's telepathic?" John questioned.

"If that's the case then they've both been murdered, right?" Ayako added.

"This may sound crazy, but is there any chance the people working here are up to something?" Monk wondered, watching two workers in the room critically. Mai looked at Monk in confusion. "Just look at the situation, the employees have been working here for a full week and nothing's happened to them. Yet we've been here for five days and two people have already disappeared."

"Now that you mention it, no one directly associated with the house has disappeared," Yasu added, looking rather thoughtful.

"So only outsiders are the ones being affected," Mai mumbled.

"What about this? Is it possible the spirits prefer people of a certain age? All of the staff are of the older persuasion, yet everyone who's disappeared has been younger." John pointed out, causing everyone to gasp in realization. I honestly had not dismissed anything, but even this realization was rather surprising.

"Nice work," Naru commented when we returned to base to inform him of John's theory. "Yasu, Mai, make sure you're never alone while in this house. Priestess, how much faith can I place in you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Ayako asked, seeming rather annoyed.

"It's become very dangerous here, and Yasu is unable to defend himself. I need people I can rely on to protect him under any circumstances." Naru informed her, Ayako letting out a sigh but understanding what he meant. "So to what extent can I count on you?"

"Just some warding magic," Ayako grudgingly told him.

"That's not good enough, Miss Matsuzaki, Miss Hara, you two cannot leave each other's sight. I know you focus mainly on being a medium, but you can at least protect yourself, right?" Naru questioned of Masako.

"I can," Masako confirmed.

"Monk, John, the two of you will protect Yasu." Naru informed them, gaining a confirmation from the both of them.

"But, who will protect Mai?" Masako asked, before sending a look to me as well. "You can't expect Yuki to protect her, it's more than likely he'll be targeted as well."

Normally I would be offended at the idea that I couldn't protect Mai, but in this case the medium proved a fair point. There was nothing stopping the spirits from kidnapping two people at once.

"Lin will be helping Yuki protect Mai," Naru informed her. It filled me with a little pride to know that the great Narcissistic Naru had some faith in my ability to protect Mai. Not that I needed his, or anyone else's, recognition, but still.

Lin stood up rather fiercely from his place at the monitors, looking rather annoyed. "But Naru, who will be looking out for you? Don't forget, you can't perform warding magic."

"What are you going to do?" Mai asked worriedly.

"I'll manage," Naru answered stoically.

"You're out of your mind, you need to have some protection. Takigawa will cover Yasu, and Father Brown and Yuki can protect Mai, alright?" Lin suggested.

"Monk can't handle it alone," Naru responded, sounding a little annoyed.

"Hey, man, I'm not an amateur." Monk snapped.

"I don't think you understand the danger here," Naru commented.

"Then send one of them away, I cannot allow you to be alone in this house. If you were to come to harm while on a job, how would you expect me to explain that to the professor?" Lin questioned angrily, Naru finally snapping a glare to Lin. "Think of how your parents would feel if that would happen."

"Lin, if you don't like how I conduct my investigation, then leave." Naru commanded.

"How quickly you seem to forget, my main objective is to protect you at all costs." Lin replied cooly.

Everyone in the room watched in surprise at the interaction between the two men. It sounded almost as if Lin was Naru's bodyguard. Was he . . . perhaps Lin and I were more alike than I thought? Does he protect Naru like I protect Mai?

"I'll volunteer," Yasu said, breaking the tension in the room.

The Missing Files

"This house is built up higher at its center. The floors on the first level slope upwards towards the center, leaving it about two meters higher than the perimeter of the structure." Lin informed us as we all were gathered in base later that night. "Judging from the placement of the windows, it looks like the owner added rooms, and increased the overall size outward from the center. That's about everything we know at this point."

"What we don't know is what's inside this empty section." Naru observed, looking through the floor plan Lin had printed off for him.

"If it's a hidden room it's gigantic!" Monk added, sounding a little impressed.

"But we've searched all over, and there doesn't seem to be a way inside," John informed us.

"What if the way inside, doesn't actually exist?" Naru wondered, getting everyone's attention. "What if this area wasn't originally intended to be hidden, but was sealed later?"

"Why would they do that?" Mai asked, confused.

"If we assume the structure was built from the inside out, it must have had a purpose at some time. I can't think of a logical explanation as to why they would keep building on top of the room if they didn't want to hide it," Naru observed, beginning to pace the room as he thought aloud.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ayako agreed.

"But what could they be hiding?" Mai wondered.

"We'll find out as soon as we open up a few of those walls." Naru informed her, turning around in surprise when he heard a tapping noise on the window.

The window creaked open, Yasu and Madoka cheerily greeting us, letting us know they brought some new information.

"I thought I told you it was too dangerous to come here," Naru scolded the both of them after they had made themselves comfortable in chairs from the table.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just here to assist." Yasu responded easily.

"And besides, it's perfectly safe outside the house. They've even got a little playground out there." Madoka added cheerfully.

"Really? A playground?" Mai questioned in surprise.

"Yeah, the backyard for this house is huge. Before all these incidents started happening, the kids in the neighborhood would use it to play soccer. But none, of those children, ever went missing. Proving the danger only lies within the house." Madoka informed us.

"Oh, I noticed something strange about the house from outside." Yasu added, pulling a picture out of the folder he held to show us. "It's the number of chimney's, when we were investigating the place earlier I believe we found either ten or eleven fireplaces."

"There are eleven," Lin confirmed from his place at the monitors.

"But if you look here, there are twelve chimney's, "Yasu informed us, causing us all to lean in to take a closer look at the picture.

"You're right, there's an extra one." Mai said in surprise.

"And as you can see, the extra chimney is round, much thicker and made of brick instead of plaster." Yasu pointed out.

"That's right above the part of the house with the hidden space," Monk said in awe.

"There is definitely something there." Naru decided.

What if it was that place from Mai's dream?

"We also have more info about Kanayuki. Apparently his health condition had been very fragile ever since childhood." Madoka told us.

"When he was young he was told that the chances of him living a full life were slim. He then traveled extensively abroad and had foreign doctors examine him for second opinions." Yasu added.

"Also, soon after Kanayuki moved into the house, he kept two employees with him at all times." Madoka told Naru.

My eyes shot to Mai in concern, she looked absolutely terrified. It sounded similar to her dream, two men had dragged her away, and it seemed she was making a connection as well. Yasu looked to his small notebook, although my attention wasn't fully on what they were talking about anymore, my main concern on Mai and her reactions.

"At the time, there was a room detached from the main house. The two were connected via a maze of hedges." Yasu read off. Mai's eyes widened even more, and I was by her side in an instant out of worry, placing a hand on her elbow. She didn't seem to notice, however. "The gardeners that maintained the grounds, said the maze was so creepy they avoided working there as often as possible." Mai wrapped her arms around herself, gripping her arms. Her breathing changed, and I knew that she was reliving her nightmare over again as Yasu continued. I felt the air around us become warmer, wishing Yasu would shut his trap, panicking because I didn't know how to help Mai. "They also said that the detached room had a putrid smell, and that the staff was constantly changing."

"Did you find out anything about the relationship between Kanayuki and Urado?" Naru asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Yasu confirmed, adjusting his glasses. "Urado was an assumed name, he often went by." This news surprised everyone in the room, and had my attention not been so focused on Mai I probably would have been equally surprised. As it was, Mai took my priority, and she seemed to almost be trying to curl into herself out of fear, her entire body wracking in a full body shake.

I drowned out the rest of their conversation, turning my entire attention on her as I moved my hand from her elbow to her back, hoping that physical contact would bring Mai back to the present, but it seemed to be doing nothing. I shot a heated glare at Yasu for reminding Mai of her dream.

"You okay?" Yasu asked, having felt my heated glare and turned to see where it was coming from, his attention now on the panicking Mai.

Everyone seemed to finally notice what was going on, and Monk jumped at the chance to help out, stopped only by Masako. "Not this person," she spoke, coming over to stand at Mai's other side, "she's incapable of saving you." Masako said calmly, placing her hand on Mai's shoulder. "Remember, you're already dead, now come out, don't be frightened. Just look for the light and walk towards it, and then you will find some peace."

Mai slowly calmed down at Masako's words, finally returning to the present, turning to thank Masako for her help.

"Since we were talking about them, one of the spirits trapped in the house possessed you. I believe it was one of the staff members we were just discussing," Masako said softly.

Tears came to Mai's eyes, "She was the one, the one who was killed in my dream last night." Mai said sadly.

"You saw the spirits memories?" Monk asked in awe.

"She must've been so scared, being murdered like that." Mai said before she started sobbing. Masako wrapped an arm around Mai, attempting to console her as she cried. She gave me a warm smile as she did so, although I have no idea why she did, but either way I stiffly pulled away from Mai to allow Masako to comfort her.

"So the spirits of those murdered in the same way are still wandering the house," Naru mused.

Before anybody else could comment or add input the power seemed to go out. Screams filled the air around us, though where they were coming from I had no idea. I've lived through some pretty scary stuff, but this, whatever this was, was absolutely terrifying.

"Naru!" Mai cried out, panicked.

"Don't move," Naru commanded, the words directed at everyone.

Before long the power to the room returned, blood written words on the walls appearing with it.

"Is . . . that blood?" Ayako asked haltingly.

The bloody words were all over the walls and they covered the ceiling as well.

"It's everywhere," Ayako said shakily.

"Did the spirits do this?" Mai asked, her voice wavering as well. "Naru," she called out, having seemed to have noticed something. She pointed out on the wall where Urado's name was written.

"Look, it's over here too," Ayako called over.

We studied the words on the wall some more before footsepts could be heard heading in our direction. "Come on Yasu, let's move," Madoka said quietly, both her and Yasu dashing to the window and sneaking back out the way they had come in. Before they left Monk whispered to them to be careful, to which they nodded their agreement as they left.

As soon as they were gone Mr. Ohashi threw the door open, looking rather panicked. "Everyone okay? It looks like this room has got it as well." He observed, taking in all the bloodstained walls. "I don't know how it happened, but this strange writing just appeared on the walls. It looks like blood."

"Just how many spirits are in this house?" Ayako wondered.

"The name Urado appears to be more important than I originally thought," Naru observed calmly, reviewing the name where we'd originally discovered it on the old money. "I doubt it's a simple alias. If only we knew what it meant. Miss Hara, do you feel up to performing a séance tonight?"

"Yes, of course," Masako replied softly.

"Wait a minute," Mai objected, "You're talking about allowing a spirit to possess Masako, aren't you? You can't do that! What if she has to go through the same kind of terror I experienced?"

"Miss Hara is a professional," Naru responded, irritated.

"Do you know what it's like to feel like you're being murdered? Do you have any idea how frightening the moment of a painful death can be?" She questioned in anger. I was about to step into things, to glare at Naru and side with Mai, but there was a look in Naru's eyes that had me standing still. He looked . . . almost detached. He looked, almost as though he understood what Mai was saying. "I'm sorry, but I won't allow Masako to take any part in a séance, not here!"

"You leave me no other choice, we'll have to try something else," Naru said, conceding to Mai's argument. "You want a shot at it Lin?"

"Yes I do," Lin replied immediately.

"You sure?" Mai asked softly.

"Don't worry Mai, what I will do is called Shokon, and it can only summon the spirits," Lin explained to her, I was impressed that he explained what he was going to do so as to ease her worries.

John asked Monk quietly what Shokon was.

"It's a method derived from Chinese Rugu Shamanism. I believe you need to have certain information about the spirit you want to summon, such as their name and birthdate." Monk explained.

"I can only summon Suzuki and Atsugi now. That is, of course, assuming that they have indeed passed on." Lin informed us.

"Sounds good, now let's go," Naru commanded, turning to leave the room, Lin following after him.

"What was with that look in his eyes?" Mai whispered quietly to me, making sure no one else could hear. I gave her a look, and she seemed to understand that I was indicating Naru might understand what she was talking about.

The Missing Files

Not long later we were gathered in an octagonal room, standing up against one of the walls. Lin and Naru were located in the center of the room, Lin sitting at a round table with strange objects on it, Naru standing not far from Lin's side. Lin was writing Suzuki's information down on a sheet of paper.

"What about the date of death?" Lin asked Naru.

"The day after she disappeared," Naru replied. "That's my best guess."

Lin wrote down the information as suggested before placing the paper on the cloth located at the middle of his table. After that he began lighting the candles he had.

After a while of waiting in suspense a figure seemed to appear above the table, slowly but steadily taking the figure of Suzuki.

"You are Naoko Suzuki, right?" Naru asked the figure, getting a nod of confirmation. "You are no longer of this world, were you aware of that?" He asked, watching the spirit carefully. Suzuki turned to look to Naru, it seemed as though she was surprised by his news. "Do you know why you died?" Naru questioned, although she shook her head that she didn't. "Did anyone commit a vile act against you?" The spirit nodded her head in confirmation. "I see. Was it Urado?" Naru asked, to which the spirit seemed to panic over, though I was unsure exactly what she seemed to be doing she looked rather tormented. "You know him, don't you?" Naru asked, to which the spirit confirmed. Lin informed Naru they were out of time, "One last question, can you tell me where you are?" Naru asked the spirit, who had been gripping her throat. She pointed at the wall before disappearing.

The room was silent as Naru moved to flip on the lights. When the lights came on, Mai gasped in surprise. "What's that?" She asked, drawing our attention to bloody writing on the wall. "Did Suzuki write that?"

"So, I guess Urado's real name is Vlad," Monk commented.

"Urado is Vlad?" Mai asked, obviously confused. "So what, I don't get it."

"I believe the name Vlad is referring to the vampire Dracula." John mentioned.

"Dracula?" Mai asked, astounded. "Do you mean the guy who sucks people's blood? Wait, does that mean Urado sucks people's blood too?"

"Mai, relax. There is no such thing as blood sucking people. Vampires only exist in books. However, the story of Dracula, which Bram Stoker published in the 1800's, was based on an actual historical figure. He was Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. He was the King of Wallachia, now known as Romania, during the 15th Century. After the defeat of the Ottoman Turks, he was deemed a hero while simultaneously feared as being the son of the dragon, or child of the devil."

"That sounds scary," Mai commented.

"Vlad's father was named 'Vlad Dracul'. The word Dracul had two definitions in Wallachia at that time, both dragon and devil. The word Dracula means 'child of Dracul', or in other words, 'child of the devil'. To the people of Turkey, he was often referred to as the 'impaler prince'." Naru continued, as though teaching a history lesson.

"How come?" Mai asked.

"Vlad was meticulous and brutal, his favorite method of disposing of his enemies or anyone who betrayed him was to impale them." Naru answered. Madoka mentioned Kanayuki was meticulous as well, that can't just be a coincidence.

"Vlad and Urado, they do have some similar traits." Monk observed.

"By the time Kanayuki traveled abroad, Dracula had been published years before. I would find it odd if he hadn't known of it. And then there's Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian countess in the 17th century who's often associated with Vlad the Impaler." Naru added.

"There are countless stories of Elizabeth being so obsessed with her fear of growing old that she kill young women and drain their blood. She would bathe in it, hoping it would restore her youth." Ayako informed us.

"Kanayuki must have grown to hate his frail body, and like Elizabeth Báthory he may have thought he could reverse his chronic health issues by sacrificing young people and using their blood for nefarious purposes." Naru gathered.

"That would explain why the staff kept changing so often," Mai added.

"I imagine so," Naru agreed.

"Now we can decipher what was written on that five yen bill." Monk said, "'Everyone who has come here is dead, I heard they were killed by Urado. Run away!'"

"So it was a warning for the next person who came here," Ayako added.

"But wait," John said, getting our attention. "The coat that the five yen bill was found in, belonged to the Miyama Charity Hospital. Why was it there?"

That was a good question, and it seemed that everyone but me had figured out the reason why. "No way, all those people in the shelter?" Monk asked in disbelief. And then it clicked, it was a warning for everyone involved with the man, because he targeted anyone and everyone.

"Unbelievable!" Mai said, shaking in outrage. "How could he kill those people just to keep himself alive?"

"Hold on. Isn't it a possibility that Hiroyuki knew what his father was up to in here?" Ayako asked.

"It sure is, and in order to hide his father's dark secret's he kept adding on to the mansion to seal them deep inside." Monk confirmed.

"But, Kanayuki died a long time ago," Mai said, "Why would people still be disappearing today? Also, before, what did she mean when she pointed to the wall?"

"Kanayuki didn't live a full life, which was obviously a major disappointment for him. He killed others in an attempt to stave off death, but still died sooner than he wished." Naru explained, heading over to the wall in question. "Urado's still here, inside this house. And he's far from being finished with his sacrifices."

The Missing Files

Day 6

We decided to find out what was on the other side of the wall. So John and Monk, armed with some pick axes, were currently working on destroying it. When they broke through, we all followed Naru in through the entrance. There was a strange and disturbing smell that filled the air.

"There's a door," Naru observed, his flashlights light directed at it. Opening it, however, only revealed brick covering the entrance. It, and the windows, were all blocked with the brick.

John let out a gasp of surprise, earning our attention. Heading over Monk asked what they found. When we got there, we saw what looked like a body in the old fireplace.

"It's most likely the body of one of the people that disappeared two months ago." Naru informed everyone gathered in the dining room.

"That's awful, please excuse me, I need to contact the prime minister." Mr. Ohashi stated.

"With the discovery of this body, there's little hope that we'll find any of the others still alive," Naru informed the rest of us.

"Are you saying that . . . Suzuki is probably dead?" Ms. Igurash asked in disappointment and fright.

"Yes, same goes for Atsugi." Naru replied.

"But wait, you said the body you found in there was from two months ago. Couldn't she have just gotten lost?" Ms. Igurash asked hopefully.

"The room was completely sealed off from the outside. Unless human beings have adapted the ability to pass through walls, I can only guess they were taken there, through a rip in the space-time continuum." Naru informed her, much to Ms. Igurash' displeasure. "Have you any idea how much power it would take to accomplish that?"

"Look, I'm leaving," Minami said, standing up rather suddenly from his chair. "This is too much, my own life is in danger." He said, heading to the door, Dr. Davis following after him.

"Please, don't leave!" Mai requested, sounding flustered. "Aren't you going to help us search for Atsugi?"

"He's probably dead," Minami stated harshly.

"That's horrible." Mai said angrily. I grit my teeth, this guy was seriously good at getting under my skin. I moved to Mai's side, placing a hand on her elbow, and she seemed to calm a little at my touch. I was glad she was responsive to it, unlike when she had been reliving her nightmare.

"Please sir, I'm begging you, you have got to help us find her!" Ms. Igurash requested of Dr. Davis, rather desperately. "Dr. Davis, please, I'm desperate."

"I can't do this," the man said, pulling away from Ms. Igurash in a panic. "I'm not who you think I am! It was all his idea." He said, turning to point at Minami.

"What? That's ridiculous," Minami said, though he was obviously lying.

"I admit it, I'm not Dr. Davis. My name is really Raymond Wall. This man is fooling all of you!" The man said urgently.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves," Mai said angrily, though still notably calmer than before.

"I had a feeling something was going on," Ayako said in disbelief. I shot her a look of amusement, most of them had been swindled with their words the entire time. "Hey, snap out of it, will yah?" Ayako said to a rather depressed looking Monk.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be a part of this charade any longer. Now good day." The man said, turning and heading to the door.

"Hey wait, come back here!" Minami demanded, chasing after him. "You've got some nerve, embarrassing me like that-" Minami said as they made their way down the hall and out of earshot.

Ms. Igurash sat in one of the chairs, looking highly shocked. "I think it would be best if you left now, ma'am. We are leaving as well." Naru said, surprising all of us.

"What? We're gonna leave?" Mai asked in confusion. "How come?"

"Because, exorcism is impossible." He said, much to everyone's surprise. I honestly agreed with him, which was the cause of my own surprise. I honestly don't like the fact that I agree with him, but in this situation I'll have to deal with it, it was honestly way too dangerous to stay in this house anyways at this point.