Feeling the Rush
Naru sighed, watching the screen with a bored look. 'When are they coming back? I want my tea already.' He is already in a bad mood from the conversation he had with Lin earlier.
"Noll, The temperature in the foyer and the second floor dropped down to two degrees."
He checked where every single one of them are. Yasuhara and John are still reading old books in the study which is in the opposite side of the mansion. Mai and Takigawa are in the foyer that Lin mentioned. The two are wildly looking around the room.
'Mai could never go somewhere without running into trouble.' Naru groaned. "The two just stumbled in there."
He dashed out of the chair before Lin could even speak. He concentrated on running. Lin was right behind him. "Naru, my shiki are telling me that there is something foul nearby."
The two met the door in the hallway to the entrance. They can hear rapping sounds followed by a scream. Lin turned the knobs yet it didn't move. He strained to hear anything. "Mai!" Naru tried kicking the door down but had no luck.
There was an 'oof' and then they heard a thud. "Naru!" His assistant shrieked.
A sound came from the grandfather clock and everything calmed down. The doors creaked open slowly. The two were met with chilling cold air from the room. The monk is unconscious on the hard cold floor. Mai's knees buckled under her, gazing at the top of the stairs.
Naru caught her arm and steadied her until she can stand. Lin checked Takigawa making sure he didn't get injured too badly. He stirred immediately putting a hand on his shoulder, hissing in pain.
"This is going hurt in the morning." He said through his teeth as he gently rolled his shoulder. "That thing meant business!"
Mai was visibly shaken from the whole ordeal. "What happened?"
She and the monk summarized the things they want through and what they saw. A silent moment later, Naru put a hand under his chin thinking. "It is problematic right in the start... "
He sighed, watching the girl and then inspected the poor shattered tea cup on the floor. "Let's go back to base. Mai… next time don't drop a perfectly nice cup of tea on the floor." Lin thought he saw a ghost of a smile on his face as he passed by. "That's a waste." He left the three in the room with her twitching.
Takigawa had to keep her at bay from murdering their boss. "Dammit, you narcissistic, Naru. Get your own tea then! We almost got hurt seriously because of your stupid tea addiction!" She waved her fist around hitting the wall next to her.
"Mai…" She blinked; the monk had a pink mark on the side of his face. The wall was actually him.
"Oops…sorry Bou-san."
'She's back to normal.' Lin thought, seeing her childish ranting. 'Mai… I don't think you know that he actually said it to cheer you up.'
-x-
"This may end up like the Urado case…" The monk stretched on the sofa, wincing from the bruise forming on his back.
"Yes, we know it's a strong poltergeist but we don't have a lot of information on this." Naru rubbed his temple.
"The spirits just angry, isn't it?" She said in a soft voice. Mai sat cross legged with Takigawa's hoodie warming her up. It was big on her so she rolled its sleeves up.
"Yes…"
John and Yasuhara returned from the study. John carefully carried two thick books and some papers on one hand.
"Boss, there may be some things in here that will surprise you."
He took the papers and books. He flipped a page of the discolored book. "These are photo albums from fifty years ago."
They gathered around him. There were mostly pictures of a mansion, a handsome-looking man, and other people who are in his family. It ranged from eating dinner to a funeral.
Yasuhara pointed to the words under each picture. "That guy's name is… Kobayashi Kenji."
They continued to look through the photo album. Naru turned to the family picture which is in the back of the book. It had many children and adults but a few caught their eye. All the way to the right, a young woman had straight hair that went down to her shoulder blades. She had a soft smile but her eyes didn't show it. An older man was the one to the far left. He, who appeared to be in his sixties, is the only one that had a stern frown on his face as he stood next to the younger man seen in almost every picture. In between the man and the woman with straight hair are Kenji and a lady in her twenties. He had a big grin on his face with an arm around her. The beautiful woman had dark, waist-length hair and an identical grin.
"T-that's her!" Mai almost lost her balance recognizing the woman from her dream. "She's the one in my dream."
They widened their eyes at her except for Naru and Lin. Naru gritted his teeth in frustration because he can't read it that well. "I'm guessing those are names on the bottom."
"Yes. The one next to Kenji is Hidayama Yumiko. The other woman is Miyagi Saika. Those two are the only ones who are not part of the Kobayashi family. The man with a serious face is Taji, who is the head of the household as they say."
"That's not all." He grabbed one of the papers and put it on the table. "These are some newspaper clippings I found on a shelf."
It showed a picture of the mansion again and also a picture of her. "It stated that the she committed suicide to escape from being turned in by the family. You see, that woman is famous for stealing thousands of yen. Her real name is actually Hidaka Yumiko. A thief… It states that she made Kenji fall in love with her to get the inheritance he is going to have." Yasuhara explained. Mai thinks it wasn't the case. 'In the picture, she was happy.'
"How did she commit suicide?"
"By jumping out the third story window…"
Naru put his finger under his chin thinking. "There's more to this than I thought…"
-x-
Naru, Lin, and Takigawa decided to let Mai sleep at base. It is now one in the morning and it is officially two hours since Minoru's disappearance.
Mai stared up at the light on the ceiling. Her head was propped on a pillow. 'When they say, 'Go to bed, Mai.' doesn't mean I will sleep on command.'
Naru and Lin are typing away. The rest of the group called it a night and will continue to research when they have a proper nights sleep.
'I feel useless. I am the one who always needs protecting. That's no fair.' She faced the back of the couch with a blanket covering her from the lights of the computers. 'Well, the only thing I can do is dream…'
Mai wanted to bang her head on something. 'Ugh! I'm the weakest one… does Yasuhara count? No, forget it…'
Her thoughts went back to a certain boy. 'I hope he's okay…Please be...' She drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
-x-
In a room, somewhere. There is nobody and nothing there. It would remind someone of a square crate since there are no windows or doors. It is completely empty no furnitureAll you would hear are murmurs and whispers. 'Where am I? It's dark... I'm scared…. What did she do to me? I can't move... I need to escape… I need to get out… Where's Nee-chan?'
Day 2
"Mai…" Naru poked the girl on the couch with a pen. It was the third attempt to wake her up. He glimpsed at the girl's cute face and tousled brown hair. She slept in a weird position with one leg on the top of the couch, her arm hanging down. She would be close to falling off if he hadn't maneuvered her back on the pillow. His mouth twitched a smile. "You are so naïve."
His emotionless mask is back, hearing footsteps outside. "Naru-chan, don't you want any breakfast?" Takigawa yelled followed by John and Yasuhara. John wheeled in a cart full of plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon, and other things you can name of. There was a large teapot and several cups on the lower part of it. The girl on the sofa sniffed before slowly opening her eyes. The rest didn't notice.
Lin came to the cart, inspected it for a second, and took a bagel and a cup of tea, before sitting back down on the computer chair. Everyone stared at the man as he took a bite.
"Even Lin eats breakfast." Takigawa whispered.
A different butler was near the door. "You have a visitor."
"Who is it?"
"Hello, Noll!" A bubbly woman said popping her head from the door. Naru had a bad aura around him as his teacher gave him a friendly smile. She nearly skipped into the room and waved at Lin. The silent man acknowledged her presence by smiling a little. Naru on the other hand, glowered at her. "Madoka... How do you know where we are and why?"
"Is that how you greet me after I just came from a long airplane flight to get here?" She scolded, earning snickers in the background.
Mai stretched her arms and yawned. Everyone now turned their heads. "Ahh… breakfast. It smells great. Nice to see you again, Madoka."
Naru glared at no one in particular but his sights were on Mai. She wasn't sure to be nervous or laugh. 'What the heck did I do?'
"I came to check and make sure you are alright. Your parents are worried that you will turn into a rock. You never call or anything so I'll be part of the team."
"I'm not a rock." He rolled his eyes. "Take Yasuhara to research the history of this house."
"Sure, but you just want to get rid of me." She said in English, to make him remember. "Don't be rude to people, Noll. You'll be a grumpy old man before you're twenty."
Everyone had a confused look on their face except John and Lin. John chuckled. Naru continued to be in a bad mood. "Whatever."
"We'll be back before you know it."
The two left while the group ate breakfast at base. Naru sipped his tea still irritated. "Mai, Brown-san, and Takigawa-san, you will record the temperatures and walk through the house again. Lin and I will interview the maids."
"What will we look for, Shibuya-san?"
"Anything suspicious… or Nakano-san…" Naru sighed, not bothering to look at anyone's reaction. "It's still not a good idea to go to the attic. If something happens, then contact us immediately."
The three walked around as they had been told. "Twenty-two degrees Celsius…" Mai scribbled on the clipboard. John studied the paintings on the wall. Takigawa searched behind every door.
"Normal… like all the other rooms." She sighed, writing the room temperature for another room.
They are on the third floor, which was like a long straight hallway. From the stairs, on the opposite end is the door to the attic.
"They might as well put danger in big letters on the door." He laughed humorlessly.
Mai saw it in her dream when Gene led her through the hall. She turned around. There were more doors, but what caught her eyes is a huge window.
-x-
Naru stared down at the page. A woman in her thirties put her hands on her lap, staring at the tea cup in front of her with interest. "How long have you been in this house, Mikado-san?"
"I have been with Nakano-sama ever since I was a young girl. We have only been here for ten months and it's a shame of what happened recently."
"Did you have problems in this house?"
"Yes, Saitou-sempai must have mentioned about something but it is not all."
He hid his confusion. "Not all? What are they?"
"You see, none of the maids want to go out of their rooms at night. I would hear a man and woman outside of my room yet, they each talk on different days. Some of them are too scared and quit because of it."
"Did you hear what they are saying?"
The woman thought for a minute averting her eyes. "No, it is loud enough to be heard but not enough to be understood. That's all…"
"Do you know about the attic?"
Her eyes widened, tightening her grip on her skirt. "Not much. Everyone knows about Tanaka-san being locked in that attic. The best people to ask are Otsuka-san and Sayuki-san." She bit her lip, trying to think about what to say. "Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention..."
-x-
The two noticed the expression on her face. It was a mixture of fear, determination, and excitement. She walked the hallway, getting closer to the window. 'What happened to Gene afterwards?'
"Where are you going, Mai-chan?" She touched the low sill, admiring the view. Below, there is a rock garden with various plants.
Mai closed her eyes briefly, before opening them. "This window is the one in my dream..."
That got their attention as they studied it. She noticed something under the window. 'H-hands.' Her eyes trailed down to who they are connected to. The woman sneered at her holding on to the window from the outside. Her dark hair is wild from the breeze. The pale skin made her appear like she came to life from a black and white photograph. The only color she had was something red on her face. Blood oozed down from her forehead, then down between her eyes. There is more of it flowing from the nape of her neck and stained her white dress crimson.
Mai screamed, her hands flew to her mouth.
"You will get what you deserve, bitch." Yumiko vanished. "Huh?" She turned around to see if the other two heard and gasped. The monk and the priest are frozen in time. Their eyes were on her yet they didn't move. Something caused her to be knocked off balanced. She began to stumble backwards. Everything that could happen in a second turned into something longer.
A black clad figure stood behind them and had a shocked look on his face moving towards her. 'Naru?' He stretched out his hand to grab her. Shatter!
The glass broke from her weight as she hit it hard. Naru didn't show that kind of expression. 'Wait…Or Gene?'
She plummeted rapidly towards the ground. Glass showered around her like tiny diamonds, cutting her skin. The wind rushed from below as she looked up at the sky and the broken window. He began to yell, calling her name. She couldn't hear him since the wind pounded in her ears.
Mai smiled up at him. She mouthed, "Am I dreaming?" before she landed on the rocks below.
I apologize for not updating sooner. Well had things to do... so yeah.
(Zipping up mouth so I don't say any spoilers)
