Disclaimer: I've got 99 problems, and the fact that I don't own Ghost Hunt or the title "Lady Labyrinth" is 76 of them. The other 23 problems all have to do with how no one seems to ship my OTP in this fandom...*quietly cries*


Chapter Seven


As I waited for the waiter to pick up the check at the restaurant, I shot Naru a quick text.

HT: Met with Amber. Information didn't seem very useful. She's going to try & get the others to meet with us. IDK when.

OD: Good. Be ready to debrief tomorrow.

I rolled my eyes at his use of the word "debrief." He'd probably get sassy with me for not taking notes, but oh well.

HT: Why not tonight?

OD: Go to bed, Monk.

I was about to tell him that I was perfectly awake, thank you very much, and that I wasn't yet old enough to need to go to bed at 8 PM, but then I realized what he was actually saying. It was time to try and meet with Mai again.

HT: Roger that. See you in the morning.

After paying the bill, I headed quickly back to my room. My whole body felt wired and my veins felt like light-bulb filaments. Every part of me was jittery and jumping, so much so that it took me 3 tries to untie my shoes, since I couldn't seem to keep my fingers still.

It took ages for me to finally fall asleep. The reality of the situation was starting to hit me, and thinking about how much depended on me made me feel a little sick to my stomach. I was usually pretty good at dealing with pressure, but I'd never been in such a serious life-or-death situation. If I screw up…no, better not think about that. Somehow I managed to force my eyes shut long enough for my brain to shut off.


In my dream, everything was all black. I wasn't moving, in fact I couldn't move, but my stomach felt like I was falling. My mouth felt sealed shut, and I couldn't even make a sound. It felt like being underwater, with pressure crushing me from all sides. All around me I heard heavy, guttural breathing. The air was hot, and I could feel it blow gently against my face like a breeze. It smelled like death and mold and rotten things.

I had no idea where I was or what was happening, but I did know 2 things: one, I was dreaming, and two, I was in more danger than I'd ever been in my whole life.

A massive pair of yellow-green eyes opened in front of me, with slit-like pupils the size of my head. The growling breaths grew heavier, excited, like this thing was panting.

"I know who you are…" a low, gravelly voice spoke in my head, vibrating through every nerve-ending in my body.

I couldn't see the rest of the thing's face, only the eyes, but somehow I knew it was smiling.


My eyes snapped open, and I found myself alone in my dark hotel room, although I didn't feel quite alone. I lay in bed, breathing desperately, a thick, heavy pressure pushing just behind my eyes. After a minute, the pressure subsided, but my heartbeat did not.

What the hell was that?

I'd never felt anything like it before, and I hoped I never would again. I felt…exposed. Under normal circumstances I would have just brushed it off as a strange dream, a weird story to tell my friends, something to wonder briefly about and then to be forgotten. But now…now I knew better.

I rolled over and flipped on the lamp next to my bed, while trying to ignore how much my hand was shaking. I grabbed the complimentary notebook and pen that come in every hotel room and began quickly jotting down every detail I could remember from my dream, all while praying fervently that Naru or Lin could recognize what we were dealing with here.

After I finished writing down (and reliving) my nightmare, I dropped back down on my pillow, leaving the lamp on. I felt the way I used to feel as a kid, like light was some cleansing force that could protect me from evil. I knew better than that now, or I liked to think I did. As a monk, I had more power than a thousand bed-side lamps, but that didn't make me feel any better about my situation. I'd been powerless in my dream. Unable to move, unable to speak…I was no use to anyone, least of all myself.

If that was the creature who was attacking Mai…things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

I knew I had to go back to sleep, as it was the only way I could see Mai again, but my heart wouldn't stop racing. Every time I tried to close my eyes, my mouth would go dry and my head would fill up with the smell of rotting meat.

It took about 2 hours of meditation and another 10,000 sheep jumping over a fence before I was able to even consider falling back asleep.


This dream began with heavy darkness, but this time the darkness felt…empty. I knew that thing was somewhere in there, but it felt like it was in another room, or maybe even asleep. I knew it wasn't gone, though, knew it instinctively, the way a rabbit knows which way to run to get away from the wolf.

"Monk!" I heard Mai's voice close by, but it seemed to be coming from every direction. Still, my whole body flooded with warm relief.

"Mai!" I called back, my dream-tongue finally working.

I felt a warm set of small fingers entwine around my own, and with a quick jerk on my arm I was yanked into a pool of bright sunlight. I whirled to my right and found Mai standing next to me, her wide, brown eyes staring out from beneath a furrowed brow.

"Oh thank god," I said as I wrapped my arms around Mai. She felt so small in my arms, and her head fit perfectly just below my chin. "I was so worried, I-"

My common sense snapped back into place, and I immediately recoiled as if my arms were spring-loaded. I laughed nervously, more like a cough than a chuckle, and folded my arms tightly in front of me. "I, uh, sorry about that. I'm just really, um, really glad to see you and I just had this terrible dream and—"

Mai cut me off. "I know. I felt him leave." She sighed, and I thought I could see her arm tremble as she brushed a piece of hair out of her face. "I thought I was careful, I didn't think that he'd notice…I'm so sorry, Houshou."

I scratched the back of my neck, still too embarrassed from my lapse in judgment to look at her, although it seemed that she hadn't even noticed. "Sorry for what? It's not your fault that—"

"It is, though," she said. The pain in her words made my heart ache. "He knows your name now. I can feel him thinking it, playing with the sound of it, planning his next move. You have to be careful, Monk. You're not safe when you sleep."

I wished that she'd call me by my first name again, rather than calling me "monk," just so I could hear the way my name rolled off her tongue. I cleared my throat, a sad attempt to force my brain to focus on the situation at hand.

"So…what are you saying? I should stop sleeping?" I meant it as a joke, my thoughts still giddy over the fact that Mai was right in front of me again, but my words fell flat. Mai gave me a hard, narrow-eyed stare. "Wait…you're not…you think I should stop coming here? Stop coming to see you?"

Mai bit her lower lip and stared at the ground, her hair obscuring her face.

"Hey, whoa, no way, lady. You really think I'm going to give up that easy? I'm here to figure this thing out, and you can't stop me." I tried to sound cocky and confident, but I think even Mai heard the panic in my voice. To stop coming to see Mai would mean a return to helplessness, a return to futility, a return to…well, to life without Mai. Whether she was interested in me or not, she was my friend, and if she was in danger I wasn't about to just walk away.

"Technically, Takigawa, I could very easily stop you," Mai said, smiling thinly. "But…I won't." This last part was barely a whisper, but I caught every word. My heart fluttered in my chest with wings of a hummingbird.

"Besides," she said, "You don't even know what you're doing to get here. Telling you to stop dream-searching me would be like telling a baby not to poop his diaper."

My mouth fell open as I pretended (well…mostly pretended) to be offended. Mai laughed. It was only once, but it was enough to send my heart racing again.

"So, wait…I'm doing this?" I asked. "I always thought it was you. Dreams are your gig, after all."

"The first few dreams were all me. But since you came to the U.S., you've been the one making most of the calls, all I have to do is pick up the phone, so to speak."

"And that…that thing? He…"

"He picked up the phone first."

Mai fell silent, probably getting mad at herself again for exposing me to Mr. Ghost-breath. I wanted to say something comforting, but everything I came up with sounded cheap and cheesy in my head, so I stayed silent. For the first time in the dream, I took a look at my surroundings, expecting to see the same school, the same parked van, the same forest as before.

"Hey, Mai…where are we?"

She looked up. "Oh, yeah, sorry. This was my favorite park when I was a kid. It was 2 blocks from my house, and my dad used to take me here after work sometimes…" her voice trailed off. We began walking, an unspoken decision that we made for who knows what reason. We took slow, meandering steps, walking close enough to almost feel each other's body heat.

"So what happened to the school?" I asked quietly, hesitant to break Mai's reverie.

"It's still here. It just seems safer to avoid memories of you, since that would be the first place he would look for you in here." There was no need to ask who "he" was. Mai sounded sad as she spoke, but I just chalked that up to my overactive imagination.

We walked in silence for a moment, walking past a small fountain surrounded by wildflowers. The park was completely empty, although it appeared to be the middle of the day. Other than the sound of birds and of our own footsteps, the place was silent and still.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, thinking out loud.

"You're in my head," Mai said, "so we're alone in here. I used to imagine people in here with me, children playing in the fountain, young couples holding hands on the benches…it was like playing with dolls. I got bored, and exhausted, so I stopped." For the first time, I noticed how tired she sounded. What else have I missed?

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry for bringing it up."

She laughed softly. "Don't worry about it. You're here now, it's not so bad."

"Well, well, uh, I'm glad, hah hah," I stammered, feeling like a hopeless idiot. She looked up at me and smiled, the kind of genuine smile where your cheeks scrunch up and your eyes get all crinkly at the corners, and for a moment it felt like we were just two people enjoying a warm summer day at the park. For a moment, it all felt normal. I wanted to kiss her then. The need to feel her lips on mine burned hot and bright in my stomach, and for a second I thought I'd actually do it…but then reality sucked me back into its cold grasp, and I knew I couldn't. You're a selfish bastard, Takigawa, an ugly voice sneered in my head. This girl is in danger, and all you can think of are your own stupid feelings. I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping to forget that thought, but it didn't work. That voice was right, even if I didn't want to admit it. As we continued walking, I moved a little bit away from Mai, trying to keep a cool distance between us. She glanced over at me as I did it, but didn't say anything. She didn't try to move closer to me either. Dammit…

"So…" I began, unable to stand the silence between us any longer. "I met some of your friends today."

Mai's face lit up as she stopped walking. "Really? Who?"

"Well, I met Amanda yesterday, but I never got a chance to tell you…" The memory of Mai standing tall against that vicious wind (Breath. You know it's breath now, and the smell of rotten meat…) came rushing back, and I was suddenly very conscious of how much time had already passed….and how little time we might have left in this dream. I began speaking faster. "And this morning, I met Monica and Amber too, although Monica thought I was nuts and she managed to turn Amanda against me too, but Amber trusted me, so—"

"Whoa, whoa, Houshou, we still have time. The…He's sleeping still, whatever he is. He gets tired too, just like I do. You can slow down." She smiled gently at me, and though her smile was beautiful, I could still feel my heart racing, and I had to fight the urge to glance over my shoulder every few seconds to see if something was behind us. "So Monica didn't like you, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "She loathed me. And then I mentioned the dreams…her and Amanda walked out."

Mai laughed. "I'm not surprised at Monica. She hates all that supernatural stuff. I am surprised at Amanda though. She's usually not like that."

"Yeah, it was weird. I think they're just having a hard time with you being…you know…"

"Practically dead?"

"I…uh, well, yeah, though I wouldn't put it quite so harshly…"

"You don't need to protect me, Monk. I know what's happened to me." Her voice was hard, her words harsh. Suddenly she looked down, and her voice grew quiet. "At least…I know some of it…"

"Do you remember anything before you went into the, ah, coma?" I still hated saying the word coma, hated saying it here where it could ruin our temporary paradise, but I knew there was no escaping reality, no matter how badly I wanted to.

"No," she said, her voice harsh again, although it sounded like it was about to crack. "He's…He's taken those memories somehow. I remember everything up until just before I got sick…and then it's all blank, except for this." She spread her arms, palms towards the sky.

I felt a glimmer of panic flash in my brain. "So you don't remember anything? You don't know what caused this?"

Her shoulders slumped down and her head hung so low her chin was almost touching her chest. "No," she whispered, and fear surged in my mind.

"So we have no idea what we're up against," I said grimly, my mouth a thin line.

"It's not as hopeless as you think, Houshou. You're here now, and I'm learning more and more about the enemy every day." She placed a soft hand on my arm. "Don't give up hope yet."

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look at a tree just over Mai's shoulder, trying to ignore the tingling in my arm or the fast gallop of my heartbeat. "Mai, I…" I swallowed again, doing my best not to stutter over my words. "I don't know how to help you. I can't come charging in to save you the way I did when you were a teenager. My powers as a Monk don't seem to work in here. I'm…I'm useless."

Mai took her hand off my arm (Why does my arm suddenly feel so naked?) and stood up straighter. "You're not here to save me. You're here to help me. I'm not 15 anymore."

I wanted to tell her that I was well aware of her age, but I thought it best to stay silent.

"And as for your powers…you're right. They don't work in here. But in here, you've got some different skills to use. You wouldn't be here if you didn't."

"I have…what? What are you talking about?"

She smiled, one of those cheeky little grins that meant she knew something I didn't. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to use them, at least I will once we figure out what they are." She reached up and cupped my face with one hand. "The sooner you realize that this isn't reality, the easier this whole thing will be."

But what if I want this to be reality… I thought, all while savoring the feel of her palm against the stubble on my cheek. I opened my mouth to say something more, but quickly closed it again when I saw Mai's face fall. This time I felt the signs too, and I could feel the air turn thick and cold around me, followed by the wet stench of decay.

As I met Mai's eyes, the ground began to rumble beneath us. I could see fear in her eyes, but also a hard, familiar determination. I knew she was about to tell me to leave, so I nodded, one quick up-down bob of my head to let her know that I understood. She nodded back.

"I'll be back tomorrow," I said, almost shouting as the wind began to pick up. There was so much more I wanted to say to her, so much more we had to talk about, but I knew there was no time for that now.

"I'll be waiting," she replied, before turning away from me.

Instinctively, I closed my eyes tightly, and when I opened them again I was back in my hotel room. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the dark blue pre-dawn light, and then reached over to grab the pad of paper off the nightstand. I felt exhausted, emotionally and physically, but it didn't matter. I knew I wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep that night.


A/N: As always, thanks for reading, commenting, and whatever else-ing! Y'all are the best. :)