Sorry for the delay but my muse just wasn't talking to me, aka I needed a scary movie for inspiration. As I'm sure I've mentioned before I'm actually a wimp when it comes to scary movies so I had to wait for my friend to watch the new one I bought. Nothing is taken directly from the movie but it did ispire some of the ghosts in the first bit here. muse smacks author 'you weren't supposed to say anything about the ghosts dumbass.' oops, oh well. Anyways, thank you Artemis Bloodshadow for beta reading this, especially that early in the morning, and enjoy folks. I don't think the next chapter should take quite as long since I have 4 days off next week... grrrrr stupid boss.
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Mai was panicking. No, not just panicking, she was starting to have a full fledged, hyperventilating panic attack. After all the cases she'd been through, it was almost strange to think that a simple voice could do this to her. She hoped it was all her imagination as she stared at her cell phone. She hoped she'd mistaken the voice. That damnable voice that haunted some of her worst nightmares.
"Mai? Why won't you answer me sweetheart? Don't you recognize your father's voice?"
It wasn't a mistake. He'd found a way to contact her.
Mai did the only thing her brain told her to do. She ran. She left the phone in the base and ran whimpering from the room hoping that her feet would take her to Naru. She had to get to Naru. She had to warn him. The others, too. She'd become too close to them, he'd go after them for sure.
Not really watching where she was going Mai entered the room she thought the three men would be in and made it to the middle of the room before she realized that she was the only living occupant in it. Mai made herself stop before she could run headfirst into the ghost that was floating just in front of her. Glancing around, she found herself hard pressed not to scream and she forgot for the time being what had made her run into the room in the first place.
There were at least twenty or more ghosts in the room, but it was those closest to her that frightened her the most. In front of her was the ghost of a woman floating in the air, wearing a long nightgown, with her arms stretched out. Her long hair covered her face like a veil made of solid black. To her left, was one spirit whose age and gender were unidentifiable because it was covered in blood, looking for all it was worth as though it had been skinned. To her right, was a young man holding his own severed head in his lap, while not far from him was what seemed to be a young mother bleeding from her nose, mouth and eyeless sockets as she cradled two blanketed infants to her chest, whispering that it would be alright. As Mai's eyes adjusted to the haze that seemed to perforate the room, she realized that it was not two infants in the woman's arms, but two halves of one child. Mai slowly sunk to the ground as she choked on her sobs.
"You shouldn't have come here." A voice said above her head.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… We're just trying to help. We want to make it possible for you to pass on… Please, you can't want this horror," Mai pleaded looking up to see the hidden faced girl floating even closer to her than before.
"We don't. But the only way out is through it and that is no way out at all."
"What do you mean? You mean that thing beneath the porch? What is it? Please tell me, I want to help you," Mai said, shaking, wanting nothing more than to run.
"Yes, that… You say you want to help?" The voice sounded amused, as though it had just thought up something sadistically fun.
"Yes."
"Well, then. Since the only way out is through it, then maybe if we give it you, we can escape while it's busy," the ghost said with a laugh as she reached out to grasp Mai's chin in her hand.
She never managed to touch the young psychic though. Mai screamed and clutched at the pendant around her neck and releasing what felt like a small wave of pure power. The spirits in the room that had been drawing nearer stumbled back, cursing. Mai didn't have time to take a breath for a second scream as the door hurled opened, nearly breaking as it connected with the wall. One figure rushed in towards the cowering Mai as a taller one let out a sharp, piercing whistle which was followed by five glowing orbs scattering in the room to attack the specters. The last thing Mai registered was Naru's familiar voice demanding to know if she was alright as his arms wrapped around her and she slipped from consciousness.
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"Mai-san…" A child's voice reached her in the inky darkness.
"Who..?"
"Mai-san…"
"Who's calling me?"
"Mai-san!"
"Kasumi-chan?"
"Mai-san? Where are you?"
"Kasumi-chan! I'm here, follow my voice!"
"Mai-san, I can't! You have to come to me!" The voice was getting quieter.
"Kasumi-chan?"
"You can't stay there. Mai-san, please, you have to come to me! You have to come back! It'll find you if you stay in the darkness!" Kasumi's voice was, Mai realized, getting farther and farther away and the nothingness around her was beginning to feel like it was closing in.
"Kasumi-chan, where are you? What do you mean?!"
"Mai…" a male voice rasped behind her.
"Who's there?!" Mai yelped as she whipped around and came face to face with Naru.
"Mai…" the voice rasped again.
"Nar… No… you're not Naru!" Mai yelled, stepping back.
"Mai…" the creature growled as its image of her boss began to flake and crumble, leaving a deteriorating corpse.
"Mai… mine…" The cadaver stepped forward, reaching for her, causing her to scream and try to run.
"Mai!" a more familiar voice echoed through the endless obscurity.
"No!" Mai screamed as something shook her body, making her stumble and allowing the corpse-like creature to catch up to her.
"Mai! Wake up!" Naru's voice came crashing through her mind, accompanied by a blinding light which drove the monstrous being back.
Suddenly, she was awake. She slowly opened her eyes and found Naru, Lin, and Takigawa leaning over her. Mai gasped as she sat up and threw her arms around Naru, burying her face into his shoulder crying.
"Mai-san?" Lin's voice was laced with worry.
"Jou-chan? What happened?" Hoshou asked, rubbing her back as Naru gently held her.
"Mai, are you hurt?" Naru's question held unconcealed concern, which was unusual for him.
"I'm sorry…" Mai managed to mumble without removing her face from where it was hidden in the material of her boss' shirt.
"Mai, what happened? The room you sent us to was empty but there was evidence of recent paranormal activity. When we heard you scream, so close to where we were…" Naru stopped what he was saying as though he couldn't put into words just what he'd thought.
"Naru?" Mai pulled back to look at him unsure of the fear she thought she heard in his words.
"Never mind. I told you to stay here. Why did you leave the base? "Naru demanded, behaving more like himself.
Mai sat back and looked around, taking in her surroundings for the first time since she'd woken up. She discovered that she was back in the base, on the couch to be exact, which was becoming a bit of a habit on this mission. A thought came upon her and her eyes immediately searched the room for her phone. The cellular lay seemingly harmless on the table and when she spotted it she couldn't help but flinch.
"Jou-chan, what's wrong?"
"He found me… and then it found me," she said quietly, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide it from them as she had tried to before.
"Mai-san, what do you mean?"
"Kurosawa Nobu… He… he called me. He's found me…" she replied in a stuttering whisper as she drew her knees to her chest and hid her face in them.
"What!?" Hoshou was shocked.
"Did he say he knows were you are, Mai-san, or did he only have your cell phone number?" Lin asked reasonably.
"What do you mean, Lin-san?" Mai inquired, confused.
"Mai, what exactly did he say when he called you?" Naru said, drawing her attention.
"All I remember was him asking if I recognized my 'father's' voice. But if he has my unlisted number, he probably knows I'm here," Mai mumbled, still hiding her face.
"Mai-san, I left no information of where we were going anywhere or with anyone," Lin assured her.
"Did either of you?" Naru directed the question towards the monk and Mai, indicating that he hadn't.
"No, I didn't even tell Ayako," Takigawa responded, placing his hand on Mai's head with a gentle smile he knew she couldn't see.
"Even my brother doesn't know, exactly. He… he said he didn't want to be able to slip up even if Kurosawa found him," Mai murmured softly.
"See, Jou-chan? There's nothing that will lead him here. You're safe here," Takigawa said comfortingly.
Lin simply raised an eyebrow at the word 'safe'. After all, they were in a house full of powerful ghosts, but he supposed that, for now, it was safer than being in the clutches of a homicidal psychopath.
"Mai, what else? You said he found you and then it found you" Naru queried.
"I didn't mean to enter that room. I panicked and I was trying to find you but… but I went in the wrong room a… and those ghosts… I told them that we wanted to help them, but they wanted to feed me to that… that… that horrible creature. When I passed out, I was somewhere dark. Kasumi-chan was calling to me. She told me that it would get me if I stayed there, and it nearly did…" she explained while quietly sobbing.
Suddenly, Naru drew her to his chest, holding her tightly. He was deliberately ignoring the other two as he comforted her, stroking her hair and whispering barely audible reassurances in her ear. To say Mai was startled would be an understatement. This simply wasn't Naru's normal behavior, no matter how much she wished it was at times like this, it just wasn't normal. She looked at Lin in confusion.
"Mai-san, whatever that ghost is it nearly took you. Naru had to anchor your soul to his for a moment to get you away from it," Lin said, explaining why their boss was acting odd and snapping her back to what was happening.
Naru, while nowhere near the danger level he'd reached twice before in her time working with him, was obviously tired and slumping slightly against her even as he still held her and whispered to her. Mai felt something tugging at her mind and closed her eyes, trying to reach for the familiar feeling while making it look like she was falling asleep or just enjoying the moment. Another voice was whispering in her mind. A voice she knew was safe, though she'd never heard it before. It was different from the one that had told her she could levitate objects, especially the locket, but it held the same familiar feeling.
"Mai, little love, can you hear me? Do not respond aloud just think things and I will hear them." The voice brushed across her mind like a soft breeze.
"Yes, I can hear you."
"It's time for another lesson, little love. This one you must always be careful of using, though. This man holding you has great power, too much for him to use. It drains his body, leaves him weak. While you cannot siphon it off to a safer level, you can ground his power. You can stabilize him; give him a bit more control of how much power he uses. You MUST be careful, though, as it will drain you in a similar manner. His problem right now is that his power is pushing to be let free since he used it to help you. It is almost, in a way, leaking around his shields. Allow your light to flow through yourself and into him. I will shield you this time so that none of them will know you are doing this. It is not yet time for your abilities to be revealed. Each of our line has had to choose carefully when to make our powers known to those around us. I cannot explain right now, but this is not yet the time for you to do so. Mai, little love, I cannot stress just how much caution you must use when wielding this gift. If you give too much of yourself at one time, you could die. Now, do as I showed you. Give him strength."
Mai followed the lesson carefully, remembering just how drained she had felt the last time she'd used one of her gifts. Calling the locket to her had knocked her for a loop and left her groggy for the rest of the day. Since she already had the pendant on, though, this shouldn't be quite as difficult. She concentrated on finding her center, her light as her ancestor had called it, and carefully pulled a portion of it towards Naru who was still leaning against her more asleep than awake now. She could feel the shields placed around her and gently pushed the energy towards the young man. Instantly, she felt the change in him. His arms tightened once more before he pulled away and she quickly cut off the link she'd made between them. Opening her eyes, she discretely watched Lin's surprise as Naru got up from where he'd been sitting, on the edge of the couch, and walked over to the monitors to study the information they were gathering. Lin had obviously been expecting to have to take Naru to bed soon, but no one said a word about his strange and sudden recovery. Mai smiled softly and laid where she was for a minute more before getting up also and grabbing the clipboard to record the temperatures the monitors were reading. She was sure they would later talk more about what had happened, and she was sure they would make her phone her brother, but that was later and for now she was content to pretend that this was just another case like any other.
