3:28 P.M.
I squirmed on the couch and glared angrily at the folder as I tried to not let the lady get to the best of me.
'She's just pissed that I got to find the maid and she didn't.' I comforted myself.
"Mai."
My head snapped up from the folder and directly to where my boyfriend/boss stood at. His arms were crossed. Truthfully, I'd been avoiding him all day; I knew he would ask about our earlier confrontation. Squirming under his strong gaze, I tried to play stupid.
"Yes Naru?" I called from my seat, though I knew he wanted me to come and talk to him.
"Come here."
I looked around the room for any sign of help but no one was willing to give me any. I only got shrugs or ignored completely. I couldn't decide which one hurt the most. My usual saviors, which were usually Martin, Madoka or Luella, were at the hospital for the second round of watch duty. It was a safety precaution they decided to take. And originally, I was supposed to go with them, but they didn't find me in time to take me back with them, I was still with Sakkara.
Sighing, I pushed myself out of the couch and reluctantly followed Naru into the hallway. As soon as the door was shut, he began the interrogation.
"What did she want?"
I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.
"To thank me for finding the maid."
His dark eyes searched me and I tried to keep a calm composure.
"That wasn't all that was said, was it?"
"I didn't say that's what she said."
His eyes flashed angrily before he was in front of me giving me one of his oh-so famous stares that bore into your soul. It made me feel guilty, and I don't even know why I was guilty.
"Okay, so she wanted to know how I found the maid."
His face dropped a little.
"Did you tell her?"
I nodded my head.
"Yes Naru, I told her because she asked."
"In detail?"
"She asked for the details."
He sighed and rubbed his temple. I knew he was getting a head ache from this. A smile played on my lips.
"You were worried about me, weren't you?"
His eyes grew soft and he actually held both of my arms. He gave them a tight squeeze as his expression did a complete 180 turn.
"Mai, you don't know how dangerous this woman is. She can do whatever she wants and can probably get away with it."
"She wouldn't do anything to anybody, Naru. Why would she want to do anything to me or you?"
His face grew a little bit harder now as he gave me one last squeeze before he left me standing alone in the hall. Letting out a sigh, I decided it was best to get my folders and find a quieter place to work.
It wasn't long before I found the perfect spot to go over the files: the library. Books lined the walls and a large sofa sat in the middle with two extra recliners. The windows were tall and touched the ceiling to the bottom of the floor. There was a perfect window seat that was very comfortable and of course, I made myself right at home before I broke into the stack of files to review with my highlighter from my messenger bag. I scanned over the pages of information about the builders of the house and the incidents that occurred while it was being built, but nothing major worth to mention. No one died and none of the accidents were freak accidents. I flipped the folder close and decided it was time to stretch and look around the library for anything to help the case.
And then I found it.
I don't know why, but it seemed like it called to me.
On one of the shelves I found three large black leather books. Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled them out. Dust filled the air as I brushed them off. Obviously they hadn't been touched in years and I knew I found something good. I got settled back in my spot by the window and opened the first book I grabbed. The first page had a picture and words written next to it. The picture was of a girl, no older than myself, and she was on an old ship. I couldn't recognize anything in there to even let me know it was Japan she was in, or even understand what she wrote. It was all in English. And then I knew I would have to talk to Naru to get him to read it to me.
'Or John could translate. He knows English too…'
And suddenly I started talking myself out of it.
'No, Naru would be pissed beyond belief if I kept a find like this from him.'
I closed it and opened the other book to see if it had writing in it. Oh and it did. It was the same writing from the walls, but this time, it was in different hand writing.
'A note book between two people? And in a dead language too…'
I sighed knowing I really wasn't getting anywhere with these stupid journals. I put the two I couldn't understand to the side and pulled out the third one. I flipped it open and I definitely understood the writing. It was Japanese.
'Ha! Third time's the charm!'
Unlike the first one, this one did not contain any pictures what-so-ever in it. In all honesty, I was slightly disappointed. I liked pictures. But as I read the first line, I knew I had to get these journals to Naru. I quickly stuffed them in my bag with the folders and began to make my way back to base. The halls were empty as usual, except for the cameras watching every move I made. I quickly found the door to base and busted in, almost out of breath. I didn't realize how far the library was from the base. Naru's cold gaze locked with mine as he said that one simple and annoying phrase.
"Mai, tea."
"It can wait." I said quickly.
His eyes flashed with surprise and all around it grew quiet as the rest of the team waited and watched to see what was going to happen. But before a fight could break out again, I pulled the three journals from my bag and handed them to Naru.
"Here, I found this in the library. One of them is in English, the other in the dead language, and the other in Japanese."
He took them and looked between me and the books.
"How did you find these?"
"They were just sitting on the shelf in the library."
He flipped the one that had the dead language written in it and handed it to Lin.
"Find a way to translate this."
"It's a dead language."
"Which makes it even a tougher case to crack." I added in.
He turned to Yasu and handed the journal with the Japanese written in it.
"Here. Take this, read it and make notes of everything that seems of great importance."
Yasu nodded his head and retrieved a notebook from his bag. Naru turned back to me.
"Tea. Then we'll go and check the room temperatures."
I nodded my head and inwardly groaned. Tea again. I made my way to the kitchen area and pulled the stuff together to make tea.
I set a cup down in front of everyone, though I knew some wouldn't drink it. It would all depend on the mood they were in.
And then the doors opened up and in walked Martin and Madoka who looked slightly exhausted.
"Would you guys like some tea?"
"Ah no." Madoka said as she plopped next to Yasuhara on the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table.
"No thanks Mai. But that maid keeps insisting to see you. Luella stayed with her for the time being, but she would really like it if you came over as soon as possible."
I looked over to Naru who sighed and crossed his arms as he spoke to his dad in English. Of course. The one language I still didn't understand.
'One of these days I'm gonna learn it. I promise myself that before I go to England again!'
"Mai you can go. Monk, take care of the cameras. And Mai, take the folders with you to review if you're gonna be there for long."
He shot a dark look at his father who ignored it as he held out a hand to me.
"Are you ready?"
I nodded my head and followed him out the door, but not without shooting a glance at Naru, who seemed to be fuming.
4:13 P.M.
I stood awkwardly next to Martin as we stood in the door way. He looked in and saw Luella sitting next to the window with her feet curled up underneath her. The blonde haired girl was asleep peacefully but she still looked rather pale. Luella smiled when she saw me.
"Sorry." She whispered. "She fell asleep after you left Martin. But she might wake up anytime soon."
Luella stood and whisked us out into the hall way. Martin crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. Such a Naru move.
"So, what did we find out?" He asked.
Luella sighed and shrugged.
"She's only eighteen. Ran away from home from America and is completely parentless now. She inherited a great fortune and spent some it to get here. The rest of it is hidden away in a bank. But she didn't want to be found and stayed with the low profile as a maid. She's lived here since she was sixteen."
"Does the Fumio family know this?"
Luella nodded.
"Yep. They knew and still took her in. Didn't make her pay for rent or anything. As long as she worked there, she had a place to call home."
"Name?"
"Elizabeth Andersen."
I nodded my head and poked it back in the room. The girl stirred and her eyes fluttered open. Luella poked her head in behind me and smiled at the girl and then pushed her way in.
"Hey Elizabeth, Martin brought Mai over if you want to meet her."
The girls eyes were suddenly full of life as she tried to sit up.
"I would love to meet her please."
Luella motioned for me to come in. I shyly stepped into the hospital room and approached the hurt girl. As I took a careful seat next to her bed, I noticed Luella and Martin had left. Her blue eyes were full of pain and I couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through.
"Hi. It's finally nice to meet you Mai. I'm Elizabeth Andersen."
I smiled weakly at her. This would probably be one of the most awkward situations I've ever been put in.
"Thank you for saving me Mai."
"It's no problem, really. I'm just glad we found you."
She grew quiet and looked down away from me.
"Me too. How did you find me? I heard you were the one responsible for it."
I nodded my head and shrugged.
"I have dreams that relate to the case. You happened to be in my dream late that night."
"I'm glad I was. Another hour, and I wouldn't be here."
I put my hand over hers and gave her a soft smile. She returned it before she went off into her story.
"I don't know what happened really. I mean, one minute, I'm happily cleaning away and the next, I'm in the basement cellar, being abused. I couldn't see my attacker at all. But he talked. And I kept getting hurt over and over by some force I couldn't get away from."
"I'm sorry…"
"The worst part of it all was when he called me my love. He said it so sarcastically it scared me half to death. I was so scared."
I now held her hand and found myself sitting on the edge of her bed as I hugged her.
"I promise, Elizabeth, that we're gonna get rid of him as soon as possible."
A/N: I know I know. I didn't update on my usual day. But that was because I did an early one on Friday. But that was about a week ago. And I am doing something I promised I wouldn't ever do… I'm attempting another story while working on this one. And it's in a different category and I'm actually a bit scared. As an author for a long time with you guys, I've never noticed how spoiled I am with your reviews. But I'm a spoiled brat with you guys in all honesty. So I'm nervous, but ready to face the NEW. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a little filler, and I'll update on Sunday or Monday. I PROMISE!
Lee: Pfffttt. Yeah right. LIAR!
Me: *Shoves pillow in face* Shut up. No one wants your opinion.
Lee: Oh yes they do!
Me: *sits on Lee* Ahh much better. Silence. But please, give me your opinions on what you think!
Love,
Jazzy and Lee
