Oh all right. Fine fine fine fine fine. User Naruisawesome (who stuck it to me by having read all of my Ghost Hunt fanfics since the first one, it seems, she's too well informed, the spy), got the mermaids' name right too. There are two mermaids in "The Scientist and His Fish" named Amanda, and yes, that wasn't a typo. It was on purpose. They're the two Mandys essentially.

Anyhoo, you got two questions left. That means two more chapters. Either you get the questions right or you wait until next week...and the week after, since there are two, afterall.

Chapter 9

Naru walked with me in the sun and bought me a strawberry crepe at a stand in the park. He even gave me a soft kiss on the cheek, despite the fact that we were in public, and he didn't let go of my hand once. While we sat beneath a tree, watching some kids play on the playground, he called up his mother and asked her to come and get me.

"I think you've done enough for now," he said after hanging up. "But I'd rather not leave you alone. You do better around people, so go do something fun with my mother. I'll wrap up the case."

"You aren't just trying to keep me away from John, are you? Don't you feel bad for him?"

"I should. And maybe I am. But I mean what I said. I'll see you tonight."

We chatted of lighter things until his mother arrived in a rented red mini Cooper. She smiled at us all the way across the park, and even though his mother could plainly see us, he gave me a chaste kiss upon the lips. Two public shows of affection in one day, wow. I was definitely liking this.

"Be safe."

With that, he handed me off to his mother and left back towards the hotel.

"Oh, Mai-chan, you have something on your cheeks. Did your mascara run?" His mother, as I thought of her though I knew her name was Luella, pulled out what looked like a baby wipe and proceeded to rub a lot harder than Naru had beneath my eyes. Despite the discomfort, I smiled at the motherly action.

"Yeah. I don't really do much with makeup, so Ayako was doing me up."

"Would you like us to hire someone to do your makeup and hair for you on your wedding day? I was going to anyways, but my husband said I should ask first."

"That would be really kind of you, though I hope you know you don't have to."

"Nonsense! I've always wanted a little girl to doll up! Which reminds me, did you ever get a look at the Peninsula's ballroom? What do you think?"

I told her I thought it too grand and happily threw myself into a discussion on wedding venues as we walked back to her mini Cooper. Luella made it easy to forget the nightmares of the past few days as though she were a piece of sunshine and sweets herself. She gave her affection freely to me in little touches on my shoulders and arms and once my cheek in the excuse that she wanted to take a better look at the color of my eyes for dress options. Her fingers were warm and ever soft as flannel.

And yet I couldn't feel at ease. Something didn't feel right, and I couldn't stop thinking about John.

The two of us went to the mall to have a walk around, where we talked about wedding ideas and geeked out over baby clothes. I thought it would go away with time, but it only grew worse until I couldn't focus on anything and even got lost a few times in the conversation.

Finally, Luella asked if anything was wrong, her eyebrows puckered in gentle concern. I hesitated.

"Is there any chance…you would be okay stopping by the hotel? I need to check on something."

"If you're talking about your baggage, Naru mentioned he would bring it back with him."

"It's not that, it's a friend of mine. I'm worried about him. Something happened and I'd just like to check on him, you can come, if you like. I love having you around."

She beamed at hearing I liked having her with me and was more than happy to drive me back to the Tokyo Peninsula and tag along. We crossed the front foyer and into the elevator, where I found myself pulling on my fingers and biting my lip. For some reason, the elevator couldn't move fast enough for me.

On the eighteenth floor we stepped out to a hubbub of activity. A few security guards had brought up cameras and thermographers from below and were helping putting them away, directed by Lin. I could faintly hear Naru's voice from within the base half way down the hall.

My heart picked up as we made our way there. Inside I found Naru seated at the sitting area of base with an important looking individual that could have been the owner for all I knew.

"Naru, where's John?"

He frowned at seeing us in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

"Just tell me where he is, I need to know if he's okay."

To his credit, Naru had worked enough with me over the years to know when to just let me have my way and not ask questions. It sometimes worked to his benefit. He did frown, however.

"I'm not sure. I think Takigawa mentioned he had gone back to his room to pack. Why?"

But I was already backing out and heading towards the number I knew to be John's. I jiggled the door handle. Locked, of course, I didin't have the key card. I knocked, but no one answered.

"Are you alright?" asked Luella. "Is your friend?"

I didn't answer, for I didn't know. All I had to go off was the urgent, constrictive twist in my gut.

I returned to the base, where Naru was once more deep in conversation with the important person. I almost interrupted again to ask where John's key had gone, but I saw the bag of keycards next to the half empty shelves of monitors and went to it. There I found a keycard with John's room number on it and trotted back into the hallway. Luella had to jog to keep up, but by now she too had caught on to my sense of urgency. For a moment I feared the card key wouldn't work, but the light blinked green and the door opened. The automatic light flicked on, and the only sign that anyone had used this room was the sloppily made bed.

A light seeped out from beneath the bathroom door.

Luella made a noise of disgust. "Ugh, what is that smell? It's like rotten eggs or something."

I ran to the door and shook the handle. Locked. The smell had gotten more pronounce, and so had my panic.

"Monk!" I screamed. "Monk! I need you!"

Within a second he was there, hanging out of the door.

"What?" Then his nose wrinkled. "Ugh, what died?"

"Help me open this door! Quick!"

He jiggled the handle and knocked, but no one answered.

"You don't think John's in there, do you?"

I did, and nodded, my voice hitting its highest octave. "We have to get him out!"

By now Lin and a security guard had been attracted by the commotion. Luella backed into the room with her hands to her face and eyes wide.

"Lin, help me break down this door. John's in there."

The security guard protested, babbling something about hotel property and expensive oak, but Lin had already taken his side by Takigawa and started the countdown.

"One…two…three!"

They both kicked. There was a terrible crack of wood and the hinges tore out from the frame. A great waft of rotten egg stench burst into our faces, making my head spin and my stomach turn. The security guard behind us retched.

But inside, just barely out of the way of the fallen door, was John curled up on his side. Next to his head was two open, industrial size jugs of cleaner, and from the looks of it their contents had been poured into the bathtub.

I moved to go to him, but the fumes made my vision run black. The next thing I knew Luella had tugged me out onto the balcony and to the railing, where my vision quickly cleared.

"Hydrogen sulfide," she said, her hand shaking on my back. "You can't go back in there. Don't worry, they're calling an ambulance and getting him out."

Just as she said that Lin and Takigawa appeared with John inbetween them and their other hands to their faces to block out the gas. They spread out his unconscious form onto the cement.

"Watch him, we need to close the door. Keep his airway clear," said Lin.

I dropped to John's side, aided by my dizziness. "John? Oh my god, John, please wake up!"

Lin and Takigawa vanished inside closing the door behind them to keep as much gas as possible away from John. Luella dropped down to John and went to pulling up his knees so his feet were on the ground, where she held his legs up.

"This should help him breathe," she leaned over to him. "John, can you hear me? No, it seems not. His coloring isn't too good."

It wasn't. His lips had gone blue and his face had gone grey. I thought of the dead thing I had seen in the basement and let loose a wild cry of dismay. If I had just listened to that discomforting feeling, if I had just gone back to the hotel when I first thought of it!

The door opened again and Ayako stepped out with a handkerchief by her face. She took Luella's place at John's side and took his pulse.

"It's there, but weak. Could I ask one of you to call the front desk and see if they have any oxygen?"

Luella was already up and through the doors, leaving me to cling to John's hand.

"How did he get those cleaners?" asked Ayako, who had taken up John's other hand to keep her fingers on his pulse.

"The ghost. John would have never done this, he had God. No matter what, it's just not in him!"

Ayako nodded, but didn't say anything.

Neither of us let go of John's hands until the paramedics finally arrived and took him away.

I couldn't help but think that it would be the last time I would see him alive.