...In The Forest...

Crack

Mai took in deep breaths as she ran through the forest, her feet crushing fallen branches and leaves as her feet touched the ground. Her lungs were on fire and the pain in her side was getting worse, but she could not stop. She had to keep going. If she didn't, he would find her, and he would kill her.

Crack

Mai's foot caught on a branch that was sticking just above the ground. She fell face first into the darkness of leaves and dirt. It took her a second to regain herself and scramble to her feet once more, continuing her hopeless run through a dark forest. She had no time to look around and try to find a place to hide or even to look back to see if he was following her. All she had time for was running forward and hoping with all her heart that someone, anyone will be at the other end.

"Mai!" called the voice of the priest. It echoed all around her in the darkness, making more shivers go down her back. Why had she trusted him? What had made her believe that all of her thoughts about him where wrong and that she could trust him?

"That was a book filled with photos of members at that church who are both dead and alive. I would prefer it you didn't go around accusing people of murder while there is a murder investigation going on." Naru's voice echoed through her mind, saying the same exact thing that made her believe the priest was a victim and not a killer. Oh how wrong he was.

Mai stopped and pulled herself behind a tree. The only thing she could hear at the moment was the blood pounding in her head and the heavy breathing that escaped her dry lips. She could see nothing but the dark gloominess forest ahead of her. She wanted to look around the tree and see where he was, and how much time she had to rest, but something screamed for her not to do that. For all she knew, he could be right behind her.

Mai glanced around the tree, moving slowly as so not to give away her hiding place. She could see the light of a flashlight off in the distance, but nothing more. The voice still echoed around her, bouncing off every tree, every plant, every rock.

Mai placed herself back behind the tree. She had waited too long. If she tried to run, he would see her, but if she stayed where she was, he would kill her. Mai took a deep breath and thought. If she ran now, she could have a chance to get away and hide just for a little longer and that is if she does not tire out before she can hide. Her other option is to stay here and hope that he does go near her and he heads in the other direction, but knowing her luck, he would most likely walk right over to her.

Mai looked back around the tree. He had gotten closer, but she still might have a chance.

Mai took a step out, getting ready to run when her ankle shot pain through her, causing her to whimper and pull back. She had forgotten that she had hurt her ankle, and now that the adrenaline was slowly wearing off, she could fell the pain once again. She was running out of options and time, but she knew that this was her last chance. Taking one more look to see if it was clear, she bolted out from behind the tree and ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain that was shooting up her body.

"Mai wait!" called the voice that was a lot closer then she had expected. Mai ran faster, breathing deeply as she did until her legs caught on another branch that brought her to the ground. She trued to get up and run but the pain in her ankle and leg were a little too much to bear at the time. It wasn't until she felt something heavy drop down on her and the light from the flashlight blinding her eyes that she realized just how little time she had. "Mai what has gotten into you! Why did you suddenly run off like that? Do you know how seriously injured you could have gotten?" Father Shiro asked as he flipped her on her stomach.

Mai pushed and shoved at him, hitting him with her weak hands as she tried to escape. She did not want to hear that he was innocent or that he wasn't a killer because she knew he was and she had no idea why she had stopped believe it.

"Get off of me!" She screamed. Before he could say anything else, she yelled. "I know it was you! I know you killed those girls! Don't lie to me! You were gonna kill me too!"

Whack

Something hit Mai in the face, causing her body to freeze. It took a moment to realize what had happened. She looked from the Fathers aggressive face to the flashlight in his hands. Her arm bent down and touched the now painful, red spot that had made contact with the handle. She could not believe that he had hit her and if it wasn't for the situation at hand, she might have taken a little longer to register on what had happened.

"Good." He said, a smile creeping upon his face. "Now that you are calm, let me explain the situation." He adjusted himself a little more comfortable on Mai's stomach causing more pressure on her, making it hard to move, or even breathe. "Those girls are just friends of mine that did some…things for me. That was all. Before that I had never even met them. It was faith that brought us together. They came to the church looking for a way out and I helped them. It is not my fault that they decided to disobey me, or my fault that they happen to run into me while I had a knife in my hand.

"See you and your boss over think things. You keep looking for things that are never there. The only reason I asked Father John to call you over was so that I could get a new challenge. Father John always talked highly of you, and it seemed it would be nice to have someone who didn't find out it was me. Though with you, I guess you did find out pretty quickly, didn't you? Oh well, it doesn't matter, because everyone thinks that you had a mental break down or something, because who, in their right mind, would suspect a person of the Holy Catholic Church to be a serial killer?"

"Maybe someone who has the brains to see right through you?" came a voice behind Father Shiro. Father Shiro turned around and shinned the flashlight up to see who was there. Standing there, in the light of the flashlight was Naru, his expression looking extremely annoyed. Mai could barely see it, but when she looked closer, she noticed that his chest was moving up and down quickly as if he had just run from somewhere.

"Naru" the word was nothing more then a whisper by the person who had not even known she had spoken it.

Naru turned his eyes to her, his expression still the same. He didn't want to admit it, but he was happy that he had gotten here in time.

"So you knew did you?" Father Shiro asked. Naru didn't respond. "And I am guessing you called the cops, right?"

"No I didn't" Naru said stated plainly. Mai felt all of her hope of being saved swelled up and burst inside of her. Naru, being the idiot narssatic that he was, didn't call the cops, which meant that no help was coming for her.

"Then I am guessing you told your other workers where you were going and want you were going to do." Father Shiro seemed a little nervous at this point, but seemed to hide it very well.

"No I didn't"

"Well that was kind of stupid, don't you think?" The priest pulled out a knife and showed it to Naru.

"You are gonna kill me with a knife?" Naru asked calmly, not caring that Mai was panicking just inches away.

"No, no. I'm not stupid enough to take you on with a knife." Father Shiro lowered that knife to Mai's neck. Mai pressed herself against the ground, trying to avoid the knife's sharp blade. "But with her, I know I can't lose."

"Isn't it a little low to take on someone weaker then yourself?" Naru asked. Father Shiro didn't see, opffend by this question at all.

"Oh contraire, you see by taking on someone weaker than me, than I know I have the power to control them and make them do anything I want."

"Then aren't you yourself calling yourself weak?" Naru asked calmly, making the most complicated sentence seem like just a game.

"Excuse me?" Father Shiro asked, seeming offended.

"Well if you are saying that you want to take advantage of weaker people, because you know that you can control them, and then isn't that just saying that you are weaker and are afraid to take on people who you know will beat you?"

"Look, enough of this stupid talk." Shiro (got tired of calling him Father, not that he really deservers it anyway.) said as he lowered the knife. He had had enough of getting called weak and an idiot by someone who was younger than himself. "If you don't turn around right now and walk away, I'll kill her here and now."

"What will you do while I'm gone, may I ask?"

"Some…things that will be fun, though I would prefer not to do them in front of you, and truly it's a waster to just kill her, so I suggest you do us both a favor and just leave."

"I'll leave." Naru said plainly. "But first…" Naru's body slightly tensed a little before relaxing quickly. It took a moment before he spoke again. "I will give you one last chance to stand up and walk away."

"Excuse me?" Shiro asked, sounding angry. The knife pushed up against Mai's neck, making a small drop of blood appear. "Who the hell…"

"Is that a no?" Naru asked, not giving him a chance to finish.

"Yes. I am not leaving and I am giving you…" Shiro let his sentence trail off as he realized something. The air around him started to grow thick. Shiro blinked a few times, wondering if the glow around the man was just his imagination. He began to fell scared, but stood his ground. He did not understand the danger he was now in.

"Naru no!" Mai screamed, lifting her head from the ground as she tried to sit up. Her skin made contact with the blade and she fell back, pain shooting across her neck. Her head began to pound from the contact with the ground. It wasn't until the warm liquid started to fall from her neck and the sound of dripping water appeared next to her ear that she had realized what she had done. She had cut her own neck on the knife that was being held perfectly still only inches above her.

Naru did not seem to have heard her, or have noticed that she was now bleeding from the neck. He was focused too much on the matter at hand. A man, who was a serial killer, was threatening to kill his only assistant.

"Naru stop-" Mi called through the pain. She did not want him to use his powers for her.

Naru ignored her, unable to hear her as the air around him began to thicken. The glow that formed around him began to grow brighter, causing Shiro to become more and more worried. He had no idea what was going on, but he had a bad feeling about it.

"I will give you one last chance to leave." Naru said calmly, acting as though the change around him was not even happening.

"Alright, fine I'm leaving." Shiro said as he stood up and slowly back away. He kept his hands in Naru's sight and moved cautiously away. Naru waited until Shiro had moved far enough away from them both before he looked down at Mai. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'll get you for this." Shiro said. Naru looked over at him. "I'll get you back and I'll make sure I have my fun with this girl." With that, Father Shiro (decided to call him it again apparently.) turned and left, leaving Naru and Mai alone in the dark forest.

NO ONE ELSE IS ALLOWED TO READ PAST THIS POINT! ONLY ARIANA TANIYAMA! SKIP TO AUTHORS NOTE!

The glow around Naru faded and the tension in the air released. It didn't take long before the only light that they had was the small flashlight on the ground. Naru slowly walked over to Mai and got down on his knees. He noticed the blood that had fallen on the dirt and leaves beside her and the red stained neck. He sighed to himself before grabbing a small cloths from his pocket and placing it on Mai's neck.

"You should be more careful." He said as he put pressure on the wound.

"Why did you let him go?" Mai asked quietly. Naru looked down at her. He could se her red puffy eyes and the tear stained cheeks.

"Because I don't care what happens to him as long as he is not hurting you." Naru said as he added a little more pressure trying to make the small amount of bleeding stop. "I mean, I would hate to have to find a new assistant and try to re-teach them everything you clearly do not understand."

"N-Naru.." Mai asked, the word barely coming out more than a whisper.

"Yes Mai?" Naru asked. He needed to get her to a hospital soon, or she will be in danger.

"Am I going to die?" Mai asked quietly. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she said this. Naru took his free hand and wrapped it around her neck before pulling her up into a hug, carefully not to move the cloth from her neck.

"Don't be an idiot. You are not going to die." He whispered in her ear. Mai felt her face go a little red at the closeness between them. "Now hold this. I need both hands to carry you." He pulled back a little to let her reach up and put her hand on the cloth around her neck. "Be sure not to move it. And keep the pressure the same. If you let up, you are going to bleed more." He said as he wrapped his hand under her legs and picked her up.

Mai placed her head on Naru's warm chest, listening to his heart beat as they walked. It was growing cold and he was the only source of warmth she had at the moment. As she inhaled his scent, she started to feel completely safe, as if nothing can harm her now. It wasn't until she started to feel dizzy and her eye lids became heavy that she realized that her hand had loosened on her neck, and dropped onto her stomach where it laid as she drifted off.

Hey everyone! I know that I said not to read that but Ariana had a knife (Which she had gotten from my sister) and I had to add more. I hope this is long enough for you and that you don't kill me cause if you do then you will never hear the end. Also sorry for the cliff hanger but I have someone over this weekend and this is the only time i can update so just be happy that you even got a story this weekend.

Also, for those of you who want more Mai and Naru moments. (Or any other character) I have a challenge for you! I just checked and I have 76 alerts for this story. If have of you review my story I will make a super fantasic story of what every couple you choose! I await your choice. No one reads the author note and no one gets a story OR you read the authors note and you get an AWESOME story. You choose.

Bye see you next week! (maybe)