Day 5

Babylon Hotel- meeting room

8:23 P.M.

A mug full of tea was sat down in front of me. I looked at it wearily and sighed as I brought my knees closer to my chest. The conference room was empty and quiet, except for the hum of the equipment and only Naru and I were the first to return of the search party. No one was having any luck.

Naru sat down in front of me on one of the uncomfortable chairs and grabbed my hand. He reached up and put his hand against my face. I leaned into it before he brought my face up to look into his. His dark eyes were so deep and mysterious; I couldn't help but get lost in them.

"It's not your fault, Mai. We will find him."

I bit my bottom lip and tried to urge myself to not cry.

"I don't know what happened, but I feel like I could have done more."

"You couldn't Mai. She trapped you."

I fell silent as I was thinking of our last conversation. Then an idea hit me.

"She's only taking men, Naru. She must be looking for her husband."

His eyes flashed.

"So why didn't we see it?"

I was silent as I searched for the right answer.

"Because we were so intense and set on finding out more about me that we weren't all really focused on the case?" I offered. He silently cursed and stood up quickly. He grabbed a folder and flipped it open in front of me.

"Read this and tell me who disappeared after the wife mess."

I glanced through and sighed as he read his emails. I could only assume he was looking for something he missed.

"They're all guys. The age limit is varying though. I mean, if it was her husband that she lost, then wouldn't she stick with one age limit?"

The door opened up to reveal the rest of the search team returning with no luck. Everyone seemed a bit grim.

"Still no luck. In finding Gregory." Ayako sighed and sat down next to me. She cocked an eyebrow and looked at the open file. "What are you doing?"

"We think we caught a lead somewhere."I answered.

Luella's eyebrows shot up, suddenly intrigued. "Really? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, can you translate what she just said? We still don't get what you people are saying." Brent broke in.

It was Martin who answered him.

"They think they've found a lead on the spirit. What did you guys find?"

"The victims." Naru broke in. "There's only two sets of age groups that have disappeared."

"What about the boy? He died only days before the fiancé and her beau did. Why would he still be here?" Brent asked as he slipped onto his computer. Haden took a seat next to his coworker and ran a hand through his hair. I think out of the two, Haden was taking it worse. I could tell he hadn't been sleeping at all. I felt bad for him. Monk sat down on the other side of Ayako and sighed.

"Translation?"

I sighed and started to explain to him what was going on while I tried to tune into what the others were saying.

"We need to do more research. Let's drop all that observing crap. It was getting in our way, and now we've been attacked as a group." Haden spoke. "I'm going to head into town, look through the local archives. I would be happy if someone came along with me." He stood up and grabbed his jacket and waited for someone to volunteer.

"At this time of the night?" I asked, amazed that something like a library would be open so late.

Haden gave me a small smile.

"I know the right people."

"I'd be happy to go with you." Madoka took the chance. "I can also get in touch with our contact back home and ask him to dig up some information." She stood up and grabbed her coat as she left.

"What else can we do?" I felt helpless, again.

Brent turned to me and sighed.

"The only thing we can do now is try to figure out what she wants."

He smiled as he watched the lying corpse in the haystack. That was one loose end tied. Now to deal with Landon…

"Humphrey?"

The timid voice made the younger man freeze. He was suddenly grateful the murder weapon was lying next to the child. He turned around quickly to face the young bride-to-be. Her beauty caught him by surprise, though he should have been used to it. The blue gown she wore definitely helped highlight her curly blonde hair and her blue eyes shone with curiosity. He was quick to answer her.

"Mary! Please do not come closer! This child has been murdered and I do not want you to see him."

The blue eyes began to water as his words sunk in.

"Humphrey, did you kill this boy?" She asked through her broken voice.

He saw that she struggled hard to be strong, but it wasn't natural to her. She was supposed to be soft, timid and scared. His anger flared up however.

"I did this for us! He knew!"

Tears reached their peak and began to fall relentlessly as her body shook with a sob.

"Dear God."

And like that, she turned on him and rushed out of the stables. He knew what he had to do, and the bitter thoughts filled his mind as he clenched his fist until it was white. Betrayal was unacceptable.

"LANDON!"

She was the next one to go.

2:05 A.M

Day 6

Babylon Hotel- Girls' Room

I slowly sat up from my bed and rubbed my eyes groggily. What just happened? It was like I had been struck down with memories. But who's?

I slipped out of my bed and stretched as my mind wandered.

Then it hit me. I knew whose memories they were. It was Humphrey Winfield, the best man for the wedding. William Darby's best friend.

'But why? I know the answer is right in front of me.'

I bit my bottom lip and groaned. Now I'm feeling more and more like Naru. I heard rustling from the bed next to mine. I turned, a little shocked and saw that Ayako was just now coming to.

"What's going on Mai?" Her voice cracked and sounded groggy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I turned around to give her a smile and noticed Madoka's bed was empty. "Did Madoka not come back?"

Ayako shrugged.

"She showed up, dropped her coat off, then went back to the base with Haden and Lin. I think they found something."

"Wanna check it out?

Ayako grinned a little.

"Yeah, let's change into something decent, shall we?"

But we were interrupted from our changing session when there was a silent knock on the door. I looked to Ayako confused but she gave me an irritated look.

"Go answer it!"

I did as I was told and answered the door to Lin.

"Mai, we've caught on a lead."

"what do you mean?"

"A journal. When the woman at the library knew what Madoka and Hayden were looking for, she gave them a journal she had found in the attic. It belonged to Marry and her confessions."

A/N: Oh my goodness… I have realized that I've forgotten to do something that is extremely sacred to me! I didn't do my shout outs! OH NOES! I will make it up! Just at the end anyways, there's way too many of you guys to thank. But for the dwindling reviewers that I do have left, thank you for sticking it out with me. I know there's a lot of you guys who are reading and not reviewing, I know I've been doing it, so it's the thought that you read my story is what keeps me going! I'm ready to wrap it up, but I promise I won't try to rush it. I swear. So do enjoy! I love reading feedback though!

Love,

Jazzy