Ghost Hunt - A New Start

by Hopelessfictionalist

3 Years after Mai's confession Naru and the gang are back hunting ghosts and other supernatural things. However Mai is currently not with them, new cases and secrets are revealed. Rated M for langauge and content in future chapters.

13. Chapter 13 Blood Ties Part 1

Authors Note: As usual I don't own ghost hunt or the characters, I'm sorry the updates are so slow, I'm trying to type up full cases at a time! Please enjoy and review! Thank you for continuing to stick with this story!

Mai's P.O.V

After the 3-hour drive back to the city, Mai enjoyed the busy afternoon, she passed people in the street while they were out having lunch and shopping. She decided before stopping off at her apartment that she would visit somewhere she hadn't been in a while. Pulling up the cemetery gates she parked her motorbike, took of her helmet and put her spare pair of glasses on. She was able to blend in better given that it was a sunny afternoon. She decided to visit her parents grave, weaving through other mourners to get to the far side of the cemetery, she could see that the graves were completely neglected. Moss had started to grow around them, and dead flowers lay all over the place.

"It's a sad, sad case" A voice said behind Mai. Turn around she could see an old man holding a broom, shaking his head.

"Pardon?" Mai asked

"Those graves. It happens all the time. People die and their families stop visiting, stop even caring and then they fall in to states like that" The old man continued to walk past Mai. "Do you know the Taniyamas?" He asked, Mai could see that his eye sight wasn't great so didn't worry about being recognised.

"I was an old family friend, went to high school with their daughter" Mai said dryly, when she was still in high school she came here once a week to tidy their graves and tell them stories, on occasion her school friends would join her. It seemed like a life time ago now. However, she did find it rather amusing that the gate keeper didn't even recognise her.

He continued "it was just awful what happened to that girl"

Mai looked up "what do you mean?"

"Their daughter, it's well known around here. We might be in a big city but the regulars who come here talk" He continued, he brushed around the front of the graves while talking, Mai took a step back, so she didn't end up with the broom on her shoes. "The daughter was so young when she lost her parents, used to come here frequently you know? Anyway, one day she just stops turning up, no one knew where she was. I heard later from her friends that she had just disappeared, her flat was a mess and they thought she'd be kidnapped? Can you believe it? I mean of course the police didn't. Why would they? She was 16, there was no sign of foul play. Well believe it or not, it's awful. Someone disappears without a trace and this is what happens to the graves they leave behind."

Mai just stood listening, in slight shock. She felt awful that her school friends had had to go through what they did but there had been no other options. She didn't exactly get a phone from her lovely cell. Wanting to end the conversation with the gate keeper Mai simply said "well I can't visit a lot but I'm sure I can give the headstones a good clean", she followed that with a smile. Happy with her answer the old man just nodded and wandered on his way to the other people. Sighing she bent down and started to remove the dead leaves, she found an old cloth next to the bin and wiped away some of the dirt and moss on the stones. After that she found herself sitting down for a bit. She didn't say anything like she used too but she enjoyed the silence. She knew that her parents were long gone, she didn't need her PK to tell her that but there was something nice about being still while the busy city buzzed around her. She sat for a few hours in that place until the sun started to set over the trees behind her.

Finally getting up she decided she needed some well-deserved rest and as much as she was trying to fight it, she seemed to feel safe enough at Naru's apartment. With her own still in a state and shops starting to close there wasn't much she could do about it tonight. Driving her bike back to the SPR building she stopped to get a disposable flip up phone on the way. Surprisingly there was still a space for her bike to fit in in the garage. Walking up the stairs she could see the light was off in the office and continued up to the apartment. Reaching Naru's door she hesitated, she wasn't sure if she should knock or try the handle. She had spent two years trying not to rely on anyone but she was tired of fighting it, she wanted to have a safe space to rest properly rather than being on edge all the time. Somewhere where you didn't pay by the night or get half a kitchen in the same room you slept in. If she was to continue helping out the group then she had to admit that she needed some help, swallowing the lump that was in her throat she tried the door handle, surprisingly it was unlocked. Slowly she opened the door and saw a few lights on, Lin and Naru were in deep discussion over at the coffee table that they didn't notice her stepping in. Shutting the door behind her she said "you know you really should keep your door locked, you never know what kind of shady characters could be wandering around"

Lin smirked slightly and said "Taniyama, I didn't think we'd be seeing you again this evening"

"Ah well, you see, my current apartment isn't exactly liveable and I was kind of hoping that I could crash in Naru's spare bedroom for the next few days." Mai said sheepishly while staring at her feet, she tried to look over the top of her glasses but couldn't really see much.

"You'll have to pay for any breakages you make" Naru simply responded from his seat. Mai simply snorted and made her way to the spare bedroom.

Naru's P.O.V

Once the group had reached home they unloaded the equipment out of the van and into the offices, the group stood around waiting to be dismissed.

"I'll have another case picked out soon and I'll contact you when I do" Naru simply said and dismissed them.

After spending a few hours in his office he decided to get some dinner, it was starting to get late so he checked to see if Lin was still in his office too.

"Lin I'm going to order food, do you want some?" Naru asked

"Yes" Lin responded and the pair left the office to head to Naru's apartment.

A few hours later after dinner they were in deep discussion.

"You know your mother worries about you Oliver, would it kill you to give her a phone?" Lin insisted

"My mother worries too much, she will be fine, but if you insist I'll contact her tomorrow" Naru replied, he had endless love for his adoptive mother and father but sometimes they could be too persistent with meddling in his life.

"You haven't spoken to them since you decided to move half way around the world to find Mai, it would be nice of you to call them or maybe even arrange a visit" Lin finished

"I didn't fly around here just to find Mai, I told you I had business. Also, Lin if you miss Madoke that much perhaps you should be the one arranging a visit back to London for yourself" Naru retorted.

Lin's eyes widened slightly, 'HA! He knew it, his relentless pestering wasn't just for Naru's parents sake it was so he could also visit his wife' he thought to himself.

A voice cut through "you know you really should keep your door locked, you never know what kind of shady characters could be wandering around."

Naru looked straight up to see Mai standing in front of the door way, she was still dressed in the clothes she had on this morning but replaced her helmet for sunglasses. She looked slightly paler than normal and her hair hug loose around her head and shoulders.

Lin smirked slightly and said "Taniyama, I didn't think we'd be seeing you again this evening"

Naru saw her shift slightly in her spot "Ah well, you see, my current apartment isn't exactly liveable and I was kind of hoping that I could crash in Naru's spare bedroom for the next few days."

"You'll have to pay for any breakages you make" Naru simply responded from his seat. He heard Mai snort and pass by to go to the spare bedroom. Once the door shut Lin coughed, "something to say Lin?" Naru asked

"Nothing that I haven't already said before Oliver, be careful what you are doing, it might not just be her that gets hurt this time" Lin remarked before leaving the apartment.

Mai's P.O.V.

Mai walked into the dark room, flicking on the light switch she made her way to the bed. Tipping out her bag she realised that she once again would have to wash all her clothes, quickly she changed in to some of the spare clothes Ayako had supplied, a nice baggy grey tshirt and cut off leggings. She was pulling her clothes in to a bundle when she her a knock on the door, "come in" She said while rummaging in her bag.

Lin poked his head around the door "Naru wanted me to give you this" he said while walking over to her, putting his hand out he gave her a key.

"Ah, might come in useful" Mai said while sitting it down next to her bike keys "thanks". Expecting Lin to leave she turned back to sorting her stuff out, when she realised he hadn't moved she looked back up at him. He looked slightly concerned and uncomfortable. "Something wrong Lin?" She asked straightening up, even with her growth spurt he still stood tall above her.

Eyebrows furrowed he cleared his throat and looked at her "I know you said you weren't going to stay long. However, despite his stubbornness I'm sure Naru would be happy if you were to continue staying here while you worked with SPR" he finished

Mai nodded in response "thanks" she could tell he wanted to say something else so just waited

"Just, be careful" Lin said

"What do you mean?" Mai asked slightly confused, "is there something I should know?"

Lin cleared his throat again "No. Just, be careful of what you are doing. Someone with powers like yours has to be careful not to let her emotions control them"

Mai now felt slightly annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest "and, what exactly is that meant to mean Lin?". Mai knew full well what Lin was trying to say, she wasn't exactly emotionally stable and if the past 3 cases had taught her anything it was that when they went through the roof so did she both figuratively and literally.

"Taniyama, all I'm saying is that Naru doesn't always create a stable environment and given how much you two used to fight, it could cause problems for both of you" Lin finished

Mai nodded digesting what he had said, she agreed with him that they did spend a lot of time fighting "Alright, I'll be careful" Mai finished.

Lin nodded in response "good to have you back" he said while exiting her room.

A few days later

A few days had passed since Mai had taken up resident in Naru's spare room, while she looked for new cases to take she kept to herself. Which was easy given that Naru spent his whole day in either the office or in his own home office and only came out for food or to go to bed. Mai spent her time going from case information to her old apartment to try and clean the place up. Her nights were spent trying to find any information she could on Damien, that had been her ritual for the past 2 years. The more information she could get the better prepared she would be for when he finally arrived. Thinking about him too much brought the nightmares and memories in, so she would sleep for brief periods of time before going back to work. She'd found that being in the SPR building made her feel slightly more relaxed, she knew that if he appeared then Naru and Lin would at least provide her with a safe guard. However, it also meant that she tended to fall asleep all over the place making her vulnerable.

Mai lay in bed staring up at the grey ceiling. She turned over to see the clock 5am it read, sighing she pulled herself up and out of the bed. She'd managed to get a whole 45 minutes of sleep before she was woken up by her own head. Opening the curtains, she could see that the sun was starting to rise, nice and bright. "Great, another sunny, dry day" she groaned to herself. While she used to love the hot weather, it brought her nothing but grief now. Making her way out to the kitchen she clicked on the coffee machine and stood waiting on it to be ready. While she waited she pulled her hair up in to a ponytail and shoved her sun glasses on, while it wasn't necessary for her to wear them inside the apartment for coverage, her eyes were sore from the bright lights and hadn't adjusted back properly. She was so sleep deprived she hadn't even bothered to change her clothes, she just slept in her normal ones. She ran her hands over the material trying to smooth the wrinkles out of it but eventually gave up, she felt like she'd spent the night drinking and was hungover might as well look like it too.

BING

The coffee machine interrupted her thoughts, reaching she reached over to grab the mug full of scalding coffee, taking a few minutes to enjoy the smell she heard a door open and close.

She watched as Naru made his way out in to the kitchen, as usual he was completely zoned out, he never was a morning person. She watched as he gathered his things, 'probably heading to the office no doubt' she thought.

Naru finally realised she was standing in the kitchen and just nodded at her, before making his way in to get some tea. Leaning on the black marble counter she took another sip from her cup. "Turned over anymore work yet?" she asked him, while trying to seem as uninterested as possible. The truth was she was starting to get panicky, she'd trained herself not to stay in one place for too long and now that she had practically set up shop in her old apartment and work building things were starting to get too cosy and it made her anxious. The sooner they had something else to work on the better.

"Yes." Naru responded while running his hand through his hair

"Want to elaborate?" Mai asked looking at him

Naru sighed while rummaging through a cupboard, he stood back up and proceeded to look in another cupboard. Mai snorted and reached over to hand him the travel cup that he was obviously desperately looking for. Snatching the cup from her he went to make himself something to drink.

Mai rolled her eyes "you're welcome" she muttered

Waiting on the machine to work Naru turned to her and crossed his arms across his chest. Mai took in the fact that his shirt he had on was obviously slightly too tight on him, 'living here isn't always that bad' she thought to herself smugly. "Miss Hara contacted me late last night, she thinks she might have a case for us, we'll have a meeting with her today and find out" Naru said before turning back to the machine. Mai watched him take his drink and leave.

"Thanks for the invitation, you arse" She shouted after him. 'Guess I'm going to that meeting then' she thought to herself.

9am

Mai lay down the couch in the meeting room in the SPR office, she was bored waiting on Masako to turn up. She'd managed to make an elastic band ball, so she had something to do. Throwing it up in the air and then catching it. She listened to the noise the ball made when it landed in her hand echo through the room.

-Thump-

She let her eyes follow its path while lying down

-Thump-

-Thump-

-Thump-

She felt her arm seize up when she caught the ball. She suddenly couldn't move, blinking she felt a weight sitting next to her. Hands creeped up and pinned her forearms down next to her head, she yelped as boney fingers dug into her skin. She heard the ball drop to the floor, her vision went blurry for a second and then when it snapped back she could see Damien sitting next to her. He was holding her arms down and she couldn't move. He was mouthing something but she couldn't hear him, there was a pain in her chest as he leaned closer to her, she tried to scream but it was like she'd lost her voice. He kept leaning in until she could feel his breath on the side of her face, the pain was still shooting through her chest.

"Run" he whispered in her ear, suddenly the world came back to her, she sprang up out of her seat. Spinning around she could hear her heart beat in her ears and her chest heaved. She was alone, all alone. It was in her head. He wasn't here. She could feel the bile rise in her throat and flung herself in to the bathroom. Her throat burned as she was sick. Coughing she wiped her mouth and came away with blood. After a few minutes she had calmed down, she pulled herself up and noticed the blood. "Great, that's just super" she said to herself, she reached over and flushed the toilet, looking at herself in the mirror she looked alright. Strangely neither her scar or eyes had changed colour. That only meant one thing, Damien wasn't here, she'd done that to herself. 'It's all in my head' Mai told herself. She splashed her face with water and rinsed out the leftover blood from her mouth. 'There, no evidence of anything' she said to herself, straightening her clothes back down she left the bathroom. Slowly she walked back to the meeting room, there was still no one else here yet, she retrieved the ball from under the coffee table and decided to retreat to her old desk chair. She pulled her glasses back on when there was a knock at the door. After a few minutes the door was flung open followed by everyone in the group.

Mai said nothing as they filled in to the room, a few greetings were sent her way, but she simply nodded in response, she pushed her chair back and put her feet up on the desk. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and left the group to make themselves comfortable.

"Mai, if you wouldn't mind putting your feet down, I don't have money in the budget to pay for a cleaner" Naru remarked

Mai who was zoning in and out of her own head, simply moved her feet but continued to focus on the elastic band ball in front of her. 'I'm finally starting to lose it' Mai thought to herself, her lack of eating, sleeping and overall anxiety had finally started taking a physical toll on her body. While her PK usually helped her with physical issues, mentally it couldn't do anything. She always pushed herself, ate when she felt like, slept as little as possible, worked cases until they were done. But, 2 years of that had taken their toll on her health. Hallucinations she was used too but they were getting more intense and more frequent, it made her uneasy and threw her off her game. She realised she hadn't been paying attention to what was being said

"…they are close friends of mine and they knew I had connections which is why I'm hoping you can help them" Masako said while looking at Naru. Mai screwed up her nose at the scene, it was like she was 16 again watching Masako chase after Naru.

Naru paused for a moment then looked back at her "we'll leave first thing tomorrow. Speak to them and make sure they have everything we need"

'Crap' Mai thought to herself, she had completely missed everything that had happened

"Here" Monk said to her on the way out, he passed her a thin folder "try not to zone out next time" he smirked while walking past. Mai waited until the group had disappeared and Lin and Naru retreated to their offices before opening the file. She skimmed over the paper, an apartment block not that far away from here had had some strange activity. Family of 3, mother, father and daughter of 6 had moved in a few years ago but over the last 6 months had been experiencing some strange activity, it escalated over the past few days when the mother had been taking a bath and almost drowned.

'Strange' Mai thought, looking back over she spotted the usual poltergeist markers, furniture being moved, doors opening and closing on their own, voices when no one else is their etc. She didn't think it was anything more than a basic poltergeist case, however, if Naru had agreed to it he maybe thought there was more, either that or he owed Masako a favour. Pushing herself up from the desk she still felt as if she was zoning in and out of autopilot. She decided to do something slightly risky to make herself feel better.

She walked over to the couches and sat down on the one she had been on before, she decided to try astral projection to see if she could prove that Damien wasn't here. Pulling off her glasses she knew that she'd require a physical item to try and make this work, luckily that was the plus side of her scar. It was a physical memento for her. She focused on her breathing, closing her eyes she reached up and put her hand to the side of her face. She let herself get consumed by the sound of her breathing and felt her pulse slow down to a steady beat.

Opening her eyes again she was still in the office but this time everything looked like she was in giant blueprint. There were spots of light but she was alone. She was floating slightly, just like she had been the last time she'd done this. She looked around trying to pick up on anything strange or out of the blue.

Her voice shook as she called out "Damien, are you there?" her voice echoed but received no response. She stayed where she was for a few minutes, before realising that he really wasn't there. She breathed a small sigh of relief before letting her eyes close.

Opening her eyes again she was sitting back in the office, she moved her hand away from her face. While astral projection was a skill she'd acquired a few years ago she never tended to use it, she didn't like leaving her body vulnerable while she wandered around. There was something about it that was different from being in the spirit plane. At least with that she could return to her body at any moment, it was a dream world. Astral projection on the other hand, had issues, you don't return in time and you can end up trapped forever.

Sighing she sat forward, at least she'd gotten the answer she wanted. It had just been her head playing tricks on her, if not she'd have been able to pick up traces of him when she'd projected. Pushing herself up she decided she was too tired to try and be productive today and made her way back to the apartment. Despite it being noon Mai crawled into bed, she let the exhaustion take over and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

7am the next day

Mai sprung up in her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she realised that she had slept a full day away, strangely she felt rested for once though. She stretched out her arms as she made her way through to the kitchen, she found a note sitting on the work surface.

Left already,

Meet us there once you are awake.

N

Mai just scoffed at the bit of paper, luckily she already had the address from the copy of the file she had and it was only a 10 minute walk away. Binning the bit of paper she got herself ready.

An Hour Later

Mai strolled up to the outside of the apartment block, it stood about 5 stories tall in a mixture of grey and glass. It certainly wasn't somewhere your average person lived. Making her way in to the lobby she was greeted by a security card.

"Identification Miss?" he croaked, he looked like he'd been retired from perhaps the police or military for a few years. At least his clothes, build and tattoo on his forearm suggested that.

"Yeah, I'm here for work, apartment 4B" Mai responded

"The psychic lot that are in?" he asked, his brow furrowing

"Yes" she could feel herself getting annoyed and expected some sort of ghost busters joke or snide comment.

"Those poor people are going through a horrid time, don't you and your little gang have anything better to do than scam money from them?" the guard spat

Mai pushed her glasses up and made direct eye contact with him, she could see he was slightly taken aback by her scar. "Everyone's got to make a living you know? Oh and by the way before you start making accusations about what that group are currently doing maybe you should take a look at your own life. We were brought in for a reason and if the family didn't want us here then we wouldn't be." She brought her glasses back down and pushed past him with a little too much strength. He fell backwards slightly.

"Oh also, don't question things that your tiny brain can't understand, why don't you just do your job of opening and closing the door for people" she finished and marched her way to the entrance to the stairs. She cursed herself for getting involved with that but sometimes it rubbed her up the wrong way, her work was different from the groups, she'd spent time being judged, cursed and called every name under the sun on cases. The group was different, they were brought in to do a job and help someone and for people to make stupid accusations made her angry.

The stomping of her boots echoed on the metal stair case as she made her way to apartment 4B. Once she reached the doorway she found it wide open, with the group dotted around the place. Making her way in she was greeted by Monk and Ayako who waved at her, walking over she observed the apartment. It was lavish but homely, it was obvious a loving family lived here, plush couches sat in the middle while an open plan kitchen sat off to the righthand side, there were photos, drawings and children's toys scattered all over the place.

"Hello!" Monk said smiling as she joined them

"Surprised to see you here so early, Naru said when he checked on you last night you were passed out" Ayako said

Mai nodded "yeah guess I was" she pushed her glasses up her nose

Ayako paused as if to say something, but Monk shot her a look that stopped her.

"So, what's the story so far?" Mai asked glancing at the room

"Do you see that lady that Masako is talking to?" Monk said

Mai turned, Masako was standing at the other side of the room with a woman who was a good foot taller than her. The woman had shiny long black hair that mixed in well with her dark skin and a models body, she looked very tired though, probably an after effect of all the stress. She stood next to a man who was just slightly taller than she was, he had brown hair, an average build and looked about as exhausted as she did. The husband and wife Mai figured.

"That's Sara and Reo" Monk said

"okay" Mai responded

Monk looked at her in shock, "Sara the model?"

Mai looked and him "what?" she said

"you seriously don't know who she is?" Monk said while Ayako just scoffed

"No, I don't" Mai said simply

"Wow. Basically she's a famous model, anyway the guy next to her Reo is her husband and they have a kid about 6 years old I believe" Monk paused while scanning the room. "Masako obviously knows them through her celebrity contacts, anyway like I was saying they've lived her for a few years but-"

Mai cut him off "I read the file, they've been having issues for the past 6 months, right? Poltergeist behaviour seems to be the answer to this one"

"Well that's what I thought too but Masako insisted that Naru come and investigate."

"Probably blackmailing him again" Ayako said from behind Monk

"Jealousy doesn't suit you Ayako" Monk replied

SLAM

"HEY, stop doing that!" Monk said while holding his head

"Oops guess my arm slipped" Ayako smiled

Mai rolled her eyes, before they could get into another argument, "what's the set up then? Cameras, microphones in every room, constant surveillance until we see something?" she asked

"Pretty much, while the apartment is pretty big we've set up a base in the one next door since it's vacant, cameras and microphones are in the process of being set up. Since we aren't that far away from the offices Naru said we'd take shifts to cover the cameras and that there isn't really a need for us to all be here" Monk finished

"Yeah, would have liked to have known that before I was dragged out of bed" Ayako finished

"The older you are the more beauty sleep you need right?" Monk smirked and jumped out the way before her handbag to get him again.

She decided to leave Monk and Ayako to their usual fighting and walked over to Masako, Masako stopped talking to the couple when Mai approached.

"Let me introduce the last member of SPR, this is Mai" Masako finished, 'great use my real name why don't you' she said in her head

"Nice to meet you Sara and Reo" she said shaking both their hands. They looked slightly relieved to have people here.

Masako interrupted "Sara and Reo have a strict first name rule only in here" she said turning to Mai her blue eyes looked slightly concerned

"Yes, you'll have to excuse me for that, you see with people coming in and out constantly it's safer for us just to go on a first name basis. Plus, you will be observing our home for a while so it's safe to say that we are closer than only a last name." Sara said, the corners of her mouth pulled up slightly. 'Probably had some issues in the past. Although if they are famous I could just google them' Mai thought to herself

"Mai why don't you go and introduce yourself to Mio" Masako said

"Oh yes please do, it'll be nice for her to know everyone, it's rare for her to get visitors" Sara said searching for the child

Masako leaned in close to Mai "try to see if you can pick any thing up from the child" she whispered in her ear.

Mai nodded, it was still weird getting used to Masako being helpful on cases.

"I think she's in her room, feel free to go through" Reo finished and pointed Mai up some glass stairs. Mai did as she was instructed and followed the stairs up and along to a corridor. Owning a two-story apartment definitely proves Monks model theory, otherwise there is no way they'd be able to afford a place like this. Light streamed in from every glass window and bounced off every white surface making the place very bright. Mai reached a wooden door with the name Mio painted on it, the door was closed so Mai knocked and waited until a small voice told her to come in.

Opening the door Mai revealed an explosion of pink and fluffy, the walls were bright pink along with the carpet. Mio was sitting on her bed with a bright pink bear, she had light brown hair which was pulled into a giant pink bow, and a pink dress showed off her caramel coloured skin. She looked up as Mai walked in.

"Who are you?" she asked

"I'm Mai, I'm here to help your mummy and daddy out" she answered

Mio narrowed her eyes, they were a dark brown colour "Why are you wearing sunglasses?" she asked Mai as she stood up from the bed

This is why she hated working cases with kids, they always managed to find the one question you didn't want them to ask and asked it anyway. Mai went to her default setting, lying, "I'm very sensitive to light so have to keep them on" she said smiling.

"You're lying" Mio said

"No, I'm not" Mai responded

"She doesn't like it when adults lie" Mio said, a sudden chill went down Mais spine

"Who?" Mai asked

Mio rocked on her feet "tell me the truth first"

"Okay, I wear these because I have a scary looking scar on my face" Mai said from her spot in the room. Despite the happy go lucky theme of this room it felt cold.

"Let me see it" Mio said moving forward.

"Why do you want to see it?" Mai asked crossing her arms

"She wants to know if you are telling the truth" Mio said in response

Mai realised what was going on, if Mio was being followed by a poltergeist then the chances are she thought it was her imaginary friend. With new people being present in the house the spirit was probably on edge, this was some kind of test to see if it had to be on guard from the group. If it felt threatened, then goodness knows what would happen.

"Alright, if you and your friend want to see it then that's fine" Mai said, she bent down to eye level with Mio and took her sunglasses off, she watched her reflection in Mios eyes as she took in the scar.

"Ok. You aren't a liar" Mio finished, obviously feeling satisfied with her appearance she turned around and put her teddy on the tiny chair she had next to the tiny table. She sat down herself next to the bear

"So, who is your friend?" Mai asked while move cautiously around the room.

"She said I'm not allowed to give out her name, yet. If I do bad things might happen" Mio finished turned to her book.

"Well we are here to help both you and your friend, so if her or you want to talk to us you can" Mai finished

Mio looked up, "okay" she said and then turned away.

Mai left the room, shutting the door on the way out she made her way back to the first floor. Monk, Ayako and Masako were sitting talking to the Sara and Reo. She made her way out to the hall and went to apartment 4A, opening the door she saw Naru, John and Lin setting up the computer equipment. The room was an exact replica of 4B but everything was on the left side of the apartment rather than the right, thankfully this one looked like it hadn't been lived in for a few months. Dust ran over the surfaces which dulled the sparkly whiteness of the place.

"Good day Mai" John said standing over a box of cables, she made her way over to him.

"Nice to see you could finally join us. Did you introduce yourself to the family?" Naru said while looking through a book

"Yes. That kid is giving off all the signs of a poltergeist possession." Mai said grabbing a hand full of cables to help John

Naru and Lin looked at her, "explain?" Naru asked while stepping closer to Mai

"She's withdrawn, perceptive about things that a kid that age shouldn't be and she's talking about someone else as if they are there" Mai finished. She pulled out a power cable and went to plug in some of the monitors.

"Well we know children are more in tune to spirits than adults" John said while handing Mai more cables. She took them from him and dug around behind the monitors, she was so used to this kind of set up that she could do it in her sleep.

"That kid is bloody creepy" Monks voice echoed in the room as he was followed by Ayako and Masako.

"Hey, don't blame the kid, she's probably freaked out by a group of random adults turning up in her house" Ayako said

"On the contrary Ayako, she's used to being around strangers because of her mums job, it's one of the reasons Sara believes she has become withdrawn" Masako said while sitting herself down on the dusty couch. Mai watched as John smiled at her and gave a polite greeting, 'there is definitely something going on there' she thought to herself

"Think that's why she wouldn't speak to any of us?" Monk replied

Mai looked up from behind the computer, "she didn't speak to you?" she asked

"Nah not even to one of us, it was like trying to get blood out of a stone" Monk said. His eyes narrowed "why? Don't tell me she spoke to you?"

"Actually, yeah she did" Mai finished, stepping her way across the wires she stood around the front of the monitors.

Before Monk could say anything else Masako interrupted "Did you pick up on anything while she spoke?"

"I got the impression that she was talking to a spirit of some sort" Mai said "Like I said the first impression to me is a poltergeist" 'but then we say that about every case at the start' Mai thought to herself. Mai continued to fiddle around with the tech and left the group to their discussion. She'd fallen back into old habits. Once she was finished she turned back to the group, Masako had disappeared, leaving Ayako, Monk and John standing around discussing.

Normally she'd have gone over and started a discussion with them but she couldn't really be bothered. Instead she retreated to the old dust covered couch and pulled out her laptop from her bag. She decided to do a bit of research through old books and other articles she had found for previous poltergeist cases. With children being the most common targets there was plenty of information to comb through.

8pm

Mai shut her laptop and looked around the room, the sun was only just beginning to set outside and with it being summer there was a lingering stickiness in the air. The rest of the group had dispersed, and she was stuck here with Lin in the base. There had been no activity which was normal given the disruption from the group and now the family were settling down for the evening. Mai wandered over to the monitors.

"Why don't you take off for the night and I'll stay here and monitor what's going on" Mai offered to Lin.

Lin looked up at her sceptically

"I promise not to break any equipment or do anything stupid" Mai said. "Plus, no offence, you look like you could do with the sleep Lin"

Lin smirked slightly "that's a risky remark given your current state"

Mai shrugged "I live in a constant state of permanent exhaustion, I'm sure everybody has noted that by now. One extra night shift isn't going to change that"

Lin looked like he wanted to ask her something but turned away instead "Goodnight Mai" he said as he gathered his things and left.

Mai let out a sigh of relief. She liked being by herself to churn through information and with all the SPR fancy equipment it would be less hassle to keep a track of things like she normally would have to do when she was by herself. She decided to wander around the base. Very similar to Sara and Rio's apartment but mirrored. It was two stories with an open kitchen lay out, a bathroom on the first floor, 2 spare rooms on both floors and an extra bathroom upstairs. This one didn't have the step out balcony as the others but the floor to ceiling windows were tinted glass which meant it wasn't soaked in light. Mai wandered into the bathroom, it was a standard western one with a sink, toilet and bath tub with a shower over it. The room had a slight damp smell to it but had running water which was a bonus. It meant that whoever had the late shift would be able to shower etc rather than having to return home. Both rooms on the first floor had boxes and rows of cabinets with documents in them. Skimming through some Mai could see it was all legal papers and documentation, nothing of interest. Upstairs the small bathroom was the exact same as the downstairs one. Again, one room was filled with paper documentation and the other had old furniture in it, all of it was covered by white sheets and you could make out the dust and cobwebs. Obviously, this had been turned into a storage room. Sitting herself back down at the monitors, they'd laid them out so that they were facing the wall to the far side with the windows on the right and kitchen and door on the left. Mai sat spinning around on the office chair for a few minutes before feeling bored. She walked over to the kitchen and made herself some coffee. She was still deciding if the waiting was the worst part of cases or if the drama and danger was. Either way they were pretty tied at the current moment.

Deciding to do something productive she grabbed her marker pens, paper and information from her bag and walked over to the section of blank wall between the computers and windows. She spent the next hour creating a mind map with the family faces, information on the case and connections over the wall. She preferred to do this as it helped to keep information up to date. Of course she'd normally use a board but they didn't have one and she was sure the pen could be painted over. Stepping back she looked at the information she'd gained.

Sara – Famous Model

Reo - Worked for an agency before marrying Sara

The apartment building was roughly 3 years old, they'd lived here since it was built. Mio is 6 so they must have lived elsewhere beforehand, but no information on that. If it's a poltergeist it's highly possibly it's followed them from an old residence. Incidents have been taking place the last 6 months – rules out the problem being linked directly to the building.

Mio – 6 years old, perceptive but withdrawn.

And that was it. They had very little information that would help, Mai sighed and stretched out her arms over her head. There was a knock at the door which made her jump.

Opening the door she saw Sara standing in front of her. "Sorry to bother you but I wondered if we could perhaps talk?" She whispered

"Of course, come in" Mai said opening the wooden door. Mai watched and Sara wandered in slowly, she was wearing a long silk nightgown and her hair was slightly ruffled but still looked great. If this had been a case from years ago Mai would have asked her what she did to keep her hair so shiny. Sara glanced around and then looked back at Mai, she stared for a few seconds before Mai remembered she'd taken her glasses off. "Ah sorry, let me get my glasses" Mai said walking past her to the kitchen counter to pick them up and put them on.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you" Sara said looking slightly flustered

"It's fine, I forget that it can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable" Mai just shrugged

"Ah no, it's just an unusual placement for a scar" Sara said "in my line of work you get use to people staring at you because of how you look, never really eases up, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that, people are afraid of things that look different, it's a natural reaction" Mai responded leaning against the counter. She could see Sara looked slightly more at ease now, "would you like something to drink?" Mai offered

"Um no thank you" Sara responded "I actually wanted to talk to you about the incident that happened last week" she said while making her way over to the couch. "I wanted to do it now because I don't want to worry my husband or child"

"Okay" Mai responded. She must have been referring to the almost drowning that Masako had mentioned. Mai sat down next to her on the couch. She could see that Sara was obviously worried about what she was about to say. "Why don't you tell me what happened?" Mai asked her

"Well. It's going to sound crazy. I know it is" Sara said while chewing the side of her lower lip.

"Let me assure you, nothing in this business sounds crazy. That's why we are here, we deal with things that other people would normally dismiss as crazy" Mai responded, she could see over the top of her sunglasses that Sara relaxed slightly.

"Okay so, as I'm sure you know, the past 6 months have been strange to say the least. Doors have been opening and closing on their own, electrics have been flicking on and off, furniture has moved by itself and so on. But last week" she stopped to take a breath "I was getting ready to have a bath, it's my nightly routine. Anyway, while I was in the bath, and this is the scary part, I swear I felt like something was trying to drown me" Mai could see the fear in her eyes.

"What makes you say that?" Mai asked quietly

"I was the only one in the room, the door was locked, and I felt someone push my head underneath the water. I couldn't see anything, but I could move, I tried to fight back and eventually I managed to break free but I haven't been able to have a bath since" Sara finished, a tear slipped out of her eye, Mai felt bad for her, what an awful thing to experience in your own home.

"Is there anything else you can remember about it? Anything that might give us a bit more information?" Mai asked

Sara nodded "while my head was underneath the water, I swear I heard a child laughing. That sounds awful doesn't it. At first I thought maybe it was Mio but there's no way she could have gotten in. But she's changed over these past 6 months, she's withdrawn and silent. She talks to people who aren't there. It's freaking me out. I feel like a bad mother, I'm scared of my own child" Sara finished.

Mai let her sit for a few moments before saying anything, "this is a hard time for you, I understand that more than anyone, trust me. There is nothing wrong with the way you are feeling, it's a natural reaction. We'll help to figure this out, for now try to keep up a normal routine as much as possible."

Sara nodded in response "thank you. Could you do me a favour? Please don't tell my husband about this, I don't want him to worry"

"Of course" Mai nodded in response. Satisfied with her answer Sara stood up and left, "Can I ask something?" Sara said while stopping at the door

"Sure" Mai responded from the couch

"This is your job, yes? Can I ask, have you ever had anyone die while doing it?"

Mai inhaled sharply, this was not your average question from a client. Mai could see Sara watching her and while she could lie and tell her no, she had a feeling that wasn't the answer she was looking for. "Very rarely we have complications that end in injury or worse, but, this doesn't happen often". Sara just watched her from the door before nodding and leaving. The noise of the door shutting echoed around the room and a slight chill hung in the air despite the heat from outside. Of course, Mai had lied to her, they'd had few complications on SPR cases but she had lost count of the people who had died on her own cases. Through no fault of her own, unfortunately not all spirits were nice, some had violent deaths so they wanted everyone else to suffer too. Mai went over to her mind map and wrote, almost drowned by spirit underneath Sara's photo. At least they had another lead to follow now.

9 am the next day

The group had filled into the base room and were sitting around the room in make shift chairs or on boxes while Ayako and Masako sat on the couch discussing some of Sara's recent work. Mai had already filled Lin in on her conversation with Sara and left him to make note of everything she'd said, she was currently sitting on the kitchen work surface in the corner of the room, staring into her coffee. While the likely answer was a poltergeist, Mai couldn't help thinking that maybe perhaps Mio just wanted to kill her mum. It wouldn't be the first time she'd thought she'd had a case but in reality, it was just the humans that had killed someone. It also wasn't uncommon that sometimes children are born with psychotic tendencies and once they hit over 4 they display these tendencies, usually it would be by killing a sibling or animal but rarely they lashed out at their parents. Slipping off the counter she wandered over to the windows and stood watching the city below. She sipped on her coffee and looked out at the sun rising above the tower blocks, there was a weird nostalgia to watching people running around the city. There was a familiarity to it that she missed, most of her cases were worked at night or out in the middle of nowhere. She never would have dreamed of working something during broad daylight in the middle of a very busy city. Mai walked back over to the kitchen and washed her cup before Yasu came through the door.

"Hey dude, thought you had university classes today?" Monk asked him

"I have this morning off, thought I'd give you a hand on this case" Yasu smiled while making his way over to the couch, the other members gathered around to listen to him. Mai watched from her space in the kitchen.

"You're an outsider to them now" a voice whispered in her ear

She looked around but couldn't see anything

"You're just a burden to them, look at how well they work together when you aren't there" the voice said.

Mai inhaled sharply and tried to ignore her continual hallucinations. However, the voice in her head was right. She was the outsider here, the SPR were no longer her family, there was a cruel type of guilt that hung around them. They felt bad for her history, despite not knowing the full extent. Letting her stick around was a way of easing the guilt. It was a two-way street. She felt guilty for her various feelings towards them after the past few years, by staying around she was also easing her own guilt. It was a twisted give and take situation.

"So, Sara didn't say anything else to you?" Yasu asked from across the room

Mai was pulled out of her trance, making her way over to them "Nope, I've told you everything she told me"

"You didn't think to record the conversation in case you missed anything?" Naru remarked from his place in front of the monitors

'Here we go' Mai thought, "No I didn't" Mai simply responded, she reached over and took the bit of paper Yasu was holding on to. Skimming it she saw that he'd managed to find move in dates, birth dates and places of the family.

"And why not?" Naru asked, sighing Mai handed the bit of paper over to Yasu again. She was tired and didn't really want to argue with Naru.

Letting her eyes drift back to the city view she responded "I forgot, sorry". She could see that the group were just about as shocked as she was at her response. "I'm going to go get some sleep" she simply said picking up her bag and jacket and leaving the room.

Group's P.O.V

"Did…did that just happen?" Yasu said blinking

"Wow she really has lost her grip on reality" Monk said

"Yeah especially if she's apologising to Naru" Ayako chuckled

"Better watch, she'll be back to making him tea next!" Monk laughed

"Maybe she's been drinking too much?" Ayako asked

"Drinking what?" Monk asked

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed it?" Ayako said. At this point both Naru and Lin had turned in their seats to listen in as well. "It's a typical response to any sort of trauma, alcohol. She had at least 2 bottles of something strong in her bag when I checked it last"

"Wait so you just went through her bag?" Monk said slightly annoyed

"Yeah we needed some answers and she was giving us nothing. Don't make me out to be the bad guy. I wouldn't go as far to say she's an alcoholic but she clearly uses it to help calm her nerves down or block out something."

"It can't be that serious" Monk said back

"All I'm saying is what we all know, she's clearly went through something pretty intense and painful, she's not going to just change back to how we knew her before. We have to adjust to how she is now" Ayako finished and just shrugged.

Mai's P.O.V

Mai made her way through the city, she'd picked up a few supplies for her old apartment. She'd concluded that she wouldn't be running off any time soon and as much fun as living with Naru was she wanted her old place back. She wanted the security of her old home.

She spent the next few hours gutting her old apartment, pulling down old wall paper and cleaning the floors. Her old landlord had stopped by to say hello but Mai shut down most of her questions. She didn't linger long after Mai had handed her the next 6 months rent. Clearly not suspicious about the amount of cash she was handed she wandered off to talk to her other tenants. Mai had managed to clean a large portion of the apartment and it was starting to look like it's old self. The blood stain throughout the hallway and bedroom would need to be tackled another day. Locking up for the day she grabbed her bag and made her way back to Naru's place. Strangely she hadn't had any flashbacks or hallucinations while in her flat, thinking about it she'd only had a few since the case started. 'Maybe they've got something to do with it' Mai thought to herself.

She let herself into the apartment and went to retrieve clean clothes.

1 hour later

Mai was showered, changed and finishing off some food at Naru's apartment. Despite the clock reading 3pm she was knackered. Having an erratic sleep pattern was not helping. As much as she wanted to go to bed she was trying to fight the urge. There were too many things she didn't want to see or re live and with the past conscious hallucinations, she was concerned over what unconscious ones she might see. Cleaning her dishes, she sat down on the black couch and put on the tv across from her, she flicked through the channels until she found a movie to put on. She lay down on her side and tried to focus on what was being said but felt herself drifting off.

Naru's P.O.V

9pm

The group had spent most of the day combing through information, background and interviews with the family and come up with nothing new. Their next step would be to attempt a hypnosis technique to find out if it was in fact one of the family members that was causing the poltergeist or if it was something else. It was too late for that tonight. Lin had decided to take this night shift so Naru wandered back to his home. Walking through the cold streets he still had adjusted back to the Japanese climate, it was fairly like England but the cold cut straight through you. Mai had left hours ago, and he wondered what she had been up too. He found himself doing that a lot recently, more so than he did before and he cursed himself for it. It was a distraction he could have lived without, but he enjoyed it none the less. His time in England had been dull and tedious. It was the same day after day and he took very little joy in it. Being back in Japan was much better, he felt interested and engaged with what he was doing.

Reaching his apartment, he opened the door and was met with darkness and a small light that came from the tv set. Flicking on the kitchen light he could see that Mai had obviously done what she said she was going to do and fallen asleep on the couch. Remote still in hand she was half lying and half falling off the narrow couch. He felt slightly relieved when he saw she was still there. Part of him was always worried that she would just disappear again, he wasn't ready to let that happen again. Grabbing a cover off the other chair he put it over her, she looked cold which was strange given that it was the middle of summer. The last thing he needed was her catching a cold. While putting the cover down he could vaguely make out a few of the scars on her arms. They littered her skin but weren't highly noticeable, like small white marks that blended in with her pale complexion. He felt his blood boil at the idea that someone had intentionally hurt her. The scar on her face was different, it stood out like a beckon against her skin. It was paler than it had been previously and ran from above her eyebrow straight down and through her eyelid. It was fascinating because that sort of injury usually resulted in loss of sight or permeant disfigurement to the eye, but Mai had neither. Taking the remote from her hand he sat down at the end of the couch and put on the news. The moment felt comfortable and fleeting, he decided to make the most of it while he could.

Mai's P.O.V

11pm

Mai slowly opened her eyes, she'd had her usual dream of running, no matter how fast she went she never got any further through the woods. She pulled herself up on the couch she realised she had a cover on her, looking over she saw a passed out Naru at the end. Arms crossed over his chest his head hanging low and his ribcage moving slowly suggested that he was asleep. Figuring he must have put the cover over her to stop her from being cold she smiled slightly. It was a small gesture but a nice one that made her blush slightly.

The next day 10am

Having spent most of the night zoning in and out of sleep, Mai felt fuzzy and disorientated when she arrived at the case flat. Herself and Naru had wandered over together, they walked in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable or filled with tension. They'd received a few glances from people on the street but that was probably because with the black clothes and sunglasses they looked like they'd come out of The Matrix, Naru went straight to work discussing the evening with Lin when they arrived.

Mai wandered over to Yasu who was currently sitting by himself looking at a book.

"Hey" she said when she approached him, Yasu looked up and smiled at her. The past few years had obviously been kind to Yasuhara. His straight black hair and grey eyes looked well with his glasses and high cheek bones. Mai wondered if he spent most of his time at university fighting girls off him.

"Hello Mai, how are you today?" He asked from his book

"I'm alright thanks, how are you doing? University today?" Mai asked curious about what he was up to these days

Yasuhara smiled "Today is a study at home day, figured I might as well be here rather than at home"

Mai looked over the top of her sunglasses, smirking at Yasu's inflated ego. "What is it you are studying?"

"A mixture of things, at the current moment I'm taking classes on politics, economics and psychology" Yasu responded

Mai nodded "Yeah that seems very you"

Yasu smiled again, "so how's living in Naru's apartment? Is it as glamorous as you expected?"

"HA! Definitely, I just love all the black and sentimental items that he has lying around" Mai laughed

Yasu sniggered "he's not one for sentiment, saying that you would have killed to get into his place years ago"

Mai smiled "true, as much fun as the school girl crush thing was, I think I'm a bit old for that now"

"Darling you are only ever as old as you feel" Yasu said in a high-pitched voice

"PAHAHAHAHA" Mai lost it at that remark, holding her side while laughing. "Stop making me laugh, I'll rip my stitches!" Mai clutched her chest.

"HA! My plan has worked. I'll take you out this way and then I'll have Naru all to myself" Yasu chuckled

"Stop it! My side!" Mai was in a fit of laughter. Once she had slightly calmed down, her and Yasu made eye contact and they were both set off laughing again. "That's it I'm walking away from you now" Mai chuckled pulling herself off of the couch to go and make something to drink. Laughing at Yasu always put her in a better mood, between him and Monk they always knew how to lift her spirits. Standing waiting on the kettle to boil she rolled her eyes at Yasu who was currently sitting making weird faces at her from across the room. Monk and Ayako walked in to the room with a bag full of food.

"We brought snacks" Monk asked handing out various pastries and other bits. Mai brought the tea and cups over to the make shift table that consisted of 3 large cardboard boxes. Handing out cups she reached into the bag and picked one of the pastry things.

While she wasn't keen on any food she still had to eat something. Sitting on the chair arm she ate her snack and drank her coffee while the rest of the group exchanged information and asked about each other's lives.

"Aren't you meant to be filming just now Masako?" Ayako asked

"How are things at the orphanage John?" Monk asked

Mai tuned out of the conversations and the familiar scene to the monitors. Her eyes were drawn to the camera in Mio's room. Mio was sitting playing with her teddy bear, but the screen blinked, and Mai could see a dark shadow standing over her. By the time she was at the monitor the shadow had gone. Tapping the screen she couldn't see it anymore.

"Would you mind not breaking my monitors?" Naru remarked from beside her.

"Did you see that?" Mai ignored him and asked Lin

Lin said nothing but shook his head

"You're recording everything right? Wind that tape back a few seconds" Lin looked sceptical, but did what Mai asked, the same scene jumped in but this time there were no shadows or anything. 'Strange' Mai thought, she was certain that she'd seen something but there was nothing there.

"Are you finished bothering Lin?" Naru said

Mai narrowed her eyes at him "I am, now you can get back to bothering him"

Naru said nothing but turned his back on her. Mai rolled her eyes and picked up her coffee.

"Alright, we still don't have much to go on. I think we should try taking temperature readings again. Miss Hara I'd like you to speak to Reo and Sara and see if they've forgotten to tell us anything. Yasuhara if you could spend the day finding out information on them, family history and anything else that might be beneficial. Ayako and John if you could take temperature readings. Myself and Lin will stay here." Naru finished speaking and dismissed the group. Mai took her lack of orders as a chance to snoop around the apartment. She followed Masako into the family's apartment and waited until she was speaking with the three members before sneaking away. While they had camera's everywhere there were plenty of places that information could be hidden away.

2 hour later

Mai had spent the past 2 hours going from room to room to try and find something, anything that might be useful and she came up empty handed. It didn't help that there were so many other people wandering around as well. Sighing she made her way back to the base to splash some water on her face. In the bathroom she let the cold tap run and splashed water onto her face. She felt like her clothes were sticking to her from the heat outside. While the white walls, carpet and ceiling reflected the warmth, the giant glass windows trapped it inside cause the place to feel like an oven. Wandering back to the base the group had congregated around their fake table again, this time there were various plates of foods being handed around.

"Mai come join us for lunch" John said from a fold out chair. Mai said nothing but wandered over. She had intended on eating something but as soon as the smell of hot food hit her nostrils her stomach flipped and the bile rose in her throat. Stopping at the couch she decided to get some water instead.

"Thanks, but I'm not particularly hungry just now" she said to John. Grabbing a glass of water, she leaned over the sink trying to wash down the nausea. This weather didn't help her stomach, years of eating when she had to rather than when she wanted too had reduced her appetite to nothing, she could go days without eating anything and only be reminded from time to time with the occasional stomach cramp or when she wanted to eat she'd suddenly feel sick and couldn't. It was a bit of a vicious cycle. Trying to choke down the water, her stomach flipped, and she felt a familiar creeping sensation travel down her spine.

"Mai do you want us to save you some for later?" Monk asked from across the other side

"Ha good luck, like they'll be anything left once you are finished with it" Yasu smirked from next to him

Mai's vision tunnelled and before she could respond she let the glass fall into the sink and ran to the bathroom. Slamming the door behind her she proceeded to throw up the empty contents of her stomach.

"Aw Mai that just looks nasty" Damien sat on the edge of the bath tub. One leg resting on the other he looked like he was filling his nails.

Mai holding her hair up out of her way "oh please, tell me you aren't here to make snide comments while I throw up. We both know you have more important things to be doing"

Damien shrugged "it's your self-conscious Mai"

"Great good to know I'm still hallucinating" she said before another wave hit her. Blood came rushing out of her mouth, it left an awful taste on her tongue and her side hurt from wrenching. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand she looked sceptically at Damien.

"Why exactly are you here?" she asked him

"Like I said, I'm a figment of your imagination Mai. You really should be asking yourself that should you not?" Damien smirked and flashed his shiny white teeth at her.

"Can't you just leave me alone" Mai remarked. Flushing the toilet, she looked over and he was gone. She pulled herself over to wash her face. 'Great Mai, have imaginary conversations with yourself, that'll help' she thought to herself.

As she was drying her face she heard a scream. Yanking the door open she flew out the room.

"What was that?" She asked Monk who was standing closest to her

"No idea I think it came from Sara's room. Let's go see" Monk took off with Mai not far behind her. Reaching Sara's room in seconds they saw her sitting on the end of the bed with her head in her hands.

Monk was the first one to reach her "Are you alright?" shaking she shook her head.

Mai felt the chill in the air before moving to get to the other side of the bed. She could see what had upset Sara, on her pale cream walls a photograph of the three of the family had been cracked and surrounding it were dark hand prints.

She examined the hand prints, they were all different sizes. Some of them looked like children while others looked like adults. She looked at the photo that had been on the wall. Sara, Reo and Mio with her pink bear stood together smiling for the camera. It was a standard family photo, nothing strange or off about it. It was split right down the middle, driving a wedge between Sara, Reo and Mio.

"I was just coming in to get changed and the wall was like that." Sara said from her seat. "Mio! Mio get in here" she shouted to the door

Mio appeared and slowly walked over to her mum. "Mio I'm not mad, but you have to tell me the truth okay? Did you do this?"

Mio said nothing but stood in silence

Sara kneeled down to her daughter's height, with both hands on her shoulders. "I'm not mad okay? I just want to know if you did this?"

Mio shook her head "she said I've not to tell"

Sara looked confused "who did? Who told you not to tell Mio?". Mio bit her lip and turned away from her mum to look at the wall. "Listen to me Mio there isn't anyone else here except for us, if you did this we need to know." Mio just shook her head in response

"No. It wasn't me" she whispered looking at her mum

Sara didn't look any more comfortable than she did before. Mai looked at Monk, it always amazed her how no matter what the situation was he could stay so calm.

"Why don't we take you to get something to drink? We'll try and get this cleaned up for you alright" Monk said while ushering Sara and Mio out of the room.

Mai stood for a few more moments before making her way back to the living room, she jumped over the side of the banister and landed next to the couch. It'd been a few weeks since she'd used her muscles for a move like that and had wanted to check she still could. Mio sat on the couch playing with her bear while Monk was at the doorway.

"Hey Mai, look Sara is pretty rattled, Myself and Ayako are going to talk to her in the other room for a bit, could you keep an eye on Mio while we do that?"

Mai hated playing babysitter but nodded in agreement.

2 Hours Later

Mio was still sitting on the couch playing with her pink stuffed teddy. Mai had tried to talk to her but got nothing in return. Sara had come back from the hospital after being given something to calm her nerves. Still panicked about before she and her husband had asked if the group could watch Mio while they took a walk to calm down. It looked like a natural reaction to Mai, they were freaked out by the incident and Sara was wary of her child so needed a break from her to see if she could calm down. However, at this point in time Mai was bored out of her mind. She decided to keep herself busy by making tea at their kitchen. She was surprised by how many fancy and foreign blends they had, must be one of the perks of being a model and travelling the world. She was still feeling off. Sitting across from Mio she put a glass of juice down in front of her and held onto her cup of coffee.

"Why are there cameras around my home?" Mio asked Mai while she brushed her teddies fur.

Mai was slightly taken aback by the question. They'd been sitting together for hours and this is the first time she'd spoken.

"We have them here so that we can keep an eye on your home, keep you and your parents safe" Mai responded taking a sip from her cup

"What exactly is meant to be harming me?" Mio asked

Mai felt a chill go up her spine, this was not the voice of a 6-year-old girl, no 6-year-old spoke like that she thought to herself.

Mai sat her cup down on the table "What do you think might harm you?" she asked

Mio looked up and locked eyes with her. Mai could see it, her eyes were clouded. 'Shit she's possessed' she thought to herself, trying to think of a way to get the rest of the group through without alerting whatever was in Mio, Mio responded "I think you are here to take away my friend. She doesn't like that idea".

'We've officially hit creepy' Mai thought to herself. "We wouldn't hurt your friend" she responded.

"LIAR" Mio screamed. Suddenly the lights flashed and the glass coffee table in front of them cracked down the middle. Mai could see that it was going to shattered and jumped up. Using her right hand she grabbed the end of it and flipped it into the middle of the room, with her left hand she grabbed Mio's arm and pulled her off the couch and to her back. The table bounced and then exploded into tiny fragments. On reaction Mai had thrown her body in between Mio and the table. Luckily the splinters just landed onto the floor. Mai was crouched down. She heard a vague buzzing through one of the microphones.

"Mai, are you alright?" Monks voice on the other end

"I'm fine, we need a bit of help in here though" she shouted to the room

Still holding onto Mio with her left hand she could feel that the girl was shivering and cold. She turned around so she was facing her.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Before Mio could respond Mai went to try and stand up but her legs wouldn't let her. "What the hell" she said out loud, it was as if her calves had been nailed to the ground. That's when she remembered that Mio had looked possessed. She looked back at her.

"hehehehehe" a high pitched voice came from the child. She saw that her eyes had gone from cloudy to complete black. Demon eyes Mai thought. Whatever was in Mio was not just a spirt, it was evil.

"I have to say Mai, I expected more from you" the voice rang out. Mai felt her panic set in 'no no no no no' she freaked out in her head 'he can't be here'

"Why don't you stop lying to me and tell me exactly why you and your little group are here?" the voice echoed out of Mio's pale face. Mai could faintly hear the door open from across the room but the noise was drowned out by the pounding in her chest.

"I've already told you, we are here to help you and your friend" Mai said through clenched teeth, her arms were pinned to her side by an invisible force and she couldn't even turn her head to try and communicate with whoever had just walked in

"I don't believe you" Mio said taking a step forward she came to the same height as Mai in her kneeling state. "I don't like it when people lie to me" she said bringing her hand around to Mai's face

SLAP

The skin contact echoed through the room as Mai's sun glasses bounced over the floor. Suddenly Mai was on her side and watching Mio step forward in her tiny shoes. She wasn't fond of anyone slapping her, especially not a child.

Bending down she made direct eye contact with her "Now, I won't ask again, why exactly are you here?" the voice asked again

"Listen here you little brat-" Mai never managed to finish her sentence before she found herself in the air and then on her left side. She heard her head connect with the wooden flooring before she felt it.

CRACK

It echoed out around the room. Mai was barely aware of the shriek of pain she let out. There was a wave of double vision and horrible pounding pain. The world was spinning around her, shifting in and out of focus, trying to push herself up all she could see were black spots and her hearing was fuzzy. Finally succeeding she pushed herself up onto her forearms, she tried and failed to stop the blood rushing out of her throat. She felt it splatter against her arms and hands. She was still trying to stay calm but this kid was literally doing her head in. She raised her hand to the side of her head and brought back blood and a chunk of hair with it.

"-Cough- We were brought in -cough cough- to try and solve a problem -cough-" Mai managed to gurgle between coughing up blood and the pain in her head. Normally she wouldn't dream of hurting a child but right now if she could move she'd have seriously rung its neck, possessed or not.

"What problem is that exactly?" Mio asked walking around to Mai. Mai had pushed herself up so she was sitting with her legs folded underneath her, trying to steady herself and her double vision. She could vaguely make out the shapes of Monk and John across the room but they looked unlucky enough to be held by some invisible force too. Luckily, they were at least standing up and looked unharmed otherwise. Mai tried to focus on Mio who was now pacing in front of Mai. Mai knew that movement, despite being 6 years old, whatever the thing was in her it was not a child. Mio smirked as she looked up "how exactly do you plan on helping us? I mean let's face it Mai you aren't exactly stable. At least that's what the Damien said" Mio finished while watching Mai's reactions.

"What? What did you say?" Mai spat blood out and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She then put her hands out on either side to stabilise herself as her head spun.

"Didn't you hear me, Damien. He told me to make sure to keep an eye on you" Mio finished, dark eyes pinned to her face.

"I see, so he sent you then, did he?" Mai finished, if Damien had powerful spirits under his control that he could send wherever he fancied why hadn't he just turned up and killed her already.

"No, I don't do his bidding." Mio spat. Mai's eyes shot up to the guys but they were watching and listening as intently as she was. Monk made eye contact with her and nodded as if to say we have a plan. 'I hope so' Mai thought 'cause I am out of ideas'. "To be honest, I find it rather hard to believe that you are the biggest problem. You tell me, you and your group are here to help but how exactly? I mean they aren't exactly helping you with your problem are they?" Mio smiled turning to the guys

"Don't you dare say anything" she spat "I don't care what you are I'll rip you in two once I'm free"

The thing in Mio laughed, "it's funny, you hear things when you are in between forms. While I've never met your little friend he did say you were feisty"

Mai shouted at her "I will kill you, do you hear me? I once ripped his arm off, did he tell you that? I'll happily do that to you once I'm able to stand again if you don't keep your mouth shut"

"Ohh Mai what don't you want me to say? I mean I thought your little group would have known you've been throwing up blood for how many days in a row? Or is this about your hallucinations? Hard to fight supernatural beings when you can't even trust your own mind." Mio finished and turned to her. Barely able to keep her own head up Mai watched as Mio put her hands on either side of her face and locked eyes with her. Mai could see it, she could see the black and the soul crushing darkness. It was the same colour as Damiens. She tried to pull away but she couldn't get away from Mios grip. She was pulled in, eyelids fluttering closed, the room behind her blurred and she was sitting right in front of Damien.

"We really must stop meeting like this Mai" Damien smirked

"Why" Mai asked in an exasperated sigh

"Because, and this is very important, I can" Damien said "I want you to remember than no matter where you go or who you are with I will always be able to find you" Mai watched as he smirked.

Mai narrowed her eyes, "if that were true Damien, why haven't you just killed me? If you really knew where I was I'd be dead." Surprise flashed over Damiens face but he gained his composure well

"You more than anyone should know how much fun the chase is Mai. Oh, and here's a little something so you know I'm not kidding" Damien finished and placed two fingers on her forehead.

Mai was hit with searing pain, it pulsed under her skin and made her eyes burn. She didn't even feel herself falling back over again. She felt as if the air was being forcefully pulled out of her lungs. Her scream echoed into the room. She was back with Mio standing over her, tiny hands on face, she was kneeling over her while Mai tried to move but couldn't. Another pulse hit her and she felt her body seize and convulse as the pain made its way to her limbs. "I'll kill you, mark my words, you are dead" Mai said between gritted teeth. Another wave hit her, and she let out another scream. Vaguely Mai could make out faint chanting from the other side of the room. She figured she'd been able to distract Mio long enough that the spirit had drained most of its energy and had to release Monk and John.

As suddenly as the possession had taken place it stopped. The pain vanished, her body was convulsing and covered in a layer of sweat. Mai could see that Mio was back in control of herself. Fear shot through her. She flung herself up on her forearms and scrambled backwards until her back hit the couch. Sitting she tried to focus on her vision but the room span around. Her chest was heaving, and her pulse was going crazy. She looked down to see that she was covered in her own blood. Lifting her hand to her head she brought her hand back and saw more blood. 'Probably a concussion' she thought to herself.

"Mai are you alright?" Monk asked from across the room. Mai couldn't even answer, Damiens voice still echoed in her ears and she was panicked. She just watched as Monk approached Mio to try and find out if she was okay. John appeared in front of her. She couldn't hear what he was saying, she watched his lips move but her head couldn't keep up. She looked back over at Mio, tears were streaming down her faces and she looked like she was shouting.

"Look at what you made her do! I told you not to hurt her" Mio shouted while trying to hit Monk. Monk had crouched down and was trying to settle her but to no avail.

Mai felt hands on her arm and suddenly remembered that John was standing next to her. Reality toppled down on her like a tonne of bricks…

Damien…

She was done.

That was it she couldn't take on this case if Damien had anything to do with it.

"Mai it's alright" John said while trying to pull her up. "I think we need to take her to the hospital" he said to Monk.

"Where the hell is everybody else?! We could use a bit of help in here!" He shouted

Mai jumped at Monks raised voice, he very rarely showed any sort of temper.

She was shaking and trying not to vomit again. She jumped up and away from John. Her brain didn't want to function properly, and she was muttering "I won't do it, I won't go back to that cell. You'll have to kill me first" she whispered to the room. She felt beads of sweat sliding down her back.

Adrenaline was coursing through her veins now and she was suddenly terrified. More scared than she'd been in months. "I'll get help" she said to Monk and John. Pushing herself to walk out of the room the next thing she knew she was standing at the base door. She fell against the door as she opened it and let it drag her into the room.

Naru and Lin were sitting at the monitors, while Masako, Ayako and Yasu were standing at the kitchen island.

"HOLY SHIT" Yasu shouted when he saw her

She barely had the energy to say anything, instead she pointed out of the door. "I'm fine. Monk and John need help. Mio was possessed. Hur-" was all she could manage before she felt the wave of nausea rise in her throat again. Unable to stop herself the blood came rushing out of her. She crippled over onto the floor as her throat burned and her skin felt like it was on fire. She was vaguely aware of arms on either side of her, her legs no longer wanted to work properly.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY" Ayako shouted while Mai felt herself getting dragged into the bathroom. Another wave hit her and she found herself huddled over the toilet. After a few minutes she felt a hand on her back and another pulling her hair back. She flinched as the fingers ran over her cut.

"Ah sorry, I think you have a concussion" Ayako said "There is too much blood, where the hell is the cut". Without warning she felt her whole body get pulled backways and then suddenly she was facing the bath tub. "Mai listen to me I'm going to have to put stitches in, we can go to the hospital or we can do it here it's up to you?" Ayako asked looking down at her. Mai could barely speak but knew she didn't want a hospital, so tried to shake her head. Which was a mistake

"AHHH" she screamed clutching onto the side of her face. She could barely hear Ayako over the sound of her breathing and whining.

"We need to take you to the hospital" Ayako said. Mai grabbed onto her arm with as much force as she could and locked eyes with her.

"Alright! ALRIGHT! No hospitals. Masako come over here and hold her arms down" Mai felt her arms being pinned down to her side as Masako lingered over the top of her. "Alright this isn't going to be pleasant, but this has to be done quickly. Masako pass me that needle." The next few minutes went rather quickly for Mai. The pain in her head started to dull. Her head was washed, sterilised and she saw Ayako put in the stitches. The next thing she knew Ayako had pushed her back up so that she was sitting with the side of the bath supporting her back. Her veins were still pulsing high with the adrenaline rush, but she tried to focus on her breathing. Ayako came back in and handed Masako an ice pack, Masako who was currently sitting to the right of Mai placed it against the cut. Mai hissed slightly at the initial impact. "Shh it's to stop the swelling" Masako responded

"You get 10 points for your bedside manner" Mai whispered trying to smirk. She finally had managed to speak without throwing up. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her vision was still fuzzy.

"I still want to take you to the hospital for a scan, I think you've got a fracture" Ayako said patting down the dressing.

"No. No hospitals" Mai managed to croak out, her whole mouth tasted like copper from the blood.

Ayako huffed "you could have died Mai, I don't care. If I don't think you are getting any better then I'm taking you"

"okay" Mai said looking down at her soaked clothes. She watched as Ayako gathered up the bandages and other pieces of equipment. She raised her hand and took the ice pack off Masako. She turned her head to her slowly, "thanks" she said to her. She then turned to Ayako "thanks for patching me up" Ayako smiled

"I'd have rather taken you to the hospital but you are too stubborn for that"

Mai just snorted slightly "how are the guys and Mio?" she coughed out

"they are all fine, Mio was in shock but I gave her a light sedative to calm her down and she's sleeping now. John and Monk are unscratched" She said

Mai just rolled her eyes "of course they are"

"you just seem to have the bad luck" Ayako said

Mai suddenly felt a sobering moment "yeah you can say that again" she said.

Both Ayako and Masako disappeared from the bathroom leaving Mai to sit by herself for a few moments. As they left she'd noticed the blood stains on them and figured they were probably away to clean up.

Despite not being the first time, she'd experienced a concussion it was the first time she'd had someone else stitch up the cut for her. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the bath tub.

"How's patient zero?" she heard Monk ask Ayako just outside the doorway.

"She looks alright, but the initial shock is probably still in affect" Ayako responded

"You looked pretty wrung out, do you want to crash at my place tonight? Saves you driving all the way home" Mai heard Monk ask

'I KNEW IT!' Mai thought to herself, she knew it wouldn't be long before they two were dating. Trying not to eavesdrop the rest of their conversation Mai tried to stand up. Her legs felt shaky, but she managed to get up with no other problems. She saw herself in the mirror and just about fell over again. It didn't matter how many times she was bloody and bruised she couldn't quite get used to it. Hair matted and bloody, blood pretty much all over her face, neck, clothes and a massive white bandage stuck to the left side of her head. It managed to balance out her scar nicely. She certainly looked the part of a survivalist gone rogue. She tried to look around the bathroom to see what state it was left in but lowering her head made the world spin and she just about fell out of the bathroom. The wall on the other side of the hallway stopped her from falling flat on her face, again.

"Woah there" Monk said

Mai had both hands out in front of her leaning her forearms against the wall, she turned her head around slowly to look at him. "I'm totally fine" she slurred in response. Monk and Ayako shared a look that suggested otherwise.

"Yeah I don't think so" they both said in unison

"Don't you dare try and double team me" Mai said back, "I just want to go and sit down. I told you I'm fine"

"Alright, go ahead" Monk said moving over to try and let her past. Mai smirked but she knew this wouldn't end well. Attempting to move her leg the world spun around her. She felt like she was drunk. She told her brain to move one way but instead it went the other. She felt suddenly weightless again.

"Yeah you're fine I don't think" Monk said from above her. He managed to catch her around the waist before she ended up with another concussion. "You aren't going anywhere like that" he said, Mai felt herself get lifted up and put a hand over her eyes as the light from the windows caused her head to sting.

"Look, I'll be fine, I need to shower and change my clothes, along with cleaning up the blood in the other apartment" she said bluntly while Monk sat her down on the couch.

"It's fine we took care of that" Monk said

"Alright but I need to shower and change" Mai said still not opening her eyes, a thin layer of sweat had covered her body and despite the pain in her head there was also a gnawing feeling that she'd forgotten something.

"I'm sure I can help you with that" Yasu tried to say seductively as he sat down next to her

"Oh shut up and get out my way you brat" Ayako replied. Mai felt the weight of the couch shift underneath her. She was currently holding her head in her hands, pressing the ice pack against the left hand side to cool down an swelling. She was trying to focus on her breathing, what had she forgotten.

Ayako was trying to tell her something but she couldn't make it out properly. Her ears were popping, opening her eyes it suddenly came back to her what she was trying to forget.

Damien. It was like someone had sent a shock through her whole system. Her body reacted on its own and suddenly she was up on her feet. Breathing laboured and eyes wild trying to scan the environment.

"Mai you shouldn't be standing up right now" Ayako said from the spot next to her. She started to speak but the words got caught in her throat. Her vision focused in and out and she could see Damien standing leaning against the kitchen counter.

"What you going to do Mai? Tell your friends about what happened?" he said disappearing and then he re appeared next to Naru. "What about pretty boy here? Think things will end well for them if you tell?" Damien smirked. Naru just shot her a puzzled looked from where he was standing. He'd been suspiciously quiet through all of this.

The panic set in. "No. No. Stop it" she said her body shaking again. She blinked and realised that he wasn't there, she was the only one seeing it again. She felt her breathing hitch again and put her hands over her ears to try and drown out his voice. She felt a hand on her arm and jumped out of the way. "I have to go, I can't be here right now" she said to whoever was next to her. She could no longer focus and everything was blurry and spinning. She managed to grab her bag from the corner before attempting to leave the room.

"MAI! Come back, you can't leave with that injury" Monk shouted behind her. She walked past Lin and Naru who were standing at the monitors, avoiding Naru's outstretched arm as she skidded past.

"Running away again Mai, so typical of you isn't it?" Damien remarked standing by the door.

Without thinking Mai screamed at him on the way out the door "SHUT UP. I TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T GO BACK, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD". She knew there was nothing there but she took satisfaction in shoving him as she fled past. Of course, by the time he hit the ground he'd disappeared but Mai didn't care. The fear that she felt kept her upright and moving.

2 hours later

Mai had practically flown through the streets trying to get away from everyone, she looked like a mess but needed somewhere safe to calm herself and try to fix the damage. She'd ended up back at Naru's apartment. It took her forever to get there but she'd somehow managed it. An hour later, she'd battled against the dizziness and showered herself. This hadn't been easy with her new bandage stuck to her head. She had fought to get on clean clothes but she wasn't about to sleep in blood covered ones. She'd done that before and she wasn't doing it again. She was currently sitting in the living room of Naru's apartment, the lights were off and she was trying to battle the spinning in her head by sitting on the floor with her back against the couch. The room was freezing but it made her feel more comfortable. Drifting in and out of consciousness she had her eyes closed when she heard the door slam open and then shut. She didn't have to open them to know who it was. For someone who use to barely know where his employees were, he was doing a surprisingly good job of keeping track of her in these cases.

"You know, I have better things to do with my time that follow you around constantly" Naru snapped

"…" Mai paused and let out a sigh "I know" was all she could say, she didn't want to argue with him about this.

Knowing that she'd thrown him with her blunt answer actually made her laugh, it had taken 3 and a half years but she was finally able to completely lead him off track. She never thought she'd be capable of that.

"Since you brought it up, is there any particular reason you followed me back here?" She asked standing up, still dizzy she had to support herself against the couch.

"Don't flatter yourself. I wanted to make sure you hadn't had one of your fits and decided to wreck my flat" Naru remarked while taking off his coat and scarf.

'Yeah right' Mai thought to herself

Naru crossed the space between them in the room and stood in front of her. He looked as if he wanted to reach out to her but stopped himself. He looked concerned but tried to school his expression to its usual neutral facade, "do you want to talk about what happened?" he asked

Mai took a shakey step back, "I have no idea what you are talking about"

"Cut the crap Mai. You can live in denial for the rest of your life, but it won't change anything" Naru said rather bluntly.

Not expecting that answer Mai just looked at him. "Look I told you that I would do things on my own terms, not yours."

"While you said that, your current state is bad for business. I can't have you making scenes and running away the moment things get difficult" Naru snapped back

"OH of course! That's what this is about, the business! How could I think otherwise?! Imagine that the great Oliver Davis's image dragged through the mud by his neurotic team member. Well if I haven't said it already let me apologise for my unstable emotions, I'm so sorry if they caused you or your work any problems" Mai practically spat at him. She felt like he'd put a knife into her heart. She knew it was also about being professional and cursed herself for ever thinking there might have been more. Standing glaring at each other this fight would not end successfully unless Mai offered up some information to him. She knew she was in the wrong here but she was too stubborn to admit it to him. The room was spinning, and she fell back onto the couch just as her legs gave way. She ran her hands over her face, trying to rub out the pain that was currently surrounding her scar.

"What did you see?" Naru asked hesitantly breaking the tension between them

"What?" Mai repeated looking up at him

"When Mio put her hands on your face. What did she show you?" Naru asked

Mai let out a sigh, "Damien, that's who she showed me" she said while looking down at her hands. Despite the shower she could still see patches of red and blood under her ragged nails. Mai had mentioned him to Naru once before, she knew he was smart enough to fix the pieces of the puzzle together, it wouldn't take him long.

"Who is he?" Naru asked

"I…" Mai paused feeling incredibly vulnerable. "I can't tell you that" she said but then something entered her mind "but I can show you". Looking up she couldn't read Naru's facial expression but she knew he would be interested. "But not now" Mai watched Naru's reaction trying to figure out what he was thinking. "I can't walk, not in this state. Not right now" Mai heaved while holding her aching head. She lay slumped on the couch with her legs dangling off the end.

"Admitting you need rest, you really must have a concussion" Naru smirked but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Ass" Mai cursed under her breath while squeezing her eyes shut. Focusing on her breathing she tried to push down the wave of nausea.