Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or the title of this fic.
Chapter Twenty One
"Okay, so this is just a reconnaissance mission. We're not staying in there very long."
"Yes," Mai replied, her eyes closed as she concentrated, trying to find her last memory from before she'd gotten sick.
"And we'll leave as soon as we sense Him."
Mai cracked open an eye and gave me a narrow-eyed stare. "Yes, Houshou. We've been over it at least 4 times now. You're making me more nervous."
"Okay! Okay. I'm sorry, I'm nervous too. I just don't want to screw it up."
We were standing near the edge of some woods, in a park that Mai said she'd visited as a kid with her mom. She'd said that being surrounded by trees made easier transition points to move between memories, something about how moving from group of trees to a group of trees in a different memory made the seam between the two less jarring. "There are a few trees outside of my apartment, but not many," she had said, "so there will still be a pretty bad lurch." She seemed to know what she was talking about, and I knew enough to trust her on this.
"We're both nervous, that's why we have to go now, before we lose our courage. We go in, see how far we get, then come back before he notices us."
"Oh, well when you put it that way, it sounds easy!" I said, my sarcasm barely covering up how terrified I was.
Mai ignored me. "The last thing I remember is…Amber coming over to hang out and watch TV with us. So we'll try and start there. Are you ready?"
I took a deep breath in and tried to relax my muscles. It's just a trial run. You can do this. "Ready," I said, as I glanced over at her. I tried to smile, but I'm pretty sure my face looked more like a Halloween mask than anything.
She smiled back, though it was too wide, and looked more terrified than anything. She stepped closer to me and grabbed hold of my hand, her thin fingers lacing themselves in between mine. "Okay, then let's go!"
The next second she was off running, threading between the trees, dragging me along behind her. I'm too old for this shit, I thought, wheezing. Still, I kept up the best I could, trying to comfort myself with the reminder that none of this was real, and that I was actually just lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Mai's fingers squeezed mine as we ran. Suddenly, the idea that none of this was real only made me feel worse.
I squeezed her hand in return, and tried to squash the negative thoughts that were threatening to take over. We'll be out of here soon, I told myself. And then I can hold her hand for real.
"Close your eyes on the count of 3!" Mai called over her shoulder.
"Okay, I'm ready!"
"Remember, keep yourself calm as soon as you feel the jolt. He can't sense us as long as you stay calm."
"Got it!" Come on, Mai, get on with it before I lose my nerve.
"One…two…THREE!"
I slammed my eyes shut, and immediately felt my stomach lurch painfully. I began to clear my mind, taking deep steady breaths as I did so. On my third breath, all I could smell was the thick, sticky, and horribly familiar smell of rotten meat.
When Naru returned with a fresh cup of coffee, only Masako remained. She was seated in the chair next to Mai's bed, so Naru dragged the chair from Takigawa's side of the room and put it in between the two beds, in front of Mai's nightstand.
"I didn't know you drank coffee," Masako said in her soft voice.
Naru shrugged. "It's better than falling asleep." His head still ached with exhaustion. He took a long drink of coffee, black this time, and fought off a yawn.
"You can sleep here, if you want to…I'll wake you up if anything changes."
"No, thank you. I'd rather stay up."
"…Exhausting yourself won't wake her up, you know." There was a hint of bitterness in Masako's quiet words. She didn't look at Naru, she just stared at her hands, her mouth set in a small, solid line.
"I know. But if I sleep, I waste time that I could be using to figure this thing out. I'd rather be awake." He wanted to add, "For when she wakes up," but he didn't. Masako seemed to sense his thoughts anyway.
"Forget I said anything."
The two sat in silence. There wasn't much to say, and it didn't help that Naru was even less talkative than normal.
Masako sat up straight in her chair, her eyes suddenly focused intensely on Mai.
"What is it?" Naru asked urgently, his stomach dropping.
Masako's eyes began to glaze over, the way they always did when she began seeing spirits and the like. "I…don't know…" she replied. "Something is changing…"
Naru stood up, his entire body rigid with anxiety. His eyes flicked back and forth between Mai and Masako as he waited for something to happen. Please let her be safe, he thought. He glanced at Takigawa. Let them both be safe.
After the jolt, I felt the world shift slightly around me as Mai transitioned from her memories outside of her apartment to those inside. When I finally opened my eyes, I found the world cloudy around me. The air felt heavy and wet, like fog, and it took me a second to realize that we were standing in a blurry, mist-covered version of Mai's apartment. I tried to maintain my slow, methodic breathing, but it was hard to do when I couldn't breathe through my nose without gagging.
Next to me, Mai began looking around. As she did, the apartment sharpened around us. The fog dissipated, but the air still felt humid and rank.
A still-cloudy version of Mai was sitting on the couch to our right, watching TV with Monica. Mai said that usually when she replayed memories, she'd take part; since we were trying to stay hidden, she couldn't do that this time. The memory-version of Mai looked more like a shadow than anything else, since Mai couldn't clearly visualize herself in these memories.
"So far, so good," Mai whispered. She pressed herself against my side. It turns out that it's really hard to focus on meditating and keeping your mind clear when all you want to do is kiss someone. One accidental breath through my nose killed any romantic ideas, however.
In the memory, the front door opened, revealing Amanda and Amber.
"Hey ladies! Look who I found on my way back from class?" Amanda said as she hung her house keys by the door. Amber smiled sheepishly, and walked over to put her stuff next to the couch.
"I remember this…" Mai breathed next to me, her fingers growing tense.
"It's about time!" Dream-Mai said as her shadow form scooted over on the couch to make room for Amber.
"You guys want anything to drink? I just bought some wine I could open up," Monica said.
Mai and Amber nodded enthusiastically. From her bedroom, we could hear Amanda throwing her school stuff down and yelling "YES PLEASE!"
"I'll help carry glasses," Amber said. "Last time you dropped one."
"That was ONE TIME," Monica groaned, and the two of them left the room just as Amanda reentered.
She flopped down in one of the vacant spaces next to Mai and put her feet up on the table as she let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes.
"Hey, you want to, uh, study tonight?" Dream-Mai asked quietly, leaning close to Amanda.
Amanda cracked open one eye, then the other. "Yeah, sure. Um…you sure you want to?"
Next to me, the "real" Mai tugged on my arm. "We should go," she whispered. When I looked down at her, I saw that she looked pale. I breathed in through my nose again, and found that the smell had grown stranger. "Quick, before he finds us," Mai said.
I nodded, still maintaining my deep, calm breaths through my mouth. "Lead the way," I said quietly, fighting to keep myself calm as the air around us grew heavier.
"Close your eyes," she said, "this might feel uncomfortable."
I nodded again, took a deep breath, and squeezed my eyes shut as the memory began to disappear around us.
"It's strange, it's like Mai and Houshou are…closer somehow. I can…sense them." Masako's voice was faint as she concentrated on Mai.
Next to Mai's bed, Naru's hands tightened into nervous fists, and his breath came in short, worried bursts. Calm down, he commanded himself. It's probably nothing. It's always nothing. He eyed the heart monitors closely, waiting for the usual spike that always seemed to happen at times like this.
"I can't sense the spirit's movements…perhaps it's sleeping? It seems that Mai and Houshou may be active without its knowledge…but how is that possible?"
"Does it seem like they're coming out? Waking up?" Naru asked, though he was immediately embarrassed by the excitement in his voice.
"I'm not sure…I…" Masako blinked heavily, and suddenly her eyes cleared. "No…they retreated further back into her mind. I can't sense them now." Masako rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and blinked a few more times, her eyes still readjusting to normal vision.
Naru, normally the pinnacle of emotionlessness, couldn't hide his crushing disappointment. He took a few small, staggering steps backwards and nearly fell back into his chair. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands covering his eyes.
Masako got awkwardly to her feet and walked to Naru's side, putting a hand lightly on his back, between his shoulder blades. "I'm…sorry, Oliver. I tried…" She sighed, and beneath her hand she could feel Naru take a deep, shivering breath. There were so many things she wanted to say, things she'd never said, feelings she'd never expressed, but none of that mattered now. Instead, she said: "I…I think this means they're fighting back. She'll…she'll wake up soon. I'm sure of it."
Naru expelled a heavy gust of air. He straightened, shrugging Masako's hand off his back. "Yeah, well, we'll see." He stood up and fished his phone out of his pocket to check the time. "It's almost 9 AM," he said, not looking at Masako. "I'm going to go see if I can get a hold of Monica." He turned and headed for the door.
"Okay…I'll wait here, I guess…" Masako called after him half-heartedly. She sat back down and leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, her head tilted toward Mai. "Please wake up soon, Mai," she said quietly. "I want to go home."
A/N: Look at me, updating regularly! I know this chapter is pretty short, so I'll try to get chapter 22 up in a couple days. I just need to get it out of my journal and onto a computer. Fear not, fair readers, the chapters will come. Thank you again for your reviews! I'm glad there are a few fellow Monk-lovers out there :).