Ciao Poveglia

Rated: T

Shibuya Psychic Research receives a special invitation to a 'psychic summit' being hosted at the infamously haunted Poveglia island. Though crossing half the globe with his team is not ideal, Naru simply cannot pass up the chance to get into the normally locked down location. [Rated T, possibly M for gore later.]

000

Day 57, Hour 03:02

Mai had barely managed to nod off when she awoke with a jolt. Smoke. She smelled smoke. Her first instinct was to look over at Ash, but the woman was sitting against the wall, also apparently asleep. Masako, Yasuhara, Naru…. All asleep. Monk and Ayako were in the other room with John and Lin—Mai could hear their voices. Apparently, they hadn't noticed the smell starting to waft through the room. She sat up and looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

There was a faint orange glow coming from beneath the doorway. Mai had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. But no, they weren't. There was a fire on the other side of the door.

Alarm bells went off in Mai's head when she realized what was happening and she took a deep breath before shouting, "fire!"

The effect was instantaneous. Everyone in the room shot upright and looked around, eyes wide with panic. John, Ayako, Monk, and Lin came running up the stairs from Deittman's base and looked around. Mai didn't waste her breath with words, instead she just pointed at the base of the door to the hallway. Monk was the first to response, turning to look at Ash.

"This isn't you, is it?" He asked, suspicion in his voice.

Ash scowled. "What? No. Of course it isn't me. I don't spontaneously set things of fire. At least, not anymore." She struggled to stand against the wall, wincing and holding her hands against her side.

"Well how do we know that?" Monk continued, his voice steadily rising, "for all we know this is a trick to get us to leave the room, and you're in on it! You could have been working with that bastard Markus this entire time! Trying to lull us into a false sense of security!"

Ash's mouth dropped open in disbelief. She moved her hands from her sides and then waved them up and down her body. "Really?! I've been put through just as much hell as the rest of you! Maybe even more! I've done nothing but try to help you since the beginning!"

"Yeah, but how about—" Monk starting, taking a step forward.

"That's enough," Naru interrupted. "Turning on one another will not make this better. We need to move. Markus likely set fire to something in the hallway to lure us out through the other door. We can either open the door and see if the flames can be put out, or we do exactly as he wants and walk out the other door."

The group looked at one another, each growing more aware of the smoke seeping in through the doorway.

"Wait," Mai said, catching Naru's attention, "what if he thinks that we think his plan is to have us go through the other door, so he's waiting for us at this door? He knows Ash is here and alive, so maybe he thinks we'll try to out maneuver him and go through this door. If so, then we should go through the other door."

"Mai, that is so complicated. Do you really think he thought about us thinking about his plan?" Masako said with a frustrated sigh. She was putting her highly impractical shoes back on, in case they were really planning on leaving.

"She has a point," Ash replied and shrugged, "I mean, my first instinct is to go open the door and see if I can get the fire put out. I think Markus would know that."

Naru looked between Ash and Mai, and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed and shook his head, as if he were surprised by the words he was about to speak. "I am… Inclined to agree. Markus is obviously clever—he was able to fool us all until he slipped up and let us into the Doctor's office. He tried to go alone at first, if you remember. He probably wanted to hide his mask box. If we had let him, we may not have discovered his ill intentions until it was too late."

"If we're going to do this," Lin said, finally speaking up, "then let me go first. I can create a temporary barrier with my Shiki if need be. I doubt it will last long, but it will be enough to keep us from getting caught off guard again."

Naru gave Lin a curt nod and turned around to gather is jacket. If they ended up outside, it would be cold, even colder than it was in their small base. Mai and the others quickly followed suit and gathered up what they could easily carry. It was unlike that they would be able to return. Now that Mai had a moment had a moment to ask, she discovered that it was only a little bit past three in the morning. They would have to make a run for it and find another place to hole up until their boat arrived.

"I'll remove some of the seals from the door downstairs," Ayako said as she zipped up her puffy coat. Mai thought it looked vaguely like an inflated trashbag. Ayako, however, assured her that they were all the rage in Europe. Mai smiled and nodded, but she didn't think that the concept made it any better. Mai shook her head clear of those extraneous thoughts and followed after Lin and Naru as they left the room.

Monk and John were helping Yasuhara move about. Yasu winced as he stood, but Mai had been impressed by his commitment not to complain about his wound. The burn certainly hadn't been his fault, and Mai would have been whining about it constantly. Yasu only made a few jokes, but steeled against the pain and continued onwards. Still, he couldn't hide his limp.

Ash trailed behind everyone, letting Masako go ahead of her. Mai figured that if Lin was leading them onwards, then Ash was covering their tails as they left. Honestly, if it were up to Mai, she would rather be in front than in back. At least then she would see if something was coming at her if she had to get ready for a fight. Not that she would be able to do much against a psychopathic psychic…

"Everyone ready?" Naru asked, his voice low, as they all reached the door leading out of Deittman's base. There were nods and mummers, though Mai could see traces of fear in everyone's eyes. She couldn't blame them. This could be their demise.

Ayako carefully pulled of a few of the spiritual seals protecting the doors and tucked them into her pocket to be used later. Then, Lin counted to three quietly before whistling sharply and whipping the door open. Mai tensed as he did, expecting to come face to face with the unnerving white plague doctor's mask Markus had chosen to dawn.

Instead, there was only blackness. Had she really been right? Did Markus think that they would try to predict his moves and do the unexpected? Mai couldn't help but release a sigh of relief. However, that relief didn't last long. She realized she could smell blood in the air—she could practically taste it, it was so heavy.

"Damn," Lin muttered and shook his head. Mai noticed that he seemed to side step something as he headed into the hallway. "Everyone… be careful… Stick to the right. Don't look down if you can avoid it."

Mai swallowed hard. After everything that had happened on the island, she knew that Lin was warning them for good reason. She steadied herself and moved forward, just behind Naru. She tried to stick to the right just as Lin had directed, but her foot caught on something and she looked down instinctively.

And she wanted to vomit. Vomit and cry. She barely managed to suppress her gag as she stumbled forward and pushed by Naru.

Isabella, it seemed, was dead. At least, Mai assumed it was Isabella based on the long, white-blonde hair stained red and pooling on the floor in front of the door. She didn't want to look close enough to confirm. There were deep cuts in the woman's body, and her light colored clothes were crimson and black. But what disturbed Mai most was the blood on the door. Isabella's arms were stretched out, her fingertips barely reaching the threshold of the door itself. Mai could see the streaks of blood on the wood of the door, left behind by Isabella's finger tips.

She had been alive, at least for a while.

She had been alive, and Mai had done nothing but listen as Isabella tried to get their attention, since she couldn't scream.

The guilt filled Mai like a large bubble. If it popped, she thought she would lose her mind. So much had happened and she felt so responsible as it was.

Mai tried to run passed Lin, but he threw his arm out, keeping her back. She opened her mouth to say something, but only a squeak came out. Lin just gave her a hard look—one that said to her that now was not the time, and I'm upset, too. She just nodded and stepped behind him, letting him lead on with his flashlight and familiars. Now that she was just behind the light, she could see that there was a red streak on the ground, and periodic hand prints.

Isabella had dragged herself down the hallway to try to reach them.

Mai squeezed her eyes shut, letting a few tears slide down her cheek before opening them and letting out a staggered exhale. She would have the rest of her life to feel guilty and upset, and she would probably be haunted by Isabella's broken image. But she needed to keep moving to ensure that she actually had a long life in which to seek repentance.

"There should be an exit on the left," Naru said. His voice was low, but it still made Mai jump when it interrupted the silence. "Lin, point the torch in that direction." As directed, Lin flicked the flashlight into the darkness on their left. But there was nothing there.

Well, there was something there, but they couldn't see the door, that was for sure. Lin turned the light upwards, towards where the ceiling was supposed to be. It was no longer there. Instead, the ceiling which separated them from the next floor had crumbled down in large chunks, and those chunks were shoved up against the doorway in layers. They had been barricaded inside of the building.

"How… How strong is he?" Ayako asked, her words coming out in shaky increments. No one responded, which made the realization even worse.

So that's what Markus has been doing in the hours of peace they had been enjoying in their base. He was methodically trapping them inside. Even most of the low windows were blocked. It was at that moment that the panic started to set it. Monk put most of Yasuhara's weight onto John and then ran to the blocked door and tried to move the heavy chunks of stone. He struggled and struggled, but it did him no good.

"I can move it," Naru said finally, causing Lin to turn around sharply, shining the flashlight into Naru's eyes. "Lin, don't—"

"Absolutely not, Oliver, you're already cutting it too close. If you use one more burst of PK, you'll surely be knocked out—and then what? We carry you? You'll do more harm than help," Lin replied sharply. Mai looked over at Naru, who looked like he expected Lin's response.

"Then leave me behind. This is my team. I should never have allowed us to come here. If someone is going to be punished for it, then it should be me."

Lin opened his mouth to speak, but Mai cut him off before he had the opportunity. "Naru… If you think there's even a chance that I would leave you behind, then you're a fool. I can't speak for the others, but you know damn well that I wouldn't leave here without you." It took all of her energy to put on a brave face and push down everything else she was feeling. She didn't think that she had the energy to hold it, however, so she prayed that it was enough to convince Naru she was telling the truth.

"Then I would have Lin drag you out," Naru said.

"Like hell you would," Lin huffed, "I would stay too. Then what? All of us die."

Naru let out a frustrated exhale and narrowed his eyes at Lin then Mai. "Alright, fine. Check the windows. Some of them may not be as fully blocked since they're about a few meters above the water. We may be able to jump."

"Yes, Boss!" Both Yasuhara and Mai replied simultaneously. Without another word, the able body team members started to check the windows in the room for any weak spots in the rubble blocking them. There were only a few inches of stone separating them from the psychotic killer and their possible freedom. That thought was enough to give them a bit of reinvigorating energy in their terrified, sleep deprived estate.

It was so exciting that Mai barely even registered the smell of smoke that slowly crept down the hallway in their direction.

000

Author's Notes: Isabella… Poor girl. She was doomed from the beginning! I used her in another story, After Colony: Revelation, and people just hated her. And rightfully so, to be honest. She wasn't ever meant to be a likable character then. So, I decided that this was when she needed to go. She had nothing to do with Markus's plans besides possibly knowing what he did. More of that in the epilogue.

Now we're down to just Markus and Ash from the Deittman team. So far, the SPR team has managed to be spared, but we're coming up on the final chapter. Will they all make it?

Thank you to: the few guests, Sesshy's Rose, Surischa, Ghost loves Japan 77, Tsuntsun neko, MistressSleepwell666. I insanely appreciate it each time you guys review! You all keep me motivated to continue writing (and to stick with my goal of having it all posted by the new year!)

Nollypoo: I was worried the heart to heart with Masako would be too rushed, so I'm glad you liked it! Honestly, I never thought about Lin taking the fire spirit as a shiki… It's a really interesting idea, and I wish I had come up with that! I actually have read the short story you're referring to, though it was about half way through Ciao Poveglia. It really helped me in that it assured me I was writing Naru as close to properly as I could! Thank you for your review!

Oxybry: though Markus does have some motivations, I would hardly call any motivation for going on a rampage a "good" one. So, in some ways, you're right. He's a psychopath who decided to show everyone what he could do. He's…. not quite right in the head, to say the least! Thank you for your review!

Sincerelyreeny: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! So, with Mai… here's my reasoning: Masako is trained well enough to keep herself closed off unless she's caught off guard. So, for the most part, she isn't spiritually opening herself enough to let the spirits get close to her. Mai, on the other hand, is like a beacon. She's a shining light of energy because she has a desire to connect and communicate with the spirits. Also, with her leaving her body, it creates a perfect opening that would allow a spirit to possess her without an internal being struggling to take control again…. Is it right? Probably not! That's just how I see it! Hope that makes sense! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Puff the Evil Dragon: aha! You broke down! That was my hope… if I kept updating frequently enough, the people frequently checking for stories would eventually feel like they had to click on it! I'm glad you're enjoying it enough to get the whole way through! Your review honestly made me smile, so thank you for that!

Kikifan21: There is so much I want to respond to you with… but you'll see it all pretty soon. I don't want to give too much away by responding publicly…. Well, I hope you will be satisfied with the ending! Thank you soooo much for your great review!

I hope I didn't miss anyone! Everyone else, thanks for reading!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F