14AmyChan: Betcha weren't expecting two updates in one day, were ya?!
Mai: Wasn't Yasu making you cry a minute ago?
14AmyChan: *sniffs* Yasu doesn't wanna talk to me…
Mai: Well, you haven't exactly put him in a whole lot…
14AmyChan: *sits in depression corner*
Mai: *sighs* great, now I have to cheer her up so she can tell me what she's going to do to Naru…
John: Excuse me for the interruption.
Mai: Hey, John!
John: Amy-chan wrote this down earlier for me to tell everyone.
Mai: Shoot.
John: *reading from a piece of paper* Most of the characters in this chapter are—in fact—the property of Amy-Chan. Only two characters belong to the Ghost Hunt manga, anime, and/or franchise. I had the most fun writing this chapter and I sincerely hope you enjoy it.
Mai: That it?
John: *reads note over* yup, that's it. *turns to audience* I hope you enjoy it, too! *smiles*
Fangirls: *squeal*
The night was unbearably warm, that much had been obvious. Far too warm to be wearing anything other than a tank top and a pair of shorts. Then again, such nights were typical in this town, as she was slowly learning. Being only two years old, the girl was already quite adept at noticing her surroundings. So what if she usually forgot after about a week, that had to be normal. Right?
Two-year-old Victoria tossed in her bed at the orphanage, trying to get to sleep. It was so hard. The bed was too hard. It was too hot. She wanted a drink of water. She had to go to the bathroom. Mel snored too loud. It was too dark.
Around and around, these thoughts circled in Victoria's mind. She could not get to sleep! She frowned and her chubby cheeks bloated into a pout. She pushed herself off of her bed and looked around, trying to gauge what she should do. Mamma Murray said that no one should be awake when it gets dark, and that good kids were asleep when dark came.
Okay, so Mel told her that. But Mel said Mamma Murray said!
Mamma Murray did not look too happy today. Or yesterday. Or the day before that. Victoria knew that Mamma Murray used to be happy, but she forgot. Did Mamma Murray smile really bright? Or did it always look so flat? Did she really laugh? Really loud and big like Kyle did?
Mel said she used to.
Victoria had asked why.
Mel said to mind her own business.
Victoria tried. But she could not.
Maybe that was why Victoria could not sleep. She was thinking about Mamma Murray. She thought about Mamma Murray a little while longer. Would it be okay if Victoria got out of bed to go to Mamma Murray's room? Mamma Murray was always nice. Maybe Mamma Murray would let her sleep with her.
It was worth a shot.
That was a phrase Mel used.
With all the determination a two year old could muster, Victoria clambered out of her bed and landed on the floor with a loud thunk! on her bottom. Tears sprung to the girl's eyes, and she tried very hard to scrub them away.
Creak…
Victoria stopped scrubbing at her eyes and looked at the door. Mamma Murray said that good kids were in bed when it was dark. Well, Mel said because Mamma Murray said.
Creak…
Victoria's breath hitched up. She started to breathe very hard. It was not a good kid who was walking around. And the light was not on. Good kids needed the light so they did not break things.
That's what Mel said.
Creak…
Pitter patter pitter patter!
Victoria's eyes went wide. It sounded like a whole army outside! Like those armies that older boys play! Were the boys playing army?
Victoria suddenly wanted to play with them!
Carefully, the girl made her way to the door, wobbling on her feet every now and again. Now she was sleepy. No, she was not! She wanted to play! She did not want to go to sleep now! She wanted to play with the boys and play army!
Victoria finally made it to the door. She looked back, but she did not need to. Do you know why? Because Mel snores loud, that is why. And because Mel snores loud, Victoria already knew that Mel was still sleeping.
Wait until she told Mel in the morning that she got to play army with the boys!
Victoria reached up as high as her hand would go, but it was too high! Victoria frowned. She wanted out of her room now! She jumped. She still did not even touch the door handle. It was too high!
Upset, Victoria pushed on the door a little bit. Just a little bit. And the door opened.
Victoria smiled again. Now she could find the pitter patter footprints and the creak footprints and she could play! She did not need to go to sleep.
It was too hot, anyways.
Victoria made her way down the hall, each footstep leading to another. She looked around.
Pit pat pit pat…
So that was the sound her footsteps made. Funny, she never listened to it. But… you know…
Pit pat pit pat…
Footsteps sound kind of scary in the dark…
Pit pat pit pat…
Creak…
What was that? Victoria looked around behind her. There was a great big shadow right there!
Victoria ran as fast as she could, away from the scary shadow. Tears stung at her eyes. She did not want to play army anymore. She wanted to be back in her bedroom with Mel who snores too loud!
Victoria tripped over something on the floor. She was going to hit her face!
Pitter patter pitter patter…
Victoria's face never hit the ground. Someone grabbed her around her middle and picked her up. Victoria squirmed a lot. Who was picking her up? It did not feel like an adult. Only adults were allowed to pick kids up.
That's what Mel told her. Said because Mamma Murray said.
Victoria squirmed some more. Only adults were supposed to pick kids up. The hands did not let her go. Victoria turned around to do…something. Maybe she should bite whoever it was. But biting was not nice.
Mel said so.
Maybe Mel would not be mad if she bit someone.
After all, kids are not supposed to pick up other kids.
Creak…
There it was again! Victoria stopped squirming. The hands that held her did not let go. No, they held tighter. As if they were keeping her away from something dangerous. Like fire, or the ironing board.
Creak…
Or a person.
Victoria felt very scared. She whimpered a little bit. But only a little. Because big girls do not whimper. That is for babies.
"Shhh…" a voice said. It was not Mel. She should know, because Mel still snores loud. No, it was someone else. Victoria did not know who it was. But whoever it was, they were there to help. She should know. The voice sounded gentle.
And nice people had gentle voices.
So Victoria shushed.
Creak…
"Go get Miss Murray…" the voice said again. Victoria did not understand. She was lost. She did not know where Mamma Murray's room was. Besides, the voice sounded weird this time. Like it was colder. Not not nice, but not nice either. But it was not mad. It was a voice, like the one that shushed her, only not the one that shushed her.
Victoria's head hurt. So she stopped thinking about it.
Creak…
The stepping was getting closer. Victoria put her hands over her mouth. She was trying to stop from breathing too loudly. Maybe they were playing hide-and-seek? But then why would she be scared? No. Not hide-and-seek.
"You have to close your eyes," the voice said. This one was the voice that shushed her. No doubt. No lie. Victoria looked in confusion. She could not see their face, but she knew that whoever it was staring at her.
"I wan' Mamma Murray," Victoria whispered. Whispered. Not cried. Babies cry. Victoria was not a baby. Victoria was two years old. She was going to be three in two days!
"Then do what he said and close your eyes," the not shushing voice said. Victoria blinked. Who was here?
"Are you angels?" she asked. She heard Mel talk about them. Angels kept you safe when you were gonna get hurt. Angels were good. Mel said that Mamma Murray said that Papa Murray was an angel now.
Victoria did not understand.
"When should he be here with Mamma Murray?" the shushing voice asked. The nonshushing voice did not say anything. Victoria heard something, though. Well, two somethings.
The first something was that the shushing voice said 'he' while talking to the nonshushing voice. So that meant there were three angels. And one of the angels went to get Mamma Murray. Three angels had come to save her from the darkness!
The next something was scary.
Creak… "Who's there…?"
It was a big boy voice. A deep one. Victoria turned and hid in her angel's arms, closing her eyes.
Creak… "What are you runts doing out of bed?"
Victoria did not like this voice. Only mean adults called kids 'runts'. Mel said so.
"Don't you know good runts stay in bed after dark?"
Victoria did not want to hear any more from this man. He sounded mean. And mean men should not be in the orphanage. Mamma Murray was supposed to keep them away. Victoria cried.
"Now look what you've done," the not shushing voice said. Victoria could tell he was not happy. He sounded even more not nice now. But it was a good not nice. Because he was not being not nice with her. He was being not nice with the mean man.
And Victoria could live with that.
"You made her cry. I don't like crying," the not shushing voice said some more. Victoria hiccupped. She hid her head some more. Maybe if he did not see her crying, the not shushing voice would not be mad at her. Some of her hair flew into her face, but she did not open her eyes. She kept her eyes closed. But her ears were open.
She heard a thud-thud! And she heard a whoosh! And then she heard a uuugh!
And then…!
And then she heard something else!
She heard a nice voice. A really, really nice voice.
"What is going on here?" Mamma Murray asked loudly. Victoria turned to the voice. Victoria opened her eyes. She cried even more now.
"Mamma Murray!" she cried, squirming to get out of her angel's arms. Her angel let go this time, and she waddled over to Mamma Murray. Mamma Murray gave her a hug.
Victoria felt sleepy.
"What happened here?" Mamma Murray asked. Victoria was so tired. But she did not want to go to sleep yet. She had to say thank you. Or…
"Mamma Murray?" Victoria slurred. She was so tired. She wanted to go to sleep now.
"What is it?" Mamma Murray said. Victoria could tell that Mamma Murray was making sure she did not have any owies. That would be not nice.
"Can you tell the angels thank you for saving me?" Victoria asked, breathing deeply as she talked. It was not yawning. It was breathing deeply. That was what Mel said.
"Angels…?"
"Yeah…" Victoria breathed deeply again. "They—they sent one of their angel friends to—to bring you here for me. An' to keep the mean man away…"
Victoria could feel herself getting even more sleepy. But she was okay now. You know why? Because Mamma Murray was there. And Mamma Murray had told her she would tell the angels thank you for her.
You know why?
Because Mamma Murray said, "Of course, Tori, of course…"
That's why.
"Hm, interesting…" Yasu stated after reading a document. He had run across a documented recollection of that night. A journal of sorts, mainly for keeping up on all of the kids. He now had four names he would probably want to narrow the search to.
Victoria.
E.C.
A.J.
Kyle.
Yasu followed his gut feeling that told him to look into these four children specifically. Perhaps there was something here that the team needed to know for the good of the case.
At least… Yasu grinned as he got up and searched through the files once more. I hope it is…
14AmyChan: I'M BRINGIN' A YASU BAAACK!
Yasu: I got an eighth of a page… AMY-CHAN DOESN'T LOVE MEEEE!
14AmyChan: *scribbles on paper, writing next chapters* I'M SORRY YASU!
Yasu: *crais*
John: *pats Yasu's back* there there, Yasuhara-san.
Yasu: *turns and clings to John dramatically* See, John loves me!
John: …help…
Yasu: *le gasp* John, you don't love me either?!
John: No, I—
Yasu: AT LEAST JOHN LOVES MEEEE!
14AmyChan: must…incorporate…Yasuhara…