Author Note: I actually slept through my alarm. I never sleep through an alarm. This is weird. But I either slept through it or somehow last night, my cat turned it off.
~CWA

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: THE CURSED HOUSE PART X

Day Two (Continued)

When it became obvious to everyone that Yoko was possessed, Monk and Ayako pushed Mai gently behind them. Danny tensed slightly as the spirit revealed its true colors. Yoko continued to grin as the charm burned in her hands as if the flames didn't bother her. Seeing the flames struck a chord within Danny, causing him to inwardly wince, but he stood his ground.

"Just calm down," he stated simply, "Listen to my voice."

He repeated the phrase a few times as Yoko looked at him in confusion. Her body started to feel heavy as if she couldn't move. As soon as she was immobile, Danny placed a finger on her temple, muttering a few words in Esperanto under his breath. She felt her eyes get heavy as they glazed over. Danny motioned for John to step forward,

"She's immobile. Don't worry, it's similar to the Binding of Immobility so she's not hurt or passed out. John, if you will please…"

John nodded and stepped forward with the bottle of Holy Water in his hands. He made a cross with it before he started to pray. As he spoke the exorcism, the woman began to feel better. They could practically feel the energy lift. As he finished, Yoko gasped before falling to her knees. Danny helped her get steady as she looked at everyone in confusion.

"What happened…. Who are you?"

That night, after everything was settled, Mai thought it would calm down, that perhaps they could go the rest of the night in peace. However, that proved not to be the case as she found herself in a room with everyone from SPR once again as Monk, Akifumi and Danny searched the residence for Nao. The clock told her it was already past midnight and she was starting to lose hope.

"Any sign of her," Mai asked hopefully as the group entered the room.

"No," Monk shook his head, "We looked everywhere for her."

"When we searched the room we found that she left her wallet and keys behind," Akifumi added, "I doubt she could have made it far by herself."

Danny sighed deeply as he sat beside Mai,

"I can't even use my abilities to find her. I tried, but her trail just faded away as if someone or something washed it away."

"Is that even possible," Mai questioned.

"It's hard to do," Danny admitted, "Even when Suzuki from that one case went missing, I was able to find enough of her trail before it cut off. But with Nao, it's gone completely. Which means she either has been gone from this property for a longer time than we think or some spiritual force doesn't want us to find her."

He sighed in frustration again as he ran his hands through his hair. Akifumi gave a sad, thankful look toward Danny with his head a bit low,

"But we thank you for trying your best," Akifumi tried to comfort the Spiritualist, sensing that he was obviously distressed, "I know all this running around is hard for you. I saw your inhaler."

Danny gave a nod of appreciation, his hand touching the inhaler in his pocket slightly. John and Monk gave Danny a small nod of thanks as well, both of them remembering how bad his lungs were at the Urado case. Ayako leaned against the wall as she began to think.

"Now that I think about it," Ayako mused, "I don't think we ever gave her a charm for protection."

Akifumi nodded sadly,

"If she hasn't returned in the morning, I'll file a missing person's report…"

He didn't have time to add anymore as Lin noticed something on the screens. His eyes hardened slightly as he ordered Monk and Danny to take a look.

"Check the feed from the cave," Lin instructed the two as they hovered over Lin's shoulder.

What was on the screen made them both snap into action as they started to run out of the room.

"John, follow us," Monk ordered as they ran out.

Lin followed the group as well, quickly giving Mai and Ayako an order to stay put. Mai furrowed her brows in confusion as she rushed over to the screens, hoping to see what they saw. Ayako joined as well,

"What do you see Mai?"

"It… It looks like something's caught on the rocks at the edge of the cave. It bobs up and down whenever the waves roll…"

She pointed to the screen where she saw the strange object. They both watched as Monk, Danny, Lin and John appeared on screen, running and out of breath. Danny had to use his inhaler once or twice, but he seemed to be just fine as he helped the others drag whatever it was out of the sea. As the group brought it out, Mai and Ayako had wide eyes with horror.

"This is terrible," Ayako whispered.

"Is… Is that Nao," Mai whispered, a bit horrified.

Akifumi, who stood behind them, saw his family member on the screen. He paled slightly before running out of the room, ignoring Mai's calls for him to come back. Giving up, Mai turned her attention back to the screen. The more she watched the more tears started to bristle at her eyes. Ayako held Mai close in a motherly, comforting fashion as they both watched the horrible scene unfold.

Why can't Naru be here at a time like this, Mai thought desperately.

What they had found in the cave was indeed Nao's deceased body. The news of her death didn't settle well with anyone in the family nor the Spiritualists. The SPR group, along with Danny, had gathered back into their room. A tense grim aura of death surrounded the room so thickly it was almost suffocating. Mai was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest as she tried to hold back the tears. Danny was a bit jumpy, quick to snap at anyone, but it was clear to Mai that he was mostly frustrated with himself rather than the others. Monk was just finishing drying his hair from the dip into the ocean as he turned to Masako,

"I think you should try to channel Nao's spirit," he announced clearly.

Masako nodded and it wasn't too long before she had a séance set up, complete with the dark rooms and the only lights being the candles. Mai sat with the others at the dark table as she whispered to Monk.

"Shouldn't the family be here for this?"

"No way," Monk shook his head, "I think this was foul play and it's likely one of the other family members are the murderers. That's why we need Masako to summon the spirit to tell us what happened…"

The candles flickered a bit as Masako was finally able to channel the spirit. Danny tensed, hating how this séance was being done. He never agreed with channeling spirits. Allowing them to just possess you like that, no matter how briefly, seems dangerous to me, he thought before shaking his head. He brought his focus back on the situation. Masako's eyes closed as she let out a small gasp.

"Are you Nao Yoshimi," Danny asked clearly.

Masako, or rather Masako's body, nodded,

"Y-Yes," her voice came out a bit different than her usual voice.

"Nao Yoshimi," Danny spoke clearly, "You have passed away. Do you know how you died?"

"I fell," the spirit answered, "… Into the sea. I was looking at the water just outside the restaurant when someone pushed me."

"Who pushed you," Danny demanded, "Do you remember anything? Even the slightest detail could help us find out who did it."

"I-I don't know," the spirit's voice wavered, "I don't remember anything! I-I don't want to remember anything… I don't want to know who did this to me."

She didn't get a chance to speak more as she screamed, screaming about a monster pulling on her, yet Danny didn't sense any more spirits. The others tensed and leaned forward, prepared to help, but Danny just shook his head as a signal that she was simply reliving what had happened to her. The candles stopped flickering as Masako became limp.

"Monster," John repeated, "What did she mean?"

"She confirmed she was murdered," Danny chimed, "…And it was most likely someone in her family…"

Danny felt a bit of unease as he spoke those words, a small shiver going up his spine as his stomach turned. Unpleasant memories of his own almost-death came to mind and he stood up,

"I-I don't feel well… Please excuse me."

He bowed politely, but everyone could see his body was shaking before he quickly left the room.

"I'll see if he's okay," Monk reassured the group as he stood up and followed the young Spiritualist.

As he stepped out of the room, it didn't take long for him to find Danny swaying on his feet a few doors down. Danny leaned against the wall with a heavy heart, his breathing becoming shallow as he felt his face heat up. His heart was pounding louder and louder. All he could hear was his parent's voices. "Our son died…You are a ghost…" His eyes widened with tears as he reached up to clench at his chest. He gripped his shirt tightly over his heart as he started to shake even more. He's having a panic attack, Monk realized as he quickly rushed over to help the young man.

"Danny," Monk spoke softly and slowly to not startle him, "Danny can you hear me? Danny… Listen to me, please. Take some deep breaths and you'll be fine. Is it okay for me to touch you?"

Danny looked at Monk with wide eyes. It broke the man's heart to see such betrayal, heartbreak and hurt in Danny's eyes. Finally, Danny nodded slowly, but his breathing was still rigid and broken. Monk placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, noticing the way Danny winced and almost pulled away. Monk's grasp was loose, but it was comforting. Monk couldn't feel any spirits inside Danny which meant the panic attack was his own. What could have happened for him to have such an extreme reaction to this, Monk thought in confusion, He's a Spiritualist. He's used to death, but it seems like there was something specific about her death that was a trigger.

Danny continued to shake, bringing Monk out of his own thoughts. He's still a kid, Monk focused, he's still pretty young and he's a powerful psychic and spiritualist, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own issues. Monk breathed slowly and deeply, trying to get Danny to mimic the breathing exercise.

"Listen to me," Monk said softly, "Please Danny… You're okay, no one is going to hurt you, you're safe with us. Deep breaths… You're a strong young man, Danny, you can do this…"

With Monk's help, Danny was slowly brought back to reality. He was still a bit shaken, but he was able to slow down his heart beat as he looked up at Monk.

"I'm sorry," Danny apologized with a guilty expression, "I haven't really had a chance to meditate here yet… Usually meditation helps keep these under control…"

He gave Monk a shaky grin, which Monk returned,

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Just take it easy…Do you need some help getting back to your room?"

"I…Sure…"

Danny admitted to the help as he leaned against Monk for support, still a bit shaky on his feet. Monk threw his arm around Danny and helped him get to the room. I don't know what happened to you, Monk thought to himself, And I may never will, but it's pretty clear that you need someone to help you… I just wish you'd let us do it.