There ended up being a lot more prep for this night than I though there was going to be. I was planning to jump right into the action after the last chapter, but the more I kept writing, the more I realised that Mai wasn't gonna let me do that, so now the climax has been split into two. Maybe three. We'll see how it goes.

As a side note, it's been almost a full year since I last updated. I just wanted to say a big, giant thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and/or favorited this story, especially recently. Seeing those messages in my mail reminding me that people are still invested in this was the main thing that got me back into writing it. Enjoy!

So I decided to take a nap that evening.

It made sense, right? We all needed to be alert well into the night, and this case was putting me through a lot of stress. Besides, the ward around the house had been blocking most of my abilities since I got here. I wasn't expecting dreams and I had no reason to. Just a quick nap, and I would be ready to take on the night.

I must have been tempting fate.

When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by a deep, piercing darkness. Like in most of my spirit dreams, I could see myself clearly, but the faint glow coming off of my own skin revealed nothing of the space around me.

I could hear fleeting, excited whispers of children. The sounds darted around, making it impossible for me to guess where it was coming from, and the sound was too muffled to make out any words.

The sounds were playful, innocent, but it still sent a chill down my spine. I gripped my arms, trying to shrink away from the intrusion.

"Did you come to play with us?"

I jumped, my heart pounding out of my chest as I spun around, looking for the source of the voice.

I froze. She'd been standing right behind me, smiling at me with a look of mild amusement. The girl was young, with long black hair, navy blue eyes and a blue dress. It was the same girl from the night before.

"Are you… talking to me?" I managed to whimper.

I'd had waking visions before where a spirit talked to me directly, but it rarely happened in my dreams. In these dreams I was usually an unseen and unheard spectator, or I was acting out a scene that would give me details about a spirit's history. Talking directly with a spirit almost never happened anymore… not since Gene passed on.

The girl tilted her head, her smile unfaltering. "I saw you. You were there with the shining girl." She started to step closer to me. "You are all so very bright. Are you… trying to hide him?"

My voice was frozen. I opened my mouth, trying to spit out some sort of answer, but no sound escaped me.

The girl's smile widened at my silence. "I will find him." She said, coming to a stop in front of me. "Do you wanna know what I'm gonna do when I win?"

My body had broken into a cold sweat, tensed and trembling. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run, but my body was rooted to the spot.

The girl turned away from me, and I only just caught sight of her smile twisting into something sinister as she taunted "That's a secret."

She disappeared.

Somewhere in the distance, a voice cackled with laughter.

I woke with a start.

I laid still for a few moments, my eyes wide and my heart pounding. I took a few deep, calming breaths, waiting for the trembling in my limbs to subside before pushing myself up onto my elbows.

I blinked a few times, letting the details of the room slowly come into focus. The place had gotten darker, letting me know that the sun had started to set, and a lamp across from me on a desk lit the room with a warm glow. Sitting in a chair next to that lamp with a book propped open on her knees was Masako.

She glanced up at me when I moved, our eyes meeting for a moment before she turned her eyes back down to her book.

The air immediately turned awkward.

Masako had been avoiding me all day. She'd been gone by the time I woke up that morning and had kept busy throughout the afternoon, somehow managing to find jobs that kept her away from the group. No one had given her heck for it. Even the notoriously insensitive Naru had let it slide.

Yet here we were, alone together in our hotel room.

I felt awful for her. And I felt annoyed that I felt that way. If I was in her position, I would be upset too, but… I mean, come on. It isn't like anything romantic was going on between me and Naru. At least… not yet… I think.

I gave my head a quick shake, forcing myself to focus on my friend. I had to say something to her. I at least had to apologize to her.

"Masako…" I started.

She closed her book sharply, the loud clap it made cutting off my sentence.

A slow sigh passed her lips. A few tense seconds of silence followed, until she raised here eyes to meet mine and she said "Please do not apologize."

I pouted. "But it isn't—"

"And please do not try and play it down, either."

Everything I was about to say was thrown out the window. I pressed my lips together, giving her a small glare.

Masako's hard expression softened into a small smile. "I'll admit, I was quite shocked to learn about Kara." She started. "But the reason I was upset was that the situation proved that Naru gives you special consideration."

Furiously, I tried to deny it. "It isn't like that! Naru doesn't treat me any differently!"

Masako rolled her eyes, which infuriated me even more. "Are you still insisting on that? Can you really tell me that there has never been a single moment that you can think of where Naru has done or said something to you that he has never done or said to someone else?"

Instantly, my conversation with Naru last night came to mind, along with the brief smile he'd given me.

I wasn't an expert on Naru or anything, but I did know him, and I knew that there were things that Naru just didn't do. Smiling was one of those things. Touching was another. I tried not to think about it because it made me feel presumptuous, but I was pretty sure that out of everyone at SPR, I was probably the only one to experience these two things. At the very least, I was positive that I was the only one to experience both at the same time.

My voice died in my throat, warmth rushing to my face. I couldn't answer her. She was right.

Masako smirked, clearly reading me. "See? Naru has always acted differently with you. I simply did not want to accept it. But it seems I no longer have a choice in the matter." She set her book aside, pushing herself off the chair. "I suppose… I was about ready to put those feelings aside anyways."

Completely taken aback by the sudden declaration, my mind went blank.

Masako… that stubborn, relentless Masako… was she really saying that she was going to give up?

Catching my bewildered expression, Masako continued. "Do not get me wrong. I am not admitting that I lost to you. I am simply respecting Naru's stance on the matter."

Of course. Masako is much too proud to admit to a loss.

I smiled. Clenching my hand into a fist, I declared "Well, in that case. I'll definitely win him over."

"Naturally. I would never forgive you otherwise."

With that heavy promise hanging in the air, Masako left the room.

Putting aside whether I could live up to that promise, it looked like Masako and I… were still friends.

And honestly, that was the best outcome I could have hoped for.

It was almost an hour later when I finally remembered my dream.

I was back at base, handing cups of tea to the tense group, when my eye caught sight of a picture of that doll and the details came rushing back to me.

"Oh yeah!" I shot up from where I'd been kneeling, looking over my shoulder at Naru, who had glanced up at my exclamation. "I had a dream earlier. That girl Ai talked to me."

Naru's eyes narrowed as I explained the details of the conversation to him.

"So she is aware of what we are doing…" He grumbled, more to himself than anyone else. "It seems our presence on the property is shielding Raiden's presence. This could be a great advantage, but it could also prove to be a problem…"

I stared blankly. Naru's thoughts had clearly spiraled beyond me. But Monk's expression turned grim.

"I agree." He nodded gravely. Catching my eye, he elaborated "If Ai can guess that we would keep Raiden with a spiritualist, then all she needs to do is target us specifically to find him."

Alarms rang in my head. "Isn't that, like, really bad? All she'd need to do is jump between targets until she finds the right one."

"Technically, yeah." Monk agreed.

"Even knowing this, it is unlikely she will act so carelessly." Naru reasoned. "We may not be able to perform a full exorcism on the doll, but our actions will still have an effect. Taking damage should slow her movements."

I pressed my lips together, forcing down my unease. My eyes shifted over to the two children on the couch, speaking in hushed whispers. Kara had a hand on Raiden's shoulder. I couldn't hear a word they were saying, but I recognized the look on Kara's face- it was the same look I wore whenever I tried to reassure a terrified client that everything would be fine.

There wasn't time for questions anymore. We'd done everything we could to prepare. All we could do now was go for it.

I glanced at the clock.

8:37.

Four hours and twenty-three minutes. We just had to make it through another four hours and twenty-three minutes. I had to believe we could do it.

Although activity hadn't begun until after midnight on our second night, our first night had seen activity as early as 10. To be safe, Naru made sure that everyone was in position as early as 9:30.

This meant that Lin was in the restaurant with Kara and Raiden, who were both tucked in their hiding spot. Ayako was holding her ground in Freaks of Nature section of the museum. Moving closer to the front, Monk was on standby in the Superhumans section. John was in the front entrance, and the rest of us were gathered around the monitors in the surveillance room.

Seven hiding spots had been prepared for the kids. As an extra precaution, Naru had organized them in a way that would let Kara and Raiden bypass the supernatural section completely. As long as we manage to stick to the plan, no one will have to step foot in that volatile area.

Personally, I didn't like that the kids were starting in the same area that Kara had been attacked, but I understood it. They were about as far from the supernatural section of the museum as they could be, and the tables and chairs offered the best cover. Best case scenario, they'd be able to stay in that hiding spot until 1 AM.

I shook my head roughly, giving my cheeks a light slap. No, I can't think like that. If I start thinking about everything going right, then everything will definitely go wrong.

Worst case scenario, the spirit turns volatile and finds the kids early, in which case we would get them out of the building. The museum had five exit points. It would mean switching over to a straight exorcism approach, but at least the kids would be safe.

I must've gone over the game plan fifty times in my head while staring at those monitors, waiting for something to happen. We were all wearing headsets, but no one tried to break the silence. Tension had settled like a heavy blanket over the group.

I glanced at the clock. 10:01.

Anxiously, I wondered if Kara was feeling scared. Were the kids reassuring each other? Hopefully they were keeping quiet, but I had no way of knowing. Neither of the kids had been given a headset on the off chance that Ai would be able to detect the electronic device, so those of us in the office were pretty much cut off from them.

"Naru."

I jumped, looking over at Masako, who had reached out grabbed onto Naru's sleeve. Her eyes were closed, and she swayed slightly as color drained from her face. "She's coming."

In the same moment, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and a thick silence pressed onto me. I could see Naru's lips moving as he said something to Masako, but all I could hear was a faint, high-pitched ringing.

Suddenly dizzy, I stumbled, pressing my hands to my ears, trying to block out that deafening silence. Immediately, Naru had his hands on my arms, keeping me steady. I could see his lips moving again, but still no sound processed.

Then, a light, sing-song voice tore through it.

Ready or not, here I come