Saving Mai

Chapter 1 – The Dream

Darkness…. Silence…. Nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen, both in their purest forms stretching out into the vast space of emptiness. Then a whisper in the distance was heard, a voice so tiny, so innocent chimed like a gentle delicate bell "Hello?" Looking around nothing was within distance to be seen, like this voice was looking for someone or something specific. All for a moment everything was pure silence again until the voice spoke out once more "is anyone there? … Gene?" the voice carried through, but all unheard, small sounds was suddenly filling this void, the sound of footsteps was upon deaf ears. Coming to a standstill giving a 45-degree angle turn to the left … nothing, a sharp turn to the right … again nothing… until…

"Blood…." A cold chill ran down the spine of who seemed to be the only person in this large dark space, what could this thing be speaking of. "Blood?" it was the only word that was said, and it echoed loudly. "what do you." before the sentence could be brought to a finished, they were cut off "Give me…blood!" it bounced in every direction, thundering in the air, striking fear like a bolt of lightning had hit in your chest, turning around trying to pinpoint the location, this girl could not, nothing seemed to be standing out.

"Alright Gene… very funny prank this is…" Her words, they fell upon deaf ears, no one seemed to be there with her. Then it hit, a fowl stench, She quickly covered her mouth and nose as she gagged at the stench and tried to avoid vomiting. "what the…" she thought, but that is not what struck the next chord of fear inside her, it was the sound of a feral growl. Looking straight in front of her, what she saw made her whole-body tremble in fear, eyes… one pair of demonic looking pair of red eyes looking right at her… It felt as if they were peering into the very core of her soul… every instinct was telling her to run, get far away from what ever this thing is.

The thing let out a wild roar like a tiger pray and bolted forward, an ear shattering scream was released from her throat before …

Bolting up right in bed, in a cold sweat, breathing heavy and intense, heart beating so hard that it felt like it was about to burst out of the chest where it laid. Eye's darting around the darkness of the room, it took a few moments to realise that this was reality and not the dream she had awoken from. No that is wrong more like an unbelievably bad nightmare in better terms. Reaching out flicking on the bedside lamp and removing the covers, she needed water. Her throat felt really parched from her sleep. Getting up, leaving the warmth of the covers, she made her way to the kitchen within the apartment that held as a home for her and got to the sink turning on the cold tap. As that ran, she reached out grabbing a thin tumble glass on the drainer, she then proceeded to filled it up.

Once her parched throat had been relieved with water, she looked at the time bright green numbers blinking on the microwave, 04.32AM, shaking her head allowing her eye lids to close for a moment. She could still see them demonic red eye's staring back at her. No way she would be having a peaceful now so deciding against that idea, switching on the lights to the rest of the apartment, it gave a more sense of security. "Alright Mai, it was just some freaky nightmare… there's no meaning to this one… not all your dreams are out to get you."

Mai shook her head, giving her cheeks a good hard slap "It's too early to be pondering over this…" refilling the glass she made her way back into the bedroom. "I'm too awake to try sleeping again, and I need to get into a pair of fresh clothing. May as well get ready for the day ahead." With a plan in mind Mai picked out clothing she would be wearing for that day. Heading into the bathroom, placing the fresh cloths on a shelf built next to the sink she proceeded to turn the shower. Stripping away the nightmare she was currently in and placed them into the laundry hamper that sat neatly next to the bathroom door. Hearing a small beep indicating the water was at the right temperature she liked, Mai stepped into the shower.

Tilting back her head, allowing the hot water to run over her hair and body, getting rid of the sweat and grime, it made her feel relaxed as if the water were washing away her troubles. Allowing her eyes to close, she let her mind wander, pondering over things from the past. Mai was no ordinary young woman, throughout her life hardships and hurdles was thrown at her, Mai lost her father when she was incredibly young to a mysterious illness that plagued him. Not many memories of him resided in her mind. Mai's mother raised her till around the age of 14, and that's when tragedy struck her life once more. Her mother was also lost to a mysterious illness that seem to plague her family. When that happened Mai should have been placed in an orphanage until she was 18, but as luck would have it. Her schoolteacher stepped up and allowed Mai to stay with her for a year.

Freeload of people was not on the list of things to do in her life, especially so young, her mother did not raise her to be selfish; so, when she reached the age of 16, she began seeking out a job to move out; become more independent. Of course, this worried the schoolteacher that had taking care of Mai at the time, but Mai was mature for her age, and with a strike of either good luck or bad, there so happened to be an agency within her school that same week. That was the start of her adventure, one she would carry for the rest of her life, one where she met him…. Her boss, "Naru" the name that escaped her lips while picking up the shampoo bottle. Her thoughts always wandering to this name "that self-absorbed, piece of shit…." Why would Mai be calling this person a piece of shit? Well, there is a story to this; -

The she met Naru, her life had changed, Not only was he a few years older than her but also the boss of one certain independent company. Name? "Shibuya Psychic Research" or "SPR" for short. This company specialised in taking cases that held supernatural hauntings, curses and so on, Naru had been at Mai's middle school that day hired by the school principal, due to rumours being spread about old abandon building on site about it being haunted.

As anyone else would curiosity got the best of Mai and entering the old building, just as she about to touch one of the camera's, a voice startled her, backing up into a bookcase, it was about to fall on top of her but pushed away at the last minute, accidently broke one of the camera's as well as causing injury to the person that saved her. So, for her to pay off the debt Naru made her work on the case as his assistant. This is when Mai met the other professional individuals to help with the case to "Exorcise" whatever was haunting the building. This led to the SPR team being formed.

Firstly, we have "Ayako" a shrine maiden she was like the mother of the group, strict, but also rough on the edges, her abilities mainly focused on making warding charms, and cleansing in a free spiritual way using nature around her. Although one wrong word, a big mighty purse would be swatted around your head. Ayako was one of the older members of the group, but shrine maiden wasn't her full-time job, she was also a successful doctor on the side, She also taught Mai a powerful ward to help defend herself called the "Nine-cuts"

Second, is "Monk" well as you guessed a Monk, although that is not his real name "Hoshiro Takigawa" he was a Buddhist from mount Khoya, since the monks didn't like music and was peaceful, he had left them to form a band to become a famous singer, Mai loved monk, he was always looking out for her like a father, or brother rather overprotective at times, always making sure she had someone to hug. When needed Monk was level head in situations that became too dangerous, yet always had a way with making sure Ayako was pissed…Everyone could have sworn those two was a match made in heaven.

Third, member of this time is "John Brown" A priest from Australia, he was one of the younger members, no older than 18, fresh out of his priesthood training John had travelled to Japan to help the local churches, but he was also one of the most skilled exorcisms within the world for his age. Kindness and loving always flowed out of the man and always trying to defuse any tension the team had. Mai often went to help John at the local church on days they needed extra pair of hands with the children.

"Lin Koujo" The assistant that was injured in saving her, not much is really known about Lin apart from he was originally from China, but tasked with working for Naru and his guardian, so yes, he also has abilities, An Omnyoji, exorcism and able to summoning spirits. When Lin first met with Mai, he instantly gave off the impression of not liking her, until one case, "Urado case" That was when Mai put her foot down and he explained it was the Japanese he hated in general due to what the war did to his country. Afterwards with a stern telling off, he gradually began to warm up to Mai.

Now "Masako Hara" a famous TV Medium, she was around the same age as Mai. Straight away, Masako made sure there was tension between the two girls, she was a respected Medium, but also had her eyes on Naru. During the case at the school when they met, Masako was nothing but a Drama queen, always latching onto the man. Acting with a high school crush, Things began changing though between the two girls as cases went by, Mai risked her life to save Masako and discovering her abilities to astral project.

"Yasuhara" now this man does not possess any form of spiritual or psychic abilities he is more known for his research side of the team and was particularly good at digging up stuff from the past. Mai had met Yasu on her 4th case with the team. They had been called in to try and discover why students and even the teachers were getting physically injured. It was not long before they discovered a student had committed suicide and had placed a curse on the school. To lighten the mood and help, Yasu spent time with Mai doing odd jobs, researching and eventually making it easier to solve the case.

Lastly, the man that hurt Mai's heart, Naru, obviously this is not his real name, he goes by "Kazuya Shibuya" while in Japan, which also happens to be an alias, it wasn't until much later everyone found out that he was really "Dr Oliver Davis" Young, Famous known throughout the world as a psychic genius within the paranormal world. Not only that but has psychometry and PK. After seeing how Mai did on the case, Naru decided to hire her, offering a place as a part-time assistant for him. Unlike the rest of the team, where times they were loud and open. Naru was more closed off, never showing emotions always focused on work and picking out Mai's flaws. This did lead to Mai discovering abilities she never knew she had, A latent Psychic, this consisted of gut instincts which is always on point, Astral projection and Dream walking in the astral plain.

Shutting the shower off, Mai stepped out and began drying herself off, a frown as her memories of the very last case this team went onto filling Mai's mind. An old cabin in the woods, large shadowy lake resided next to it. The team did not think much on this case yet until Mai's abilities kicked in full swing, this led them to discovering a body in the bottom of the lake, which turned out to be Naru's twin brother. Eugene Davis or as Mai calls him "Gene" which in turn discovering he had been helping Mai guide her through her dreams. Spirit guide as one would call it within the paranormal world. To speed things up, everyone found out Naru's identity and the true purpose for opening up SPR in Japan. This led to one heartbroken girl.

At the end the case, Mai had confessed to Naru she had feelings for him, but in return one sentence left Mai's heart shattered "it's not me you are in love with, it's Eugene." Feeling numb to the core. Was not long afterwards that Naru and Lin left Japan and returned to England where they originally lived with Eugene's body for a funeral. She never heard from him again.

After getting dressed, drying off her hair Mai eyes quickly glanced to the photo that stood on her dressing table. It held the whole SPR team, eyes slowly filling with sadness. The team had split up after that last case, going separate ways, doing their own things leaving Mai on her own to defend for herself. People who she thought would be her friends and family that would be there, gone. Not one had contacted Mai since the day Naru left for England, each left had promise but she not once got in touch. Only one she saw from time to time was Eugene in her dreams helping train her abilities, strengthening them, discovering new ones.

Now Mai was older, 19 and going to Shibuya University to study parapsychology, even if she did not work in the field anymore. Telling ghost stories and the love of the hunting, helping people find peace to move on, gave Mai the determination to go into that field of expertise and one day create her own team of ghost hunters. Now standing at a proud 5ft 6", hair a soft honey brown colour, flowing straight passed her shoulders. Body filled out, athletic and stunning. Mai held beauty for her age.

Standing ready for her day, she placed books into a pink shoulder bag, and looked to the time "6.40am already? I must have taken a longer shower than I thought" Giving off a sigh, Mai picked up her keys, travel mug and placed on a pair of black Doc Martens "Well I can always stop for coffee."

Feeling the crispiness of a September morning, Mai headed down the street to a coffee shop in Shibuya that opened before 7am. Opening the door, hearing the bell chime ring softly in the air, "My Miss Taniyama you are rather early today, don't you start your classes at 9?" walked up to the counter Mai gently placed her travel mug down, "I do Mrs Hino, but I was awake early this morning." in her mid-40's, Mrs Hino looked well for her age, slender body, soft eyes and barely any visible wrinkles "Early bird gets the worm you know, I'll fix you up your usual, Any plans before classes?"

Pondering only for a slight moment, "I think I'll head to the library, pick up some books to research for my next assignment" The woman just gave her a nice smile before getting to work on Mai's order. The bell chiming once more but no one bothered to look due to that time of morning, there was always random people coming into the shop for breakfast or take out coffee.

"Here you go dear, ah. ah no need, it's on the house seeing youngsters like you working and studying hard is the payment I need" Mai just smiled at the older woman's kindness "thank you Mrs Hino" "oh its ok dear, I'll see you after your classes" Giving a last smile and nod, Mai turned to walk out.

But …

Never making it away from the counter, due to the person Mai was facing, looking right at her, was a pair of soft diamond blue eyes, ones she had not seen since that case in the woods. Ones that sent her heart racing and butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Ones that shattered her heart.

"Mai…." The voice slightly deeper than she remembered, but it was there, her name rolling off their tongue. "Naru…"