Last time: Masako Hara was asked to leave after she triggered Aria into having a vision. Aria shared her vision with the group and counseled SPR about what steps they needed to take next. A new and very rude client entered the office, one they couldn't afford to turn away if they wanted to find and save Mai. Will the group be able to put up with this client?
A/N: OK, guys, here's your warning: From here on, things are getting messy and it's also where things start going into mature grounds. We've tried our best to keep it non-graphic, but, as a non-con, it is what it is and it's going to be hanging around for a long while. (The worst of it will continue for about 3 chapters so it will get more extreme and a bit more graphic before it gets any better)
The Disappearance of Mai Taniyama: Part 4: On the Move
August: Day 2 very early morning
Somewhere in the abandoned hospital...
In the dark, dank mess hall stood a single usable table with three occupants, one female, the other two males. "These bodies are so weak," One of the males groaned out while looking at his oddly shaped body. "It has no protection to speak of built into it!" He rubbed a hand over the sides of his humanoid torso, belatedly adding, "And how can humans stand functioning with only two arms and legs? It's creepy."
"Who can say Grundrin. At least these forms allow us to move among humans relatively undetected. Shifting her feet uneasily under the table, the female admitted, "Getting down finer details like only having two legs has proven difficult, however. It's so much harder than only having two arms"
A grunt, sounding oddly like disagreement is heard from the second male, who is holding a cup filled with water, he is staring at it like he doesn't understand the reason the fluid is in the cup. "The body is fine, I just don't get why we need to hide our true bodies. The humans would be terrified if they saw our true forms. We'd have had plenty to eat before we caught our mouse."
The female paused as if deep in thought, "As delicious as their terror would have been, we need to refrain from taking our true forms in front of the humans. Otherwise we will be the ones hunted down. With their sheer number, the humans could conceivably destroy us."
Out of the blue, as if he hadn't been listening, the second male suddenly asked, "Why do humans even drink this tasteless stuff?"
The female shrugged, "Graiven, just as we maintain our bodies on the emotions of creatures like empaths, they maintain their bodies by drinking liquid and eating the more solid things. Whether it makes sense or not isn't the issue. They need something of physical substance. Just accept it and stop eating our 'guest's' rations. It's not like they're benefiting you whatsoever. Just be glad that we finally have plenty of good fear to feed on now, and that she can't feed off of us as well." An evil smile graces her thin lips. "Oh, I do love how the newly awoken ones taste so good!" Her mind shifts to another target her mind had picked up on. It had been distracting her ever since they'd caught the little morsel and she wondered if her mates' minds had been strong enough to notice or not. "Have you two noticed that another empath is coming our way?" The two males shake their heads in the negative. "She's still miles away, but I can already sense her fear. Funny enough it feels the same way your family described the one they hunted before I traded places with your sister and became both your mates, you know, that one adopted by the Velatona elder." Her elation fell a bit at two males' lack of response to the details. "No matter," she readjusts her position to the top of the table and rubs their bald heads, "It's a rare fortune to have one so strong running towards us, it's like she's asking to be caught." She slides her hands down onto their shoulders, "Would you two want to catch her as well? If we do, we'll have the strongest empath supply on this island." Her two mates nodded, interested at the prospect, and the female continued, "If she is the one adopted by our hated enemy, the Velatona elder, I'm sure we will be given a promotion when we return home. The pain we will cause our ancient enemies will be highly lauded!" The evil grin on her lips is nothing compared to the spark of demonic glee glinting in her completely black eyes.
The male called Grundrin returned her cruel smile with one of his own. "Since we'll have two soon, do you think Graiven and I could have some fun with our 'guest' my mate? Her form may be small and ugly but I have the strangest urge to touch her; to use her body for pleasure. Can we? Please, Velnia?"
Velnia pushed him away, her happy expression faltering completely, and her other hand dropping from the smaller one's body as she turned to him. "Do you feel this way too, Graiven?"
"I would like to taste her fear more," he offers as his answer.
"That's not what I asked," she said, breathing something like a sigh. "Do you feel this urge to touch her as well?"
He seemed to think it over and slowly nodded. "I feel that urge too, but I imagine it must be similar to how Father felt when he had contact with our prime target, that one you were talking about, human female the Velatona elder adopted."
Though happy he had at least been listening to her, the female, shook her head and pushed him away ever so slightly, "Be thankful your sire did not act on his desires! If he had, you two would not have been hatched! You mustn't lose yourselves to these ideas. Don't forget we shouldn't imitate humans too closely. In fact, stop imitating them for a while, it's not like we're interacting with any of them right now. We don't want to become stuck in these forms, remember the rules my mates? Having sex with a native in this world would be bad. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose connection with my body and I won't have anything of the sort happening to the two of you either. Besides we don't need to do anything that extreme right now. She is still putting out enough fear and uncertainty that we have plenty of food. There's no need to heighten her fear yet. Perhaps, if she finds a way to calm herself down and the fear lessens, then I might give the go ahead to threaten her with a sexual encounter, but for now let us continue with the psychological trauma that we are currently employing."
The two males sighed at their mate's words but nodded their understanding. Only one glared at her decision behind her back as she got up from the table. The two males followed suit, getting up. All three had duties to attend to if they wanted to maintain the illusion that the building they were infesting was, instead, haunted and so the female and the males went their separate ways.
Up on the fourth floor, Grundrin and Graiven went into the 'den-room' to lay down and start their astral projections. The room they were using was set up to hide their meat suits from visitors who might wander into the abandoned hospital. As they shed their suits, Graiven, leaned over to his brother and quietly said, "Sorry she wouldn't let you have what you wanted. It would have been nice, but maybe you'll get a chance to do it later. She did say that we could do it to increase her fear later.
The larger one stopped taking off his meat suit, and looked at his smaller brother, "Is that what she said? I can't ever remember exactly...but if that's what she said...won't it be nice?"
"Yeah, too bad you have to wait," he said, slyly glancing at Grundrin as the larger brother nodded his head. Graiven continued pushing the idea, "If only there were some way you could do it sooner without her knowing about it, like, maybe you could make a barrier or something."
Grundrin looked back at Graiven and said, "Maybe I can..."
Elsewhere in the abandoned hospital...
Velnia, had gone into the small kitchen that was set up in the basement of the building to make another meal for their 'guest.' Her thoughts concerning the girl were drastically different from that of her mates', but her mates' appetites and desires concerned and angered her. I must not let them use the girl's body for sexual gratification, if that happens they'll literally become attached to this plane and won't be able to reintegrate into their real bodies when it's time to return home. Besides, the thought of them touching her then later touching me is abhorrent!...But trying to explain that, to males with their inferior and hedonistic thinking! It's like talking to a cliff face! Or as the humans would say, "It's like talking to a brick wall!"…At least I know what a brick wall is, now that I've had more time to study this strange dimension. She sighed to herself, as she took the meal she'd prepared to the isolation room, where they were keeping the girl.
Mai's cell…
Mai woke with a start as she heard something metallic land on the tiled floor of her room, cell...prison? She really could not decide what to call the room she was in. For all I know, this could be an observation room for the clinically insane or something. She rolled over looking at the one-way glass before sitting up. Looking over at the spot her last tray had been in, she found a new tray waiting for her with a similar selection as the last. On it was another sandwich, more chips and a plum. With another plastic pitcher of water and another set of aspirin, on the side, for her ever-throbbing head.
My situation could be worse. At least my captors want me alive. Two meals in...I'm not sure how many hours." More worrying, though, was an urge that was growing more insistent within her. She'd tried calling to her captors and asking to use the restroom last time she was awake to no avail. Now that it was becoming desperate, she had no other choice. She looked back at the mirror-like window, hoping that no one was watching, and then looked to her pail. I'd probably better use it. Who knows how long I'll be in this place. Another thought occurred to her and she groaned at the idea. I'll be sleeping in the same room with my own waste. Mai shuddered but grabbed the pail and put it in the corner furthest from the window, but along the same wall. She hoped it would save her from the embarrassment of being seen as she relieved herself in the pail. Afterwards, she used the pitcher to pour water over her hands to wash them over the pail as well. Still feeling dirty, grossed out, and embarrassed, she whispered to herself, "Please hurry guys, I don't know if I'll be able to take much more of this place!" Then she started eating her scanty portion of food as well as the aspirin she found on the tray, praying that her headache would go away this time.
That same time, outside the SPR office…
Lin waited beside the van, as his fourth shiki returned to him right on time. The night before, Aria had managed to share her vision with his shiki. Afterwards he'd then sent them out with orders to return by 7:50 AM, just ten minutes prior to the time they were supposed to leave. Now it was a minute past and there was still one shiki missing, and that worried him. None of his shiki had ever been late before. He watched as the irregulars began arriving and stowing away their bags in the trunk of Monk's car.
Naru joined Lin by the van. "Any news from your shiki yet," he asked, concerned by the small frown Lin wore.
Lin let out a sigh. "All but one have returned. The four that are back reported confusion and an inability to follow the memories once they reached the hospital. They had absolutely no luck finding Miss Taniyama. Considering how late my strongest and smartest shiki is, I fear something has gone wrong."
At that point Aria walked up to them with an older gentleman in tow. He had thick, grey, wavy hair that hung down to his shoulders. The older man stood a few inches taller than Lin, and somehow gave the impression of a large bird of prey. He had a sharp almost hawkish nose and a wide thin mouth that seemed easy to overlook. His eyes, though, were arrestingly detailed and a startling shade of blue. They appeared highly intelligent and seemed to be able to see into your soul, yet they seemed kind.
Before Naru could ask who he was, Aria made quick introductions, "Guys, I'd like you to meet my adoptive Father, Victor." She turned to the man and gestured to the two men before her and introduced them, gesturing to each in turn. "Father, this is Kazuya Shibuya, also known as Naru. And this gentleman is Koujo Lin."
Victor nodded to each of the two men. "It is my pleasure to meet you both. When I came to visit with Aria, she informed me that the Khiitani were causing some troubles here. I thought I might offer my services to help eliminate said troubles."
Naru looked to Aria questioningly. She just nodded while stating, "Victor is the one who taught me about the Khiitani. His help and insight into their nature will be invaluable."
"Very well," Naru agreed, "We can use all the help we can get. Considering, we are down a spiritualist." The thought returned his mind to what had happened the night before with the medium and his curiosity demanded he ask, "Tell me, what was it that Miss Hara did to get on your bad side?"
Sighing Aria looked out at the light, early morning traffic as she contemplated how to word her answer. "I'd rather not become a wedge between you and Miss Hara. You may still need her help as a medium in future cases. We just don't need her abilities for this case. Afterall, we already know the perpetrators' natures and I don't think she could reliably sense them."
Naru shook his head, "Miss Hara is already on thin ice with me. If she has done something to offend or hurt you of all people, I need to know about it."
The others gathered around to listen, each wondering what exactly the medium had done, since Masako hadn't said anything offensive to Aria as far as they'd heard.
Taking a deep breath, Aria looked around at the curious group. She didn't want to say anything that would alienate the medium from them, yet with so many people wanting to know, she felt like she had to answer somehow. "Let's just say Miss Hara's thoughts and feelings…were less than kind toward Mai." She paused to take a deep breath and glanced at her beloved Father figure. "She kind of pissed me off. Mind you, I don't necessarily think Miss Hara is evil or irredeemable. I just couldn't handle having her around me last night. It was physically painful and it made me feel sick. Plus, I also very nearly lost control of my empathic gifts, and that really would not have been pleasant for any of us. But, on the bright side, it's what threw me into the vision of the hospital, so it may have been a good thing in the end."
Monk seemed a bit shocked, "I knew Masako wasn't the closest to Mai, and that she considers Mai her rival for Naru's attention," Naru raised an eyebrow at that, "but to think that her thoughts were so extreme as to cause such an adverse reaction...well, it's kind of mind blowing."
"Idiot monk," Ayako says as she clocks him in the head with her purse. "Remember yesterday when you said you didn't think anyone could think of Mai as less than a friend? Masako has always been the exception to that rule. From the start, it's been obvious that Masako has a very snooty and selfish personality, especially when Mai is involved. It really wouldn't surprise me if she secretly wished for Mai's disappearance to become permanent."
Aria had to stop herself from nodding and bit her tongue to keep from telling them just how close the miko's words were to the truth. With her heart in her throat she took a few deep breaths, trying to regain a modicum of calm. Ayako is sharper than Mai gave her credit for. I'll have to be careful with my words around her. Aria thought in surprise.
Before anyone could say more, Lin's visible eye focused on something unseen by the others. His last shiki had returned. It's pain twisted into him like a set of talons shredding into his mind and made him acutely aware of the fact that something had nearly killed his most powerful shiki. He became focused on it so much that everything else faded from his senses and he ended up simply standing by to watch as it slowly drifted to and fro, but generally towards him, leaking it's essence along the way. "I am sorry, Master," it whispered into his mind, "I could not find her. Something stopped me from getting further into the building. It was unlike anything I have seen before. I only barely escaped."
Lin could feel his shiki's shame and gathered the creature to him, communing with it silently, "You are not at fault. We will find her. For now rest and heal."
Lin looked at Naru. "My last shiki just returned, but it was stopped from getting deeper into the building by something it had never seen before. It narrowly escaped being destroyed, and will take a long time to heal. Perhaps it found the right area of the building and just couldn't get close enough to Mai."
Victor hummed in thought. "The Khiitani would probably have seen your shiki as interlopers and feared this one sought to feed off of their food source. Thus they would have attacked to prevent it from taking or even touching what they saw as theirs."
The miko shifted her feet uneasily. "I don't really like that we've waited so long to head out. The longer we stand around, the more anxious I feel for Mai-maybe we should have headed out last night, instead. Either way, I think that if no one else has any bags to pack, we really should be heading out."
Naru scowled, knowing she was right, and nodded before saying, "Takigawa-san, take Matsuzaki-san, Yasu, and Father Brown with you. The rest of us will take the van." Naru's fear for Mai, made his voice sharp and forceful. No one argued with Naru's instructions, the group split up into the two vehicles, and Monk followed Lin out and towards their destination.
Mai's cell, in the abandoned hospital…
Mai huddled on the twin mattress in the well lit, white tiled room, her mind itching with the feeling that she was being watched. It was a feeling that had come and gone several times since she'd woken up in this cold, tiled room with only the large mirror, the bare mattress, the bucket that didn't seem to want to stay where she left it, and the occasional tray. The room didn't even have a door-well none that she could find anyway and the hallway on the other side of the mirror was too dark to see much of anything when she'd tried peering through it. With the light staying on constantly, she no longer had a sense of time aside from when the trays came. With nothing else to do, she waited for sleep to claim her. Not only would it allow her to talk to her dream Naru, but it would get her away from the horrible unseen eyes that seemed to follow her every move. The practically constant feeling left her paranoid. It made the need to know, whether or not Naru was coming to save her, more urgent. Closing her eyes, she eventually managed to will herself to sleep.
When she opened them again she was standing in a familiar darkness, filled sparsely with floating white orbs. Upon looking around she saw him walking towards her, her dream Naru. Once again, his usual smile was missing and he wore a more Naru-like expression of concerned worry.
She rushed to his side. "You are coming, right Naru? You will save me from them, right?" she asked in desperation.
Naru smiled at her sadly, still not letting his concern fall away, and nodded. "We're on our way. We'll be here before you know it. Don't give up Mai. Don't let them scare you. Don't let go of hope, okay?"
Before Mai could answer, one of the arachnid-like monstrosities from earlier appeared out of nowhere and roughly grabbed Mai. While pushing dream Naru away. In a rough gravelly clicking voice it said, "There is no hope! She's ours!" Mai watched helplessly as her dream Naru seemed to get flung away-as if an invisible wall had slammed into him. She felt a pull and watched the dark landscape fade away.
On the way to the abandoned hospital…
The team had split up into the two vehicles per Naru's earlier instructions. Lin, Naru, Aria and Victor were in the SPR van, while Monk, Ayako, Yasu and John were in Monk's car. Both Vehicles held silent passengers. Each individual deep in his or her own thoughts and worries about their dear trouble-magnet of a friend.
When they were roughly ten to fifteen minutes away from the abandoned hospital, Aria groaned in pain and clutched her head. She began muttering, "No," over and over again as tears made their way down her face. She finally regained some degree of control over herself as Victor gently touched her arm. When she had enough control, she explained, "Mai must be hurt, her fear and despair are," Another wave of Mai's emotions hit her and she was forced to find her mental balance once again, "overwhelming," she finally finished. She looked to her father. "With how bad it is, why haven't I been feeling anything till now?"
Victor placed a hand on her knee, "The Khiitani are spell weavers, child. They don't want their nourishment to just leak away so they create certain barriers. Some of those barriers can even prevent anyone on the astral plane from reaching their victims. There's a very high chance that they've put up a barrier to prevent her emotions from escaping, but maybe they underestimated her emotional strength or forced her to feel more fear than it could contain. Either way, it sounds like it's had a breech."
The woman went still and her voice grew suddenly more filled with dread. "God. She wants to die. We have to hurry!" Though the last bit came out as a whisper, both Lin and Naru heard every word.
The rural road they were on now was virtually empty of other vehicles. Lin could not deny the sense of urgency he felt as he pressed down the accelerator, pushing the van to its limits. He glanced over at Naru long enough to realize that the teen was using his psychometry. "Damn it Noll! Stop!" Lin spoke sharply and bumped his arm with the back of his hand to try to pull his young friend out of his vision.
Oliver had previously slipped his right hand into the pocket of his jacket opposite Lin, and now gripped Mai's lucky key within. He had to check on her, had to find out what had happened. The knowledge that she wanted to die was killing him. Almost immediately when he reached for it, he was pulled into a vision. In it, he was one with Mai. He felt that she was blindfolded, bound, unable to even move her body or head, and gagging on something. He heard the words of her oppressors and felt her overwhelming physical pain, fear, helplessness, disgust, and despair. He could also hear the screams resounding in the depths of her mind because there was no way for her to scream them aloud. The vision, and all the sensations it gave him, drowned out everything else around him to the point where he had no idea Lin and the others were calling to him. It was just him alone with Mai, and her nightmare...up until she had the thought, Naru won't want me. No one will. I have nothing left to offer anyone. If only…the ceiling would collapse and end this nightmare once and for all.
It was then that he was suddenly pulled out of the vision. He came to his own body to find Aria shaking his arm roughly. Lin had pulled to a stop in front of the hospital. Aria asked, "What did you see?" The woman's worry was evident in her voice as she watched the tears stain a trail down the young man's face.
In a pained whisper Naru seethed, "The two males that abducted Mai are raping her! They're making her feel worthless-like she has no more value to anyone, anymore." He fell silent as rage built within him, the heaviness of his breathing being the only outward clue to the swelling emotion. Both the hurt he'd felt her go through and the hurt he felt from knowing how she viewed herself only served to make the destructive emotion grow faster. How could she ever believe I wouldn't want her!? Or that she holds no value!? Mai, you idiot! I'll just have to help you understand how much you mean to me! He thought determinedly before he aggressively wiped the tears off his face, and forced his face to go blank except for his eyes-which grew more resolute. "I will destroy them for what they have done to her." His words revealed the lie of his calm exterior, coming out as a growled vow that none in the van dared doubt.
The others in the van barely dared to move except to share looks of concern with each other. Each was edgy and worried about Mai as well as Naru's frame of mind, but Naru ignored them and grasped a hold of the key once again. This time, when his vision comes, Mai is alone, with a blanket thrown over her recklessly, but she was still bound and her emotions were all dark and filled with pain and despair. Those brutes are done for now, he breathed a sigh of relief. She's still hurting, but she could be worse off. We need to set up base first so we aren't simply running around blindly getting into trouble. Who knows where her attackers are now. Without some kind of rally point to work from, we could all be slaughtered and then no one will be able to get her out of here.
Naru's anger flared hotter as he thought of the main reason they needed to set up base first: Their rude, cynical client had promised them he'd meet them here and threatened that if he wasn't happy with how things were running or decided they were fakes, he would have them evicted from the premises. In the back of Naru's mind a worry twitched saying that, no matter what they did, the man would choose to believe that they were fakes and evict them anyways. Naru wouldn't have taken such a client, normally, but Mai's life and well being were at stake. There was no way he would leave the property without her. With his heart heavy with sorrow for having to leave Mai any longer in her predicament, he left the vision and returned to his own reality.
They exited the van as Monk pulled his car up beside them and, like clockwork, everyone got out to help start unloading the van. Monk asked, "What happened, you guys sped up so quickly back there."
Naru just looked at him with eyes that are colder and harder than any of them had ever seen before and Monk noticeably backed down-all traces of joviality erasing from his features. Naru's voice was icy and devoid of emotion when he spoke. "They harmed Mai in a way I refuse to forgive. Even though she's no longer being hurt, it's a race against time. Because now, Mai wants to die." Those few words electrified the team, but no one spoke, each wondering if they should go in after Mai or continue unloading. They tried to look to Naru for answers, but he also seemed to be fighting within himself, his fists clenched at his sides. "But we have no other choice but to set up base first and act like nothing's wrong all because our idiot client is on his way to nanny us."
Finally, he sighed. "So let's hurry so that we can finish and start looking for her sooner. Also, Yasu, John, I want you two to monitor the base once it's set up. Make sure to keep him from kicking us off the property. The rest of us will form two groups of three people to go search for Mai. We'll be safer that way, but make sure you take some equipment so you can at least properly look like you're working if you run into the old windbag." Naru ordered and then reached into the van to grab some of the equipment himself. At this point he wasn't going to let anything stand in his way, let alone a mostly broken door and a late client.
What's going to happen? Will they be kicked off the property? Will they find Mai? Will she be gone by the time they reach her cell? Please read and review. We really want to hear your thoughts!