Hello, hello, hello!
Great to be back again! I have been slightly more motivated to continue writing instead of forcing out chapters. At any rate, this is the latest chapter, of course, and I just want to say a big thank you to all who have stuck with me thus far and those who reviewed! I hope you all know I sincerely appreciate all that you guys do!
A noise woke Mai from her sleep, but it went quiet when she shifted in the bed. After a quick assessment of her senses, she reasoned that she was back at Luella and Martin's place but was slow to come to the mental conclusion. Finally opening her eyes, she was back in her designated room, and looking around she noticed Naru reviewing a file. He had not noticed her awakening, so Mai was content with just watching him. His eyes shifting all over the page and his eyebrows were brought together in a puzzling expression. A small smile grew on her face and she curled her lips together to try to stifle the grin.
Unfortunately for her, she was allowed to watch him for a second longer until he looked up at her.
"You're awake," Naru closed the file and shifted forward. "How do you feel?"
Mai smiled at him. "Much better, but I need to write down the dream I had."
"That can wait until you eat something and take some medicine." He stood and helped Mai sit up and then eventually stand.
Watching him for a moment, she waited for him to stand next to her before she wrapped her arms around his torso and leaned into him. After a second, she felt Naru's arms wrap around her shoulders and his head rested on hers.
"I love you," Mai said. A simple statement, but the emotion behind it had Naru staggering a bit.
"Of course you do. You have great taste," Bringing a hand under her chin and raising her head, Naru kissed her gently on her lips and then again on her forehead. "I love you too. I'm glad that you are feeling better, but we need to go downstairs and get ready to go."
Mai gave him a quick squeeze and then relinquished him back into the world. "Okay! Let me get changed really quick and I will meet you in the hall."
Naru's eyes shifted away from her for a moment. Noticing this, Mai gave him a look.
"What?" She asked. He looked back and then away from her. "Naru, what is it?" She grit her teeth when he avoided her eyes. Reaching up, Mai forced his head to look at her. "Naru."
He sighed and placed his hand over the one she had on his cheek. "Ayako and Monk want to take you back with them, and I think you should be taken off the remainder of this case."
Mai looked at him in surprise and tried to take her hand back, but he held it firmly in his grasp. "You do know I am not going to do that, right?" He sighed and nodded at her. "Then why on earth would you even entertain the idea. Monk and Ayako know I will not be going back with them. If there is a chance that I can get help with my abilities, I'm taking it." She moved away from him and began pulling out an outfit for the day. "Hell, they should be happy that I am still adamant on staying."
"Yes, well, you would know them best," Naru said walking up behind her. "Do what feels right to you." He whispered in her ear as he snaked an arm around her torso and back into his chest.
She placed her arms around his and took a deep breath. "They frustrate me," She said glaring out the window. The nicer days had taken a turn and rain was currently washing away at the window. "Sometimes it feels suffocating. I remember when they first adopted me. It was all so new to them and they were nervous about crossing any lines or boundaries. Maybe it was just because I hadn't had a parental presence around since my mom, or I just so used to being alone and having my own freedom." Mai turned around and faced Naru's chest. Taking a brief look at him, she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled up to him. Naru tucked her head under his chin and placed his head on top of hers. "But when I started living with them, they were very protective and very cautious about everything that went on in my life. I just remember being so frustrated and saddened that they didn't trust me."
Naru grunted and began speaking. "Did you tell them about the way it made you feel?"
"Yes," Mai sighed and released her arms from around his waist, and pressed her forehead onto his chest. "I wasn't angry or anything, I think we all just needed time to adjust. I didn't live with them for long because I was capable of living by myself, but that certainly did not make them less concerned."
"I think they both just love you very much and after working in an environment that is not forgiving, especially toward you, they probably just felt very obligated to keep you safe."
Mai nodded her head. She agreed with him, but a part of her was still frustrated. Taking a deep breath Mai began to let the past go bit by bit, and forgive the nature of her adoptive parents.
Mai sighed as they made their way back to the house. Not only could she not remember her previous nightly swim in the pond, but Naru refused to even approach the subject until they returned to the house.
A twinge of pain in her head had her shutting her eyes rather quickly and, for extra measures, using her palms to cover her closed eyes. The light sensitivity was starting to become an annoyance that Mai was not used to.
"Are you okay?"
Mai looked over to Naru. He wasn't watching her; however, Mai figured his perceptive nature would have picked up on her pain even with his eyes closed.
She turned to look back out the front of the car. "I'm fine," She shifted. "Just nervous about returning to the house, I guess."
She didn't believe a word of what she was saying. Nerves were not an issue for Mai when it came to doing her job as a paranormal investigator. Truth be told, she would gladly take on any form of pain to spare her family or team from any other horrors of the world.
Naru hummed in response to her admission.
"You will be having one of Lin's Shiki accompanying you for the remainder of this case."
Mai nodded her head and sighed. She didn't know what was wrong with her mood lately. She had no energy to argue with him and didn't have the will to even be motivated towards this investigation.
At that moment, Mai felt a warm presence attach itself to her body and greet her in an unspoken way. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her spirit and allowed a sense of calm and safety to wash over her as the Shiki formed its temporary bond with her.
Another twinge of pain shot across her brain and behind her eyes. At the very same moment, Mai saw a vision. She was putting a baby in a crib. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then a deep sadness came over her being and, what Mai could only assume was that, what was once a memory, was now a nightmare.
As quickly as it appeared, her vision returned to the view of the stretch of road. Mai took a deep breath and realized that the tears flowing from her eyes were not her own. She was crying for someone else.
She sighed and discretely wiped her cheeks and blinked her eyes rapidly. She couldn't worry about her emotional sensitivity towards the spirits she communicates with, but it was starting to take its toll. She needed a day off.
The van stopped in front of their current location, and Mai hopped out of the car, far too eagerly in her own opinion. Nonetheless, she waited for Naru and Lin to get out of the car as well, and while they spoke softly about how to go about reviewing the footage from the night before, Mai began walking towards the side of the house.
A tall stone fence separated the front lawn from the back and, unless she wanted to scale the wall, a metal gate was the only way of entrance to the side of the house and towards the back. Pulling open the gate, a metal creek sounded off and a moment of hesitation struck Mai. For some reason, she wanted to keep walking towards the side of the house, but a feeling of anxiety was also accompanying the determination to continue.
Looking back over to Naru and Lin, she saw that they had not moved from their position. Knowing that she also had the protection of Naru and Lin being close and the Shiki watching over her as a bonus, she walked past the threshold of the gate. While her current gut feelings were telling her that she should have had Naru or Lin come with her, the reality of the environment told a different story. Truth be told, Mai couldn't seem to find anything innately dangerous.
The side of the house was marked with a cobbled path that stretched to the back of the house, and she could just make out a stone bench underneath a thick covering of ivy. She continued down the path taking note of the overgrown flower beds and the large tree growing without constraint. While moving under an overgrown arbor and pulling a few of the overgrown wisteria vines out of her way, she noticed a pile of rocks stacked on top of each other. Not thinking much of the formation, she bent down and observed the area around it and stood when she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
Just before she moved away from the spot, Mai felt a wrap of cold constrict around her and she stood straighter than she was original. Her eyes widened as she tried to take in every possible thing around her to determine what the presence was around her: friend or foe?
"Please understand." Directly behind her, a raspy voice spilled cold air on her neck and her vision began to darken around the edges before she felt her knees hit the ground.
Fury coated her entire being. Underneath was a layer of pain and sorrow that she had never experienced and something she never wanted to feel in the future.
Flashes came to her and blinked through her mind in rapid secessions. Seeing Mr. Adams with a look of fear. A sharp knife. A phantom of weakness in her arm from stabbing a person over and over. Blood coating everything in sight and staining the wood and stone forever bearing a mark of death. A still corpse that she dragged through the house and out to the side of it. Feelings of victory and contentment struck her as she looked down to her hands covered in blood and dirt. Piling one stone on top of the other to give this human some semblance of respect, something she knew they didn't deserve.
"We need to lay out all the information we currently have of the history on the property and start from there to determine if we would be able to cleanse whatever is here, or if we need to an exorcism," Naru said while shuffling through some of the notes he had taken. He was looking forward to getting through this case. Today seemed like it was lining up to being rather productive, and he was grateful for the somewhat slow start to the morning as it gave him and Lin to regroup before they set foot into the house for the new day.
"Would you like me to contact Adrian before he comes to the house and have him gather his materials if one is needed?"
Naru looked to Lin and nodded. "That would probably be the best course of action," Realizing something, he looked around at the side of the van that Mai was on. "Where's Mai?"
"My Shiki has not alerted me to anything malicious or dangerous around her." Lin turned, looking around and then turning his attention towards the metal gate that was ajar. Nudging Naru's arm, he moved towards the gate and felt Naru hot on his heels.
Pulling the gate fully open, they both moved quickly towards the pale girl on her knees. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that there was a trail of blood coming from her nose and tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Jesus," Naru quickly pulled Mai back so that she was leaning against his chest. "Mai? Mai, can you hear me?" He gently cupped her cheek and lightly patted the side of her face. Her eyes were open, but her face was scarce of emotion and her eyes were unfocused with a heavy fog glazed over them. Naru looked up to Lin. "I think she's seeing something. Should we move her?"
Lin shook his head. "If that is the case, we need to keep her where she is that way, she can find her way back." Looking around into the air above them, Lin appeared to be looking towards something and his eyes tracked an invisible object. "According to my Shiki, there was a presence around her recently, there are still residual traces of it, however, it is not violent and did not harm her."
Naru frowned. "And why exactly did it not warn us to the presence around her in general?"
"They did not realize that there was anything around them until it was there."
Holding a napkin to Mai's face, Naru sighed in frustration. He wasn't sure how much longer he wanted to stay on this case.
Mai shifted in his arms and after blinking a few times she looked to Naru. "Naru?" She blinked a few times, silently accessing her body. Her head was pounding so hard she could see her pulse in her eye. "What the hell happened?"
After helping her sit up properly and making sure she was able to hold the napkin herself, Naru watched her with a calculating look.
"Do you not remember?" She looked up at him for a moment before her eyes widened.
"Naru, I had a dream!"
He rolled his eyes and smirked at her. "I assumed as much," He then lifted her along with him so that they were standing. "Let's get inside, I want to get started as soon as possible."
While Lin took the lead, Naru and Mai followed behind him. Mai had her head tilted back slightly to appease her bloody nose and Naru placed his hands on her shoulder to help lead her inside.
"Naru, I can walk by myself," Mai said, pouting the best she could with some of her face being blocked by a tissue.
With a raised eyebrow, Naru scoffed. "Alright." He released her shoulders and she walked forwards a few paces before her foot caught on the first step to the front porch. Before she could fall very far, Naru had an arm wrapped firmly around her waist stopping her from hitting the ground. "You were saying?"
Mai narrowed her eyes at him. "That doesn't mean anything," She hissed.
Chuckling, he pressed a kiss into her hair and continued to help her inside.
Finished with another chapter! A quick note: I have an all-day exam I have to take next week, so the next chapter might be updated a day late!
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I will see you all in the next one!
Cheers!