So, I don't think that I've ever mentioned my favorite part of writing… which is toying with the characters emotions… all the angst and hurt… mwahaha… I love my unpaid job…
Anyway, I don't own the song. I don't own Ghost Hunt.
Chapter 8- Cry Wolf
Don't be mad that you did it
Caught your read hands in it
You're so bad, yeah, I get it
Made your bed, now rest in it.
Go and cry wolf
Bebe Rexha- Cry Wolf
She had changed. Her hair was longer- pulled back in a loose braid. She wasn't any taller, he noticed, but she had matured. At least physically. Her brown eyes were bright mischief as she looked at him, a slight smirk on her face.
So, it was her. He thought dimly.
Martin grinned, "Ah, miss Sullivan." He called. "I'm so glad you and your friends could come."
Mai grinned. "I want to thank you for the opportunity, Professor Davis." She said, bowing. Eugene snickered, as she had just blown his brother off.
"Mai." Oliver snapped. Martin blinked. "Do you know miss. Sullivan, Oliver?"
The young man's head snapped up to meet his fathers. "Miss. Sullivan?" he drawled, looking over at Mai. "That's new. I didn't realize that you'd changed your name. Mai smiled. "Actually, Dr. Davis, you'll find that I have many names. Taniyama and Sullivan being two of them. There's a third one, Momohara, though that's actually my mother's maiden name. Taniyama is my great- grandmother's maiden name. my father was Damien Sullivan."
Martin was not the only one who was watching this exchange with rapt attention. "oh… here we go…" Takigawa muttered. Ayako sighed, but stayed silent, Masako smirked behind her kimono sleeve. John fidgeted and Yasuhara snickered.
Her friends that had traveled with her shared looks alternating between resigned and anger as some were glaring at Oliver and some were looking over at Mai. Emiko and Izumi were (silently) betting on who would come out the victor of this fight, Tohru just shook her head. Anabelle tried very hard to remain hidden behind a wall, so that Finn and Adrian wouldn't notice her.
Psyche let out a breath beside Eugene and shook her head.
"But," Mai said it cooly, "At least I never lied about my name…"
"You just did, Taniyama," Oliver sneered.
"Nope. Sullivan is on my birth Certificate as well, Dr. Davis, which I'm sure you knew as well, when you hired me."
Oliver's gaze darkened at the girl who glared at him, with a level expression. "Yeah. I knew about that. Just how much did you keep from me, may I ask?"
At this, Eugene sucked in a breath. Oliver, however sneered. "As much as necessary, Mai. After all, you wouldn't have possibly understood it all."
Mai gasped, and then, her mood darkened farther. She glided over to him, tables started rattling, the equipment on them shaking. From outside, Anabelle could hear thunder. "Oh, dear…" she mumbled.
Adrian's eyes snapped to her. She froze. 'Shit!' she thought.
Mai stood right in front of Oliver now, toe to toe. "How about now?" she hissed. "am I smart enough for you to think I can understand now?"
Martin frowned, wondering if he should intervene. Oliver answered that question for him. "I don't know, Mai, it seems you don't have enough brain power to practice some self- control, so… you tell me." He wore a smirk. She let out a muted scream and stomped her foot.
A fissure split in the floor where her foot was. Now, Martin did speak. "Oliver Davis, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he snapped. His son, who had seemed to forget his father was even in the room gave a start. Eugene breathed a sigh of relief.
Martin stalked up to his son (who was taller than him by a few inches). "Do I need to tell your mother about your deplorable attitude toward your partner?" Oliver blanched, though his ears went slightly pink. Eugene smirked.
"No father, you don't." he said.
Martin nodded, his eyes still narrowed in anger. "I should hope not. You are twenty-one, Oliver. You are acting like a two-year-old." He rounded on Mai next. "And you, Miss. Sullivan, are an adult as well, perfectly capable of not falling into my son's bating." She dropped her head, mortified at her behavior.
"I am sorry, Professor. I… I don't know what came over me…" she knew exactly what had come over her, Eugene thought. Psyche snorted. "Has he always been able to push her buttons like that?" she snorted.
"I'm afraid so," the Australian exorcist murmured. "They always had spats like this…"
"If you weren't so susceptible to constructive criticism, Mai, then I think you shouldn't be here." Oliver drawled. Mai gasped. "Why you…. You arrogant…. toad!" she shrieked. "That wasn't constructive criticism. That was…"
"Miss. Sullivan, Oliver Davis. If you two cannot get along- and so help me, Oliver, if you keep baiting her-"
But the professor could not finish his sentence. Because right then, two different auras went off. From Oliver's side, the tables, equipment, everything rose up off the ground, it hovered, just floating around him. Mai was doing the same thing.
What was extraordinary about the display (no matter how childish) of temper was that both parties' floating objects had aura surrounding them. Visible aura, that everyone, the spiritualists and scientists alike, could see.
Surrounding Oliver was bright gold and white, while Mai's was a true blue. Visual sparks formed between the two. Fissures appeared in the walls and floor. More glass broke. One side of the room became frigid, the other side… became a sauna. Martin shivered with amazement. This was...
"Enough!"
It was Lin who spoke. Oliver dropped the PK, as did Mai, the tone was enough to shock them both out of their temper.
And Lin was pissed.
"Oliver, to your office. Mai, you will take the office next to his. I will talk to you both. Separately." He snapped.
Mai hung her head, but followed the younger brother.
Neither spoke a word.
Martin was gaping as he rounded on the others. "When was anyone going to tell me that Miss Sullivan was actually Miss Taniyama, or that they parted on less than pleasant terms?" he asked, darkly. Masako sighed as she stepped forward.
"to be quite honest, professor, we did not know that Mai would… take this whole thing like that. We didn't know the extent of her powers. We were aware that Oliver and Mai argued… quite a bit, in fact. We didn't know it would go that far…. Mai always had a temper, but it had never been quite that bad…"
"Well, he did kind of break her heart..." Emiko drawled. "Didn't anyone think of that? I mean, one of us might have said something if any of us actually knew. Mai never did tell us specifics like names. Usually, it was he or him when she did mention him."
Izumi sighed. "Mai has changed within the last four years. Everyone does, it is human nature. Mai's got a nasty temper… but it rarely comes out this bad. She's actually pretty good at practicing self-control." She frowned. "Honestly, professor, I didn't expect her to blow up like that…"
The professor sighed, and rubbed a hand down his face. "This might be difficult…"
Tohru rolled her eyes. "At this point, Professor, she's so embarrassed with her own behavior, that she'd do almost anything to atone for that." She informed him. "if that means working with your son and taking all of the criticism with a smile on her face, she'd do it."
"If you're sure…"
"Only because it's Lin who's talking to her. She respects him enough that she'll be thoroughly ashamed. She already is because she respects you, as well." Kuroda muttered. "She's told me all sorts of things about most of you. In fact," the dark- haired girl frowned. "The only one she really didn't talk about was Dr. Davis."
Eugene sighed. "This… is going to be fun, isn't it…"?
Psyche looked over at the elder twin. "It'll work out." She said, loudly enough for the professor to hear. "After this… there will be fighting, but they won't go this far again… not for a while, anyway."
The professor nodded. "If you're sure…" he murmured. Anabelle nodded, though she was still caught in the predatory glare of Adrian, she spoke. "Mai will control it. I don't know about Dr. Davis, but Mai isn't the type to back down. She never has been…"
"So, running away doesn't run in the family, then?" Adrian drawled. Thunder cracked again, and the professor jumped a bit. Anabelle's eyes narrowed, but she drew herself up. "I think, Mr. Connolly, that one fight is enough for now. Don't you agree?" she smirked. "or don't you remember the last time you pissed me off?"
That had ended with a trip to the Galway hospital… for him. She had worried about him, had cried her eyes out, and had stayed by his hospital bed until he woke up.
Ten days later, she'd been on that plane to Japan. Obviously, Adrian remembered. Or, Finn remembered, and had shoved his elbow into his twin's stomach. "Shut up, Adrian." He snapped. Adrian did.
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Oliver sat at his desk as Lin paced in front of him. As livid as the onmiyoji was, Oliver wondered if he would lose control of his power. "Really, Noll." He snarled. "Did you have to do that?"
Oliver was silent.
"She didn't do anything that you didn't already do to her." The onmiyoji hissed. Oliver frowned. A lesser being would have squirmed, but he did not. After all, he reflected, She hadn't known who he was beforehand. He didn't point that out to Lin, though.
"Not only that, but you insulted her intelligence, again, when she was at the top of her class for the last four years. And you know it." now, he did fidget a bit. Lin wasn't done. "You lost control of your powers again, which really isn't like you,"
The last time that had happened, he'd destroyed a shrine to a god that had been angered because it hadn't been worshipped- after he'd been possessed by a fox. He'd been understandably annoyed, right up until Mai had yelled at him to stop hiding behind everyone else and do something.
So, he had done something.
And that something stopped his heart.
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Mai listened as Lin went off on Oliver, waiting for her turn. She knew that she'd screwed up… and the phone call had just made it worse. She sniffed. Feeling sorry for herself didn't do anything productive, but at least she could get it all out before it was her turn for a chewing out of epic proportions.
Right on cue, Lin stepped in. She, being a lesser being, did fidget. She had never enjoyed having the Chinese man angry at her. She waited with bated breath. "You should have warned him, Mai."
"Oh, what," she muttered, "Like he warned me? Lin, whether or not I warned him, I'm done with taking his criticism. It's old. And honestly, I have enough issues without adding self- confidence to that list."
She glared before yelling "I am not an idiot."
"I know that, Mai, and so does Noll." He said. "But he did it knowing that he'd get a rise out of you." He said. "And you playing into his hands just gave him what he wanted." She groaned.
"Don't you think that I know that? Come on, Lin. I know how he works… or, at least…I thought I knew how he worked." She sighed. "and he still looked cool as ice, even while his own PK was acting up. You'd think what I said did nothing." she put her head in her hands before going on. "and I made myself look like an immature brat in front of the professor…" she whimpered.
Lin sighed. "You did look immature. However, you are forgetting that Martin is Oliver's father, and knows how his son is. If anything, the professor is angrier at Oliver than you." He told the girl.
"Lord knows Luella is going to be a sight when she hears of this…" he muttered, feeling almost sorry for his charge. Mai didn't hear that last part. "I should go apologize." She muttered, standing. She looked at Lin. "I'm sorry, Lin." She said.
He nodded. "Accepted."
She walked out of the office, and walked back to the main laboratory. She bowed to the professor. "I am sorry for the scene I caused, Professor Davis."
"I just want to know if you can work with Oliver without…" Martin trailed off, looking around the discombobulated lab. Mai winced. "I swear that it will not happen again." She said.
Oliver snorted. She turned to Oliver last. "Gomenasai, Dr. Davis," she said, bowing to him. "My behavior was uncalled for." She said.
Oliver was floored, even as he felt the prick of something up his spine at the sight.
He found himself nodding. "As am I, Mai." She sighed.
"Now, can you two get along long enough to work together?" Martin asked, censure in his voice. Both looked at the professor and nodded. "Yes, sir." Mai spoke softly. "I'm sure we can."
And, as it had been when she'd been sixteen, Oliver thought, the girl- no, young woman's temper was fast burning. Much like a fire. Once the fuel had run out, it, too died. Then, she became sad, and then, she bounced back.
He felt himself relax just a bit more. She was still the same girl he'd known in Japan. He felt a smirk tug on the corner of his lips. "Mai…" he said quietly. She looked up at him. "Yes, Dr. Davis?"
Anything he'd been about to say promptly flew out of his mind and his eyes narrowed. Annoyance flash-flooded his system. "Tea." He said.
Her eyes flashed. "What?" she hissed.
"Oh, god, Noll, not again." Eugene snapped. "We haven't even started cleaning up after that last spat."
Mai was standing there, openmouthed in shock. Had he just…. Demanded tea? She had to let the words sink in.
"You…." She said, but she couldn't finish. "you… I can't believe you…. Tea? Did you seriously order me to get you tea just now?"
"If you can't follow one order, Mai…"
She promptly walked over to him, grabbing her own tea that had long been forgotten. She stood on her tip- toes and dumped it on his head.
"There's your tea, Dr. Davis." She snarled. "Can we get to work now?" she turned away, swinging her braid as she went, nearly hitting him in the face.
The lab was silent as they all processed what had just happened.
"Well," Eugene drawled. "I don't know what you expected, Noll…"
"Shut. Up. Eugene." He snarled.
Ayako gaped. "I didn't know she had it in her…"
"Do you know anything about her, anymore?" Izumi snickered. "She has the nerve to do a lot more than that."
Martin looked at his son. "Next time, ask, Noll. It's not exactly hard." He told him.
Oliver, who was still soaking wet, glared.
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When the girls returned to the mansion, Mai disappeared. She was still angry enough that she knew she'd cause a poltergeist if she went inside. Especially knowing that, as soon as she got in, she'd be bombarded with sidelong glances and the whole works. She just needed some space… at least enough to calm down.
So, she walked around the house… and into the forest. OF course, she kept on the trail that had obviously been there for a long time. For a while, at least. She stopped a good distance away from the house, she frowned as she heard a sound. A soft yip.
Pain was what she felt first. In her left leg. She started running, well, more limping than running, in the direction of the sound.
It was a fox kit. In a trap. She gasped, as she reached it. "What the hell?" she hissed, making quick work of the trap the little fox was in. It tried to nip at her a few times, but she calmed it using her ability to push the feeling of tranquility into the fox's mind, making hushing noises, much like a mother did to their child.
A flash of a baby with large, dark indigo eyes and brown hair entered her mind and she went pink. Now was not the time for that… though she wasn't sure if there would ever be a time for that.
After she had freed the baby fox, she found the trail. With a baby fox in her arms, she went straight to the barn. It was the first time she'd been in the building- or any of the outbuildings, actually. Fresh hay was there, oddly enough, and a few horses. She let out a breath as she saw the gorgeous strawberry mare. "Wow, aren't you pretty," she murmured. "What's your name?"
"She doesn't have a name." Mai let out a shriek as the voice sounded behind her. The man smirked. "You'd be the new miss, wouldn't you?" he asked. Mai nodded.
"My name is Flamel. Jacob Flamel. No relation to Nicholas." He chuckled. "I'm the stablemaster. I take care of the horses here. That one… well, bought her a few days before you arrived. Figured you could give her a name if you wanted to ride her."
"I don't know how to ride." Mai muttered. The man chuckled, dark grey eyes sparlking in his wizened face. Laugh lines crinkled at his eyes and his grey hair had started to go white. Nevertheless, she thought, she had never seen a man his age who looked so in shape.
"I can teach you, Miss."
"Mai. It's just Mai."
"I was wondering when you'd get around to telling me that." She laughed. "Sorry. Bad mannars. I should have told you sooner."
"No matter. What's wrong with the kit in your arms?"
"His leg… caught in a trap. I don't think the little thing can stay alive on his own… not with this…" she showed Jacob the kit's injury. She'd wrapped it with a handkerchief she'd kept in her pocket. "I'm going to go get Psyche. She'd be able to heal him…"
"Probably a good idea. I'll keep an eye on the kit."
"Thanks." She said, turning. She ran to the house.
Of course, they were waiting for her. "What the hell was that about, Mai?" Psyche asked. And the whole reason that Mai had not entered the house when they got home in the first place came back to her. She sighed.
"I… uh… well…"
"He seemed rather adept at pushing your buttons." Tohru drawled.
Mai snorted at that. "he's the one that created those particular buttons, Tohru." She muttered. "When I worked for him at SPR…"
"He was your boss? I thought it was the other guy… Lin!" Emiko gasped. Izumi's gold eyes went wide. "And suddenly the whole 'you fell in love with your boss' thing is less weird."
Mai hissed. "Can we not bring that up?"
Sakurako blinked. "Are you talking about Oliver Davis?" she asked. Mai groaned and threw up her hands. "Oh, for the love of Kami…"
"Kami won't save you now…" Anabelle muttered. "Especially since you broke the lab."
"I had help, if you would be so kind as to remember," she let out a frustrated huff and glared. "look, I will spill my guts to you later, right now, I need Psyche's help in the barn. Come on." She grabbed the darker- haired girl's hand and tugged her out the door, without so much as another word.
"Which means she'll get to hear all the good stuff first," Tohru muttered.
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"Oliver E.C. Davis." Was the first thing that they heard as they walked through the front door. As stoic as Oliver was, even he froze when his adoptive mother used that tone of voice. His head slowly turned to see her standing there.
Standing at five-foot-four inches, slim and blond, her bright green eyes were narrowed. Her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping on the floor.
It was easily the most terrifying thing that Oliver had ever seen.
That was counting Urado.
"Yes, mother?" he responded. Luella hissed. "Your father called me from the office today after the stunt you decided to pull. And don't you dare tell me that she started it, Oliver. I heard the whole thing."
Oliver winced. His mother was not yet done. "You are lucky that you are twenty-one years of age, Oliver if you were any younger than that, I would ground you from ghost hunting."
And just the thought of that made his jaw clench. "Mother…"
"I am not finished. Your father and I raised you better than that, and you know it," Luella growled. "That girl may have been in the wrong as well, and likely, she's getting chewed out for her behavior as well, but as I am not her guardian, I have no right to do that."
Oliver glared at that.
"I am an adult mother, I don't have-"
"Then you should act like it." Luella snarled. "For god's sake, Oliver, what were you thinking?"
"he was thinking that he'd get her riled up because she pissed him off by not telling him that she'd be there." Eugene drawled from behind him. "Though I don't know how that would be possible… you didn't exactly leave her any contact information…"
"Shut up, Eugene." Oliver snarled.
"Oliver, you're my brother, and I do love you, but you are an idiot scientist." Eugene muttered. "I just don't know how you expect her to tell you anything when you never bothered to tell her anything."
Luella blinked. "What?"
"She was his assistant." Eugene grinned. "Didn't you meet her once, mom?" Luella blinked. She turned back to Oliver. "That sweet girl from Japan who helped you find…?"
Oliver glared at Eugene. "Thank you, Eugene." He muttered sarcastically.
"Oliver Davis… What happened at the University?" Luella asked slowly.
Oliver winced.
Eugene smirked as he snuck away. As much as he loved his brother, he did not want to be there for him when their mother exploded.
'Sorry, Noll. You're on your own.'
'Coward.' Came the reply.
'Yes. Yes, I really, truly am. It wasn't me that fucked up, though, was it…?"
'I got tea poured on my head."
'And whose fault was that? I'm pretty sure it was yours.'
'Bugger off, Gene.'
Eugene was at the door to the library when he heard his mother's voice.
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Oh, Noll, you're in for it big time, now…" he muttered with a smirk. As loving and caring as his mother was- and as much as he and Oliver (though the latter wouldn't say it out loud) adored Luella… she had a way of putting the two of them in their place if they needed it.
Much, Eugene thought, like Mai did with Oliver. He chuckled as he opened his brother's latest book. 'you know, Noll, you could write another book.'
'and what would that be about, Eugene?'
'Ten Easy Steps to Piss Off Every Female That You Know.'
'…I regret kissing you back to life, sometimes. Did you know that?'
'Too late now, little brother.'
And, so ends chapter 8. What will become of the cute little fox kit? Will Oliver survive the wrath of his mother? Will Eugene stop tormenting his brother? Will Angel of Pandemonium Stop messing with people's emotions (well, that's a no.) All this next time (at least some time or another not necessarily in this chapter) next time. Read and review.
As always, Angel of Pandemonium
P.S. Was that enough of an ass-whipping for you lot? Geeze, some of you are more bloodthirsty than I am about this… if not, plenty more to come.