Chapter 27

The sun started making its decent from the sky and the property was a sight to behold.

Luckily, the people who lived here could view this sight as often as they wished. Kohaku headed toward the barn where he'd been doing some chores. He's spent most of the day cleaning the pens and bathing all the animals. Now he had to feed them and clean their water buckets. He'd only left for a moment to retrieve some food from the storage shed when he heard the animals crying out in their pens.

"A fox probably got in." Kohaku said aloud as he dropped the feed and went to grab his rake. Upon reentering the barn Kohaku could feel something was terribly wrong. He was prompted to stop abruptly at the entrance. The horses were whining and cowering in the back of their stalls and the sheep, pigs, and goats were doing the same. The sun had just set, so there was a bit of light that still adorned the front of the barn, but the back wall remained dark.

Kohaku checked stall after stall but found nothing. His gaze was once again brought to the back wall of the barn. He could feel eyes staring back at him, but he couldn't see anything.

It was just too dark back there.

'Maybe it's just in my head.' Kohaku thought trying to brush it off. He needed to feed the animals. They'd been waiting a while for him, and he'd taken longer than he should have cleaning up. Almost suddenly one of the horses began kicking at the gates and crying out like mad.

"I've come for you." A voice growled out from the shadows making Kohaku stop in his tracks once again, but this time he felt violently ill.

He slowly turned his head back to the previously analyzed shadow only to see a sight that defied the laws of nature. A black figure's head was poking out of the shadows, and its red eyes glared back. The figure hand no other features, and definitely not a mouth, and yet it spoke again.

"KO-HA-KU!" It cried and suddenly two arms shot out of the darkness and grabbed the ground. The figure seemed to be made up entirely of darkness, and it was pulling itself out of the shadows. Kohaku was frozen in fear as cold sweat fell down his face, and his legs began to shake. The figure pulled harder and harder dragging itself out of the shadow of the wall, and now its struggle was accompanied by inhuman groans.

'I have to leave. I have to get out of here, but the animals. Can I leave them? No, that thing came for me! I got to leave.' Were Kohaku's last thoughts before he turned his back on the figure and ran out of the barns. Just as he exited the complex, he could see his father approaching with a bucket of water and goofy smile.

"Whoa kiddo! Where's the fire?" Mr. Kinjo asked with a laugh that melted away once he noted the dread on his child's face. Kohaku grabbed onto his father with a death grip and looked him in the eyes.

"Dad, something is in the barn! It's not a foreign animal, but it looked like a person, but its skin was like shadows, I…. it…. There…it…" Kohaku said but then became too flustered to speak.

"Calm down son. I'll go take a look alright. Stay here." Mr. Kinjo soothed and approached the barn, steadfast at first, but then slowed and observed with caution. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight application. He looked around carefully and checked every stall. Even the animals were calm now, and none of them tipped him off toward anything being amiss. He sighed heavily and exited the barn and called out for his son.

"Kohaku, I checked but I-" Mr. Kinjo stopped and looked around and noticed that his son was nowhere to be seen. He scanned the area with panicked eyes and was about to call out again when he heard a muffled groan. He jogged around the side of the barn where his son was lying face down and currently pushing himself upward.

"Kohaku, what happened?" His father asked hurrying to help his son up, but he was yanked away again.

"DAD! HELPPPP!" He screamed as he was dragged further and faster until he couldn't see his son anymore. He screamed back just as frantically.

"Kohaku! KOHAKU!" He yelled as he slowly began to lose sight of his son.

Mai woke up with a start and erratic breathing, much like she'd become accustomed too lately. She immediately took note of her surroundings, and she was back in base surrounded by concerned faces. Literally, everyone was currently staying in the residence was looking over at her. Mai could feel her face heating up as she attempted to calm her breathing and collect her nerves.

"Why do I feel like I was hit in the face with a bat?" Mai asked rubbing her temples.

"Honey, you just fainted out of nowhere? Are you okay? Maybe you should go to the hospital?" said clearly still panicked.

"No, this happens a lot. I'm fine." Mai said as she rose to a sitting position.

"Oh my goodness, that shouldn't be! Are you sick?" Ms. Kinjo panicked even more.

"No, it's just easier for some reason for me to have visions when I'm sleeping. I'm not sick." Mai replied coolly.

"You had a vision?" Naru asking grabbing his notebook and approaching his assistant. Mai looked over at Kohaku briefly and then at her boss who was patiently waiting.

'I don't want to disclose that info about that night that Kohaku hasn't even come to terms with. At least not in front of everyone. Besides I didn't get to see the most important part of the vision, what happened in the field.' Mai contemplated.

"I'd rather not share this one with everyone here." Mai said her eyes cast downward to hardwood cover with carpet.

"I see, well then you and I will discuss this matter privately. Shall we?" Naru said getting up and offering her a hand up from the couch. Mai looked at his hand, and as much as she wanted to take it she couldn't and rose on her own.

"Madoka and Yasuhara, I want to hear something new about the history of this property when I return. Lin, I also need a topography report of the land here. Father Brown and Matsuzaki complete another walkthrough of the property before the sun sets. Monk, I need a temperature report." With that Naru left the base. Mai waited for her boss unsure of where he wished to speak with her. They headed down the stairs and back into the kitchen where Mai had her previous episode. He sat on a stool by the table and placed his things down.

"Let's me guess. You want me to make tea, and fill you in on what I saw." Mai said walking up to the kettle and poking it, only to find that the water was now cold.

'How long was I out? That boiling water is already cold.' Mai discovered as she placed the water back to boil.

"Good guess. It's nice to know you are using that brain for once, but as you can see that the oven is still in use by someone who will be back down here soon. I want you to make tea and then we will retreat to the front steps." Naru revealed as Mai joined him at the table conserving her energy as much as possible.

'I can't wait until I have a chance to go back to the girl's room. I'm exhausted.' Mai concluded as she tried her best to be present in her boss's presence.

"So, how is your experiment going?" Naru asked casually, but grabbed Mai attention immediately.

She felt her heart rate increase and she looked at her boss nervously.

'He knows.' Her inner voice whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Mai asked dumbly not daring to look him in the eye.

'He could mean anything! Does he know about Kasai too? Or maybe the key? Or am I just being paranoid and about to spill my guts for no reason?' Mai combed her mind for answers, but none proved satisfactory.

"Are you really going to play dumb? I mean I know you aren't as intelligent as me, but you can do better than that." Naru replied with a wicked smirk, the likes of which made Mai's heart threaten to pound out of her chest.

'I still can't know what he's talking about.' Mai thought feeling more and more like a fly desperately trying to escape a spider's web.

"I really don't have the slightest inkling of what you're talking about? Would you like to fill me in? Or are we going to continue this idiotic banter where you think everyone can read your conceited little thoughts?" Mai fired back suddenly unwilling to reveal anything she didn't have too. Naru raised an eyebrow at the girl and looked Mai in the eye.

"The key. It isn't your warding charm." Naru finally said and Mai sighed.

'That's got to be a new record for how quickly this guy has busted me.' Mai thought and rested her chin in her palm.

"Congratulations Professor on solving another mystery. How did you figure it out?" Mai asked thinking back about the care she took to hide her escapade.

"Lin told me and said his shiki noticed the shift in your energy immediately when you entered the base. Though I wanted to see how long you'd try and pretend that our apartment keys were your warding charms. It was also quite obvious when you kept it on for the beginning of the walkthrough. Why the sudden need to cast away something so important?" Naru grilled narrowing his eyes.

'Because my best friend was betrayed by a man that I believed in whole heartily.' Mai thought and laughed bitterly. Suddenly the kettle whistled and Mai rose eagerly and proceeded to make two cups of tea, and placed them on a small tray. Naru rose out of the kitchen and Mai followed behind dutifully. Once by the front entrance, Naru opened the door and Mai exited and sat on the front steps.

"The charm does have its uses, but I feel like at the same time it's making me weaker. I shouldn't just be sealing it off. I should be trying to control it because if I'm afraid of it, doesn't it end up controlling me?" Mai explained looking off into the distant landscape again.

"It's good that you want to improve yourself Mai, but remember there's no playing God for us. Make sure you're doing this for the right reasons." Naru blew on his tea and briefly glanced at his assistant.

"I'm not stupid. I know that she's dead you know. Just let me do this alright? Can you just have some faith in me?" Mai asked a bit frustrated at the scolding she was receiving and used all of her might to control her tone.

"Mai, you know nothing of my faith in you." He retorted.

"That's the problem. I don't. It's like you…" Mai started but then paused. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly the dull look in her eyes returned.

"Why don't you ask me about my dream? You wouldn't want me to forget in all the excitement, right?" Mai responded in a monotone voice calming herself.

'I'm too low on energy right now to pick a fight with him.' Mai thought. They both shared a defiant gaze before Naru broke it to question her.

"By all means then, fill me in on your dream." Her boss requested as Mai recounted the events her boss made a few notes with his notebook.

"That's when something dragged him backward and he started screaming and crying out for his father. After that, you all woke me up in base, so I'm not sure what actually transpired between Kohaku and this entity." Mai ended as the young professor was silently writing. A cool breeze blew in and the sun began its downward descent. Mai rose from her place grabbing the tea dish and her own cup, no longer waiting for her boss.

"Let's go back inside. I'm cold and tired. "Mai voiced ready to evade the approaching chill.

"Is that all you have to tell me?" He pressed with a raised a brow in her direction.

'Ugh…here we go again. What does he know?' Mai tensed.

"What are talking about now?" Mai replied struggling to contain her irritation all over again.

"I'm just ensuring that you've told me everything since you developed a habit of keeping secrets." He clarified.

"Yes. That's everything that happened." Mai rolled her eyes and rubbed her side to emphasize that she wasn't getting warmer. Getting the point Naru rose with his folder between his arm and side and his now empty teacup.

"Yasu, Madoka. Time's up. What do you have?" Naru burst back into base surprising more than a few occupants. Mai returned to her solo perch by the window, silent and resigned. Though the duo was a bit startled at their boss's entrance; they were both prepared to give him information.

"As far back as the local history goes there have been no houses or dwellings on this plot of land. Before this area used to be a part of a deeply forested zone before it became an agricultural region. More recently there have been a few other homes in the area, and we are checking into the history of those right now. There are a few deaths on record that we have yet to look into, but the most promising seems to be about a house fire not too far from here. Again, we'll have to see what we can find out about them all now." Yasuhara updated the big boss and he noted all the information and noted the time.

"Keep working on that. Monk and Matsuzaki, the walkthrough?" Naru requested.

"Nothing, just a weird feeling. Almost like you can't relax around the house." Monk said and Ayako nodded in agreement.

"How are the temperature comparisons?" Naru questioned.

"All normal, nothing drastic. But the feeling the others are talking about, I feel it here too." John replied as he leaned over Monk to compare temperature readings.

"I see." Was all he said. Naru shifted toward the monitors, most likely the review the film for clues.

The rest of the night compared to Mai's past week was pretty uneventful.

She opted out of dinner just like lunch. Luckily, she was at least able to eat before she fainted. That was probably the only reason Ayako let her get away with it. By the time Naru had excused his staff for the night, and the girls returned to their room she was already in a deep sleep.

It was around 2 am when Mai's eyes fluttered open again.

She readjusted her position a couple times in an attempt to regain some comfort to fall back to sleep. Much to her disappointment her stomach growled and made her banish the thought entirely.

'I just had to skip dinner.' Mai mentally reprimanded herself and she exited her sheets as quietly as possible. Before she left the room she looked back and realized that only Ayako was in her bed.

'Madoka must be watching the base with Lin. I could wake Ayako but she always gets up so violently. Or I could go to base to Madoka and Lin first and… you know what... never mind.' And that's as far as Mai let her mind wander about what the two could be doing.

Mai silently retreated down the hall and downstairs her warm feet cooled immediately by the tiled floors in the kitchen. Mai assumed her leftovers were in the fridge just like lunch and wasn't disappointed.

This time though there was a small yellow sticky note on top addressed to her.

Mai,

Here's your dinner I pray you enjoy it. I hope you'll consider eating with all of us because you seem like a very nice girl.

With love,

Mrs. Kinjo :)

Mai's heart was warmed by the message, and she even smiled to herself after reading it. Not wanting to make any noise she decided to eat the rice and chicken cold since the microwave would be way too loud. Grabbing a cup and some utensils from the sink rack and filling up some water at the fridge, Mai sat and ate.

The house was eerily silent.

This was the first time since Mai had been here that her buzzing mind was so calm. She just acknowledged the sounds of the house like the humming of the refrigerator and the sound of the wind chimes hanging on the porch.

Then seemingly out of nowhere Mai started to cry. She tried to stay silent and to keep eating, but she started to hiccup. Soon she had to cover her mouth to make sure no one heard her sobbing. Her tears grew hot and her face reddened.

'I hate this! This helplessness, this reality, this awful pain. ' It was difficult for Mai to comprehend what she was currently feeling. It was as if she was going to explode with just pure raw emotion, but also completely implode from the hollowness that was growing inside of her.

It was torture.

Mai was hunched over in front of the table, and felt two arms encircle her.

She was so distracted she didn't even notice the aura approach, but once it was here it was unmistakable. Ayako turned her around and rubbed her back, and Mai just let herself rest in her bosom.

"It's okay to be sad Mai. We are all here for you, and we always will be." She said and smiled down at her young companion. At these words, Mai embraced her back tightly and nodded without lifting her face.

"Come on, let's go back to bed." Mai didn't object as Ayako put away her food and dishes, and guided Mai back to their room.

Man this was a long break in between chapter but here's the latest. You reviews and follows always keep me writing and thinking so thank you for that. Happy Holidays and hopefully can update again for the new year.