Chapter 28

She was just so tired.

Mai hadn't slept very much the night before not only because of her own emotional restlessness but also because of a terrible nightmare she'd had. Luckily, she didn't scream when she opened her eyes but was drenched in sweat. Her roommate was gone, most likely to breakfast or base, which left her the perfect window for her to take a shower.

She'd dreamt that she was in a burning building and was screaming for her parents, but no one came for her. It was no doubt the demise of the specter they were currently hunting, and the same one from the house Yasuhara mentioned yesterday.

'Naru will be happy to hear about this.' Mai mentally concluded as she got dressed and checked her appearance in the mirror. She lazily put her wet hair into a very messy bun but was dressed in some jeans, flats, and a cream-colored sweater. Though her outfit was presentable her eyes were adorned with bags, and her face still seemed tired.

Mai sighed aloud, unable to bring herself to even care. Mai wasn't the kind of person to dabble in pity parties, but how could she not with the way her life was headed lately. She was an orphan, who'd confessed to her boss and was rejected, who's best friend was just recently murdered with her ex-boyfriend as her main suspect in its plan, and not to mention her powers that were currently going haywire.

Out of nowhere, Mai couldn't help but giggle to herself at what a mess she really was. There was a sick sort of humor in it. She should have stayed home for this case, but she didn't want to be alone.

No.

Alone would be bad right now.

"Umm… Mai, are you okay?" Monk asked as he leaned in from the doorway with a questioning look.

'Great now I look as crazy as I feel.' Mai thought to herself and felt a light blush dusting her face.

"I knocked, but you didn't answer. I figured you were still asleep, but you're clearly ready. Do you want to eat some breakfast?" Monk asked and Mai nodded silently as not to open her big mouth and embarrass herself some more.

"Alright. Let's go, slowpoke." Monk joked and the duo headed into the kitchen where Mai was surprised to see the rest of the household sitting.

'Oh yes, it's still the weekend so it would make sense everyone was home.' Mai realized as she took a seat next to Monk. Of course, that seat was directly across from Naru and next to Ayako which meant that she wouldn't be able to get through this meal without being fussed over and analyzed.

She didn't have the energy for that sort of thing.

"Look who decided to join us finally! I'm happy to finally be enjoying your company at our table Ms. Taniyama." Mrs. Kinjo said aloud and Mai offered her a small quaint smile.

"You can just call me Mai, Mrs. Kinjo. When you say Ms. Taniyama it makes me feel like a school teacher." Mai poked lightly at Kohaku's mother.

"Alright then dear, Mai it is. Well then honey, did you sleep well?" She asked again and Mai had to hold in the sarcastic scoff that almost escaped her throat.

'Nope, I slept like shit and I'm still exhausted.' Mai thought, but knew better than to respond that way.

"The room and accommodations are very comfortable. You have a very beautiful home Mrs. Kinjo. The scenery is very nice. "Mai said and could feel Naru's eyes on her immediately. Against her better judgment, she glanced over at her boss who narrowed his eyes at her.

'We can all see the bags under your eyes.' Naru thought to himself making a mental note to speak with her after breakfast.

"Why thank you, Mai, that means a lot. What would you like to eat for breakfast? We've got a couple options this morning." Mrs. Kinjo continued.

"Some black tea would be nice, besides that, I'm not picky." Mai requested politely and the hostess rose to meet her request.

"Mr. Shibuya, how is the case going so far?" Mr. Kinjo inquired from the other side of the table.

"We are currently in the final stages of our research phase, and since this area is fairly new to residents it's has been somewhat difficult. However, we speculate the source of the problem is from outside the property which we will be investigating today." Naru responded flawlessly.

"I see. I must say I am surprised that you all employ so much technology in your investigation. It's not at all what I expected. That suggestion thing was a bit odd though." Mr. Kinjo said again.

"We actually get that a lot." John said with a laugh.

"Pardon me, John, are you from Australia?" Ms. Kinjo asked.

"Yes, I am." John replied proudly.

"Oh, I could tell. My father used to train horses in Australia, so I've been there quite a few times. It's quite the beautiful country and the people are so diverse. I love it." Mrs. Kinjo went on.

"Mom, you're rambling." Kohaku said scratching his bed head and raising his eyebrow her way.

"Am I really? Oh dear, don't mind me." Mrs. Kinjo apologized.

"No apology necessary. It's just polite conversation." John excused.

"No, if you let me, I could go on about horses for hours. I'm glad that rude little boy of mine said something." Mrs. Kinjo responded with sugar sweetness.

"Hey! I'm not rude." Kohaku said and this time Mai couldn't hold back the scoff in the back of her throat which came out a lot louder than she meant it too.

"What's so funny girly?" Kohaku challenged from across the table.

"Who me? I was just off in thought, don't mind me." She evaded swiftly.

"I didn't know a cold chick like you could laugh. That's why I'm so interested in what you're laughing at." Kohaku pressed again.

"Kohaku…" His mother said in a low tone.

"What? She's antisocial!" Kohaku said and Mai laughed again.

"I'm sorry if I've been anit-social Kohaku. How about this? You and I can have a long heart to heart after breakfast so we mend our broken relationship. Just the two of us." Mai replied with sultry sarcasm but was entirely serious.

"Mai…" It was Naru's turn to tell Mai to settle down.

"Fine, you're on Mai. I'd love that." Kohaku challenged.

"Alright, who wants tea cakes?" Mrs. Kinjo asked trying to diffuse the tension in the room, but it remained no matter how the others tried to wish it away with mannerly chatter.

From that point, breakfast went on without any more hiccups, and by 8 am everyone was in base tending to their usual duties. Mai found herself in that same window overlooking the scenery. For some reason, she couldn't stop herself from looking outward.

'I have this feeling something is out there, but I don't know what. Or where? I just know it's out there somewhere. Maybe I should ask someone who does know…" Mai thought to herself just as she saw Kohaku stepping outside and staring off in the same direction.

Just like she had been a few minutes ago.

"Naru." Mai called. He was speaking to Monk over a clipboard. They both stopped and looked at her like her voice was as loud as a siren. Naru handed off the clipboard to his employee and walked over to his assistant.

"Yes." He replied crossing his arms.

"I want to interview Kohaku, and he's out by the barn. May I go?" She asked and surprised her boss. Normally she'd make an excuse and leave base without anyone truly knowing where she'd gone and why, but now she was plain as day and asking his permission.

Something really was off about her.

"Not alone. The barn has been a hot spot for activity. Take John with you." He replied.

"I can't."

"And why is that, Mai?"

"Kohaku won't talk unless it's just the two of us, I know it. Not that John is intimidating, but that kid has got way too much pride like someone else I know." Mai replied flatly and Naru looked out the window and spotted Kohaku just as she had a few minutes before.

"Well, then that's too bad because you won't be going alone." Naru said and dismissed himself back toward his colleagues. Naru could tell by the way she'd been looking out of that window, pining for answers to whatever she was investigating.

Most importantly, she'd definitely had a dream the night before. He watched out of the corner of his eye Mai looked at John warily then scoffed.

"John. We're going." Mai called over to the priest who was chatting with Ayako. The priest was clearly caught off guard at the summons. Mai wasted no time walking up to the door and waited only a few moments for John to catch up with her pace.

'I was going to ask her what she dreamt of, but she seems to be doing some investigating of her own so I'll leave her to it until I need the information.' Naru thought as he watched the priest following after the young girl.

"Alright Monk, as I was saying how are the temperature readings coming back now?" Naru inquired.

"The same. No major changes since we've been here and for that matter very little activity. Well, at least that's true for the house, that barn is another story. The temperatures have been fluctuating quite a bit, but it's difficult since the weather hasn't been all that constant since we been here." Monk shared and the boss nodded.

"I'll have Lin look these over. Good work Takigawa." Naru closed.

"Um… Mai. May I ask where we are going?" John finally piped up.

"Naru just gave us permission to question Kohaku. No offense John, but I really didn't want to take you along. I know he won't talk if the both of us are there so I'm going to ask you to keep your distance from us while I speak with him." Mai explained as the pair made their exit from the house.

"Are you sure Mai? He seemed a bit hostile with you when we were at breakfast." John asked looking outside and neither of them spotting the teen from the porch.

"I promise to call you if I get into any trouble. Besides I'm almost positive the kid is harmless, just guarded and scared after what happened to him." Mai said stepping down from the porch and looking around the property.

She had yet to place her necklace back on.

Admittedly, very stupid considering she'd already fainted from the exertion. She still felt the tug from just beyond the property practically yanking in that direction.

'It's more intense now then it was last time I was out here. It's pretty difficult to ignore. I'll have to go out there eventually.' Mai thought but quickly refocused to finding Kohaku. She could feel his aura coming from just outside of the barn and she motioned for John to stand back. Mai walked by the barn's entrance and shivered at the memory of her dream.

She refused to look directly inside while she passed.

On the broad side there was Kohaku standing up against the side of the building smoking a cigarette and looking out in the direction Mai had been, not moments before.

"Do your parents know you smoke?" Mai asked in a questioning tone and Kohaku jumped clearly not noticing her entrance. Once he

realized it was her, his eyes narrowed and he took one more long drag before dropping the cigarette and stomping it into the tall grass beneath him.

"No, they don't. I'd like it to stay that way." Kohaku said in a low cautious voice almost ashamed. He rotated his stance and leaned up against the barn and over the girl.

"What's it going to take to keep it that way girly?" He spoke again looking her up and down. Mai popped her hip and crossed her arms.

She fed him an unimpressed frown.

"I need to know what happened to you. We won't be able to continue the investigation if there's missing information." Mai replied and Kohaku was quick to 'Che' and straighten up his stance.

"Listen, I don't want to talk about. Besides aren't you a psychic or something. Why don't you just read my mind and figure out yourself." Kohaku mocked defensively.

"First of all, I can't read your mind and for that matter, I've only met one person who could even get close to doing that. Second, even if I could get the information from you by force, I'd have to relive what you went through from your perspective. That is something I'd only do if I have to and it isn't easy even then. I can't even control what I see. So if you could make this easier on our team then that would be very much appreciated. "Mai explained with more patients than she gave herself credit for having as of late.

At this information, Kohaku was silent for a bit and looked outward again and sighed.

"Have you had any visions or whatever about this place?" He questioned his eyes distant still.

"Yes. One of them of you in the barn where you saw that shadow figure coming out of the wall, and then I lost it right as your father was calling for you and it dragged you away. The other was a bit more gruesome. I don't think you want to hear about it." Mai said analyzing him for any sort of reaction from this information.

"Do you get gruesome visions a lot?" He mumbled.

"Sometimes, not too often though." Mai replied a bit annoyed that their topic was straying. Kohaku sighed and looked at her with a look that she'd seen far too often lately.

Pity.

He sighed very loudly and then started to speak.

"Well, I was waiting for my father to check out the barn for any signs of tha- that thing that I saw. So I waited outside when out of the corner of my eye I saw something go around this corner and over to this side of the barn. I was scared in the moment, but I just wanted to make sure I'd really seen it. I went after it and of course, I saw nothing over here, but then something grabbed my leg and knocked me down. I heard my Dad calling me and I responded, but then I was dragged away on my back for a bit before I completely panicked and blacked out. When I woke up I was pretty far away from the house and my back was bleeding and it felt raw. The pain was probably what brought me to when I woke up. It was dusk still so I must have only been out for no more than 20 minutes at that point. Then it all kind of hit me." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing his account.

"Everything… before I got… wherever I was... it hit me and I decided to get up and try and find my way back before it got too dark, you know. I realized I was in this field with grass that came up to at least my thighs, and it was so cold there. Luckily, I could see where I had mashed down the grass when I was dragged in. Otherwise, I don't think I'd have the slightest idea of how I'd get back. So I started to retrace my steps when I got the awful feeling in the pit of my gut." Kohaku stopped longer now and his hands were visually shaking. He took another deep breath and minute to try and regain his composure before he began again. This time when he spoke his voice was shaky and his eyes showed all the emotions he'd been holding back.

"So I turned around because I knew it was behind me. Then I saw it. The figure from the barn. It stood and it was ju-just so much darker than anything I'd ever seen. Not seven feet away from me, and it just stood there. I'd never been so scared in my life. I felt frozen. I wanted to scream. To run. To even just close my eyes, but I couldn't. Then it spoke to me." Kohaku said tears welling up in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"What did it say?" Mai asked cautiously, anxious to know, but not wanted to push him into an emotional collapse.

"It said, "You can't trust them. Your mother and father are going to kill you. Stay here and you'll be safe." That was the last thing I remember. After that, I woke up and my father was shaking me begging me to wake up." Kohaku wiped his face aggressively and turned his back to Mai.

"Did you believe it? Do you think your parents are untrustworthy?" Mai delved.

"Of course not! I know they'd never hurt me, at least not on purpose. So there you have it girly. Now get lost." Kohaku dismissed.

"Are you sure they'd never hurt you?" Mai asked before she could stop herself from projecting. Before he could internalize it, he spun around and just as quickly and silently as she showed up, she was gone.

Naru looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and let his eyes scan the numbers over and over again. He was curious to know exactly what kind of person Mai's teacher was, but Michiru had been very explicit when she said not to call her unless Mai wasn't bouncing back like she was supposed to.

'If this teacher of hers really cared for Mai, wouldn't she want to know about the status of her life and her current condition? Did this mean that this person was untrustworthy? It would appear so because he also wasn't allowed to let Mai know if that he had this person's contact information. Then again knowing Mai whenever she was conscious of the fact someone was trying to help her, she would insist that she was fine, even if she really wasn't. Anyone who really knew Mai would try to help her without her noticing.' Naru placed the paper back into his black binder pocket.

He needed more time to really discern whether or not Mai was recovering and grieving properly. After all, it had only been a few days since the funeral and far too early to judge. Naru refocused to the monitors again where he'd just seen last night's events in the kitchen that transpired between Mai and Matsuzaki.

John was brought back to attention from his daydream once Mai had rounded the corner wearing a very thoughtful expression. It was unfortunate that Mai's distant demeanor had become the new norm. He was about to ask her how it went, but she walked right past him like she hadn't even seen the priest waiting.

"Umm… Mai?" John interjected and the girl stopped.

"Yes." Mai replied flatly.

"How did it go? Did Kohaku tell you anything new?" He poked as he paced closer to his colleague.

"Yes, Naru's going to want to hear about this right away." Mai voiced seriously and headed back towards the house.

Something wasn't quite right.

The way she reacted when she'd touched him hadn't left Kasai's mind since the funeral. Perhaps it was the fact that he'd had way too much free time now since he'd been allowed a few days to stay home from school since the tragic death of his girlfriend from the hands of his deranged father. Though he was almost positive that Mai became more cautious after zoning out on him.

'She does work for a psychic research company. Would it be at all possible that she was actually psychic? Had touching him triggered something in her?" Kasai wondered before laughing to himself.

'There's no way. If she was psychic Keiko wouldn't be six feet under right now.' He reasoned with himself. He knew he'd have to bide his time and lay low for a bit before he'd make his next move, but he was thankful for time to prepare. Everything was going so well it made him sad to think that someday soon it would be over.

Bittersweet life.

When the young girl and the priest reentered base, it was just the dark duo who were both standing over a map of the area. Naru and Mai connected eyes for a moment and he seemed to understand that she was ready to share the information she'd been withholding for the day.

"What do you have for me?" Naru asked and Lin sat near his laptop ready to take notes. Mai and John filed in further into the base and stood over the map with their employer.

"Kohaku detailed to me the rest of his account when the spirit took him and I had a dream last night." Mai revealed without her usual air of bashfulness.

"Alright let me hear the abo-"Before Naru could continue a scream shook base into shock and everyone was taken aback.

"Was tha-" John started but was quick be silenced when another scream cascaded through the air. Naru ran out with Lin. Just before he could cross the doors thresh hold he called back to his team.

"John come with me! Mai watch the base!" John a bit caught off guard hesitated and looked at Mai, who nodded, and the priest was off behind the others. As soon as the door to base shut Mai walked over to the monitors to see if she could find out what was happening. Her rapidly searching pupils soon locked onto the kitchen where Mrs. Kinjo was on the floor holding her head, and blood was accumulating around her.

'Oh my goodness. She looks really hurt.' Mai could feel a sinking feeling in her gut slowly arise.

'I know Ayako keeps her first aid kit in her bag. I should grab it and bring it down.' Mai didn't think twice about leaving the base unoccupied. She ran into the girl's room and threw open her roommate's suitcase and found the first aid kit, which was placed in a side compartment. Mai raced down into the kitchen where the entire team had gathered. Ayako was already tending to the lady of the house and was surprised that her first aid kit was at her side so quickly.

"Thank you, Mai." She said then start spouting orders to the team to help her care for Mrs. Kinjo, who was luckily still conscious. Mai could feel Naru's eyes on her most likely because she wasn't where he told her to be. Mai didn't feel up to a scolding so she exited just as quickly as she entered.

Mai passed the front door and was about to go up the stairs it flung open causing her to jump up in surprise.

Mai turned around and standing in front of the house…

….was the shadowy figure from her visions of the barn.

This time it seemed to have a cloudy substance rising from it, almost as if it was smoking. The figure had no discernible facial features and yet Mai knew that it was staring directly at her.

Beckoning her towards it. Mai was afraid, but it felt different from other malicious entities she'd encountered.

'I'm scared, but it's not of the figure. It's more like an emotion that I'm sensing from it.' Before Mai could try and understand it, she felt a hand on her ankle.

It yanked her down the stairs.

Luckily, the brunette had only gone up the first two steps so it only left her with a sore butt. She yelped out in surprising causing Naru to leave the kitchen and enter the hallway leading toward the stairs.

"Mai!" He called and before he could reach she was dragged again just out of his reach when both the screen and front doors flew open. He tried again only to have his assistant dragged further towards the outside of the house. Naru finally made one large leap forward grabbing onto his assistant's hand tightly. He could feel the tension growing in between their clasped hands.

"Naru." Mai said calmly craning her neck to look at him and he did the same. His panicked eyes met hers which were surprisingly relaxed and serene.

"It's okay. Let go." Mai said as she pried her hands from his own. Naru immediately grabbed onto her tighter as he heard someone else somewhere behind him exiting the house.

"WHAT?!" He replied angrily as if she'd gone mad, which she clearly had.

"Let go." And with one strong tug from the entity, she allowed herself to be dragged away past the barn and out into the field beyond the house.

"MAAAII!"

Hey Readers! I've been gone for some time but I'm trying to get into some kind of routine so hopefully you'll hear from me more often. Anyway thanks for all the rates and review in between! They really keep me going. See you all soon XOXO