She could still hear the screams of those she cared about.

Even if it had been almost six years, she could hear them as if they were still happening; a type of torture she knew she couldn't escape, even if she wanted to. The memories led to suffering and there were times when she almost, just almost, wished that she joined the others with their forgetting. But every time that thought came to mind, one thing remained obvious to her.

Dianne wouldn't be able to do this alone, and there was no reason to force her to suffer through this by herself. They both wanted their past returned to them. Or, at least for those days to be remembered. A reminder that it wasn't all just a dream, other than them simply recalling it. For Monk, Naru, everyone to be able to speak of it like they knew what they meant. They deserved that, at the very least, for all this work they have put into the situation.

Shaking her head, she snapped herself out of her thoughts. She looked at the footage with the blonde. It had already been two days, and there was still a lack of any evidence of there being paranormal activity. Sure, they hadn't been called here by the client for any such issue, but it still hurt. Could it be that the being left the area? If so, where would they find them from here? Was confrontation impossible now?

"I don't hear anything." She spoke up, gazing at the blonde. "Neither do I," Dianne muttered back, and Mai could hear the woman exhale a heavy breath.
Taking the headphones off, Mai also felt herself sigh, closing her eyes. "I think it's gone. That's the only explanation I can think of."

This made Dianne also put away the headphones, going quiet for the longest moment before putting a hand up to her forehead. "I… I think you might be right, Mai. There's no way that we would have absolutely no evidence. The other option would be that the spirit recalls us, and is either remaining quiet on purpose or saving up energy for something much bigger than we can ever hope to expect."

Mai didn't like the implications of the other options, but she couldn't deny them, either. It was, indeed, possible that the… being was up to something. "I say give it a couple more days. Until the day after that anniversary. If nothing happens by then, we should head back to Shibuya."

"Understood," Dianne responded, "We can't leave the cafe closed for too long, we'll start to worry our regulars."

At least they were both aware of that much…

"Naru!" Mai called out, having attempted to reach out to him, only to find that he was no longer there. A familiar hand grabbed ahold of her side, though, and her attention snapped towards Dianne. "They will be alright, Mai. We need to stick together!"

Even though Dianne did say that, Mai could see the look on her face. She was just as terrified as she was… And knew that Dianne had a point. So, she went back towards the wall, keeping herself attached to Dianne as much as she possibly could. She knew that if she lost contact with Dianne, then she would be all alone… And that thought scared her much more than anything else going on. Especially with all the screaming that could barely be made out…

"Dianne!..." Mai tried yelling out, hoping to get the other's attention. It seemed to work because the blonde's gaze moved back towards her, and she could see the other trying to respond to the other. She could make out enough… 'What is it?'

"..." She looked away, hands gripping at the other's shirt tighter than before. "Is this the end?"

The question made her friend hide her eyes in her hair, but latch all the tighter onto Mai with pursed lips. Eventually, the attempt to make words was obvious to Mai. 'I don't know…'

Of course, Mai knew she should've known better than to believe that Dianne knew the answer to it all-

"GENE!-"
"NOLL!-" She could make out the screams of the brothers, and it terrified her the moment she heard them.

"Naru!"
"Gene!"

Snapping herself out of it, Mai held her head in pain. The memories were coming back more suddenly than usual, which she expected. Given that they were in the place of the trauma, of course, it would all come flooding back to her. But the more she thought about it all.

Dianne was having similar symptoms, wasn't she?

And that was more than unusual. They had similar abilities, indeed, but that didn't mean they were exactly the same. They tended to have different reactions to things such as previous trauma, and it made it all the more worrisome to her that they were both acting similarly. Even Yasu seemed to take notice at times, and he seemed to be trying to focus on the work at hand. Even if he was worried about them being back here, it could be seen all over his face that he could tell what was happening…

Many questions came to mind.

Was the spirit trying to make them leave? Was there something that no one else could find but them here? Was there… Some kind of clue to help them start finding their answers, and to save the others? The way things were going… The lack of activity but constant visions made her believe this to be true.

"Hey, Mai," Yasu called out to her, and it made her attention snap over towards the other in concern. "I think you'll want to take a look at this."

"Oh?" She mindlessly moved to him, gazing at the camera with slight curiosity. She was then handed the headphones, which she put on halfway to still hear Yasu for his input. But then the sound she heard made her eyes go to pinpoints.

The screams… She could recognize it anywhere…

"T-this-" She felt her throat close up and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. Teeth gritting, she started to grip the desk. "Why? Why this…"

"I thought so…" Yasu looked away, having gone quiet from it all. He hated it, Mai could tell… If Dianne heard it, she would too.

It was hard for her to tell if it was just the place recalling the events, or if the spirit was trying to taunt them in some, foul way. Perhaps it was both; she couldn't tell anymore. It felt like all these years were wasted on absolutely nothing sometimes…

"It's almost as if it just wants to torment the two of you, nothing more." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But this proves that it's here, at least."
"There's that…" Mai looked away, still despising the thought of it all. "I don't think we're gonna get anything else here, it feels like a waste of time."
"I know, but let's give it until tomorrow like Dianne suggested, alright? Even if we don't find anything, the three of us needed a break from the cafe anyways." He insisted, and she noticed the look he was giving her. One of concern, something she had seen a number of times now from him since the start.
"... I understand." She sighed, rubbing the back of her head and allowing herself to take a seat. She may as well take advantage of the time as he said… They would continue to keep an eye out, but it seems that the case has reached its end early.

BANG!

The loud noise startled Mai, but afterward, it seemed that everything had gone silent. One by one, their voices disappeared and it was still pitch back. But Dianne still had a hold of her, and her grip tightened. "I see it, Mai." She heard the other speak, after what seemed like forever of voices being nearly impossible to hear.

"See what? I can't see anything-"

"You two…" A voice spoke separately from them. It wasn't anyone they knew, and Mai maneuvered into a defensive stance. Dianne seemed to grow defensive as well but refused to let go of her. She could certainly understand the reasoning, considering the circumstances.

"What are you?!" She heard Dianne call out, "What are you planning with us?!"

A dark chuckle emitted from nothingness. "You two are special… I cannot affect you. How… Interesting."

"What do you mean by that?" Mai demanded before it clicked instantly afterward. This made her grip tighten on Dianne, a glare on her face. "What did you do with the others?!"

"Don't worry, they're… Safe." The being seemed to take a moment to word it, before continuing. "I'll let them be, at a price."

This seemed to make both of them stiffen. Worried about just what it wanted.

With a sharp inhale, the brunette put a hand up to her face once again. Was she daydreaming now, even?... Perhaps this had, indeed, become a bit much for her to take. Thankfully, it was the day to pack everything up and head back home. So, shaking her head, she went back to putting everything into the van.

They couldn't find anything else so it was time to go. Their customers were waiting. Not to mention, they'd decided against saying it was leave for a case, but just a general close for a few days. She was sure the regulars already knew, but it didn't mean that newer folks needed to know their business. For all they knew, it was just that the majority of the workers were busy.

Which would only need two of the three of them to be caught up in something to pass. After all, she and Dianne were co-owners, and Yasu was their third and final employee. It was a small enough place, and not many people knew about it despite it being open for four years now. It was a nice way of income while providing a community for spiritualists that knew what they were doing. They were their only allowed patrons, after all.

"I suppose we have no choice but to simply continue to try and do as what it had initially stated…" She heard Dianne speak, a bunch of cables in her arms as she approached the van. "Continue to find top-tier beings and spirits, and see if any of them have what we are searching for. If so, obtain it, if not, exorcise it and move on."

"That's the easy way of putting it, and you know it," Mai responded back, taking the cables and setting them into the van. "There are a lot more steps to it, but that's the general gist of it."

"Well, we already have our quarterly S-teir case picked out," Yasu pointed out, monitor in hand, "The winner will be picked in a few days, it's only a matter of making sure they can be there."

"That's true…" Dianne muttered, "Let's hope this is finally our big break. We need it since it's been two years since we started these raffles. If we don't obtain anything soon, we may need to use a different approach."

"Yeah, I know…" Mai looked away at the thought, pursing her lips. It had taken them six years already to set this plan into motion… They only had four left before it might be impossible to ever see them as they were again.

Failure wasn't an option.

With that having been the last of their things, Mai slammed the back of the van shut, sighing and allowing herself to take one last look at the sight. The cliff, followed by the ocean. A place of many tales, and an abandoned hotel that had its own stories.

"If we leave now, we should make it back to Tokyo by nightfall, and open the cafe tomorrow." She heard Dianne comment as she entered the passenger side of the van.

She looked back to see Yasu in the driver's side. "Go ahead and rest in the back. The both of you didn't sleep well, I could tell."

With an embarrassed chuckle, she rubbed the back of her head while opening the back. "Thanks, Yasu. I appreciate it."

And with that, the door was shut, and the van turned on, and they left the place of their nightmares behind.

I'm back! It's super early compared to my usual posting of once a week, but I'm not entirely sure when I can post again. I thought I had progress on another project and don't, so I'll have to figure out what I wanna do, and which story to work on next. Until next time, folks!