Ah!!!! I'm so sorry!! Stupid school with too much work!!! Anyway, I just finished writing this chappy, and re-written it, which took me almost the whole day!! So be juicy on the review :p *hint, hint* please?????
good reviews =good chappys *hopefully-.-;* this chappy took a while for me to write and I hope it has made up my tardiness:-) anyway, here's my list for the wonderful people who have taken their time to kindly review my fic!!! ^___^
The Wonderful List Of Wonderful Reviewers=)
SabineballZ-well, Van is going to be…not gonna tell ya!! *laughs evilly* nah, just kidding, he's the hunky ghost:-) and there are other esca characters, almost all of them actually, so no need to worry, okay, thanks for the review!!
Fushinzen na-YES!! Another chappy, for you!! *and the other fans^_~* and here comes Van!!! Thank you so much for the review!!1 please enjoy my new chappy:)
van lover-thanks!! Enjoy my new chappy!!
Amariie-hee-hee, here's Van for ya!! I hope you like my new chappy, enjoy!!
Aeka-himme-*laughs* thanks for your review, they are always so sweet, makes my feel special^-^ too bad there isn't such a thing as mediator card, right?? that would be interesting and since you were so nice and stuff, enjoy my new chappy!! *the one, which really begins!!* thanks again for the awesome review, c ya!! Oh, yeah, spirited away is an awesome movie!! Love it!! Okay, now read!!
JoJo-You must read the books!! *uhem, I haven't read all of them, I wish I did-.-; they're soo good!!*
Anyway, thanks for the review, and enjoy the new chappy!!
Love Witch-Holla!! Yeah, I know, Van and Jess are *drool* REALLY fine;) and your first kid is gonna be called Van?? That's so cool!! Sorry, the father dude is just some dude I made up XD there wasn't anyone I could really make him the step dad, so I made my own, anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!!* kinda* enjoy!!!:)
jess131346- see!!! *points to the fic* I have more changes in this chappy, trying to make my fic away from the book, I'm trying^-^ and I got some ghost which you peeps are gonna meet them in the near chappies, enjoy my new chappy!! Now read, I command you!!*just kidding^__~*
Princess Neptune- Three steps bros are real trouble. Well, it's really two, but you'll know what I mean when you're done reading!! Enjoy my new chappy, bye!!
Pyro'sgirl-Yup, that's actually the same person. She uses both names *don't ask me why, but she does* and no, I haven't read Haunted, I wish I did, but sadly to say no *sniff* oh, well, I can always buy it over the internet, right?? anyway, I'm glad you like my fic, so enjoy my new chappy!!
NightAngel-you're telling me you never read Mediator?? OH MY GOD!! You such totally read the series, it's the best!! *in my opinion* thanks for the nice words, it made me feel like my work is special, thanks^-^ I feel pity for Hitomi too, but where would the fun be if she couldn't see dead people??? And you are so damn right!! Van is the hunky, gorgeous, sexy *NightAngel pops hitomi-chan with a hammer to shut her up* oops, hee-hee, I got carried away, now read my new chappy, woman!! Please??? Enjoy!! Ciao minha amiga!!
Fire Fly-Sorry!!! I forgot to put my thanks to your review for the last chappy, sorry *bows* I'm happy that this fic has captured your interest, so please enjoy my new chappy, yeah!!!
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I love you all beautiful people!!!! And now enjoy my new chappy!! Oh, yeah, this chappy is dedicated to all of my fans, thank you so much for the kind words you have said, it really helps me, I'm sorry again for my tardiness, but I got other fics to work on and stupid school work. Now, enjoy!!!!=)
*~*Mediator Hitomi*~*
*~*~*Chapter three- The Weird Family*~*~*
Ah, great, still three hours left. I thought while I fidgeted uncomfortably in my seat. You're probably wondering where I am, right? well, I'm sitting in a very uncomfortable seat in the airplane that's going to take me to my doom. Translation: I'm heading to California.
"Damn seats! These are worse than rocks!" I shrieked when the ultra-small sized chair wouldn't budge backwards.
"SHH! Do you want to attract everyone's attention?" My mother whispered, Mizuki, as people kept giving funny gazes to our direction. I just shrugged Why should I care what people think of me? Just by acting in my normal manner would make people the "L" on their forehead, than why care if I act a little bit weirder?
Pointless. Completely, and utterly pointless. Was my resolution as a heavy sigh muttered through my lips, while I gazed outside my window. I was looking at the white clouds, now attempting to make animals out of the fluffy clouds that were scattered randomly across the sky.
"Hitomi?" my mother asked concerned.
"Oh…yeah, whatever you say mom," I replied while I flipped through a magazine, trying desperately for the time to pass. Okay, two hours and fifty-two minuets, I'm getting there.
"Hitomi, why don't we talk?" my mother asked curiously, but with a bit of authority. To this, I stiffened with a gulp, for whenever my mother said let's "talk", it meant a big, juicy lecture was on the way. And lectures were never fun, and never will be, especially with my mom. She's a journalist, and can make some really good questions, which isn't good in my case, with all the mediator stuff and all. It seems my mother noticed my behaviour, because she sighed and shook her head.
"Hitomi, to start with, this is not a lecture, but a mother-to-daughter talk," explained my mother pleasantly.
"Just talk?" I questioned nervously.
"Just talk." Affirmed my mother with a grin.
"Real talk?" I questioned uncertain, checking if I was really going deaf.
"Yes," Answered my mother exasperatedly.
"Okay…" I said awkwardly with the whole situation. You see, I have never really communicated with my mom. Okay, we do communicate, obviously, but not an awful lot. And most of the communication was….let me put it this way: unpleasant. I was always getting grounded for my 'profession' and my mother has a tough job, being a journalist and all. So you can see that we aren't the best buddies. Yeah, and I'm Jennet Jackson.
"So, Hitomi, are you excited about moving to California???" My mother said with an eager voice, sounding like a three-year old kid who just had too much candy to eat.
What I really wanted to say was this: 'Yeah, mom. I'm really excited, just as much as being a mediator and literally being haunted by ghost freaks, really.' But instead I said this, "Uh…" classic.
"Are you looking forward to move to California?" my mother asked more seriously this time, repeating the question just in case I didn't hear.
"Um, yeah…Kinda…I just miss Yukari," I said while looking at my hands.
"Oh, honey, that's understandable, she's been your best friend for what, eight years?" questioned my mother.
"Uh, twelve years, mom." See what I mean?
"Sorry, sweetie. But you can't blame me, these things happen when people like me, you know, 'old' people, well, forget," my mother said with a soft laugh trying to make a joke no such luck. My mother doesn't have many friends, and the few she has, their conversations are brief, thanks to her work. And it doesn't help with me getting in trouble with the school. So you can see where she had her practice, nowhere.
Silence….
"Okay, now, Hitomi, do you want me to talk to you about your room?" asked my mother, trying to change the subject.
"Uh…"
"Okay, your room, in my opinion, is the best! You have the view of the beach, it's so beautiful, Hitomi! I just know you're gonna love it!" Squealed my mother in delight as she went into more detail about my room.
What has Jeff done to my mother? First, I can hardly have a decent conversation with my mom that doesn't involve a good lecture about my behaviour. And now, I can't even make my mom shut up! She keeps on using "honey", and "sweetie", as if she even knows what it means! With all this lovely-dovely, my mom has turned into a lovesick mother! I scrunched my face in disgusted, trying to block the thoughts about what her mother does with Jeff when they're alone.
"Hitomi? Are you listening to me, honey?" Asked my mother when she noticed I wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying.
"Uh, sorry, mom, I'm just a little tired." I tried to fake a sleepy gaze.
"See! I told you to sleep earlier yesterday, but nooo, you had to sleep at…"
I wasn't listening to her mother anymore, but instead I was sucked into the darkness of my dreams, not even realizing I was that tired until I closed my eyes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Where is he?" my mother said annoyed, while she taped her foot nervously and glancing at the watch at her wrist every so often.
"Mom, I'm sure they are on their way, there might be traffic or something." I said tiredly, covering my mouth as a yawn came. God, my back is killing me! Note to self: never fall asleep on an airplane ever again.
"Sweetie, there's no traffic on Sunday mornings, not here in California," Replied my mother while applying some red, blood-shot lipstick. In most women, red didn't suit them, but on my mother, it seemed like she was meant to have red lips. Actually, anything suited her, even purple, she is one gorgeous woman.
No wonder Jeff asked to marry my mom after they met each other for a month. I thought while I studied my mother fixing her hair, as if it EVER needed some fixing. God, why can't I just be like my mom? Beautiful, perfect hair, and popular! Well, at least when she was in high school. She was prom queen, and every guy wanted her. Why must I be such a reject?
I'm sure I'm nothing what my mother wanted for a daughter. I haven't even kissed! And I'm sixteen for crying out loud! Let alone gone out with a boy, a real, living, breathing boy. I'm such a disappointment. I thought sadly as I fixed my eyes at the ground. But before I could grief too much no how much a loser I am, the knights in shinning armours came to our rescue.
"MIZUKI!! HITOMI!! Came Jeff's booming voice, making every head turn to his direction, not that he cared.
Yup, that's the way to do it, scream your head off. Oh, and humiliate your stepdaughter for the whole world to see, nice work. I thought gloomily as I made my way to Brain, Playboy, Bookworm, and Jeff who was frantically waving his hands in the air, shouting their names as if my mother and I were deaf. Thanks Jeff, thanks a lot for making my arrival, oh so pleasant.
I glared at Playboy, who was smirking at her direction and that look on his face that made me almost jump on him. Well, those are not really their names. It's just a nickname I use personally, but not out loud, of course. Playboy, who is my 'favourite', is really called Allen, the second child of Jeff and his deceased wife. He has the same age as me, and it's a miracle how he hasn't repeated grades with his mentality. He is a soccer player, and a girl's player, as expected of his role. And he is always going out of his way to make my day a little more pleasant. Such a gentleman, yeah right. What do girls ever see in him?
There was Brain, the youngest, who is known by the name Chid. That kid must be Einstein's clone, he's damn smart. He is only in sixth grade by the age of ten, but he could probably teach a college class. He's always using difficult words, as if he was speaking a totally different language, at least to me. Now, Brain would be some great help with my math…anyway, the kid is my real favourite. He is so sweet, being polite to me, unlike his two other siblings, and always blushing like mad when talking to me, making me suspect he has a small crush on me.
And last but not least, there was Bookworm, the oldest of the three, Dryden. He is now in college by the age of nineteen, and he always has his head on a book, whether for studying or for pleasure. No wonder where his 'nickname' was earned. Whenever I have nothing to do, he always tries to start conversation by going into detail about the latest book he's been reading, like, "The Riper".
After he had gone in full detail on that book, making me almost puke at the time he described about the dissection of a girl with a butcher's knife, I couldn't look at a knife in the same way. So you can see I'm not umm…..very fond of him, especially when he tries to make up-to-date jokes, when they are really corny, lacking humour, just like his dad.
God, the last thing I want is to be with those two on Sunday afternoons, it's a 'family' day. No TV, no radio, not even board games. Just the company of each other. How boring. It's a way for them to get to know each other a little bit better, as if I am really interested. Jeff and Bookworm go wild, they just can't shut up with jokes. Each time they finish a joke; they manage to come up with a cornier one.
That's why my favourite day is Monday. I had to go through this torture when Jeff and company decided to stay in New Jersey with us for a month. You know, a get together to know the future family, since it was my first time meeting dork, dorky and dorker. But of course, they were at a near by hotel, since it was hard to even breath in my house.
"Hitomi? What is the matter with you, sweetie? You've been daydreaming all day, do you feel well? Jeff! Should we take her to the doctor? Could it be some severe home-sickness?" Asked my mother hysterically, causing me to come back to the world of the living.
"No, no. I'm sure she's fine," Said Jeff, showing his perfectly white teeth. "She probably just needs a warm, welcome hug," He added as he pulled I into a bear hug. Squeezing all my insides, in the process making hard for my to breath. Great, just great. I'm really fitting in. I thought sarcastically as people kept shooting us weird faces. God, I just want to curl up and die, is that too much to ask? I guess so…
Jeff let me go, finally getting the hint that I wasn't breathing with all his 'love', "So, how was the flight, kiddo?" asked Jeff, trying to make some conversation.
"It was okay," I said as I tried to ignore Bookworm and Playboy snort at what she said, while Brain maintained quiet.
"That's good to hear," Said Jeff as he flashed his perfect teeth once again and gave a kiss to my mother. No matter what, I could never get used to that. Sure my mother dated before meeting Jeff. She kissed guys, yeah. Maybe slept with them, ummm….. But whenever she got 'intimate', she always made sure it was out of sight from me. But now that she was going to marry this goof, it is only natural to give a kiss in public. But still, I just wasn't used to that, yet. After their kiss was over, Jeff grabbed one of mom's bag and one of my bags, which was very heavy.
"Wooh! What do you think you're doing with all this heavy luggage? Move in with us?" Questioned Jeff playfully as he glanced at me, while yearning a giggle from my mother. Ha-ha, very funny.
"Yeah, well, I was hoping I could squeeze into the family, you know." I replied as I played along.
"Yeah, I think we can manage," said Jeff as he averted his gaze from me to his boys, who were engrossed in a conversation that included hot chicks and beef burgers. " Hey, guys, could you give a hand to these fine ladies?" Added Jeff, while pointing to the bags and winking at my mother, making her giggle lightly. Oh please, find yourselves a room.
"Uh, sure thing." Said the boys in union, when they saw the cold glare their father was giving them.
Ah, I guess moving here wasn't so bad after all. I smiled to myself as I walked outside of the airport, with free hands swinging by my side as I watched the guys carrying my our luggage.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hitomi! Don't you just love the house?" Asked my mother joyfully while closing the car door, and making her way to me.
This is where we are living? This…this…dump? Okay, so it's not a dump, but look at it! It's so old…. This must at least be like, a hundred years old!! I am so not gonna live here, especially with my little problem. I studied the house closely. Although it's very, well, pretty, in an old kinda way.
The house had a Victorian-style, with two large pillars of marbles in each side of the door, making a nice shade over the door. There was a vast collection of flowers surrounding the walk path, varying the types, colours, like there was a rainbow plastered across the grass. There were trees over-casting the house in every direction, making me feel as if it was some kind of protection shield, as if with those trees, nothing could ever happen to them. The walk path was a narrow, red coloured brick path, guiding them to the porch of the gigantic house.
The house, as I noticed, was constructed completely out of wood, which to me was rare. Back in New Jersey, everything was made out of bricks, dull, grey bricks. There were no flowers, no walk paths, and certainly no marble pillars. This made me feel as if I was a princess, just arriving at my palace. This house was definitely the most loveliest, most charming house in the whole neighbourhood.
And I certainly didn't want to step inside it.
Sure I knew I was going to face new changes like, moving for the first time in her life, leaving the only place called home, having a father for the first time, having three annoying brothers, but still brothers, but this? This is just too much for me to handle. I had to accept Jeff and his three, well, two stupid kids. I accepted the fact that I would have to share my mother with other people, which was going to be hard. I always enjoyed, okay, most of the time, being just myself and my mother.
But I saw the way my mother looked outside the window, thinking I wasn't watching when I really was. I saw the sadness in my mother's eyes, that there was a kind of emptiness that not even she could fill it, but only the love of a man. As much as I didn't want to admit, Jeff had filled that emptiness, I could see the sparkle of happiness that was now in my mother's eyes, a kind of sparkle that had never seen before. My mother was more caring, sometimes strict, but always making sure to spend some time with hr daughter, me.
I like this new side of my mom, but asking me to live in a haunted house was, well, just too much for me. The older the building, the more possibility of having someone that was murdered, someone who died, and now wants her help to find its rightful place. It's not that I don't want to help them; it's just that I want to live a normal life, well, as normal as it can get with having the power to communicate with the dead.
I want to have a day where I don't need to worry about waking up my mother as I sneak out the house to make my way to the graveyard, or make numerous lies to my poor worried mother when I finally arrives at 3 o'clock in the morning and grounded for life.
I was just sick of tricking people, sneaking around, lying, and getting in trouble because of someone who is already dead and can't figure be themselves why they aren't wherever they're supposed to be! Why must people, and ghosts, ask so much of myself? Isn't it enough to go to school, get reasonable grades, stay away from drugs, alcohol, sex, and gangs? Must they ask me to risk my life for dead people too?
And it's not like I get any money from this, nuh-uh, I have to do it for free. What a drag. You risk your life, get in trouble, and take your time to help a dead person go wherever that person has to go, for free??? Well, okay, they say 'thank you', but is 'thank you' enough for all the hard work you have done? Not in a million years. And that's the main reason why I am petrified of living in an old house, most likely being roamed by ghosts.
Boy, if it weren't for that Jeff character, I would be in back in New Jersey watching the Simpsons while eating popcorn. But just by watching my mother and Jeff, it was so obvious to see that they were all over each other, literally. It would break my mother's heart if I said no. And so, I am now here, in sunny California, with three brothers, a stepfather, and now standing in front of a house that was built during the wild wide west. Not good.
"Come on, Hitomi! Let me show you to your room!" said my mother's voice as I hesitantly entered the house. Once inside the house, the beauty of it enchanted me. This was even more beautiful than outside, with large pillars of marble holding the three floors of the house, just like the ones outside, but these had intense details.
The dragons could be clearly seen in the encircled the pillar, with scaly skin and large amber coloured eyes, no matter where in the house you were, you could see them looking directly at you, making them seem real, as if at any minute they were going to squirt out small flames of fire. As I moved my eyes from the pillar to the floor, I could see myself in the clear, polished marble floor, admiring my reflection.
"Hitomi? Are you coming?" said my mother from up the stairs, looking at me curiously, waiting for my reaction to the whole situation.
"I'm coming," I replied as I was now making my way up the stairs, looking at the stained glass window, beside the stairs. With its colourful, luminous rays, dancing across the floor. The stained glass had various dragons. Some of them were seating, flying, or even eating, but the one dragon that caught my interest was a particular dragon that was in the centre of the glass, fighting against a knight, or what looked like a knight. With its mighty claws fighting against the long, silver sword that the knight held firmly.
The dragon had a vindictive expression, showing complete loath of the human with it's powerful amber eyes piercing through the knight's soul, if eyes could kill, this fellow man would be under the soil right away. What's with all the dragon stuff? Geez, whoever build this dump, I mean, house, must have been really obsessed with dragons or something… I wondered as I tore my gaze from the stained glass, and finally joining my mother at my bedroom's door.
"Um, mom? Why are there so many dragons all over the place?" I asked curiously.
"Ah, So you've noticed? Well, this house was originally built as a summerhouse for a very rich noble or duke, maybe from Spain, but I'm not sure. This was before California became a state, of course. And the duke was very fond of dragons, or so I heard from our house agent. But it seems like something happened, and the duke and its family were never able to move here. And there hasn't been anyone living here since now. I don't know anything else, odd huh? I wonder what happened to them…," paused my mother as she glanced at the stained glass, "anyway, the house is beautiful and I wouldn't want to live anywhere but here," my mother said nicely while averting her eyes once again to me.
"Yeah, this place is really something," I admitted while looking back at the stained glass once more. There was something about that picture that entranced me... I don't know why, but I just couldn't put my finger to it.
"Hitomi, would now like to see your room?" my mother questioned me happily as she held the doorknob impatiently.
"Sure," I said as my mother swung the door and directed for me to enter. What I saw made me almost gag. The room was, well, huge! I never really had my own room. Okay, I did, but I practically had to share it with my mother's papers as a journalist and some old junk from the time my mother was a teenager. And my room was small, way small. There was hardly any space for the bed, let alone space for the towering pile of papers. But this, this room was certainly three, no, four times bigger than my old room! And wait, there was a bathroom too!!
I could hardly believe my eyes. Me, Hitomi Kanzaki, has now a suite!!! Okay, maybe this whole thing about living in an old house is paying off. To my left, was my canopy bed. Okay, I'm not really a girly person, but it's nice. I like violet, so that's cool with me. There was a bedroom stand to my right, with a large, oval mirror in the centre of the desk. There was also a wide, wardrobe next to the bedroom stand with golden doorknobs. So, in over all, this is a nice place to live, even if it was build in the time Columbus sailed across the ocean, but hey, you can't have everything, now can you?
"So, I take it you liked your room?" asked my mother excitedly.
"like hell, yes!" I said excitedly, not even caring the way my mother looked at me for my language. I was too busy celebrating. And the next thing that I did was considered normal under such circumstances, I hugged my mother. Which, might I point out, isn't something we do a lot. My mother hesitated for a moment, but than came back from her shock and hugged me happily.
"So, the kiddo liked her room?" asked Jeff as he knocked on the door.
"Oh, yes, I like it very much," I replied politely.
"Ah, but I guess you haven't seen the view to the beach, now have you?" Asked Jeff as he made his way to the window.
"Uh, no," I said while following Jeff, who was now opening the door to the balcony. And when I saw the view to the beach, I held my breath at its beauty. The sun was now setting to the horizon, casting its glorious, golden rays across the green fields and clear sand. Fanning a light breeze across my face, as I let my breathe go, not even realizing I had held it. I felt like I could stay like this forever, just gazing at the sunset, over the crashing waves and the dancing grass. This is so peaceful, so relaxing.
"I see you like the view, I told you that this is the best room in the house!" stated my mother proudly.
"Yeah, it's fitting for a princess, just like yourself, Hitomi," Said Jeff as he encircled my mother waist, bringing her closer to his warm body.
I was no longer paying attention to them; I was only gazing at the sunset, and it alone. Nothing else. I didn't notice Jeff whisper something to my mother's ear that made her blush. Nor did I notice that they had said good-bye and left the room laughing lightly. I was too absorbed at the view before me. I had never seen the ocean before. Call me crazy, but you just don't see these kinds of things back at New Jersey.
Well, there are lots of things you don't see in New Jersey, but I was too tired to make a list in my mind, I just wanted to be washed away by the waves, to carry me in a world of slumber, peaceful slumber. Now that I thought about it, I was extremely tired, and decided to head back to my room. As I went inside my bedroom and turned around after I had closed the balcony's door firmly, I almost screamed when I was met by two shocking reddish brown eyes…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Muha-ha-ha-a!!! I have been feeling very evil lately; I gave just given another cliffy!!! My other story, "Not Always a Fairy Tale" has a cliffy, but this one is even worse!! Sorry!! I just couldn't hold myself. *Shields from angry readers* well, I guess you'll just have to wait until the next chappy, right?? Okay, I hope you have enjoyed my chappy, and please, write a review for my good for nothing fic!!! I'm pleading ya!! *gives puppy eyes* thank you sooooooo much!! *flamers are accepted, just not too nasty, otherwise you're in deep trouble dude, er, gal* c ya!!!
hitomi-chan^-^
4/05/03
new version 22/11/03 Okay…I read this chapter again...and *blush* I just needed to correct mistakes and annoying exclamation marks…..lol, sorry, no up-date n_n;; and I also changed from third person to first person, like it should be for every chapter. I can't believe I did such a thing!