* Hi everyone! We finally made it to 2021! Last year was a rough one but I'm also thankful because I would have never written this story if I hadn't gotten sick back in March. Thank you all who have made this journey with me and also to all of those who are just joining. You are all making me pursue my dream of writing books. My goal for this year is to write and publish my own book that will also be filled with paranormal activity and suspense. (I just need to figure out how to get published without anyone stealing my ideas like what happened to a friend of mine).
I meant to post this on Christmas but I was so unhappy with what I had written that I completely rewrote it this past week. Feel free to send me any direct messages if you see any grammar mistakes. I've been lacking in the editing department recently. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope you enjoy this chapter!*
*ALSO please be sure to listen to the song Silent Woodlands by Gareth Coker when it's noted in the story. (Yes it is a song from the game Ori) There will be a clear page break that tells you when to start playing it. I was listening to it on Spotify during the time I wrote this chapter and I think it mimics the mood I was going for perfectly! *
Mai opened her eyes to a familiar darkness only to realize she was in that dream once again and sighed. She wished it were a dream about her case instead, but she knew her wish was in vain. She wandered towards the dim light she saw in the distance. As she came nearer, the light grew larger, until she was standing in the room filled with shadowy figures. Murmurs reached her ears as they all talked to one another, but like before, she couldn't distinguish what they were saying.
She crossed her arms. "Feel like showing me something of importance this time?" she asked exasperatedly, tired of reliving the same dream over and over.
Suddenly, all of the figures stopped talking and turned towards her, causing Mai to pause.
"Can you hear me?" she questioned curiously.
The figure that had spoken to her last time stood from its sitting position. Mai bit her lip nervously, unsure what was going to happen.
The figure began to walk in Mai's direction, causing the brunette to take a cautious step back.
With every step the thing took, the dark shadow of its figure began to fade. In its place, Mai could see colour beginning to emerge, slowly revealing the body of a woman.
The person stopped when it was just barely a metre away.
Brown eyes grew wide as they met an identical pair staring back at her.
You found them.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Mai gasped as she awoke, quickly sitting up. She took in her surroundings disorientedly and remembered she was still on her case at the hotel. A shaking hand pushed back her hair and she closed her eyes to focus.
...It was her.
The person in her dream. It was her. The words her other self had said swirled in her head. You found them. What did it mean? Found wh-
"Mai?" came a gentle voice from the other side of her door, interrupting her train of thought.
The brunette quickly jumped to her feet and made her way to the door, opening it to reveal Masako standing there patiently.
"Yes?" she answered quickly.
Masako regarded the brunette suspiciously. "Are you okay?"
Mai smiled back. "I'm okay. I just had a weird dream is all."
A perfectly shaped black brow raised in question. "A dream about the case?"
Shaking her head, Mai rubbed the back of her neck tiredly. "Unfortunately not."
Masako nodded and stood there for a moment. "I came to ask what you wanted for breakfast. The chef from the restaurant will be supplying us with our meals. There should be a menu inside of your bedside table."
"Oh, right!" Mai looked over her shoulder to her night stand and smiled back at the medium. "Thank you. I'll get dressed and take a look. I'll be right over."
Masako nodded and gave Mai one last glance before taking her leave.
Mai had hastily gotten dressed and joined her friends in the base within a few minutes. They had ordered a full breakfast, complimentary of the owner, and finished it promptly once it arrived.
Gene leaned back in his chair and looked at the footage from the night before. "There weren't too many things that happened last night. Thanks to our interviews, we definitely set the cameras up in the right spots. We have recordings of items moving on their own, such as a chair, a door, and some curtains. I didn't hear anything significant on the audio recordings other than ownerless footsteps. Now all that is left is to wait for Yasu-"
The sound of a phone ringing caught their attention and Gene pulled out his mobile. "Well, speak of the devil," he muttered with a grin before answering the phone. "Yasu! Tell me you found something promising!"
He was quiet for a moment, listening to whatever it was his friend was relaying to him. At one point Gene made his way over to the desk and started searching for something. It didn't take him long until he pulled out a notepad and a pen. He nodded quickly and prompted Yasuhara to continue. The pen hurriedly scrawled across the page as he jotted down whatever notes Yasuhara had been telling him.
"Brilliant! Thanks, mate. Send it right on over and don't hesitate to call if you find anything else," he finished with a grin and turned to the two women.
Masako tilted her head slightly with a gentle smile. "Judging from your reaction, I'm assuming he had good news?"
"Yasu's never let me down so far," Gene grinned. "If he keeps buttering me up like this you're going to have some competition on your hands, my love."
"I resigned myself to the fact that you two were a package deal when you proposed." The medium smirked teasingly.
Mai felt her lips pull into a smile but the suspense was eating at her. "Well?" She pressed, wanting to know what Yasuhara had said. "Out with it then."
"Ah, right!" Gene nodded and waved the notepad in his hand. "He reached out to every store The Raven bought their decorations from. Only one place had claimed to be experiencing odd phenomena up until a few months ago. The incidents that were happening were basically identical to what Mr. Ferrell and the staff have recalled."
"Well that makes things easier. Where was it?" Masako noted.
He looked down at the paper in his hand. "A place called 'Antiqui-Teas'...apparently it sells antiquities as well as tea. Clever."
"So we know the name of the store, but do we know what items were bought?" Mai thought out loud.
Masako nodded and turned to her fiance. "Mai has a point. If we don't know what was bought from the store we won't have any idea where to start looking."
"O, yee of little faith," Gene sighed dramatically. "Yasu is sending me a photo of the shopkeeper's records as we speak. Every item that was purchased was properly recorded."
As if to emphasize his point, Gene's phone pinged, signaling that he received a message.
"There it is now," he chirped, studying the photo on his mobile. "Hm, it looks like there were quite a few things purchased from the store. Thirteen, to be precise."
"Thirteen?" Mai repeated. "Didn't you say there were potentially thirteen spirits haunting this hotel?"
Blue eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "I did," he muttered. "But that would suggest…"
"-That every item from that shop has a spirit connected to it?" Masako finished his train of thought.
"Things just got a little bit more exciting now, haven't they?" he said distractedly, more to himself than to the two women.
Suddenly he clapped his hands together. "Right, then! First order of business is to track down these thirteen items. Once we've done that we can begin to pinpoint which spirit is causing the pain Masako has been feeling. That spirit is most likely the one causing people to harm themselves."
Mai held up a finger, catching his attention. "Um, how are we going to find them?"
"We have a list," Gene pointed to his phone as if it were obvious.
"Yes, I know that, but do we have a list of where all of those items are located in the hotel?" She placed a thoughtful finger against her chin. "Well, I guess it would be safe to assume they might be located near our cameras."
"Because we set up the cameras where there were more reports of paranormal activity?" Masako questioned and Mai nodded.
"Oh, you're good," he whistled and gave Mai a playful wink. "No wonder Noll hired you."
The brunette laughed. "Shall we go investigate, then?"
"Let's," the other two agreed in unison.
"That's eight down, five more to go," Mai called out as she wrote down the location of another item. She looked down at the list with pride. She had to admit, she felt rather impressed with herself for finding so many items so quickly.
The group had only been searching for a couple of hours and they had already found more than half of the antiquities hidden around the hotel. They weren't all easy to find, either. Even though the rooms were comfortable and tidy, the walls and furniture were riddled with relics that added to the aesthetic. So far they had already found some books, a vase, a globe, a set of chairs, and even a pair of opera glasses scattered high and low.
Mai felt like a giddy child on a scavenger hunt.
"Make that nine, I just found the apothecary set," Masako's calm voice echoed from down the hall.
"Wonderful!" Mai beamed. "Gene, have you had any luck?"
She waited for a reply but none came. Poking her head into the hall, she looked over at Masako.
"Is Gene with you?" she called.
The dark haired woman shook her head and pointed past Mai. "He said he was going to go check the sitting area at the end of the hall. I'm going to go try to find the lamp."
Mai nodded and began to make her way towards the direction Masako pointed. She smiled as she looked down at her notes and entered the sitting area. "Good news, we only have four more items to find. I am stuck on one item though. All the shopkeeper's list says is 'framed photograph of child.' I must say I never realized how many old photos of children the hotel had..."
Her words trailed off as she finally looked up and noticed Gene staring blankly at the wall. His eyes were unfocused, as if his mind were millions of kilometres away.
"Gene?" she said, trying to get his attention.
If he heard her, he showed no sign. Her brows pulled together in concern. "Gene?" she called again but this time a little louder.
A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention causing her head to turn to see what it was.
There, in the reflection of a framed portrait on the wall, was a hazy shadow of a person. It almost looked as if it were looking through the portrait as if it were a frosted window, making her unable to see it's face. Caramel brown eyes darted between the shadowy reflection and her friend. Whatever trance Gene was in was caused by this spirit. She could feel it.
Not wanting to take any risks, she quickly raised her hands in front of her chest and focused all of her attention on the figure in the reflection.
"Rin, Pyo, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" She clearly emphasized each syllable as her hands created the nine cuts.
The figure in the glass flinched and turned its attention towards her. She continued to hold her hands in front of her, ready to repeat the mantra if necessary. The thing started to move, almost looking as if it were walking out of the frame and it disappeared.
Mai stood there for a moment and waited to see if the spirit would return. When nothing happened, she turned to look at her friend who seemed to be coming out of his stupor. The man rubbed his forehead and turned towards Mai in confusion.
"Mai? How long have you been standing there?" he wondered, shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts.
"What just happened?" she asked pointedly.
"I don't know, I think I spaced out for a moment," he said distractedly. "I was looking at..."
His words trailed off as his gaze fell on an old photograph of a married couple that appeared to be a century old. Their faces were devoid of emotion, as many photos of the time were. By the age difference of the man and woman, it was clear the marriage was not one of love.
"I must have gotten lost in thought," he finished while still looking at the photograph.
Mai walked up to the man. "When I came in you were oblivious to the world. There was something... a shadow of a spirit in a portrait staring at you."
Gene turned to her in shock. "Really? In which portrait?"
She pointed to the seemingly normal portrait of a large family and Gene made his way over to investigate it. Mai studied him as he looked at the frame.
"Gene...are you sure you're okay?" she pressed in concern.
He turned to her and smiled with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine, Mai. No need to worry."
Mai couldn't help the nagging voice in the back of her mind that he was lying. She had seen his smile on countless occasions and they always seemed so genuinely happy. This time, however, his smile didn't reach his eyes.
Before she could say anything else, he brought her attention back to the portrait. "Hm, Yasu's list didn't have anything about a family portrait, just portraits of children, right?"
Mai hesitated a moment before looking down at the list in her hands. "You're right. There are only three portraits recorded on here. One of a little boy and his dog, another of twin girls, and a third that just says 'framed portrait of child.' We haven't been able to locate the last one yet. That's actually what I came to talk to you about."
Gene nodded and wrote down something in his notepad before turning back to her. "Are there any others we haven't found yet?"
"Other than the portrait we need an old lamp, a grandfather clock, and a wooden mirror," Mai recited.
"Judging by the amount of wooden mirrors and portraits of children in this hotel I'm fairly certain those two are going to be the most elusive," Gene stated unhappily.
It was at that moment that Masako quickly walked into the room. "Something is watching us," she said seriously.
Gene turned to her in alarm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she nodded, setting him at ease. "But when I was looking through the hall I saw a shadow staring at me from-"
"-From a picture?" he interjected.
Masako nodded slowly. "I'm guessing the both of you saw it, too?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "Mai did. I was...distracted. Can you show me which picture you saw the spirit in?"
Masako led them down the hall and pointed to a framed watercoulour landscape hanging on the wall.
"It was in there," she said. "It was looking at me and disappeared. I didn't sense any anger or malice but it was definitely very sad. I think it is the spirit whose pain I keep feeling."
Mai looked from the medium over to her friend. Gene was looking at the picture deep in thought. "Interesting. However, I don't think either of these pictures are what it is attached to."
"How do you know?" Mai wondered.
The man shrugged casually. "For starters, these pictures weren't from the same store. But mainly I just have a hunch."
Mai snorted slightly. "Good thing your brother isn't here. Your reasoning would have given him a conniption."
"Good thing. I rather enjoy not getting chastised for following my intuition." Gene laughed. "But I must say, Mai, ever since you've come around he has been following those hunches and gut feelings more often."
The brunette shook her head slightly. "That's only because his little light up button-test-thing showed him sound evidence that he could trust my instincts."
"Ah, my brother," Gene sighed. "Ever the scientist."
"So you think the spirit isn't attached to either of these pictures?" Masako spoke.
"Again, it is just a hunch, so we should probably go track down those last four items on our list and see what we can deduce," the man informed. "We can keep an eye on these pictures for now, but the fact that it showed itself in two separate frames makes me think it is just using them to wander undetected."
Another two hours went by and the team was starting to lose momentum.
"You were right, Gene," Mai yawned with a stretch. "The mirror and portrait are the last two items we have to find."
"It's too bad the shopkeeper didn't take photos of the items that were sold. It could have really helped us," Masako nodded in agreement.
"How many wooden mirrors did we find around the hotel?" Gene wondered tiredly as they rounded a corner.
Masako sighed. "Ten."
"And there were twelve framed portraits of children," Mai added.
They stopped and stared down the long empty hallway. They were on the topmost storey, where the event hall and a few more rooms were located.
"This is the only floor we haven't checked," Gene announced. "Hopefully we will have better luc-"
The sound of shattering glass caught their attention.
"I think you got your wish," Masako smiled at her fiance.
Quickly, the trio made their way to the doors of the event hall and looked inside. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary at first glance. Masako and Gene began to walk inside but Mai stopped and looked to her left. She saw a door at the end of the hall and felt drawn to it.
"I'll be right back, I'm just going to take a quick look around," she mentioned offhandedly to the others who nodded in reply.
Mai slowly made her way down the hall. She felt a pull on her chest as if a string had been wrapped around it and someone was tugging on the other end, drawing her nearer. As she grew closer, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. She gently reached out a hand and the door eased open. Stepping inside, the room had a large wooden table in the center surrounded by black leather chairs, clearly a meeting room for businesses.
(*Start the song Silent Woodlands by Gareth Coker*)
Looking to her right, she paused when she saw a man staring out of the large glass window that overlooked the city. His expression was blank aside from his eyes which forlornly looked out over the horizon.
Mai stopped in her tracks and bowed slightly. "Forgive me, I didn't realize someone was in here," she apologized.
The man continued to look out the window and Mai looked at him curiously, wondering if he was in a trance like the one Gene had been in. She looked around the room at all of the picture frames and didn't see the spirit she had seen before.
She turned back to the man and tilted her head. "Pardon me...are you alright, sir?"
The sun was already dipping below the buildings on the horizon, casting an orange hue through the room. He looked young, maybe around his mid-thirties but his skin was pale and his cheeks were sunken. The colors of dusk made his suit look brown even though it was black.
The man slowly turned his head, casting his somber gaze in her direction.
"Where am I?" his soft tired voice reached her ears.
Before she could answer he turned back towards the window and looked down at his hands.
"This isn't right," he whispered. "My son...I was finally going to see him again…"
"Sir?" Mai asked, equally as quiet. A small ache filled her chest as the man dipped his head and a tear rolled down his cheek, glistening in the rays of the setting sun.
"This isn't heaven, is it?" he asked brokenly. "If it were, then my son would be here."
An overwhelming wave of heartache flooded her entire being and she had to brace herself on a nearby chair to keep from falling over.
A familiar pull in the back of her mind made her grip on the chair tighten. Brown eyes fluttered closed as a vision suddenly took over.
There was the man, looking down at a small bundle of cloth in his hands with pure love in his eyes. Only it wasn't just cloth that he was holding. A newborn's hand reached out from the blue blanket, wrapping delicate little fingers around the man's fingertip. Mai could feel the warmth of the father's happiness as if it were her own.
The scene faded into a cloud the color of the setting sun and a new memory appeared. The man was crying next to an old hospital bed as a woman laid motionless. He held his two-year-old son to his chest, clinging to him as though he were his only lifeline from losing all composure.
A swirl of yellows and oranges changed the memory once again to show the man sobbing next to another hospital bed. But this time, instead of the woman lying there, it was his son. He was no older than four years old. The boy's head was void of any hair. No eyebrows. No lashes. His skin looked nearly translucent and oh so fragile. His father bent over his son's lifeless form and a broken sob burst from his lips at the sight of the last person he loved in this world laying limply on the bed.
Mai watched as the scene changed one last time. The man was wearing a black suit, the same one he wore currently, and he was sitting on the ground with a picture frame cradled in his arms. He hung his head and cried. Mai craned her head, trying to catch a glimpse at the picture in the frame. The sobs slowly came to an end and the father sat up emptily. He gently stroked the photograph of his son that stared back at him with bright eyes.
The man took a shaky breath and fixed the frame on a nearby table. His expression grew serene as he kept his gaze on the photograph and shakily reached into his jacket pocket.
Fearing what was to come, Mai barely had time to cover her eyes before the man pulled out a gun and held it to his temple.
Gasping, Mai steadied herself on the chair as she came back from her vision. Her cheeks were streaked with tears that refused to stop flowing and she held back a sob.
The man turned back to her once again and his expression made Mai's heart ache even more. Now she could see the sickly red trail of blood dripping down the side of his face. "I'm dead...I'm supposed to be with him now…Why isn't he here?..."
Footsteps caught Mai's attention from the hallway and within seconds she could hear Masako's voice.
"Mai, are you in here? We found some broken glass but other than that we couldn't find anyth-" the medium came to a sudden halt as she saw the man standing next to the window and the tears streaming down Mai's cheeks.
"Mai," she whispered urgently.
Mai whiped her tears and held out a reassuring hand. "It's okay Masako."
"But it's a sp-" she began.
"-A spirit. I know," Mai nodded. "He means no harm. He's just lost and needs to find his way."
"Oh yes...," the man's tired and distant voice drew their attention. "I remember now...I can't leave here..."
Mai's brows pulled together in confusion. "Yes you can, I can help you."
The man shook his head slowly and turned to look back out the window. "She won't let me leave."
Mai and Masako both felt another presence in the room and their heads turned in unison towards the opposite wall. There, staring back at them, was the hazy figure in one of the framed photographs on the wall, with a hand pressed up against the glass.
"She won't let any of us leave," the man whispered once again as his spirit dissipated and the door behind them suddenly creaked as it closed by itself.
Mai and Masako yelped in surprise and Mai held up her hands to perform the nine cuts. Masako placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
"Wait," she said distractedly, while staring at the figure in the glass.
Mai looked over at the woman incredulously. She was still on edge from the vision she just had and the door closing on its own.
"She isn't going to harm any of us purposefully." Masako's voice was distant as were her eyes. "She is also stuck and in so much pain."
Mai hesitantly lowered her hands and looked over at the spirit staring at them.
The spirit lowered its hand and ever so slowly, it disappeared as well, leaving the two women alone in the room.
Mai could still feel her heart pounding in her chest and she closed her eyes, placing a calming hand over her heart.
When she opened her eyes, Masako was staring at her curiously.
"Let's go find Gene and head back to base. Once we're there you are telling us everything," she ordered.
All Mai could do was nod numbly.
The two women left the meeting room and made their way to the event hall. "Gene, are you still in here?"
They looked over to the corner of the room and Gene was staring at a mirror.
"Gene?" Masako called out again.
"Wait," Mai said. "This happened earlier, too. The spirit had been looking at him while he was like this."
Masako looked at her worriedly as Mai looked around the room at all of the photographs hanging on the walls. "I really think we should head back to base," the medium said in concern. "Even though I don't think they mean us any true harm, I'm getting uncomfortable with how many things have happened in just a few minutes."
Mai nodded, "I agree."
The two made their way to Gene and Masako reached a hand out to gently touch his arm. He blinked suddenly and caught her gaze through the mirror.
"Oh. Masako. Mai. Sorry about that, I've gone and gotten myself distracted again," he said with a forced laugh as he rubbed his forehead. "Did you find anything?"
The two women shared a concerned look before turning back to the man.
"Let's get back to the base first, and then we can discuss everything," Masako said cautiously.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. I'm not really feeling myself today, it might do me good to sit down for a moment," Gene admitted distractedly and he followed the others out of the room.