Chapter 13

Case 2: Shòujīng Souls

Day 1: 9:50 A.M.

Mai was helping everyone put equipment into the van with Yasu and Monk as Naru was in the office getting the case files and more equipment ready. The Ma estate was a bit smaller than the Urado mansion.

And Naru was annoyed the Nashi wasn't here early like all his workers. He even told Mai 9 so she wouldn't be late. She wasn't happy.

But not even a minute later after Naru brought more cameras down, a little silver car pulled up and stopped.

Everyone looked and saw Nashi, Michu and Kori getting out of it. And Nashi was early but she thought she was late when she saw everyone already there.

"Oh, I'm sorry I thought we were all meeting here at 10. Am I late? I am so sorry."

"Nah, Naru just told us to come sooner to help load the van with all the cameras."

She nodded and Mai went and said hi to Michu and Kori, Nashi walked up to Naru.

"Need any more help?"

"No. all the equipment is in the van. Are they supposed to come with?"

Nashi shook her head.

"No, they were my ride here. I don't really drive."

Naru nodded and Michu and Kori said their farewells to everyone.

Then every continued to load equipment, even Nashi until it was all loaded in the 2 vans. Everyone looked at Naru until Ayako finally asked the question, everyone but Naru, Mai and Nashi knew.

"Where are we going for this case Naru?"

"Kawasaki in the Kanagawa Prefecture. A Chinese family came, the Ma's, came asking for help. It's a large estate much like Nashi's manor or the Urado case. So let's get going."

Ayako, Monk and Yasu all got into Ayako's car. John was driving one of Naru's vans with Masako as his passenger. And Naru drove the other with Mai in the passenger seat and Nashi in the back seat.

It was only a 30 minute drive to the estate. But both girls in Naru's van were starting to drift asleep, despite Nashi reading her book she had brought from school.

"Rei, nà shì shénme?" a teenage boy asked a girl with wavy black hair and green eyes.

'Green eyes? That's odd for a Chinese women.'

'Yes it is.'

She looked over to see Naru again in her dream.

'If she is Chinese, why would she have green eyes? I've never seen a Chinese with green eyes…'

Naru just looked back at the scene, so she followed and continued to look.

"Wǒ… Wǒ bù zhīdào!" this Rei responded with fear on her face as she looked at her hands.

"Nǐ de shǒu zháohuǒle?! Tā shì lán sè de!"

A high pitched whistling or squealing sound resounded in the room, causing both Rei and the young man to cringe.

'What is making that noise?!' she covered her ears, 'it's making me head hurt and my body feels so weird. Like its blurring.'

"Dàshǔ… Shénme...?"

And then everything around them and Rei was engulfed in a black mist and fog. All that could be heard was Rei's screams of pain and the sound of human limbs being ripped apart and blood splatter.

'Noooooo!'

*English translation*

"Rei, what is that?" a teenage boy asked a girl with wavy black hair and green eyes.

'Green eyes? That's odd for a Chinese women.'

'Yes it is.'

She looked over to see Naru again in her dream.

'If she is Chinese, why would she have green eyes? I've never seen a Chinese with green eyes…'

Naru just looked back at the scene, so she followed and continued to look.

"I…I don't know!" this Rei responded with fear on her face as she looked at her hands.

"Your hands are on fire?! And it's blue!"

A high pitched whistling or squealing sound resounded in the room, causing both Rei and the young man to cringe.

'What is making that noise?!' she covered her ears, 'it's making me head hurt and my body feels so weird. Like its blurring.'

"Dashu….what…?"

And then everything around them and Rei was engulfed in a black mist and fog. All that could be heard was Rei's screams of pain and the sound of human limbs being ripped apart and blood splatter.

'Noooooo!'

Nashi woke with a slight jump. She hadn't realize that she had fallen asleep on the short car ride, she was never one to take a nap during the day. She just brushed her brunette bangs out of her face as she looked over to see Mai asleep too.

"You sleep like Mai?"

Nashi looked up to the front at the man who spoke.

"No Naru. I don't. I never even nap during the day. When I'm up, I am up even when I'm sick. I apologize for that. Won't happen again. Does Mai sleep often?"

"Don't remember?"

"Huh?"

Nashi gave Naru a confused look. From what everyone told her and what Mai complained about before they left, Naru didn't talk much on car rides.

"Mai's a latent psychic. So she dreams of things from the past."

'Past…? Like unexplainable scenes and memories?'

"Oh. Right. So how much longer?"

"10 minutes."

Nashi nodded as she took out one of her textbooks she had brought with her to study. A few minutes later Mai woke up with jump, and both Naru and Nashi noticed and looked at her, well Naru gave her a quick glance since he was driving.

"A dream?"

Mai nodded, face all confused over something she had seen.

"Yes but… they weren't speaking Japanese. They were speaking Chinese. I could tell because they sounded like what you sounded like when talking to the client Nashi," she said as she looked over at Nashi, "but a girl was with a boy and he hands we on fire with blue flames. It wasn't hurting her and then they were engulfed by blackness. I don't know I couldn't even recreate the words for you to translate Nashi. Sorry Naru."

Nashi was still confused.

'How…did we just…? Her green eyes.'

Naru and John had almost pulled into the client's house at the same time, Naru just a bit ahead.

As they exit their vans and start opening the doors to unload, Yasu, Ayako and Monk drove up.

And as always, as soon as everyone one was out of their cars, Naru started barking orders.

"Takigawa, Ms. Matsuzaki, Ms. Hara, Father Brown and Yasuhara, start unloading the van. Mai come with me so we can see what rooms are which then help them unload. Nashi you will also be with me so you can translate."

Everyone nodded and set to work as Naru, Mai and Nashi made their way to the door where their client, Ying-jeou Ma was waiting for them.

"Nǐ hǎo Mǎ xiānshēng."

"Nǐ hǎo Shibuya xiānshēng, Mai nǚshì hé Nashi nǚshì."

"Mr. Ma, can you please show us the rooms we asked for base and sleeping?"

And Mai added something.

"And please just call me Mai."

Naru was the one that answered then Mai and looked at Nashi for a translation.

"He said 'Nǐ néng gàosù wǒmen wǒmen jiàng zài nǎlǐ shèzhì hé wǒmen jiāngyào shuìjiào de fángjiān'. And Mai said "Qǐng jiào tā Mài. Bù xūyào nàme zhèngshì. Nǐ kěyǐ jiào wǒ Nashi."

The man nodded as he motioned for them to follow him into the house.

Mr. Ma led them though a large entryway with a large chandelier handing from the high ceiling. And past a few doors before leading them to a large empty room with some desk and tables in it.

"Zhè shì nín de jīdì kěyǐ shèzhì dì dìfāng."

Nashi looked at Naru and Mai.

"This is base."

He had the trio turn around and took them up the stairs and when they got up to the top of the stairs in slipt to the right and to the left.

"Lóutī yòubiān shì wǒjiā de fángjiān. Zuǒbiān shì suǒyǒu de kèfáng."

"Right is the family's rooms. Left will be our rooms. It holds all the guest rooms."

They followed him to the left and he motioned to the first 2 rooms on the the left side of the hall and the first 2 on the right.

"Zhèxiē jiāng shì nín de fángjiān. Měi gèrén dōu yǒu liǎng zhāng chuáng, zài yòubiān de liǎng zhāng chuángshàng, wǒmen yǒu kěyǐ tiānjiā de chuángpù, kěyǐ wéi měi gèrén zēngjiā chuángwèi."

And Nashi translated this word for word.

"These will be your set of rooms. Each have 2 beds in there and in the 2 on the right we have roll out beds that can be add in there to make more beds for everyone."

"Tell him we will only need one more roll out bed in one of the rooms on the left. The rooms on the left with be for the men and the ones on the right will be for the women. And they in about 30 minutes we will need to have him get his family together in base so we can go somewhere and conduct the interviews. Mai go back down and help everyone load the equipment into base as you show them where it is. I will be in base looking over the house layout."

Mai and Naru went back down the stairs as Nashi told the man what Naru had said and he said he would and got to work on putting the extra bed in the room. Nashi figured she would go out and help everyone finish bringing in the equipment so she started back towards the stairs. As she got up to the top of the stairs she looked up down the right side of the hallway and saw someone watching her. It was a young girl, about 15, just a bit younger than Mai's age.

"Nǐ hǎo," Nashi said to the girl but she just quickly went into what was most likely her room.

'Ok…'

By the time Nashi go downstairs, she saw Monk carrying some more cameras.

"Any more stuff that needs to be brought in Monk?"

"Nah, this is the last box that need to be brought in, everyone else is in base. Might as well come on with me."

Monk was right, everyone was back in base and they had 20 minutes before the clients and his family would be here to get to do interviews. And as soon as Monk sat the last box down, Naru, as always, started barking out orders.

"Ms. Hara, Ms. Matsuzaki and Father Brown do a walk around the property to see if you sense anything. Takigawa, Mai and Yasuhara go get temperature readings or each room. Nashi you're with me till the clients get here for their interviews."

"Are we doing the interviews here in base or in another room?"

"Here."

Nashi saw that there a couch with a small coffee table in front of it but that's all, nothing on the other side. So she decided to grab 2 chairs and move them over on the other side for the clients. Naru noticed what she was doing as she moved the chairs over and then moved her, well Lin's, laptop to the coffee table.

"Smart Nashi. They should be here any minute now."

Nashi turned and looked at Naru and then the clock.

'Has it already been 20 minutes almost? Dang that was fast.'

And as if on cue, Ying-Jeou Ma and his wife walked into the room after knocking on the door. Behind them was their children, a 15 year old girl, the one Nashi saw earlier upstairs and a 13 year old boy.

*For the sake of simplicity and my sanity, Bold is Chinese and regular is Japanese*

"Mr. Shibuya, I have brought my family to talk to you about what has happened to each of us. This is my wife Kaiyue, our 15 year old daughter Najin and our 13 year old son Yong-min"

And as Nashi was brought along to do, she translated for Naru.

"Excellent. We will talk to each of you one at a time, you can go sit in another room till we are done with one of you then they will go get the next person."

"Excellent. We will talk to each of you one at a time, you can go sit in another room till we are done with one of you then they will go get the next person," Nashi translated then added for Naru, "Who would like to go first?"

Naru gave Nashi a look and she knew what it meant.

"I asked who would go first."

"Well I guess I can go first so I can elaborate on the few things that have happened to me. Is that ok?"

Nashi translated and Naru nodded so the man told his wife and children to go somewhere to wait, causing Naru to raise an eyebrow.

"Telling them to wait in the kitchen."

Ying-jeou sat down in one of the chairs Nashi had put out.

"Go on Mr. Ma."

"Please just call me Ying-jeou. And as I said in the interview at the office, I have felt someone watching me. And I mostly get that feeling when I'm here alone or if my family is outside and I'm inside alone."

"Where have you felt the feeling of someone watching you at?"

"Nǐ zài nǎlǐ gǎnshòu dào yǒurén zài kàn nǐ de gǎnjué?"

"I have mostly felt it in the large rooms such as our living room, kitchen and foyer, as well as all the bedrooms, and basement at attic. But unlike I haven't been attacked like my wife and kids have. Not the kind to draw blood or hospital visits. I have been pushed but not down stairs. It's usually been when I am standing still or I'm walking on a flat surface. Never down stairs or anything to that nature."

"Is that all or any other experiences you have had?"

"Zhè shì nǐ yǒngyǒu de suǒyǒu huò rènhé qítā jīnglì?"

"No nothing else comes to mind. Just that."

"Ok well if you think of anything else, let us know."

Nashi finished translating for Naru and translated and told the man to send in the next person.

And the next person was Kaiyue Ma, the wife and mother.

"Mrs. Ma, could you tell us what experiences has happened to you here?"

Nashi translated again and they instantly knew she was uncomfortable talking about it. She tensed up and he face showed no emotion, all the fear and nervousness she was just showing gone. So Nashi added something.

"Mrs. Ma…"

"Kaiyue please dear."

"Kaiyue, please we need to k ow so we can stop this. You don't want this to happen to your children again right? Please…help us help you."

"Well… What has happened was minimal at first. Much like my husband I only felt as though someone was watching me for the first month. Nothing physical."

"When did it escalate? How long has this been going on?"

"It has been going on for almost 9 months. For the first, well maybe it was the first 2 months, it was just that for me. Not a month. Then it got much worse. It started getting physical with just being pushed while being still or on flat surfaces. Then it was things would be thrown at me much like a small cup. That all lasted for 3 more months. Then, on the 6th month was when I was pushed down the stairs for the first time. Just a small flight like our on our porch and back steps. Then it went to our large stairs in the house. We have 3 different staircases, and it was mostly on the one in the foyer. After that it escalated to plates and glasses being thrown at me as well as being scratched all over my body, majority of it being on my arms, legs and back. The plates eventually would be thrown at me, I would dodge and then the broken pieces would be thrown at me and cause all sorts of cuts. I've had to go to the hospital any times because it cut so deep or in such a dangerous area that I needed immediate care and stitches. The worst on was about 3 weeks ago on my arm. It cut me from my wrist to the bend of my elbow."

Both looked as she showed Naru and Nashi the still visible scar on her arm from it. Naru asked Nashi to finish telling him what the lady's had said and she did, as well as show him what was typed up on the computer screen.

"Ask her about what her husband said. That she had been dragged down the stairs."

"Kaiyue, can you please tell me about something your husband mentioned when he cane to visit us for the original interview? He had said you were dragged down the stairs multiple times. So it didn't stop at just being pushed?"

"No my dear. It didn't. About a month ago is when it got bad for me. I was walking up the stairs by the kitchen to head up to my husband's office and I got the feeling someone was watching me about half way up the stairs. But then the air turned ice cold and I felt a hand grab my ankle. So I looked down thinking, 'maybe my husband is trying to lighten the mode by prancing me'. Only when I looked, nothing was there and no one as well. I then realized I was all alone in the house that day. Suddenly I was pulled back, hit my head on a step and was dragged down the stairs. Luckily I only had a large bump on my head and my ankle was bruised. But it was in the shape of a handprint! I was freaked out, called Ying-jeou and he came right home. The other time was a week and a half ago. It was on a Saturday when everyone was here. I was heading up to my room in the afternoon because I felt so tired and I couldn't get warm disputes the house being at like 75 degrees, as I was about 4 steps from the top it all happened much faster than the first time. Hands grabbed my ankles and legs, I was pulled down so hard that I hit my head on the edge of the step, splitting it open and was pulled al the way to the bottom. I was unconscious by the time I reached the bottom but I must have screamed out the whole way because when I woke up I was in a hospital bed. They said I had to get 30 stitches in my forehead," she raised her bangs up to see the still healing wound and stitches in the left and center of her forehead and then pulled up her pant legs to show all the bruises on her legs and especially her ankles. Her right ankle was in a thick padded brace, but the bruises they could see, all looked like handprints, "and severely bruised legs and my right ankle was dislocated and had to be put back in place then held firm but a boot for 8 days. I was just put in this soft brace about 2 days ago."

So it happened on a Saturday, got the boot on Sunday. Had it taken off the following Monday and it was now Wednesday.

"Anything else you need to tell us Mrs. Ma?"

"Hái yǒu shé me xūyào gàosù wǒmen mǎ tàitài?"

Kaiyue shook her head and they said thank you and bid her a-due. Nashi took the time to ask Naru a question.

"Why does this spirit seem to be so malicious towards the wife and young children?"

"It may not be that. Maybe the husband isn't here enough to experience these events to where he would be injured like the wife and children."

And in walked the final 2 clients, the son Yong-min and the daughter, Najin.

"So what have you 2 experienced?"

"Nàme nǐmen liǎng gè jīnglìguò shèn me?"

The daughter started talking first to them.

"It all started about 6 months ago for both of us. I was the first one to get the feeling of someone watching me. Like multiple people were watching me all on once when I would enter a room at night. So I decided I wouldn't go in alone because my brother was feeling the same things I was. Then it escalated to when the lights were on we would get that feeling ant then the lights in the room would explode on me and us. And it was everyone, lights in the ceiling or walls, lamps, even nightlights. It will explode so hard sometimes that I was scratched by the glass shards. I would then be like my mom, I was starting to get pushed down stairs, first just like 3 to 5 stairs then 2 months ago, I was pushed down the flight of stairs in the foyer and ended up having to be hospitalized for a fractured collarbone and a broken ulna and radius in my left arm. Then 3 weeks ago, I was still having all this happen with the watching in the rooms when I felt the room get ice cold and I got goosebumps. Then I felt hands wrap…" she got choked up and unconsciously started to rub her neck, so Nashi said something to her before Naru could pester her to go on.

"Najin, its ok. We aren't going to let this happen again, but we can't do that if you don't tell us what happened and how it did."

Najin nodded, took a deep breath before continuing on.

"I felt someone's hands wrap around my neck. I could hear someone whispering in my ear and…I thought I saw a face starting at me. It was almost mummy like, skin all dried up and bulging eyes and long, black stringy hair. It was defiantly a woman's face I saw but it had the strength of a man. I was about to pass out when I vaguely heard someone walk into the room and shout my name. I was dropped and landed on the floor and my leg started to hurt. And once again I was rushed to the hospital and I had a dislocated knee, and a bruised neck, obviously. But I found out after I woke up in the hospital again that it was my brother who walked in when I was being attacked. And that whatever or whoever had tried to strangle me, had almost broke my hyoid bone, if they had done that I would have been dead. Since then, it has been unusually quiet. No attacks on me or my mom, just the feeling that someone is looking at me. I'm just worried what the next attack is going to be or who it will do it to."

"Now what about you?" Naru asked the 13 year old in front of him.

"Nà nǐ ne?"

"It started for me around 6 months ago too. It was a feeling like someone was watching me and when I would go into a room alone sometimes, I would feel the air get cold and I wouldn't feel safe. I would feel this…menacing feeling and I would get out of there. There was one time where I felt that and when I tried to leave, the door was looked and I heard weird noises."

"Noises? Could you describe them Yong-min?"

"It's hard to. It was almost like a knocking mixed with like a moaning screams and other things too. It's hard to describe. I've had the lights blow up on me as well because usually, unless it's our room, we would go together or don't go at all. I've had to go into rooms by myself and I have gotten scratch. And that was very recently."

"Tell me about the time you walked in on your sister getting strangled."

"Gàosù wǒmen nǐ zǒu jìn nǐ mèimei bèi lēi sǐ de shíjiān."

"It was scary. Terrifying. She must have gone into it to get something, it was an old room we place some old things in before we get rid of them or put them in the attic. I was walking to the stairs down by the kitchen when I heard a weird noise, well noises, coming from the room that didn't sound right. I tried to open the door but, it was locked. Or at least it appeared to be cause as soon as I started to ram the door to try to get it open and it finally opened, but there was no wood breaking or lock breaking. I look up to see my sister being held in the air by what looked to be white wisp of mist. Like it had tentacles. I shouted Najin's name, it looked over at me or I think it did and then she was dropped. I screamed for our dad and mom and to call 911. Mom called while dad came up to see what was going on. We rushed her to the hospital and then you know the rest. I know last week I got some pretty deep scratches that are still here."

Yong-min rolled up his sleeve on his left arm to reveal a set of 4 jagged lines on his arm about 7 inches long and an inch wide each.

"Funny thing is, in left handed and the scratches happened on my left arm. I couldn't use my left arm for about 3 days after that because it hurt so much."

Nashi finished typing and translating for Naru and he told them they o iOS gonine about there day, so Najin and Yong-nun left.

"That's some pretty intense stuff they said Naru. What does it mean?"

Naru didn't even bother to look st her as he walked over to the moniters.

"The spirit is quite violent."

And nothing more. Nashi just saved it and waited for further commands. Luckily she didn't have to wait long until everyone came back and reported their findings to Naru.

"Ms. Hara, Ms. Matsuzaki and Father Brown, did you sense anything or find anything that could be doing this?"

"I felt some spirits throughout the house, but I noticed that there does seem to be one sprit hiding. I can sense that there are a violent. The spirit isn't happy we are here."

Naru was about to speak but Ying-jeou knocked lightly on the open door. Everyone turned to him as he spoke.

"Sè gǔ xiānshēng, nǐ yǒu liǎng gè gāng dào nǐ de rén"

Then looked at Nashi.

"Mr. Shibuya, you have 2 people who just arrived for you."

Naru nodded and motioned for him to send them in and in a minute, Lin and Madoka were walking into base. And both were shocked to see Nashi there, but Madoka was so excited to see her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Nashi! So glad to see you! What are you doing here? Never thought Naru would have you on a case. Did he hire you?"

"Madoka," Nashi was still not used to her bubbly attitude, "No e didn't hire me. He needed me here because the Clients are Chinese and I speak it fluently."

Nashi, Mai, Naru, and Madoka didn't miss the change on Lin's face, he wasn't happy to hear that.

A.N. damn didn't think it would be that long! Yaya and I hope that was ok and it's understandable.