Again, in case you ignored the authors note at the bottom of chapter one, the only thing majorly different was that Mai mentioned some stuff about her sitters, go back a chapter and scroll to the bottom if you didn't read it.
Thank you to all reviewers and follows and favorites, I love getting e-mails about how my story is doing! Thank you! *bows*
Enjoy (I faced the wrath of my brother over wifi for this)
BLIND
April
Saturday
I was just watching, er, sensing and hearing Ayako give her exorcism. She was so cocky yesterday, yet her weird chant wasn't assuring me. I could not even think that this would work, and it almost seemed like she wasn't sure either, she did say to watch her while she did it.
"What is she doing?" I more or less asked myself.
"Have you never heard of noruto?" Naru said from my left.
"No, what's that?" I asked.
"They're just Shinto incantations," Monk said from my right, leaning over John's shoulder, "but I'm starting to wonder if she can even pull this off."
"I've never seen anyone preform a Shinto exorcism before, let's watch," Naru said. I heard Kuroda step from one of the rooms, she seemed very focused on the exorcism, almost anticipating a fault in it.
Ayako just continued her weird chanting, waving the stick with paper on it around. Is this seriously going to work? All I could tell from my sensing of the paper was that it was rather thin, and well taken care of. Not a single fault… I thought to myself.
"That's it," Ayako said, finally done, "now you'll have nothing to worry about."
"I have to say I'm quite impressed," one of the men said. I couldn't remember which one was which, I wasn't around them enough to really distinguish the two, one was the principle and the other was the vice principle I think, they both wore suits so I had nothing to go on.
Nor did I actually care.
"It was presented beautifully, thank you so much," the other said. If beauty of presentation had anything to do with the supernatural being taken care of then Monk was a four-foot fifteen-year-old girl. I knew ghost stories enough to know that for sure.
"What would you say to a party tonight in your honor?" one of them said.
"I can't, I must stay here for the next twelve hours to keep an eye on things," Ayako said, turning down the invitation.
"Of course, I understand, you're a true professional. Maybe we could meet up for lunch sometime," the man offered instead. The three walked to the front doors while Monk yawned.
"She's finally done," Monk exclaimed while stretching. This caused me to yawn and we started to turn to go to base. As Ayako and the men were about at the door, though, I heard and felt one of the glass panes break.
They gasped as more cracks could be heard. We turned back surprised before suddenly all the glass burst inside and towards the three adults. They shrieked before falling to the ground to try to cover themselves from the glass. We ran towards them to check what happened, John and Monk going to check on the three while Naru and I stayed back.
"Hey, are you alright?" Monk said as his feet crushed glass.
"This man is bleeding!" I heard John call.
"Oh no, looks like he is too," I heard Monk call, "What about you Ayako?"
"I'm alright," Ayako said calmly, albeit a bit shaken. I could sense that she hadn't had any glass cut her, luckily.
"Are you okay sir?" Monk called to one of the men.
"Yes I'll be fine," he called shakily.
"Can you stand?" Monk said, helping the man up.
What is going on here? I thought as I hoped for their safety.
The ambulance soon arrived, taking both the men to the hospital. "I thought you said there would be nothing to worry about now," Kuroda said snidely, "Looks like your little exorcism didn't work. Your failure just sent the principle to the hospital."
Ayako tensed up before Masako interrupted by saying, "That was a simple accident."
"Thank you, I thought I did my job very well," Ayako said turning towards Masako.
"I'm not saying your exorcism worked, it couldn't have because there was no spirits here to begin with," Masako said calmly again.
"Yes there are! I was nearly killed by one of them earlier today!" Kuroda shouted at her.
The boys and I started heading to the monitors (stupid things, can't see anything on them), John commenting, "Maybe it was a coincidence."
"Or there's something here, something too strong for Ayako to drive away," Monk said thoughtfully. I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE SHE COULD DO IT FIVE MINUTES AGO!? Pick as side, sheesh.
"If that were the case then there would be more conclusive readings on my equipment," Naru said.
I turned to the monitors to think. Sigh, I wish I could sense some of these spirits. I mean, if I'm the one who brought them here I would also like to be the one to drive them out.
Suddenly a light shone on me. What the… I'm blind, so what's happening… there is NO FREAKING WAY my wish came true THAT quickly… is it another one of those weird light hallucinations I sometimes have?
My eyes adjusted slightly to this, and it took a moment but I started to figure out what was wrong with the picture I was somehow shown. It was a monitor, I think. Hey, wait a second… none of the cameras had a chair in front of it…
"Hey, that room didn't have a chair in the middle of it yesterday, did it?" I said slightly unsure, bringing everyone's attention to the monitors.
"That's one of the classrooms on the second floor," Naru commented. I remembered all the classrooms on the second floor, and not a single one had a chair in front of it.
My vision went completely dark again, so I turned to Naru and said, "Mm-hm, I set the camera in there yesterday just like you told me to. I swear, it wasn't there."
"Houshou, have you seen anyone go inside that classroom?" Naru asked.
"No," he responded.
"Me neither," John echoed.
Naru turned his head down in thought before pressing a button. I could hear a winding sound so I turned my head to try to sense better what he was doing. Even though I can sense things well enough at a distance, the closer it is the easier to sense. The sound stopped and I could hear the audio play from after Ayako's exorcism before turning my head to the monitor that had lit up again. I could hear when the glass exploded and watched as the chair moved across the floor. It was… creepy, to say the least. It caused us (us being Monk, John, and myself) to gasp, although I was more surprised at the 'seeing things light up and chairs move when I've been blind since I was little' aspect of the whole thing. The vision faded away as soon as it came.
"Was that a ghost?" I asked.
"It looks to me like a poltergeist," Kuroda said calmly.
"A poltergeist?" I asked. Is that German?
"It's a German word dating back four centuries that means 'noisy ghost'," Kuroda answered, pushing her glasses up as she continued, "They're manifestations that can influence and move objects at will."
Naru stepped back from the computers and answered back. "That is correct, but I don't think that's what we're dealing with," he said, "Quite often objects that are manipulated by a poltergeist will feel warm to the touch." Warm to the touch? "If we look at our thermographic image, we can see the chair is not radiating heat."
"But don't forget Tisane's criteria," John interjected.
"Who's that?" I asked curiously, turning towards John.
"E. Tisane," Naru began, "He was a French policeman who was the first one to classify poltergeists-throwing objects, strange noises, fires, doors closing by themselves, and so on. There are nine different criteria in all, and so far we've seen a number of them at this site. We have doors closing on their own, inanimate objects moving, and glass breaking, which makes up three of the nine criteria."
"But what about Kuroda getting attacked?" I asked. She was my classmate-and hopefully my friend. Or at least, not one of my enemies.
"I'm afraid it was just her imagination," said Masako.
"Stop playing games with me!" Kuroda answered snappily. "Why can't you admit this place is haunted?" she asked as Masako made her way out of the room.
She turned back to the room slightly at the doorway, saying, "Alright then, I'll try once more. I will sense them if there are any spirits here," before leaving base.
"If we truly are dealing with a spirit here, and Masako can't sense it, that would be quite a shock," John said as soon as she was out of earshot.
"There's no evidence suggesting there is one," Naru replied calmly.
I turned towards him, contemplating him again. Why is he sticking up for her? Oh, I get it, even Naru's a sucker for a pretty face.
"You're just a sucker for a pretty face," I heard a voice say. Who…? "Why else would you be sticking up for her?" Kuroda said. Wow, I didn't say that out loud, did I?
"I'm quite familiar with Miss Hara's work," Naru answered calmly. "I firmly believe she's one of the best in her field. All I'm doing is giving her the respect she deserves."
"I'm much more talented than she is and I'm not getting nearly that level of respect," Ayako said hotly back. Well, so far, you and your powers are equal to that of a tree…
"What is it about you that I should hold in such high regard, because I'm drawing a blank," Naru said back.
"What did you just say?!"Ayako yelled. She probably would have continued if we hadn't started hearing creaking noises above us.
We looked at the ceiling and waited, I trying to sense if there was any wood snapping over head of us.
"Creaking noises," Monk said in slight awe.
"Don't ghosts make sounds like that?" I said in slight hysteria.
The creaking noises got louder, and suddenly we all heard a scream.
"It's Masako! Someone call an ambulance!" John said as he looked at some of the screens. Guess it was caught on tape….
Soon the ambulance arrived to take Masako away.
She had fallen from the second floor.
BLIND
POV Naru
"The portion of the eastern wall that had been demolished was boarded up with weak plywood and was by no means structurally sound. She must have leaned on it, causing it to break underneath her weight," I explained. "Ms. Hara herself said that it was an accident, she told me as she was on the stretcher that she was being careless, and that there are no spirits inside."
"We can't deny it anymore," Ayako responded, "there's obviously a force here."
"Oh, are you referring to the one you failed to exorcise?" Monk intervened. Ayako huffed in annoyance and turned her head. "We're playing with fire. An unsuccessfully exorcised spirit is like a wounded bear."
"So, what happened to Masako was Ayako's fault," Mai commented,
"Oh please," Ayako responded.
"Listen," I said, stopping the bickering, "from what I saw on the video it was just an accident."
Mai responded quickly with, "But accidents keep happening here, that's why they say this place is haunted!" while she looked at me, waiting for something.
"That may be true," I said.
She seemed surprised as I turned to look at her, trying to figure her out. She had looked straight at a wall of monitors shining brightly before noticing the screen with the chair. Supposedly she was watching them for about 45 minutes. She can't be THAT stupid, can she? So naturally I was more crazed than ever to figure her out. I hated unsolved puzzles more than anything.
"But there is simply not enough readings on the equipment to prove it. There aren't any temperature fluctuations, no ionic polarization, and the EMF readings are normal, the proof just isn't there." Not that she probably even knew what that meant-she even set the thermostats to tell her the temperature out loud, or rather, she had me do it, somehow.
"But, Ayako was trapped in that room!" Kuroda yelled. At least she let go of being attacked. "And I was attacked upstairs!" Thought too soon. "Something also moved the chair, broke the glass, and erased the video!"
"Like I said I'm still not convinced," I responded.
"Maybe we're dealing with a highly intelligent spirit that knows how to hide from your machines," Monk suggested.
I looked up again before responding, listening to the machines whir. There's no way that a ghost could be that intelligent, except perhaps me and Gene…. "What do you really think?" I asked.
"I still believe that it's a residual haunting," he responded honestly.
I turned towards John. "And you, John?" I asked.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I do agree it's become quite dangerous here," he responded.
"Now, tell us what you're thinking," Monk asked me.
"I'll hold off on my opinion for now," I responded, "I'd like to investigate this from a slightly different angle." I then left the room, going off to investigate a hunch.
BLIND
POV Mai
"So what do you think about this guy?" Monk said as Naru left without any indication on what he was about to go do. "He knows how to put on a show with all this equipment but I'm not convinced the boy wonder knows what he's doing."
With how much work he makes me do, he better actually be the real deal. But still… where is he going? And what am I supposed to do? I'm only his little blind employee… not that he knows I'm blind…
"Let's get started," John said as he prepared to do his exorcism upstairs while we were left at base. I stared at the monitors to look like I knew what I was doing, but I honestly had almost no clue what was going on.
"The teenage exorcist finally makes his appearance," Monk commented as I listened to the microphone to listen to John's exorcism.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," I heard John say over the speakers along with something splashing.
"Is that water?" I asked myself.
"Holy water," Monk simply responded.
I heard some pages being turned before hearing John continue with, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God," before hearing similar snapping sounds from earlier today. What?
"More strange noises," Kuroda commented.
"Wait, turn up the volume," Monk said. I reached over to where I know the sound was and turned up the audio of John's praying. I heard more snapping noises. Wait, this happened before Masako's accident… Could he also be leaning against something? I continued listening to John's prayer. He wouldn't lean on something after Masako's accident… Could the ceiling not be structurally sound as well, set off by Masako earlier?!
"The ceiling," I said out loud before it sank in. I had to get John out of there!
I ran off as I heard Monk shout out, "Hey, where are you going!"
I ignored him as I ran. I hope I can get there in time!
I burst into the room I figured John was in due to how loud his voice was. "Look out!" I yelled as he stopped his prayers and looked at me.
"Mai!" John said.
"Move it!" I responded. This situation is too similar, what caused my blindness, I thought as I sensed the room. "The ceiling's falling!"
"What..?!" John said looking up.
"John!" I shouted as it began to fall down. "JOHN!" I shouted as the rumble blocked my senses, preventing me from locating him, even though my senses were on hyper-drive again.
BLIND
"I don't believe this," Monk said as the group looked around the room at the pieces of the ceiling.
"If Mai hadn't acted so quickly, I could have easily been injured or even killed," John stated. He had jumped to the edge of the room, dodging the ceiling by inches.
"In the interest of safety I think we should call it for the night," Naru said as he looked at the room again, only looking at the parts that he pointed to with a flashlight. Is it dark already? "Mai, you're dismissed."
"Really?" I responded, I still expected him to work me no matter the hour.
"Yes," was his simple response.
"Alright, I guess I'll be back bright and early, while there's still life there's still hope," Ayako said dismissively.
"Just admit it and say you're scared," Monk said. I had to admit, if even Naru was dismissing me early, and not early in the morning, then you might as well say you're scared. Although Ayako simply huffed at him before turning away to leave. Monk followed after her as she left the building, not saying word.
"Well seeing as I nearly lost my head a minute ago, I think I'll take your advice and retire for the evening," John said mainly to Naru before also heading out.
"You leaving?" I asked Naru, who was still looking around. … This is too much fun, seeing things in the dark is my specialty, but you don't know that so you won't ask….
"Not yet, there are a few more things I want to investigate," Naru said, back facing us while he inspected the room.
"Well, just try to be careful, okay?" I said. Even if he's slightly infuriating doesn't mean that I want him hurt or anything,
…But of course, a piece of wood was more interesting to him. He continued looking around, ignoring our presence.
Sometimes, his face is too smooth, too hard to read for emotions, I almost want to punch him so he can have a new feature-the raised skin of a bruise. I suppose given enough time I could decipher his face, but… I don't know how long I can stand this guy and his superiority…
Kuroda stood by me for a while before we both left and went home.
BLIND
Sunday
I walked up to the van, figuring he was probably there.
It was there I found him sleeping in the back, his coat covering him like a blanket.
He's asleep?! Wait, he sleeps?!
"Naru?" I said to try to get his attention. "Did you sleep here last night? That can't be good for you."
He sifted around, waking up before responding very drowsily-which was sort of funny-, saying, "Hey Mai, what are you doing here at this hour?" while sitting up more and grabbing his head.
"Uh…" I said. Man, he's barely even gotten a wink of sleep and he's still the same way he always is-supposedly gorgeous. Though some of the girls at school would kill for this…. "At this hour? It's almost time for lunch, Naru!"
"Morning!" I heard Monk call. He, Ayako, and John apparently arrived together. Hey Ayako, what happened to bright and early? "Looks like someone had a rough night."
"Looks to me like someone's trying to leave early," Ayako said. I dare you to say anything about 'early' right now, late priestess!
"You're right," Naru responded, all sleep gone from his tone, although he still didn't get up.
"So you're finally admitting your 'expert' opinion is totally wrong?" Ayako said accusingly. She still doesn't like Naru or me, does she?
"Is that true?" John asked, always the one to want to know the truth.
"No, I'm leaving because I already solved the case," Naru responded.
"Huh?" I smartly commented, did he really already solve it?
"So you cleaned that schoolhouse, by yourself?" Monk asked, disbelief practically coming off in waves off him.
"No, I didn't do that, there was no need to," Naru responded simply. What do you mean? Isn't the place haunted and the spirit dangerous?
Monk's muscles tensed then relaxed, showing that he wasn't following. "What are you talking about!?" he asked, confirming what I knew.
"What did you do?" I asked, looking towards Naru as he typed on a laptop. … Great, more screens…
"Last night I compiled all of my experiments," he answered, "These are some surveying results." He turned the screen towards us. … Lot of help that does me… He continued audibly, thankfully, saying, "The schoolhouse is sinking. In fact, it sank point 2 inches just last night."
"It what?" Monk said, obviously shocked.
Naru faced the group before continuing, "It's called land subsidence."
"Yeah, so what? You think subsidence is to blame for the phenomenon we've experienced?" Ayako said, testing Naru, again.
"This entire area is built upon reclaimed swampland," Naru stated, trusting his facts. "When I looked into the distribution of wells that were once at use, I discovered a large aquifer that passed underneath the schoolhouse, but when I checked the wells that are in the immediate area, I found them all to be dry."
"Which means…" I said.
"The soil here was weak to begin with, and since the water is dried up there's a hallowing affect happening underground, so naturally the structure above it will be sinking," he explained. …He's much easier to deal with when he doesn't really seem to grasp all that's going on like he is now, his face says that he's really relaxed, and could just fall back asleep, which he won't, naturally, but still. He hasn't yet seemed bothered at explaining all this to us.
"You're saying the glass, the chair moving, and the ceiling collapsing, are all due to subsidence?" Monk asked, still not convinced.
"Yes, the floor in the classroom on the eastern side of the building where the ceiling collapsed was three inches lower than on the west side," Naru explained.
"Three inches?" I thought to myself, contemplating on checking to see if my senses could tell that it was slanted.
"Sounds like structural failure to me," Monk said, looking at Ayako to see what she would say.
"But what about the strange noises?" Ayako said. She really was making sure there were no gaps in the theory.
"Probably the sound of the wood shifting," Naru said, closing the laptop, "We should have the surrounding area declared off-limits," he said as he stood up and looked at the schoolhouse. "It's so structurally unsound it might come down any day now."
BLIND
POV Naru
We ended up at base where Mai and I started packing his equipment as the others watched. Soon it seemed more like she figured she was more in the way than anything else, and stood off to the side with the others.
"I knew it!" Kuroda said when she found out about my explanation. "You can't explain what attacked me, can you?" She's still convinced? Or is she just trying to defend place that seemingly proves her 'abilities'?
"If what you claim really did occur, then perhaps it's the work of a floating specter that's following you," I said, doubt most likely evident in my tone, most likely due to a lack of sleep and a lack of caffeine- delivered via tea. I haven't had much decent tea lately, and Lin mostly makes Chinese tea, which isn't to my taste.
She looked at me before responding, think up what to say. "Just listen! I'm not making this up!" she said. Does she completely believe that?
"Are you leaving?" Mai asked, seeming like she wasn't sure. Even from several feet away it still seemed like she was able to completely analyze my every move, it almost seemed worse when she was looking at something else. That, on top of everything else, made me sort of glad that I had figured out the case and could leave and then think clearly. But even then, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the mystery of Mai Taniyama alone. "Well?" she prompted when I didn't answer.
"Yes, the job's done," I answered her as I put more wires into one of the boxes. The job may be done, but I felt as if this would not be the last time I saw this group or the old schoolhouse.
BLIND
POV Mai
:Right," I answered, my fingers starting to play through my hair in nervousness. "I guess it is huh?"
Weird, I get the feeling like we're not done here yet… I thought. Actually, the feeling was more like my gut screaming 'Oi, narcissist, if you can hear me, DON'T LEAVE.'
"There is a spirit here, I know it," Kuroda said, her expression a bit complex. Almost… disbelief and then believing again.
"You're wrong, I have scientific evidence to back up my claim," Naru said. I could almost hear his patience with her starting to snap.
"Did you ever consider that maybe the spirit is avoiding your tests?" she yelled back.
Snap. There goes Naru's patience, which has been used towards me being an amateur and dealing with Kuroda and the rest of the group.
"Then exorcise it yourself, that should be easy for someone with your skills," Naru said. Kuroda glared back while Naru turned back towards the other side of the room with the rest of the equipment. "There's nothing more for me to investigate here so I'm leaving, end of story," he replied. He seemed to be a bit calmer now that Kuroda seemed to have run out of comebacks.
"Oh, well, I guess my dream's over now," I said, hoping to clear the air a bit as well as get my feelings off my chest. Ah, but wait, crap, I even got Naru's attention as well. "I mean, here we are in an old building that's so creepy you just assume it was haunted. Not to mention all the ghost stories I've heard about it. It's kind of… romantic, in a way. Now I don't like the idea of people dying here, but the ghost stories really gave this place a sense of mystery and fun," I said. Aaand I got sentimental again.
"Maybe so," was the simple answer given by Naru-the person I'd think was least likely to answer.
Suddenly we heard glass cracking. The panes right next to Kuroda were cracking. Kuroda, who had figured what would happen next due to Ayako's experience, ducked while the rest of us got ready for action.
She screamed as the glass fell, but seemed to be alright. "Kuroda!" I yelled, hoping she would not be too disoriented by the sudden turn in events and would be able to locate us over here. It seemed to have worked. She looked over towards us, uninjured but shaken. I sensed closer at her and saw, yes saw, not sensed, what looked to be faint jagged lines coming out of her. Banging noises began to be heard, not creaking, but straight up banging noises on the walls around us. I turned towards what seemed to be the locations of the bangs, and all the places had the faint line coming from Kuroda to the source of the noise.
Kuroda held her head, trying to block it all out, she was scared, really scared. But those faint lines, are they targeted specifically towards her?
"What's going on?" Ayako said, seeming to voice everyone's thoughts.
"Well it's more than just the place sinking!" Monk said. I was just disoriented, I was blind, but was seeing weird jagged lines everywhere, no one else seemed to know what was going on, my senses where being no help on this whatsoever, and no one was being considerably helpful in figuring out what was going on. I suddenly felt very much like a little scared blind girl who suddenly can only see in her nightmares.
"Knocking sounds, that's another one of Tisane's criteria!" John yelled over the noise.
"Well?!" I yelled, hoping for an explanation from anyone, but facing towards Naru. He usually knew, but his face showed complete disbelief, seeming to be stuck on one thought. "Naru?" I asked, trying to bring him back to the current situation. We don't need him zoning out now! He seemed to hear me, but looked at the door, I turned towards it to send my senses to it, my senses seeming to be unfocused and caused me to have to turn towards the thing I was trying to 'see'. The doors were banging back and forth on their tracks violently. Crap! How are we supposed to get out?!
"We need to get out of here, now!" Monk yelled.
Naru seemed to snap out of whatever it was he was in and yelled, "This is it! Everybody, out! GO, Mai!"
"But what about the doors?" I yelled back, turning my attention to Naru, who looked ready to run like hell was at his heels.
"Leave that to me!" yelled Monk as he threw a chair at the remaining wood that had held the panes that had broken not even a minute before. "Over here, this way!" he yelled as everyone followed him out.
BLIND
We stood in front of the building again.
"Are you okay, Kuroda?" I asked as I sensed her hand bleeding. My senses were a bit numb so it took me a minute to process that the weird slimy-wracking feeling going over my brain was blood. Although thankfully there wasn't any of those jagged lines anymore. Isn't lightning supposed to be jagged lines? So did I see electricity going around causing it? But if that was the case, wouldn't we all be electrocuted?
"You're bleeding, let me see your hand," Ayako said, gently taking Kuroda's hand. "It's okay, cut's not too deep," she told her.
Monk looked at us then towards Naru, who was staring at the building. Then Monk started yelling, "What was that? And don't try to feed me that sinking theory again. That was a full-on poltergeist wasn't it?!"
Ayako tied up Kuroda's hand in a handkerchief before also turning towards Naru. "That sound wasn't just the creaking of an old building, something was definitely banging on the walls," she said defiantly.
John calmly turned to talk as well, seeming to be the calm one of the group. "That means we've already witnessed four of the nine criteria that were laid out by Tisane," he said, still wanting to work with Naru, not against him, it seemed.
"That just goes to show that you can't depend too much on technology," Ayako said spitefully. "For a minute there I was actually going to believe you and your phony results."
"Stick around, Naru, and you'll see how the true professionals do things," Monk said, still showing animosity towards Naru. I was too shaken up to really want to deal with them right now.
"Maybe it's time someone went back to school," Ayako said as she and Monk left the scene.
"What's with them? I haven't seen them do anything productive!" I said before turning towards Naru, sensing over him for injures. Wouldn't suppose Ayako would help him too if he got hurt…? I sensed blood again, and sensed for the source. It was his hand, and it didn't seem to be too good. "Your hand, it's…" I trailed off.
"It's nothing serious," he said, holding it up as if to make a point. "It's just a scratch."
"But…" I responded. It still should be treated, and I'm pretty sure it was more than 'just a scratch'.
"I will be fine," he said his tone seeming to be pissed off, although it didn't seem to be aimed towards me. "You should just tend to Kuroda."
"Naru…" I said, still wanting to help.
"I'd appreciate it," he stated, harshly at first, "if you left me alone for a little while." He was trying not to misdirect his anger at me. "I'm so mad at myself I could throw up!"
"…fine," I responded, I figured he probably was blaming himself for getting us in danger… Or at least me, considering I was forcibly his assistant. He walked off, or more of sulked off, going who knows where to cool down for a bit. I watched him go, hoping he'd be okay after a bit and come back. Even Kuroda looked up as he rounded the corner, They may have not gotten along, but she was still concerned.
It was a few hours later-supposedly after dark as all the light switches were turned upwards, indicating 'on'-before my senses were not either numb or on hyper-drive and I could effectively move around without creating a hazard. I did notice, though, that while my senses were on hyper-drive as it tried to balance itself, that the building was sort of tilted, just barely, but it was still a difference.
"You're not going to watch the monk's attempt with the rest of us?" Ayako cooed as I walked into base.
"No, I'm not!" I yelled. I was tired of all these 'exorcisms', none of them were working if there is a spirit here.
"Hey, what's up Mai?" John asked as he walked up with some wires. I looked up-I thought he would watch the exorcism. "Do you mind if I give you a hand?"
"Oh. I'm okay, I'm just taking a few things out," I responded. I doubted Naru wanted this stuff to be laying around.
"Then please, allow me to help you, I insist," John replied as he grabbed a microphone on the table.
"Really, I'd rather do it myself," I responded. I was used to having to deal with things myself, I didn't want to stop now.
John faced towards me, his face seeming a bit distraught.
"You're still buying your boss's explanation?" Ayako asked from the doorway with Monk right beside her.
I glowered at the two of them-aren't they supposed to be somewhere else in the building, trying to exorcize whatever is here? "Do you have any proof that he's wrong?! If so then let's hear it, I'm all ears over here," I shouted back.
Ayako glared at me-I could easily tell a glare even if blind-while the air got tense. "Easy now," John said, trying to calm us down.
Shortly after Monk started his exorcism… which seemed to consist of gibberish chanting 'ban' and 'kan' every other syllable. How in the world is chanting that gibberish supposed to get rid of evil spirits? I thought to myself as I carried another microphone out of the room-I had let John help me, and was honestly a bit thankful not to carry it all out alone.
Geez, Naru, stop pouting and get back here so you can tell these idiots what's up! I don't know if I can take much more of this! Lucky him, he gets to skip out on dealing with them for the night.
John and I had decided to also set a few things up around the schoolhouse, in case something significant happened at least we'll have proof.
"I just set the microphone up on the second floor," John said as he walked down the stairs.
"Thank you," I said, "but you know I could do this stuff myself, right?" Even I, a blind girl, know how to set up a microphone-especially with Naru teaching you to do it. In other words, you don't want him 'teaching' you twice.
"Oh, no worries mate," John said, dismissing the action. "Anyway, I'm going to look around a bit, see if I can't find some more clues."
"Oh, well, be careful," I said as he walked off. I think I've made the right decision to wait here for Naru, but should I even expect him to come back?
I was interrupted from my thoughts as I started to hear footsteps down the hall. "Naru?" I yelled behind me, but instead I sensed Kuroda standing there. "Oh, hi Kuroda," I said. I was hoping he'd be back.
"Any news?" she asked me.
"Uh, right, the monk and the others are making their rounds right now," I answered.
"What about Kazuya?" she continued.
"I don't know where he is," I said with a shrug. "Aw man, are there really any spirits here?" I asked myself.
"Yes, I saw them," Kuroda said, still holding firm to that.
"Oh, I know, you've made that clear," I responded, remembering that she was there.
"They're not here anymore," Ayako said from behind us. We turned towards her and she continued, "The expulsion was a success."
"Yeah, we've all heard that one before," I replied. What was so different this time than last time she did an exorcism?
"Well, this time I'm sure of it," Ayako said, obviously taken back by my response.
"They're still here," Kuroda said, grabbing both my and Ayako's attentions. "I can feel them, in fact there are many spirits trapped here," she continued. She is starting to sound like a broken record.
"Are you still pretending?" Ayako said snidely. "Give it a rest, we're the professionals here." She does realize I'm not a professional either, right?
"Unless I'm mistaken you haven't done anything," Kuroda defended.
"We're good now," Monk said as he and John walked towards the rest of us. "Ayako's attempt may have been a complete failure but mine wasn't."
"Excuse me?" Ayako shouted back.
"Well, it is true, isn't it?" Monk prodded.
"Don't take credit for my work!" she yelled.
"Same to you," was the calm response.
"Get over yourself!" she yelled at him again.
"Would you shut up!" I yelled.
"Shh," John said quietly. "I hear something."
We all quieted down and listened-and heard footsteps on the floor above us.
"Someone's here," Ayako whispered as we stared-or sensed, in my case-the ceiling.
"I know," Monk said like it was obvious-which it sort of was.
We continued listening as the footsteps came closer overhead and started down the started down the staircase. I noticed that the little lightning thing from before was back, and was once again connected to Kuroda.
Monk ran towards the stairs as the footsteps grew closer and closer.
"Are you nuts?" I said as he ran past me. If it was a ghost then shouldn't you run away from it, not towards it?
He ignored me and disappeared around the stairwell as the stairs turned. Ayako stood near me as all of us waited for Monk to come back or to say something.
"Do you see anybody?" I yelled up at him.
"Nope, must've imagined it," Monk yelled back.
"That's crazy; all of us?" I yelled again as he heard him walk down the stairs. "I definitely heard something! You heard it too, right Monk?"
"It was just the wind," Ayako tried to sell us.
"I am sick of this!" I yelled. There is no way that was the wind! "You didn't get rid of them either, did you?! After what you said to Naru this makes you look so stupid! I don't remember Naru coming up with any lame excuses, do you?! Funny how the adults are acting like chil-" BANG! I was interrupted from my ranting.
The banging noises from earlier started again. "It's back!" John exclaimed. More lightning all around, only it was everywhere, and seemed more violent than before.
The lights broke, sending glass raining from the ceiling.
"This is the most activity we've seen yet!" John said as we dodged the glass.
"It sounds like there's more than one!" Monk shouted as we looked-or again in my case, sensed-around the hallway, trying to find a source. I kept ending up looking at Kuroda and the faint lightning streaks. "It's too dangerous in here, let's get outside!"
"I'm right behind you," I yelled, then turned towards Kuroda. "Come on Kuroda, follow me!" I yelled as we ran and dodged wood falling from the ceiling.
"Right!" she yelled back as we ran.
The shoe lockers started shaking and swaying dangerously as we ran past. We were almost out of the building when the shoe locker right next to me began to fall towards me. I screamed as I put my arms in front of me as it fell on me. Warm….
"MAI!" I heard Monk yell. My senses blurred up on me.
At that point, I lost consciousness.
BLIND
Hope you enjoyed. I recently read a fanfic that had a blind character that sensed things sort of like how Mai does-man was I HAPPY!
It was posted before this fic, and it was some sort of shaman…? But anyway, it's done, enjoy, and tell me what you think I could improve on or add into this story.
-*yes, Gene will be included in some way, shape, or form, he sort of has to…*-