Hey again! I'm back already! I love you guys so much and was so happy I just wrote and wrote and… You get the picture. But don't expect this often. My friend was also there making sure I was writing and hissing at me whenever I tried to close my laptop. My friend, who I'll just call J, is also a writer. Only J does Loki fanfiction, and has a tumblr. J tries to get me to join. Should I? Good question.
I loved all the reviews you guys gave me! I try to keep in consideration what everyone likes, doesn't like, and wants, but you have to tell me these things if you want them noted in my files! And some ideas will take longer to process into the story. Just so you know.
For the record, I plan to do ALL the stories, including the manga, and possibly the stories in the books from AFTER the Forgotten Children case. Well, if I can get my hands on them.
Also, I plan to do my own cases. The chapters may or may not be as long as they have been for those cases, unfortunately. I just don't know WHEN in the story these cases will be. I do have certain elements from the main plot that will be put in pretty much in the middle cases, which brings us to another point.
The plot. It will have a thick supernatural turn to it, and I'll definitely have some new aspects on some of the later cases. For now, though, the cases will be pretty cut-and-dry. I'll try to make them as interesting as possible for you guys, regardless.
Emphasis on 'try'.
Bold italics are, as later revealed, Mai talking in her thoughts, or in this version, writing in her diary.
On with the story!
EDIT- This is the last chapter I re-edited for the line breaks, but chances are I'm doing more major things to the part I added in, as well as some regular editing like I did in the other chapters. So, feel free to ignore the other edited chapters, but this one you may want to skim through at least.
BLIND
Dear Diary,
Hi, I'm Mai Taniyama, a freshman in high school. I have what you might call a 'weird job.'…
BLIND
You know when you want to do something, and you know it's a really bad idea, but you do it anyway? That would be me, back in April, agreeing to work for a major narcissist.
It's not that I don't like working, or that the work is really, really hard, and I'm glad to have said work, but if I have to deal with another client who merely had a bad electrical current somewhere or some bad pipes, I'll scream, take one of the blobs that usually hang around office, and throw them at someone.
I mean, I may have only dealt with a single actual case, but I did end up reading through every parapsychology book I could get my hands on, meaning mainly the ones in the office. I couldn't gather much from them, though. Naru probably thought it would be stupid to have books on things he already knew in his office instead of at home or at a library. Regardless, I still could figure out the difference between the possibilities of a ghost versus a pipe.
But we did get a woman to come in recently who was clearly distraught. It certainly didn't sound like just a few maintenance issues. Plus the air about her felt… disturbed.
We took the case.
BLIND
July
Day 1
"Wow, what a cool house," I said as Naru and I stood at the gates of our clients house.
That guy standing next to me is Kazuya Shibuya. He's my boss.
Naru simply gazed at the house and walked up to the house. I followed behind. Lin was going to park the van and do equipment checks while Naru and I talked to the clients. We were met at the door by the woman who came in to the office, our client.
As we walked in my senses were amazed by the grandeur of the house. In other words, it was big and grand. Not to mention very nice.
Heck, there was a giant window in front of the stairs looking out to the yard. Well, I think it looked out to the yard. I just knew the yard was in that direction, and a wall of glass panes was there, so I assumed.
Before I get into the mess that is my job, I should mention one little fact about me. I'm blind. I can get around fine, though, due to the fact that I can sense my surroundings, even the thin trail of lead or groove on paper to read and write.
"I'm sorry to drag you out here like this, it's quite a drive from the city," our client said, before introducing the other habitants of the house. "This is my sister-in-law Kana, and my niece, Ayumi," she indicated first to a woman with short hair and a little girl holding a… something. I couldn't tell. It was almost like the whole thing was covered completely in wool so I couldn't sense it. A blanket maybe? "My brother's on a business trip overseas at the moment, so it's just us three girls it the house all by ourselves."
Three days ago that woman, Noriko Morishita, came by the office I work at, and hired us to investigate her home…
"There's something strange about that house. The furniture will rattle all by itself, I'll hear knocking on the walls of rooms when I'm the only one home, and doors will constantly open and close all by themselves…"
"As you can imagine we're pretty frightened," Noriko told us.
"I'd like to have a word with your boss," Kana said abruptly.
Naru took stepped forward and said, "My name is Kazuya Shibuya, and I own the company."
"Oh, I, uh…." Kana was stunned.
It's not uncommon for people to react like her when you consider the lead investigator is only a teenager. He's extremely self-confident, which lead to the nickname I thought up-Naru the Narcissist.
"So anyway," Kana recovered quickly, "what are we looking at? Do you really believe we have a ghost?"
"We will explore all options in our investigation," Naru told her.
I'm happy to say that I'm a proud member of the team at Shibuya Psychic Research.
Whenever we do on-site investigations we always set up a base, or headquarters. This is the main room we operate at while we conduct experiments.
…At least, that's what Naru told me we'd do if we accept case. This actually only my second case.
"How's set-up of all the equipment looking?" Naru asked Lin, who sat in front of his computer checking just that.
"All audio and video feeds are transmitting clearly," Lin reported. He continued reporting the rest of the equipment statuses to Naru, but I ended up drowning him out.
That's Lin, Naru's assistant. He's not a big talker, and he's definitely not a fan of me. So I try to keep my distance.
"I wonder if we're dealing with a poltergeist?" I wondered out loud. I think Lin was surprised that I was so close, because he definitely reacted. "Judging from Noriko's description…"
"Ah, you're sounding less like an amateur each day, aren't you kiddo?" I heard from behind me. I sent my senses behind me and found Monk and Ayako in the doorway.
"Hey Monk," I greeted.
He saluted friendlily before responding with a "Hey."
That's Houshou Takigawa, he's a monk from Mount Kouya.
"I see you're overdoing it again with all this fancy equipment."
And that's Ayako Matsuzaki, a self-styled shrine maiden. Neither of them are members of SPR, but they offered their help on jobs when their specific skills are needed.
"Let me see," Ayako bustled her way through to the monitors. After looking for less than a second she said, "Clearly the work of an earth spirit."
"It's definitely a human, the evidence speaks for itself," I argued. While there was a few holes in my theory not quite enough evidence to make a verdict, the chance of it being an earth spirit was next to none.
"Well listen to you," Ayako said, probably pleased at how I asserted myself, unlike last time in April where I shrunk away.
"Tsk tsk," I began, "Now don't forget, nearly half of all poltergeist cases can be attributed to human interaction. Many of those cases deal with women under great deals of stress. This case in particular may have to do with the woman of the house not getting along with her sister-in-law."
"Like Noriko?" Monk questioned.
"I'd buy it. That Kana woman does seem to be a bit unpleasant," Ayako said.
"You're welcome," I responded.
"It's amateurish at best," Naru interrupted before I could begin on the theory holes myself. "In cases where a human is to blame for a poltergeist the culprit is usually a teenager or an adolescent child. Noriko is already in her twenties, so she doesn't meet the age requirement."
"But-" I tried to get a word in.
"Now it is true that there are cases of women who are sensitive to the paranormal, so I'll consider that in my final decision," Naru continued on.
Why you-! Excuse me, I'm still learning my way, got it?!
I ended up leaving to base to look around the house.
"Why does my boss have to be such a jerk all the time?" I asked myself. Although, to be honest, he wasn't ALWAYS a jerk. If he was, I wouldn't have been hired, nor would he bother explaining things I didn't understand…
"Hi there Mai," Noriko said, holding a tray. She was about to go up the stairs. I guess I was so lost in thought I didn't quite notice. "Perfect timing. I'm taking some lunch to Ayumi. Would you care to join me?" she asked.
Instantly I had a smile on my face. "That sounds great!" We started up the stairs. "Ayumi is such a cutie pie. If you had to say, does she take more after her father or her mother?"
"Hm," Noriko thought for a moment before responding, "Probably her mother."
That surprised me. "Really? Because she doesn't look like Kana at all…" I replied.
"Well that's because Kana isn't Ayumi's birth mother," Noriko explained. "My brother had her with his previous wife."
"Oh, I'm sorry," I quickly responded. This was a personal matter, and none of my business.
"Don't worry about it," Noriko assured me lightly.
We reached Ayumi's door and knocked before entering.
"Ayumi, lunch time," Noriko declared as she stepped in. "Mai's here too."
"Hey Ayumi," I cheerfully greeted from behind Noriko. "Hope you're hungry!" I sent my sense over to her to try and get a good 'look' at her. Even blind, my senses could tell she was totally adorable. She was reading a picture book, and this time, the object from before was clearly a doll. "She's so cute!" I ended up saying out loud. Ayumi picked the doll up and walked over to us.
She held out the doll's arm and said, "Nice to meet you," for both herself and the doll.
"Oh, hello, and you are?" I asked the doll.
"Minnie," replied Ayumi for the doll once more.
The doll then started getting fuzzy again. It wasn't by much, but it surprised me.
"Ayumi, your new book. Are you enjoying it?" Noriko asked.
Ayumi was smiling up at her, but then suddenly looked a little like she forgot something, and was scared. I felt like I just had cold water pass through me, and the doll, or what I think was a doll a few moments ago, turned completely fuzzy. Ayumi now was very drawn back, and the air itself was… strange… disturbed would be the best word for it.
"What's wrong?" Noriko asked. The sudden shift didn't go unnoticed by Noriko either. Ayumi took a step back, and the doll-wool-thing's hand fell out of my hand.
"Why don't you have some food, kay?" I said. Ayumi took another step back and clutched the doll tighter and turned away.
"I'm… not hungry," Ayumi said quietly. Noriko and I looked at her in silence and concern.
I wonder what came over her so suddenly…
BLIND
Later on that night, we gathered Kana, Noriko, and Ayumi and her doll (for now) together.
"Focus your eyes on the light," Naru commanded softly as a lamp whirred.
Naru's first experiment was to see if the source of the poltergeist was human or not by using this glowing red light-or so I've been told it's glowing and red.
"Try to match your breathing to the glow of the light," Naru commanded again. "Nice and slow."
It's said that in the case of people causing poltergeists, they use a supernatural ability they're unaware of possessing. So when a suggestion is planted into the subconscious…
"Tonight, the vase will move, a small glass vase to be exact. It will be sitting on the table in front of you now."
If the person who receives the suggestion is the culprit, they will do what Naru has told them.
Naru gave me a pointed look, and I flipped the light switch to on. All three of the other females snapped out of the trance, rather confused.
"That'll be all," Naru dismissed them, "please try to spend the rest of your evening as you would any normal night. Kana, the key?"
"Oh, right," Kana said as she sat up to give it to him. Her eyes snapped to the object in his hands.
A small glass vase. Everyone was looking at it.
The suggestion worked. As you can see, no pun intended, everyone's eyes were focused on the vase.
I drew a chalk circle around the vase after it was only me and Naru in the room.
So if a human is the cause of the poltergeist in this house, the vase will move. And if it doesn't move, then the cause is unknown.
BLIND
Day 1
21:00
(for those of you less-than-savvy in military time, it's 9)
We were watching the monitors. Or at least, Lin and Naru were. Ayako and Monk were sitting by the door, supposedly 'ready for action' in case something happened and were right near the door, and I was trying to ignore the blobs the best I could and look like I was focusing. Oh yes, the blobs were here too. I really should find an official name for these things. They didn't follow me home, but they were at the office a lot. I think that they might be connected to Lin, but I wasn't sure how. It's not like I could use a computer, and it's not as if I would get good results anyway. There were about five, and at least one constantly followed Naru around. That one ignored me usually.
"Any movement?" Naru asked Lin.
"Not yet," Lin responded.
I started thinking about the case when the door opened loudly behind us. Kana stood there, panting, Offering no explanation, Kana simply ordered, "Come quickly."
We all ran up the stairs behind Kana up to Ayumi's room.
Kana shoved the door open, letting us see inside.
"I came up here to put Ayumi to bed when I found all the furniture like this," Kana explained.
"Everything's been moved away from the wall," I stated. It was true. Everything had been moved away, even the carpet, it was at a bit of a tilt now, as if the furniture just all moved to the side and slightly inward, but the walls had stayed in place.
"What's going on? I thought you people were supposed to stop things like this from happening," Kana said. Well, more like yelled, actually.
"Are you sure the little girl didn't do this?" Ayako asked. Always the one to question everything.
I sent my senses over to Ayumi. She looked distraught and guilty, and loosely had her doll, which was completely a doll, in her hands.
"There's no way she's that strong!" I argued to Ayako. How could she think that was a respectable possibility? Ayumi is like, 8 or something!
"You're right," Monk said. "The rug was moved as well. Even I don't have that kind of strength." Monk was easily one of the strongest of our group, aside from Lin. I doubted Lin could do it though, unless he was secretly able to call on demons from who-knows-where and get them to move them, and even then, it wouldn't be Lin's actual physical strength.
"I agree," said Naru. "If there's a human capable of this, I'd love to meet him." See? Not Lin.
"I was merely throwing the option out there," Ayako defended.
"It wasn't Ayumi," the little girl said, holding onto Noriko's hand.
"Aw, we believe you," I patted Ayumi's head. Then we heard a scream from downstairs.
Noriko.
Just peachy.
"What's wrong?!" I said as soon as I got to the living room where Noriko was. She didn't answer, but I could tell what it was soon enough.
This time everything was upside-down!
"Even the carpet's been flipped over," I said as I turned part of the carpet up.
"Classic poltergeist activity," Monk said.
"It's a simple earth spirit, I'll have it driven out of the house by tomorrow morning. You'll see," Ayako said before turning and walking away. "Good night everyone."
"Where does she get her confidence?" I questioned. It was like she was hiding her true talent, but if that was true, why? Why hide it?
"What's up Naru?" Monk directed my attention towards my boss, who was looking at the room silently. "You look like you're on to something. Care to share with the rest of us?"
Naru turned towards us and said, "Don't you think this response is a little quick? Paranormal phenomenon tend to have an aversion to outsiders. Usually any signs of a haunting back off in the first twenty four hours of an investigation."
"Really?" I asked.
"If you ever watch those TV shows that cover famous haunted houses, usually nothing substantial ever happens on camera, right? Normally the spirits will shy away from the visitor initially, but that's not the case here. I think this is full-on hatred," Monk explained.
"You thinking the same thing I am?" Naru asked Monk.
Monk nodded and responded, "Yeah," before explaining. "The house is aware of our presence, and it's quickly becoming angry with us, so if you coupled that with these increasingly brazen attempts to scare us off, we're dealing with a poltergeist that means business."
"We may have a hard time with this one," Naru's expression got dark as he said this.
Naru declared that Ayumi's bedroom and the living room are now off-limits to everyone until the completion of the investigation. Ayumi was to stay in Noriko's room from here on out.
BLIND
Day 2
The next morning the vase in the family room hadn't moved an inch from the night before. Does that mean an actual spirit is haunting this house?
Monk surprised me by trying to steal the diary in my hand. "Hey!" I said, trying to get the diary back.
"So Mai has a diary, huh? Looks new," Monk commented. I reached up and stole it back out of his hands.
"It was a gift from Keiko and Michiru," I pouted.
"A gift? What for?" Monk asked.
"Um…" I was saved from answering by the audio of Ayako's exorcism coming over the speakers. I went over to Naru to 'look' at the monitors. It would seem I'm actually paying attention instead of slacking off and writing down in my diary.
"Well that should do it," I could hear over the audio as Ayako stepped out of the room she had done the exorcism in. "Sometimes I amaze even myself, haha!"
… just how many narcissists can one team have?
A lot, apparently.
BLIND
Day 2
Night
"Naru, here's the temperature rundown for every room in the house," I gave Naru the clipboard. It was only us in base.
"Ayumi's room is few degrees cooler than the rest," Naru noticed then turned to type the data in.
Naru taught me that whenever a spirit is present the temperature drops.
"The house itself looks to be structurally sound, all the floors are flat, there's no sign of subterranean water lose, so the ground is solid," Naru told me.
"Do you think there really is a ghost?" I asked. This was starting to freak me out a little. Last time there wasn't even an actual ghost and we almost all of us got hurt.
"The chances of that are increasing," Naru said honestly.
"Seriously?" I paled.
Our conversation was cut short by a scream, this time belonging to Kana. Me and Naru ran to the scene. The kitchen.
I obviously couldn't see the flames, and trying to sense flames usually ended in my senses feeling singed, but I could definitely feel the heat.
"Kana!" I yelled, rushing over the woman's aid, pulling her back a bit away from the heat.
"The flames just started shooting out of nowhere!" Kana told me.
"Just get back!" Naru ordered us, putting his arm in front of us to physically move us back. "Takigawa!" he yelled for Monk, who had at some point ran with us. I guess he heard the scream too.
Monk grabbed a fire extinguisher and pulled the key out, spraying down the fire.
Noriko ran in and held a crying Kana as I stood there stunned. I couldn't completely sense fire, nor water or the foam coming out. It was like trying to grab any of the things listed, you could kind of do it, but not really. To me, my senses were just stuck on that 'visual'. It was mesmerizing and terrifying to me, all at the same time, as Monk worked to get the fire out. Trying to grasp fire, water, and very liquidy foam, it was something else indeed.
A little while later, the fire was out, and I felt a little exhausted, the trance the fire had put me in was now gone along with some of my energy. Everyone was tired from the excitement as well, and Kana was no longer crying. Ayako had entered at some point. I wasn't sure when. One of the blobs was floating around me, settling on resting near my shoulder, almost in my hair. It was calming, in a way.
I noticed another bit of light in front of me, and I felt cold. I ended up looking over towards the window near the stove, where the fire had come from. I saw someone or something looking in, and then disappear. Just… vanish.
"Naru! Someone's out there!" I yelled before I could stop myself. Naru looked at me for a moment before rushing over to the window. I tried to calm myself down for a moment. I had just seen something again! Just like in April. The blobs I got used to, but this… A full body?
Naru looked through the window and looked back at me "Are you sure?" he questioned.
"Yes!" I said. I was blind-if I saw something, I'd be pretty damn sure I saw it. "Someone was looking through the window! A little kid…"
I was sure I looked like a mess, but I wasn't the only one. All of us looked a little worse for wear.
This was going to be a long night.
BLIND
"Okay, Minnie, time for me to tuck you in," I could faintly hear Ayumi say through the door.
Naru, Monk, and I quietly peered through the slightly cracked door. We went to check on Ayumi, just in case either A-the ghost attacked, or B- Ayumi had caused the fire.
Ayumi was pulling a handkerchief over Minnie like a blanket when Noriko hit the light switch.
Oh yeah, the lights must have been off… I keep forgetting that. One of these days I'll make the wrong comment and somone'll figure it out… I need to be careful of that.
"Sweetie?" Noriko said before walking to Ayumi, who stood up when Noriko approached her. Noriko put her hands on Ayumi's shoulders. "Ayumi? Were you just outside?" Noriko asked the girl.
"No," Ayumi responded softly.
"Mai saw someone looking through the kitchen window," Noriko said. Oh if she only knew the half of it. "Now I'm not angry, I just want to know if it was you."
"I wasn't," Ayumi told her. The doll started to feel 'fuzzy' again.
"Are you telling the truth?" Noriko shook the girl slightly. Ayumi took a few steps away from Noriko.
"I am," Ayumi said with a scared voice. Minnie was now fully gone to my senses. "Ayumi didn't do it!" A loud knock was heard from the ceiling. The room started shaking and more loud knocking sounds accompanied it.
"What's happening?" I questioned, honestly a little scared. The furniture was shaking now too.
"Ayumi didn't do it," Ayumi said before another knock was heard, moving the bookcase. "Stop it!" The bookcase started fall over, right where Noriko was kneeling.
"Noriko!" I tried to move towards her to help her, but Naru wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back.
"Aunt Nori!" I could hear Ayumi cry.
"Oh no," I gasped.
Noriko turned around just in time to see the bookcase crash down on her.
BLIND
Day 3
"So what's that, two huge failures in a row?" Monk asked Ayako, who was still in her priestess clothing. It had just turned midnight.
"I guess I'm just a useless waste of space, then," Ayako huffed before walking out of base.
Luckily Noriko wasn't hurt in the incident. Naru wouldn't answer why he kept me from helping Noriko before. Monk kept snickering whenever I asked about it, mumbling about the buddings of love. I threw a shoe at him and stopped asking.
"So, yesterday, what was that?" I asked.
"It seemed to react to the little girl's shouting," Monk pointed out. "And it could be tied to the image of the child you mentioned seeing in the kitchen."
"I believe that Ayumi is behind this," Naru stated.
"I thought the suggestion experiment you conducted proved the culprit wasn't human. How much confidence do you put in that test of yours?" Monk questioned.
"One hundred percent," Naru told him.
"Is it possible the suggestion failed?" Monk asked.
"There's no way."
Didn't he just contradict himself? Maybe he just needs some sleep… We all do.
"You know you've been wrong before," Monk glared. Oh, cold blow, dude. Leave those for Naru's interrogations.
"Kazuya," Lin interrupted. "The temperature in Ayumi's room is dropping again."
"Lin, more sound!" Naru ordered.
Lin put the sound up, and we could clearly hear rattling. Very loud rattling.
"That is intense," Monk commented.
I felt a cold chill, and could see the dull monitor for Ayumi's room.
There isn't even anyone in that room.
"Incredible," I heard Naru say.
"What's that?" I asked him. I could no longer see the monitor, but I still felt really cold.
"The temperature," Naru stated, "It's dropping unbelievably fast.
"Hold on, then who could be responsible for doing this?" I asked him.
"It's not Ayumi, that's for sure. No, no human could pull this off," Naru stated.
It's weird, but…
It's almost as if the ghost purposely did that to disprove Naru…
BLIND
"I take it Ayumi likes to keep to herself, huh?" I asked Noriko. Ayumi was playing with Minnie, who was, in fact, a doll. For now, at least. Noriko was watching her and I had decided to join her.
"Well normally she's a lot more outgoing and cheerful then how you've been seeing her. She's been acting strange ever since her dad got remarried a few weeks ago," Noriko told me.
"I see," I said. Maybe she was upset about the marriage? We heard a soft knocking at the door.
Kana came in with a tray of juice and cookies. "Ayumi," she said, "it's time for your snack." She walked to the little coffee table in Noriko's room and set the tray down in front of Ayumi. "It's nice to have someone to play with, don't you think so?" Ayumi didn't answer. "I really wish you would talk to me more. Why don't you have a cookie?" Still no response. Ayumi didn't even look at Kana. 'Don't you want one?" Ayumi didn't look up. Kana frowned. "Fine. Suit yourself," Kana said before standing up and walking out, closing the door loudly behind her.
I sighed. That was… bad. "It's okay sweetie," Noriko said to Ayumi before sitting beside her on the ground next to the table. "Is it alright with you if your Aunt Noriko had a cookie?" she asked before reaching over and grabbing one.
"No!" Ayumi yelled and slapped the cookie out of her hand. "Those cookies are no good!" she yelled, shocking both me and Noriko. "Minnie told me so. She said all the snacks are poisoned. Minnie told me my new mom is a witch. She said she made dad her servant with her magic. She said Ayumi and Aunt Nori are in the way so she's trying to poison us," Ayumi finished and clutched Minnie.
This is getting weirder. I looked at the doll. The doll told her all that? Almost on cue, the doll felt fuzzy to me again.
Correction. This was going to be a long investigation.
BLIND
I ran off to find Naru to tell him about Ayumi and the doll. I found him in the room we had the glass vase experiment. Or rather, I found the blob that follows him around and found him there. He was looking at the chalk circle on the table.
"Naru?" I asked. He turned around.
"Mai. Have you seen the glass vase that was in here?" Naru asked me.
"The vase? It's not here?" I asked.
"It was. Originally it was sitting on this table, in the middle of our little circle. However, it's no longer here," Naru explained.
"That's weird," I said, temporally forgetting what it was I was going to tell Naru. "Have you looked around?"
Stupid question.
"No Mai, I was completely engrossed in standing around when a ghost could be around haunting a house and suddenly, one of our experiments disappeared. Of course I was looking, idiot."
Obvious answer.
"I'll help you," I said before I actually thought it through. Naru turned away and started looking around the sofa again. I joined him over at the couch, searching under the table. When I was sure Naru wasn't paying mind to me I sent my senses out to search.
It took a few minutes to find it on top of the bookshelf.
"Hey Naru," I began before being shut off by the door slamming shut. Naru looked over at me, then the door. "What was that?"
Naru didn't answer me, instead opting to try the door. It didn't open. The Naru-blob was now alert.
"Are we locked in?" I asked.
"Yes," Naru said after a moment before trying to pull the door open. I put my hands on the handle as well and pulled. It was started to get a bit cold.
Feeling a bit hypersensitive, I sent my senses out again, finding the vase to be rattling on the bookcase. Suddenly it flew towards us. I yelped and pulled Naru down onto the floor. The vase shattered on the door above our heads. I held my breath.
After a few moments Naru stood up and pulled me to my feet, being careful of the glass around us. I reached over and tried the door.
It opened easily.
"It's toying with us," Naru stated.
"Come again?" I asked.
"It knows we're here and that we're trying to figure out what it is, so it's playing with us. It's under the assumption that we can't find it," Naru explained.
"So this ghost, whatever it is, is as narcissist and proud as you are?" I asked. Naru frowned further but nodded.
"How did you know the vase was there?" Naru asked.
"What do you mean?" I paled. He can't have figured it out, right?
"You weren't facing the direction the vase came from; you were trying to open the door. How'd you know that the vase was about to hit us?"
"I, um," I was interrupted by a book slamming on the ground. I turned, sending my senses over there. I felt even colder than before. The blob was now alert again, and started darting around the room. More books and other objects started slamming around us. We turned to leave, and right on cue, the door slammed closed again.
Great. Just great.
Naru tried the door. When it didn't work, he pulled me closer before setting me between the wall and himself. Things flew around, and occasionally one would hit close to us. The blob would chase after the objects flying around, and would stop the object from flying, causing it to fall before it would go right back up again. It blocked any of the ones getting too close to us. It was like a storm.
It only lasted about a minute or two, and it felt like hours, but the activity eventually stopped. I was shaking, I knew it, and I think Naru noticed too. No sooner had it been quiet for more than a few seconds than Naru had grabbed my wrist, pulled open the door, and got out of that room.
BLIND
We ended up in the kitchen. Without even thinking about it, I started going through the cabinets. I was looking for something, something that I do when I was anxious. Naru didn't interrupt me, instead opting to watch me.
After a while I had two cups of chamomile tea, one for Naru and one for myself.
Mine was to calm myself down.
Naru's was a thank you.
I gave Naru his cup then went over to the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs at the table's head. Naru followed me in and sat in the chair to the right of the head next to me. He watched me for a second. I sipped my tea and took some deep breaths. He sipped his tea carefully after a moment.
We sat there sipping tea in silence for a good while.
"Thank you," I muttered as I 'looked' at the tea leaves in the empty cup.
"I never knew you to be a tea drinker," Naru replied, ignoring my thanks.
I smiled. Typical Naru. "Hm, my mom used to work tea shop, and she loved it. Occasionally I'd go to work with her or go there after school. I learned a lot about tea making there. I guess I got obsessed, but not quite to her level. I still make her tea every now and again. Usually people rely on teabags, so I'm surprised they have traditional stuff here."
"Hm," was Naru's only response, and he sipped some more tea.
"Do you drink a lot of tea?" I asked.
"Not lately," Naru responded
"Hn," I replied, sensing the tea leaves. I've heard of reading tea leaves to read your fortune or what not, but I never learned how.
After a few more moments had past, Naru stood up. "Come on, you should go to bed," Naru said, extending a hand towards me. I turned my attention towards it before gingerly taking it and standing up. I let go after I was sure I could stand up and walk on my own, and Naru took my cup from me. I followed him wordlessly as he set the cups in the sink, quickly washing out the tea leaves. "It'll stain if we leave them with the leaves in there, but it should be fine like this," Naru stated.
He then walked us over to Noriko's guest room that I was staying in. He stopped at the door, and I walked in.
I turned over to Naru. "Thank you," I said again.
"Sleep. We can't have you even more incompetent than as is," Naru stated. Typical. He really couldn't do anything without insulting my intelligence, could he?
I chuckled before closing the door softly. I faintly remember hearing Naru's footsteps fade away down the hallway.
BLIND
I woke up to a red-tinged room. I still felt really tired.
Where am I?
I sat up and sent my senses out. Even though I could see, and the place was vaguely familiar, I couldn't recognize it. Somehow I had managed to keep my senses in this dream. Sometimes, or rather, usually, I couldn't.
Oh, this is Noriko's guest room. I was so tired I don't even remember going to bed.
I stretched after a moment, starting to feel a little awake. I looked over at the door. A guy was standing there. It took me a moment but I recognized him as the one I saw back in April. I sent my senses over to him, but it was like trying to sense water. In other words, it was an epic fail to try.
"Who are you?" I looked at the troubled expression on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.
The guy looked like he was talking, but I couldn't hear anything.
"What? I can't hear you!"
He talked with no words again, and I heard him a second after he finished.
"Ayumi's in great danger," he said, his voice, which sounded a lot like Naru, echoed.
"She-she is? I don't understand. How? How is she in danger? Hey, what's going on? Please, talk to me! Is Ayumi okay?"
I woke up with a start, completely blind once more. I sat up and sent my senses to the door where the guy stood in my dream.
Nothing.
"That was weird…" I voiced. Then I realized something with a gasp. I felt my cheeks burn.
I don't believe myself. Here I am dreaming about that guy AGAIN! What's wrong with me? Did I seriously make a smiling version of Naru in my head?
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" I realized before hastily getting redressed and rushing off.
Man, Naru was going to kill me for not telling him earlier.
Worse yet, I think Naru would never be caught either.
I found Naru in base and quickly relayed the whole story.
"Minnie's the one who told her that?" Naru asked me after I finished. "So she's talking with the doll."
"Yeah. Pretty creepy huh?" I replied. Well, he hasn't tried to kill me yet.
It was definitely a dream. There's no way possible they're the same guy, they're so different! No, this guy is someone else.
The question is, who?
BLIND
I waited for Noriko to bring the doll. After what Mai told me, my suspicions of the doll had increased.
Mai.
I felt as if I was being watched by her no matter who she was talking to or what direction she would face as long as she was in the same room. She also was not afraid to fight with me, and even though she was stuck in a room with a severe amount of poltergeist activity going on, she hadn't screamed.
She can also make a damn good cup of tea.
I hadn't gotten any closer to figuring her out though. Maybe I should ask for Monk and Ayako's help? No, Ayako would make too much of a ruckus and we'd get nowhere. Maybe just Monk?
Noriko chose that moment to come in carrying the blonde doll into base, interrupting my thoughts.
"This is Ayumi's doll, Minnie," Noriko said as she handed the doll to me. "My brother bought it for her as a present right before they moved into the house with me."
I examined the doll fully. It was creepy of its own, truthfully. But the chances that this doll and whatever spirit possessed causing all this to happen… What if it isn't just the doll?
"Did Ayumi's behavior change before she got the doll, or after?" I questioned Noriko.
"Um, it was after," Noriko said after thinking for a moment.
The door opened to show a panting Ayumi. "Let go of her!" she demanded and ran up to me trying to get the doll. "I'll save you Minnie!" I pulled the doll up out of her reach. Ayumi clutched my shirt. "Give her back!" she demanded again.
I sank down to her level and asked, "Now Ayumi, I understand you're able to talk to Minnie." I left that hanging in the air. It was up to Ayumi to respond. Ayumi looked at me for a second before looking down at the floor. I took that as a yes. Then Ayumi took the doll and turned.
"Don't you ever touch her again!" she yelled as she ran off.
"Ayumi!" Noriko shouted after her.
Ayumi's rather possessive of that doll.
Then a dark thought crossed my mind.
Perhaps it's the doll that is possessive of Ayumi.
BLIND
Noriko and I snuck into where Ayumi laid in bed. Naru told us to get the doll away from Ayumi, but she wouldn't let us take her again. So we waited until she was asleep to take the thing.
Right now the doll was simply that, a doll. I gently grabbed it from Ayumi's side without the girl noticing. "Ayumi, I'm sorry. I just need to borrow Minnie for a little bit," I apologized to the sleeping girl. I turned my head towards Noriko and we nodded before sneaking back out to base.
I was told to place the doll in Ayumi's room while Noriko went to bed. We were going to watch the doll and see if anything happened. So basically, another experiment.
"So that's Minnie, huh? Surprised the little squirt let you take her," Monk commented, looking at the monitors.
"Yeah, well to be honest we didn't actually get her permission," I told him. I looked back to the monitors. "She sure is creepy-looking isn't she?" I asked Monk. I didn't actually know, but just from my senses and Ayako's loud opinions I gathered that the doll was definitely, without a doubt, creepy. Plus with all that was going on with the doll occasionally feeling fuzzy, for lack of a better word, I wanted nothing more but that thing GONE.
"I guess," Monk commented. I guess he was used to creepy, being a monk and all. "Archeologists believe that dolls were originally meant as vessels for trapping people's souls. Being soulless and empty on the inside, a spirit could possess them more easily," Monk told me. "So Naru, are we just going to watch this doll all night?" Monk asked, leaning over Naru's chair. Naru didn't answer, instead standing up suddenly.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked. Then I noticed that Naru was glaring at the monitor screen. I saw a faint light to the side of my vision, and turned my head to see a doll face down on the bed.
I distinctly remember putting that thing on the bed sitting down.
"Minnie… No way. She was sitting just a minute ago," I stated out loud.
I got a cold chill, and couldn't move. I heard a little kid's voice talking in my ear. "Hello miss."
I tried to say something to Naru, but I couldn't. I was completely frozen, looking at a screen I shouldn't be able to see. The doll started to move down the bed on the screen like she was being pulled at her feet.
I see you're scared. The voice chuckled. Your teammates aren't much better.
I couldn't help but send my faces to 'look' at the others in the room. Monk was definitely shocked, and definitely in disbelief. Lin was unreadable, but if I had to say, he was either calculating or glaring.
And Naru? He was watching the screen intensely, waiting for the next move.
You should be scared, miss.
The doll's head disconnected from her body.
I found you.
I tried to scream again. The doll's head started moving away from its body across the bed, and fell on the floor. It started rolling towards one of the cameras.
I see you.
The doll's head hit the camera screen.
And I'm watching you.
The voice went away, and I unfroze, screaming loudly as I did. I clutched my head; I think I feel a headache coming on.
Monk was completely shocked.
Lin was somewhat unfazed.
Naru glared at the screen.
The doll looked back emotionlessly. The image was clear to the rest of them.
We were being watched.
BLIND
OMAKE:
"You thinking the same thing I am?" Naru asked Monk. Monk nodded, and they both started singing 'It's Five o'clock Somewhere' while getting out vodka and orange juice, making screwdrivers for everyone.
Eh, what can I say, it's already a stressful case.
And before you ask, I don't remember a thing after the second shot.
BLIND
Well.
Crap.
Just realized that I have a doll that looks a lot like Minnie in my basement.
Well then.
Hope you enjoyed!