Totally forgot to say thank you to the people who told me that they hoped I would heal. Well I am all healed up now, thank you!
Although I'm still a klutz, and I get sick really bad when I do get sick, and I am a complete ball magnet, not to mention a disaster magnet…. In other news I'm familiar with hospital beds and nurses…
I also totally forgot the freakin' disclaimer. I never owned Ghost Hunt, never will, we done?
Oh, in case you might be wondering, I use the English dub for the story. I like both sub and dub, but I feel it seems more natural for me, who speaks English (well, usually), to have them speaking English (although it would probably make my job ten times easier if I used the sub). Plus if I'm looking at the subtitles, I might miss somebody's action or reaction, not to mention background clues.
… not that you actually care.
Enjoy (I sincerely hope)
BLIND
Day 3
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 the camera.
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 a bit.
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.
After a few seconds of the doll's glass eye staring us down on the monitor I heard the camera shut off. I raised my head.
"We lost picture," Naru stated while Lin sat up to see if it was the monitor. Monk ran out the door wordlessly to check on the camera-not to mention the doll.
After a moment of hesitation, I yelled "Wait!" and ran to catch up to him.
"No way," I heard Monk say as I was on the landing of the stairs. This only made me run faster up the steps. I came into the room to find the doll sitting just like before on the bed.
"I don't believe it," I told Monk.
"Yeah, it somehow moved back to its original position," Monk agreed
"This is common," Naru said from behind us. We turned around to face him. "Spirits don't care for mechanical devices," Naru said as if that explained everything. He then walked over and picked up the doll and walked out. Well aren't you just one big bag of helpful… Thankfully I already knew that spirits often caused malfunction to mechanical devices due to their own electromagnetic waves. See, I can use scientific terms too!
After a moment, Monk and I followed Naru back to the base only to be dismissed to get some sleep.
I obliged happily.
BLIND
Day 4
This is going way too far. Things are getting dangerous. I don't think Ayumi and Minnie should be together anymore.
My first mission was to get the doll back to base and away from Ayumi, who had stolen her doll back who-knows-when. I was about to knock on Ayumi's door when I got interrupted by something.
"This house is teeming with evil witches," a young voice said. It sounded strange, like it had been recorded and played back.
"Even Aunt Nori?" I heard Ayumi ask.
"Auntie is one of the witch's minions," the voice replied. I put my ear to the door to try to hear better. Who is that?
"But I don't want Auntie to go, she's my friend," Ayumi responded.
"No," the voice ordered, "I'll get rid of her for you, along with the rest of them. You just need to do exactly as I say, okay?" The voice didn't leave any room for argument.
I opened the door after that, worried about who Ayumi was in the room with. I just found her and Minnie sitting and facing each other. Minnie, while no doubt a doll, still felt a bit fuzzy, sort of like a bad aftertaste in the air. "Ayumi?" I said. "Did I just hear you talking with someone?"
"Yeah," Ayumi said, pointing to her doll.
"Minnie?" I asked.
"There were some other kids too," Ayumi pointed to the door I just came in through. "Huh, I guess they're gone."
I know I closed that door when I came in. I realized with a chill. "Well I guess they don't like me too much, do they?" I said. "So tell me Ayumi, how long have these friends of yours been coming over?"
"I don't know," Ayumi answered.
"Would you say Minnie's friends with these other kids too?" I asked.
"Minnie's the one that brought them here," Ayumi answered ominously. I 'looked' over at the doll.
It felt extremely fuzzy, and very ominous.
It almost seemed like it was watching me.
And then I remembered. The voice from earlier, the one that Ayumi said was Minnie, was the same one I heard in my head when Minnie was moving on her own.
BLIND
"So what's the story on this house? Is it notorious around the neighborhood for being haunted?" Ayako questioned.
"It's the doll we should be concerned with, not the house," Monk said. "You said the kid claimed that it was Minnie that brought over the invisible friends, didn't she?"
"Yeah," I replied softly. I guess I was still a bit shaken up by the doll.
Monk looked over to Naru. "Can a spirit possess a doll like that and communicate through it?" he asked.
Naru stood up so he could talk to Monk properly. "It is a definite possibility. Do you want to try and get rid of it?*" Naru asked.
Monk smirked and replied, "I'd like nothing more than to take down that doll."
And then he left to get ready.
While Monk was preforming his exorcism, Ayako stayed by Ayumi's side while she slept.
…I hope this works.
I was in base, 'watching' the monitors. Suddenly, I heard a scream.
It was Noriko.
I ran to where I thought she was. "Noriko, what happened?!" I yelled as I found her on the ground in a hallway.
"My leg," she gasped out, clearly in a lot of pain. Monk, who had been nearby and ran with me to Noriko's aid, bent down to examine her leg.
"Your ankle is dislocated," Monk told her.
"It felt like someone really strong was pulling me by my leg," Noriko told us.
I sent my senses down to her leg. I could tell by the swelling where the bruise was, and how her ankle wasn't quite right. What caught me off guard, though, was the bruise was in the shape of a hand if it had been wrapped around her foot. It was that of a small child's, or better yet, a doll.
It was then that Naru decided to ask Ayumi a few questions. We both went to Noriko's bedroom, and I sat next to Ayumi while Naru stood in front of us both. Intimidation factor, anyone? The big bad boss is here…
"Where is Minnie?" Ayumi asked first thing. Big shocker there.
"Minnie's with me for a little while," Naru told her. "Now I need you to tell me all there is to know about your new friends, okay?"
"Give her back to me!" Ayumi ignored him.
"How long ago did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked another question, also ignoring her demands.
"Give her back! You can't take my friend away from me!" Ayumi demanded. Naru sent her a glare that, while I had gotten used to it, it scared her.
"Listen, Ayumi," Naru said coldly, "Your Aunt Noriko's hurt, and Minnie did it to her, now talk!"
He even surprised me, yelling at a little girl. She started to cry, and I gathered her into my arms. "I don't believe you! You just yelled at a little girl and made her cry!" I glared at Naru.
"I'm just doing my job, Mai," Naru stated simply, but not as cold as he was before.
"Well you don't have to be so rude," I accused.
"I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried out, interrupting our argument. We both turned our attentions to her. "I'm sorry! Minnie said I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. She said she'd hurt me if I made any friends! I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried, sniffling through her explanation.
"When did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked softly.
"When we moved into this house," Minnie told us before explaining further. Apparently, Minnie didn't talk before that, but that night Minnie started talking to her, saying how Kana was an evil witch and her dad was her servant, and that they were plotting to kill her. However, Aunt Noriko sometimes was, and sometimes wasn't on either side. Minnie kept changing that fact, which often scaring her about how easily Kana could put Noriko under a spell. Minnie promised to protect her, as long as Ayumi wasn't nice to anyone. "Whenever I would forget her promise and play with Aunt Nori, Minnie would break things and mess up the bedroom as punishment. She'd always say 'That's what you get for breaking your promise. Don't try me again,'" Ayumi concluded.
"That is so creepy," I said. I tried imagining what it would be like if I was in that situation.
"And was it around this time Minnie started inviting other friends to the house as well?" Naru asked a now-not-crying Ayumi.
Ayumi nodded. "Lots of 'em. Kids just like me," Ayumi said. "Minnie says that her friends were her servants."
We all ended up back at base after that, looking at the crazy psycho-doll as she sat in the chair. Currently, the doll felt fuzzy to me. I started to wonder what it meant when the doll was fuzzy, but I obviously couldn't actually tell anyone. It would all end up in me admitting that I was blind, and I just wasn't ready for that yet.
"She's definitely causing this. Makes me wonder if the previous owner died of an illness and possessed the doll," Monk stated.
"That thing gives me the creeps," Ayako said as she shivered slightly from across the room, "This is exactly why I've hated dolls since I was a child."
"Minnie is not the one behind this," Naru stated.
"How could you say that after what we've seen?" Monk asked.
"Because the doll is only being used as a vessel," he answered. "There's a restless spirit that's possessing this house. Until we can find a way to discover its true identity, Ayumi is in grave danger."
Ayumi's in danger? What does he mean by that?
"Mai!" I heard from outside the door. I ran out and found Kana and Noriko staring at the wall next to the door.
"Look," Noriko pointed to the wall.
On it read 'Bad girls will be punished' in a child's handwriting, written with a crayon.
Bad girls? Could that be referring to Ayumi?!
"Ayumi just confessed to me something that she was warned to never speak of," Naru said, walking out to the hallway. "Minnie believes that Ayumi has betrayed her." He turned towards me. "Mai, I want you to be with Ayumi at all times."
I was a little shocked. This was serious.
If Naru was assigning people to watch over Ayumi, she must be is very serious danger.
I couldn't screw this up. I just couldn't.
I nodded. "Right."
I would protect Ayumi from here on until and unless told otherwise.
BLIND
Day 5
Noriko and I sat together on the porch while Ayumi played in the yard right in front of us. Ayumi wanted to play after lunch and Noriko took her outside, and I of course followed along. I was taking this chance to catch up on writing the case out in my diary.
"Don't worry, they're erasing that stuff off the wall," I whispered to Noriko.
The others had ditched the job of Ayako. I could practically hear her complaining, saying, "I don't see why I have to be the one to do this…" to no one.
It's funny, Naru was the one that thought Ayumi shouldn't see what's written on the wall. Does he actually have a sweet side?
"Get serious Mai, no way," I said to myself. "Not in a million years."
"Huh?" Crap, Noriko heard me.
"Nothing! Just talking to myself. I tend to do that sometimes," I blushed. Man that was embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Monk was busy himself. I could sense him a little beyond actual view, and was, unintentionally, reading his lips. I never could do it by touching a person's lips like normal people. No, I had to sense them. The doctor that insisted I learn the skill never figured it out.
Monk was holding Minnie it what I was guessing was a shoe box, and was chanting again, put the lid over Minnie, then threw the thing unceremoniously into the fire.
After that, Minnie was destroyed.
"You've been a big help, thank you," Noriko said.
"No prob, I know how hard this has been on you, especially with Kana leaving…" It was true, we found a note from her this morning, saying, and I quote, I can't stay another second in this creepy house.
"I really appreciate it," Noriko thanked again.
Ayumi then ran up to Noriko. "Auntie? How's your foot doing?" she asked. She was more outgoing and happy now, apparently like how she was before they moved according to Noriko.
"Much better. Actually once you started being friends with me again the pain went away," Noriko happily told her, moving her wrapped foot to demonstrate.
"That's great!" Ayumi smiled. "I'm going to pick some flowers for you." She turned to me. "Do you want to come with me?"
"Sounds fun," I said, getting up from the edge of the porch. We walked over to the flowers in the garden "What kind should we get?" I asked her.
"The prettiest ones!" Ayumi responded like a typical little girl. "Like that one," she pointed to one of the flowers. Ayumi reached over to pick it.
I hoped it smelled good. Hey, they all look basically the same to me, so I usually judge flowers by smell. Same reason why Keiko or Michiru always go with me when I shop for anything, I'll mess up somehow.
Suddenly, Ayumi gasped. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"My hands are stuck!" Ayumi cried, trying to move her hands away. I immediately reached down and started throwing any plant she might have her hands caught on out of the way, then pulled her hands out. I sensed the spot where her hands were.
There's nothing there!
Next thing I noticed was Ayumi running off to another part of the yard.
"Mai, go get her!" I heard Noriko yell. I turn to face her. "She's running right towards the pond!"
I ran and followed her. We came a little closer to where Monk was.
"You've got to be kidding me," I unintentionally read from his lips, "I watched you burn myself." Monk was referring to Minnie, who was not only fuzzy again, but lay unburned on the ground, surrounded by ashes. "How in the world did you come out unscathed?"
"Minnie I'm so sorry!" Ayumi yelled behind her, as if talking to someone who was chasing her. That brought me back to the bigger matter on hand. I hadn't stopped running, but I hadn't been able to catch up with Ayumi yet. "Don't be mad at me! Please don't be mad at me!" Ayumi yelled again.
"Minnie?!" I questioned. Did Ayumi somehow know who was attacking her?
We reached the pond. "Please don't hurt me," Ayumi said. She had stopped and now was fully turned around, and slowly stepping towards the water. "I'm sorry!" Ayumi yelled. She put her foot at the edge of the pond, which was surrounded by rocks, then her foot slipped out like she had had her foot pulled from underneath her, causing her to fall backwards straight into the water.
"AYUMI!" I yelled as she screamed and fell in the pond. She disappeared under the water. I quickly discarded my shoes as I ran and jumped in after her. I began sending my senses everywhere to find her. Just as I couldn't sense water, I couldn't sense through it either. "Ayumi?!"
Ayumi bobbed her head above the water, clearly struggling, and sunk back down.
"Ayumi!" I yelled again.
I could hear a muffled 'Help' from under the water, she was in big trouble now. I took the chance and dived under the water, full well aware I might not be able to find my way up to the surface again.
I could hardly hear Noriko scream, "Ayumi!" as I went down.
BLIND
Ayumi cried into Noriko's shoulder. "Auntie," she cried. She was soaked.
"Ayumi, it's okay, you're safe now," Noriko comforted her. I somehow managed to get Ayumi and myself out of that pond, but now we were both soaked. I was just glad I was alive.
With a slight chill, I felt the need to look over the water.
I could swim, yes, but never have I ever been under water that long, nor saved someone from the water in my entire life.
Is this the punishment Minnie threatened her with?
Something glowed on the water's surface, then disappeared. Despite obvious logic, I moved closer to the pond by a step, wary of the slippery rocks.
It appeared again. It took me a second to recognize it, but it was the doll I had seen in the video before.
Minnie. But…. She should still be with Monk! Even if she didn't burn!
She disappeared again.
That confirms that this was Minnie's doing. She's able to drag people under water and almost killed Ayumi.
Minnie means business.
And apparently, her business revolves around Ayumi's death.
BLIND
Later that evening we had put Ayumi to sleep after cleaning her up and getting her dry. She was exhausted from today's excitement.
"I've decided to move us out of the house," Noriko said, sitting on the bed and looking at Ayumi.
"That's probably a good idea," I said from where I stood next to the bed. Naru was standing beside me and Monk stood off to the side.
"You should know that there are some poltergeists that will follow you regardless of where you may be," Naru advised her.
"Really?" Noriko said in disbelief. I had heard of something like that somewhere. If Naru mentioned it, it means he thinks it may happen, which means this is bad, very bad. "Is there anything at all we can do?" Noriko was definitely desperate to keep Ayumi safe and sound.
"There's no need to panic," Naru said, "I've been doing extensive research on the previous owners of this house. Before you and your family moved in, a family by the name of Watanabe lived here. They only lived her for three years and left due to a job transfer."
"So they weren't driven out of the house by the haunting?" I questioned.
"That's right," Naru said before continuing, "But before them was the Nogi family. They had a nine-year-old girl who died of an illness here. Before them were the Nonama's. Three of their children died here within a six-month span."
"Three of them?" I replied. That's a lot of kids to lose so quickly.
"Two boys and one girl. Ten, eight, and seven-years-old. Two of them were killed in a car accident and the other died of an illness. And before them was the Murakami family who had a fifteen-year-old daughter but she's still alive today.
"If we go back even further we have the Tanaguchi family. During a family visit their ten-year-old niece also died of an illness here in the house. Before that the Ikida family lost their youngest son at seven-years-old, and before them the Tachibana family lost their eight-year-old daughter, so there's a definite pattern here. That's all I could find," Naru told us.
"So almost all the young kids that lived here, died here?" I confirmed.
Noriko started sobbing into her hands. "What am I gonna do?" she cried.
"We're going to call in some more specialists. If you still want to leave the house I highly recommend you wait until they arrive," Naru told her. He soon left the room with Monk, leaving me with Noriko.
After a while Noriko calmed down and I went down to base. Minnie sat in the computer chair while Monk and Naru argued. "It's got to have something to do with this doll!" said Monk, "I've seen this type of case before! A girl who loves a certain doll passes away, then her spirit takes control of the doll and manipulates it to her will."
"I told you before, the doll itself is not the problem," Naru said, turning to look at the doll. "Minnie is being used as a vessel for a sight-bound spirit inside the house."
"I just don't buy it," Monk sighed. Then the doorbell rang, ending the discussion for the moment.
I went to go answer it, and who do I find? John and Masako.
"Hey Mai it's good to see you again," John greeted.
"It's good to see you too, come in," I said, and lead them in.
This is John Brown, a priest from Australia, and Masako Hara, a celebrity medium. They joined us to aid in the investigation. John's the only one who knows I'm blind so far.
"What is this?" I heard from behind us as John and I started down the hall. Masako had stopped just steps from the entrance. John and I turned back to help her, she seemed sick. "It's horrible; I've never been in such a disturbed house before."
Before I knew it, I was holding her, and by some weird force, she accidentally sent some of her vision to me, and I felt, slightly, what Masako was sensing. The whole place was just… shaking, disturbed, distorted. If I was as strong a psychic as Masako and was getting this vision like she was, I knew I'd be sick too.
I lead her to base after she stopped showing me her vision. I don't think she knows she's doing it, but know she's stopped, and I'm glad.
"It's okay, why don't you sit down now," I told her as we entered, John opening the door for us.
Ayako rushed over to help. "Masako, what happened?" she questioned.
Naru then stepped up to us, probably curious too. Masako looked up at who approached, then over-dramatically fell from my arms onto Naru's chest.
…HEY, what does she think she's doing? THE HELL?
Naru simply looked down at the girl holding onto his shirt, not even moving his arms in the slightest. "Are you okay?"* he questioned politely.
"This house is surrounded by the spirits of children. They're all suffering terribly," Masako stated, getting the attentions of everyone in the room. "They just keep crying, saying they want to be with their mothers, over and over again," she looked Naru in the face, addressing him to pay attention too. "I've never seen so many spirits in one house, and they're all innocent children." Masako decided then to officially pass out. I caught her as she fell backwards, supporting her limp body.
"She's fainted!" I said, getting the reply of "Oh no," from somebody.
The next few minutes were spent with Ayako, John, and I trying to help Masako, everyone trying to do something and I making sure we opened the window for her, at least, she needed air, now.
There goes our psychic medium.
BLIND
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. May God bless your soul," John said over the girl as she laid in Noriko's bed. She wore a cross around her neck. "For the time being I've offered up a prayer. Your niece will be safe for the next couple of hours," the blonde exorcist told Noriko. At least he had no misgivings about his abilities as a priest against whatever it was that threaten Ayumi.
"Thank you Father," Noriko bowed. The woman now just wanted her niece safe and sound.
John nodded then turned to me. "Now then Kazuya I'd very much like to see this-" he was interrupted by the door opening. Monk stepped through the door.
"Naru, I can't find Minnie anywhere! It's like she just completely disappeared!" he shouted.
"So she's run away, has she?" I said. I figured as much would happen. The doll was a vessel, and this spirit obviously wasn't going to give up any time soon. "Don't worry, she'll turn up soon." There's no way Minnie would leave Ayumi alone, she'd have to show her face eventually.
I simply hoped it wasn't after we find Ayumi dead.
BLIND
It was almost two am, and Minnie had yet to show up. All the boys plus myself were in base. Masako was still unwell and Ayako watched guard over Ayumi with Noriko. Yep, I was deemed no longer able to protect Ayumi properly as the ghost was obviously didn't care if Ayumi was being watched or not, so someone who could protect her from attacks better, in other words Ayako, took over. I stared at one of the computers that monitored the sound. I wasn't even sure if it was on or not. I just stared. Everyone was just staring at the monitors and computers. Silently waiting for something would happen. Something had to happen soon.
We hadn't been able to find Minnie yet, after all.
The clock struck two and at that exact moment, the activity started.
"We're picking up some noise from the audio feed," I said bluntly. I could tell it was the audio feed-it was slightly static and it was coming from the computer I was previously staring at.
"Patch it in," he ordered. Lin got to work, and we could hear distinct moaning and crying, and some knocking sounds had been added in.
Now, we could hear it around us too. The noises kept moving about, randomly it seemed. But it wasn't random. It was searching.
"Sounds like children," John inputted. "Dear God… There's so many of them." I could see where he was coming from with that. I had already heard Naru's research on the house, unlike John who hadn't, and how many died, but I was still shocked at how many kids have died in this house, and can't move on, so John must be more than a little shaken.
"Do you think they're looking for Ayumi?" I inquired.
"John's prayer is having some effect," Monk said, "Perhaps a kukkai barrier would help as well."
I turned to face Monk. "A kukkai?" I questioned.
"It's a special charm that's used to thwart any spirits from entering," Monk explained simply, screams echoing around us.
Then, it all stopped.
"It stopped all of a sudden," I stated the obvious.
The door clicked open, revealing a frantic Ayako. "Naru I found Minnie, look!" she exclaimed, carrying a bundle in her arms.
Naru took it and we gathered around. He pulled down the cloth and sure enough-there's Minnie. We all gasped. This damn doll…
"I noticed a bulge under the covers at the foot of Ayumi's bed and sure enough the doll had found its way in there," Ayako explained. We stood there in shock.
"Is Ayumi alright?" John questioned Ayako, breaking the partial silence.
"She's fine," Ayako confirmed.
Those voices stopped at the exact same time that Ayako found Minnie.
This was getting really, really bad. Considering we already dealt with a kitchen fire, an almost drowning, and a doll who apparently do whatever it wants and not even get scathed when set to flames, that was saying a lot.
If we didn't do something soon, Ayumi would pay the consequence.
BLIND
Day 6
John was blessing Minnie, taking a crack at getting the spirit out of Minnie. Minnie, in turn, was fuzzy again, like bad reception. We were in a storage room, we being Naru, Monk, John, and me, so that no one could interrupt. Mainly Noriko or Ayumi, however unintentional it may be.
Minnie lay on the table in front of us, a cross placed on the table near her head, as John recited from memory his prayers. He then placed his head on where her forehead was, supposedly, and revealed a cross when he moved his hand back. To me, it started to glow, and it felt hot like a fire.
Minnie's eyelids shot open.
Naru stood, unaffected as always, and Monk took a step back in surprise, but kept his composure. John, surprisingly, seemed that he had expected this to happen. Just what exactly did he do when he wasn't in a church? I, on the other hand, squeaked and clenched onto Monk's arm, just like I did on our first case a couple of months ago.
I clenched onto Monk for two reasons. One, that was scary. Dolls can't open their eyelids on their own. I shouldn't be surprised anymore on what she does, but still. Two, it appears I'm having another vision of sorts. I determined earlier today that, if at all possible, to avoid the creepy visions. It didn't feel right, being blind and all, to randomly see stuff then go blind again.
It gave me a headache.
John took out a vial, and unscrewed the cap. He put his thumb partially over the opening, and started making the figure of the cross with the water that splashed out, reciting his prayers again. Holy water I realized, remembering that when he did an exorcism at the schoolhouse he had water like that before he almost got smashed with a falling ceiling.
Minnie started to shake, like the spirit inside her was fighting it. Actually, it was fighting it. And the cross was white-hot and seriously seemed like it should be burning the doll through by now, smoke should be everywhere. I don't remember this in the descriptions of exorcisms!
Then, I heard screaming. It sounded like a little girl. Why weren't the others reacting? I'd think that Monk would have a reaction at least!
I tried to block it out.
"…and the Darkness comprehended it not." I heard John say as the screaming stopped. Minnie also stopped thrashing about. The doll was now just that, a doll. The cross was dimming now, and smoke now rose from around where it lay. It fell off, revealing a burn mark of the cross on the forehead of the doll. The whole room had a fuzzy afterfeel to it, like what Minnie felt like when she went fuzzy, only scattered around the whole room.
The cross now disappeared completely from my sight.
"I believe the spirit has now been cleansed," John announced, "though that doesn't mean it has been destroyed." I faced the doll in wonder. After all that, the spirit could still be out there?! John started talking again and I faced him again. "I think it would be best for us to burn the doll so it can never be used for evil again." Agreed completely and totally. I hated that thing. And just try to sell it and explain the burn mark. Yeah, it once held an evil spirit and had to be exorcised. It won't happen again…. Probably.
This time, Minnie burned easily, Monk, John, Naru, and I as witnesses.
BLIND
"I believe Minnie's true identity is the spirit that haunts this house," John said. It was just the guys in base again, discussing the case. "Do you think it could be one of the children who died here?"
"There's a good chance," Monk responded. "The spirits were probably lonely by themselves so they try to bring over children that inhabit the house and befriend them. Those children become sightbound spirits as well."
"Why is it just the children?" Naru questioned.
"Huh?" Monk didn't quite catch on.
"if they were lonely, why not choose Noriko or Mai, someone who could act as a substitute mother. However for some reason Minnie was attempting to eliminate them. Why do that?"
The door opened and Mai walked in. She gently closed the door behind her before turning to the rest of the group.
"Mai, how's Miss Hara?" Naru asked her. Mai had said she was going to check on her a while ago, and was just now coming back.
"She's still not feeling too well," Mai sadly reported, her face showing that she was concerned.
"I see," he responded. The activity must be a bit much for Masako, with so many kids pleading for help constantly.
Naru sat down in one of the chairs. "Monk, I'd like you to try cleansing the house again," he said.
"You sure?" Monk replied curiously. Naru started typing onto the computer in front of him.
"The first to die was Yuki Tachibana. Here's her info and posthumous Buddhist name. she was of the Judo sect." he responded, moving the screen so Monk could see it.
"How'd you find that out? Those records are over seventy years old." Monk questioned.
"It was rather easy," Naru responded vaguely, then got up and walked over to Lin. "Let me see the records up till now," he requested.
Boy, you really are sure of yourself, aren't you Naru? thought Mai. … you damn narcissist, you better know what you're doing!
BLIND
"I thought you said that ghosts can follow us, so will we really be safe in a hotel?" Noriko questioned Naru. After all, not even two hours ago he told her that she should head with Ayumi to a hotel.
Naru held out a piece of paper with strange writing on it. Ayako had made it earlier. "This charm will protect you, just to be safe I'm sending Father Brown and Ms. Matsuzaki to stay with you," Naru assured her. Noriko took the charm firmly into her hands.
"Thank you," she said. She just wanted this over with and done.
Ayumi turned to me. "Mai are you gonna come with us?" she asked.
"I can't, I'm sorry," I told her, and watched them pile into the car and drive away. Naru, Monk, and I stood in front of the door, and Masako, who was starting to either feel better or was getting used to the spirits, stood with us.
"is it working, Miss Hara?" Naru questioned. The whole reason she was out here was to make sure it was working. If not, Monk had the keys to the van.
Masako looked about, seemingly looking for any spirits rushing off after the car. "The spirits have yet to notice," she reported after a minute, "it appears as if the charm is working well."
"Alright, let's get back to work," Monk said, stretching tiredly. Time for another exorcism.
BLIND
Lin, Naru, and I were at base, and Monk sat in Ayumi's room, dressed in his Buddhist clothes again.
"Monk, you ready?" Naru asked over the audio system.
"Ready as I'll ever be," was Monk's response. I heard him shift around before he started chanting again. I quickly droned him out. None of it really made sense to me.
Nothing really big yet. Maybe this would be peaceful?
Probably not, wait a minute and we'll be screwed over against ghosts… again.
"The temperature around the bed is starting to drop considerably, it's already down two degrees in the last minute," Lin reported.
"And the audio?" Naru questioned. This ghosts did have thing for loud noises, after all.
"Nothing to speak of at this point, although I'm not getting the usual static," Lin told him. We stood there quietly for a few more moment before Lin spoke up again. "I'm picking up something else now," he held his headphone closer to his ear, "Knocking sounds."
Then it started again. One of the screens were lighting up on me. Strangely it was the living room, and was that…?
"Naru, look!" I couldn't hold it in.
"What the…?" Naru saw it too. The lens in the living room was fogging up. "Lin, give me the temp in the living room," he ordered.
"It's currently at negative two degrees," Lin rattled back the info.
"it's dropping?" Naru grabbed the mic that was connected to the camera in Ayumi's room. "Monk we've got you in the wrong room. All the activity's coming from the living room," he told him hurriedly.
"What?!" Monk quickly rushed to the living room.
"Naru!" I yelled to turn his attention to the screens again. Now the monitor was filling with images of crying children, their faces stuck in strands of smoke, all of them crying again.
It was horrible.
"Woah, what the?" Monk yelled when he got into the living room. Funny, now I could see a man, who I guessed was Monk, on the screen, and I was too busy being scared to even think about the fact I was seeing a live person while still awake for the first time in years. "I've got multiple apparitions in here!" Monk yelled, waving his arms about to keep them at bay.
I was seeing a PERSON! HOLY…!
Monk straightened up and started chanting again. He was starting to seem a bit, well, pissed, really. He opened his eyes for a second and I could clearly see his brown eyes staring at the screen, then he closed them and began his chanting again.
His eyes are brown, and his hair light brown. Nice to know.
The children started screaming louder. They're in pain! Monk's exorcism is hurting those poor children…
As if to verify that, they screamed louder again.
I can't take this any longer! I hid my face in my hands to block the images, something I never thought I'd ever do since I became blind. It was too much! I could barely take the screaming, but their faces…!
"…Tomiko…" I heard faintly over the audio. Something compelled me to look at the screen again. What was that?
…I'd seriously never survive a horror movie. There, behind Monk, was dark foggy figure. I was sure it said something a moment ago.
"Tomiko," I heard again, more clearly this time. Tomiko? The figure was starting to solidify into a woman. "My child," she pined. Naru obviously saw her too. He certainly wasn't expecting it either. The woman opened her eyes, which glowed against the dark fog she was surrounded by. "Tomiko," she said, her voice now extremely dark.
I couldn't look away.
BLIND
Omake
"Ayumi just confessed to me"-
"Hold it. Another fangirl, really Naru? She's not even ten!" I yelled, then ran off, mumbling about child protection laws and such.
"Mai, she hasn't confessed her love, it was something else," Naru yelled after me. I stopped and turn around.
"You say that like she will or something."
"Have you seen Noriko's room recently? "
In the meantime, Ayumi now added her seventh, and biggest, picture of Naru to the+ wall, it alone taking up about three or so feet of space and continued sowing her little Chibi Naru doll. Suddenly, she sneezed. "Guess someone's talking about me…" she said in thought, then continued her sowing.
Mai peeked in her room, glanced at the doll, and walked back out. "I may not be able to see the walls, but I have a hunch it may be Naru on those papers… And you'd think she'd hate dolls now…"
Hi, what's your name? Mai heard through the door. Another spirit's voice, like Minnie's, but this was a little boy.
"Great, what did I tell you?" Mai mumbled, ran into the room, and took the doll. "MONK! WANT SOME TARGET PRACTICE?" she yelled, looking for the man and running through the house while Ayumi simply huffed and started another doll.
"She's just jealous, I'll make you perfectly, Chibi Naru the Second… or are you the third? I think one of you may currently be at the bottom of a pond…"
She sneezed again, sighed, and looked around for more black fabric. He seriously needs some new colors.
"AYUMI!"
Crap, got caught again.
(Sorry, couldn't resist. You can tell me how stupid it was. I acknowledge that I should seriously get more sleep at night.)
BLIND
Yay translation notes! Fun, as always.
…but I swear, Naru has some of the worst English ever… for a character of his status, at least. No offense to the voice actor... But it gives me great hilarity. I feel like an English teacher correcting his/her student as I retype what he says so it can be all proper.
* Well, Naru definitely asked Monk "Do you wanna try and get rid of it?" instead of "Do you want to try and get rid of it?" but this IS Naru, so I changed it. Go back and watch if you want to, the moment is around 4:58.
*Naru says, originally, "You okay?" instead of "Are you okay?" …and I was fine with it. But when I typed it I had a nagging feeling to change it, and eventually, as you can see, I listened to it. Happy, subconscious? I blame eighth grade English, I had a strict teacher.
As always, thank you for reading! Leave me your thoughts so far, I'm happy to get them!
OH! Almost everyone can't wait for the reveals. I will tell you this, for the most part each person finds out individually. Maybe. I hope?
But anyway, even though I have several ideas for each, I am so up for suggestions, both for reveals or the story in general. Even if I don't use the idea, I get ideas from other ideas. It's all a cycle, see? Plus I love hearing what you guys imagine happening next. It makes the whole thing come alive. I won't beg for it, but I would appreciate it if you do. It makes me happy to interact with you guys. –on that note, sorry it took so long to reply to some of your reviews. I love talking to you guys, but I just didn't get a chance to get on fanfiction and reply. Forgive me-