Let me start this out with a shout out to Nekokittygirl, a guest reviewer who gave me a deadline (the end of May) for her birthday on May 31st! So Happy Birthday kiddo, my birthday is just a couple days shy of yours (as in, it's before it, like I think about three or four days). And since I took so long to update and you asked me specifically to update and stuff, this chappy is dedicated to you. Mostly because you reminded me that I'm really lazy and also end up getting hurt a lot, but that's another story entirely.
Happy New Year! I think. Oh wait, it's freaking May and I haven't updated since literally last year. Dang it. My New Year was so so. I spent most of it with my brother and my friend Ali and, well… They were drinking and convinced me to take about two shots… All of us underage. And then we talked about drugs. Then we talked about dating with a generous heaping of sexual innuendo. Or at least they did while I tried to disappear in the woodwork.
I was extremely uncomfortable, to say the least.
My brother isn't the best on picking up the mood. Or, if he is, he is horrible about helping with it. And Ali could honestly not care about whether or not I'm comfortable with it as long as Ali gets a few laughs out of it. Usually at my expense.
… I think I need better friends. And a better brother.
Pushing that aside, it seems you're all excited for this case, but even more so for my own. Unlike many of the other cases, I have at least a few spins on this one, so that'll have to sate you for now. I hope you'll enjoy reading on these twists as much as I have had trying to make these twists.
Also… eh, sorry that last chapter wasn't the best… I wasn't doing so well. Oh, and my doctor recently said that I may have a screwed up sense of balance, which explains my clumsiness. And injuries. And sprained anything. (BTW, toe is all fine. I said broke, and it nearly did, so I had to be careful, but I'm fine, thank you very much. ^-^) (And part of the reason it took so long a while back is that I had a worse… um, 'break' and I had to spend time recovering. I'm still recovering—which partially explains the mild blandness of the last chapter—, but I'm a lot better than I was. But anyway, you guys probably don't specifically care, but if you do, I am doing so much better right now.)
Now for the reason that this is so darn late. I was kinda… out of it for a while for various reasons. Mostly due to whole entire 'break' thing mentioned before… I had to step back from just about everything and let myself recover. I apologize for the wait, but I'm glad to be posting again! I'll try to be better about updating, but this process is hard and I really don't want to relapse so being careful with literally everything I do is kinda the only way to do that, but I will try.
I also managed, in two separate events, to not only get burned but also had my car… kinda… burst into flames.
Yeah.
…There's also the fact that I drove my grandmother's car through a garden by accident. You can imagine the trouble that I got in for that. Also, my older sister got in a car accident. She's fine, mostly, but she did crack her clavicle (AKA her collarbone) so… Yeah. No one else was injured and she wasn't the one driving…
My family has had some interesting car troubles recently.
Oh, and I have a new play that I'm in. Anyone heard of 'An Actor's Nightmare'? Because I'm in it. It's rather fun but oh dear sweet goodness I'm freaking nervous. We're preforming at a restaurant and even though it's mostly teens we're supposed to act more like professional actors and ahhgghkdja;kjfjlda;jf;a…. But anyway, you probably care about that even less.
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!
-I do not own Ghost Hunt. Which is probably (definitely) a good thing. -
BLIND
April
Day 2
After all of the commotion, we, as in SPR, returned to base to go over the footage we got after we checked to see if anyone was injured and had written the message that was different from the others. Apparently, it looked like blood, but not a single person was injured, so that theory was thrown out. And so, footage. Naturally, I was hoping the 'Let's see random glowing squares because paranormal' thing would not happen, but knowing me, it probably would any minute now.
We also had two others that were not SPR. Ms. Igurashi and her assistant, Suzuki, who was the one actually channeling the spirit. We were going to interview Mr. Minami, but he and his associates took off before I noticed they were gone. At least Suzuki and Ms. Igurashi were nice enough people to comply to a few questions.
"Tell us what it felt like," Naru said to Suzuki from where he stood beside the monitor.
"It was like my arm was being yanked around by the marker," Suzuki said. "I honestly felt that if I let go, it would just fly off on its own."
Monk chose then to talk to Yasu. "Hey boss," he said. "You sure do seem incredibly calm."
"Well that's just because I have nerves of steel," Yasu smiled at Monk.
"Stop," Naru seemed to call out of the blue. For a second I thought he was talking to Yasu and Monk, but then noticed him hunched over Lin's shoulder and looking at the monitor screen with a rather intense face. "Rewind it to around fifty-three seconds and go frame-by-frame," Naru ordered.
Lin gave a slight nod and I could hear the machines whir as Lin did as told.
Like I suspected, a sudden glow caught my attention. However, it was only a fraction of the screen, and I could only see what I suspected was the table and pieces of paper flying around. A blank white sheet slowly drifted until it hit the ground. However, the second it did hit the ground, an ominous red message appeared on it.
"There wasn't anything on it until it hit the floor," Ayako said, voicing everyone's thoughts. The screen flickered out of my sight, though for a second I could have sworn the whole room was covered in little lights.
… Being a blind psychic with occasional seeing powers was not nearly as fun as you'd think. I think it might be messing with my mind.
Masako decided to faint at that point, leaving me to be the one near enough to actually catch her as she fell. "Masako?" I asked the question of what was wrong with only her name.
"I'm sorry," Masako said, her voice muffled as her bare hand covered her mouth. "I don't feel very well."
"Let's go to our room," I told her.
"Ms. Matsuzaki, would you please go with them," Naru ordered more than asked.
"We should be okay by ourselves," I said. We really should have as many people available in base as possible.
Naru gave a hard look and very sternly said, "No way."
I gave a slight start at Naru's harsh tone. "O-oh, alright then," I said with a slight stutter. Naru was giving me no room to argue. Ayako came up to us and helped me guide Ayako out of base. I couldn't help but examine his tense face.
Wow. Naru's more jumpy than usual.
He must be really concerned about the turn things are taking.
I didn't really want to find out what exactly that meant.
BLIND
"You smelled blood?" I asked Masako as we sat on our respective beds.
"Yes," she said, folding her hands delicately in her duvet-covered lap. "It was like my clothes were all soaked with it. The smell was so strong I thought I was going to be sick."
"Same thing happened after we first got here, right?" I asked.
"Yes, but this time it got much worse after all of those rapping noises began," she said.
"Do you think it could be a scent from the spirit? Like at Ryokuryo High School. Remember there was that classroom that had that horrible smell." I think Monk or John has called it some sort of clairsentience or clairolfaction or clairolfactory or something.
Masako tilted her head. "What do you think, Mai?"
"Huh?"
"Are you sensing any spirits?" she clarified.
"Well I-I don't know what you mean," I said. "Why would you be asking me something like that?"
"Because during the last case we were on, it seems that you were the only other person who saw the same apparition that I did," Masako said.
"What apparition?" I asked. Then I realized. "Oh, you mean Sakauchi." That was one memory I could have done with not bringing up again. I tried to wave it off. "Yeah, that was crazy. I haven't been having any of those dreams though. Then again, we do have all those spirit charms everywhere…"
I heard Ayako as she came out of the bathroom, hair still damp as she tried to dry it with a towel. "Well, you two seem to be getting along," she said.
"You must be joking," Masako said. "Clearly someone like me doesn't associate with someone like this."
"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?!" I asked.
"Just how you are, I didn't say it's a bad thing," Masako more or less waved me off.
I did understand that I was totally just insulted.
"You are an awful person!" I glared.
Masako lifted a hand, finger raised, and smiled. "Maybe, but at least I'm pretty and unbelievably talented."
"You're one of the meanest girls I've ever known," I accused, pointing my finger accusingly. "Why do you hate me?!"
"You know I'm really not sure," Masako said with a sarcastic tone as she turned her head away. "I guess it's just because you're breathing."
"I'll breathe on you, you creep!" I threw a pillow at Masako, which she dodged with an annoying amount of ease. Instead, it hit Ayako dead on in the face.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't secretly okay that it still hit someone though.
The pillow fell to the floor leaving a spent Ayako in its wake. She sighed quietly. "That's great," she muttered. "You guys are really on your way to being best friends."
"Oh no I'll never be friends with her!" we both said at the same time. Stop stealing my lines, Masako!
Ayako just gave another exhausted sigh which seemed to say 'Oh why me'.
Aren't teenage girls just wonderful?
BLIND
A wet, dragging sound.
Footsteps with a strange… sound to it… almost squishing. Almost slapping.
A deep exhale of rancid breath.
It filled me with dread.
Can I please wake up now?
BLIND
Day 3
Masako, Ayako, and I were heading to the dining room for breakfast. I woke up with a strange feeling, like I had been terrified for my life and was now exhausted.
I couldn't imagine why though.
"Hey, good morning Lin," I greeted as the tall, stoic man passed us by. A 'good morning' and a 'hello, how are you today?' from Ayako and Masako echoed after.
Lin ignored us. Ayako even gave a slightly amused half-laugh before moving on as per usual with Masako.
I shouldn't be surprised. He never regarded us with much of anything… but yet I felt myself staying behind just to face the man as he turned from me. I'm blind and I still try to face you, why can't you do the same?
Ms. Igurashi's pleading voice brought me back to reality. "Are you absolutely sure none of you have seen Suzuki?" she cried as Yasu and Monk seemed to be trying to comfort her. Monk stood a few steps away, looking ready to step in if needed.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
Monk turned to face me. "It seems that Suzuki has gone missing."
I gasped. She's gone?!
"Please, try to calm down Ms. Igarashi," Yasu said as he and John got her into one of the many dining chairs.
Naru regarded her calmly. "When did you last see her?" he asked.
"This morning," Ms. Igarashi said between sobs. "I woke up once, it was around daybreak I think, and Suzuki was sleeping right there."
"Do you know what time it was?" Naru asked.
Ms. Igurashi shook her head sadly.
"When did you get up this morning?" he continued.
"Seven o'clock," Ms. Igurashi said.
Monk looked at his watch. "Okay, it's ten o'clock now," he reported. "So we can say that she's been missing for the past three hours at least."
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Mr. Ohashi came into the room. "I questioned the staff to see if anyone might have seen her sometime last night or early this morning, but so far there's no news," Mr. Ohashi told Suzuki. "I just recently checked the front door myself and it was still locked, so…"
"So we can probably assume that she didn't go outside," Yasu finished for him.
"Oh no, Suzuki has very bad eyesight," Ms. Igurashi said. "I know for a fact she wouldn't have gone anywhere without her contacts." At this, she held up a small case for contact lenses. I wasn't familiar with them, for obvious reasons, but I knew a contact case when I sensed one.
… Sense. I sense someone coming up the hallway… Oh Naru, forgive me if I offend you while trying to expose the creep that is pretending to be you. "Wait a sec, what if we ask Doctor Davis to help us find her?" I said to Ms. Igurashi, then turned to Monk for assistance. "I mean he was able to find that billionaire's son by using his clairvoyance, right?"
"Is that true?" Ms. Igurashi asked.
And just like that, Minami and the supposed Doctor Davis and their assistant who's name I have already forgotten walked in. Yes, I had sensed them earlier. I'm sorry Suzuki, we'll find you, but I have to help my boss!
"Ms. Igurashi, I just heard what happened," Minami said, his tone slightly slick. "How terrible for Miss Suzuki. We'd be happy to help in any way we can."
"Oh, thank you," Ms. Igurashi said, rushing up to them with the contact case. "If I may, I'd like to ask Doctor Davis to attempt psychometry. Maybe he can find her." At this, Minami gave a slight gasp, obviously not expecting this. "Perhaps he can use this contact lens case that she left behind. If the doctor would at least try, I would be very grateful."
Minami blinked a couple of times to regain composure. "Of course, yes. I will ask," he said as he took the case from Ms. Igurashi and handing it to the fraud behind him. I noted that Naru was staring at the exchange with critical eyes. "Doctor Davis?" Minami asked the man, and the man gave a few noncommittal shrugs, nods, and head shakes which somehow Minami 'translated'.
My translation is that they have no idea what they're doing and are acting like crazy.
"I'm afraid he is unable to see with this item," Minami reported in a sad tone.
"Ah? But… Why not?" Ms. Igurashi exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's something that belonged to her, right?" I joined in. Isn't that how psychometry works?
"The doctor's limited. He can only utilize an object that was with the person at the time they went missing," Minami said with a rather rehearsed voice.
"Oh no," Ms. Igurashi started to cry again.
"So we should look around to find something she dropped since this morning?!" I asked/yelled.
"This isn't my fault, little miss," Minami growled to me before bowing his head strangely. "I unfortunately don't make the rules."… Was that regret? Or bitterness? Minami's head popped back up to address the rest of the room. "Has anyone considered that the séance yesterday traumatized the girl and she simply went home? Young people these days just don't seem to have much staying power."
"What?!" I yelled.
"That could be a possibility," Ms. Igurashi said. Didn't we just discuss how that was not the case?! She turned to address me. "I'll try calling Suzuki at home. Thanks so much."
"Ms. Igurashi…" I said.
Yasu chose then to step in. "The rest of us will divide up and help search for her," he told her. "Now let's see if Mr. Ohashi can show you to the telephone…"
"Thank you," she said.
But… Suzuki hadn't just gone home.
We're still looking, hours later…
BLIND
"She could be anywhere in here. I mean, this house is so gigantic and weird that I can't help think there are bunches of places we don't know about," I commented as Monk, Masako, Ayako, and I ate lunch.
"Well the floor plan will go a long way toward helping us out," Ayako commented in. "You guys keep at it."
"If it's so important then why am I not hearing you offer to grab a tape measure and help out?" Monk bit out.
"Because I'm exhausted from walking around this screwed up place trying to sense spirits, that's why," Ayako said. "Right Masako?"
"Yes," Masako said politely. "Although I do have to say you do tend to whine and complain about it a lot more than I do."
"Oh shut it," Ayako said. "You know you're tired too."
Later on, as John, Monk, Yasu, and I continued our mansion measuring quest, we ended up talking about it some more.
"So do you think she could have been taken away somewhere?" I asked.
"By who?" Monk responded as we continued our mapping.
"I don't know…" I said. "Maybe by a spirit who believed that Suzuki could help them or something."
"I hear ya," Monk said. "She was the person who actually experienced the spirits calling for help.
"Or maybe," Yasu popped out of nowhere, flashlight in hand, poking me in the back and sufficiently sneaking up on me for once, causing me a to give a small shriek. "She actually faked everyone out and wrote those words on her own and ran off because she was afraid of being found out."
"But what about the one written in blood and all the knocking sounds?" I questioned.
"Oh, yeah," Yasu deflated. He hadn't seemed to have thought of that.
I heard a creaking sound from John. "Hey guys, the floor seems to sink down over here," he called us over.
"A door?" Yasu said.
"But where's it go?" I wondered out loud.
"There's one way to find out," Monk said, reaching for the dust handle. He pulled the door open, years of dust falling off of the thing as he did so.
Since it was dark in the room we were in already, and since I had better range with my senses then the guys did with their flashlights, I was the first to peak down to check what was down there.
A metal ladder lead down into another strange room.
What is this crazy house…?
BLIND
Since John and I were the smallest, and I didn't need a flashlight, we were the two that went down into the newly found room. The others would have followed, but it was a rather small room and we did not trust the floorboards.
By the time we finally got back to base, I think we had tracked dust around everywhere. And, I was dizzy. I hadn't paid it much mind, but I think it may be the house and its weird floors again. Or maybe the dust.
Probably the dust.
Anyway, Naru refused to talk to us until we were clean, which lead to now.
"You found a hidden space?" Naru said as he looked over the temperature and measurements we took.
"Yep!" I gave a happy report.
"And we ran across this while we were checking it out," John handed Naru an old coat.
"Look at the tag, Naru," Monk said. "Miyama Charity Hospital… the one that was founded by the first head of the family."
"That would mean this lab coat was in fact issued by the hospital," Naru said as he looked over the old thing.
"So… what would that be doing here, hidden in a secret room?" Monk asked.
Naru didn't respond for a moment. "… I see something," he said, taking the coat and laying it across one of the tables. He messed around with the hem before pulling out a small slip of paper.
Wait, not paper…
"Wow, that money sure looks really old," I commented as we gathered around Naru's shoulders. "And I think I can see some kind of writing on it."
See, sense…. Same difference right?
Apparently not, because no one else really saw it.
"Well Mai," Ayako said. "What does it say?"
I took the money from Naru for closer inspection. "Yo… Kei… Ku… Ki… Ta… Sa… Knee… Ra… Ru… Kyo… Shi… Minna… Ha… Rye… Sho?" *1 The heck did I just read? Even Naru was putting on his serious thinking face!
"What the hell is that?" Ayako said, sharing in my confusion. "It doesn't make any sense."
"It's so dirty," I confessed. "I can't read it all."
"Why do you think someone would write on money?" Monk inquired.
"Maybe whoever it was didn't have anything else to write on," John suggested.
Naru seemed to come to some sort of conclusion and faced the rest of us. "Let's keep investigating," Naru said. "But whatever you do, make sure you always stay together. Hidden rooms can't be a good sign." I had to agree with that one.
With that, our day continued.
BLIND
I probably should have been filing, but I felt sick and was more inclined to write down what had happened thus far in my diary.
Well, here I am.
Having to stay here and keep watch with Lin.
He's been in such a lousy mood since yesterday. He hasn't said two words to me this whole time.
He usually at least says that I should buzz off or bother someone else!
"I'm gonna get some tea," I said. "Do you want any, Lin?"
"No, thank you," Lin said, his tone fairly icy. But hey, words!
"Oh, okay," I scratched my head lightly. "So what do you think happened to Suzuki?"
Damn. He's ignoring me again.
I thought we were on at least okayish terms during the Christmas case but apprarently that was a temporary thing. Or maybe it was from the other day… When I found out Lin's full name…
"Okay, why aren't you talking to me Lin?" I asked, probably sounded a little bit desperate. "I really didn't mean to do anything to offend you… I was just surprised that you were Chinese and I guess I must have said it wrong or something..." Lin stopped typing at this point. At least he was listening… "Because I think you're great, and the last thing in the world I'd ever want to do is hurt your feelings…"
"I'm fine," Lin said. "I just hate the Japanese."
Well, of all the things I was expecting. That definitely was NOT one of them…
Lin continued on. "Do you know about what has happened historically and what they did to my country?" he said. "You should pick up a book. Not to be rude," a little late for that, Lin, "but I'm not interested in befriending Japanese. Especially those that don't know their history."
My heart is pounding so hard. I don't know what to do. I usually feel this way when I'm angry, but this is different.
I feel… Sad.
I clutched my pant leg to give myself a literal grip on reality. "It's not like I'm stupid about it," I started out. "I know Japan did some terrible things… But hating people now for what happened then… I don't know, but it just seems really wrong. Just think, if everyone did that, the whole world would have to hate each other forever and it would be so awful. We're gonna have to learn to forgive each other. I can understand if you don't like me because I'm annoying or something but I really wish you wouldn't hate me just because I'm Japanese, or because of my gender, or because I'm an orphan, because those things are out of my control!"
… Lin, why the hell are you laughing? Better yet, you can laugh?!
Uh, did I say something funny?
"Sorry," Lin said, hiding a smile behind his hand. Let me repeat that. Hiding. A freaking smile. Behind his hand. Like a freaking giggling schoolgirl… "There was someone else who said the same thing to me a long time ago. You just made me remember that." Huh, Lin looks… melancholy?
"Oh… was it Naru?" I asked.
"Oh no," Lin said. "When I told Naru, I'm pretty sure his exact words were, 'That's stupid'."
I gave a small laugh. "That sounds like him," I said. "What about Madoka?"
"She'd start crying and then probably kick me in the shins telling me to lose some of my damn height," he said.
"…That's… That's probably right," I nodded, having only known the woman for a short amount of time but having no trouble imagining the scenario.
"I don't hate you Mai," Lin said, "and I'm sorry for making you think that I did. It's just that my heritage is very important to me and I can't just get rid of my feelings. …So, will you forgive me for saying such hateful things?" At this, Lin stood up and bowed in front of me.
"Absolutely, forgive me too," I bowed back to him. The door then opened, letting the other members come in. "Hey, welcome back guys, did you find anything?"
A light tapping interrupted any answer they were going to give.
"What's… that…?" I turned to face the window. Something was tapping at the freaking window.
Ayako clung onto me, and we both ended up giving the girliest "It's a ghost!" in the history of ghost hunters.
Ah, our ancestors must be proud.
Especially since it turned out to be Madoka of all people. "Hi everyone!" she said cheerfully from her window perch.
Ayako and I couldn't help the exasperated sigh that came out of our mouths.
I think I know where Naru got both his sneaking skills and his being an ass with his sneaking skills came from.
Thanks Madoka.
Thanks.
A few moments later and we were gathered around to compare notes.
But first, a lecture by our very own narcissist boss.
"Madoka, why in the world did you show up here?" Naru said in a very stern, lecturing voice. Really, who's the teacher in this situation…? He even gave the freezing Madoka his jacket…
"I wanted to tell you what turned up in my investigation," Madoka said calmly.
"But you know that it's extremely dangerous here. What if something had happened to you?" Naru pressed.
"I guess you'd have to come rescue me, right?" Madoka said.
Unamused Naru looked, well, unamused. And a little bit more than done with Madoka and her antics.
I can't believe Naru is actually taking that…
"Okay, let's start with Suzuki then, the girl you called me about this morning" Madoka brought out a small notepad. "I questioned all of the bus and taxi companies that operate in the area, none of their drivers said they saw or picked up any woman fitting her description.
"Moving on to the disappearances two months ago, the first was a boy named Eiki Matsunuma who apparently was here partying with several friends. They reported that he staggered out of the room at one point, and never came back. A week later, an official search was ordered. The police came out to comb the property, and that's when a twenty-one year old man named Masaya Yoshikawa from the fire brigade disappeared. *2
"And as for the Miyama's… I'll begin with Kaneyuki Miyama. The man was meticulous. Listen to this: an employee at his silk mill had been embezzling money from other workers and was understandably fired. But Kaneyuki also fired the man's oldest son, who worked in the mill, as well as three other sons who were on staff at the hospital. The house that they all lived in, as well as that of his daughter and son-in-law, were actually rented to them by Kaneyuki… And they were all evicted from those properties."
I was shocked, to say the least. "He threw them out?"
Madoka nodded. "Mm-hm. Apparently, even the embezzler's parents were employees of Kaneyuki on the grounds here, and he told them to clear out too.
"Geez," Ayako commented. "Talk about thorough."
"Yeah," Madoka agreed. "It seems the man became sort of famous for it." She went back to her little notebook and continued her report. "Anyway, he wasn't a very sociable guy and always insisted on hiring his maids from outside of the area. He was very adamant about keeping people away from this house. Over time, the locals began to suspect something fishy must be happening here. His son Hiroyuki tried to keep people away too, and was known to say some pretty strange things."
"What kind of things?" Naru asked.
Madoka looked up at him then. "Whenever anyone would ask him why he was constantly adding onto the house, the answer he always gave was 'There are ghosts in there, we're doing it to shut the ghosts inside… and keep them from getting out'."
Keep them from getting out?
"You'll find everyone's personal histories in here, nice and neat," Madoka said as she produced a large envelope out of her own jacket. "Can I do anything else for you?"
"Yes, I'd like you to investigate Miyama Charity Hospital," Naru said as he took the envelope.
"You got it," Madoka said cheerfully, shrugging off Naru's coat and handing it back to him. She ran off towards the window and started to climb out of it before turning around slightly and waving. "Bye," she said cheerfully before disappearing into the night.
Naru watched after her for a moment before looking again at the old money we found in the jacket.
Somehow, I found myself to start feeling a little queasy… Something just doesn't add up somewhere…
BLIND
Later, Ayako, Masako, and I were walking back to our room when we came across Mr. Minami's assistant. Atsugi, I think his name was.
"I'm sorry I wasn't any help to you this morning," he said, and I could help but notice that his voice was somewhat nasally.
"Oh, please, that's alright," I said on behalf of all of us present—what else is new?—"I should have never been so rude."
"I just hope we can find Suzuki as soon as possible," Atsugi said sincerely, a small smile ghosting across his face. "Good night, then." His face dropped to its usual sleepy expression as he passed us by, and I ended up turning to watch him as he left.
"Atsugi seems like a really nice guy," I commented. "I wonder why he's working with a man like Mr. Minami."
"What's even more baffling is why Naru would choose you as his assistant," Masako's voice became more and more faint as the sentence went on, and I realized they were leaving me.
"Hey!" I shouted as I ran after them "What the heck do you mean by that?"
… Uh, hey, where am I?
Where did everyone go?
I watched as a figure walked away into the darkness around me, hunched over and a yellow sweater practically consuming his neck.
"No, wait, you shouldn't go over there!" I found myself calling after the figure before I could stop myself. "Listen to me, please come back! If you go that way, something bad is going to happen!"
Still, the figure continued on, and I was suddenly awoken by a harsh knocking sound on our door.
Wait, our door…? When did I end up in bed? I'm in my pajamas and everything, but I simply can't remember when or how I got here…
The knocking persisted, so I got up out of my blankets—seriously, how did I end up here?—and into the chilly air of the room to answer the door. "Yes?" I called out weakly as I answered the door.
"It's Minami! I'm sorry it's so late," Mr. Minami called from behind the door. I opened it so I could hear him more clearly and man, even as a blind girl I could tell he was extremely distraught. "Have you by chance seen Atsugi tonight? He's my assistant, a medium."
I was shocked, and I honestly couldn't tell you if was because it sounded like Atsugi was missing, or if it was because I had bumped into him earlier, or…
Or… Because I had a horrible feeling about who that figure in my dream was, and what had now happened to him…
BLIND
First Suzuki disappeared, and now Atsugi's gone too.
We gathered up everyone we could and once again informed Mr. Ohashi that someone had gone missing.
"I'm sorry to say that none of our staff members have any information about Atsugi," Mr. Ohashi informed us in the dining room.
"Shouldn't we take this opportunity to again ask Doctor Davis to use his abilities?" Ms. Igurashi requested in a stern voice. "And if the doctor is unable to use clairvoyance then perhaps someone else can."
Mr. Minami lifted his head from his hands. "Uh… yes… but perhaps-"
Ms. Igurashi stood up abruptly. "This is an emergency, sir! Two people have vanished in two days, and one of them was your own assistant. Why wouldn't we ask Doctor Davis for help, unless you've been lying to us the identity of a man you brought with you to this house!"
Mr. Minami gave a conflicted face. Of course he would, what Ms. Igurashi said was true. The man with him was not Doctor Davis. But would they confess?
"Is it true?" Ms. Igurashi asked, he voice suddenly very quiet. "Could it be that this man is just an imposter?"
It was Mr. Minami's turn to stand up abruptly. "Well I'm not going to sit here and take this! How dare you insult not only myself but the honorable Professor Davis as well?" Mr. Minami, your defensive side is showing. "It's obvious now. We're being forced to solve this case all by ourselves. Please, come with me Professor." Mr. Minami walked out, the impostor following behind him out of the room.
"Something's not right with that guy," Ayako voiced after the two were gone.
"We don't really have any proof that the man is actually Doctor Davis," John pointed out.
"You mean apart from Mr. Minami's insistence," Yasu said bitterly.
"Yeah, and he didn't use his clairvoyance again," I added in.
Meanwhile, Naru stared coldly at the door Mr. Minami and co left from, Lin standing at his side with a blank face.
Obviously, they were just waiting for the two to crack.
I can't say I wasn't waiting for it too.
BLIND
A man released rancid breath. Anxious, smiling. Yes, things were looking up for this man…
Day 4
These dreams have really got to stop. They're only common nightmares I'm sure, but they're disturbing and I can't actually remember what they are about. It's frustrating.
And even more so was the only thing I could put down in my diary was this:
It's been four days. The case is at a standstill, and there's been no sign of Suzuki or Atsugi.
"I just can't get used to this house," I complained as Monk, Yasu, John, and I walked around. We had found an issue with some of the stairs and spent most of our day measuring them and counting them. I had started to feel sick again, I guess from all the movement and dust, and we were heading back to base again.
"Yeah, I mean normally you'd never think of anyone missing inside a house," Yasu added on to my comment. "But in this place…"
"Hey!" John shouted from behind. "It's a door here!"
Sure enough, we turned back and found a small door partially cut off by the stairs. It almost perfectly blended in with the rest of the carved décor here, the only distinction being the handle. Usually I probably would have noted that, but realistically there are doorknobs and handles everywhere and I guarantee not all of them are actually doors.
"Fantastic," Monk muttered as John pried the door open. "Another secret room?"
"Geez it's dusty, I can't even sense anything," I commented from beside John. Monk handed John a flashlight to look around the room. I would have tried my best to help, but like I said all the dust in the air made it hard to sense anything, and the thick layer of dust made everything distorted to me anyway. Plus, I still felt queasy.
John looked around without actually entering the dusty potential death trap, reporting a bed, some other random things, probably a bedroom, and then…
"Is that a painting?"
BLIND
"I wonder who we have here," Naru commented as he examined our find, now relocated to base.
"It says 'Meiji 32, March, Self-Portrait, Urado'," Monk said.
"Oh really," Naru said as he examined the back of the portrait.
"So who's Urado?" Ayako asked as she toweled the dust off of John. Poor boy was the only one who could fit in there other than me, and I was a bad idea since I literally had no idea what the heck I would have been trying to retrieve.
"Since his self-portrait was hanging in there, I would guess it was likely someone close to Mr. Miyama."
"Should we ask Mr. Ohashi if he knows anything about it?" Yasu asked Naru.
Naru didn't answer, instead looking very startled by something. He set the portrait face down on the table and began searching through his jacket.
"What is it Naru?" I asked.
"Urado… I think… yes," Naru said disjointedly as he pulled out the old money from before. Come on now Naru, speak Japanese like the rest of us… Regardless, I peered over his shoulder to try to figure out what had him all tore up.
Then I saw it. The symbol for 'Urado' was also on the old money. "Wait, I don't get it," I said. "Wouldn't somebody read that as 'tora'?" *3
"Hold on, a sec," Yasu said, stepping to the table and grabbing one of the many papers we had scattered around while pulling a pen out of his inner jacket pocket. "Didn't we say that this bill would be from the Meiji era? And since they read opposite how we do it today, it would really be right to left… so then…" Yasu wrote on the paper for a few moments before holding the paper up to the rest of us. "The writing would actually look something like this, right?"
It still had blanks but… I could read it. Yasu was right. It was just backwards on the money, but now…
"The first part would be… 'Everyone who has come here is now dead'… I think," Monk said.
Dead…?
Ayako looked over it more closely. "And I'm guessing that the last part there is 'Run away'… Do you think this was supposed to be a message to someone?"
"Well, we can easily assume that 'here' would most likely refer to this house…" Yasu said as he looked over the paper.
"Remember?" I interrupted him as I realized something. "Madoka said that Kaneyuki wouldn't allow anyone to come here."
"Maybe this Urado person did something really bad and Kaneyuki didn't want anyone to find out," John suggested.
"That's a lot of trouble to go through, why not just expose him?" Ayako commented in.
"Maybe Urado was holding him hostage," Monk said. "And when he finally decided to communicate with someone on the outside, the only thing he had to use was this bill."
"In any case we've learned some very interesting things today," Naru said. "And once we use them…"
"Let's not forget we know something else as well," Masako piped up. "The spirits here spoke quite clearly at the séance. I am now certain that they were the spirits of those people who have died in this house."
I sat down somewhat abruptly on one of the couches. "This is so complicated. And if this stupid house wasn't so… I don't know, tilted or something, then maybe I could think clearly."
"Tilted?" Monk seemed amused at my word choice.
Ayako smiled too. "I think the words 'weird' and 'strange' work better here."
I sighed. "Yasu, can I see your pen?"
Yasu looked confused, but complied. "Here."
I nodded a thanks and went over the wall closer to the inside of the house, opposite the windows. "If I drop this, it'll stop after maybe a foot. However," I dropped it. And it rolled. And rolled. And rolled.
All the way to the window.
"I went all the way across the room?" John looked as confused as ever.
I walked over, picked the pen up, gave it to Yasu, and went back to my previous seat. "I told you. Tilted. Probably at a slope because of the mountain or it could be because the land's uneven."
Naru's eyes narrowed. "Or maybe the house itself is slanting inwards."
"Pardon?" Monk said.
"If this room is slanted to the center of the house, who says the whole house isn't like that? It would explain the empty spaces for sure," Naru said, crossing the room and grabbing something out of an equipment bag. A spirit level that construction workers usually use, I think. "Monk, Yasu, John, Mai, meet your new best friend." *4
And thus, a long day of measurements continued.
BLIND
Finally, we were in bed. I didn't want to see another number again. Or translate the slant angle and the length of the room into how much higher one side of the room is from the other. Sure, Yasu had to do a lot too, but there is a reason why I skipped a grade and math skills was one of them. Unfortunately, or fortunately for them, Monk and John hadn't a clue what to do and all the work was pushed to Yasu and me.
Now that I was in bed though, I couldn't help but think over our recently revealed info.
People who died here? But who did the hospital coat belong to? Could it be that the people who went missing… Suzuki and Atsugi…
… Wait…. I can't move! What did Naru say this was? Sleep paralysis? Okay, calm down Mai…
Easier said than done when the door to the bedroom you're in creaks open ominously.
"…." Why can't I talk?
I turned my head to look at the door. I know I locked it, Naru always bothers me about it.
Furthermore, the fact that I can turn my head means this isn't sleep paralaysis, but I still can't seem to move.
I'm not sure which fact is the most terrifying.
Oh, wait. I know which fact is most terrifying. The fact that there are two adult males silently approaching my bed is the most terrifying.
Ayako, Masako, wake up! I tried to yell but nothing came out.
What do I do? Stay away!
The men grabbed me, and I swear I screamed, and yet…
No sound.
They dragged me, each taking and firmly gripping one of my arms, and I couldn't seem to do much with my own body. Move legs, move arms, move Mai!
No, let me go! I tried to speak to no avail. Please, let me go!
I felt a sense finality come over me as the door closed us into the hallway, but it gave no sense of relief. If anything, it made me more terrified.
They dragged me down endless halls, twists and turns I couldn't hope to follow, and finally ending up in a rather intricate room with a fireplace and a table holding a wineglass with the last dregs of a red drink pooling at the bottom.
It was the glass in particular that seemed ominous and taunting. Like someone was waiting to deal with me but expected the affair to be somewhat like a chore so brief and simple and… and so well prepared that they leisurely took their drink while I was dragged away and could only bask in my own horror and terror.
What room is this? … Someone's here, but where? Nearby?
The men continued to grab be, going to what seemed to be a closet but instead was a large garden of maze bushes. As I was forced forward, I found myself standing in blood that soaked through ground to stain my feet.
A bloodstained labyrinth. I was in the middle of a bloodstained labyrinth. This maze, this whole damn house! A labyrinth of blood.
No! I've got to be having one of those dreams again… I actually saw that room, and the glass… Because if I'm not then…
A light shined ahead of me, and I was able to lift my head to see it, confirming that was dreaming as we stood outside a door. Somehow, I wasn't settle by thought that this was a dream. Because if it was real, I could just try to move and I could run and hide and maybe have a chance… but a dream… there are some dreams you can't change. Even if you're aware of them.
The door opened just like any other at this point, slowly and ominously. As it did, I got blasted in the face with the scent of blood, and the need to escape increased tenfold.
And yet, all I could do was not trip as I was dragged up a long staircase that lead to a hall. At the end of this hall as a green door, the fact that I could see it was green didn't help with the dream factor since I could see even more bloodstains on the woodwork now.
Stop, I don't want to go in that room! No!
Before I knew exactly what happened, I was in a tiled room. It somewhat resembled a bathroom with a tub. Now if only that tub wasn't filled with blood and that the table with straps in the center of the room didn't exist…
But I knew they did.
And I had a chilling feeling about what was about to happen as I looked at the strange bucket-like thing that seemed to be there to collect a certain scarlet liquid it was stained with.
What is this?
I felt the men drag their hands down my arms, pulling, somehow freeing me of my pajamas to reveal clothes underneath. A very unpleasant experience to be stripped like that, regardless of the clothing underneath, to be completely honest…
Why am I wearing a kimono?
A white kimono, and my feet covered in red blood…
One of the men grabbed me by the hair and I was surprised that I indeed did make a yelping sound as I was dragged across the room, but still unable to scream or talk at all.
What are you doing to me?!
The steps my captor took and made me take both left bloody footprints.
I want to wake up.
Why can't I wake up?
Please!
I was slammed onto the table and strapped up before I knew it. Mechanically. Practiced.
I was in no way the first victim. I was only a number to them, if even that.
Blood dripped down the back of my neck from the edge of the table. It had somehow cut me, and the feeling of blood crawling on my neck and then dripping off was not something I'd soon forget.
What got me most was that it hurt. Never in any of my dreams had I ever even felt physically hurt.
This… this was a dream right?
It was a dream, right? It had to be. I… I saw things!
But I've seen things while awake.
I could easily be hallucinating in this stress.
This place was pretty dark.
It hurt…
It hurt…
It hurt…
This is a dream…!
But… If it was only a dream, then how could it hurt?
One of the men snapped rubber gloves onto his hands, the other approaching up to him quietly. They both started heading towards me.
I think I was about to start sobbing. You would too, if you saw the knife they carried with them.
I have to hurry and wake up.
That evil, dark voice again… from my other dreams… I don't want to die.
Somebody…
I don't want to die.
Help…
I don't want to die!
One of the men grabbed my dangling hair, forcing my neck to be fully exposed and pressed sharply against the edge of the table.
And then…
And then the knife came to my throat.
If this was just a dream…. Then…
Then why did this feel so real?
No…
I screamed.
BLIND
Ah yes, the long awaited death dream scene. About time. And I added the scream now because it was better than any other ending I could put there, so… sorry Mai. If we're lucky Mai won't be screaming for help for months as I try and fail to update. Fun fact, in the manga and anime Mai is understandably clothed, but in the novel she is actually naked when she is strapped to the table, having apparently been wearing a dark blue kimono when they were dragging her. Which is even more disturbing. Good luck sleeping tonight, kiddies! I did debate around using the word yukata instead, which is a sleeping garment if I remember correctly, but both the manga and the anime said kimono and so I went with it. Blame them not me.
I just noticed that all the mediums, like directly just spirit mediums, seem to have short hair in similar hairstyles. Well, probably not all of them, but anyway. I noticed this once with Mai and Masako, and I noticed it again when Suzuki first pops up in this episode (seriously like ten seconds in). They all have short bob-cut hair. Also, Gene's hair, while not bob cut, is still short. I know the others are spiritualists and what not, but they aren't exactly mediums. And yes, I consider Mai a medium. But that's more to do with what I define as a medium than anything else. Maybe I'll go into it later, but anyway. Just an observation.
**I want to clear something up real quick. I've said it before and I'll say it again. You can totally use the 'Mai is Blind' thing. You can use my technique that I use, but trust me it's a freaking pain and unless you enjoy torturing yourself for no apparent reason I'd just make an outline like most sane people. Use quotes if you want to—as long as they're either somehow acknowledged that they came from somewhere else AND/OR you ask me. I just would like to know what is going on.**
And now, these little bastards.
*1 Okay, I tried to put them in either what I THOUGHT the romaji for it was, or for the equivalent English word for it, depending on if I thought you the readers could understand it or not and if it fit while still looking Japanese-ish... I hope you all know what Mai was saying… I tried, okay? Minna is one of the only words I really knew, and it means 'everyone' if I'm not mistaken. Also, Shi is 'Death' or 'dead' or 'die' or something. So yeah. Here's the most literal pronunciations if you didn't get it (and even these might be a little off because screw you English) - Yo… Kay… Coo… Key… Ta… Saw… Knee… Ra… Rue… Kyo… She… Me Nah… Ha… Rye… Show
*2 As you can probably guess, I got the names from the novel. So yay for that, prepare to never hear about them again. Also, the fire brigade man is a farmer according to the novel. Fun fact of the day, kiddies.
*3 Tora. Tore Ah. Ah as in 'a can of…'. Anyway. Moving on.
*4 Okay, so obviously this scene isn't in any of the series, but Mai really does drop a pen in the novel and Yasu is the one who figures out the floor slant thing. They called in a spirit-level, and other than the overwhelming amount of irony that they apparently carry something called a spirit-level around I really wasn't too sure what they were describing at first. Then I realized that's because I call it a level and have been around them since I was very small. I realized that not everyone will be too sure what the heck it is, even if the context makes it fairly obvious. Basically it just tells you if stuff is level (no, really?). It's usually a plastic rectangle thingy with a small tube of yellow liquid with an air bubble inside. You lay it on the side opposite of the tube and you can tell if a floor or shelf or whatever by where the bubble is in the tube (center, left, or right) and it usually has some rulers and stuff to help you figure out the exact slant. Ummm. Actually just google it if you can. I suck at this. This probably wasn't even a needed description but it's late and I couldn't care less. So yeah. You probably already know what this is… I need sleep. Potato. Which is (hilariously) my friend's way of saying 'damn it' around small children that I have started to adopt. Which, of course, my response is potato in the exact context I just described…. Yeah sleep is good. Note to self—don't try writing when you're on pain meds for muscle cramps. Also, self, delete all of this. Readers, if you're even reading this part anymore it's a congratulation on your part and a lack of remembering to edit on mine.
I have another song to recommend. It's called D.O.L.L.H.O.U.S.E. and even if I knew the singer's name you honestly don't need it. Trust me, you'll find it just by typing i (I see things nobody else sees… sorry part of the lyrics). Also, check out Ghost by Mystery Skulls, pretty much any song by Madame Macabre on YouTube, and the Discord Remix by Living Tombstone.
As you guys know, my case is after this one. Yes, I'm squishing it between two canon cases… I have it pretty much mapped out right now, but I'm curious. What do you guys like to see in cases in fanfics? I'd love to know what you do (or don't) like in these cases, or what tropes you do or don't like (for instance, how there's a trope of making Mai and Naru share a room or bed during a case). Review or PM me your ideas! I'll try to respond this time… Like I said, I really do like replying to you guys. It's just harder with a busier schedule. Plus, holidays usually do weird things to me, like make me cranky (to say the least). So yeah. Sorry. Hehe…
UNTIL NEXT TIME, MY FRIENDS!