Chapter Thirteen -An Ominous Presence
Mai slipped beneath the covers in her room with a contented sigh. Things may have been awkward with Ichijou for a while, but they had greatly improved. She was absolutely certain she was safe with him. The thing that bothered her was the presence hovering on the edge of her perception. That dark presence hadn't been close for a while, but it was still there. She could feel it. If it wasn't lurking within the grounds it was definitely hovering just outside, though she had no idea what it was waiting for. It hadn't made a move to contact or hurt them so far. So is it here to watch us or the Night Class?
Inwardly she knew it had to be watching them. If it had been there for the Night Class then something would have happened a long time ago. She was surprised it hadn't. Kaname was no pushover, and she had the feeling that his authority went further than just the students of the school. He had an authoritative quality that suggested he wasn't used to being refused, a lot like Naru, who held a lot of weight in his line of work. Kaname was also rich, possibly the son of a businessman. He had to be to have the room he did. It was twice as big as everyone else's.
So, if this presence was watching them, then why? They weren't particularly special, aside from the psychic powers…But she didn't know how it would know about that. It didn't seem likely that it had lured them there. What would the point in that be? There were plenty of humans already there that it could prey on. Unless it was only watching them because they had appeared. Perhaps it lived close by, or had been watching the school, unlikely as that sounds…
The bottom line was that she would need to be careful, and talk to Naru. That presence hadn't done anything for a while. It could have been Lin or Kaname, or a combination of both, that put it off. She wasn't sure. It won't stay dormant forever…
"Naru?" Mai called softly as she stood outside his door, biting her lip slightly as she waited to see if he would answer. It was half way through the day, so he could well have been sleeping. She hadn't been able to sleep herself, her head had been too filled with thoughts. Hearing a shuffle behind the door Mai stood back a little, the lock clicking before it was pulled open.
"Mai. Come in." Naru invited, his voice a little groggy despite his attempt to seem awake. She knew Naru was a light sleeper. He'd always woken up if she tiptoed by his room on cases, and if he fell asleep at his desk he would always wake up as the door opened. I should have knocked even more softly. She thought guiltily as she stepped into his room, wearing her chocolate silk pyjamas for a change with her fuzzy cream slippers.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." She apologised, her eyes shifting to the messed up sheets and oddly angled pillows that suggested Naru's sleep hadn't been easy either. He was beginning to get dark rings beneath his eyes where he was burning both ends of the candle. He had classes at night and was staying awake watching cameras for part of the day. Doing his homework. Calling Lin and sometimes meeting with him after class then coming back to the dorm quite late.
"It's fine, I was going to talk to you anyway." He replied sternly, his tired blue eyes getting back some of their sharpness as he pulled his dressing gown from the back of the door. Mai was secretly disappointed as he covered his bare torso with the black flannel material, his lower half clad in black tracksuit bottoms. He made his way to the wardrobe and opened the doors, pushing the clothes back before turning on the televisions.
"Oh?" Mai prompted warily as Naru sat on the end of the bed, patting the space beside him wordlessly. Mai joined him and perched on the edge, her hazel eyes shifting to the boy beside her as he watched the mostly sleeping students of the Night Class. Only Ichijou seemed to be awake, sitting in bed reading, his torso bare above the covers.
"You were careless earlier." Naru stated plainly, Mai sighing at the inevitability of the situation. As soon as she had agreed to go out with Ichijou she'd known Naru would be on to her. "The Night Class aren't normal, and I get the feeling they know about us…I don't know what they'll do, but I don't want you wandering out of sight with them." Naru cautioned, clearly on edge, which wasn't normal. Very few things unsettled him. The last time he'd felt this unsettled had been during the investigation of the Prime Minister's mansion, which they'd burned down to purify the evil within.
"But Naru, they're not bad people!" Mai argued, unable to say exactly how she knew. She just did. That was how her powers had always worked.
"It doesn't matter if they're evil or not. People forced into a corner will do terrible things to survive…I don't know the details yet, but that's the situation." Naru stated firmly, Mai giving him a dirty look as she sat beside him. She couldn't imagine someone as kind as Ichijou hurting anyone, or Zero, or Yuuki, or Kaname. None of the Night Class seemed the violent type.
"The Night Class aren't the problem here." Mai stated with certainty, reminding Naru of the other presence lurking on the edge of her perception. It wasn't something new. Lin had felt it, and discussed it with him, and he agreed it was a concern. He didn't know whether the Night Class were aware or whether it was just Mai and Lin's overly sensitive perception picking it up.
"Whatever it is it will reveal itself in time, but that doesn't change the fact that the Night Class must be approached with caution…" Naru said finally as he watched the screens, certain that there was more going on in the school than met the eye. Lin had taken the pills, and driven into town to run some tests using the local doctor's surgery. Hopefully he'll shed some light…Naru thought as he leaned closer to the girl beside him, watching her cheeks as they coloured, the smaller girl shifting away slightly. It amazed him how the slightest physical closeness always produced the same reaction. "You're still blushing." He stated as he leaned a little closer, the scent of honey drifting up from her hair.
"I don't see what that has to do with." Mai began, cut off as Naru leaned down to capture her lips, turning slightly on the bed as he wrapped his arms around her gently. She had no idea what he was thinking. Ser hands caught his shoulders and pushed him back firmly, her cheeks a bright shade of red. Her hazel eyes were wide in surprise as she gazed up into his almost clouded blue hues.
"We're supposed to have been dating for two years. No one will believe that if you're blushing all the time." Naru acquiesced as he sat up, allowing Mai's hands to drop away from his shoulders. She fixed him with a small glare, knowing he'd been toying with her.
"What's the point in pretending if they're onto us anyway?" She asked somewhere between anger and hurt, though Naru didn't really pick up on it as he got to his feet to shut off the televisions. With the Night Class sleeping there was no point in watching them.
"That's why we have to practice. The more genuine we seem the more we'll allay their suspicions." He replied simply, turning to look down at the overly sensitive girl on his bed. He really couldn't understand her reluctance. From what he understood she'd wanted to get closer to him for some time, but given the opportunity she seemed less than keen. His brother had always said he'd never understand women. It was true.
"You're so insensitive sometimes!" Mai snapped as she got to her feet. She had no intention of being played with.
"Sometimes?" He retorted, Mai pausing as she shot him a glare. Since when did Naru develop a sense of humour? "Try to keep your feelings separate to this. We need to try our hardest to appear as a doting couple." Naru said plainly, with the barest hint of an apology. Mai still wasn't keen on this training, it was like purposely letting Naru play with her feelings, and he did enough of that when they weren't pretending to date.
"Alright, but I draw the line at kissing." Mai said assertively, determined not to get in too deep. She'd already fallen for Naru, and the last thing she wanted was to break her heart over him when they stopped going out after this case. Accepting her conditions Naru stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her loosely and watching as her cheeks coloured.
"Perhaps we should start small." He decided, pulling her flush against his body as he held her, his hands rubbing the small of her back, getting a little guilty pleasure as he stroked the smooth silk of her pyjamas. He was slightly annoyed that the dressing gown cut off the feel of her petite body. The light scent of her honeyed hair was divine. Closing his eyes he leaned his head on hers. Holding her brought such a sense of peace that he felt he could have fallen asleep with her timid arms wrapped around his waist. "You're still blushing." He murmured without checking, feeling a small fist hit his back lightly.
"Kain, pinch me! Either I'm dreaming or I've died and gone to heaven!" Aido whispered as he entered the room with his tall cousin, who followed Aido's infatuated gaze with a roll of his eyes. At the board was a tall, lithe redhead. Her quirked lips were rouged, her dark eyes fixed to the board as she wrote in neat curling script. Giving Aido a subtle kick in the leg Kain steered his cousin to their desk at the front, where Aido was even more appreciative of the object of his desire.
From the angle he was sitting he had the perfect view of her backside, which was full and plump, her waist drawing in above and her legs thinning below. The legs were her main feature. Long, elegant, shapely and ending with high heeled black shoes that drew his eyes to her delicate ankles. He didn't care that she was human, or that she was a mature adult, in fact that was a turn on for him.
"Alright. Mr Lin can't be here today so I will be taking your class. My name is Dr Matsuzaki, and we're studying biology." Ayako announced as she turned away from the board, putting on some elegant spectacles as she looked at a thick text book. Aido stared at her face in awe. She was beautiful. Even hotter when wearing the glasses, which accentuated her high cheekbones.
"You can give me a lesson in anything you want." The redhead murmured in a love struck tone, Ayako's sharp eye shifting to him and his infatuated expression. It was a look she had gotten acquainted to with the boys of the Day Class, secretly finding it quite adorable that all these teenaged boys were looking at her like the first real woman they'd ever laid eyes on.
"We'll be sticking to biology for today." She stated teasingly, enjoying the small blush that coloured his cheeks. It was so easy to wind up little boys. Turning to the board she began outlining the different parts of the heart. Aido's attention was rapt for the entire lesson, his pen feverishly taking down notes, hanging onto every word. The rest of the Night Class worked quietly, secretly amused by Aido's crush.
Knocking his pencil on the floor Aido flushed slightly as Ayako clocked him, knowing exactly what he wanted. The Day Class students had been doing it all week. Bending down Ayako retrieved the pencil, handing it to the redhead without comment, leaving him feeling dirty as he thought about her cleavage. She'd known what he wanted and had given it to him out of spite. She really knows how to play a guy! He thought as he leaned on his hand and stared at her legs as she turned back to the board, feeling a tight jerk in his crotch.
As Mai watched the exchange she was unconcerned about Aido. He'd tried something on with her in the corridor once, but Ayako was more than a match for him without using any sort of power at all. The boy was like putty in her experienced hands, and his taller cousin wore a rare and subtle smile that told her he wasn't going to let Aido forget it any time soon. Despite her amusement at the situation she was concerned by Lin's absence, but today she was sitting next to Shiki so she couldn't ask Naru. Naru was in his usual seat with a reserved Rima, the blonde seeming largely indifferent to him.
"You're unsettled." Shiki stated, Mai feeling quite shy. She hadn't spoken to Shiki before, and to find he could read her so easily was disturbing to say the least. He, on the other hand, was much harder to read. His expression was usually one of indifference or boredom, but she knew he must have thoughts bubbling under the surface, just like Rima.
"A little I guess." She replied, trying to be vague about her answer. She wasn't sure whether the Night Class knew who they'd brought with them or not. Ayako had a chance of blending in since she worked in the Day Class, but Lin worked with them in the Night Class and the students could have guessed at a connection.
"Have you watched anything interesting lately?" The brunette asked, his voice casual but his eyes much more expressive. One thought ran through Mai's head. They know. As she looked around she could feel the eyes of the Night Class upon her, almost accusingly. They know, and they know I did it.
"I haven't had time to watch anything lately! I can barely open a book these days." Mai replied evasively, fixing her eyes to her book, though she could feel Shiki's almost accusing gaze upon her the whole time. She'd be glad when the lesson was over and she could return to her room. I should see Naru first. If they know then there's no point in watching them. That's why he told me.
"In the name of the Lord, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." John recited, looking out at his congregation as they stood with their heads bowed, most of them approaching old age. He was unsurprised. Hardly any of his school friends attended church. They were casually Christian, agnostic or atheist mostly. Once the prayer was done he watched them cross themselves and get to their feet. Service had ended.
Walking down the aisle John placed himself by the large ornate door, his congregation watching before slowly filing out of the pews, each of them pausing to say a few words or shake John's hand as they passed. He smiled and thanked them in return, occasionally giving a 'Bless you' or 'May God go with you' as they passed. His father waited until the end, as ever, his eyes full of pride.
"That was a fine sermon." The middle aged man praised as he laid a hand on John's shoulder, the last of his congregation ambling slowly through the graveyard towards the gate at the bottom of the well-worn path. The church itself was around two hundred years old, and everything inside was original, from the pews to the stained glass windows. It had been built in medieval style, wooden awnings left open above.
"Thank you Father." John said with a smile, his voice echoing slightly in the hollow hall. Heading away from the door John led the way into the vestry, which was hidden by deep red velvet curtains that dragged on the floor. Through the entrance way were his desk, various cabinets and bookshelves. He returned the bottle of communion wine to one of the locking cabinets before going around the hall with his father, taking the bibles from the empty pews. He stacked them on the empty shelves in the vestry for safe keeping.
"It's getting dark earlier now..." His father almost sighed as he looked out of the small window at the surrounding countryside, a shiver running down his spine at the thought of impending darkness. John had no such qualms, and diligently continued his work. He counted up the donation money, which was going towards repairs on the tiled roof. It wasn't leaking yet, but there were cracked tiles that needed seeing to. He then planned on going through his appointment book for the coming week and figuring out what needed to be done.
"It'll be getting colder soon too." John stated, his fingers deftly counting up the notes, touched to find that they alone made over one hundred dollars, and the coins would add at least another twenty by the looks of it. Once the money was counted John put it in his trunk, which had a small secure compartment inside for money storage.
Though he knew his father was trying his best to be patient John could sense the restlessness in the air. It had been the same ever since his mother had died, in fact his father had been anxious even before then. John didn't understand it himself. He quite liked the night. Ignoring the atmosphere John moved on to his schedule, making a note of Monday's bookings in his own diary so that he could focus on them that night and the next day at school.
Once he was finished he blew out the candles dotted about the church and shut off the lights and main electricity, which had been fitted around twenty years ago. At the door his father looked around almost warily as John locked the large doors, putting the heavy iron keys in the deep pocket of a long black jacket over his cassock. Looking up John could see a mosaic of stars shining down, the few tall trees dotted around the graveyard having little to no effect on the spectacular view.
"Let's get home." His father prompted, John nodding his agreement as they made their way down the path, the stone cracked and uneven beneath their feet. This was another thing they would need to sort out, perhaps after the roof if there was any money left over. He also wanted to fix or replace some of the older gravestones. He felt it sad that so many had fallen to disrepair. The families of the deceased no longer visited, or were long dead themselves. He'd found whole families in that graveyard, some of them buried alongside each other.
Despite his father's urgency John was prone to ambling and his pace was slow, his father walking ahead to get the car started. As his father got further away John began to get a strange feeling, as if he were being watched by something in the dark. A shiver ran through him as he stopped and looked through the trees, his oceanic eyes picking out a tall but elegant figure in the distance.
"Who's there?" He called through the heavy atmosphere, almost finding it hard to breathe as the figure approached. He'd all but forgotten about his father as he watched the figure transfixed. It was a man. A man who could only be described as handsome. He had elegance, high cheek bones, a sloping jawline, and deep brown eyes. His long silver hair flowed down in straight locks to his hips, except for the short bangs that framed his face. He was adorned in finery, finery that John would have expected from the nineteenth century. He wore a fine velvet frock coat, the frilled sleeves of his white shirt beneath sloping over the cuffs elegantly.
"It wasn't my intention to tarry. I was just…visiting someone." The man replied with all the grace of a noble. Everything about this man was putting John on edge. He wasn't afraid. God would protect him. John had faith in that, and the crucifix resting on his chest was more than comforting as the man closed in. "You are a man of the church I see." The noble stated with a mixture of admiration and caution.
"That's right. I'm the vicar of this church, Father Brown." John introduced, seeing no reason not to be courteous, despite the bad feeling he got. The man had stopped two feet away, and seemed to have no intention of coming closer. His ringed fingers had curled into loose fists. "And who might you be? You're not a member of my congregation." John prompted, the man giving him an incredulous, and then amused smile.
"I have lived here for many years…Your father can attest to that. Tell him that Lord Farringdon said good evening." The nobleman replied as he turned and walked back the way he came. John watched him until he was out of sight, suddenly feeling cold. Looking further down the path he had completely lost sight of his father, whom he imagined was waiting impatiently in the car. Heading down the path, walking a little quicker than before, John was unsurprised to see his father standing at the open door of the driver's side.
"I was about to send a search party for you!" His father said teasingly, though beneath the teasing nature John could sense a deep unease. Moving to the passenger's side John climbed in without comment, unsure what to say. John knew all of his father's friends, and Lord Farringdon didn't seem to be the friend type, so how would his father react?
"I would have been faster, but I met someone." John stated, watching his father for a reaction. His father paused as he reached to turn the key in the ignition, his green eyes showing a deep unease. He tried to be casual as he looked at his son, but John could read the discomfort in his poise.
"Oh? Who would be out walking so far from town at this time I wonder?" He said questioningly, John feeling his palms sweating slightly as he braced himself to give his father the answer. His father seemed just as jumpy, his hands shaking on the steering wheel as he tried to keep up the charade of normality.
"A friend of yours, or so he says…Lord Farringdon." John stated, watching as the colour drained from his father's face. He hadn't seen that haunted look for a long time. Not since the night of his mother's death. John hadn't been there for the death, but his father had come back looking just the same as he did now.
"What did he say to you?" The older man demanded in a harsh voice, almost making John feel like a ten year old being scolded for talking to a stranger. His father didn't scare him often, but John found his heart fluttering as those green eyes all but glared at him.
"He just came over to say hello. He was visiting someone in the graveyard." John replied hastily, really worried about his father's state of mind. Before John could even think to protest his father had started the car and was reversing away from the church at high speed, John finding himself flung against the door as the car turned. His father hadn't even waited for him to buckle his seat belt.
"You're not to stay here at night again." The older man stated plainly, John taken aback by the sudden demand.
"Father, I'm the vicar. I have to be available to my congregation." John replied, his father looking at his son's fearful, stunned and outraged expression with a mixed of frustration and guilt. He was taking things out on John and it wasn't fair.
"You're right…We'll sort something out…Just stay away from that man. Don't talk to him. Don't let him talk to you, and if he gets close just run." His father warned, John keeping his scepticism to himself. The effect the man had had on him was slowly wearing off, and when he looked back on it he felt foolish for being so unsettled. The man had been nothing but courteous.
"I'll be more careful father." John promised, mainly to appease his father. He was now growing curious about the man, whom he was sure he'd be able to find out more about. He was a Lord after all. There were a lot of places he could look. John wondered what a Lord had been doing all the way out here. There wasn't much around and he certainly didn't live close by. Everyone would know if there was someone famous in their midst. His mind made up, John kept silent as his father drove, fully intending to find out as much as possible about this Lord Farringdon.
