Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Also, I decided last chapter that I wasn't really going to make Lin upset or mad. It was more towards himself for not being there for Mai with her powers. Also, I used an actual haunting place in this, but I just kind of did my own thing with it. So, facts not might be perfect.
Lin and Madoka were heading back to their apartment after dropping Mai off. Mai and Lin had given each other their phone numbers, because why not. If either of them needed something this was easier than struggling to figure out how to contact each other. Right now Lin was in deep thought as he drove and Madoka was going a little mad.
"Okay, I know you're mad at me but at least try and talk to me!" She was upset from the silence from her boyfriend and it's been like this since the other found out about Mai. He talked to her in short sentences but that was it.
"I'm not mad." At her at least. He was pretty upset with himself and Naru. They didn't really leave anything behind for any of them to contact them with. He knew that Mai had reached out to Madoka, but he had no idea how. He was pretty sure none of them left anything. Well, it was probably easy to figure their e-mails out from online. Madoka would be under the Cambridge instructor tab and Naru and he would be on the list for the SPR website. "I know Mai said that she liked the field, but what if the only reason she had to go down this path was because of her powers?"
It was possible she didn't see any other way around it and decided to just go down this path for her life. Maybe, he was just over thinking things.
"Maybe, at one point that was the case."
Lin couldn't help but cringe at the words. If that was the case then they could have done something, before she picked her choice in career. He wasn't sure if it was too late or not.
"But…" She couldn't help but glance at her boyfriend and smiled. She understood completely now what was happening to him. He was so sweet thinking of the young woman and worrying. "I don't think you can tear her away from this anymore. She's completely enthralled by the world of ghost hunting and parapsychology."
Lin gave her a skeptic look as they reached a stoplight. They were almost home now, which he was happy about. He was ready to relax on the couch and destress.
Madoka rolled her eyes at him. He probably wouldn't believe her until he saw for himself. A sudden idea came over her and she lit up at it causing a huge smile to take over her face. "Alright, how about you come watch the classes? Noll shouldn't have an issue with it if I ask Martin about it. Martin would more than love the idea of you sitting in and giving your own thoughts about the subjects."
"And what if Noll gets suspicious about me going to the classes for the day? What if Martins asks for him to come along?"
Madoka scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The only way Noll is going to class is if he finds out Mai is there, so we're safe as long as he doesn't find out."
It took until they were only a block from the apartment to think through the offer. If he could see for himself then it probably would be a good idea. Madoka was right though. Noll wouldn't go to the class unless he was being forced by Martin, which doesn't happen until later on. "Alright. When would be a good day to go?"
-EEEEEE-
Naru had just gotten out of the shower as he picked up one of his many case files that was lying on his desk. He was home now and it was some time in the evening, but he wasn't sure what time. Time always seemed to escape him pretty easily these last few years. They just got back from a case earlier and Lin was acting weird when he suddenly decided to leave for the day. Probably to go see Madoka, since they were gone for about five days. He just didn't understand why he couldn't tell him that. There was no reason to think more on the subject though.
He couldn't help but let out a sigh as he sat in his chair to look at the file. The case looked really simple and it would be an easy job to end the week.
Apparently, the grandkids to this couple had put in the request. Their grandfather had ended up in the hospital recently from falling down the stairs. At least that's what they thought. When they had went over to take care of them they noticed a lot of things happening all the time. Mostly door slamming and things moving around, but it was mostly furniture. Apparently, their grandparents were completely used to this and always just yelled at whatever was causing this. One of the kids had almost tumbled down the stairs too, but they had caught themselves.
Seemed pretty simple. Almost too simple for Naru to want to take the case. There is obviously something going on, but it sounds like the spirit is slowly working the way up to something. It was only a guess though, but they should be able to figure out what's happening pretty fast. He wasn't worried about it. It gave him something to do.
"I see you're still excited about cases."
The sudden voice caused Naru to pause in reading. It's not like it's weird for his parents to show up, but it wasn't his parents at all. He slowly moved his eyes up to locate the mirror that was across the room. Which, not to his surprise, a younger version of himself was waving happily with a small smile on his face. He couldn't help but sigh as he glanced down at the papers once again. "Gene, what do you want?"
It's not like it's weird for him to show up, but the last time he did was several months ago. When he first showed up he kept saying he had things to take care of, but wouldn't actually voice what things were. Which was completely imprudent, how was he supposed to help his brother if he didn't talk?
The young ghost hummed thinking for a moment. He hasn't talked to Mai in a while, so he had no idea if his brother knew yet. Considering he was in his office looking over cases told him all he needed to know. "Anything interesting in that file?" He didn't need to be told though. He already knew because of Naru's thoughts about the case.
"It's a pretty standard case, but that doesn't answer my question." Naru's eyes narrowed as he kept his eyes on the file. He was already being suspicious. Probably checking up on him to see if he was doing anything unusual. Which he didn't understand what that would be, because that means something would have happened majorly. Made no sense.
"Pretty standard?" Gene kept his gentle smile on his face as he ignored the question. "Well, if that's it then I should go!"
"Gene." He tried to get to him before he vanished, but he was too late. He couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. His brother was still a headache as a spirit.
Oh well. He should e-mail the case to Lin before going to sleep. They would probably talk about it Monday in the office.
-EEEE-
Three days later Lin had found himself sitting in a seat that was by Martin's desk in Cambridge. The next day they were going on a case, so this was probably the best time for this. Naru was against this at first, but Martin basically gave the option of Lin going or him. Obviously, Lin was then told to go.
Mai and Yasu were up in their seats talking to two other people who were sitting in the seat in front of them. He recognized the girl from the other day, but he had no idea who the other was.
"Alright, class, today we're just going to be talking about some of the more famous hauntings around. Everyone has heard about the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, right?" Martin was pulling up something on the screen showing a photo that was taken 1936.
Mai and Yasu had heard of some of the details, since they usually glance around the internet to read about haunting cases.
Liam hummed as he stared at the photo before raising his hand. He didn't wait to get called on though before talking. "Are we going to be talking about if we think the place is actually haunted? I completely agree though that it's haunted."
Mai's eyes widen as she stared at the red hair guy. "What? You can't actually believe that, right?" Martin just smiled completely enjoying where this was going.
Liam blinked as he looked back at Mai. "I mean, yeah? There are so many reports about it. Things just don't happen."
Lin already knew the photo was most likely faked, plus the only people who probably said anything about it were probably paid. He was pretty sure there was no Brown Lady of Raynham Hall.
Mai just sighed deeply shaking her head. "You need to realize that a haunted spot is a good tourist area if someone wants to be freaked out. There are plenty of places that fake it to get attention. Besides, if there was a spirit there they probably would be a lot more violent. Especially with the past events that happened to her. Time warps the mind of a spirit, and if they don't move on they just get super violent. It would have been so bad they probably would have to shut it down completely. Or, get someone to come in and take care of her, professionally. I'm not talking about those wannabe ghost hunters that just go with only a camera and no knowledge of anything."
Trista couldn't help but laugh a little. "Wannabe ghost hunter…"
Liam turned to Trista his face getting red. "Shut up! I was only a kid then!"
Mai covered her mouth in fake shock. "You're…a wannabe ghost hunter? Scandalous."
Liam pointed his finger towards Mai as his face got even redder. "I was a kid! Anyways, there has to be some part of this to be true! Why else would it come up anyways?"
"That's like saying someone died in your house, so it must be haunted." Mai leaned against her desk thinking for a moment. "Maybe, it was haunted at one point, but I highly doubt that spirit is still around. That photo is fake though, so there wasn't actual evidence that she was still around."
Liam squinted at Mai judging her from saying it was fake so casually.
"Why do you think it's fake?" Martin decided to finally cut into their conversation.
Mai's eyes moved to the older male, then to the picture that was showing from the projector. "A regular camera wouldn't be able to catch something like this. The most you would get is more of a blur then an actual figure. It's just way to perfect. Even the cameras that people use for cases, are built with special lens that helps us do our job. There is just no way would something like this be possible in 1936, they would have had to do something to the picture." She shrugged and leaned back in her chair.
Martin glanced at the others in the room to see if they had anything else to say. Most of them were just staring at the photo to see if they could figure out some way to see if it was fake themselves. He just grinned and turned to the next slide to continue onward to their next haunted case.
The whole day ended up being about old haunted cases that may or may not be real. Everyone had their own opinion about each one and Mai basically argued with everyone. Martin was having a great time with it. Lin didn't say much though. Once in a while he did when things got really heated he would step in and defuse the situation. Martin seemed to enjoy letting it reach as high as it can until they were all basically yelling at each other.
It was very chaotic and Mai was in the middle of it almost all the time. Everyone seemed to be having fun though, and Lin was pretty impressed.
By the time the end of the day rolled around he was exhausted though. There was a lot yelling basically all day. He leaned against the wall outside of the room and sighed.
"Did we wear you out?" Mai popped in front of him smiling.
Lin chuckled and moved to pat her head. "I just wasn't expecting so much…arguing. The whole class got so into it."
"It's amazing, right? It's my favorite thing, because we can bounce different theories at each other." Her smile grew just thinking about it.
Lin rolled his eyes as he moved off the wall and head down the hall. "You say that, but you were speaking to everyone in a way that made it seem you knew the facts and they were being stupid." He couldn't help but think what it'll be like when Mai meets Naru again. It was going to be insane and he was already getting a headache again.
Mai laughed as she followed the other. Yasu was probably talking to the others anyways. "That's because you need to state facts then what you debate with everyone. They still don't understand you can't put your own thoughts into your research. You can't just believe. You need to prove it."
-EEEEEE-
Mai opened her eyes slowly and looked up at the ceiling. She was very groggy and tried to move her arms. She couldn't. "What…?" She mumbled as she moved her arm again. Still meant with resistance.
She decided to blink a couple times and looked around the room. There was gray concrete walls and the ceiling was even gray. She couldn't see the floor though. She tried to move again, but flinched when whatever was holding her down moved into a wound that was on her wrist.
Rope burn. She managed to connect the dots. She was in a dream, which was very confusing. She wasn't on a case and she was pretty sure the others weren't going on a case anytime soon. She was way too far away for her to dream for them anyways.
There was a sound of a door opening up from behind her and a loud bang from when it closed. It didn't sound like a normal wooden door. There was a sound difference she has learned that throughout the years. Maybe…metal? That didn't sound right to her either.
All the sudden there was a male in front of her with a huge grin on his face. He had very blonde hair and brown eyes she took note the moment she saw his face. Nothing else jumped at her though. No scars. No birthmarks on the face. No moles. His face was pretty smooth in general. There wasn't much to work with just seeing the face, which was going to be annoying.
"Hello, my love…" His voice was hair-raising. She had no idea why but it literally made her skin crawl. Probably, the reaction of the person she is replacing. First person was always an experience.
She didn't speak though. Which means she probably wasn't going to get any names. This dream probably showed the death, so this was the first of the puzzle piece.
"I love you so much…" He mumbled as he moved his hand to caress her cheek. "I'm sorry…I just can't help myself. Please understand."
"Char-." Mai finally spoke but was cut off by the man's hand covering her mouth. It was so powerful that she might have gotten a bruise on her face.
"Shush, my love. It'll be over soon." He had pulled away heading off in a direction she couldn't see. "I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but please understand that this is for an experiment."
Mai was confused now as she tried to see where the man went. Which she didn't have to wait long until he had come back in her view. He was holding a container of…something that was moving around a lot. It looked like several little somethings.
He gave her a ominous smile as he moved her head to open her mouth. "Please, swallow so the experiment goes as planned."
The next thing she knew the container was opening up and was being dumped in her mouth.
Mai's eyes opened slowly and looked at the ceiling for several seconds. That was undeniably bugs that she had swallowed.
Her stomach was turning in a horrible way and she was trying to do her best to calm her stomach down and herself. Her effort was futile. She was up seconds later and running to her bathroom to throw up whatever was in her stomach.
'Naru…' It was the only thing that made sense.
She sighed deeply and moved off the floor and went to get her notebook. Going out of her room, she went to the fridge to get some water and started writing out her dream.
When she was happy with everything she wrote down she went to grab her phone, but blinked staring at the time. It was three in the morning. She should send a text and if Lin knows what's good for him he better not be up.
To Lin - Call me ASAP when you get up.
-EEEEEE-
Hey, so this part is like a little crack part. I recently watched an anime and I can't help myself. Honestly, I could totally see Madoka and Lin finding out about how insane Mai's feelings are this way. I don't know if this is actually part of the story but it might be-
Mai was sitting on the couch watching the screen as one of the shows she's been watching nonstop played. The Millionaire Detective Balance: Unlimited.
Honestly, there was really only one reason why she was so engrossed with the show. Daisuke Kambe.
Her eyes haven't even left his figure from the moment he showed up on the screen. She's been sitting her for a couple hours now just watching him. Sometimes she would even go back and watch an episode over again, because she needed more of a certain moment. At least she was safe for the moment with Yasu gone. He had went to meet up with Madoka and Lin, since he hadn't had a chance to meet with Lin yet since he had found out.
So, she could sit here and fangirl all she wanted.
Probably not the best idea in the long run, because she was completely zoned out when Yasu came back. He couldn't help but smirk seeing her sitting curled up on the couch watching the screen so intently.
He took his time to sneak up behind the couch carefully, which the other couple who had come up with him gave him a weird look. He just shushed them and leaned against the couch. "I see you're watching Daisuke again…" He whispered so he didn't startle her.
Mai bit her lip as she didn't realize what was actually happening. "Daisuke…is just so amazing." Her tone was calm as she was still entranced.
"Oh? Why is he so amazing?" Yasu's smirk grew a little as Mai played right into his plan. He couldn't help but glance at the couple and winked. Which only confused them further.
Mai whirled her head around to stare at Yasu before squealing and flopping down on the couch. "That's a stupid question!" She pointed at the screen where the said man was standing. "Just look at him. That black hair and those dark blue eyes…He's just so…" She squealed again and moved to hold one of the pillows on the couch. "Naru probably would look amazing in that suit…also Daisuke's smirk reminds me of Naru's! It's that smug smirk that just…"She squealed. "They're both so arrogant too, but it's one of the features that makes you love them more. Even if you just want to slap them…" She mumbled as she stared at the screen.
Yasu just smiled as he has heard most of this already. He couldn't help but look at the couple. Lin's eyes were extremely wide and Madoka was obviously trying not to laugh.
"Oh! They both are so slow to process things that are new to them. It's so cute when they get that twisted look in their eyes, but they also act so confident afterwards…because they redo something and it seems to always be better than the original…" Mai groaned as she covered her head with the pillow. She couldn't help but squeal though once again thinking about the two. "They're obviously different in some aspects…but they're both so adorable. Also that look when they're trying to figure something out…" She squealed for the billionth time since Yasu had showed up.
At this point Lin was now trying not to laugh. Madoka was doing her best to keep calm. "I…I see. You have an interesting type of man..." Right after that Madoka broke and started to laugh.
Mai's eyes widen at the new voice in the room and shot up. Her eyes widen seeing the two standing there. "Yasu!" She screeched as the other ran to his room. Mai wasted no time in jumping over the couch going after the other.
