Behold: and update! I CAN do it, even with my current obsession with Fairy Tail! All it takes is a little time reading my favorite Ghost Hunt fanfictions. Not my own—although I'm pretty fond of those too. I'm sure you understand.

This one turned out pretty long, so please enjoy. I'll be editing at a later date, so sorry about grammatical errors to those of you who read this before the editing happens.

I don't own Ghost Hunt.

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Considering how active it'd been during the investigation, the rest of the night was suspiciously quiet. I still wasn't having any dreams. It was nice to be able to get some decent sleep in a haunted location, but at the same time I was kind of missing them. Those dreams make me feel useful on these cases. Without them, I wasn't sure how much use I could be. Masako was getting frustrated too.

I spent most of the morning going over last night's footage with Yasu and Ayako. We must have listened to the audio at least a hundred times, trying to make out any words, but it was just too indistinct to make out anything other than laughter. So instead, we pulled out a floor plan of the museum and tried to pinpoint the voices.

I started by drawing a circle around the hanging room. "There's definitely voices coming from in here." I said. "And they don't move around."

"That's no surprise," Ayako agreed. "What's important is that they don't move. Obviously the spell on the room is working."

Yasu tapped his pen on the table a few times. "It sounds like the ones that move around come from this area." He circled the section of the museum that included the hanging room, the dolls, and a couple other attractions.

I looked over the attractions he'd circled. "There's more than one voice, so it can't just be Edward." I said.

Ayako suggested "It looks like the best suspects are those porcelain dolls."

Yasu and I both nodded in agreement. Yasu added "I don't know much about those dolls. I haven't come across them before in my research."

I looked over to the couch, where Kara was tackling a puzzle. "Kara?" I called. She paused and looked up at me. "Can you tell us about the porcelain dolls?"

Her face lit up and she bounced over to us. "The dolls!" She started. "Made by an obsessive doctor after losing his wife. He would kill his patients and use their skin to make the dolls. Some stories say he even did it to his own daughter."

An unexpected flash of anger flared up in my stomach. To his own daughter? How could anyone do that to their own daughter?

"Were the patients children?" Yasu asked.

Kara answered. "Some of them. Not all."

"The security measures against them aren't that good either." Ayako added. "You're not supposed to touch them, right? Putting a sign up doesn't mean that people are going to follow it."

A knock at the door interrupted our brainstorming. I turned to look, wondering who would bother to knock, and saw that it was Mr. Yukito. Finally. I'd been waiting for him to show up all morning.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," He started.

"Oh no, don't worry about it." I answered, jumping to my feet and going over to meet him. "Actually, I was kind of hoping I could ask you a few more questions."

"Of course," He answered. He looked down to his side, and I realised with a sudden shock that he wasn't alone. "Raiden, how about you go to my office and wait there?"

The little boy didn't acknowledge that he heard his father. His light brown eyes were trained on something behind me. I turned to follow his gaze and found Kara, standing just behind me, staring back at him.

"Hi," Raiden said. "I'm Raiden."

"I'm Kara," She answered shyly.

"Did you see my dad's museum?" Raiden asked.

"Mhm." Kara mumbled. "It's cool."

The two children studied each other silently for a moment, and I was strangely reminded of a time back in middle school when a friend of mine introduced her new cat to her dog for the first time. Their stances were wary, but their eyes sparkled and a single question passed silently between them: friend or foe?

Raiden grinned, breaking the rising tension. "You wanna go again? I know all the stories. Even the ones they don't tell you here."

Kara looked up at me with wide eyes. I smiled and nodded, trying really hard to contain my excitement. A friend! A friend for Kara!

Kara looked back at the boy. "Okay," She answered timidly. Raiden reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the room.

Mr. Yukito chuckled as they vanished around the corner. "That boy just can't help himself when he finds someone who wants to listen to his stories. I hope your daughter is a patient one."

"Oh, she loves this stuff too." I answered automatically. His words suddenly processed, and I remembered that Ayako and Yasu were both in the room with me. "Oh, uh, she's not… I'm just watching her." I tried correcting him, finding myself unable to lie straight out.

"I apologize." He answered swiftly. "I was assuming based on your demeanor. Of course the ages don't line up."

Although I knew it was true, his tone still kind of irked me. "How old is Raiden?" I asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from my relationship to Kara.

"Eleven." Mr. Yukito answered.

"Does he spend a lot of time here?"

"Not much," He answered. "He accompanies me here occasionally on the weekends. Raiden is fascinated by the supernatural, but his mother doesn't approve of it."

"I see," I muttered, jotting it down on my notepad. It had nothing to do with what I wanted to ask him about, but a little extra information never hurt. I continued "I was wondering if you could tell me more about the security features for the dolls. The porcelain ones, specifically."

Mr. Yukito and I drifted over to sit on the couch while he answered. "What is most important about those dolls is not touching them. The footage for the dolls are carefully monitored during business hours, although the concern is more for the guest than the museum. Touching them does not trigger paranormal activity in the area per say, but it does follow the offender around. It isn't known to be violent, like Edward's curse, just disturbing. From the reports we've had, the activity consists mostly of noises and shadows."

I took a second to finish writing and moved on to my next question. "So Edward's curse is violent?"

"Edward's curse is very simple." He responded. "A person who disrespects the doll will meet with some sort of accident that causes physical harm to the person in question or someone close to them. I'd say most of the time it's a broken bone, but there have been rare instances of more serious injuries."

A cold chill ran down my spine. It would be just my luck to accidently do something to offend the doll and end up in the hospital for a few weeks.

As if sensing my discomfort, Mr. Yukito quickly added. "We take great care with the doll, of course. The only people truly at risk are the doll's caretakers. The only thing any other person could do to offend him would be to take his picture without asking first. Naturally, we have permission to use the security camera on him."

That made me feel about one percent better. "So, you said there had been damage to the property." I pressed on. "What exactly would those damages be?"

"We get the occasional glass decoration breaking, but that does not concern me. What does concern me is that there have been scratches appearing on the walls. So far it has done little damage, but the scratches have been migrating slowly toward the spell work both around the hanging room and around the building itself."

I stopped. "Wait, there's a spell on the whole building? Aside from the one on the hanging room?"

He smiled, looking either proud or smug, I couldn't decide. "Yes. There is a weaker barrier surrounding the entire building, meant to dampen paranormal activity. This is another reason why the rise in activity is concerning, especially since the spell has yet to be damaged."

I had to admit I was kind of impressed. The spell around the room was intricate enough, but to have one surrounding the whole building? I'd have to go looking for it later on. Jotting it down, I quickly moved onto my next question. "So what's the deal with the hanging room?" I asked him.

His face darkened. "I cannot accurately describe it. Just know that the forces within are powerful and dangerous. If they were to be released, this building would not be safe anymore."

A part of me wanted to press him for more details, but there was a look of warning in his eyes that stopped me. Maybe some things were better left unknown.

Later during the day, I relayed the conversation to Naru as he was going through some documents Ayako had sorted out for him.

"I'd noticed the spell work around the building yesterday. I'm glad Mr. Yukito confirmed it." He started. A twinge of annoyance shot through me. Of course Naru noticed it. It's just like him to note something important like that and then say absolutely nothing about it. "This explains the oppression both you and Miss Hara are experiencing. A spell intended to oppress paranormal activity would certainly affect the abilities of both latent psychics and mediums." He closed the folder in his hands and set it on the table in front of him. "The activity in the building lines up with the activity associated with the porcelain dolls, however there are a few things that don't quite add up." His eyes flicked over to me. "What's your feeling?"

The question surprised me. He'd been deferring to me on a lot of things since adopting Kara, but I didn't think I would ever hear him ask me that on a case. "Well…" I started, thinking about the exhibits and the many interviews. "I definitely think those porcelain dolls have something to do with it… but I feel like there's something else going on too."

"I agree," He said, shocking me again. His eyes got that faraway look he gets when he's thinking hard about something. After a second he focused again and turned back to me, asking "Where's Kara?"

I felt my face split into a wide grin. "Kara found herself a friend." I answered proudly. "Mr. Yukito's son, Raiden. He's eleven. They've been playing around in the building all afternoon. I've been keeping an eye on her through the cameras."

"I see," He answered dismissively, but I could tell by the way he almost smiled that he was just as excited as I was about Kara making a new friend. After all, Kara had never had a proper friend before. The nineteen other children in the orphanage she grew up in had avoided her like the plague owing to her PK.

"I told her to be back for supper." I added.

Naru looked like he was about comment, but before he did, his eyes widened slightly and a spark lit up within them. "The boy, Raiden," He asked suddenly. "Is he often in the museum?"

I checked my notes, knowing that I'd written that down somewhere. "Not often," I answered. "Apparently he spends weekends here sometimes. Mr. Yukito said that he's fascinated by the supernatural, but his mom doesn't approve."

"I see." He said, his eyes narrowing. His sudden fascination with Raiden confused me. Why would it matter if he's often at the museum?

And then I remembered.

"I have no reason to believe the cause of this activity is human. The only viable suspects would be frequent customers of the museum, nearby residents with a strong affinity to the location, and members of the staff. The location is isolated and there are no notable frequent customers, so the first two options can be ruled out. As for the staff, no one under the age of 30 is employed and all have undergone screenings for psychic ability as part of the business's safety procedures."

Raiden isn't a member of the staff, so he wouldn't have undergone the psychic screenings. He was young. He was at the museum often enough to be a frequent customer, and his dad owns the property.

… But still, that didn't make sense. Raiden wasn't on the property last night during our investigation, and voices like the ones we caught can't be attributed to poltergeists. The damage could be a case of poltergeisting, but I'd never heard of a human based poltergeist being aware enough to target something specific, especially in someone so young.

Of course, I knew better than to say any of that out loud. I'm sure Naru knew all that, and saying it would just invite Naru to insult my intelligence in some way. I was not going to give him that opportunity.

"Mai?"

I turned my attention back to Naru. His eyes had morphed from pensive into their usual smugness, and I could guess what he was going to say before he opened his mouth to say it.

"Tea."

I turned with a sigh, answering "Yes boss."

"So Kara, do you like Raiden?"

Kara looked up from the book she was reading and grinned. "Yep." She answered me. "He likes paranormal stuff like me. He knows lots of the stories I know."

I smiled back. "That's good." I told her. "Do you think you'd like the play with him some more once we're done with our work?"

Kara's eyes widened. "Yes please!"

I held back a laugh. "I'll see what I can do." I promised her. I made a mental note to talk with Mr. Yukito about it tomorrow.

The team was all gathered at the base, preparing various things for the upcoming night investigation. Ayako wasn't in her full getup this time, but she was preparing a few wards with Masako. Monk and John were fully prepped, organizing all their tools of the trade. Lin and Naru were going over the new camera angles they'd adjusted earlier and Yasu was typing away on his laptop. Kara was relaxing on the couch while I stood with a now empty tray, having just finished handing everyone their cups of tea (everyone meaning Lin, Yasu, Masako, and of course Naru).

It was going to be all hands on deck this time. Naru was assigning everyone a doll to watch. The porcelains, with the help of museum staff, had been separated earlier that day so that we could pinpoint which one of the dolls was causing issues. Masako, Ayako and John each had one doll to watch. Monk had another, plus Edward. Naru had tried to claim the last doll for himself, but Lin argued against it, so the last one was going to be watched by both Lin and Naru. Yasu and I were watching the monitors at home base with Kara.

"All right," Naru started, stepping back from the screens. "There won't be any form of provocation this time. Our presence alone, coupled with the movement of the dolls earlier, should be enough to stir them into activity. If you experience anything at all, relay it the others. Remember not to touch the dolls under any circumstance."

Everyone nodded, making some sound of acknowledgement, and dispersed to go to their designated spots. I slipped into the chair that Lin vacated at the monitors. Yasu sat next to me, while Kara came up behind me and leaned against my chair.

As Naru was leaving, he flashed me a warning look, one that very clearly said 'do NOT do anything stupid'. I glared back at him, but I'm not sure he noticed it before leaving the room.

Come on, Naru, I thought. I'm not the one who's actually facing the haunted dolls. If anyone needs to be careful, it's him.

At the same time, I was both shocked and elated that he'd given me that look, and I'd understood it perfectly.

It was almost ten when we started, and Kara was already starting to nod off. Everyone else was tense with anticipation.

By ten-thirty, the little girl was sound asleep on the couch, and the team had yet to experience anything. Yasu and I started playing around with Kara's set of marbles.

By eleven-thirty, Ayako was starting to complain about needing her beauty sleep, which Monk quickly started teasing her about. This went on for about ten minutes before Naru got fed up with it and told them to shut up.

At around midnight, we started to hear voices.

My hand froze in the middle of a doodle as the faint echo of a child's laugh came through the headphones. I glanced back to make sure Kara was still asleep on the couch, which she was, and then turned to the monitors.

"Did anyone else just hear a laugh?" Ayako asked.

Yasu sat up straight in his chair, suddenly alert. "I did." He answered. "Mai?"

"I heard it too." I confirmed, searching the monitors. "I'm not seeing anything, though."

"Stay alert." Came Naru's voice. "Something will show up."

Another few minutes of tense silence followed, and then another laugh was heard, louder and clearer than before.

Monk stood up off his chair. "Okay, I definitely heard that this time." He said. "But I can't tell where it came from."

"It sounded like it was coming from all around me, but at the same time it sounded far away." John interjected.

A third laugh sounded through the halls. This time everyone got up and started looking around for the source, but the monitors weren't showing anything.

"Naru," Lin's voice said urgently.

Yasu and I both turned to their monitor, and I gasped. Naru swore and sped out of the room. "The doll vanished." He reported to the others. "Lin and I are going to look. Everyone else, stay put and don't take your eyes off those dolls."

"Naru," Monk called out. "I had shadow movement in here for a few seconds, but it's gone now."

"Mai, Yasu, did you catch that?" Naru asked.

I turned back to the other monitors, scanning for any sign of shadow movement or Naru's missing doll. "No," I answered quickly. "Nothing's showing up."

Yasu gripped my wrist. "Wait," He said, pointing to a monitor showing the back portion of the dining hall. "Isn't that…?"

I took in the shape on the monitor, and my blood ran cold. I looked back to the couch in disbelief. Sure enough, the spot where Kara had been sleeping soundly just moments ago was empty.

Before I could process what I was doing, I shot out of my chair and ran out of the room. I didn't care that the activity was getting worse. I didn't care that one of the dolls was missing. I didn't care that I was horribly prone to misfortune and Naru was not going to be happy if I got myself hurt because of this. Logic had been forcefully ejected from my brain and a dark memory flooded the corners of my mind.

I looked around, only to find that I was completely alone. I could've sworn she'd followed me into the basement…

"Kara?"

My voice echoed against the stone walls, meeting nothing but silence.

No! Not again. Not again.

"KARA!"

I shot around the corners, completely ignoring the fact that Yasu had followed me. The others were calling over the headset, demanding to know what was going on. Yasu shot them a quick explanation, and the others quickly abandoned their posts to come help.

I caught up to her in the dining room, but came to a halt when I realised she was facing someone else. I couldn't quite make out the features, but it was definitely a young girl. She had long black hair that flowed straight down her back and skin so pale it was practically white, contrasting starkly against her blue dress. Her eyes, a deep blue, flickered from Kara to me. Her lips twisted into a smile and a voice echoed right into my mind.

"Where?"

The others started to catch up, but they also froze when they saw the girl.

"Where are you?"

A shadow flickered around behind the girl. It was just a shadow, but I could swear it was Edward.

"I'll find you."

The girl vanished abruptly, and the shadow darted around the room. The hairs on my arm stood up just as the tables began to shake. "Kara!" I called. "Come here!"

Kara turned to look at me, but before she could take a step, the tables started flying, one of them heading straight for her. The sound made her turn before I could scream for her to move. She saw the table and yelped. My heart stopped as I watched the airborne table sail toward my daughter.

But it never hit.

About two feet before it made contact, the table was suddenly jerked sideways, as though it had hit a wall. The moving furniture came to a halt as the table crashed to a ground, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

"I did it." Kara exclaimed quietly in shock, still staring at the table that nearly crushed her. "I made it stop."

As the shock started to leave me, my brain jumped into high gear. My legs carried me to my daughter and I wrapped my arms around her in relief, falling to my knees.

After a few seconds of this, I pulled back and trained an angry look on Kara. "Kara Taniyama-Davis!" I reprimanded loudly. "What were you doing out here?!"

Kara shrunk back, lowering her head. "I'm sorry." She said.

"You know better than this, Kara!" I continued, a little more softly. "You could've been hurt!"

"I know," She mumbled in guilt. "I'm sorry."

I took in her bashful expression a little longer and then brought her into my arms again. The adrenaline was starting to fade, but my anger continued to rage white-hot in my blood.

The others approached slowly. I looked up at them, ignoring everyone until my eyes found Naru's. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to throw that stupid table at him and demand why it had almost hit Kara.

Instead, I whispered accusingly "You promised she'd be safe, Naru." I clutched Kara a little tighter. "You promised."

He had no answer for that.

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… What? Don't give me that look. I was gonna stop it right after Mai ran after Kara, but then I thought 'that's kind of what I did last time, and it wouldn't be very nice considering my updating record'. So I went with this instead. The fallout is all in the next chapter. Once it's done with, you guys can tell me if I should add a romance genre. No worries, guys. It's already half written. Strangely enough, it was one of the first scenes I wrote for this story.

Until next time. Hopefully it won't be too long.