Part 4! I hope everyone enjoys this one! There's just one more chapter of this little saga and then we will be back to the one-shots. I wrote this 5-parter because a lot of you requested Mai's first trip to England and a single one-shot didn't seem to do the idea any justice. Thank you guys for your reviews and views! I greatly appreciate it! Enjoy!
14-England Part 4
"What happened?" Martin asked as Naru carried in his unconscious girlfriend. "Eve, get off the couch."
Evangeline stood up and backed away. "Did something scare her that bad?" she asked with a raised brow as Naru placed Mai on the couch. "Rather unprofessional."
Naru ignored that jab, for the most part. "Mai's been known to have psychic visions in her dreams." He straightened himself up before sitting down on the edge of the couch. "While for the most part the visions come when she's asleep at night or napping, but when we first started working together it wasn't uncommon to find her passed out in a chair when she was supposed to be watching Base."
"How long do these visions last?" Martin asked from his seat.
"Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours," Naru admitted, keeping his eyes on the girl. He never saw how Evangeline's eyes hardened at the sight.
"Well, if this is a common enough occurrence and she seems to be fine, why don't we continue working?" Evangeline suggested, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Noll, you and I could-"
"I'll stay here in Base and make sure Mai's okay," Naru finished for her. The look in his eyes was almost icy when he spoke to the blonde, but it softened significantly when looked back at Mai.
"I'll stay here as well," Martin decided. "Eve, you and Lin can do a temperature sweep. We'll compare the data to last night's." The two investigators nodded and left. Martin gave his adopted son a look.
The younger man raised a brow in a look of confusion back. "What?"
"When do you plan to break the news that your stay in Japan will be permanent? Your mum isn't going to be happy."
"I never said my stay wasn't permanent."
"Interesting…" Whatever the older man meant by that, he didn't say. He turned back to the monitors and looked for anything out of the ordinary.
"Mai…" A very familiar voice spoke. "Mai, open your eyes." The voice was so gentle in its command, Mai responded very slowly. She found herself staring at a much younger version of her boyfriend with very slight differences that she has come to see over the years. Seeing the indigo glow behind the young man, Mai knew exactly where she was.
"Gene," Mai said with a smile as the deceased boy helped her into a sitting position. It had been a while since the last time she saw him. "So you're still my assigned spirit guide?"
"It appears that way, hope that isn't an issue for you." Gene smiled back as they slowly stood up. "How's your visit to England been?"
It was then that Mai realized they were both speaking in English, something she wasn't used to doing in the astral plane. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure you already know how's it's been. I'm pretty sure Luella hates me."
"Give her a chance." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're the only girl he's ever brought home."
"And how many men has he brought home?" They both laughed at her comment. Mai sighed again. "Seriously, though, Eve seems to have called dibs on your brother and she's not letting go. And I think your mom's rooting for her."
Gene laughed harder than Mai had ever seen before and she was not amused. "Sorry, but you're over thinking this. Once you guys finish this case you'll find my mother is much easier to get along with when there isn't a dangerous spirit threatening her family."
"Speaking of," Mai redirected. "Isn't there something you're supposed to show me?"
"I suppose I should show you," he smirked and turned to the shifting scene behind him. They were in a forest Mai didn't recognize.
"Please don't go in there, it makes my flesh crawl," a woman spoke in a thick English accent. She appeared to be talking with her husband at the edge of what must have been their farm.
"You worry too much, only old man McDowell's son ever died in this forest and that was almost a year ago. I'll be back before you have supper on the table," the man replied with a laugh. He kissed his wife and headed into the woods. The scene flashed to the same spot, but hours later.
"He never came back, did he?" Mai asked, looking up at Gene. She already knew how this vision would end. The man's wife would stand outside and wait until dawn before she would go to the police. The police would never find a body. This was the first official victim, one year after Mason's death.
Gene shook his head and the scene faded away and they were once again alone in the purple glow. "After this victim, there wasn't another disappearance for another two years. You were right when you said there were more than three disappearances, this one occurred on the other side of the forest where a small farm still stands."
"We need to find the bodies, don't we?" Mai realized, her eyes widening. "Mason's body was never found, could he be wanting a proper burial or something?"
Gene only shrugged. "It's possible, then again I thought that that's what it would take to lay my spirit to rest, but here we are," he teased, Mai nudged him.
"I don't think either of us planned on you being my permanent guide," Mai answered with a smile. Her smile faded only seconds later. "Hey, what do I have to do to get your mom to like me? Or at least to not hate me?" Gene couldn't help but laugh. Mai pouted at him. "This isn't a joke, Gene!"
"I know, forgive me," he said shaking his head. "It's not very hard to get on her good side, actually. Try offering to help with something. Like dishes."
"Seriously?" Mai raised a brow.
"Wouldn't you be happy if someone offered to help you with a chore?" Mai looked up in thought as the deceased man chuckled. "You're doing just fine. Just stop trying so hard and be yourself and things will work out. I promise."
"Thanks, Gene."
"They should be back soon, we'll be able to compare the data and perhaps see if there was any changes in the temperature in the attic from this time yesterday," Mai heard Martin say as her head swam out into consciousness.
Naru must have brought me to Base, Mai thought as she slowly opened her eyes. She groaned as she tried to sit up. "Jeez, what happened to me?" she asked in Japanese, rubbing her eyes. Naru helped steady her as he sat on the edge of the couch.
"You passed out in the attic," he answered in Japanese as well. "We finished the session and then-"
"We were talking about how there were no noises during it," Mai remembered, snapping her fingers. "I felt cold and the next thing I knew I was with Gene and-"
"Did she just say Gene?" A voice startled the couple from the doorway. Evangeline was standing there with Lin as Martin mentally tried to figure it out himself. "I don't speak Japanese, but I swear to God she just said Gene's name."
Shit, time to come clean, Mai thought as she opened her mouth to speak, but Naru seemed more willing to take care of it.
"Gene is one of Mai's spirit guides," he explained, switching back to English. "He was the reason why Mai's psychic abilities became active rather than latent. When she has a vision one of her guides is there to make sure she focuses on important details."
"So, she knows Gene? She speaks to Gene?" Mai could see the fury behind Evangeline's eyes and honestly started to pity her.
"Yes, Eve," Mai answered with a nod. "It's not as often as it used to be, but usually Gene helps walk me through my visions."
"He's supposed to be at peace…" And there it was, betrayal. She had been lied to, Mai knew. And Mai also knew what that felt like.
"That's what we all thought," Mai replied with a sigh. "Turns out certain spirits are meant to be guides for spiritualists among the living. Gene happens to be one of them and I'm apparently the one he needs to guide."
"What happened in your vision?" Naru asked, changing the subject. Mai understood why he would want to move on, Gene was still a bit of a sore subject. So she explained what happened in her vision, she saw a look of almost relief flood Evangeline's face. Mai watched as the blonde suppressed a laugh.
"That's basically the same thing you told us before you fainted," Evangeline said with crossed arms. "This time you added details, but you have no proof-"
"Madoka does," Lin retorted. "She called me a little while ago to tell me she hit pay dirt with other disappearances. After Mason's suicide a Winslow Harris went missing almost a year later. Madoka's doing more research, but Mai's onto something."
The rest of the day went smoothly, no ghostly attacks, but sadly no new information to help solve the case. After the research Madoka did, they found twelve total disappearances where the bodies were never found, at least one year between each one. The three staff members that went missing happened one after another presumably because there was now an occupant in the house. Evangeline wasn't feeling well and said she would head home early for the day, but promising to be back bright and early the next day.
The rest of the team didn't stay long at the property and soon were back at the Davis mansion eating the supper that Luella had made. The atmosphere seemed lighter compared to the last couple of days and Mai could only chock it up to Evangeline's absence at the table. Not that Mai minded. At all.
Luella was clearing the table, when the memory of a voice flitted through Mai's mind. Wouldn't you be happy if someone offered to help you with a chore? She swore she felt something nudge her to stand up. "Luella, would you like some help with the dishes?" she asked, though she could have sworn she felt Gene's approval of the situation. Gene, stop meddling!
"Oh Mai, that's not-" But Luella stopped and looked at the amount of dishes she was about to do. "Actually, that would great! Glad someone around here can attempt to be helpful." The woman eyed the three men still sitting at the table.
"Hey, I offer to help all the time," Martin said, earning a scowl from his wife.
"Offering to lick the bowl after I make brownies does not count as washing dishes." The woman rolled her eyes.
"It's clean before it even makes it into the sink."
"C'mon, Mai," Luella said with a shake of her head and headed for the kitchen.
Mai smiled and followed the woman. Maybe getting her to like me won't be so hard after all.
Luella decided she would wash and Mai would dry and together they would put everything away. They began the job in silence, starting with the plates. Luella scrubbed and rinsed them before placing them in the drying rack. Mai would pick them up and dry them before placing them aside on the counter.
"Mai, I have to be honest with you," Luella said, breaking the silence after a few minutes. Mai was almost sure it was because she heard the rest of the group migrate to the living room. "When Noll said he was bringing you with him for his visit, I didn't know what to think."
Great, here we go. She really does hate me, Mai internally groaned but continued drying.
"When Oliver would come home he would mostly keep the topic of discussion on whatever case Martin was working on. Or sometimes whatever might have been going on over here. Then he mentioned you and some of the cases you've worked on and the fact he was talking about Japan at all was odd. The fact that he was talking about a girl? It was even stranger."
Mai had to concentrate hard when it came to drying, her hands were starting to shake. She couldn't afford to drop one of the plates now. Naru told her about me? I always figured it was Madoka who would tell her.
"I had always figured that Gene would be the one to start a family one day and Noll would become the family scholar," Luella continued as she washed the cups. "After Gene's death, I had given up any hope of grandchildren one day. I had thought after his body was found, Noll would come back home to stay." The woman sighed and looked out the window into the backyard. "That's all I wanted. I wanted Gene's body found and returned home as well, but I wanted Noll to stay here. Japan took one of my sons, I didn't want to lose the other."
She was worried I'd take him away…Mai realized as her throat felt tight. "Luella, I-"
"Please, let me explain myself," she said with another breath. "I didn't want to like you. I thought that if maybe I didn't like you then Noll would realize his place was here in England and would leave Madoka and Lin to handle the SPR branch in Japan." She stopped washing and turned to Mai with tears in her eyes. "Then I met you and saw the way Noll would look at you. I can honestly say that I've never seen him so happy."
Mai's eyes started to burn as they threatened tears. At least I know she wasn't trying to set him up with Evangeline.
"And I realized I was being selfish," the woman continued, still looking at the girl. "All I wanted was Noll to come home, but I never considered that maybe he had found his home with you. I'm sorry that I never gave you a fair chance, I hope we can start fresh now."
Mai grinned and couldn't help but giggle. "I'd like that, maybe after we're finished the case you, me, and Madoka could spend time together." The woman's eyes lit up as she pulled her hands out of the soapy water.
"And I would love that!" She held her arms up. "Come here, you're a member of the family now!" She wrapped the girl in a hug as they both erupted in giggles as Luella tried to keep the bubbles off of the younger girl.
The two went back to dishes and getting to know each other, but neither one of them saw the smiling figure that stood just outside the doorway. The figured stepped back quietly and headed back to the living room. She took a seat next to the young researcher and leaned over to whisper in Japanese, "I think things are going to be just fine."
When Mai went to bed, she didn't feel the urge to call Kiko or Ayako, even though she knew they would want an update. So Mai figured they would just have to settle for an email. So after she had gotten ready for bed she sat at her laptop and composed a little note to both parties now involved with her love life despite behind thousands of miles away.
Hey guys,
Things have gotten better. Eve went home from the case early so things weren't as tense. I think Naru was happy that she left. She tried to pair herself with him, but Naru said he wanted to be paired with me. I'm sorry I was being so insecure the last couple of days, you guys were right. I don't have anything to worry about.
Good night!
Mai sent the email and closed her laptop. She crawled into bed happy that everything seemed to finally fall into place. It was looking like, while Evangeline thought that Naru was using her to satisfy his "urges" as she put it, the rest of the family knew otherwise. And Mai was finally starting to feel like she belonged.
She closed her eyes and finally fell asleep. A peaceful sleep at that, one filled with dreams of her potential future with her boyfriend. For once, she gladly welcomed her dreams.
The following day greeted Mai with a little sunshine and an odd feeling. She couldn't quite shake it as she showered and readied herself for the day. She came downstairs to find Naru sitting by the counter going over his notes of the case while eating breakfast.
"Morning," Mai said as she sat down next to him. Luella slid a plate full of food in front of Mai with a grin.
"Morning, sweetie, sleep well?" the older woman asked. Mai nodded as she ate.
"Yes, I did, where's everyone else?"
"Father went to the property because Evangeline said she would get there early to make up for leaving yesterday," Naru explained, pushing his plate aside. "We'll be riding with Lin and Madoka."
His phone rang and he excused himself to answer it, leaving his plate to be taken care of by his mother. The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's like he's ten again, needing someone to clean up after him. I hope you beat it out of him soon," she teased as Mai giggled between bites.
"For the most part he's good about cleaning up after himself, believe it or not," she answered as Naru came back with a frown. "What's wrong?"
"That was my father," Naru answered, sliding his phone into his pocket. "Evangeline went to the property earlier than he thought."
"What aren't you saying, Noll? Just spit it out," Luella said with a hard look at her adopted son.
"She's nowhere to be found. She disappeared like the employees."
I've read a lot of fics where Luella immediately takes a liking to Mai and immediately wants Naru to marry her and for whatever reason, it didn't feel right to me. I genuinely feel that Luella would just want her son to be happy, but at the same time wished that they both had the same idea of happiness. I know a few of you were worried that Luella wasn't going to like Mai and I hope you feel satisfied with how it played out.
Now Evangeline is missing and they have to find her? How will Mai handle that? Find out next time!