A/C - I must say, things are looking pretty interesting for the group. And, thank you all for the reviews! Please continue reviewing/favving and following :D

Chapter 5 - All That You Rely On

The morning of the fourth day, Lin drove to the airport to pick up Yasu and John Brown. They would drive back to the hotel and stay there for the day. At least, that was the plan. Also that morning, I woke up with a blinding headache. Even though I've never been drunk before, it felt like a massive hangover. The effects of missing two doses (one last night and the one I'll be missing this morning) was very apparent. As I sat for breakfast by myself in the restaurant, I massaged my temples.

It was dangerous to try to stop taking the pills. But, past the headache and nausea, I finally felt more settled. Like I was one step closer to myself - one step closer to getting my abilities back. Though, I had to admit, going to my doctor and doing this the proper way might have been a safer alternative.

I had been nursing my eggs while caught up in my thoughts and my numbing headache that I had not noticed the figure that approached me. I looked through my eyelashes at him.

"Is this our thing now?" I leaned back, trying for a casual tone. My head was spinning. "Meeting each other unexpectedly."

Naru didn't say anything as he gracefully slide into the seat across from me. I scowled at him and closed my eyes to try and dull the sharp pains of the headache. Typical, he just proceeded to do whatever he wanted.

"Have you sensed anything from the location?" Naru asked.

I opened my eyes to see Naru staring at me. "No, I told you I can't do that anymore."

"I know." He didn't say what I thought he would: that he was curious if I had actually sensed anything at all the other day or if I had lied. I decided that since we were being pleasant to one another for once, I wanted to ask something that had been bothering me.

"Why're we here?" I watched him carefully. He knew what I meant. "People have gone missing during this investigation. We don't have any actual proof this location is haunted. I don't understand why you would take a case like this."

"I told you already. The SPR in London wants to replicate the poltergeist evidence."

I huffed a breath out. "But at what cost, your team? Or, are we disposable like those security guards that have gone missing."

There was a flicker in his jaw, and I suddenly knew that I was getting to him. Naru was already frustrated enough with this case. It was probably killing him to have to go back to the SPR in London empty handed. I decided to push my advantage.

"This place is dangerous. Why make us stay here? Is it because you're too proud to say you can't solve it?"

"Let's not pretend that I'm the only person being proud." Naru's eyes narrowed. His voice was low, as if he had repressed any other words that he wanted to say.

The blow was low, though. For a moment, I panicked: did he know about the depression? Was I that terrible at hiding it? My stomach churned and I clicked my jaw shut, breathing out of my nose as I stared at Naru. He kept his gaze calm, but I could see the storm brewing beneath those blue eyes.

"I've come to tell you that you need to stay away from the prison today. Matsuzaki-san and Hara-san already know they are staying behind with you." Naru stood up, then said, "I'm aware of the dangers and have told the rest of the team if we don't get anything by the end of the week, we are done here. You can go back to your life and I'll be going back to England. Maybe you can even pretend that this case never existed."

Then, he was moving quickly out of the restaurant.

My headache felt ten times worst.

^.^

My encounter with Naru was unpleasant, and the nagging headache that crushed at my skull didn't help.

In the room, Ayako and Masako were up and talking in hushed voices near my futon when I entered. They looked at me, watching as I moved towards the dresser we had kept all of our smudging tools on.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, nervously looking between the two. They seemed as if they were just caught in the middle of doing something they shouldn't have been.

Masako gave Ayako a nervous look, then they regarded me again when Masako pulled something out from her pocket as she stood up. I heard the tumble of the pills in the bottle before I saw them.

"I think we should be asking you if everything is okay," Ayako said, softly. "Mai, you didn't tell us -" Ayako's voice faded. Everything faded and I was just staring at the pills that Masako was holding. I wasn't an idiot, I knew Ayako would know what those were the moment she read them.

I breathed in, evenly. Or as evenly as I could, but it felt shallow, my skin was suddenly very cold.

"If you need help, Mai, we can help you." Masako said, but she didn't move. Everyone stayed where they were. Like they were afraid I was some kind of wild animal they had trapped and weren't sure if I would submit or attack.

I felt the first crack in my shell as my jaw twitched. My headache was pounding in my skull but the the crumble came after Ayako said, "Mai, I'm so sorry you had to go through this all by yourself."

Everything shattered. I thought that I could use that temper I had to throw it back at them. It would have been so much easier to scream at them and tell them this was none of their business. But, they had caught me completely off guard. And missing two doses of those antidepressants left something vulnerable within me. A broken sound left my mouth and I clenched my hands at my sides, bunching them into my shirt.

I was forced to think about those four years. Even though I had Lucien I was still missing something. Something that, I realized now, I could never find without being in SPR. Being here I truly missed these people. I missed them so much and it hurt that we grew apart.

Dropping my head down, my shoulders began to shake as Masako and Ayako came towards me. The latter drew me into her arms. I flinched from the contact, stiffening when I realized she was holding me.

"I'm so sorry Mai," She was crying too, I could hear it in her voice. "I'm so sorry."

Why did he have to leave? If he had never left, then the rest of us would have never grown apart.

Masako touched my arm, rubbing soothing circles. "We knew how much SPR meant to you. We shouldn't have just disappeared like that."

I missed you guys so much. It hurt that you could move on, as if it all meant nothing to you.

"I think we all thought that someone else would come back."

He never came back. We all knew he wouldn't come back. I was such an idiot to think that he would.

I didn't speak any of my thoughts out loud. I just listened to Ayako and Masako as they talked me through the shattering despair. I stayed in the comforting arms of Ayako and didn't know how much time had passed until I started to feel myself step back into my body. Slowly, I pulled away from the warm arms of Ayakos embrace. Masako was beside us, tears clung to her pretty face. Ayako started to wipe hers away with the back of her hand as I moved back.

It wasn't their fault. They shouldn't feel sorry for the fact that I was weak. They needed to know that at least.

"I couldn't think," I ground out. "When everything started to change, and everyone started to go their separate ways," I took a steadying breath. "I just couldn't think."

Both woman watched me, closely. I struggled to get the other words out. Maybe, I didn't need to as I scanned their faces.

They understood, I realized. I stood still, watching them as they put the pieces together - they put the last four years together in the absence of SPR. I didn't have to say anything else.

It was Ayako who spoke first, "how long have you been taking these?"

"A couple of years." I admitted. "They've gradually started lowering the dose."

"And you've been taking them regularly?" Ayako lifted the bottle, reading the instructions. I nodded. "There will be some nasty side effects if you stop."

"I know." I stayed silent for a moment longer. "I've missed two doses already."

"Mai," Ayako narrowed her eyes. "This is serious, you need to talk to your psychiatrist if you intend on getting off these. They will taper the dose -"

Shaking my head, "I need to get off them. Now. During this case." Then, to Masako. "They're the reason I can't sense anything."

Masako said. "They've blocked you?"

I nodded, "Since starting them, I couldn't astral project anymore. But, as the dose started getting less and less, I started to feel...things. From the other-side."

I didn't say out loud, but things such as deep aches from within my very being. Or, the dreams.

Ayako sighed out loud, "if you're going to try to wean yourself off, then you should at least prepare yourself for the consequences." She lifted her brown eyes to me. "Have the headaches started yet?"

I swallowed hard, nodding slowly. Ayako continued. "There's a drugstore nearby. If there's a pharmacist they should be able to make you Prozac without a prescription. It'll help reduce the effects of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, at least until you get back home. I would strongly suggest you talk to your doctor when we land, so you can taper off properly."

Ayako grinned, slowly, the mood began to lighten. "I will, personally, be making sure that you're being tapered off accordingly."

Something warm began to ache deep within my chest. Ayako moved, grabbing her purse next to the nightstand and walked back to me. She placed the pills in my hand.

"There's no reason to be ashamed of this. It's normal." She said. "I meant what I said. When we get home I will make sure that you are taken care of. And this time I'm not going anywhere."

"We'll help you through this, Mai." Masako walked over to me, slowly pulling me into a hug. In my ear, she whispered. "I've missed you. I'm glad that you're alright."

Another small piece of me felt warmer. Lighter. I hugged her back, breathing deeply.

"I've missed you all so much."

It might have been the most honest thing I've said this entire trip.

^.^

Naru had texted us for a meeting. We returned in time to see the males of the team piling out of the car and we met in the lobby. Yasu and John had stayed at the hotel when Lin dropped them off. Quickly, we all crammed into one of the small meeting rooms for some privacy.

"Where did you ladies go off to?" Bou-san gave us a look. "There's not much shopping to be done in this town."

Indeed, there wasn't much to shop for. We had found the drugstore, a small boutique in a gas station that also served as a family diner. Luckily, the pharmacist could make Prozac. Ayako was firm on the dosage and the amount, even paying for the pills.

"If you wanted to join us, you could have just said something." Ayako said, slyly. "I recall seeing a dirty shop you might have enjoyed."

"We're here to talk about the case," Naru cut off whatever remark Bou-san had started to get worked up about. I clamped my lips shut as I watched him give Ayako a dirty look.

"Did something happen at the location?" John asked, his voice heavily accented.

Bou-san turned ashen. His smile slipping into something more serious. "We've had to report the body of a missing person." He looked like he was about to be sick. "It turns out, she was the contact who was supposed to be our second interview."

My stomach dropped and I felt the ripple of tension pass throughout the room. Naru watched us. "Yes, I noticed something on the camera last night. Something knocked the camera down and, when it landed, it had faced a vent that I noticed something strange. I sent the video to the local police."

That was why he had kept us here today. I remembered our brief conversation this morning, how he intended to keep us here until Friday. He seemed off this morning too, more on edge.

Masako asked, "If you caught something move the camera, then you must have captured the poltergeist activity you intended." There was a pause of consideration. "That means we're done here."

Now, we all looked at Naru. "There is something else, another reason I'm here. There might be a link to another case." Naru looked at Yasu, and nodded.

Yasu pulled out a briefcase, laying down documents on the oak table in front of us. We all leaned down to look.

"Naru contacted me about the location and asked me to look into the archives on a different network than this district. It turns out the archives can't actually be found here at all. They are encrypted and based on the location you're trying to access them from, they will only show parts of the information."

I tried not to think of the implication: the district was hiding something very serious.

Yasu continued, "The land around the prison was owned by a family name Ito back in the early nineteen-hundreds. They apparently had a small cabin that was built on a clearing on the land, just past the actual prison structure. The family had a daughter who reportedly went missing in the woods. Later, a family called Hikuzaki claimed the land that year in nineteen-fifteen until very recently, in two thousand-fifteen, when it was sold to the district."

"That's not what Miki told us," I pointed out. "He said that the district bought the land from his family."

Yasu shook his head, "That's what Naru told me too, but it's all right here," he pointed to a letter that was stamped with the official seal of the state. "The buying date is in two thousand-fifteen."

"Why lie then?" Ayako asked. Clearly, something was being covered up. I tried not to think about my dream and if the girl was fourteen or fifteen...that made sense. She looked as if she could have been on the cusp of puberty.

Naru answered. "The prison was built on the Hikuzaki's land prior to it becoming repossessed by the state. That means, there would have been time for a deal to be struck between the family and the district. It is likely that the prison was a cover-up for illegal killings of those practicing satanic rituals and witchcraft. However, I think it's more than that."

I felt the breath get knocked out of me. Satanic rituals. Like the ritual I had dreamt of.

"Back in England, there was talk about an Enchanted Forest in the area. As a scientist, I don't believe in this kind of theory. However, the accounts from other witnesses in the archives have all agreed that they tend to find themselves very lost in these woods." Naru said, looking at me.

He continued, "I think this location is connected to the claims of that Enchanted Forest. We will be leaving on Friday, but before then I want to try and collect data on the possibility of this. I want to find the cabin, which could be the possible source of these disappearances."

For a moment, the room was silent.

There it was. The truth as to why Naru had brought us to such a dangerous location.

He seemed to read my thoughts, "I'm aware that knowing the implications changes what I originally asked all of you to investigate. If you're not willing to continue in the investigation, then it's understandable."

Silence passed over the room. Naru gazed at each of us.

Nervously, I asked. "The other day, you seemed to hesitate on telling Miki that we had two other people coming. Why?"

"I think Miki is casting a curse on people." It was Lin who answered. We all swung our attention to him. "I get a very strong presence that there is a practicing onmyouji in the area."

Suddenly, everything started to make sense. Even past my headache, I understood the blur of signals that could have brought us to that conclusion.

Masako not being able to get a read. Miki knowing that I had become lost in the woods. It was the reason why we wore the talisman, one omnyouji out competing the other.

"He knows the six of us," Naru referred to Ayako, Masako, Bou-san, Lin, myself and him. "But he doesn't know your faces." He looked at John and Yasu.

"The problem is that I need Father Brown to accompany us to the location. His particular skills of exorcism would prove to be useful." Naru said.

"So we're going to keep Yasu cooped up in the hotel?" I questioned, a little sourly.

Yasu answered, "I don't mind. If anything, I could try and pull up more information and dig around the town to see if they know anything."

Naru said," It's settled then, we are going to continue smudging and looking for proof that this is the same Enchanted Forest origin by using resources at the prison. Meanwhile, Yasuhara will find any relevant information on the land."

Bou-san had finally started to look as if he weren't going to get sick anymore. "That's if we still decide to continue this case, right Naru?"

"Yes. All those in favor of dismissing the investigation, raise their hands."

Even in the thick of silence and anxiety, no one raised their hand.

^.^